3-008-944 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Garibaldian prisoners on their way from Aspromonte to the forts of Genoa - from a sketch by M. Beaucé, 1862. '...a detachment of 200 of the youthful patriots on their way up to the forts on the coast of Genoa...The Aspromontian captives were escorted militarily by a number of the Royal Carbineers, aided by certain police agents...[The] prisoners...were nearly all young men of from eighteen to twenty-four years of age, badly dressed, some almost in rags, many without shoes and bareheaded. Several had much trouble to proceed, tired and worn out by the fatigue and privations they had lately undergone. Their condition was an evident proof of the inaccuracy of General Cialdini's statement, in his official report of the Aspromonte affair, to the effect that large sums of money had been distributed by Garibaldi to his followers...which led to their surrender - a statement that has since been indignantly denied...by several of the respectable young men who...had persevered in their fidelity to the liberator...with all the ardour of youth, in an attempt to carry out what must be dear to every honest Italian's heart. It is well they should be spared the humiliation of a trial, for their country may yet stand in need of their services'. From "Illustrated London News", 1862.