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What happened when Giuseppe Garibaldi’s volunteers fought French troops at Mentana in 1867?

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Portrait of Giuseppe Garibaldi wearing a beret and cloak, with a full beard and mustache, looking toward the camera. — Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Garibaldi, c. 1860–82.

In 1867, Giuseppe Garibaldi led a private expedition into the Papal States with the goal of furthering Italian unification. Although this campaign was secretly subsidized by the Italian government, political mismanagement of the situation ultimately forced France to intervene.

At the Battle of Mentana, French troops defeated Garibaldi’s volunteers. Following the defeat, the Italian government arrested Garibaldi to conceal its own complicity in the expedition, though he was soon released and returned to his home on the island of Caprera.1