Page 56 - General Giuseppe GARIBALDI - english version

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54 GENERAL GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

But there were no specific destinations or goals. «There were signs of
attempted revolts in the peninsula – he wrote in his “Memoirs” – but should
that turn out not be the case, we were persuaded to try our luck at instigat-
ing them, by disembarking on the woodland coasts of Tuscany, or where our
presence could be more welcomed and timely”.
The fourteen years of continuous fighting, the many battles fought and won,
gave to Garibaldi the knowledge of his ability and value; moreover, he thought
that the fame of his feats had earned him such prestige, also in Italy, that wher-
ever he went the people would be fired by it and be enthusiastic for military
action. He therefore had full confidence in himself. Had he not possessed this
virtue – which for a commander sometimes is more precious than brainpower
and knowledge – he wouldn’t have ventured to cross the ocean and seek his for-
tune in unknown situations, ignoring even the possibility that the capital pun-
ishment levied against him in 1834 in Piedmont had not been forgotten.
Another thought occupied his mind: Italy had been divided for too many
centuries for a single party to prevail and set it free and unify it. Therefore,
although a republican by nature and education, taking on board the dangers
of divisions he set about that undertaking in the spirit of being an Italian and
not as a factious supporter; he did not hesitate to sign a letter to Pious IX and
clearly expressed his conviction in his Instructions that he delivered to
Giacomo Medici, who, in February, preceded him to Italy to prepare the
ground for that undertaking: “Most of all, you will bear in mind – he wrote
– that our goal is to go back to our homeland not to contrast the present trend
of things and the Governments that consent to it, but to join with the just, and,
together with them, act, for the sake of our Country, but that we would pre-
fer to act against the Germans, if the possibility arose, against whom the
wraths of all must be incessantly turned …”
In the second part of his Instructions, he then ordered Medici, who was
then a fervent republican, to consult with Mazzini and other patriots so that
they could endeavour to incite war in the provinces not yet in turmoil and
prepare men and means for him to succeed in that undertaking. Since 1846
Garibaldi, who had corresponded for some years with the great agitator, had
expressed to him his plan to sail off with his legion, disembark on some
Italian coast and proclaim the insurrection; it was therefore natural for
Garibaldi to turn to him, since his knowledge of men and things could help
Garibaldi and provide him with advice and support in the choice of the most
suitable places and means for this action.