Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882), the sword

The romantic military hero of Italian unification. A republican who fought in revolutions in South America before returning to Italy. In 1860 Garibaldi led a force of about 1,000 volunteers (the Red Shirts) that conquered Sicily and southern Italy from the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. He then handed the conquered territories over to King Victor Emmanuel II, sacrificing his republican preferences for the sake of unification.