The Hunters of the Alps () were a military corps created by

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

Cuneo Cuneo (; ; ; ) is a city and in Piedmont, Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in the south-west of Piedmont, at the confluence of the ri ...

on 20 February 1859 to help the regular Sardinian army to free the northern part of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in the Second Italian War of Independence. As their name suggests, the corps' five regiments of volunteers operated in the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

. Among their victories in the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859, were those over the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

ns in the

Battle of Varese The Battle of Varese was fought on 26 May 1859 at Varese (Lombardy). It was an engagement of the Second Italian War of Independence, fought between the Italian volunteers formation of the Hunters of the Alps, led by Giuseppe Garibaldi, against A ...

and the

Battle of San Fermo The Battle of San Fermo, which took place the 27 May 1859 at a pass near Como in the northern part of Lombardy, was an engagement of the Second Italian War of Independence in which the Italian volunteers of Giuseppe Garibaldi's Hunters of the Al ...

. They also saw action during the

Third Italian War of Independence The Third Italian War of Independence () was a war between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austrian Empire fought between June and August 1866. The conflict paralleled the Austro-Prussian War and resulted in Austria giving the region of Venetia (p ...

in 1866, fighting on the Prussian side against the Austrians. On this occasion, the 40,000 volunteers showed their value by achieving a decisive victory at the

Battle of Bezzecca The Battle of Bezzecca was fought on 21 July 1866 between Italy and Austria during the Third Italian War of Independence. The Italian force, the Hunters of the Alps, were led by Giuseppe Garibaldi, and had invaded Trentino as part of the gener ...

(21 July 1866), and thus nearly reaching the town of

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin language, Ladin and ; ; ; ; ; ), also known in English as Trent, is a city on the Adige, Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the Trentino, autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ...

. The 22nd Infantry Division "Cacciatori delle Alpi" of World War II was named after the ''Hunters of the Alps'' unit.

References

''A History of the Nations and Empires Involved and a Study of the Events Culminating in the Great Conflict''
by Logan Marshall, Project Gutenberg Etext - Chapter IX. "Garibaldi and Italian Unity"

Footnotes

{{Italy-mil-stub Military units and formations of the Wars of Italian Independence Military units and formations of Italy Military units and formations established in 1859 Military units and formations disestablished in 1866 1859 establishments in Italy Giuseppe Garibaldi 1866 disestablishments in Italy

See also

References

Footnotes