How did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour respond to Giuseppe Garibaldi’s Expedition of the Thousand?

Camillo Benso, count di Cavour, initially opposed Giuseppe Garibaldi’s Expedition of the Thousand, attempting to dissuade him from sailing. However, as Garibaldi’s military success in the south grew, Cavour shifted his strategy to ensure that the Risorgimento remained under the leadership of the Piedmontese monarchy rather than becoming a radical, republican movement.123

Fearing that Garibaldi’s potential march on Rome would provoke French intervention, Cavour took the initiative to regain control of the unification process. He positioned himself as a defender of law and order against revolutionary excess and sent Piedmontese troops under Victor Emmanuel II to invade the papal territories of Umbria and Marche. This maneuver effectively checked Garibaldi’s progress and allowed Piedmont to weld the two regions into a single kingdom. Ultimately, Cavour’s diplomatic pressure and the political reality of the situation led Garibaldi to agree to a plebiscite for annexation under Piedmont, after which he relinquished his dictatorship to the king.23