Page 275 - General Giuseppe GARIBALDI - english version

POMPILIO SCHIARINI *

THE 1866 CAMPAIGN

After the passage of forty years on sea and on land, fighting and facing
danger, difficulties and hardship that would have exhausted anybody else,
Garibaldi was “failing in age”. Thus he spoke from the terrace of a hotel in
Lecco to a multitude of volunteers crowded in the square listening with mys-
tic fervour.
Physically – and only physically – the years, the arthritis that often tor-
mented him, the after-effects of the wound received in Aspromonte, had in
part lessened that extraordinary activity of his that in Calatafimi, Milazzo, at
the Volturno had allowed him to see, digest and encourage – as leader and
fighter – those improvised armies with his almost superhuman charm. But
he was vigorous as ever in the clear intellect, the unyielding courage and the
calm and almost heedless of the danger; in his strong and unshakable faith.
With that greatness of soul that in solemn moments could make him rise
above minor political disagreements and miserable party competition and
that contributes to elevating his stature in history, he who already was dicta-
tor in one Kingdom and commander in chief, accepted “with sincere grati-

* Pompilio Schiarini (Cortona, 1855 - Rome, 1935) started his military career in 1877 as simple
Bersaglieri soldier, and then he was appointed as Sergeant of the Bersaglieri Corps. Subsequently he
attended the Military Academy in Modena and finished his studies with the rank of Second Lieutenant
in 1882. He participated in the military operations in Eritrea in 1885-87 and in 1896. As captain, he
was assigned to the Historical Office of the General Staff Headquarters and served as such from 1903
to 1905, when he was transferred to the reserve on account of age. In the subsequent years, he wrote
some essays of military history, among which the remarkable I Mille nell'Esercito, (The Thousands in
the Army) Rome, 1911, and collaborated with many magazines, such as Nuova Antologia, Rivista
Militare Italiana e Rassegna Contemporanea. Recalled to service during WWI, he was assigned to sever-
al units with tasks of great responsibility. At the end of the conflict he had achieved the rank of Colonel,
and in the post-war period he obtained a career advancement and was appointed Brigadier General for
his exceptional merits. He resumed his activity as writer and published, among other things, the vol-
umes L'Armata del Trentino 1915-1919, (The Trentino Army from 1915 to 1919) Milan, 1926, and
L'offensiva austriaca nel Trentino, (The Austrian Offensive in Trentino) Rome, 1929.