1859 Sardinia and France, in alliance, defeated
Austria. In this war were made the substantial beginnings from which a
new Italian nationality was to be realized. Italian unity was not the
object of Napoleon III in his alliance with Italy against Austria, but
he did much to advance its prospects. He even promised the complete
liberation of Italy, but this promise he failed to fulfil, to the great
disappointment of Italian statesmen. Napoleon wished to see an Italian
confederation, with the Pope at its head, but this plan was rejected.

Sicily and Naples, in Southern Italy, were still governed by a Bourbon
prince. It was necessary to get rid of him, but Victor Emmanuel did not
desire another war. The matter was decided through the action of
Garibaldi, whose first step toward ending the last remnant of Bourbon
rule in Italy was a bold descend upon Sicily. This movement he made
against the wishes of Cavour and in furtherance of the plans of "Young
Italy." His own account of his landing at Marsala and of the Battle of
Calatafimi--regarded by him as one of the most memorable in his military
experience--is as characteristic of Garibaldi the man and writer as were
his exploits characteristic of Garibaldi the soldier.

The events that quickly followed Garibaldi's descent upon Sicily marked
the beginning of a new era in Italian history. After his victory at
Calatafimi Garibaldi moved toward Palermo, the capital. On May 24th the
Bourbon troops of Francis II, king of the Two Sicilies, marched out of
the city to meet him. By shrewd tactics Garibaldi outmaneuvre them. On
the 26th he marched on Palermo with about three thousand men, and
attacked the city on the 27th. The battle was a confused struggle of
military and civilians, many citizens of Palermo, armed with "daggers,
knives, spits, and iron instruments of any kind," taking part, in favor
of Garibaldi, in the street-fighting that accompanied the more regular
conflict. The city fell through revolt of the people and defection of
the King's troops rather than by the assaults of Garibaldi's men,
"twenty thousand soldiers of despotism" capitulating "before a handful
of citizens" self-devoted in the cause of freedom.

By June 6th Garibaldi had complete possession of Palermo; other
successes in his famous campaign of liberation followed rapidly; and his
final triumph was achieved in the later events so eloquently described
by Probyn, the historian of Italy's progress through her most