Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"On May 6, 1860, he left Genoa, with his men on board two old paddle steamers, the Lombardo and the Piedmont. They reached Marsalla on May 11. . . . The scene was now set for an amazing climax to the whole process of Italian unification. Palermo fell to Garibaldi's red-shirted 'Thousand'--actually there had been around 1200 on the two vessels--and with success they gain support. Soon Sicily was his. Naples went the same way, and in October, Garibaldi transferred the territories to King Victor Emmanuel, who was crowned king of Italy the following year." [Furtado: 1001 Days] Victor Emmanuel II was King of Italy from 1861 to 1878; He united Italy with his chief minister Cavour and Garibaldi's forces; After War of Unification against Austria in 1859, most of N. Italy united with Sardinia-Piedmont; Garibaldi conquered Sicily and Naples in 1861; Venice joined in 1866 & Rome in 1870;