Battle of Aspromonte The Battle of Aspromonte , also known as The Day of Aspromonte ( in Italian : " La Giornata dell ' Aspromonte " ) , named for the mountain near Reggio Calabria in southern Italy where it took place on 29 August 1862 , was an inconclusive episode of the Italian unification process . In the battle , the Royal Italian Army defeated Giuseppe Garibaldi ' s army of volunteers that was marching from Sicily towards Rome with the intent of liberating the city and annexing it to the Kingdom of Italy . In the encounter , a few kilometers from Gambarie , Garibaldi was wounded and taken prisoner . Background : the " Questione Romana " . When Victor Emmanuel II became the King of Italy on 17 March 1861 , the newly created Kingdom of Italy did not include Venice and Rome . These " unredeemed " cities ( as they would be called a few decades later ) were a constant cause of friction in Italian ' s politics . The case for Rome , known as the " Roman Question " , specifically , had arisen after the Italian Parliament had declared Rome capital of the Kingdom , on 27 March 1861 . This clashed with Pope Pius IX ' s intent to maintain his temporal control of the city . Members of the government of the Kingdom of Italy had different takes on this issue , and the consequent inner tensions caused Prime Minister Bettino Ricasoli to resign in 1862 . While his successor Urbano Rattazzi was known for his less than deferential attitude towards the Holy See , even after Rattazzi ' s election the Kingdom of Italy maintained a low profile on the Roman Question . General Giuseppe Garibaldi , on the other hand , in 1862 reached Sicily and began to form an army with the intent of marching on Rome . The intransigent reaction of France ( which was , at the time , the most influent ally of Italy ) and the Pope caused the Italian government to intervene . On 3 August , Victor Emmanuel II officially condemned Garibaldi ' s " guilty impatience " , and Rattazzi sent the Royal Army , at the orders of general Enrico Cialdini , to stop Garibaldi . The battle . The actual fighting was relatively timid and largely influenced by the peculiar situation . Garibaldi was known and respected as a hero by most Italians , including most soldiers in the Royal Army and Navy . Several facts that occurred reveal that neither Garibaldi nor his opponents were willing to enter open combat or cause too much damage to their opponent . For example , while Garibaldi ' s ships had most probably been detected by the Royal Navy while they were crossing the Strait of Messina to touch land in Calabria , Royal ships only attacked when Garibaldi ' s army had actually reached the ground , possibly to keep the losses to a minimum . Garibaldi himself did not immediately counter - attack the Royal Army , instead trying to circumvent it crossing the Aspromonte mountains . Garibaldi ' s army marched for three days ; on 28 August 1862 , the leading regiment led by Garibaldi camped near Gambarie , where the rest of the army was expected to follow within a few days . On 29 August , before Garibaldi ' s army was reunited , Bersaglieri from the Royal Army reached Garibaldi ' s camp and attacked . The peculiarity of the situation was again clear as Garibaldi ordered his army not to open fire " on our brothers " , and some Bersaglieri changed side during the battle , joining Garibaldi ' s volunteers . Anyway , despite Garibaldi ' s order , one wing of his regiment did counter - attack the Bersaglieri : in the chaos that followed , two bullets hit Garibaldi ' s hip and malleolus . Cease - fire was declared shortly thereafter , with the surrender of Garibaldi . Aftermath . Overall , the battle lasted about ten minutes , and the overall casualties counted up to only about 15 people . On the battlefield , after being wounded , Garibaldi was immediately assisted by surgeons and then taken as a prisoner ; he was later sent to the jail of Varignano , near Porto Venere . Amnesty followed very soon ( on 5 October 1862 ) for Garibaldi as well as his volunteers , and Garibaldi then retired in Caprera , where he remained for two years . From a political point of view , the Day of Aspromonte caused both national and international criticism towards the Italian government , and caused the debate in Italy to become even harsher . Giuseppe Mazzini ' s party declared that , after the events of Aspromonte , any silent agreement between the Monarchy and the Republicans had been factually broken ; while supporters of the Monarchy ' s maintained that the Republicans ' support for such rash initiatives as Garibaldi ' s expedition proved that they were too irresponsible to lead the Nation . Commentors accused the government to have betrayed the Italian revolution and to be more supportive of the Pope than Italy itself . In 1863 , Rattazzi was replaced by Marco Minghetti , who leveraged on the facts of Aspromonte to negotiate a treaty with France ( the September Convention ) whereby Italy would protect the frontiers of the Papal States against foreign attacks , and France would withdraw its troops from Rome within two years . Despite the September Convention , annexing Rome remained an implicit objective of Italy . Garibaldi would try to march on Rome again in 1867 . Eventually , the " Questione Romana " would be solved under Italian Prime Minister Giovanni Lanza , in 1870 , Rome was finally captured . References in popular culture . A popular Italian nursery rhyme " Garibaldi fu ferito " ( " Garibaldi was wounded " ) , on the melody of the Bersaglieri ' s anthem , refers to the Aspromonte episode . The Day of Aspromonte is also sometimes mentioned in political debate when someone accuses the Italian government to betray the expectations of the Italian people or behave against national interests .