[2][1][3] A significant portion of the 180,000 residents of Palermo rallied to Garibaldi, including about 2,000 prisoners released from local jails.

[2] On the first day of fighting, Bourbon forces were driven back from a number of key positions.

[2] Lanza then ordered the shelling of the part of the city that had been captured by Garibaldi's forces, causing the death of around 600 civilians by the end of the siege.

[2] However, with the arrival of two battalions of well-trained Bavarian mercenaries to relieve the Bourbon garrison, the battle turned against Garibaldi, whose troops were nearly out of ammunition.

[2] Garibaldi sent his son Menotti to watch the garrison's surrender,[4] and an armistice was quickly signed with the mediation of British admiral Rodney Mundy.