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Blavatsky & Garibaldi
Guiseppe Garibaldi (1807 – 82)
Regarded as the most significant figure in the struggle for Italian
independence
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was
not just an intellectual or theoretical "warrior for light." In 1867
she spent several months traveling in Europe. On November 3 she was in the town
of Mentana, north and east of Rome. On that day the Battle of Mentana was fought
between the Italian patriot Garibaldi and the French. The battle was one of a
number of fights fought in Italy's struggle for independence. Blavatsky
participated, with other women, in the battle in support of Garibaldi.
Blavatsky apparently sustained
five wounds including being shot in the right shoulder and a broken left arm.
(Garibaldi's force, some 4,000 strong, was beaten at Mentana by a combined
French and papal force of some 5,000 soldiers, primarily because the French
troops made use of the new breech-loading Chassepot musket. This weapon gave
them a distinct advantage over Garibaldi's Redshirts. However it is not known
if Madame Blavatsky was wounded by such a rifle.)
H P Blavatsky often wore the
Red Shirt of the Garibaldi followers for many years after the battle and was
wearing it when she met Colonel Olcott.
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