Page 47 - General Giuseppe GARIBALDI - english version

THE AMERICAN CAMPAIGNS 1836 - 1848 45

Finally the powerful intervention of the Anglo-French fleet overcame the
Argentinian fleet. The estuary of the Plata was freed of the ships belonging to
that overbearing Republic, and Buenos Ayres was blocked by the ships of the
allies. The Argentinian troops besieging Montevideo lost their communica-
tion by sea with their capital and had to resort to using the Argentinian
provinces near the Uruguay River to get the needed supplies. This new situ-
ation created the necessity for Uruguay to restart as soon as possible the cam-
paign in the province, that is at the back of the besiegers and take away from
them that base and finally free the country of the tyrannical invader. Between
the English Commodore, the French admiral and the Government of
Montevideo a daring expedition along the big Uruguay River was planned
and decided on, placed under the leadership of a commander of exceptional
valour, considering the extreme importance and the enormous difficulties
that such undertaking presented.
Once again the choice fell on Garibaldi, who had previously carried out
the famous expedition on the Paranà with great courage and fortune. For this
new undertaking he was given the rank of supreme commander of the navy
and land troops that would have taken part in this. On the whole the expe-
dition was to sail with 15 ships, some whaling-boats and minor vessels and
the Italian Legion as landing troops plus 200 oriental men under the leader-
ship of colonel Battle and about 100 horsemen with 24 guns pieces. This was
the start of Garibaldi’s last great undertaking in America, gloriously conclud-
ed with the famous victory of San Antonio.
The campaign along the Uruguay River, that began near the end of 1845
and ended with the famous battle mentioned (8-9 February 1846), is the sec-
ond masterpiece of Garibaldi’s warrior genius, after the splendid result given
in his wonderful campaign on the Paranà River.
In this Uruguaian campaign he can prove even more clearly and complete-
ly his magnificent qualities of leader. It can be said that this is the major gen-
eral test through which the Hero proves his maturity and readiness (for the
good fortune of Italy) for any type of decisive military action, on land or on
the sea, and in the most varied and difficult situations.
In order not to go on in the telling of his story, we will limit ourselves to
only mention the fantastic succession of the events of this campaign, each of
them taken in isolation would deserve a much more detailed and particular
description. In return, after a quick and very concise narration, we will try