Garibaldi's Thousand: From Genoa to Teano

Quarto, outside Genoa, is where it starts. Garibaldi had set up headquarters in Villa Spinola, and by May 1860 he had gathered 1,089 volunteers, wearing red shirts and carrying obsolete muskets. On the night of 5 May, Nino Bixio's men seized two steamers in Genoa from the Rubattino shipping company. The Thousand embarked from a rock directly in front of the villa, now known as the Scoglio dei Mille.

Two days out, Garibaldi had no ammunition or gunpowder. On 7 May he put in at Talamone on the Tuscan coast, where he knew a military fort stood. From the Sardinian army garrison there he recovered three old cannons and a hundred rifles, officially taking them as major general of the royal army. Talamone's name is still linked to the expedition today.

Location precision: The expedition stopped at the port; the pin marks the town of Talamone, not the exact fort or quay.

On 11 May 1860 the two steamers reached Marsala, the westernmost point of Sicily. Luck helped: two Royal Navy ships were in the port, which deterred the Bourbon warships from interfering. Only after everyone had landed was the Lombardo attacked and sunk, while the Piemonte was captured. By 12 May 200 Sicilian volunteers, led by the Sant'Anna brothers, had joined the Redshirts.

Location precision: The landing was at Marsala, but the exact quay is not recorded here; the pin marks the town.

Four days after landing, the first real fight came on a terraced hill called Pianto Romano. The Thousand, flanked by 500 Sicilian insurgents, had to attack uphill against around 3,000 royal troops under General Francesco Landi. Garibaldi is said to have cried "Here we make Italy, or we die". An ossuary shrine on the hill, topped by an obelisk and inaugurated on 15 May 1892, holds the remains of the dead from both sides.

Visitor guidance: The Pianto Romano ossuary stands on a hill a few kilometres southwest of Calatafimi town.

On 27 May 1860 the Ponte dell'Ammiraglio was the scene of a famous battle between the Redshirts and the Bourbon army, and the Redshirts went on to take the city, often fighting street by street. A British admiral organised an armistice, and on 6 June the Bourbon troops defending the city capitulated. The bridge, completed in 1131, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015.

Visitor guidance: The bridge is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Palermo.

Milazzo was different from Calatafimi. For the first time Garibaldi's men faced a Bourbon commander determined to fight, in a battle that ran from 17 to 24 July 1860. Garibaldi was stronger now, with 8,000 rifled carbines and 400,000 cartridges arriving from Piedmont, though his men lacked the training to use their range. He arrived by ship aboard the City of Aberdeen, a steamer chartered with money raised in Scotland. The Bourbon commander surrendered with honours on 1 August.

Location precision: The battle took place in and around the town; the pin marks Milazzo, not a single battlefield spot.

Having wrested the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from the Neapolitan Bourbons, Garibaldi met Victor Emanuel II, King of Sardinia, on 26 October 1860. He shook the king's hand and hailed him as King of Italy, giving up republican hopes for the sake of Italian unity under a monarchy. The scene became a popular subject for Italian patriotic statues and paintings.

Location precision: The meeting is placed at Teano, but the exact spot is not recorded here; the pin marks the town.