he statesman, Cavour, such a demand did come in the year
1859. Cavour, by clever diplomacy, had brought on a war between the
Austrians and the French and with the aid of the powerful nation of
France the Italians were victorious at the battles of Magenta and
Solferino.

But while France was willing to fight the Austrians, the French were
unwilling to have Italy at their doors as a united nation, and a peace
was agreed upon between the two great powers in which Italian liberty
was ignored. All the work of Garibaldi seemed to have been useless. All
of his great sacrifices were apparently thrown away by the statesmen
and diplomats who were forced to accede to the French and Austrian
terms.

But the peace of Villafranca, as this agreement was called, was only
the beginning of Garibaldi's greatness. He hastened to Genoa, where,
with one thousand and seventy followers, he seized two steamers and
embarked for Sicily. Sicily had revolted on hearing of the peace terms
and Garibaldi had been invited to go there and aid the revolution.

After a voyage of six days he landed at Marsala where a tremendous
welcome was given to him. The Neapolitan fleet was not far off, but
they did not dare to open fire on the little band of revolutionists on
account of British warships nearby, as Great Britain was known to favor
the revolutionary cause.

With Garibaldi at the head of an indomitable little army, the
Neapolitan soldiers were put to flight at the battle of Calatafimi and
Garibaldi advanced upon the city of Palermo. After heavy fighting the
city was taken, and afterward at the head of about two thousand men,
Garibaldi routed an army more than three times the size of his own. All
Sicily was soon in Garibaldi's possession, and now, with a considerable
army at his back, he crossed over to the Italian mainland and advanced
northward, with his enemies fleeing before him. Finally he captured the
city of Naples and his work was completed.

Without any hesitation Garibaldi turned over his conquests to King
Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia, who, after Garibaldi's successes, had
marched against Naples and was now in control of a large part of the
Italian peninsula. After refusing many rewards Garibaldi retired again
to the island of Caprera, but in 1862 he raised a volunteer army and
marched against Rome in an attempt to overthrow the power of the Pope
which he believed must be destroyed before Italy could ever become a
united nation.

King Vic