I don't know about Garibaldi himself, but he certainly managed to surround himself with capable experts. His chief of staff and commander of the left wing was the former Prussian army officer Wilhelm Rüstow. Court-martialled by the Prussians for writing a pro-democratic pamphlet and taking part in the revolutionary fervour of 1848, Rüstow managed to escape from prison and flee to Switzerland, where he began training the Swiss army even as his home country convincted him to 32 years' imprisonment for treason. He spent his time writing books on military history and working his way up the chain of command in the Swiss army until the Second Italian Independence War broke out in 1859. Rüstow volunteered his services, took part in the liberation of Southern Italy, became one of Garibaldi's top ranking associates, and achieved victories at Capua, Volturno and Naples. His experience with both the Prussian and the Swiss army would have provided him with invaluable expertise in the training and management of troops.

In 1852 he also became the first, in cooperation with the Classicist Hermann Köchly, to write a textbook on Ancient Greek warfare - the earliest critical academic work on the subject. That work is still cited today.