Garibaldi and his thousand volunteers land at the Sicilian port town of Marsala

After a two day voyage from Tuscany, Giuseppe Garibaldi and his 1087 strong force landed on Sicily at the port of Marsala in the early afternoon on May 11, 1860.  Although several Neapolitan warships arrived and briefly bombarded the invaders, the port was taken without a fight and the entire force and its supplies were ashore by the end of the afternoon.  The following morning the force marched inland towards Salemi and the interior of the island.  (By John Osborne)