Ten Days of Brescia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Ten Days of Brescia were a revolt broken out in the city of northern Italy with that name, and which laster from March 23 to April 1, 1849.
In the early 19th century Brescia was part of the Austian puppet state called Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia. The revolt begun the same day of the Battle of Novara (the result of which was unknown in the city), headed by the patriot Tito Speri.
The Austrian troops under general Nugent, initially surprised, retired in the castle, from which they heavily cannonaded the city, damaging much of the historical monuments in the fray. A total encirclement of Brescia was put on by the Austrians from the 8th day of the revolt, when reinforces arrived. The following day general Haynau, later nicknamed "The hyena of Brescia", came and asked the unconditioned surrender of the Bresciani. As the latter refused to cease, the fights continued until late night, when the heads of the revolt decided to surrender. The following day (April 1), however, the Austrian troops sacked the city and massacred numerous inhabitants before the surrender could be signed.
Some 1,000 citizens were killed during the battle.
