Seafaring and wars across continents
Born in Nice on 4 July 1807, when the city was under French rule, Garibaldi became a sailor and traveled in the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Contact with republican activism led to involvement in preparations for the failed Genoese rising of 1834 and flight abroad.
During the later 1830s and 1840s he fought in southern Brazil and Uruguay, developing experience with volunteer forces. Returning to Italy in 1848, he fought against Austrian power and helped defend the Roman Republic in 1849. His wife Anita died during the subsequent retreat; exile and seafaring followed.
References: [1]
The expedition and transfer of southern rule
In May 1860 Garibaldi sailed from near Genoa and landed at Marsala on 11 May. Taking provisional authority in Victor Emmanuel’s name, he fought at Calatafimi, entered Palermo, crossed to the mainland and reached Naples on 7 September. His forces expanded into a southern army.
Victory intensified disagreements with Cavour over annexation and the future of volunteers. Garibaldi met the king near Teano on 26 October, transferred authority and withdrew to Caprera. Military initiative and royal state-building converged without eliminating competing political ambitions.
Rome and Caprera
Rome remained outside the kingdom in 1861. In 1862 the government stopped another volunteer expedition by force at Aspromonte, where Garibaldi was wounded and detained. His damaged boot, bandages and stretcher survive in museum collections. A renewed attempt ended in defeat at Mentana in 1867.
Caprera was also a home and working farm. Tools, books and household objects survive alongside military possessions, documenting activity beyond campaigns. Garibaldi remained politically engaged, including advocacy of universal suffrage, before his death on the island on 2 June 1882.