On 4 November 1847, he made himself conspicuous at Genoa by seizing the bridle of Charles Albert's horse and crying, "Pass the Ticino, Sire, and we are all with you.

"[2] He fought through the campaign of 1848, became captain under Giuseppe Garibaldi at Rome in 1849, taking prisoners an entire French battalion, and gaining the gold medal for military valour.

At the little village of Bronte, Sicily in Catania province, a revolt took place, claimed by Garibaldi to have been led by local criminals and bandits, which caused the massacre of 16 people including peasants, officers, nobles (including two children) and a priest; during the revolt, the town theater and municipal archives were set on fire.

[2] On 16 December 1873, he died of cholera at Aceh Bay in Sumatra en route for Batavia (modern-day Jakarta), where he was slated to take command of a commercial expedition.

In 1876, a small military expedition of the Dutch East Indian forces set out to pinpoint the precise spot, but met with disaster as several soldiers were brutally slain in the attempt.