The Carabinieri Genovese were formed in 1851 as a rifle association.
The club was heavily influenced by the desire for Italian unity and many members were involved in the failed 1857 plot in Milan, Garibaldi's Cacciatory delle Alpi in 1859 and the Mille that set sail for Sicily with Garibaldi in 1860.
The uniform is on display in the Risorgimento museum in Genova.
This bust is displayed at the Risorgimento museum in Genova.
It's an old school museum in transition, now having some multimedia displays.
Yet, it has an intreaguing collection because nationalists and revolutionaries Mazzini and Garibaldi had links to the city. Mazzini lived in the building for a while.
The museum doesn't expect non-Italians, I guess. There were few English texts and promotional material is only in Italian.
This momument was erected around 1890 in Tortona to commemorate those fallen in the Risorgimento battles.
The period spans from 1848 to 1867
.
The list of battlefields includes all those I knew and a few more: Milano, Santa
Lucia, Peschiera (1848) Novara (1849), Palestro, San Martino, Peschiera, Solferino (1859), Milazzo (1860), Custoza, Villafranca, Montesuello (1866) and one battle from 1867 which I can't decipher and can hardly imagine. Not sure whether there was much fighting in 1867, or maybe this guy died of his wounds.
In terms of lives, the 1859/60 campaign was the most costly: 27 lives were lost, of which 10 at Solferino. The 1848/49 war cost 10 lives, and the 1866 campaign 5.
Remarkably, there are three deaths credited to the Crimea in 1854/1855, possibly the Battle of the Chernaya, but equally likely deaths of disease. It is interesting to see the Italians reckoning their participation in the Crimean War so directly to the Risorgimento. A quid pro quo for French intervention in Italy in 1859.
Anyway, 45 deaths in 20 years was a considerable sacrifice for an agricultural community.
