Italy in the mid 19th century continues to fascinate me with my project to build armies of the Risorgimento, Wars of the Italian Unification (WotIU), or even the decline and fall of the Austro Hungarian Empire. The fact is that “The Empire”, once Holy Roman and western successor to the original Roman Empire, had its hands all over Italy having displaced French and Spanish interests after the fall of Napoleon in 1815.
The Kingdom of Sardinia is confusingly also known as the Kingdom of Piedmont which was just part of its claim.
So you often get written descriptions of Piedmontese fighting or occasionally Sardinians but usually Bersaglieri (who did all the fighting!). My recent Bersagleri efforts can be seen in this post.
https://thewargamingerratic.home.blog/tag/piquet-wargame-rules/
Actually it is not true about the Bersagleri being the only soldiers in Italian armies – its a bit like British Grenadiers being the only useful infantry in a british army. Bersaglieri (sharpshooters) were elite troops armed with rifled muskets and latterly breech loading rifles, who were often in the thick of the fighting, used as shock troops, and using a freedom of action which in turn required much greater discipline.
So in the wargaming world it is not surprising the mainstream manufacturers have gone for Bersaglieri.
Waterloo 1815 make their Italian Bersaglieri in 1/72. Strelets actually name their offering Sardinians – technically correct – again their are characteristically Bersaglieri.
The poor old line infantry of Sardinia/Piedmont get short shrift. The saving grace is the Amercian Civil War where manufacturers offer an abundance of figures which can be borrowed………..
Shakoes can be a problem, yet even here clothing fashion in military terms meant armies in the mid 19th century tended to be either “french” (kepis/short shakoes) or “germanic” (helmets/caps) or “british” (short shakoes/caps) in styling. And then of course you get emulation. The British love of “bearskin” clad soldiers dates from the demise of Napoleons’ Imperial Guard. Within a few years the French had resurrected their own Bearskin Guardsmen as well. And it seems everyone had a post Napoleonic frenzy in glitzy uniforms for almost 40 years until barrel rifling and breech loaders changed warfare.
Finally you find tucked away a manufacturer who has provided apparently everything you need for the Sardinian kingdom.
Lucky Toys made two sets – garibaldi’s redshirts (very 1859 I think) and Piedmont Infantry and Bersaglieri (again circa 1859 I think). Thats easy to explain – 1859 was the war year which saw the Austrian grip on Italy collapse.
All this adds up to lots of possibilities for mid 19th century armies fighting across Italy.
Here is Victor Emmanuel II, King of Sardinia courtesy of Lucky Toys.
So there will be some posts on my latest additions to the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Question is – which decade?
The Wargaming Erratic 