Week 18
Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) is the fourth man in the quartet of the founders of unified Italy. Garibaldi was the most popular of all the leaders of the Risorgimento. More popular than the King himself. Garibaldi was a man of action; he was a military leader, a hero on a horse, a romantic figure with a romantic story, a fascinating wife who fought at his side.
He contributed to Italian unification (Risorgimento) and the creation of the Kingdom of Italy. He is considered to be one of Italy's "fathers of the fatherland", along with Camillo Benso di Cavour, King Victor Emmanuel II and Giuseppe Mazzini. In 1860, he led the Expedition of the Thousand on behalf of, and with the consent of, Victor Emmanuel II, King of Savoy. The expedition was a success and concluded with the annexation of Sicily, Southern Italy, Marche and Umbria to the Kingdom of Savoy before the creation of a unified Kingdom of Italy on 17 March 1861. His last military campaign took place during the Franco-Prussian War as commander of the Army of the Vosges.
