[5] The revolutions all ultimately failed; the Austrian Empire put down the various rebellions and regained control of their territories by August 1849.

[1] In 1859, the Austrians occupied the Giogo dello Stelvio and the Alta Valle del Braulio; they garrisoned the IV Cantoniera and the summit of Spondalunga, recruiting about sixty workers from Bormio and its surroundings to carry out fortifications.

Pedranzini, having obtained information from some escaped workers of the Austrian contingent, suggested a bold, circumventing, and surprising action through the Passo del Cristallo to be conducted with seven to eight hundred men chosen among the best.

[6][4] In 1861, during the Expedition of the Thousand, a battalion of the National Guard under Major Giovan Battista Caimi was mobilized in Valtellina for the garrison of Bologna.

On the 22nd, the garrison was reinforced by ten Forest Guards accompanied by Inspector Giuseppe Cetti, as well as 26 national guardsmen who arrived under the command of Lieutenant Francesco Clementi.

[7] Around the same time however, Bormio was subjected to raids, abuse and slavery by the Austrian troops who had their headquarters at the Stelvio Pass.

Pedranzini then blew a horn, fired a muzzle-loaded rifle, and rolled several boulders to create a commotion; his actions frightened the 65 Austrians below, who took refuge and locked themselves up in the entrance hall of the Cantoniera.

For these events, on 19 April 1867, Pedranzini was awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valour "with an annual increase of two hundred lire.