Garibaldi - The Hero of the Two Worlds

Portrait of Giuseppe Garibaldi, C.1850, Unknown Artist

Homages to Giuseppe Garibaldi can be seen all over the world, from the biscuit to the cocktail, down to the colour of Nottingham Forest’s football shirt. Yet, the vibrant cult of the man himself, which flowered in the mid-1800s, has been lost to history. Garibaldi: the Hero of Two Worlds attempts to bring this legendary figure back into the public eye through a captivating true story of the man who battled for liberation on opposite sides of the world.

Early Life

Born on 4th July 1807, in Nizza (modern-day Nice), Garibaldi was the second eldest of five siblings, with brothers Angelo, Michele and Felipe and sister Maria Elisabetta. The family’s success on the coast of Nice meant they were able to give their children a strong education. Garibaldi had three private tutors, two priests and a layman all involved with his education.

House in which Garibaldi was born

Despite this, Garibaldi became a sailor around 1822 in the midst of his teenage years. Gaining ten years of experience, Garibaldi acquired a master’s certificate as a merchant captain and in the following years, Garibaldi’s role as a sailor would develop into naval service for the Piedmont-Sardinia Navy.

Garibaldi’s ventures at sea would open the door to revolutionary thought. To pass time on ventures Garibaldi read often and developed an interest in politics on principles of republicanism and democracy. He would find others with similar principles within Giuseppe Mazzini’s 1831 Giovine Italia (Young Italy) group, a secret revolutionary organisation. Garibaldi was first introduced to Mazzini by Giambattista Cuneo in 1833. Mazzini was infatuated with the idea of the United States and saw a similar future for Europe, however, the immediate goal of his Young Italy group was to unify the Italian kingdom into a centralised state and this was a similar ambition of Garibaldi.

Mazzini had identified the need for a condettiero, a military leader, within his Young Italy group. He also recognised that he could not fulfil such a role himself and needed to identify a potential candidate who could demonstrate leadership and organisation. The perfect candidate had arrived in the form of Giuseppe Garibaldi. Garibaldi’s involvement in the Piedmont-Sardinian Navy was a great opportunity to stir up a republican revolution within the naval forces and between 1833 and 1834 Garibaldi did so in the North-western port of Genoa. The result of a failed attempted coup in 1834 led to thousands of Young Italy members being identified and arrested, with 2,000 in Austria alone, and Garibaldi himself being forced into exile, initially fleeing to France. In Garibaldi’s absence, a Genoese court sentenced him to death upon return.

Exile to South America

In 1835, Garibaldi set sail for the coast of South America, at the time a hotbed of revolution and political turmoil, on the lookout for any revolutionary causes that he could serve. Garibaldi’s life and experiences in South America are among the least known of his entire career, yet it was here that the Italian revolutionary would leave a great mark, earning him the nickname ‘Hero of the Two Worlds’.

Garibaldi first found a cause in Brazil, where he joined the separatist republic of Rio Grande do Sul. Garibaldi served as a corsair for Rio Grande rebels, whose job was to prey on Brazilian shipping and harass their supply lines.

During his time in Brazil, he fell in love with a married woman, Ana Maria de Jesus Ribeiro da Silva, better known as Anita, a person who by all accounts was as adventurous and much a revolutionary as Garibaldi, who would remain by his side even during his battles, such as Imbituba and Laguna.

Garibaldi also first joined the Freemasons in Rio de Janeiro, a significant front organisation for Young Italy in South America, which became a crucial political network for much of the rest of his life. However, the war with Brazil was doomed to fail and Garibaldi was discharged from the Rio Grande in 1840 and compensated with a herd of cattle, he marched overland to Montevideo, Uruguay with Anita.

In 1842, he joined the complex and prolonged war of liberation between the government of Uruguay, led by General Fructuoso Rivera and the Argentine Confederation, under the dictatorship of Juan Manuel de Rosas. Garibaldi took command of a newly formed Italian legion of exiles and libertarians like himself. They were popularised by their distinctive Redshirts, taken as a ‘job lot’ from a slaughterhouse. This was effective on a symbolic level by affirming the association of red with liberty, republicanism, and the French Revolution. Furthermore, the flag of the Italian Legion depicted an exploding volcano on a black background, representing mourning over the enslaved fatherland, and the volcano, being Vesuvius, the patriotic fervour of the legionaries themselves.

Due to the victories achieved in 1846, most notably the Battle of San Antonio del Salto, Garibaldi’s fame grew within the Americas and back in Europe. Salto made Garibaldi a famous political and military actor, which resulted in much greater active interest in Garibaldi and his men from the press in Europe. A special issue of Il Legionario Italiano was published and entirely dedicated to the heroism of Garibaldi and his men; it included a letter from Garibaldi, official decrees and a poem and presented the battle as a symbolic moment in Italy’s recovery of past glory. At Salto, Garibaldi first established his trademark counter-attacking style; he would adopt a defensive line and absorb the impact of the enemy’s main bulk of attack and then outmanoeuvre it by launching a surprise counter-attack at its flanks, typically by means of bayonet charge.

Garibaldi during the battle of Sant'Antonio, 1846

South America was also crucial for Garibaldi’s revolutionary development, as it was in Rio Grande and Uruguay that he learned how to fight Guerrilla warfare. The kinds of battle in South America would prove invaluable when he returned to Italy; commanding untrained men of mixed backgrounds and capabilities against an enemy in superior numbers and relying on mobility and surprise to gain an advantage. It also marked the point where Garibaldi discovered in himself the qualities of an inspiring and talented leader of men, adept in professionalism and knowledge of military tactics. Garibaldi was increasingly trusted in South America with what he dubbed ‘Chivalrous enterprises’ which relied on the enthusiasm of the men and their leader, designed to confuse and demoralise the enemy. These acts of individual courage further the Uruguayan liberal cause in the international press.

Politically, in South America, Garibaldi attempted to identify war and soldiering with a higher moral cause. He rejected all promotions and rewards for himself. After the victory at Salto, he refused the rank of general and the offer of land and made sure his officers did the same. This meant he acquired the reputation of a ‘disinterested individual’, as well known for his poverty as for his courage and sacrifice.

Ultimately, it was in South America where Garibaldi discovered his true vocation, as a soldier hero. His military experiences clarified his core political ideals, especially his commitment to fighting oppression and upholding liberty and oppression wherever he felt it was threatened. It also showed the first fashioning of the Cult of Garibaldi and the building blocks of a greater Italian national community, as the Italian Legion and their leader in Montevideo became a powerful symbol of national pride and the vision of a ‘resurrected’ – virtuous and militant ‘new’ Italy.

Return to Italy

Finally, in 1848, Giuseppe Garibaldi returned to a fragmented Italy after his successes in the southern hemisphere. Garibaldi’s family had a long history with Italian independence, his father Domenico joined the failed 1794 revolution against the Genoese government and his grandfather Giovanni was a member of the secret society ‘Carbonari’ that advocated republican principles and unification. So when he returned to Italy he was determined to carry out what his ancestors had started.

The arrival of Garibaldi in Italy coincided with ‘The first Italian War of Independence’ which had the primary objective to unite the kingdoms within Italy into one. This war of independence was part of the European ‘Springtime of the Peoples’ which was a movement across Europe centered around republican values. Garibaldi travelled around Italy offering his services to the various factions around Italy who he believed shared his dream of a unified Italy and is best known for his leadership of the ‘Red Shirts’ in the battle of Santa Lucia.

However the revolution ended in defeat for Garibaldi and again he was forced into exile, this time choosing the United States as a new place of refuge. From there Garibaldi then travelled extensively throughout South America again and even as far as Manilla and South Shields where he was greeted as a hero and presented with a ceremonial sword. Furthermore, during this visit to South Shields, the popular Garibaldi biscuit was named after him and the first made in 1861, showing Garibaldi’s international popularity.

Garibaldi returned to Italy in 1854 but the revolutionary fire had not left him and he began to plan his next expedition from his home in Caprera. Named the 'Expedition of the Thousand’ and having the support of 1000 volunteers along with the British government, the aim of this expedition was to unify Italy against the Bourbon monarchy in ‘The Kingdom of two Sicily’s’. The expedition was a huge success and had popular support as well as key victories in Palermo and Naples of which Garibaldi declared himself dictator. This expedition created a turning point in the unification of Italy as it gave people hope and showed that unification could be achieved. The expeditions showcased how popular Garibaldi’s ideas were and from using guerrilla warfare these ideas could be spread throughout Italy and upset the monarchy. Eventually, this expedition started a domino effect that eventually led to the fall of the Bourbon monarchy and a unified Italy under the Piedmontese monarchy.

Garibaldi departing on the 'Expedition of the Thousand' in 1860

In Garibaldi’s later life, he did not shy away from public service and served in the Italian parliament in 1861 as well as being a symbol of republican unified Italy. Garibaldi's military campaigns did not stop either and in 1866, he led a force in support of Venetian independence during the Austro-Prussian War. Finally, in 1870, he helped capture Rome which was the final step in unifying Italy. Garibaldi's last years were marked by personal tragedy such as the deaths of many of his children along with his wife. He also faced waning political support as his ideology did not agree with the ruling class in Italy. He died in 1882 at the age of 74, and his funeral was attended by thousands of people who came to pay their respects to one of Italy's greatest heroes.