by Mikolaj Kaminski, to request the formation of the Polish Legion from the government of Lombardy. The agreement would make the Legion dependent on this government. Once granted, the company then appealed to expand the Polish Legion to 600 people, which the provisional government of Milan allowed as well. Though the Legion faced financial problems and a shortage of arms, it grew to 120 members by June. Mickiewicz continued to search for volunteers in Paris while the Legion, commanded by Kaminski, engaged in several battles. They fought alongside others in Lombardy and on barricades of Genoa against the royalists, in the defence of the Roman Republic. The legionnaires also tried to help the revolutionaries in Hungary but were dispersed in Greece. However, the Mickiewicz Legion had been finally defeated in 1849. About five hundred people had served in the legion throughout its short fifteen-month existence. Notes and references See also International Legion Polish Legions (disambiguation) Spring of Nations Expatriate military units and formations Military units and formations of Poland Great Emigration Military units and formations established in 1848 Military units and formations of the Wars of Italian Independence Italy–Poland relations Adam Mickiewicz First Italian War of Independence