Following the unification of Italy a slew of Anti Italian sentiment spread across the island and led to several violent riots against Italians on the Island. Many of them took place only a few years after the expedition of the thousand and the annexation of the island to the Kingdom of Sardinia, outbreaks of rebellion against the "Italian-Piedmontese" erupt throughout the island,such as the one in Palermo known as the revolt of seven and a half. In the night between 15 and 16 September 1866, about 4 000 peasants from the surrounding countryside of Palermo, reached the city, assaulted it and pushed the population into rebellion. Government sources speak of about "40,000 men in arms". The revolt was also attended by ex-Garibaldini, repentant of having supported the expedition for the serious consequences brought to Sicily. The Italian navy, assisted by the English navy, decides to suppress the revolt by bombing the city from the port: the result is more than a thousand deaths, and the survivors are arrested and in some cases sentenced to death