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On May 5th 1960, Italy issued a 60 lire stamp to commemorate the "Expedition of the Thousand ". These men, 1,072 in all, captured for Italy an island with an area of almost 10,000 square miles and a population of almost 4,000,000. "The Thousand ", as they have come to be known, were captained by Giuseppe Garibaldi. In the dead of the night of May 5, 1860, on board two vessels "loaned" by the shipping firm of Rubattino and Company of Genoa, the small expedition steamed out of Quarto, near Genoa, and landed at the port of Marsala, Sicily on May 11 to face a Bourbon army of 23,000. Yet the conquest of Sicily had been virtually completed by the end of August. Garibaldi went on to conquer the Kingdom of Naples thus uniting Italy.
The 60 lire stamp, engraved by E. Donnini after a painting by G. Induno, shows " The Thousand" embarking from the rock of Quarto, with the two Rubattino vessels, the Piemonte and Lombardia, in the background. Both these iron screw-steamers were built at Palmer's Yard, Newcastle, the Piemonte in 1863 and the Lombardia in 1862, for Florio Rubattino.
SG1019. Sea Breezes 10/60

The PIEMONTE was built in 1849 by Reid & Co. at Port Glasgow for Sir James Matheson and the Duke of Sutherland, Stornoway.
Built as an iron hulled passenger paddle steamer.
29 September 1848 launched as the MARQUIS OF STAFFORD.
Tonnage 365 gross, dim. 50.27 x 7.10 x 3m. (draught)
Powered by a 160hp steam engine.
February 1849 completed.

March 1849 in service between Stornoway and Poolewe (Loch Ewe), Scotland until 1851.
1851 Sold to Rubattine & Co, Genoa Italy and renamed PIEMONTE.
13 March 1852 commenced regular service between Genoa and Naples, at that time she carried 35 passengers.
Soon transferred to the postal service between Cagliari and Tunis.
In the night of 5/6 May 1860 was she confiscated by some partisans under command of Nini Bixio in Genoa to transport the men from Garibaldi’s Expedition of the Thousand, 1,072 in all, from the Quarto near Genoa to Sicily.
On 5 May she with LOMBARDO sailed for Sicily and after a call at Talamone for refuelling sailed for Marsala.
11 May the men landed ad Marsala to face a Bourbon army of 23,000 troops.
The conquest of Sicily was a step in Garibaldi’s effort to unite Italy.
Arriving in Marsala the PIEMONTE entered the harbour and moored alongside the pier between some British merchant ships, but the PIEMONTE came under fire of the Bourbon Forces, and was abandoned, but later that evening was she again captured by Real Marina del Regno delle Due Sicily (Navy of Sicily)
She was towed to Naples by the frigate STROMBOLI, were she was laid up as a unit of the Sicilian Navy, the owner Rubattino was compensated for the loss of his vessel with 150,000 Lire.
Garibaldi by a decree of 5 October ordered that the two ships should be preserved in memory of the expedition.
1861 Was she stricken.
1866 Against the orders of Garibaldi she was sold and demolished.
The stamp is designed after painting made by the Dutch painter Paul Tetar van Elven (1823-1896) which shows the men transported to the two ships in small boats on 05 May 1860.
http://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/illust ... /163235859

Italy 1960 60L sg1019, scott798.
Source: Miramar. http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/v ... sp?id=4381 Log Book Vol. 10/176 .
Wikipedia.

(The two vessels as given in Sea Breeze are the wrong vessels built in 1863 that was after the expedition took place in Italy.)

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Gabor Csernussi