Page 43 - General Giuseppe GARIBALDI - english version

THE AMERICAN CAMPAIGNS 1836 - 1848 41

on Montevideo, Had sent ahead (in the style of his friend Rosas) a proclama-
tion threatening such terrible acts of cruelty, even against foreigners residing
in the city, that the intention of defending themselves at all costs, even hand-
to-hand inflamed everybody. It is for this reason the foreign legions were set
up: French, Spanish and Italian. This was the birth of the famous Italian
Legion of Montevideo of which our Hero was called to take the command.
The memory of the origins of the Italian Legion of Montevideo, which
would leave such a luminous mark of valour and glory in the American and
Italian campaigns, is tied to the adoption of the legendary red shirt, at first
used because of a convenient provision of red cloth acquired for the Legion,
and later adopted as the standard uniform of the legionnaires; as well as the
concession made to the Legion a few years later of the black flag adorned with
the image of the burning Vesuvius, symbol of the mourning for the far away
homeland still not redeemed and the passion of his children to free it from
slavery.
For about three years (from the beginning of ’43 to the end of ’45)
Garibaldi, with an exceptional activity, alternated around Montevideo his
functions of fleet commander, with those of commander of the Italian Legion
on land. In this latter function, in truth, he was bravely and with much intel-
ligence and ability, helped by the brave and famous Italian exile Francesco
Anziani, a great friend of his, from Brianza, exiled in ’21, already a valiant
fighter for the freedom of Greece, Spain, Portugal and France and now an
exile for many years in America occupied until now, with peaceful commerce.
Anziani proved to be a first rate organiser of the young Legion, particularly
for his unshakable firm hand with which he purged it of some insubordinate
elements that when it was first formed, marred it and demanded more sever-
ity that is to say indispensable iron discipline than Garibaldi, who being an
outstanding, but at times too naive and generous organiser, might not have
been able to obtain.
In this regard, the story of a characteristic scene told by the brave
Argentine general Bartolomeo Mitre in his “Memoirs” and of which he was
witness is famous. Referring to the figure of Garibaldi, he wrote:
«The last time I met him was by chance, in the quarter of the Italian
Legion. Anziani, his second, who was the iron rod of discipline in the Corps,
spoke to him like this when he was about to punish some legionnaires: “Go
away! You are not good at this!”. And Garibaldi obeyed in silence to his sec-