Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 2: A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in History
History
Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 2: A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in History
Biography
Escaping from his tormentor by the intervention of the Governor of
Gualeguay, Paolo Echague, Garibaldi crossed from the territories of
the Plate into those of the Rio Grande, and faithful to the cause of
that republic, he fought with better success, winning battles,
storming fortresses, standing his ground with a handful of men, or
even single-handed, against incredible odds, beating strong squadrons
with a few small vessels, giving through all proofs of the rarest
disinterestedness, humanity, and generosity, disobeying orders to sack
and ravage vanquished cities, and exercising that mixture of authority
and glamour over his followers which almost enabled him to dispense
with the ties of stern rule and discipline. At last, after losing a
flotilla in a hurricane on the coast of Santa Caterina, where he
landed wrecked and forlorn, having seen his bravest and most cherished
Italian friends shot down or drowned, he fell in with his Anita--not,
apparently, the first fair one for whom he had a passing fancy--with
whom he united his destinies, for better for worse, in life and till
death, in some off-hand manner, about which he is reticent and
mysterious. Anita turned out almost as great and daring and
long-enduring a being as her heroic mate, and was by his side in all
fights by land and sea, till the fortunes of the Republic of Rio
Grande declined, when, after giving birth to her first-born, Menotti
Garibaldi, September 16, 1840, she went with that infant and his
father through unheard of hardships and dangers in the disastrous
retreat of Las Antas; when at last, Garibaldi, beginning to feel the
responsibilities of a growing family, and despairing of the issues of
an ill-conducted war, took leave of his Republican friends at Rio
Grande and went for a short respite in his adventurous career to
Montevideo.
After trying on the journey to find employment as a cattle-driver,
Garibaldi settled at Montevideo in the capacity of a general broker
and teacher of mathematics; but war having broken out between the
Republic of the Uruguay and Buenos Ayres, the Condottiere was
solicited to draw his sword for the former state which afforded him
hospitality, and was trusted with the command of a little squadron
destined to operate on the Parana River against a largely superior
Argentine force. This expedition was contrived by enemies high in
power in the Montevidean Government, who, jealous of the reputation
won by Garibaldi at Rio Grande, vainly plotted to have him
assassinated with his friend Anzani, and hoped to rid themselves of
him by exposing him to dangers from which it seemed impossible that he
could extricate himself. Garibaldi, however, made the best of his
desperate position, and escaped, not only with his life, but also with
"honor--the only thing that was not lost."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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