This piece first appeared on Novel Adventures January 19, 2012.
Helmet of the Bersaglieri |
On the morning of September 20,
1870, an elite military corps known as Bersaglieri broke through Rome’s famed Aurealian
Wall at the Porta Pia for the final showdown between the Kingdom of Italy and
the pope’s army. Clad in their signature feather-encrusted helmets, this crack
team of marksmen defeated the papal army, despite losing 49 men to the pope’s 18.
Established in 1836, the Bersaglieri
are known for being larger than life characters and exceptionally fit. They are
outstanding marksmen (and, today, a few women). Intended originally to be a
highly mobile unit that could get into and out of places quickly, they even
carried folding bicycles as part of their gear during World War I.
World War I Bersaglieri with bicycles |
Thus, the Bersaglieri were the
natural military unit to breach the Porta Pia. Designed by Michelangelo, this
gate on the north-eastern part of the city wall was commissioned by Pope Pius
IV as part of his urban renewal project in the mid-1500s. Porta Pia opened onto
a new street, Via Pia: both gate and street named for the pope himself. For
centuries, the gate protected the city from unwanted entry.
It was another Pope Pius, the Ninth,
who headed the Holy See when the Bersaglieri broke through the wall. The
struggle for unification had been waging for about fifty years at that point.
Most of the peninsula had been unified as the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, with
Victor Emanuel II as the king. A parliament had met that year in Turin,
declaring Rome as the capitol of the new kingdom. But because Rome was under
papal control, the government couldn’t enter the new capitol.
The pope had been able to retain
power in large part because French troops protected Rome. With the outbreak of
the Franco-Prussian war, however, Napoleon III recalled those troops to France
in August 1870, leaving the pope vulnerable.
Hoping to finally capture Rome
without bloodshed, King Victor Emanuel sent an envoy to the Holy See on
September 10 with a letter offering protection to the pope and outlining
political solutions to a variety of sticky issues.The pope was enraged. He scared off
the envoy, declaring, “You will never enter Rome.”
Porta PIa with Bersaglieri Monmument |
The next day, on September 11, the
Italian army entered papal lands and began its march toward Rome. It moved
slowly in hopes that a peaceful solution could be found. On September 19, the
army numbering 50,000 reached the Porta Pia. Inside, 13,000 Swiss Guards and
volunteers waited for the attack.
The next morning, the attack began,
and after three hours, the Italian troops broke through the wall. The
Bersaglieri entered the city and overpowered the
papal army. On September 21, all of the papal lands were firmly in the hands of
the Italians.
The Via Pia was rechristened Via XX
Settembre in honor of the anniversary, and throughout Italy, cities and towns
have established their own Via XX Settembre. Today, the Porta Pia houses a
museum honoring the Bersaglieri.
The Bersaglieri have continued to distinguish
themselves since their establishment, in World Wars I and II and later in Iraq
and Afghanistan. Yet the breach of Porta Pia remains their finest hour. In
parades they don’t march they jog. Even the band, the black feathers on their
helmets floating in the breeze.
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