Giuseppe Garibaldi

Giuseppe Garibaldi was born on July 4, 1807 in a family of coastal traders in Nice in present day France. His father Domenico Garibaldi was a pilot in a trading ship. His mother Maria Rosa Nicoletta Raimondo was a pious woman, who wanted Giuseppe Garibaldi to join priesthood. However, Garibaldi followed his father’s footstep and went to the sea at the age of fifteen.

In 1832, he received certification as a merchant marine captain. In 1833, he sailed to Russian port of Taganrog. There he met Giovanni Battista Cuneo, a member of the La Giovine Italia movement of Giuseppe Mazzini. He joined the group and took oath to unify Italy and free his homeland from foreign dominance.

Garibaldi met Mazzini in 1834. In 1835, he took part in a mutiny that aimed to establish a republic in Piedmont. However, it failed and Garibaldi was condemned to death by a Genoese court in absentia. He then fled to Brazil.

Garibaldi lived in South America from 1836 to 1848. At this time, the continent was going through political turmoil. In Brazil, Garibaldi volunteered as a naval captain for Republic of Rio Grande do Sul, which was then trying to break away from Brazil. However, the endeavor did not succeed.

Garibaldi had by that time met his future wife Ana Ribeiro da Silvaor or Anita. In 1841, the couple moved to Uruguay and tried to settle down to a civilian life. However, it did not suit him and so in 1842, he took command of Uruguayan fleet and raised an Italian Legion to fight against the Argentinean dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas.

From 1842 to 1848, Garibaldi’s troop defended Montevideo; managed to occupy Colonia del Sacramento and Isla Martín García; won the Battle of Cerro and the Battle of San Antonio del Santo (1846). Tales about his heroic deeds reached Europe and engaged the attention of many renowned men.

His struggle in South America taught him the techniques in guerilla warfare. They came handy while fighting the French and Austrian troops, who were not trained in this type of combat. He decided to go back to Italy with the election of Pope Pius IX, known to be a liberal.

Back in Italy

On realizing that his political goal was at that point unreachable, Garibaldi decided to go back to sea and earn his living, as a temporary measure. In 1851, he went To New York to procure a ship. However, he did not have enough money for the purchase and so he tried his hands in other trades; but did not succeed.

On April 1851, he left New York with a friend and reached Lima, the capital of Peru, in the end of the year. The residences of the city welcomed him warmly. Here he gained employment as a commander of a trading ship and travelled to different parts of the world.

Later, he bought a ship with collaboration of another Italian merchant and set sail for England in November 1853 and arrived at Newcastle on March 10, 1854. At the end of April, he set sail for Genoa, Italy, arriving there on May 10, 1854.