{{Infobox military conflict |conflict = Sortie on Mestre |partof = the [[First Italian War of Independence]] | image = Sortita di Mestre il 27 ottobre 1848.jpg | image_size = 290 |caption = The Venetian sortie on Mestre, 1848 |date = 27 October 1848<ref name=CHA>{{cite book|title=Chambers's encyclopædia: Vol. 7 |last=Chambers's encyclopædia |year=1868 |place=London}}</ref> |place = [[Mestre]], [[Veneto|Venetia]] |result = [[Republic of San Marco|Venetian victory]]<ref name=SOI>{{cite book|title=Sketches on Italy |last=C. E. Eardley & C. Holte Bracebridge |year=1856 |place=London}}</ref><ref name=HOY>{{cite book|title=History of the year 1848 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyyear00kellgoog |first=Walter K. |last=Kelly |year=1849 |place=London}}</ref><ref name=DMA>{{cite book|title=Daniele Manin and the Venetian revolution of 1848-49 |url=https://archive.org/details/danielemaninvene0000gins |url-access=registration |first=Paul |last=Ginsborg |year=1979 |isbn=9780521220774 |place=Bristol}}</ref> |combatant1 = [[File:Flag of the Republic of Venice 1848–49.svg|25px]] [[Republic of San Marco|Rep. of San Marco]] |combatant2 = [[File:Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy.svg|25px]] [[Austrian Empire]] |commander1 = [[File:Flag of the Republic of Venice 1848–49.svg|22px]] [[Guglielmo Pepe]]<BR>[[File:Flag of the Republic of Venice 1848–49.svg|22px]] Girolamo Ulloa<BR> <ref name=SOI/><ref name=HOY/><ref name=DMA/><ref name=HMA>{{cite book|title=Daniel Manin, and Venice in 1848 - 49: Vol. 2 |first=Henri |last=Martin |year=1862 |place=London}}</ref> |commander2 = [[File:Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy.svg|22px]] Generalmajor Mitis<BR> <ref name=JVA>{{cite book|title=Archiv des ungarischen Ministeriums und Landesvertheidigungsausschusses:Vol.3 |first=Johann |last=von Adlerstein |year=1851 |place=Altenburg}}</ref><ref name=FJA>{{cite book|title=Der Feldzug: Volumes 2-3 |first=Franz Josef Adolf |last=Schneidawind |year=1853 |place=Innsbruck}}</ref><ref name=GUI>{{cite book|title=Guerre de l'indépendance italienne en 1848 et en 1849 |url=https://archive.org/details/guerredelindpe02ullo |first=Girolamo |last=Ulloa |year=1859 |place=Paris}}</ref> |strength1 = 2,000–2,500 <ref name=SOI/><ref name=HMA/><ref name=LIB>{{cite book|title=The liberation of Italy, 1815-1870 |first=Evelyn Lilian |last=Hazeldine Carrington Martinengo-Cesaresco |year=1902 |place=London}}</ref><BR>''mostly volunteers'' |strength2 = 2,000–3,000 <ref name=SOI/><ref name=TAI>{{cite book|title=''[[Tait's Edinburgh magazine]]'': Vol. 17 |first=William |last=Tait |authorlink=William Tait (publisher) |year=1850 |place=Edinburgh}}</ref><ref name=PEP>{{cite book|title=Narrative of scenes and events in Italy: Vol. 1 |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.22177 |first=Guglielmo |last=Pepe |year=1850 |place=London}}</ref><BR>''austrian garrison'' |casualties1 = 87 killed<ref name=HOL>{{cite book|title=The making of Italy, 1815-1870 |url=https://archive.org/details/makingofitaly18100holt |url-access=registration |first=Edgar |last=Holt |year=1971 |place=New York}}</ref><ref name=MEM>{{cite book|title=Memoriale veneto storico-politico: marzo -1848- agosto 49 |first=Gianjacopo |last=Fontana |year=1868 |place=Venice}}</ref><BR>163 wounded<ref name=HOL/><ref name=MEM/> |casualties2 = 97 killed<ref name=JVA/><BR>200 killed & wounded<ref name=HOY/><BR>303 captured<ref name=JVA/><BR>3 cannons lost<ref name=JVA/><ref name=FJA/> }} {{Campaignbox First Italian War of Independence}}
The '''sortie on Mestre''' occurred during the [[Revolutions of 1848|revolutionary year of 1848]] on October 27.<BR> [[Revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states|Italian volunteers]] charged the [[Austrian Empire|Austrian]] fortification, took the town and withdrew, with the [[Looting|loot]] of three baggage-waggons, eight horses, large quantity of ammunition and the military chest,<ref name=FLA>{{cite book|title=Venice: the city of the sea |url=https://archive.org/details/venicecityseafr01flaggoog |first=Edmund |last=Flagg |year=1853 |place=New York}}</ref> back to the fort at [[Marghera]].<ref name=DMA/>
==Prelude== A [[narrative]] on the event of the '''sortie on mestre''', was written by [[Guglielmo Pepe|Lieutenant-General Pepe]], and published by Henry Colburn in 1850, [[London]]:<ref name=NGP>{{cite book|title=Narrative of scenes and events in Italy: From 1847 to 1849: Vol. 1 |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.22177 |first=Guglielmo |last=Pepe |year=1850 |place=London}}</ref>
''"On the morning of the 27th, before dawn, the General-in-Chief, surrounded by his staff, from the lunette No. 12 in the fort of [[Marghera|Malghera]], observed the movement of three columns, which contained in all about 2000 bayonets. That on the left consisted of 450 men of the fifth Venetian legion, commanded by its colonel, D'Amigo, and embarked on a number of boats; it was preceded by five pirogues and two scouts, under the orders of Captain Basilesso of the navy. These boats, with their artillery, were intended to facilitate the landing of our men in Fuseria."''
''"The Colonel had instructions to occupy that post, and afterwards the part of Boaria which adjoins the city of [[Mestre]], so as to form a reserve for the centre column. This column consisted of 900 men, commanded by Colonel Morandi, and composed of [[Lombardy|Lombard]] and [[Bologna|Bolognese]] volunteers; its orders were to dislodge the enemy entrenched on the railroad, and then to occupy [[Mestre]] by force. The right column of 650 men, formed of the free Italian battalion, and the chasseurs of the [[Reno (river)|Upper Reno]], commanded by Colonel Zambeccari, had orders to take a barricade erected on the narrow banks of the canal of [[Mestre]], and defended by two guns, and by considerable numbers of infantry posted in the neighbouring houses, which were fortified with loopholes."''
==The sortie== A [[narrative]] on the event of the '''sortie on mestre''', was written by [[Guglielmo Pepe|Lieutenant-General Pepe]], and published by Henry Colburn in 1850, [[London]]:<ref name=NGP/>
''"The strength of the enemy was about 3000 men on the whole line, besides 2000 entrenched in [[Mestre]], which was also defended by many field-pieces, and by chasseurs ready to fire from the houses."''
''"The centre column was stopped by the fire of the muskets, and by the artillery of the enemy. The General-in-Chief despatched Colonel Ulloa with one hundred gendarmes of the reserve, and with this reinforcement he rallied and urged on the column at the pas de charge; and they penetrated into the city. They were stopped a second time; but in spite of the obstinate resistance they encountered, and the great loss they sustained, they advanced onwards."''
''"The enemy, after losing part of their artillery, defended themselves from the houses. Captain Sirtori, Major Rosaroll, and Captain Cattabene, bold even to temerity, undertook with a handful of brave [[Lombardy|Lombards]] to drive out the [[Austrian Empire|Austrian's]] house by house, and thus opened the way to our troops who occupied the city militarily."''
''"But what was still better, was to have proved that the [[Revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states|Italian volunteers]], who only a few months before had taken arms for the first time, commanded by officers for the most part new to the profession, had beaten the [[Austrian Empire|Austrians]], who were superior in number, well entrenched, obstinately defended, and prepared overnight to receive us, and who made use of the loop-holed houses as a second line of defence."''
==Aftermath== Part of the [[Looting|loot]] taken from [[Mestre]], included the official [[Austrian Empire|Austrian]] war correspondence.<ref name=FLA/> Amongst which the [[Republic of San Marco|Venetians]] discovered that the [[Austrian Empire|Austrians]] had been informed of the projected attack, and had made all the necessary arrangements to meet it,<ref name=FEO>{{cite book|title=Memoirs and adventures of Felice Orsini By Felice |url=https://archive.org/details/memoirsandadven00orsigoog |first=Felice |last=Orsini |year=1857 |place=Edinburgh}}</ref> which proved that the [[Republic of San Marco|Venetians]] had a [[spy]] amongst their ranks.<ref name=HMA/><ref name=FLA/>
==Sources== {{reflist}}
{{coord missing|Italy}} {{Risorgimento}} {{Revolutions of 1848}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Mestre }} [[Category:Revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states]] [[Category:History of Venice after 1797]] [[Category:Battles involving Austria|Mestre]] [[Category:Battles involving Italy|Mestre]] [[Category:October 1848]] [[Category:Battles of the First Italian War of Independence|Mestre]] [[Category:Revolts of the Italian unification]] [[Category:Military history of Venice]]