Giuseppe Garibaldi: The Red Gaucho
Charles E. Lewis
HIST 230: Modern Latin America
John Pollitz
April 2, 2002
Garibaldi is not to be judged as a professional soldier of modern armies
but as the greatest master. . .of [the] human activity known as
revolutionary war. . . .Garibaldi was the right man in the right time and
place.
G.M. Trevelyan, The Making of Italy1
If anybody enjoyed revolting, it was this guy.
Brett Silva, History Teacher2
In our modern world we have seen the rise and fall of governments, almost becoming
habituated to these events. During most of our lifetimes beginning with the fall of the communist
government of Poland, one after another, nations behind the Iron Curtain collapsed or were
overthrown, culminating in the demise of the Soviet Union. Even now, additional governments
may fall before America’s War on Terrorism is finished. However in the 18th and 19th centuries,
successful revolution was a new phenomenon. In the 1770s, the United States of America fought
and won a revolution against her mother country, Britain, setting the stage for future successful
revolutions. A republican revolution swept France before the end of the 18th century, leading to
Napoleon’s march across Europe. The ensuing Napoleonic Wars created a political maelstrom
for years to come.
“Giuseppe Garibaldi: Liberator of Italy [1807-1882],” The Pirandello Lyceum, 2002,
<http://www.pirandello.com/garibaldi.html> (27 March 2002).
2
Brett Silva, "1848 Personalities," Pleasant Valley High School Home Page, 5 March 2001,
<http://www.pvhs.chico.k12.ca.us/~bsilva/projects/revs/1848pers.html> (27 March 2002).
1
2
Out of these turbulent times, historic alliances formed; wars were fought; and most
current European national borders coalesced. However, there were two notable exceptions: Italy
and Germany. Giuseppe Garibaldi was the hero of the wars for Italian unity, eventually defeating
princes, principalities, and the Papal States, handing the crown of a united Italy to Victor
Emmanuel, King of Sardinia-Piedmont. Many know of Garibaldi, “[t]he foremost military figure
and popular hero of the age of Italian unification known as the Risorgimento”3 and “one of the
greatest guerrilla fighters of all time.”4 But few know of Garibaldi, the Latin American
revolutionary. Latin America is where he learned the art of fomenting revolution and honed his
military skills. I contend that Garibaldi’s experiences in Latin American forged the steel of his
revolutionary courage, nurturing the development of the future “hero of two worlds.”5
Beginning at the End
As historians develop understanding of a subject by beginning at the end, we can begin to
understand Giuseppe Garibaldi’s Latin American experience by examining his later
achievements. Historically, why do we know of Garibaldi? For one, Alexandre Dumas wrote
about him. Dumas, one of the great French authors of the 19th and 20th centuries, wrote fiction
and nonfiction. Perhaps his best known works are The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three
Musketeers. During the course of Dumas’ travels, he joined Garibaldi in Italy during the final
battles of the Risorgimento, writing his Memoires de Garibaldi in 1860. Through Dumas’
accounts of Garibaldi’s heroism, the legend of Giuseppe Garibaldi lives today.6
Frank J. Coppa, “Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882),” Encyclopedia of 1848 Revolutions, 22 April 1998,
<http://www.cats.ohiou.edu/~Chastain/dh/gari.htm> (27 March 2002).
4
Charles F. Delzell, “Giuseppe Garibaldi,” Rod Cuff’s Web Site, 22 May 1999,
<http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/rodcuff/garibald.htm> (27 March 2002).
5
Delzell, “Giuseppe Garibaldi.”
6
Alexandre Dumas, “Memoires de Garibaldi,” The Anthony P. Campanella Collection of Giuseppe
Garibaldi, 24 June 1999, <http://www.sc.edu/library/spcoll/hist/garib/garib6.html> (27 March 2002).
3
3
Were we to stroll through the streets of Rome or Milan or Naples, we would not be
surprised to find monuments to heroes of Italian unification. However strolling through
Washington Square Park in New York City, why would we find a statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi?
First, Garibaldi was a heralded resident of New York, working as a candle maker and eventually
becoming an American citizen.7 Of note, after Garibaldi’s victories in Italy, he was offered
command of the Union Army by a desperate Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War.8
Historians have written about Garibaldi’s accomplishments during the Risorgimento. The
scope of this report does not include proving Giuseppe Garibaldi’s greatness. This writer chooses
to quote from the Special Collections Web Site of the Library of the University of South
Carolina which brilliantly encapsulates Garibaldi’s ultimate fame:
Giuseppe Garibaldi devoted his life to the cause of Italian unity. His greatest
triumph was the 1860 overthrow of the Kingdom of Naples, the event which
precipitated Italian unification. In May of that year, Garibaldi landed in Sicily
with a volunteer force of 1070 men (the "Thousand"). Within two weeks this
force had taken the city of Palermo, forcing the capitulation of an army of 20,000
regulars. In August Garibaldi crossed to the Italian mainland, routing the
Neapolitan army in a series of victories and capturing Naples itself within the
month. Garibaldi's March became one of the great legends of the nineteenth
century, both because of the genius with which Garibaldi overcame vast military
odds, and, equally importantly, because of the potent political symbolism of the
event in an age in which ethnic and cultural groups increasingly responded to
“Giuseppe Garibaldi: Liberator of Italy.”
Rory Carroll, “Garibaldi asked by Lincoln to run Army,” The Guardian, 8 February 2000,
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,235796,00.htm> (27 March 2002).
7
8
4
nationalism's call in a Europe still dominated by the dynastic power blocs of an
earlier age.9
However, Garibaldi’s success during the Risorgimento was his third attempt at unifying
Italy. Looking further back we find Garibaldi fighting in the great social revolutions of Europe
during the Eighteen Forties. Being a Forty-Eighter, Garibaldi fought for republican reform
amongst the principalities of Italy, his second attempt at unifying Italy. “Wearing his colorful
gaucho costume, Garibaldi returned to Italy in April 1848 to fight in its war of independence.”10
Although failing miserably, Garibaldi’s heroism became legendary. A rather poignant drawing of
Garibaldi carrying his pregnant, dying wife, Anita, on his back during their flight after the fall of
the fledgling Roman Republic was circulated to illustrate the struggle for Italian unification.
“The dramatically tragic circumstances of her death placed her firmly in the front rank of the
heroes of the Risorgimento.”11
Arriving at the Beginning
Giuseppe Garibaldi was born in Nice, France, on July 4, 1807 to an Italian merchant
marine family. Leaving home for the merchant marine first with his father and then on other
boats, Garibaldi toured exotic ports of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, learning the life of a
sailor.12 Encountered and bested by pirates, Garibaldi survived by his wits, relying on a
marvelous chain of luck, earning a captain’s certification in 1832.13
Roger Mortimer, “The Anthony P. Campanella Collection of Giuseppe Garibaldi,” Rare Books and
Special Collections, 24 June 1999, <http://www.sc.edu/library/spcoll/hist/garib/garib.html> (27 March 2002).
10
Delzell, “Giuseppe Garibaldi.”
11
Giuseppe Bandi, “Anita Garibaldi,” The Anthony P. Campanella Collection of Giuseppe Garibaldi, 24
June 1999, <http://www.sc.edu/library/spcoll/hist/garib/garib6.html> (27 March 2002).
12
Peter de Polnay, Garibaldi (New York: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1961), 11-13.
13
Coppa, “Giuseppe Garibaldi.”
9
5
Initiated into a conspiracy to unite the many states of Italy into one nation, Garibaldi
found himself companioned with Giuseppe Mazzini, “the Prophet of Italian nationalism,” in an
abortive republican uprising in Piedmont in 1834.14 Notably, Mazzini was intent on extirpating
the Papal States and thus the temporal power of the Catholic Church as a necessary step in
uniting Italy.15 Garibaldi enlisted in the Sardinian Navy as part of the conspiracy in order to
affect a mutiny on the ship, Eurydice. Failing to accomplish his mission, he deserted. Escaping
the military of several states and a sentence of death, Garibaldi eventually made his way to
Marseilles, living for two years under an assumed name. Only escape to a new land would allow
Garibaldi to live openly under his own name. 16
The Gaucho Finds his Red Shirt
In 1836, having survived his first abortive attempt at Italian unification, Garibaldi arrived
by boat in Brazil. Authors have cited the machismo17 character prevalent in South America. Peter
de Polnay in his biography of Garibaldi describes South America saying:
South America was then and in many ways still is the continent of men. To be a
man is essential; to be a man is the beginning and the end, and you have to prove
on every occasion you are one. . . .In short, it is the continent of cojones18, with
which Garibaldi was well endowed.19
And, it was in South America where the Legend of Garibaldi began.
Delzell, “Giuseppe Garibaldi.”
Peter de Polnay, Garibaldi, 22.
16
Peter de Polnay, Garibaldi, 27.
17
Machismo is a Spanish term for an exaggerated sense of masculine attributes characterized by
aggressiveness and domination of women.
18
Cojones is a Spanish term which literally means testicles.
19
Peter de Polnay, Garibaldi, 28.
14
15
6
There has been a propensity for Italian immigration to South America. Upon arrival in
Rio de Janeiro, Garibaldi encountered a successful Italian émigré community. Borrowing money
from another Italian, Garibaldi purchased a small vessel, intending to earn his living as a trader.
Failing to earn a living wage, Garibaldi enlisted his services and that of his boat to fight for the
upstart Republic of Rio Grande do Sul in their war for independence from the Empire of Brazil.20
This revolution has been described as the most dangerous Brazilian separatist movement due to
its location in a province adjacent to Argentina.21
History is replete with stories of a few brave men accomplishing the impossible against
seemingly insurmountable odds. Usually, we read of one man and one occasion; however, the
legend of Giuseppe Garibaldi entails several instances of personal courage while overcoming
seemingly insurmountable odds. As captain of his boat, the Mazzini, Garibaldi sailed into the
Platte River, captured a Brazilian schooner, and immediately sank his smaller boat, having no
further need of it. Garibaldi sailed the Platte River in his newly acquired warship, terrorizing
both Brazilian and Argentine shipping, earning the nickname, El Diablo.22
Perhaps Garibaldi’s greatest conquests were not at sea but in the hearts of women. It has
been said that he never allowed women to say no to him. Meeting and marrying Anita, a healthy
young woman who was at that time already married, Garibaldi gained his greatest ally. Anita is
said to have killed three men during a battle on their wedding night. She fought above decks
during battles at sea. Romantics have described her giving birth to their four children in the
saddle amongst the thick of battle. This was the Anita, pregnant and dying, who Garibaldi carried
20
Peter de Polnay, Garibaldi, 29.
Thomas E. Skidmore and Peter H. Smith, Modern Latin America, (New York: Oxford University Press,
2001), 140.
22
El Diablo is a Spanish term which literally means “the Devil.” Peter de Polnay, Garibaldi, 31.
21
7
on his back during their flight at the fall of the Roman Republic. This is the Anita who is
celebrated in the lore of the Italian Risorgimento.23
Garibaldi and Anita eventually moved to Uruguay, settling in Montevideo. Montevideo
was blockaded in 1845 by squadrons of the Argentine Navy. Being fed up with the Uruguayan
Navy’s inactivity, Garibaldi entered a tavern frequented by sailors, asking for volunteers. After a
night of drinking, Garibaldi and a crew of twenty slipped through the blockade on his schooner
in broad daylight. As expected, an Argentine warship followed. During the cover of darkness,
Garibaldi and his crew stole aboard and captured the warship. The next morning, Garibaldi sailed
back to Montevideo in his prize, dispersing the enemy blockade.24 Again, the pattern of history
repeats itself. Garibaldi attacked a superior enemy, trading up to a larger ship, and winning the
day.
Garibaldi fought on land as well as sea, earning his reputation as a guerrillero.25 The
Argentine Army led by the dictator Rosas swept into Uruguay, destroying the Uruguayan Army
at the battle of Arroyo Grande. Garibaldi found himself in command of a small force of freed
former slaves and a collection of foreign exiles in defense of Montevideo. Commanding the
“Redshirt” Italian Legion, Garibaldi defeated the Argentinean Army at the battle of San Antonio
in 1846, saving Uruguayan independence and greatly enhancing his reputation as an army
commander.
During the defense of Montevideo, Garibaldi developed the tactic which would propel
him to victory: audacity. Taking a force of 200 volunteers, Garibaldi attacked the Argentine
Army comprised of over 1200 soldiers in broad daylight, inflicting heavy casualties. At the end
23
24
Peter de Polnay, Garibaldi, 36-42.
Peter de Polnay, Garibaldi, 34-35.
8
of the five-hour battle, Garibaldi found himself in command of the field.26 Garibaldi had proven
the truism, “He who dares, wins.”
While engaging in his great escapades in South America, his longtime friend, Mazzini,
was publishing his exploits in Apostolato Popolare in London.27 By the time Garibaldi sailed
back to Italy in 1848 with his sixty-plus volunteers to rejoin the fight for Italian unification, he
was already famous. And, incredible as it might seem, the Legend of Garibaldi was only
beginning.
The Latin American Experience
Why was Garibaldi’s Latin American experience unique? Above all, it was uniquely
American. Removed from the rigidity of formalized European discipline, Garibaldi developed
his unorthodox more egalitarian leadership style which was suited to the character of the
volunteers with which he fought. Lacking consistent supplies, without pay, fighting with
criollos28 from a society which is less hierarchical than the European model and was lacking in
many formal institutions, Garibaldi had to adapt himself to the situation. Relying on the cultural
tradition of the caudillos29, the strongman, Garibaldi used the lessons of his American
experience. Garibaldi capitalized on his volunteer’s commitment to leader and cause, exercising
personal power of command to fuse a ragtag volunteer force into a ferocious fighting machine
the likes of which no one was prepared to face.30
25
Guerrillero is a Spanish term for an unconventional warrior from which we derive the term guerrilla.
Peter de Polnay, Garibaldi, 35.
26
Dennis Mack Smith ed., Garibaldi: Great Lives Observed (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc.,
1969) 89.
27
Peter de Polnay, Garibaldi, 35.
28
A criollo is a person of European extraction born in the Americas.
29
Caudillo is a Spanish term for an authoritarian leader, usually a soldier or former member of the military
who seized power by force. Skidmore, Modern Latin America, 38.
30
Malcolm Deas, “Garibaldi and South America” History Today 32 (December 1982): 16.
9
What effect did Garibaldi have on the lives of the peoples of Latin America? Historians
have written about many of Garibaldi’s contemporaries taking lessons learned from Garibaldi,
employing strategies and techniques in successful and unsuccessful republican revolutions in
Latin America. Malcolm Deas in his article, Garibaldi and South America, cites Argentine
Bartholomew Mitre and Mexico’s Benito Juarez as having been directly influenced by
Garibaldi’s methods and successes. However, Deas’ comparison of Fidel Castro’s insertion into
Cuba with a small cadre of true believers–this writer concurs with Deas’ crediting Garibaldi as
Castro’s inspiration and model–is the most striking example of Garibaldi’s influences.31
What is the historical significance of Garibaldi’s Latin American experience? Garibaldi’s
Latin American experience can be seen as a continuation of his earlier fight for republicanism in
Italy and as a developmental stage prior to his heralded success in the 1860s. Garibaldi fought
against the Empire of Brazil for the fledgling Republic of Rio Grande do Sul and against the
Argentine dictator, Rosas, while in Uruguay. Arriving on scene in Europe in the midst of the
social revolutions of 1848, Garibaldi brought his unorthodox leadership style and sixty-plus
volunteers acculturated in the guerrillero culture, ready to foment revolution amongst the
peoples of the many principalities of Italy.32 In fact, the princes and principalities and, more
importantly, the traditional military of these principalities were not prepared to fight so
unconventional an enemy.33 Through audacity and surprise, Garibaldi won the day, over and
over, eventually liberating and unifying the modern nation of Italy, accomplishing his lifelong
mission.
Deas, “Garibaldi and South America,” 21.
Deas, “Garibaldi and South America,” 18.
33
Mortimer, “The Anthony P. Campanella Collection.”
31
32
10
Conclusion
Communists, socialists, and leftists proudly claim the color red for their banners and
titles–the Red Brigade, Red October, the Red Guard. How many socialists know that Giuseppe
Garibaldi instituted use of the color red by revolutionaries? “It was in Uruguay that the legion
first sported the red shirts, obtained from a factory in Montevideo which had intended to export
them to the slaughter houses of Argentina.”34 The shirts were a practical solution to several
problems. The shirts served as an impromptu uniform for Garibaldi’s volunteers which did not
differentiate between officers and regular soldiers, allowing for a more informal command style.
Additionally, these red shirts made sighting reinforcements and/or deserters easier; as the
informality of Garibaldi’s military discipline led to a continual flow of fighters both in and out of
the ranks. It was to become the symbol of Garibaldi and his followers.”35
But more than just the acquisition of red shirts, Garibaldi’s Latin American experience
was the furnace which forged his revolutionary spirit, providing invaluable lessons necessary for
future successes. “In South America, Garibaldi learned and mastered the techniques of guerilla
warfare which he was to use to great effect against the armies of the French and Austrians, which
lacked effective experience to counter them.”36 When Garibaldi returned to Italy with his South
American volunteers, sporting their gaucho costumes and red shirts, a new class of warrior was
born: the political revolutionary.
Even though Italy never became the true republic Garibaldi envisioned–expedience
required his handing over the newly formed nation to King Victor Emanuel–Garibaldi lived to
see his vision of a united Italy. Was Garibaldi an enemy of the Catholic Church? Perhaps;
Coppa, “Giuseppe Garibaldi.”
Deas, “Garibaldi and South America,” 16-17.
36
Mortimer, “The Anthony P. Campanella Collection.”
34
35
11
perhaps not.37 “Disillusioned in later life with politics, he declared himself a socialist.”38 After
researching Garibaldi’s life, I get the impression he always was a socialist; there just was not a
name coined to describe his revolutionary zeal when he was a young man.39
This writer cannot do justice to a great American like Giuseppe Garibaldi in this brief
report. This writer believes immigrants like Garibaldi bring with them a vitality which continues
to make America, north and south, great. In closing, this writer chooses to quote from a brief
biography:
Whether sailing the Mediterranean on his father's ship, conspiring with the young
men of Genoa, fighting the battles of Uruguay, raising cattle on the Pampas,
defending the barricades of Rome, fleeing from peasant hut to hut in Italy, leaving
his dying wife to be buried by strangers, making candles in New York City,
commanding a merchantman on the Atlantic, or leading his red-coated soldiers on
the slopes of Sardinia, whether dining with an English lord and resting in fine
linen or eating a sausage with a sailor in a back alley, he was at all times the same
simple, rugged, unselfish, incorruptible, fearless Joseph Garibaldi, the friend of
the people, a man with one idea: the freedom and liberty of the Italian people.40
This is the essence of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Red Gaucho.
37
An excoriating web site which claims Garibaldi as a hero for destroying the Papal States and the
temporal power of the Papacy can be found at “Life and Times of Giuseppe Garibaldi,” Reformation Online, 22
March 2002, <http://www.reformation.org/garibaldi.html> 27 March 2002.
38
Delzell, “Giuseppe Garibaldi.”
39
Karl Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto in late 1847. Garibaldi had been an active socialist and
revolutionary from the 1820s. Karl Marx, “The Communist Manifesto,” Reference Writers Encyclopedia of
Marxism, Unknown, <http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/index.htm> (28
March 2002).
40
“Joseph Garibaldi,” Simply Biographies, Unknown,
<http://www.sacklunch.net/biography/G/GaribaldiJoseph.html> 27 March 2002.
12
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Bandi, Giuseppe. “Anita Garibaldi.” The Anthony P. Campanella Collection of Giuseppe
Garibaldi. 24 June 1999. <http://www.sc.edu/library/spcoll/hist/garib/garib6.html> (27
March 2002).
Coppa, Frank J. “Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882).” Encyclopedia of 1848 Revolutions. 22 April
1998. <http://www.cats.ohiou.edu/~Chastain/dh/gari.htm> (27 March 2002).
Carroll, Rory. “Garibaldi asked by Lincoln to run Army.” The Guardian. 8 February 2000.
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,235796,00.htm> (27 March
2002).
Deas, Malcolm. “Garibaldi and South America.” History Today 32 (December 1982): 16-21.
Delzell, Charles F. “Giuseppe Garibaldi.” Rod Cuff’s Web Site. Copied by permission from the
New Grolier Encyclopedia. 22 May 1999.
<http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/rodcuff/garibald.htm> (27 March 2002).
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<http://www.reformation.org/garibaldi.html> 27 March 2002.
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and Special Collections. 24 June 1999.
<http://www.sc.edu/library/spcoll/hist/garib/garib.html> (27 March 2002).
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<http://www.pvhs.chico.k12.ca.us/~bsilva/projects/revs/1848pers.html> (27 March
2002).
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