The Garibaldi Legion (or Garibaldians; pl, Legion Garibaldczyków / Garibaldczycy; it, Legione Nullo / Garibaldini ) was a small unit of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

volunteers who fought for

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

independence in the

January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

of 1863. The unit was named after the Italian revolutionary and nationalist

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, patr ...

, organized in Italy by his son

Menotti Garibaldi Domenico Menotti Garibaldi (16 September 1840 – 22 August 1903) was an Italian soldier and politician who was the eldest son of Giuseppe Garibaldi and Anita Garibaldi. He fought in the Second and Third wars of Italian Unification, and organ ...

and led by the general

Francesco Nullo Francesco Nullo (1 March 1826 – 5 May 1863) was an Italian patriot, military officer and merchant, and a close friend and confidant of Giuseppe Garibaldi. He supported independence movements in Italy and Poland. He was a participant in the ...

Nullo was a supporter of the Polish cause, and called for volunteers in his hometown of

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

. Having gathered a number of volunteers, he arrived in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

from Italy in April 1863. The Italians crossed the borders of

Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...

on May the 3rd near

Krzeszowice Krzeszowice (german: 1941-45 Kressendorf) is a town in southern Poland, situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. As of 2004, its population was 9,993. Krzeszowice belongs to ''Kraków Metropolitan Area'', and lies 25 kilometers west of the ...

and joined a group of Polish insurgents led by colonel

Józef Miniewski Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

. That day the unit's first battle in Poland occurred at Podłęże where they defeated a Russian force. Subsequently, on May the 5th, the unit took part in the Battle of Krzykawka, where it suffered heavy casualties; Nullo was killed together with the Polish commander Miniewski; Nullo's

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

Elia Marchetti was mortally wounded and died several days later. A number of Garibaldians were taken prisoner and deported to Siberia after the battle while others managed to escape the battlefield and returned to Italy. Most sources estimate the strength of this unit to have been about twenty men.Monica Gardner
An Italian Tragedy in Siberia
The Sewanee Review, Vol. 34, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1926), pp. 329-338 While the military contribution of the Garibaldi's Legion was minimal, it was vividly remembered as a symbol of foreign support for the Poles and their cause. A number of streets, schools, and other monuments/locations in many cities in Poland are named in honor of Nullo or his unit.

References

January Uprising Military units and formations of Poland Italy–Poland relations Giuseppe Garibaldi {{mil-unit-stub