Unlike fellow citizen Tito Speri (a central figure in the Brescia insurrection) who was hanged, Lombardi managed to avoid the noose by fleeing to the United States. He came back to Italy in 1859 to fight in the Second Italian War of Independence, and the following year he enlisted in the Medici expedition (that took place after Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand). He was wounded at Milazzo and promoted to the rank of Captain. Soon after, he obtained a discharge from the Army to stay with the Redshirts and followed Garibaldi even in the Battle of Aspromonte. In 1863 he left Italy for good and settled in the United States.