refused to grant the dictator his request but agreed to integrate the men and officers, he returned to Caprera. Legacy The Expedition of the Thousand has traditionally been one of the most celebrated events of the Italian Risorgimento, the process of the unification of Italy. In the following years, the rise of local resistance (the so-called brigantaggio or brigandage), required at one point the presence of some 140,000 Piedmontese troops to maintain control of the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Traditionally, the handling of the brigantaggio has received a negative judgement by Italian historians, in strict contrast with the heroism attributed to Garibaldi and his followers; the English historian Denis Mack Smith, for example, points out the deficiencies and reticence of the sources available for the period 1861–1946, but the same historian also pointed out the backwardness of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies at the time of the unification. The expedition, moreover, obtained the support of the powerful great landowners of southern Italy in exchange for the promise that their properties be left intact in the upcoming political settlement. Numerous Sicilian peasants, however, had joined the Mille hoping instead for a redistribution of the land to the people working it. The consequences of this misunderstanding became evident at Bronte. See also Brigandage in Southern Italy after 1861 Siege of Gaeta (1860) Notes Sources External links 1860 in Italy Conflicts in 1860 Conflicts in 1861 Military expeditions 1860 in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies 1861 in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Giuseppe Garibaldi