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Life
and Times of Giuseppe Garibaldi |
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Giuseppe Garibaldi (July 4, 1807 to
June 2, 1888).
The
liberation of Rome in 1870 was one of the greatest miracles in the
entire history of the world!!
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Giuseppe
Garibaldi: father of modern Italy.
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Giuseppe
Garibaldi is considered the father of modern Italy.
Much
to his regret, Garibaldi did not lead the liberating
army in its march on Rome in 1870.
That
honor fell to general Raffaele Cadorna.
This
is a cartoon from the British magazine Punch,
circa 1865.
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Right leg in the Boot at Last!!
Garibaldi:"If
it won't go on Sire, try a little powder." (as in GUNpowder)!! |
In 1860, General
Garibaldi landed in Sicily with his famous 1,000 volunteers determined
to march on Rome and liberate the city. After
a big battle on the Volturno River, he held plebiscites in Sicily
and Naples, and then gave the whole of southern Italy to Cavour, proclaiming
Victor Emmanuel as king of a united nation. He returned to the island
of Caprera, which then remained his permanent home.
In 1862, he made
another attempt to liberate Rome without success.
In 1867, he led
another attempt to liberate Rome also without success. Garibaldi—the
lion of Caprera—longed day and night to liberate his land from
the roaring lion in the Vatican.
Pope Pius IX
was feeling more and more secure with the French garrison securing
the city and Garibaldi a prisoner on the island of Caprera. In July
1870, Vatican Council I declared him INFALLIBLE.
Then, like lightning,
disaster struck. France and Prussia went to war and the French garrison
had to be withdrawn. General Raffaele Cadorna led the liberating army
into the city and the fall the temporal power was complete.
Alessandro
Gavazzi (1809-1889).
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From
1860 until 1870, Alessandro (the Great) Gavazzi was
the chaplain and spiritual adviser to Garibaldi.
He
was an ex-monk like Saint Martin Luther and he knew
the corrupt Papal system from the inside.
After
the liberation, he became head of the evangelical Congregation
in Rome and throughout Italy.
He
was a true successor to the Apostle Paul—the founder
of the evangelical community in Rome. |
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Gavazzi
statue on the Janiculum Hill in Rome. |
Official
chronology of Giuseppe Garibaldi—the father of modern Italy
Year
|
Event
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| 1807 |
(July
4) Born at Nice or Nizza (at that time part of France), the
son of Domenico Garibaldi, a fisherman and coastal trader.
The Great Liberator of the old world was born on the 31st
birthday of the United States and just 2 years before the
Great Liberator of the New World, Abraham Lincoln, in 1809.
His birthplace Nice or Nizza was always part of Italy until
it was ceded to the French in 1796. |
| 1814 |
Nice
is once again joined to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. |
| 1824-33 |
Garibaldi
lives as a sailor in the Mediterranean and Black Sea. |
| 1832 |
He
acquires his master's certificate as a merchant captain. |
| 1833 |
In
touch with Mazzini's patriotic organization, Young Italy,
and visits its headquarters at Marseilles. |
| 1834 |
As
a naval rating in the Piedmontese navy, he takes part in a
mutiny for the republican cause. Sentenced to death by default,
after escaping to France. |
| 1835 |
Takes
casual jobs in France and with the Bey of Tunis. |
| 1836 |
Sails
for Rio de Janeiro from Marseilles in a 200 ton brigantine.
Garibaldi's
Brazilian wife Anita.
He meets his
Brazilian born wife Anita who becomes his companion-in-arms
and heroine of the Risorgimento. She was
just as brave as Garibaldi, often fighting side by side
with her hero husband. She died during the retreat from
Rome in 1849. |
| 1836-40 |
As
soldier, corsair, and naval captain, he fights for the break
away province of Rio Grande, in its attempt to free itself
from the Brazilian Empire. |
| 1841 |
He
tries his hand at various jobs-including cattle herdsman,
trader, and schoolmaster at Montevideo. |
| 1842 |
Put
in command of the small Orientale (Uruguayan) fleet against
Manuel de Rosas, the dictator of Argentina. |
| 1843 |
Also
becomes commander of the newly formed Italian Legion at Montevideo. |
| 1846 |
Wins
the "battle" of St. Antonio, after which a sword
of honor is subscribed for him in Italy. Lord
John Russell is appointed Prime Minister in Great Britain. |
| 1847 |
Briefly
in command of the defense of Montevideo. Offers his services
to Pope Pius IX but is refused. |
| 1848 |
(April)
Leads eighty of his legionaries back to Italy. (July) Vainly
offers to fight for the king of Piedmont. (August) In command
of a volunteer unit at Milan against the Austrians, and survives
two brisk engagements at Luino and Morrazzone. |
| 1849 |
(February)
As an elected deputy in the Roman Assembly (after the flight
of Pius IX), he proposes the creation of a Roman Republic.
(April) As a general of brigade, he beats off an attack
by the French at the St. Pancrazio gate of Rome. (May) Defeats
a Neapolitan army at Velletri. (June) Takes a principal
part in defending Rome against further French attacks. (July)
Leads a few thousand men from Rome through central Italy
to escape from French and Austrian armies. (August) After
disbanding his men in San Marino, he is chased at sea and
on land by the Austrians; his first wife, Anita, dies. (September)
As soon as he arrives back in Piedmontese territory, he
is arrested and deported as an undesirable.
Garibaldi carries
his dying wife on the beach.
Garibaldi
is pursued by 100,000 of the Pope's soldiers. His beloved
wife Anita, who is sick and pregnant, refuses to leave his
side and she dies on the beach. The Pope had placed an enormous
bounty on his head but not one Italian betrays him to the
Papal Army.
Pope
Pius IX blesses the victorious French Army at the Vatican.
Pope
Pius IX was the longest reigning Pope in history and the
great antagonist of Italian unity. During his reign the
firing squads and the scaffolds were kept busy day and night.
He urged the Austrians to set up the guillotine and he would
not allow railroads to be built in the Papal States! |
| 1849-50 |
Lives
for seven months in Tangiers, where he writes the first edition
of his memoirs. |
| 1850-51 |
Garibaldi
was offered a ticker tape parade up the "canyon of
heroes" in New York City. The Jesuits stirred up the
Irish Catholics against him and in order to keep the peace
he refused the offer. Of all the many world famous personalities
to have been offered this singular honor, Garibaldi remains
the only person to date to have refused it!!
Garibaldi
house on Staten Island, NY.
Garibaldi
stayed at this house on Staten Island, New York. It was
the home of inventor Antonio Meucci who is said to have
invented the telephone before Alexander Graham Bell!
Garibaldi
Monument in New York City.
Garibaldi
statue in Washington Sq. Park, downtown New York City. |
| 1851-52 |
Travels
to Peru. |
| 1852-53 |
As
a "citizen of Peru," he captains a clipper to the
Far East, returning to Lima via Australia and New Zealand. |
| 1854 |
Returns
by way of New York, carrying a cargo of coal from Newcastle
(England) to Genoa. |
| 1855 |
Engaged
to an English lady, Mrs. Emma Roberts. Buys part of the Island
of Caprera, north of Sardinia. |
| 1856 |
Comes
to England on a scheme (largely financed by individual British
politicians and British secret service funds) to buy a ship
and lead an expedition to release political prisoners in Naples;
but the ship is wrecked. |
| 1858 |
Goes
to Turin to meet Count Cavour, the Piedmontese Prime Minister,
who wants him to organize a corps of volunteers, in anticipation
of another war against Austria. |
| 1859 |
(April)
As a general in the Piedmontese army, he forms this corps,
the Cacciatori delle Alpi, and war begins. (May)
Takes Varese and Como, while the main Franco-Piedmontese forces
are fighting in the plain of Lombardy. (September) After the
armistice of Villafranco, Baron Ricosok gives him command
of the army of Tuscany. (November) When his project to on
the Papal States is overruled, he returns to civil life. |
| 1860 |
(April)
As deputy for Nice in the Piedmontese parliament at
Turin, he attacks Cavour for ceding Nice to Louis Napoleon,
Emperor of the French. (May) He sets out with a thousand volunteers
on a piratical raid against the forces of the Neapolitan Bourbons.
After an engagement at Calatafimi, he captures Palermo, the
capital of Sicily. (July) He wins the battle of Milazzo, near
Messina. (August) Crosses the Straits of Messina, eluding
the sizable Neapolitan navy. (September) After a lightning
campaign in Calabria, he captures Naples, the largest town
in Italy, and makes himself "Dictator of the Two Sicilies."
(October) After a major battle on the Volturno River, he holds
plebiscites in Sicily and Naples, and then gives the whole
of southern Italy to Cavour, proclaiming Victor Emanuel as
King of a united nation. (November) He returns to Caprera,
which now is his permanent home. |
| 1861 |
(April)
He attacks Cavour in parliament over the latter's ungenerous
treatment of the volunteers. (July) President Lincoln offers
him a command in the Union Army, but has to withdraw the offer
after a storm of protest from the Vatican. |
| 1862 |
(July)
He begins agitating in Sicily for another march on Rome, evidently
with some encouragement from the king and Rattazzi, the Prime
Minister. (August) Seriously wounded in a clash with Italian
troops at Aspromonte, in Calabria. (October) After being imprisoned,
he is granted an amnesty by the jing. |
| 1863 |
Resigns
from parliament because of martial law being applied in Sicily. |
| 1864 |
Triumphal
reception in England.
Garibaldi
welcomed in London.
A
reception given by the Duchess of Sutherland at Stafford
House.
The
whole country shut down for 3 days when Garibaldi visited
London in 1864. High and low received him except Queen Victoria
and the royal family. Thousands of children lined the streets
and they all chanted this little ditty:
We'll
get a rope,
And
hang the Pope:
So
up with Garibaldi! |
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| 1866 |
Leads
another volunteer army in a new war against Austria, after
which Venice is joined to Italy. |
| 1867 |
Again
attempts a march on Rome, but is beaten by Papal and French
forces at Mentana, and once again is arrested by the Italian
government. |
| 1870 |
Joins
republican France in the Franco-Prussian war, and is made
commander of an army in the Vosges....This is one of the most
important years in history. After 1260 years, Rome ceases
to be governed by the Popes and becomes the capital of the
new united Italy.
Map
of Italy after the fall of the Papal States.
The
Fourth Beast Papal Rome receives a deadly wound from the
sword of Garibaldi. |
| 1879 |
Comes
to Rome in an attempt to organize the parliamentary opposition
against Depretis, the Prime Minister. The Court of Appeal
annuls his twenty-year-old marriage to the Marchesina Raimondi,
so that he can marry a third wife, Francesca Armosino, by
whom he already has several children. |
| 1882 |
Garibaldi
in his golden years.
(June
2) Dies and goes to his eternal reward in Heaven.
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Links
Italian National Anthem
Garibaldi History
site at the University of South Carolina.
Garibaldi's
Letter to President Lincoln Updated
12-12-99.
Nuns
are not "twisted sisters" Vatican tells Italians: Special
report from the BBC
References
Burton,
Jean. Garibaldi: Knight of Liberty. Alfred A.
Knopf, 1945.
Campanella,
Anthony P. Garibaldi's Memoirs. South Carolina,
1981.
Davenport,
Marcia.Garibaldi: Father of Modern Italy. Random
House. New York, 1957.
Smith,
Dennis Mack. Garibaldi: Great Lives Observed.
Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, 1969.
Trevelyan,
George Macaulay. Garibaldi & the Making of Italy.
Longmans Green, New York, 1911.
Parris,
John. The Lion of Caprera: A biography of Giuseppe Garibaldi.
A. Barker, London, 1962.
Copyright
© 2010 by Niall Kilkenny
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