REVOLUTIONARIES KINGS AND GENERALS
GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI
THE ICON OF ITALIAN UNIFICATION 1807-82
Responsible for most of the military victories of the Risorgimento, Garibaldi was born in Nice to a Ligurian family and began his career as a merchant sailor. In the early 1830s, he joined the Piedmont-Sardinian Navy but had to escape to South America following a failed mutiny.
Garibaldi spent 12 years in South America where he commanded the Uruguayan Navy and formed an Italian Legion known as the ‘Redshirts’. He defended Montevideo and won several victories where he impressed observers with his guerrilla tactics. After returning to Italy in 1848 with remnants of his Redshirts, Garibaldi fought for Milan during the First Italian War of Independence.
After travelling to North America, the Pacific and England,
