This manuscript (36 pages) consists of letters that John Whitehead Peard wrote to an unidentified correspondent about his activities in Italy between May and November 1860. Peard discussed his military service under Giuseppe Garibaldi and Giacomo Medici in Sicily and Naples during the wars of Italian unification, including his travels and his experiences during the Battle of Milazzo. He referred to troop movements and military news, sometimes involving Neapolitan and Papal State forces as well as Garibaldi's units. Peard described visits to several cities, including Genoa, which he greatly admired, and Cefalù.
John Whitehead Peard was born in Cornwall in July 1811, the son of Shuldham Peard (ca. 1761-1832) and Matilda Fortescue. After earning his bachelor's and master's degrees from Exeter College, Oxford, in 1833 and 1836, Peard was called to the bar. In 1838, he married Catherine Augusta Richards. Peard served in the Duke of Cornwall's infantry regiment from 1853-1861 and traveled to Italy in 1860, where he volunteered for service under Giuseppe Garibaldi. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel after serving in Sicily and Naples, and became known as "Garibaldi's Englishman." John Whitehead Peard died on November 24, 1880.
