L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D e a r R e a d e r s , G i u s e p p e Garibaldi (1807 - 1 8 8 2 ) w a s c o n - tacted by our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, during the Civil War (1861-1865) and offered the rank of Major General in the Union Army, but he did not accept. D u r i n g t h i s p a t r i o t i c month of July, let me recycle and refresh your memory and mine on this Italian Con- nection to US history. Garibaldi was born in the then-Ligurian city of Nice on July 4, 1807. When Garibaldi went to s e a a s a m e r c h a n t , t h e northern sections of the country were largely under the control of the Austrian Empire. The southern regions, including Sicily, were ruled b y S p a n i s h - B o u r b o n kings. The Pope was regard- ed as absolute sovereign in Rome and most of central Italy, while the Kingdom of Sardegna, with its capital in the Piemontese city of Tori- no, was governed by what m i g h t b e c o n s i d e r e d a n authentically Italian admin- istration. As a sailor, Garibaldi visit- e d m a n y p o r t s . I n 1 8 3 3 , while docked in Marseilles, the young seaman was intro- d u c e d t o m e m b e r s o f the Young Italy Society. The Society was an under- ground organization pledged to the task of driving the for- eign regimes from Italy and uniting the land as a modern republic. The organization t o l d h i m t o e n r o l l i n t h e R o y a l P i e m o n t e s e N a v y a n d t o o r g a n i z e a r e b e l l i o n a m o n g f e l l o w sailors. In the Navy's eyes this amounted to mutiny and in 1834 Garibaldi was sen- tenced to death. Garibaldi was forced to flee Italy and his travels in exile eventually took him to South Ameri- c a . T h e r e h e b e c a m e involved in the struggle for independence of areas of Brasil and Uruguay, which l e d h i m t o a l m o s t t w e l v e years of guerilla warfare. While trying to outfit his m e n i n M o n t e v i d e o h e bought a supply of smock- like red shirts intended for local slaughterhouse work- ers. The red color camou- flaged the animal's blood. T h i s w a s t h e o r i g i n a l G a r i b a l d i ' s R e d S h i r t uniform. A charismatic man with brownish-red hair flowing to his shoulders, he was adored by his soldiers, Italian exiles, and Anita, a biracial woman of Portuguese and African descent and the woman who shared his adventures and later bore his children. With Anita by his side, Garibaldi successfully led the defense of the Republic of Uruguay in its war against Argentina. It was during this campaign that he organized his famous, red-shirted "Ital- i a n L e g i o n . " I n 1 8 4 6 , t h e Legion won a surprising vic- tory although outnumbered and Garibaldi's reputation as a clever, capable commander was firmly established. In 1848, Garibaldi and his Legion left South America and sailed back to participate in the long-awaited liberation of their homeland. The small b u t h e r o i c K i n g d o m o f Sardegna had taken up the l i b e r a t i o n c a u s e a n d w a s engaged in war with the pow- erful Austrian Empire. Sadly, the war proved disastrous for Sardegna, and Austria gradu- ally regained control over northern Italy. The following y e a r , G a r i b a l d i a n d h i s Legion led the defense of the glorious but tragically ill- f a t e d R o m a n R e p u b l i c . Again, Garibaldi was forced to flee his homeland. This time, he sailed to the United States. Garibaldi arrived in New York City on July 30, 1850. He lived in the United States as a guest of Antonio Meucci, the hapless inventor of the t e l e p h o n e . T h e y l i v e d i n Meucci's cottage on Staten Island, which now houses the Garibaldi Meucci Museum. The ascension of Vittorio Emanuele II to the Sardin- i a n t h r o n e b r o u g h t n e w hopes for Italian liberation during the next decade. An alliance with Louis Napoleon of France resulted in renewed war with Austria in 1859 and Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. Garibaldi was called to take command of a special Italian r e g i m e n t k n o w n a s t h e Alpine Chasseurs. The war was successful and added the region of Lombardy to the Kingdom of Sardegna (which was now referring to itself proudly as the Kingdom of Italy). I n 1 8 6 0 , G a r i b a l d i invaded Sicily with 1,000 red-shirted volunteers, and in a brilliant, spectacular campaign he succeeded in liberating all of southern Italy from the tyrannical Bour- b o n s . V i t t o r i o E m a n u e l e , meanwhile, had invaded cen- t r a l I t a l y a n d p e n e t r a t e d southward to meet Garibaldi near Naples. There, Garibaldi handed over his conquests to the Sardinian monarch: for the first time in 2000 years, Italy was united. In 1866, Italy reopened its war with Austria to liberate the region of Venezia, which still remained in the enemy's hands. The war was success- ful. With the Italian libera- tion completed, Garibaldi took to the battlefield again in 1870 to defend the French Republic against the invading Prussians and, though the conflict ended with a defeat f o r F r a n c e , G a r i b a l d i emerged as the only general in the French forces who did not surrender his sword to the enemy. The closing of the war was also the closing of his active career. Stiffened by arthritis and tired from decades of continuous struggle, white- haired and aging, he settled quietly on his humble island farm of Caprera off the Sar- dinian coast, where he died in 1882.

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