Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Garibaldi, Giuseppe

GARIBALDI, Giuseppe, Italian patriot, b. in Nice, 4 July, 1807; d. in Caprera, 2 June, 1882. He followed the sea from his earliest youth, and in 1836 want to Rio Janeiro, where he engaged in the coasting trade. In 1837 he offered his services to the revolted Brazilian province of Rio Grande do Sul, and commanded a fleet of gunboats. After many daring exploits he was forced to burn his vessels, and went to Montevideo, where he became a broker and teacher of mathematics. He took service in Uruguay in the war against Rosas, and was given the command of a small naval force, which he was obliged to abandon after a battle at Costa Brava in June, 1842. Garibaldi then organized the famous Italian legion, with which for four years he fought numerous battles for the republic. In 1845 he commanded an expedition to Salto, where he established his headquarters, and toward the end of the year he resisted with 500 men for three days the assault of Urquiza's army of 4,000. In Feb., 1846, he repelled at San Antonio, with scarcely 800 men, Gen. Servando Gomez with 1,200 soldiers. In 1847, when he heard of Italy's rising against Austrian dominion, he went to assist his country, aeoompanied by a portion of the Italian legion; but after taking part in several unsuccessful attempts, including the defence of Rome against the French in 1849, he sailed in June, 1850, for New York. On Staten island he worked for a time with a countryman manufacturing candles and soap, and in 1851 he went by way of Central America and Panama to Callao, whence he sailed in 1852 in command of a vessel for China. Early in 1854 he returned to Italy, where he lived quietly in the island of Caprera. At the opening of war against Austria in 1859 he organized the Alpine chasseurs, and defeated the enemy in several encounters. After the peace of Villafranca he began preparations for the expedition which was secretly encouraged by the government. Having conquered Sicily and being proclaimed dictator, he entered Naples in triumph in September, 1860, but afterward resigned the dictatorship and proclaimed Victor Emmanuel king of Italy, declining all proffered honors and retiring to Caprera. In 1862 he planned the rescue of Rome from the French, and again invaded Calabria from Sicily, but was wounded and captured al Aspromonte, 29 Aug., 1862, and sent back to Caprera. In June, 1866, during the Austro-Prussian war, be commanded for a short time an army of volunteers, and on 14 Oct., 1867, he undertook another expedition to liberate Rome, but was routed by the papal troops and the French. He entered the service of the French republic in 1870, and he organized and commanded the chasseurs of the Vosges. In 1871 he was elected to the Italian parliament, and took an active part in politics till the end of his life. In 1888 the Italians in New York erected a bronze statue of him by the late Giovanni Turin which was unvailed in Washington square in 1888. He wrote several novels, including "Cantoni il volontario" (Genoa, 1870); “Clelia, ovvero il governo monaco; Roma secolo XIX” (1870), which in the same year was translated into English under the title of “The Rule of the Monk, or Rome in the 19th Century”; “Il frate dominatore” (1873); and a poem, “Le Mila di Marsala” (1873). Many biographies of Garibaldi have been written, including those by W. Robson (London, 1860); by Theodore Dwight, (New York, 1860); and by Mrs. Gaskell (London, 1862). An interesting autobiography appeared after his death, under the title “Garibaldi: Memorie autobiografiche” (Florence, 1888).