Expedition of the Thousand

A 1860 campaign in which Giuseppe Garibaldi and about a thousand volunteers invaded Sicily and conquered the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, advancing Italian unification.

Marsala landing: The 11 May 1860 landing of Garibaldi’s volunteers at Marsala, western Sicily. This landing established the expedition’s foothold on the island.
Italian unification: The nineteenth-century political movement and process that united most Italian states into one kingdom. The expedition accelerated the unification process by conquering the southern kingdom.
Giuseppe Garibaldi: An Italian nationalist and military leader who commanded the Expedition of the Thousand. He led the volunteers from the Sicilian landing through the conquest of Naples.
Meeting of Teano: The 26 October 1860 meeting at which Garibaldi recognized Victor Emmanuel II as king of the conquered southern territories. The encounter transferred Garibaldi’s conquests to the Savoy monarchy.
Second Italian War of Independence: The 1859 war in which Piedmont-Sardinia and France fought Austria, expanding Piedmontese power in northern Italy. Unlike this state-led war, Garibaldi’s campaign began as a volunteer invasion.
Battle of Calatafimi: A 15 May 1860 battle in which Garibaldi’s volunteers defeated Bourbon forces near Calatafimi, Sicily. The victory helped persuade Sicilian communities to join the uprising.
Giuseppe Mazzini: An Italian nationalist thinker and republican revolutionary who promoted a unified Italian nation. Mazzini’s republican networks helped inspire volunteers and revolutionary activity in Sicily.
Victor Emmanuel II: King of Sardinia who became the first king of a unified Italy in 1861. Garibaldi handed him the conquered southern territories at Teano.
Kingdom of Italy: The state proclaimed in 1861 that united most of the Italian peninsula under the House of Savoy. The expedition’s conquests formed the largest territorial addition to the new kingdom.
Mille expedition to Trentino: An 1866 volunteer campaign led by Garibaldi during the Third Italian War of Independence. It reused Garibaldian volunteer methods but pursued a different territorial objective.

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