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AUTOBIOGRAPHY

OF

GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION

BY

A. WERNER.

WITH A SUPPLEMENT BY
JESSIE WHITE MARIO.

IN THREE VOLUMES.

VOL. L IS9obb. |
Se oom Y
1807-1849.
London:

WALTER SMITH AND INNES,

(~ATE Mozzey),
31 & 32, BEDFORD STREET, STRAND, W.C.

1889.

(All rights reserved.)

7

LONDON:

PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIM
STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROss,

ee

CONTENTS.

VOLUME I.

PAGE
PREFACE ay as eae eas setah EX
HisTorIcAL Teeaaiinss Ae ae tae bee XV
PRELIMINARY ... sas ane eae ose ‘ne 1
7, rea FIRST PERIOD.
I. My Parents bee waa eat eee 7
II. Earty YEARS Ae we ans Sein kO
II. Frrst Voyaces... ame a rE 14
IV. Orner VoyaGcEs ae ea “ee et il YA
V. RosseErv! ... ise oes a a 22
VI. BuccanEERING “ee sas sae cca ae
VII. Tue Puars or Urvevay ... “ff ae 30
VIII. A Home In THE WILDERNESS ... Ane ro =n Oe
IX. Tue Fieutr with THE GUNBOATS ,.. tee 37
X. Luier CaRnicuia ee $6 apy see) eh
XI. Oapriviry AY Pec wae ove 43
XII. Frerpom ine wen vee wee oe 48
XIII. Morr Buccoanerrine se aes FE 53
XIV. Fourteen aGatnst A HunpRED AND Firty aoe
XV. THe Santa Caterina EXPEDITION ... a 65
XVI. SHIPWRECK Be wre de te 68
XVII. AssavULT ON THE Laguna Santa CATERINA ... 74
XVII. In Love See mre Are ses aru ae
XIX. BuccanrERiIne we aa BS vie 80
XX. Retreat <p ve <e ons ase SO
XXI. Fire anp Sworn ... aa 40% ae 88
XXII. Campaicnrine AsHoRE—VICTORY AND DEFEAT cnet 92
XXII. Rervurn ro Lacss... EP pe tek 100
XXIV. Laces—Tue Barrie at tHe Foot or THe Serra 1038
XXYV. Aw Inrantry AcTION eed sag ae 108

az

iv

CHAPTER

AXVI.
AS VEL
AVI.
XXIX,
XXX.

AAA
XAXIT,

XXXITI.
XXXIV.
Y.0.@.G'F
XXXVI.
XXXVII.
XXXVI.
XXXIX.
XL.

XLI.

XLIL.
XLII.
XLIV.

XLV.
ALVI.

XLVII.
XLVIII.

CONTENTS.

Tue NORTHERN EXxreEDITION
WINTER, AND PREPARATION OF CANOES det
Tue Disastrous RETREAT ACROSS THE SERRA...

MONTEVIDEO oe xe ae res

I comMMAND THE MoNTEVIDEO SQuapRoN—FIGHr-
ING IN THE Rivers ees

Tue Two Days’ Figur witn Brown ... ia
Tue RETREAT ON CORRIENTES, AND BATTLE OF

THE ARROYO GRANDE

PREPARATIONS FOR RESISTANCE or
BEGINNING OF THE SIEGE OF MONTEVIDEO
First ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE ITALIAN LEGION
Tue FLEET, AND ITS ACHIEVEMENTS ... a3
BRILLIANT FIGHTING OF THE ITALIAN LEGION

Tuer EXPEDITION OF THE SALTO ke £5

THE MatTrero
JAGUARY aia

EXPEDITION TO GwvALEGUAYCHU — HERVIDERO—
ANZANI se oe Ai wee

ARRIVAL AT SALTO—VICTORY OF THE TAPEBY .,..
ARRIVAL OF URQUIZA igs
BESIEGED IN SatTo By LamMos AND VERGARA ...
San ANTONIO ...
REVOLUTIONS IN MONTEVIDEO AND CoRRIENTES—

Figur at THE DayMAN Pie

SoME OF THE DEAD AND WOUNDED OF THE LEGION
Retcrn To MoNrTeEvVIDEO ...

SECOND PERIOD.

VoyvaGE To ITaLy ... ses es aes
AT MILAN ek nhs say oak
Como—Sersto CALENDE—CAsTELLETTO ree

RetTurN TO LOMBARDY
Tue Trepium or INACTION

IN THE PAapaL STATE—ARRIVAL IN ROME...
PROCLAMATION OF THE REPUBLIC, AND Marcu
RomMeE er

CONTENTS. Vv
VOLUME II.
CHAPTER PAGE
Vill. Tue Derence or Rome ... ae ons A 1
IX. Rereear ... aS ree 22
ma SOXILE ... He nee bes Sat f 52
XI. Return to Pourrican Lire ... Ke 69
XII. In Cenrrat Iraty <f re Res eee 124
THIRD PERIOD.
I. Tue Sicm1an Campaian, May, 1860 me soe =148
II. Tse Firrx or May, 1860 _... i 153
Ill. From Quarto To MaArRsALA ay eae 155
IV. Catararmr1, May 15, 1860 °° i ae 163
V. CaLaTaFimMiI TO PALERMO see ey, 171
VI. Rosatino Pino anp CorRAO ... a3 174
VII. Caxararimi To PaLermo (continued) sacl ALO
‘VIII. Tse Arrack on Patermo, May 27, 1860 181
IX. Mu1azzo sr wed ae aa s- 192
X. Tue Fier at M1azzo asi iy 197
XI. In tHe Srrair or Messina Ar « 204
XII. On THE MAINLAND oF NAPLES ei 208
XII. Tue Arrack on Reaeio Pe -- 210
XIV. Entry into Napizs, SepremBer 7, 1860 ee 215
XV. PRELIMINARIES OF THE BATTLE OF THE VOLTURNO,
OctoserR 1, 1860 one tee ove 222
XVI. Battie oF THE VoLTURNO ... bis \ 225
XVII. Bronzertr at Caste Morong, Ocroser 1, 1860 236
XVIII. Barrie or Caserta Veccuta, Ocroser 2, 1860 238
FOURTH PERIOD.
1860-1870.
I. Tur Aspromonte CAMPAIGN, 1862 sxe 240
II. Tue Campaign IN THE TYROL oe eas 254
III. Various ENGAGEMENTS ... a Nie sa ©6261
IV. Ficur at Bezzecoa, Jory 21 ves 275

vi CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE
V. Acro Romano ... mas a ee vee 283
VI. From Sarpinia TO THE MAINLAND ... aoe 289
VIL. Tue Arrack on MONTEROTONDO ... nae coe
VIII. Mentana, Novemser 3, 1867 as ies 303

FIFTH PERIOD.

I. Tue Frenow CampaAIGN ... ase was one OLS

Il. Fieuts at LANTENAY AND AUTUN ais ahs 328
Ill. January 21-23, 1871... ae ms oe 842
IV. Rerreat—BorpEaux—Caprera, 1871 Sas 356
APPENDIX ¥e0 aaa ual oh aa sav, SOL

VOLUME III.
Ue
1807-1834.

Garibaldi’s ancestry, real and imaginary—Certificates of the
birth and marriage of his grandparents—His father and
mother—Anecdotes of his childhood—Young Italy—Joseph
Borel—Cleombroto—Captain, sailor, bandit — Death-sen-
tence—First exile... aes bee ee toe 1

II.
1835-1847.

Letters from Garibaldi to Cuneo during their mutual exile in
South America—Anita’s marriage-lines—The Italian Legion
—Death of his daughter Rosita—Offer of service to the Papal
Nuncio—His answer—Anita precedes her husband to Italy
—Letter from Anita ... vee ose bee asp Cae

III.
1848-1849,

Garibaldi in Lombardy—Mazzini and Medici—The siege of
Rome—Letters of Garibaldi to Mazzini—The fall of Rome 73

CONTENTS.

vii

TV.
1849-1858.

Garibaldi’s abnegation—The world’s rejected guest—Two visits
to England—Withdrawal from the republican party—“ For
Italy under any flag ”—Letters to Cuneo aaa eke

‘;
1859,

“ All’ arme!”— Garibaldi and Cavour—First to cross the Ticino,
last to lay down arms—Victor Emmanuel, Garibaldi, and
Cavour at the peace of Villafranca—* Hands to the centre,
eyes to the south!”—Diamond cuts diamond—Vogliamo
V’Italia una—Garibaldi recalled from the Rubicon—Mazzini,
Rosalino Pilo, Crispi organize insurrection in Sicily—Notes

VI.
1860.
“VIVA LA TALIA, E GARIBARDI AMICU!”
Mazzini, Rosalino Pilo, Crispi, Bertani prepare the revolution
in Sicily—The sale of Nice—Original letters and documents
anent the expedition of the Thousand—Cavour’s opposition
—King’s “let be”—Departure—Landing at Marsala—The
British fleet—Letters of Garibaldi—Annexationists, separa-
tists, unitarians—The Orange Gulf—Entry into Naples—
Garibaldi and the English—His gift of land for an English
church—Battle of the Volturno—Victory along all the line
—The king takes possession—Garibaldi sent to the rear—
| Abdication—Adieu—* To meet again at Rome ’”’—Notes ,..

VIL.
1861.

Last visit to England’s “good admiral”—Fatal dualism—
Cavour’s letters to the king and Farini—Reaping the whirl-
wind—Parliamentary duel—Cavour proposes, Fanti disposes
—tThe southern army humiliated and dispersed—Garibaldi’s

PAGE

111

167

250

vil CONTENTS.

CHAPTER
V. Agro Romano ... a ae vee
VI. From Sarpinia TO THE Minas ace wes
VII. Tue Arrack on MontTeEROTONDO ... ant nec
VIII. Mentana, NovemsBer 3, 1867 eae eee

FIFTH PERIOD.

I. Tae Frenow CAMPAIGN ... as
II. Ficuts at LANTENAY AND AUTUN aan are

Ill. January 21-23, 1871... $\e wee
IV. Rerreat—BorpEavx—CaPRERA, 187 1
APPENDIX

eee eee eee eee

VOLUME III.
I.
1807-1834.

Garibaldi’s ancestry, real and imaginary—Certificates of the
birth and marriage of his grandparents—His father and
mother—Anecdotes of his childhood—Young Italy—Joseph
Borel—Cleombroto—Captain, sailor, bandit — Death-sen-
tence—First exile... Mae SOC sap vee

TT:
1835-1847.

Letters from Garibaldi to Cuneo during their mutual exile in
South America—Anita’s marriage-lines—The Italian Legion
—Death of his daughter Rosita—Offer of service to the Papal
Nuncio—His answer—Anita precedes her husband to Italy
—Letter from Anita ... Ree Abe ea eos

j 0

1848-1849.

Garibaldi in Lombardy—Mazzini and Medici—The siege of
Rome—Letters of Garibaldi to Mazzini—The fall of Rome

39

73

CONTENTS.

vii

RY.
1849-1858.

Garibaldi’s abnegation—The world’s rejected guest—Two visits
to England—Withdrawal from the republican party—“ For
Italy under any flag ”—Letters to Cuneo vee oes

b
1859,

“ All’ arme!”—Garibaldi and Cavour—First to cross the Ticino,
last to lay down arms—Victor Emmanuel, Garibaldi, and
Cavour at the peace of Villafranca— Hands to the centre,
eyes to the south!”—Diamond cuts diamond—Vogliamo
V’Italia una—Garibaldi recalled from the Rubicon—Mazzini,
Rosalino Pilo, Crispi organize insurrection in Sicily—Notes

VI.
1860.
“VIVA LA TALIA, E GARIBARDI AMIcU!”

Mazzini, Rosalino Pilo, Crispi, Bertani prepare the revolution
in Sicily—The sale of Nice—Original letters and documents
anent the expedition of the Thousand—Cavour’s opposition
—King’s “let be”—Departure—Landing at Marsala—The
British fleet—Letters of Garibaldi—Annexationists, separa-
tists, unitarians—The Orange Gulf—Entry into Naples—
Garibaldi and the English—His gift of land for an English
church—Battle of the Volturno—Victory along all the line
—The king takes possession—Garibaldi sent to the rear—
Abdication—Adieu—* To meet again at Rome ’—Notes ...

VII.
1861.

Last visit to England’s “good admiral”—Fatal dualism—
Cavour’s letters to the king and Farini—Reaping the whirl-
wind—Parliamentary duel—Cavour proposes, Fanti disposes
—tThe southern army humiliated and dispersed—Garibaldi’s

PAGE

111

167

250

vill CONTENTS.

PAGE
project for national armament rejected—Formal reconciliation

between Cavour and Garibaldi—Remarkable letter of Gari-
baldi to Cavour—* Troppo tardi’””—Cavour’s death—Notes 337

VIII.
1862-1870.

Rome or death versus “Rome never”—Conflicting wills—Who
endures wins—Garibaldi’s special mission—Royal recom-
pense for service overtrue—Aspromonte—To England and
back—Garibaldi’s toast to his friend and teacher, Mazzini—

The campaign of 1866—Exodus from the Tyrol—The Roman
crusade—Mentana the cradle and grave of the temporal
power—Notes aes 353 ane re eo. 362

IX.
1870-1871.
To Rome at last—Mazzini a prisoner in Gaeta—Garibaldi block-
aded at Caprera—Garibaldi for France against the world—
The French campaign—The three days of Dijon—The
colours of the 61st—Garibaldi’s resignation—His refusal to
“oo home by way of Nice”—Victor Hugo’s noble defence
of “the only general who had not been defeated ”—Man-
teuffel’s opinion of Garibaldi’s military genius—Michelet for
Garibaldi and Italy—Notes_... aa nae ces LOO

X.
1871-1882.

Mazzini’s last work for Italy—War of words—Mazzini’s death,
March 10, 1872—Garibaldi for the republic by evolution, not
revolution—Garibaldi on the English and Italian navy—* Be
strong on the seas” —Private life and relations—Marriage,
divorce, third marriage—The nation’s gift reluctantly ac-
cepted—Last visit to Naples and Palermo—Death on June 2,
1882—Garibaldi’s will—Orders for fire-burial disobeyed—
His grave at Caprera—The grave of his mother and Anita’s
ashes at Nice oes oes oes vee eee 427

PREFACE.

OO

WuiE Italy awaits the philosophical historian of her
political evolutions and revolutions—annals, chronicles,
memoirs, biographies and autobiographies, series of
letters, diplomatic papers and correspondence, revo-
lutionary documents have been, during the last twenty-
five years, published in rapid succession, and thus a
vast material is being stored for future “architects of
history.” Nor is the stock by any means exhausted ;
the key to many unravelled mysteries being more or
less jealously guarded in the record offices of the state,
while the “key of keys” reposes in the sanctum sanc-
torum of royal archives. Contemporary writers of
events in which they have been actors or interested
spectators, with the strictest intention to be veracious,
rarely succeed in telling the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth, seeing that each narrator
surveys facts from his own point of view; nor does
an honest desire to be impartial ensure impartiality,
since the writer’s individual beliefs and opinions must
necessarily influence his deductions and bias his judg-
ments. But, all such weaknesses and defects taken
VOL. I. b

x PREFACE.

into account, the value of these contributions remains
intact. Carlo Cattaneo, to one who sought to dissuade
him in 1860 from certain publications relating to 1848,
made answer, “ The generations pass ; men’s minds take
new directions, and the facts of experience become
as lanterns hung out in abandoned streets.”

Many readers, we think, will concur in this sentence,
and to these the “ Autobiography of Garibaldi” will be
interesting and acceptable. Strictly speaking, what Gari-
baldi calls “ My Memoirs ” are recollections of such por-
tions of his eventful life as he chose to give to the public.
They were chiefly written at two distinct periods, the
first portion in 1850, after the fall of Rome and the
death of his beloved Anita. In 1872, he corrected and
modified this first portion, and wrote the remainder at
Caprera (merely adding at Civita Vecchia in 1876 the
Appendix, Custoza), without books or documents or any
assistance save from his own memory. Naturally, he
has fallen into sundry errors of dates and facts. He
has also deliberately passed over entire periods of his
life, thus omitting some particulars very interesting to
the English reader as well as to his own countrymen.
He, moreover, withdrew certain manuscripts which he
at first destined for publication, containing some graphic
accounts of events and some severe strictures on promi-
nent men which he wrote from time to time, because, from
his later point of view, “ the least said, soonest mended.”
We possess an autograph letter of his, enjoining on
one who possessed his full confidence to recover and
restore to himself a manuscript written entirely in his

PREFACE. xi

own hand and destined in 1869 for the press, but which
in 1871 he resolved should not be published. Again,
in one of his letters to Alberto Mario, who had requested
to be allowed, in his life of Garibaldi, to publish some
facts which the General himself had related concerning
the king, he answers, “I wish that nothing confidential
between the king and myself should be published;” and
in his Memoirs he publishes nothing.

But he does not use the same reticence in speaking of
Mazzini, whom from time to time he still recognized as
“master ;” while at others (purposely misled by men
whose sole aim and mission was to keep these great
and good patriots divided), he misjudged and censured
‘him with an asperity foreign to his own nature. Had
he, when he wrote, possessed the sixteen volumes of
Mazzini’s writings, with the historical documents in-
serted by Aurelio Saffi in his clear, able, impartial
preface to each,—he would, we think, have cancelled
numerous assertions of whose truth he had been assured,
but which subsequent evidence and concomitant wit-
nesses disprove. Again, had he possessed—as, thanks to
Luigi Chiala, we now do—the six volumes containing
over eighteen hundred letters of the great Piedmontese
statesman, with numerous documents and invaluable
historical prefaces, the criticisms, censures, and re-
proaches which he addresses chiefly to Cavour would
probably have been distributed in juster proportions
among many who come off scot free.

The Memoirs end with the episode of the Franco-
Prussian war. Of his work for the “redemption” of the

xii PREFACE.

Roman Campagna, for the Tiber, his polemics con-
cerning communism, socialism, internationalism, etc.,
his second marriage and life at Caprera, Garibaldi says
nothing, whereas his biographers and the newspapers
have treated of all these matters with more or less
accuracy.

Hence, requested by the proprietors and publishers of
the English edition to write a preface to their translation,
I have with their permission substituted a Supplement. ’
The reader thus will have put before him all that the
General left for publication. This Autobiography of
Giuseppe Garibaldi constitutes this all; and as in Italy
the question has been raised whether such really is the
case, it may be well to set all doubts at rest. The ques-
tion may be put in good faith, as many of the questioners
have seen and read—some even possess—other manu-
script writings of Garibaldi which are from time to time
given to the public, fairly and often wisely—none, how-
ever, venturing to add “with the author’s permission,”
as the proprietor of this Autobiography legitimately can
and does. The original manuscript of these Memoirs is
written by Garibaldi himself on ordinary-sized letter-
paper, each page numbered, entirely in his own hand;
the first part clear and bold, the last shaky and irregular
as the fatal arthritis crippled his fingers. As he gave
the manuscript to his “best-beloved” Menotti, so Menotti
placed it for safe keeping in the hands of Adrian Lemmi,
whose name in Italy is a synonym for patriotism and
integrity. Menotti and Adrian would rather “have cut
off their right hand” than have offended the dead father

PREFACE. ili

and friend by adding, suppressing, or altering a syllable,
or even consenting to a literary supervision of the text.
Why Garibaldi enjoined that simply this and nothing
more should be given to the world was best known to
himself. Enough that he did so, and that his injunc-
tions, in this instance at least, have been obeyed.

The Supplement will appear in the third volume, con-
taining such additional matter as may complete the
personal narration of the “hero of both worlds,” of the
patriot “ without fear and without reproach. ”

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

oe o. s

Now that the Italians have achieved their independ-
ence, have accomplished the herculean task of fusing,
welding, pounding ten kingdoms into One Italy,
European nations hail her as their last-born sister,
strive to stand first in her affections, highest in her
esteem, wondering in secret at that deathless life of
hers which has defied their united efforts to extinguish
it; which, each time they have wrapped her in her
shroud and thrust her into the sepulchre, has left it
empty, wringing from them the awestricken cry, “ Lo,
she has arisen ! ”

Arisen, rearisen, are the right terms for this seeming
miracle. To say reborn would imply preceding death,
whereas what was death for other nations was only
sleep for Italy. Our Swinburne and her Carducci, with
the poet’s faculty of precise, concise expression, render
the wondrous story in the same short simple phrase.
Swinburne, summing up the life-work of the two great
Genoese, Columbus and Mazzini, says—

“One found a world new-born from virgin sea ;
And one found Italy.”

Carducci writes, “He of the Gracchus’ heart and

xvi HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

Dante’s thought saw the third Italy.”* To assert that
Mazzini or Garibaldi or Victor Emmanuel “created”
Italy by their separate or united genius, prowess, and
ambition would presuppose her non-existence; would
assign to one man or to three men the merit of an
entire people of heroes and of martyrs, of thinkers and
of doers—a people which had never ceased to be, but
which, owing to intrinsic and extrinsic reasons, had
refrained from merging their separate existences in one
collective whole.

The vital, exhaustless, all-absorbing, all-assimilating
people which, in the Roman republic, organized society
and evolved a grand system of government; which,
during the republican and imperial period, subdued
and permeated Europe with their institutions and
their laws; which, in the Middle Ages, when black
night brooded over half the world, developed the
germ of Roman into Italian municipalities, with free con-
stitutions imbued with the republican spirit of Rome,
reaching a height of opulence, prosperity, grandeur, and
glory rarely attained, never surpassed by the nations

*“GIUSEPPE MAZZINI.

“Qual da gli aridi scogli erma su’l mare
Genova sta, marmoreo gigante,
Tal, surto in bassi di, su’] fluttuante
Secolo, e¢ grande, austero, immoto appare.
Da quelli scogli, onde Colombo infante
Nuovi pe’l mar vedea mondi spuntare,
Egli vide nel ciel crepuscolare
Co’l cuor di Gracco ed il pensier di Dante

La terza Italia... .”
(Giosué Carducci.)

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. xvii

who from those free republics learned the lessons of
municipal self-government whence such liberty as
Europe now possesses is mainly derived; which, at the
bidding of their “ divinest” in the full tide of freedom,
ereated Italian literature as they had created Italian
art, and, when on themselves slavery’s night descended,
uncurtained the golden dawn of the renascence on con-
science-awakening Europe ; which, disdaining half-truths
and moral fictions, recoiling from their unchaste, impious
murderers, stepped backwards into pagan times, thence,
leaping over the heads of the Reformers into the realms
of science, alighted at the fountain-head of modern
reason and research; that people—which evoked from
its own Saturnian soil and sun and sea the secrets of
the universe, the science of humanity, which gave its
all so lavishly to every nation on the earth—forbore or
attempted too partially or too late to solve the problem
of its own individual nationality. This in virtue of a
fundamental idea underlying and informing the many
and multiform phases of its successive centuries of
existence.

The world-wide, universal sway of the Roman
Empire, which grew with the growth of the peoples—
Etruscan, Sabine, Latin, Roman—outgrew and over-
grew themselves. The prayer which Romulus, according
to the legend, while ploughing the clods to outline
the walls of the city, put up to Jupiter and Mars—
“May the duration of this city be eternal; may its
sway be all-ruling; may the sun ever rise and set on
its dominion”—was until the sixteenth century the

xviii HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

prayer of every thoughtful, patriotic Italian. Even
when they hated an emperor most they loved the
empire best, and this infatuation, this absorption in
one fixed idea, lasted and prevailed, until, shattered
but not annihilated, crushed but not extinguished,
action was for three centuries divorced from thought,
and political from intellectual liberty.

The transfer of the seat of empire to Byzantium,
the subsequent division into East and West, the
consequent rise and growth of the papacy as a tem-
poral power—due to the absence of the emperors, to
their real or pretended donations,—the farce of corona-
tion of emperors by popes, the fiction of investitures
by emperors of popes with temporal sovereignty —are
facts brought forward by many in extenuation, as a
justification of Italy’s apparent annihilation, and three
centuries of slavery. But all these things were the
effects of the preponderating idea of empire. That
myth, that illusion, delusion, and perpetual curse she
preferred to the possible, nay, most easy formation of
her own national, independent unity. Only one Italy
for Rome to rule? No world-wide sway for the Eternal
City ? Such a desire never entered the heart of man,
at any rate, till Petrarch’s time, and the facts are there
to prove the affirmation.

When, in the fifth century, the Visigoths founded
monarchy in Spain, and the basis of monarchy was laid
by Clodovic in France, and the Heptarchy was instituted
in England, a brave, wise man made himself master of
all Italy, recovered Sicily from the Vandals, and was

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. xix

welcomed in Rome as liberator. He rendered strict
justice, protecting letters and the learned, preserving
the monuments of Roman and Grecian art, retaining
many of the ancient magistracies, respecting the
senate, choosing ministers and counsellors from its midst.
This Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, was popular,
was esteemed and obeyed, as long as he stood before
the Italians and Romans in the character of general
and vice-regent of the emperors (Zeno and Anastatius).
He united the whole of Italy, published in Rome a code
of laws, a model of equity for “ barbarians” and Romans,
left the Jews their own laws and judges, protected alike
Arians and Catholics. “A great splendour long un-
unknown,” writes Balbo, “ shone over Italy, the seat
and centre of his vast and flourishing kingdom.” The
emperors grew jealous, and instigated the Italians
against him. Theodoric, suspecting conspiracy, stained
his great name and fair fame by his barbarous cruelties
to Boethius, the “ Roman senator,’ and to Summacus.
After his death, Italy fell a prey to Belisarius and the
eunuch Narses, generals of the great emperor Justinian.
Had the Italians but supported the Goths in their
struggle against the treacherous “liberating” Greeks,
that struggle would have been brief and the “barba-
rians ” absorbed and assimilated, and the civilized Latins
would naturally have acquired the ascendency in the
independent and united nation. But this policy would
have involved rebellion against the empire.

Still more apparent is this ruling passion of Romans
and Italians under the sway of the Longobards (568-

xx HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

773), “who,” writes Macchiavelli, “after two hundred
and thirty years of Italian existence, retained nothing of
foreigners but the name.” Luitprand, the best and
greatest of the Longobard kings, reformed and amelio-
rated the laws of his predecessors, Rotari and Grimaldo.
He set himself to expel the Greeks from the Peninsula ;
made: peace with the Venetians, who had chosen their
first duke, Paoluccio Anafesto; entered into alliance
with Gregory II. against the emperor, and restored to
that pope the portion of “the patrimony ”’ of which he
had deprived him. A propitious moment that, for in
customs, religion, language, laws, and even dress, there
was but little difference between the invaders and the
invaded races. But the “ great” Gregory III., who had
fomented the religious warfare against Leo the icono-
clast, intent upon broadening and widening the founda-
tions of papal supremacy—fearful lest these humane,
generous, docile Teutons should found with the Italians
a free, strong, and united nation — instigated them
against Luitprand, and gave shelter to the rebel Duke
of Spoleto in Rome. Resolved on destroying the
dominion of the Longobards, he summoned a new
barbarian, Charles Martel, into Italy, imploring him
“to succour the Church of God in her great tribulation ;
to come to the assistance of Christ’s poor, seeing that
the little left to them is destroyed by the fire and sword
of the Lombard kings.” Finally, he urges on “this most
Christian son” to compel “ those kings to return to their
own country.” Gregory III., Leo the iconoclast, and
Charles Martel all died in the same year (741). Luit-

i i gg eee a ee
.

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. xxi

prand made peace with Pope Zacharia, and until the
death of this great king no Frank set foot in Italy.
But his very generosity to the popes was fatal to the
Longobard dominion and to the chances of Italian
unity. Pope Stephen summoned Pepin, son of Charles,
who warred successfully against Astolph, Luitprand’s
successor, compelling him to abandon the cities of the
ex-archate and the Roman duchy—Ravenna, Rimini,
Pesaro, Cesena, Urbino, Gubbio, Narni—which he
handed over to St. Peter and the Roman Church, “and
to the pontiffs in perpetuity,” say the partisans of the
temporal power, Balbo included, adding that, after
Pepin’s return to France, his deputy, Fulrade, abbot of

’ Dionigi, with the deputies of Astolph, went from city

to city, collected the keys, and, with the written title-
deeds of the donation, deposited them in the confessional
of S. Pietro. What is not fiction, but certainty, is that
Pepin’s son Charles beguiled, betrayed, and defeated
Desiderius, that last of Longobard kings—last of twelve

Italian-born kings to whom the iron crown had been

transmitted in direct descent from Alboino, which
crown he claimed for himself. Pope Leo, trading on
the imperial tendencies of the Italians, foreseeing the
fall awaiting the Greek empire, deeming that a race of
emperors created by the popes would become valiant
champions of the papacy, actually placed on the head
of Charles the imperial crown. Out of gratitude for this .
act, justified neither by tradition of primitive Church,
nor by apostolic precedent, nor by the consent of the
Western nations, Charles invested the pope with

xxil HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

temporal power. Leo III. created the Frank new
emperor of the West; Charlemagne invented a pope-
king; and the Romans, seeing that a Roman pope had
crowned an emperor in Rome, indulging in their dream
of empire, never for a moment guessed that they had
sacrificed the substance for the shadow—a Roman
Italy based on a popular constitution for a visionary
imperial sceptre which they were destined nevermore
to wield. When, after 114 years, Charlemagne’s empire
fell to pieces, and France herself was split into frag-
ments, and the Germans elected their own kings, and
Berengarius, Marquis of Friuli (descended on the female
side from Ludovico il Bonario), became king of Italy,
there was again the opportunity for the formation of an
Italian nation. But the popes were growing steadily
and lustily; Venice, with her mysterious genius, was
rejoicing in her islet freedom, driving down the piles of
independence into her lagunes, looking askance on
emperors and popes. Amalfi, too, was turning the face
of her sturdy populations seawards. So Berengarius,
left to his own devices, prostrated himself before the
ambitious German Arnolph, thus affording the German
electors at future times a pretext for claiming imperial
rights for the chief of their choice. True, Guido, Duke
of Spoleto, in 891, was crowned with the crown of iron
and proclaimed emperor in Rome, and once more the
Italians exultingly fancied themselves masters of the
world, till Pope Formoso (896) crowned the German
Arnolph emperor. In 951, Otto reduces Italy to a
fief of Germany—is made king of Italy, “ crowned

ns

-— 6S

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. xxiil

emperor in Rome” (962), deposes Pope John XII., sub-
stituting a layman, Leo (963). Crescentius, consul, frees
Rome from popes and emperors. The ancient orders of
the republic are established, liberty and independence
proclaimed. But the people care little for all this;
Gregory and Otto prevail, Crescentius is decapitated,
and his corpse flung from the battlements of St. Angelo.
During the next few years numerous popes and anti-
popes scramble for the patrimony of St. Peter’s, In
1002, the Italian Ardoino, Marquis of Ivrea, is crowned
king at Pavia; but Henry II., King of Germany, deposes
him, and gets himself crowned king at Pavia, and, of
course, “emperor in Rome;” the war of independ-
ence degenerates into civil war, Saracens invade Sicily
and the Neapolitan provinces and the coasts of Tuscany.
The crown of Italy is adjudged to Conrad the Salic,
elected King of Germany in the diet of Magonza. The
Milanese and Pavians refuse him; Pope Giovanni
crowns him “emperor in Rome.” Conrad _ besieges
Milan; the Milanese for the first time mount their

sacred carroccio, and a little later institute their

glorious commune—a magic word meaning brotherhood
and community of all classes; symbol of glory, great-
ness, and liberty for many an Italian city and republic,
but not for one Italy, one commonwealth for all
Italians.

Conrad dying (1039), his son Henry III. comes to
Rome, and is crowned by Pope Clement; and in a
council expressly summoned, the Romans adjudge to
the emperors the right of electing the popes. Clement

xxiv HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

dying (in 1047), while Greeks and Saracens contend
for mastery in Sicily, six popes and two anti-popes
follow each other in quick succession. Henry IV. suc-
ceeds to the imperial crown (1056). Now appears upon
the scene Hildebrand the monk, who for twenty years
before his pontificate was the real helmsman of St.
Peter’s bark. He had advised Pope Leo IX. to supple-
ment his German election by re-election at Rome. Later
he succeeded in annulling the election by the Romans
—who vowed they would have no more foreign popes—
of Benedict (a Roman), substituting Nicholas II. of
Burgundy. By Hildebrand’s advice, this pope took from
the clergy and the people the right of electing popes,
declared that the sanction of the emperor was revocable
at the pope’s will, and sought to substitute monarchical
for the republican institutions of the Church. All this
paved the way for the “ mission ” of Hildebrand—for the
subjugation of empire and peoples to Holy Mother
Church.

In Hildebrand, as Gregory VIL, that type of Italian
intellect and Italian iron will; in Matilda, the gran donna
@’ Italia, as Dante calls her, symbolizing in her the love of
Holy Mother Church;—we have a fresh proof of the utter
absence of the sentiment of Italian nationality. Those
two united were powerful for all and aught they willed ;
could bring and brought the emperor, after three days’
fasting in sackcloth and drifting snow without the citadel,
to the pope’s feet in Canossa. Matilda, who owned
such enormous possessions in Italy, Gregory, who
ruled over the consciences of the Italians, and for a

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. XXV

time over their hearts, might have welded the nation
into one; reformed and renewed the Church, trusting to
its spiritual authority to subdue the world. But their
only idea was ecclesiastical dominion and temporal
power. The Italians, always sceptically indifferent in
religious matters, impervious to the papal excommuni-
cations, which struck such terror into the Germans,—
when these deserted their emperor, were ready from the
first to espouse his cause. Had Henry chosen to laugh
at Gregory, and leave him shut up in Canossa, to which
he had fled as to an asylum, he need never have inflicted
that ineffaceable stain on “Czesar’s” brow. As it was,
when he took heart later and knocked at the gates of
Rome, the Romans opened those gates, when, barbarian
as he was, he summoned Normans and Saracens to
sack and ravage and set fire to the city. Hildebrand,
regarded as the cause of all the wrong, was compelled
to fly to Salerno, where he died, abandoned and execrated
by all save Matilda, who, true to her idol and her
idea, fought for his successors and left her possessions in
Italy to Holy Mother Church.* That Hildebrand had

* This bequest cannot be disputed, as are, with reason, the pre-
tended donations of Constantine and Pepin and Charlemagne. All
the emperors who gave or confirmed former gifts to the popes,
renewed imperial rights salva nostra potestate et nostrorum poste-
yum. Countess Matilda was the last scion of the lords of Canossa.
Sigifredo, Azzo, Tedaldo, and Boniface, who added the duchy of
Tuscany to his father’s fiefs of Reggio, Modena, Ferrara, Brescia, and
married Beatrice, daughter of Frederick, Duke of Lorraine, were all
devoted adherents of the empire. Matilda was the only child of
this couple, and, after the death of her father—murdered by his
-vassals—her mother, Beatrice, married Godfrey, Duke of Lorraine,

VOL. I. ¢

wh
s.

XXVi HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

aimed a vital blow at the empire, however, cannot be
denied, though what with the anti-pope Guibert
(Clement II.) and Henry’s imprisonment by his own
son, and miserable ending in 1106, the victories of
both resembled those of Pyrrhus. The first crusade,
initiated by Urban II., but in reality conceived by
Hildebrand ; the liberation of Jerusalem just as he died
and Pope Paschal succeeded, turned the thoughts of the
great ones of the earth into a new channel, and while
they were crusading in the Holy Land, the Italians
strengthened and enlarged the communal element, and
in the principal cities of Lombardy and of Tuscany formu-
lated their constitutions during the twelfth century.
But the phantom of empire pursued them still. They.
from the first waged war upon the feudal barons,
razed their castles, foreed them to come and live

her own cousin, who was confirmed in all the fiefs held by her former
husband, by the emperor, Henry IV. Matilda married her step-
father’s son, Godfrey the Hunchback, who, just at the time her
mother Beatrice died, was killed at Antwerp, 1076. This daughter
of imperial vassals was an intense, fanatical partisan of the papacy,
not of one, but of all popes, four of whom she supported and survived.
Hildebrand was her spiritual adviser; his ambitions were hers, his
cause “ the cause of God.” Quite natural, therefore, that she should,
at his instigation, leave all her worldly goods to the Church during
Gregory’s reign, and that she should ratify her donation before
her death in 1115. And if she had only given or left her Tuscan
domains held in allodial (all-lood) tenure, the emperors could not
have interfered with any show of right; but it seems that she
included some of the lands which her ancestors had held as’ vassals
of the empire, and which, as she left no heirs, reverted as lapsed
fiefs to the empire. Hence all the quarrels and even wars that
ensued from this famous gift, which crop up at all periods of Ltalian
history, till imperial right was abandoned altogether.

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. XXVli

within the cities; but it never occurred to them to.
demolish the emperor’s castle, or to refuse allegiance
to the empire, still less to proclaim themselves the
rightful heirs of the Roman populus—the “sovereign
people” of Italy. Each city for itself; each com-
mune for its own liberties, rights and privileges. Rome
wars against Tivoli; Milan, Cremona, Como against
Pavia; Padua against Verona, Modena, and Bologna ;
Lucca against Florence; and when they cannot settle
their quarrels between themselves, they call in the
“natural” umpire, the emperor. With one glorious
-exception, by the way—vVenice, who waged deadly
war against Pisa and Genoa, but on her own account.
Neither vassal of empire nor serf of Church was she—
neither Guelph nor Ghibelline; purely, simply Venetian.
But, this exception made, we find no others; hence
the canker in the very germ of those most glorious
republics.

And even when Frederick Barbarossa, profiting by
their discord, set himself to annihilate them all, and
they decided to make common cause against him, never
in their hour of direst anguish or supremest triumph did
they forego their allegiance to the empire, or deny the
authority of Cesar. Foremost of Italian glories is the
league of Pontida against the pretensions of Barbarossa,
who, after holding a general council at Roncaglia, and
receiving the homage of the consuls, besieged Milan,
Vercelli, and Turin, crossed the Po and burned Asti,
sacking and burning Tortona and the minor cities, was
crowned king at Pavia (1155), then went on to Rome,

XXViii HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

where Pope Adrian IV awaited him for the destruction
of Arnold of Brescia and the Roman senate. Arnold
burnt, his ashes thrown into the Tiber, the confirmation
of the senate’s privileges haughtily refused, Adrian,

whose bridle-reins he held, crowned him “emperor in-

Rome.” Returning, for pastime Frederick burnt Spoleto,
and, after a visit to Germany, he descended again into
. Lombardy, again devastating Brescia and starving Milan.
He convoked anew the Italian Diet, summoning bishops,
princes, judges, consuls, and the jurists of the University
of Bologna, “to define the imperial rights and property.”
The servile Bishop of Milan made answer, “The imperial
will is law;” the jurists of Bologna affirmed that the
duchies, marquisates, counties, consulates, the mints, the
duties, the ports, the mills, the fisheries were imperial
property. The emperor abolished the consuls elected by
the people, and instituted podestas of royal nomination.
Milan and Cremona expel the podesta ; Frederick besieges
Cremona, Milan, Brescia, hangs the prisoners, and covers
his war-engines with the children taken as hostages.
“Blessed are those who die for their country,” cry the
citizens of Cremona, who fire on their own children and
repel the barbarians ; but in 1160 Cremona is destroyed,
Milan burnt and razed to the ground. This caused the
bitter cup to overflow. Verona, Vicenza, Padua, and
Treviso swear vengeance. In the monastery of Pontida,
deputies from Cremona, Bergamo, Mantua, Brescia,
Ferrara, the envoys of the league of Verona, swear to
die rather than submit to such iniquitous tyranny. A
league of defence and offence is formed, one for all and

ES a

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. Xxix

all for each ; but the fatal clause is added, Saving always
fealty to the empire. The confederates rebuild Milan,
compel Lodi to join the league, seize the fortress of
Trezzo, garrisoned by imperial troops. Frederick shut
up in Pavia—Venice, Verona, Vicenza, Padua, Treviso,
Ferrara, Brescia, Bergamo, Cremona, Lodi, Piacenza,
Parma, Mantua, Modena, Bologna, swear concord, bind
themselves to war against any man who should offend
or harm any one of the other cities; against any
emperor who should attempt to exact more or respect
less than was exacted and respected by the last two
Henrys.* The fortress of Alexandria meanwhile had
been built and garrisoned with 15,000 soldiers, the
league shared even by Venice, so chary of interference in
Italian affairs, sanctioned by Pope Alexander, in whose
honour the new fortress was named. On May 29, 1176,
the great struggle was fought out at Legnano. The
armed people, ringing the tocsin, guarding their sacred car,
symbol and sign of freedom and of right, led on by “the
company of death,” charged the barbaric hosts, destroying

* The formula of the popular oath, sacramenta populorum, for
1170 is given by Muratori: ‘In the name of the Lord, amen. I
swear on the holy Gospels that neither in my own person nor by
deputy will I make truce or peace or treaty with Frederick Emperor,
nor with his son, nor with his wife, nor with any person in his name.

“Tn good faith, and by the employment of all means in my power,
I will try to hinder any army, great or small, coming from beyond
the Alps, from Germany, or from any other land belonging to the
Emperor, from entering Italy; or if any such army should pene-
trate, I will wage fierce warfare against the Emperor and against all
his party until said army shall have abandoned Italy, and I will

make my son take this same oath as soon as he shall have attained
the age of fourteen.”

XXX HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

and routing the imperial army, trampling Cesar’s banner
in the dust. Barbarossa himself was mourned for dead
by his soldiers, had to fly for dear life to Pavia, and
by the Val di Susa escape from Italy in disguise.
Italy fought to victory, as ever when her people sound
the tocsin ; but at Venice, where the pope came to arbi-
trate, the empire virtually triumphed. A truce of six
years, during which Cremona, Asti, Alba, Genoa were
seduced from the league, and Alexandria prostituted
herself and was rebaptized Cesarea, ended in the peace
of Constance (1183). The cities were allowed to pre-
serve their liberties, privileges, and jurisdiction ; but the
supreme sovereignty was reserved to the emperor, who
deigned, in the preamble to the treaty, to receive in the
fulness of his pardon the rebellious, victorious cities.*
To the confederates, who had sworn to cast from off
their shoulders the German yoke,f it did not seem that
they were abjuring or violating the popular oath, when
they agreed that all the “confederate cities should aid
the emperor in preserving the rights which were his in
Lombardy, that all citizens between fifteen and seventy
years of age should take the oath of fealty to the empire,
and that said oath should be renewed every ten years.” f
Without seeking further examples of this fixed idea of
empire, the solemn consecration that idea received from
* “Civitates ac personas . . . in plenitudinem gratis sue reci-
piet ” (Muratori).
+ “Theutonicorum jugum de collo excutiamus” (Chronicles of
Milan, 1170).

t Venice, proud of her independence, would not sign the treaty ;
but some of her cities on ¢erra firma played their part of vassals.

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. Xxxi

Italy’s “divinest” should never be forgotten. Dante
is rightly styled the father of Italian unity, in that he
was the “first philosopher of the Italian people; in that
he, commanding the cessation of regional dialects and
schools—Sicilian, Puglian, Bolognese, or Florentine—
announced an Italian poetry and literature and was
himself the herald of her glory.” Dante appeared on
the confines of the Middle Ages, when the political force
of the feudal empire was declining. The final over-
throw of the House of Hohenstaufen did not put an
end to the distracting quarrels between imperialists and
papists—Ghibellines and Guelphs. From the death of
Conrad IV. (1254) to the election of Rudolph of Haps-
burg during the interregnum of the empire, the
electors divided their votes between Alfonse of Castile
and Richard, Earl of Cornwall (1257). The German
princes showed reluctance rather than eagerness to
claim the imperial rights which had proved fatal to so
many, and when Rudolph accepted the imperial crown
he declared to the German Diet that he would not go to
Rome, that Italy had consumed too many Germans—
“ King I am, and emperor,” quoth he, “and I can serve
the republic quite as well as if I were crowned in Rome.”

This Rudolph renounced formally and by oath all
sovereignty in Rome—all pretensions to the territories
claimed by the Church, the exarchate of Ravenna, the
gifts of Matilda. The pope lost no time in compelling
the prefects of Rome to take the oath of allegiance to
himself. But the power of the popes was nevertheless
declining. Nicholas III., the Roman Orsini, actually

tom

-

XXXii. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

proposed to Rudolph to divide Italy between them.
Boniface VIII. affected the airs and livery of empire ;
but despotic monarchies had risen on the shoulders of
both Church and empire, and Philip the Fair, the
king so hated by Dante, removed the seat of the papacy
to Avignon. What a chance for Italy, if only the idea
had dawned on her to belong to herself! But how
pretend this, when Dante himself conceived the regene-
ration of the human race in the reconstitution of the
God-created Roman empire, in the dominion of one
universal monarchy? “God Himself created the Roman
empire and recognized it, inasmuch as He assumed
human flesh, thus subjecting Himself in birth to the
census of Octavius,—in death to the judgment of
Pontius Pilate. As the empire signifies the dominion
of the Roman people over the earth, so the majesty of
the Roman people is personified in the emperor, to what-
soever country he may belong. The garden of the earth
is Italy, not Germany, whence the Roman emperor must
extend his sceptre over all monarchies and over all
peoples, thus transforming the world into a Christian
republic, of which all states are members, the kingdom
of France even as the smallest Italian commune. The
authority of the empire coming direct from God, the
Church cannot pretend supremacy or the power to confer
authority, seeing that she had no part in the creation of
the empire, which existed ages before her birth. The
choice of the emperor’s person is itself directed by God.
The electors are but instruments in His hands. The
emperor, thus independent of the pope in his authority

OE =

:
a

————s

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. xxxiii

extended over the earth, is subordinate in one particular.
The earthly felicity bestowed by the emperor is a prelude
to eternal happiness, to which the pontiff is the guide.” *
; The quarrel of this good hater, this Latin Christian

* See Carducci’s essay on the “Work of Dante” (Zanichelli,
Bologna, 1888), first given to the public in the form of a lecture, as mo
an explanation of his refusal to accept the professorship of the .
Dante exegesis which the Government proposed in 1886 in the
University of Rome. This supreme poet and most robust prose- »
writer and critic of new Italy, rejoicing in the great Ghibelline’s
abhorrence of the temporal power of the papacy, could not make
a pagan out of this believer in Christ “whose kingdom was not of
this earth.” Neither does he admit that “in Dante’s monarchial
maxims exists a commencement of the unification of Italy, save in
as far as this was comprised in the unity of Christendom.” Dante
is “the supreme poet, the grand man, because he had a great con-
science. No other poet in the world (this also is thy glory, O my
country! O Italy!) had the heroic conscience of Dante.” One
of Carducci’s sonnets defines his feelings for the imperial Catholic
Ghibelline ; his worship of the poet. In plain prose it runs thus :—

“Dante, how is it—vows and voice I raise
In worship as o’er thy proud face I bend ?
That sunset leaves me and dawn finds me still
Wrapt in thy verse that wore thy frame so wan?

“Yet for me Licia prays not; nor Matilda fair
For me prepares the health-restoring bath;
Beatrix with her sacred love, for me
In vain ascends to God, from star in star.

“T hate thy Holy Empire, and would fain
With sword have severed crown from head
Of thy good Frederick in Olona’s vale!

“A ruin sad are Church and empire now,
O’er both thy song soars echoing in high heaven ;
Jove dies: the poet’s hymn endures!”

The summing up of Dante’s political ideas deduced by Carducci
from Dante’s prose works—literally and boldly, as becomes the poet-
patriot and the reverent student of the “ Master.”

XXxiv HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

Dante, with the papacy was founded less on its utter
profligacy and general infamy, for which he severely
castigates the Church, than on the fact of its “ usurping
the primacy over the civil powers of the emperors, its
personification of the Guelphic principle contrary to
universal monarchy, of its ecclesiastical disobedience
to the laws of the empire, hindering thus the exercise
of its legitimate authority, setting a bad example by its
growing covetousness of the good things on Cesar’s
earth.” Dante shows himself the staunch opponent of
the temporal power of the papacy, and always reproaches
the emperors for their gifts and weaknesses towards the
Church. But this anti-papal sentiment cannot be con-
strued into a desire to see Italy only Italy, one, in-
dependent, and united in a monarchy or a republic, with
her seat of government in Rome. The man of thought
and action that he was, he instigated and applauded
Henry of Luxemburg, that poor weed of an emperor, to
cross the Rubicon and assert his imperial rights, “which -
are neither bounded by Italy, nor by Europe—which
ought hardly to be limited by the waves of the ocean.”
Henry goes to Rome to be crowned, though the pope is
at Avignon, and dies mysteriously... With the death of
this Henry VII. Dante feels that the last chance for
the redemption of the world is extinguished, even so
his own personal hopes. Not outraged by a Guelphic
pardon* will Dante return to Florence; “only if a way

* In 1316, the Florentines offered free pardon and return to the
exiles, on the condition that they should pay a certain sum, and,
with the ignominious mitera on their heads, walk with contrite air
two and two behind the car of the mint; then into the Church of

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. XXXV

be found that shall not attaint his honour or fame, will
he walk that way with no lagging step.” Otherwise
never more will he set foot in Florence, the beloved and -
longed-for with all an exile’s passionately despairing
desire. Never was that path of fame and honour found,
and never would the poet be crowned, since it could not
be in Florence. So he died uncrowned, seeing ever clearly
into the “ mirror of the sun and stars,” and speculating,
till Bice called him home, on all the mysteries of life
in the present, of death in the future. Italians, then, if
they cannot with truth affirm that Dante bid them create
Italy one, independent, and free, and content themselves
with that and that alone—may “glory,rejoicing sincerely
and securely that Dante is their master, their guide,
and their father, inasmuch as he preserved the Roman
tradition for the renovation of Italy; that he, witness
and judge of centuries, the purest and most tremendous
judge and witness of the bad government of Church
and Churchmen, affirmed the necessity of annihilating
the temporal power.” *

A quarter of a century after Dante’s death, Petrarch,
the “father of Italian unity and first poet of the renas-
cence,” the enemy of the Middle Ages and of all foreign
invaders who should prevent the Latin people from
constituting itself within its natural frontiers, around
its centre Rome, actually dreamed that he might in
his lifetime see the realized vision of Italian states at

St. Giovanni, and there make their offerings to the saint in expiation
of their “crimes.” This is the offer so indignantly refused by Dante,
* Carducci’s “ Work of Dante.”

X¥XXvi HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

peace among themselves, united in republican Rome.
Yet even he in his declining years, grieving and dis-
heartened at the failure of Cola di Rienzo,* appealed
to the emperor Charles IV., and urged the pontiff to
return from Avignon to Rome.

In the sixteenth century, when the Italians, having
retempered their souls in the classic discipline of Greece
and Rome, and obeying Dante and following in Petrarch’s
steps, had created their literature and renovated their
genius, Charles V., an emperor great enough for Dante,

——}
instigated by a fratricidal pope, crushed, after ten months
of heroic resistance, the last breath of liberty in Florence,
and for three centuries Italy’s body lay prostrate in the

ee tt

“entwined embrace of popes and kings.”

* “When I recall,” he writes to Cola di Rienzo in 1347, “the
serious and holy discourse which thou heldest yesterday in the porch
of that old church, it seems to me that I listened to a sacred oracle,
to a god not toa man. So divinely didst thou deplore the present
state, nay the decline and the ruin of the republic; so profoundly
didst thou probe with the finger of thy eloquence our wounds, that
my heart glowed during thy speech; but now when the sound of
those words of thine re-echoes in my ears, the sorrow of my soul
increases, its grief rises to my eyes—now that it thinks, that it
remembers, that it foresees, my heart dissolves itself in tears,—not
feminine, but virile tears ; those of a man, who, given the occasion,
will dare some worthy deed in as much as lies in his power for the
defence of justice. And if in the past I was often with thee in
thought, since that day I have been with thee far oftener. At
times I despair, at times I hope, and, hovering between hope and
fear, I cry within myself, ‘Oh that it were possible! Oh, if it should
happen in my days! Oh, if I were permitted to share such a grand
enterprise, such immense glory!’ And, turning to the crucifix, I
exclaim, with saddened voice and eyes bathed with tears, ‘O Jesus,
good and too long-suffering, why is this? Arise! Why sleep on?
See the things we suffer and from whom! See what Thy enemies
do under the cover of Thy Name !’”

—— ert etree

SO OO EE ——————<

aE ——

———e—

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. XXXVii

Her body only, be it remembered. The history of her
religious, even as of her intellectual, renascence has
yet to be written.* Suffice it to remember that when
the concordat between Charles and Clement, the Spanish
Inguisition, the Society of Loyola and the Tridentine
Council, hurled their thunderbolts, built their pyres,
and sharpened the daggers of their hired assassins, no
nation under heaven produced so many and such
genius-gifted men as Italy, who preferred death to
recantation, martyrdom to death in life. Before the
“starry Galileo with his woes” lived proving and after
torture died asserting that the “earth did move,”
Giordano Bruno, standing on the new foundations of
the universe discovered by Copernicus, saw a new
heaven and a new earth in which the physical and
human world would be rehabilitated by the discoveries
of science, the investigations of reason, and the mind
of man soar up on the wings of nature and of conscience
to blend the finite in the infinite, humanity in divinity.
“T doubt me but that you are more frightened in pro-
nouncing my sentence than I in listening to it,” said
Bruno to his executioners as, putting aside the crucifix
thrust upon him, he walked calmly towards the burning
stake. And in this he spoke prophetic truth, for not

* Studies, monographs, whole volumes have been written in
England, France, Germany (see Geiger’s review, “ Vierteljahrscrift
fiir Kultur und Litteratur der Renaissance’’), and the thoughtful
portion of Italy’s political regenerators have devoted their attention
especially to the task. “Write the history of the Quattrocento,”
were the last words of Alberto Mario, on what all but he himself
knew to be his death-bed, to Carducci. Should he fulfil his friend’s
behest, we shall have a history indeed.

XXXVili HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

King Humbert on the Quirinal, the “king elect” of one
Italy, free and independent, is more dreaded by the un-
kinged pope in the Vatican, than the spectre of Gior-
dano Bruno haunting the Field of Flowers. From the
breach of Porta Pia was hurled the thunderbolt that
for ever felled the temporal power; from the field where
Bruno’s monument will soon arise* already floats the
banner on which is inscribed, “ Free thought and secular
schools.” f

* The erection of this monument is but a question of time; the
money is subscribed by Italians of all provinces, and the life-size
figure of Bruno is already modelled by the great sculptor and
patriot, Hector Ferrari. All that is now wanting is the sanction of
the Roman municipality, from which body at the last elections the
Romans eliminated the champions of Papa Pecci, substituting Italian
lovers of an Italian Rome. Once the few metres of ground, municipal
property, conceded,’ the monument of the monk of Nola will arise
on the spot where he suffered martyrdom. Thence, his daring brow
and piercing eyes gleaming from his monkish cowl, he may watch the
jubilees of the nineteenth century, compare to-day’s motley crew with
the jubilant pilgrims who gloated over his death-agony on February 17,
1600. He may watch also the 20th of September processions, lower-
ing their colours as they pass him; and, hearing the cry of
“Viva Giordano Bruno!” mingle (as it now invariably does in
Rome) with the ‘ Viva I’'Italia!” “‘ Viva Mazzini!” “ Viva Gari-
baldi!” “Viva the king elect!” may answer with that jovial,
whimsical laugh of his, “‘ Evviva, my brave disciples, my well-beloved
sons; you are convinced now that the universe has no walls at all
save the immaginata circonferenza which surrounds the imaginary
prisoner in the Vatican?”

+ In the manifesto of the “veterans” of the Italian revolutionary
campaigns for the celebration of the eighteenth anniversary of the
entry by the breach of Porta Pia occurred the following phrase :—
“These eighteen years of Italian life have not yet convinced the

_ * The Roman municipality has just made the grant, and sanctioned
the erection of the monument, December, 1888.

Ee —————————=

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. XXxIx

Not ours, however, the delightful task of tracing the
inner history, the flight of Italian thought throughout
the three centuries that transpired between the corona-
tion of Charles V. (1530), the last emperor crowned in
Italy, to the consecration and coronation of the first
Napoleon (1804) in Paris; but simply to show the
dynastical or geographical fragments into which it
pleased Europe to divide the “ Imperial Garden” of the
earth. No idea of consulting the populations ever
crossed the mind of revolutionary England any more
than of despotic France. As the treaty of Cdateau
Cambresis handed Italy over to the ignominy of Spanish
rule, whose worst feature was the stigma it cast on
labour, on work, which in that land of workers had
pope that neither the invocations of harmless thunderbolts nor the
mobs of fanatic pilgrims have power to shake the national edifice
defended by a people of thirty millions. But can we flatter ourselves
that we have reduced this implacable enemy of ours to impotence
for harm? Masters of every insidious art, it is into the communal
administrations and schools that they introduce their missionaries—

to suffocate, in the first, all aspirations or attempts to reform medieval
absurdities ; in the second, to stifle in our sons the germs of love of

* country (here speaks Fra Paolo Sarpi: ‘ Never has a Jesuit college

sent forth a son obedient to his father, devoted to his country, loyal
to his prince. The aim of the Jesuits is to destroy natural affection,
respect for parents, reverence for rulers; their partisans seek only
to substitute ecclesiastical interests for the interests of the family,
the country, the state’).

“Let us, then, assail with the arms of civilization, to whose
final triumph the inevitable law of progress spurs us, the last
refuge of the enemy ; let all our energies be directed to make our
communes and our schools essentially Italian. On this eighteenth
anniversary of our entry into Rome, we raise on the breach of
Porta Pia the banner of secuLaR scHoots. ‘ Viva Rome, capital
of Italy !’”

xl _ HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

hitherto been deemed so noble and so ennobling, so the
treaty of Utrecht turned it over chiefly to “humble,
modest Austria,” until she, showing the cloven foot, was
left with but the duchy of Mantua and a portion of
the duchy of Milan. The remainder of this duchy was
added to the possessions of that sturdy, stalwart, yet
most subtle race of warriors and princes, who from lords
of Maurienne had become dukes of Savoy, kings of
Sicily, later instead of Sardinia ; who, with their backs set
firmly against their native Alps, looked neither north nor
southwards, but watched the turbulent Po rushing west-
wards to the Adriatic, comparing the fertile provinces
on its upper shores to “an artichoke to be eaten leaf
by leaf.” And as “he has who wills” and “who so
chooses may,” every change made by Europe in Italian
territorial arrangements gave a leaf and yet another leaf
to the kings of Sardinia to suck. And this was the
only good thing that can be said of the self-constituted
partitioners of Italy, when she was, by the last treaty
of Aix la Chapelle, divided into twelve portions ; Spanish
Bourbons were made masters of Naples and Sicily, with
the sole proviso that the Italian should never be added
to the Spanish crown, Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla
were given to the younger branch of the same race.
Truth, however, compels one to say that Charles III,
submitting to the counsels of Tanucci, ruled well for
twenty-five years, even as Leopold and Ferdinand of
Lorraine under the guidance of Fossombroni in Tuscany
Benedict XIV. (Lambertini of Bologna), the best pope

of the eighteenth century, set himself to reform the
ee

a

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. xli

y

barbarous legislation of the papal states, and though
Clement XIII., the Venetian Rezzonico (1758), effected
a reaction, he had by so doing rendered inevitable the
expulsion of the Jesuits by Clement XIV. (Ganganelli),
who gave them a chance of reformation, and only
proceeded to extremes when the haughty Ricci made
answer, “Sunt ut sunt aut non sint.’* It is said that
they avenged themselves by poisoning him, a perfectly
justifiable act in their own eyes then, as ever; the
end justifies the means, being the eorner-stone of their
creed, the foundation of their moral law. Austria in her |
microscopic state was an improvement on the petty
tyrants Visconti, Sforza, and the Scaligieri. Piedmont
was steadily arming, building roads, opening schools.
The republicans of Genoa, who on December 5, 1746,
had literally stoned out of the city the insolent —
Austrian soldiers of the “good” Maria Teresa, stained
their fair fame and name by summoning foreigners from
France to subdue the Corsicans, who, to the harsh rule
of the Ligurians, preferred their own independence ; but,
like the cat in the fable, France annexed the island to
her own dominions (1768), just in time for Napoleon
Bonaparte to be born a French citizen, August 15, 1769.
Venice, in the eleventh century of her existence, found
it hard in her declining years to hold her own against
the Turks; to the last she kept an unflinching front .
turned against “ecclesiastical encroachments, but dis-
‘gusting her provinces in terra jirma by “her harsh
oligarchical rule, found herself abandoned in her death-

agony, which was so near at hand. The aaa
VOL. I.

“Be They ast They ores, fe ae + be

xlii HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

2

and scientific activity is sufficiently proved by the large
number of books published in the eighteenth century
in Italy. In 1791, about the time that the guillotine
was invented in France, Galvani discovered galvanism,
and Volta published his memoir on the electric pile
jast as the troops of the French Directory invaded
Savoy and Nice. Little doubt have we that Italy
would have worked out her own salvation earlier and
with less of suffering had she been left to her own
devices. The Americans had sealed independence with
their blood at Lexington in 1775, constituted their
thirteen colonies into the United States in 1776,
formulated their constitution in 1787, proclaimed the
rights of man to freedom and equality, yet still the
world persists in attributing the rise of modern liberty,
progress, and of democratic principles to France! Certain
it is that Italy was the victim; that her blood and her
treasure were poured out lavishly and ungrudgingly ;
and that, when all was over and done, the nations
of Europe (even England not excepted) just re-enacted
the comedy of the past, and, disregarding pledges and
promises, and the passionate pleadings of her popula-
tions, who for the first time in history asked to be
allowed to regulate their own destinies, again parted
her garments among foreigners and their minions.

A chronological survey of Italy during the French
Revolution and Napoleon’s reign, and her territorial
condition created by the treaty of Vienna, suffices to
show what was the political and moral condition of the
country when the apostle of her unity and the factors

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. xlili

=

of her independence struck upon the secret of her past
misery and of her future greatness.

While it would be puerile to deny that the French
Revolution quickened the torpid members of disunited
Italy—that in the ranks of the Italian army, the
soldiers of the Cisalpine republic, of the Italian
kingdom, learned to love their comrades of danger and
of glory and to worship their tricolour, first sign and
symbol of a common country, it is quite a mistake
to believe that the first entrance of French arms into
Italy was hailed with any of that enthusiasm which
so many writers of French history choose to paint
(1792-1796). The army of Victor Emmanuel fought
gallantly for four years after the soldiers of the Directory,
swarming into Savoy and Nice, took possession of the
provinces, to punish the King of Sardinia for preferring
the alliance of Austria to that of the newly fledged
republic. The Venetians pledged themselves to a strict
neutrality. The Lombards looked askance at this fresh
inroad of foreigners; not that they liked the Austrian
. rule, they simply disliked all invaders. When the young
Napoleon crossed the Alps (1796), divided the Pied-
montese from the Austrian armies, defeated both, crossed
the Po and Adda, entered Milan, crossed the Oglio,
invested Mantua, sped through the duchy of Modena,
Bologna, and Tuscany, compelling the Grand Duke of
Tuscany, the Duke of Este, and the pope to come to
terms,—the attitude of the populations was that of won-
der unmixed with any sort of enthusiasm. The inso-
lence of the French, which had roused the Sicilians to

xliv HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

their Vespers, exasperated the people of northern Italy,
and to the cry of “ Death to the Jacobins!” they rushed
on the French soldiery at Binasco, Pavia, in the Genoese
Riviera, at Polcevere, Lugo, and even in Bologna.

When the “conquering hero” routed Wurmser at
Lonato (August 3 and 5), and Castiglione defeated
Alvinzi at Arcole, again at Rivoli, and compelled the
pope, by the treaty of Tolentino (February 19, 1797), to
cede Bologna, Ferrara, all the legations, and pay thirty
millions to France ; when he challenged Austria’s last
champion the Archduke Charles, and cut the Austrian
troops to pieces at the Tagliamento and at Isonzo
(March 16-19) ;—it was the uprising of the Venetian
populations on his flank, it was “the Easter of Verona”
kept on the anniversary of the Sicilian Vespers (April
17, 1797) when old men and women and children flung
themselves on the invaders, massacring the troops
even in the hospitals—that made Bonaparte offer an
armistice to Austria (April 18), promise her Venice and
the Venetian territories, by secret treaty, even as he
promised to Venice alliance, assistance, and protection,
and recognition of her independence.

By the treaty of Campo Formio, Austria took posses-
sion of Venice (January 19, 1798). The Cisalpine re-
public, extending from the Ticino to the Adige, from the
Adda to the Rubicon, was after all but a department of
the French republic, with a French constitution and
directory, a French army of occupation for which the
Italians paid eighteen millions. The papal government
abolished (February 10), the pope sent prisoner to

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. xlv

Florence, thence to France, where he died, the Roman
republic was restored in name; churches, libraries,
palaces, museums, and archives despoiled of their
treasures to enrich the capital of the liberating army.
Naples (where to the intelligent, indulgent Charles III.,
the besotted Ferdinand and the infamous queen Caroline
with Acton had succeeded) was divided into two factions .
—the intelligent classes, who loathed the ignominy of
their rule; the lazzaroni, who—caressed and cajoled—
adored it. When the first French corps under Cham-
pionnet entered the Abruzzi, the King of Naples was
in the Roman States, calling on the Romans “to assist
him in restoring the authority of their sovereign the
pope.” The Italian peasants astonished the French by
their onslaught in the defiles of the Abruzzi. The whole
population of peasants rose in arms; they retook the
fortress from the French, broke up the bridges, seized
the guns of the invaders. Had the king put himself
at the head of his army and the volunteers, the French
- could not have prevailed. Instead of this, rifling the
banks and treasury of twenty millions of ducats, jewels,
and antiquities (all conveyed by the wife of the British
ambassador—Lady Hamilton—on board a vessel of the
British squadron), he with his family fled to Sicily,
Admiral Nelson carrying them in his flag-ship to
Palermo (December 26). Even then the French had to
“conquer” Naples (January 23, 1799), and when their
army entered, three thousand corpses of its defenders
were lying in the streets, their own loss most severe-
On the following day, the Parthenopian republic was

Xvi HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

proclaimed, amidst the rejoicings of all the intelligent
classes in city and in province. Its life was short, its
death-agony long. Championnet recalled—Cardinal
Ruffo, the king’s viceroy, soon rallied an army of peasants,
brigands, and lazzaroni, reinforced by English, Sicilians,
Turks, and Russians. The cardinal, after a formal
capitulation signed by Captain Foote, commanding the
British fleet in the bay, also by the commanders of the
Russian and Turkish troops, agreed that the Directory,
with the republican garrisons in the castles of Uovo,
Nuovo, and St. Elmo, should leave them with the honours
of war to embark for Toulon, or remain free in their
own countries; the same terms were granted to all
the prisoners taken during the war. On July 24,
Nelson returned from Palermo with the British fleet.
Refusing to ratify the capitulation, he published an
ordinance declaring all the partisans of the republic
guilty of treason—the chief offenders to be punished
by death; the lesser ones by imprisonment, exile; all
by confiscation. Vainly Ruffo protested that the king’s
Vicar-General alone had the right to treat. His protests
were set aside, even as those of the indignant captain
Foote. The noble admiral Caracciolo was summoned
before a court-martial convened on board the British
flag-ship, instantly condemned, refused the one favour
he asked, of being shot. He was instead hung from
the yard-arm of his own ship, Nelson looking on from
his. Despite the heavily shotted shroud, the body
floated to the surface and under the window of the
king’s cabin. Not less than 4000 Neapolitans were

ihe, a ee % ah» ~

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. xlvii.

immolated in the city and the provinces. The Queen
of Naples saw the desire of her heart fulfilled; not
a person of more than ordinary intelligence survived
the general massacre, while the inhuman cruelties per-
petrated upon the more than 30,000 prisoners defy
description and surpass belief. The annals of the
Spanish Inquisition record no bloodier page. Saddest of
all sad memories is, that England’s banner floated over
the murderers of these noble, guiltless victims. The
names of these first martyrs of Italian liberty will never
be all known ; too many nations and accomplices were
interested to hide their shame. But even a glance at the
names of a few of the recorded martyrs * makes one pause

* G. Fortunato, member of the Italian parliament, has made out
a list of ninety-nine citizens legally murdered between June 29,
1799, and September 11, 1800. June 29,1799: Admiral Francesco
Caracciolo, whose fall is thus recorded in Nelson’s diary: “A slight
breeze; a cloudy sky. Sentenced, condemned, and hung Francesco
Caracciolo.” July 7: Antonio Tramaglia, jurist; Domenico Perla,
merchant; Giuseppe Cotitta, librarian of the royal library. July 13:
Giuseppe Belloni, priest; Niccold Carlomagno, advocate. July 26:
Andrea Vitaliani, watchmaker. August 3: Gaetano Russo, infantry
colonel. August 14: Oronzio Massa, duke of Galugnano. August 20:
Giuliano Colonna, prince of Aliano; Gennaro Serra, duke of Cassano;
Michele Natale, bishop of Vico Equense; Vincenzo Lupo, advocate;
- Niecola Pacifico, professor of botany; Domenico Piatti, banker ;
Antonio Piatti; Eleonora Fonseca, Pimental directress of the Monitor
of the Republic—“ Forsan et hec olim meminisse juvabit,” were her last
words in life. August 29: Michele Marino, wine merchant; Antonio
D’Avella, oil merchant; Niccola Fasulo, advocate; Gaetano de Marco,
military instructor; Niccold Fiani, cavalry captain—his body was
flung to the Lazzaroni, who fried and ate his liver, shouting, “ Who
will buy the liver of a Jacobin?” September 4: Ettore Carafa,
count of Ruvo, who to the insults of his judge made answer, “If we
were both free men, you would change your tone; my chains give

_ xlviii HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

in wondering admiration that, when the flower of
intellect, of rank, of learning, and of moral courage had

you courage.” September 24: Gabriele Manthoné, general of
artillery ; Giuseppe Siéyés, vice-consul of France. September 30:
Ferdinando Pignatelli, prince of Strongoli; Mario Pignatelli, his
brother; Niccola de Meo, priest; Prosdocimo Rotondo, advocate ;
Francesco Antonio Astore, advocate. October 1: Ercole d’Agnese,
professor of literature; Filippo de Marini, marquis of Genzano.
October 8: Domenico Antonio Pagano, advocate. October 10:
Pasquale Matera, general of infantry. October 14: Felice Mastran-
gelo, physician; Niccola Palomba, priest; Antonio Tocco, captain ;
Pasquale Assisi, lieutenant. October 22: Giuseppe Riario Sforza,
marquis of Corleto; Francesco Antonio Grimaldi, general of infantry ;
Onofrio de Colaci, marquis of Guisaco ; Gaetano Morgera, priest ;
Giovanni Varanese, lieutenant ; Luigi Bozzaotra, notary. October
23: Francesco Federici, marquis of Pietrastornina, general of
cavalry. October 27: Vincenzo Troisi, priest and university pro-
fessor. October 29: Francesco Mario Pagano, jurist, university
professor; Domenico Leone Cirillo, physician, university professor—
when asked his profession, he answered, ‘‘ Physician during the
kingdom ; representant of the people under the Republic ; ” and to
the judge, Speciale, ‘In your presence, O coward, I am a hero ”—
Ignazio Ciaja, man of letters ; Giorgio Pigliacelli, advocate. October
31: Severo Caputo, professor of theology ; Ignazio Falconieri, priest ;
Colombo Andreassi; Raffaele Iossa. November 9: Gian Leonardo
Palombo, advocate. November 11: Pasquale Batti, professor in the
university of Greek and literature, librarian of the Academy.
November 13: Giuseppe Guardati Benedictine, monk of Monte-
cassino, professor of the university. November 19: Niecola Mag-
ilano, advocate; Niccola Maria Rossi, professor of the university;
Vincenzo Russo, advocate—he cried, “ Viva the republic! I am
glad to die for liber——” The hangman strangled “liberty” in his
throat. November 23: Antonio Ruggi, jurist ; Melchiorre Maffei,
merchant. November 28: Giuseppe Albanese, jurist; Domenico
Bisceglia, advocate; Gregorio Mattei, magistrate; Luigi Rossi,
advocate ; Clino Roselli, engineer, professor in the military academy;
Francesco Bagno, physician and professor; Vincenzo de Filippis,
professor of mathematics ; Giuseppe Logoteta, advocate. December
3: Niccola Neri, physician; Gregorio Mancini, advocate; Pietro

vo

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. xlix

been annihilated, a Neapolitan people should survive
to do and dare after the holy alliance triumphed, and
when despotism held high carnival in Italy. One feels
tempted to ask, had the enemies of the French Revolu-
tion in England been able to exterminate in a single
English county “only” ninety flowers of English chivalry,
military and naval officers, ministers of religion, pro-
fessors of the universities, lawyers, physicians, and
students, with more than 3000 of the rank and file—at
the close of the eighteenth century—where would our
vaunted liberty have found itself in the nineteenth ?

It is no part of our task to follow the eareer of the
mighty genius who, if citizen of France, was son of
Italy, and who, inheriting her fixed idea of empire,

Nicoletti, lieutenant. December 7: Raffaele Doria, naval officer ;
Ferdinando Ruggi, naval officer; Francesco Conforti, priest, pro-
fessor of history in the university ; Vincenzio d’Ischia, lieutenant ;
Antonio Sardelli. December 12: Leopoldo de Renzis, baron of
Montanaro, colonel; Niccola Fiorentino, advocate, professor of
mathematics; Michele Granata, professor in the military academy.
December 14: Carlo Mauri, marquis of Polvica; Carlo Romeo,
captain. January 3, 1800: Giacomo Antonio Gualzetti, poet ;
Marcello Cusebio Scotti, priest, professor of philosophy in the uni-
versity; Niccola Ricciardi; Giuseppe Cammarota. January 18:
Michelangelo Ciccone, priest; Niccola Mazzola, notary. January 21:
Eleuterio Ruggiero, colonel. February 1: Gaspare Pucci, medical
student; Cristoforo Grossi, medical student. February 8: Andrea
Mazzitelli, Luigi de la Grenalais, Raffaele Montemayor, Giambat-
tista de Simone, naval captains, who, under the admiral Caracciolo
had fought to expel the English from Procida. They claimed to be
beheaded, but were hung instead. Grenalais shouted to the crowd,
“T see many of our friends; avenge us!” March 6: Carlo Mus-
cari, advocate. March 18: Gennaro Felice Arcucci, physician.
September 11: Luisa Molines Sanfelice, kept more than a year in
prison, then hung after the birth of her child.

] HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

wrecked his own destinies and failed to make her one.
The Italians, under the Cisalpine and Parthenopian re-
publics, under the kingdom of Italy with Eugene for
viceroy, under Murat in Naples, and without a pope in
Rome, learned to esteem themselves, to glory in their own
glories, to loathe the Bourbon, despise the papacy, and to
regard with burlesque contempt the always-conquered,
ever-humiliated Austrians. The war-bulletins of the .
Italian army formed their daily food. How they exulted
that “Napoleon was surrounded by his Italian guard
at the battle of Ulma,” when with them “he entered
Vienna ;” that “at the battle of Austerlitz, the Italians
(artillerymen) covered themselves with glory,” “ defeated
the Austrian archduke at Caldiero,” drove the Russians
from Dalmatia. Then, on the field of Wagram, Napo-
leon said to his Italian legions, “My braves, you have
covered yourselves with glory ;” and again from Spain,
“ The Italian militia are covered with glory ;” and when,
with Palombini, from 20,000 Spaniards under Blake,
they took two colours and twelve guns, Suchet, rara avis,
wrote to Napoleon, “ The success of this day is especially
due to Italian soldiers,” and the emperor exclaimed,
“The Italians will one day be the first soldiers in
Europe!” Truly they may be pardoned if people and
poets believed that glory and liberty were synonymous.*

* Carlo Porta, the impersonification of Milanese satire and con-
tempt of the Austrians, long before Beranger sang the glories of

Napoleon in his petit chapeau and his redingote gris, ends a long
toast in Milanese dialect—

“ Ah refiadi! . . . 1’ vegnuu
Finalment el bollettin ;

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. li

During the retreat from Moscow, 17,000 Italians under
Pino eight times sustained the attack of 60,000
Russians. Del Fante, with the royal guard, ever in the
van, protected the passage of the rivers for Napoleon ;

then, Smolensko passed—ordering “stand still till death,” |

was killed with all his men. Arrived at the fatal
Beresina, the Italians built a bridge for Eugéne to cross.
The Russians arriving, Ciavaldini spiked the guns, so
that if “they could not fight for, they should not be used
against, the emperor!” Had Napoleon then appeared
in Lombardy, headed the new army which rallied round
the mutilated veterans of the old; had he but listened
to that great Milanese and true Italian, Duca Melzi,
renouncing France and empire ;—he might have saved
himself and seen his son crowned King of Italy in Rane

and the Ttalians failed to seize their opportunity. “When
he was compelled to abdicate, Lombards, Piedmontese,
Sicilians, Neapolitans, Tuscans, Genoese, and Romans

Finalment el s’é movuu

Quell’ omett del cappellin.
Meeuves lu, liberann nun

Da quij téder marcaditt,

L’é md propi staa tutt’un:

Oh che omon! l’ho semper ditt.
Alla barba di pattan

E de quij che ten de lor,

Sbraggem donch coi tazz in man:

Viva el nost imperator !”

For the poet, as for all Italy, “the little man in the little hat ”
had but to stir his finger and all would be free from the “ car’
Todisch,” the pattan (contemptuous phrases for the Austrians),
hence all drink and shout, “ Long live owr emperor!”

|

li HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

had but to confederate their forces and to hold their
own. This idea never occurred to them, and once more
Europe settled their destinies according to the separate
interests of the powers who had coalesced against
Napoleon. By the treaty of Vienna (1815), the King
of Sardinia was restored to all his former possessions,
to which was added the republic of Liguria, despite
the promises made by Lord Bentinck that its independ-
ence should be preserved. The entire kingdom of
Venetian-Lombardy was handed over to the Austrians ;
the duchies of Modena, Reggio, with Massa and
Carrara, given to Austrian princes; Parma, Piacenza,
and Guastalla to Napoleon’s queen, Maria Luisa,
because she was an Austrian princess; the grand-
duchy of Tuscany to Ferdinand III. of Austria;
the duchy of Lucca to a Bourbon. Rome and the
Roman states were restored to the new pope, Pius VIL ;
Sicily was united to Naples under the Bourbons, and
later deprived of her constitution, despite the promised
protection of England; the Canton Ticino, though
strictly Italian, annexed to the Swiss Confederation ;
the little republic of St. Marino left intact, even as
the principality of Monaco. England retained Malta;
' Corsica was left to France.

Italy, so Metternich and Europe fondly hoped, was
reduced to a geographical expression. Unjust, brutal,
and treacherous as was that partition, at least it taught
the Italians that “who would be free himself must
strike the blow.” It united them into one common hatred
of Austria and Austrian satellites. By substituting

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. hii

papal, Austrian, and Bourbon despotism for the free
institutions, codes, and_constitutions of the Napoleonic
“era, it taught them the difference between rule and
misrule. Hence the demand of the Neapolitans during
their first revolution (1820) was for a constitution ; that
of the Piedmontese and Lombards (1821) for a consti-
tution and war against Austria. The Bourbon swore
and foreswore, and the Austrians “restored order” in
Naples. The Piedmontese, who had not concerted their
movement until Naples was crushed—after the abdi-
cation of Victor Emmanuel I., the granting of the con-
stitution by the regent Charles Albert, and its abrogation
by the new king Charles Felix—saw the Austrians
enter Piedmont, while the leaders of the revolution
went out into exile.

But those revolutions and those failures were the
beginning of the end. The will to be independent of
all foreigners, the thirst for freedom, was universal ; the
very name of empire or of emperor was rendered
ridiculous, reduced to a parody—in the person of
Ferdinand of Austria. But one illusion remained—in
the liberating virtues of France and the French; this
had to be dispelled by bitter experience, and for it
substituted the new idea of one Italy for the Italians,
a nation united, independent, free, governed by a
president or by a king chosen by the sovereign people.

The apostle of this idea, to which for fifty years
victims and martyrs were sacrificed by thousands, was
Joseph Mazzini; its champion, Joseph Garibaldi. By
the genius of the former, the prowess of the latter, the

liv HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

abnegation, the constancy, the tenacity, the iron will

of both, all the populations of Italy were subjugated by

that idea: philosophers demonstrated it, poets sung it,

cachet pious Christian priests proclaimed it, statesmen found it

tée onfronting their negotiations, baffling their half-

measures. The “King of the Alps,” compelled to

abandon the artichoke theory, to look southwards as

well as east and westwards, was forced to accept the

“principle and its consequences,” to realize that but

two alternatives lay before him—to resist by brute force,

to delay by treachery the “triumph of the idea,” and

so disappear, crownless and sceptreless, into chaos with

his perjured peers; or boldly to merit and bravely to

combat for the Italian crown, to receive it from the

hands of a free people in empireless Italian Rome!

Finally he made his choice and had his reward, and

this marvellous unity of thought and action, this

sacrifice of all secondary objects, of all personal

sympathies or individual prejudices for one or other

form of government, taught the powers who invented

the Treaty of Vienna that there could be no peace in

Europe until that monument of their terror, treachery,

and injustice should be torn to shreds, the great

principle of nationality recognized, the people of Italy

left to shape their own destinies, to live their own

life without let or hindrance or interference in their
Alp-bound, sea-girt home.

JESSIE WHITE V* MARIO.

Lenprnara, October, 1888.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

OF

GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

OF

GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

PRELIMINARY.
July 3, 1872,

MINE has been a stormy life, wherein good and evil
have been mixed, as, I suppose, they have been in the
lives of most men. I can conscientiously say that J
have always sought to act rightly, both in fulfilling my
own personal duty and in seeking the good of others,
Any wrong I may have done has most certainly been
unintentional. I have ever been the sworn foe of
tyranny and falsehood, being firmly persuaded that
these are the source of all human misery and
corruption, For myself, I am a republican, such
being the political system that most recommends itself
to honest men—a natural system, desired by the
majority, and, consequently, not forced on the people
by violence and corruption, Still, I am _ neither
exclusive nor intolerant, and feel no desire to impose
my republicanism on others—on the English, for
example, if they are content with the government of
VOL. I. B

7

2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

Queen Victoria. The fact that they are content with
it goes to prove that, by whatever name it may be
called, it is in reality a republic. I am a republican,
but am every day more and more convinced of the
necessity for an honest dictatorship, created for a
limited term, to rule those nations which, like France,
Spain, and Italy, are victims to the most pernicious
Byzanticism.

All I have related in my memoirs may serve as
material for history. Of most of the facts recorded I
was myself an eye-witness. To the dead, who fell on
the battle-fields of freedom, I have been liberal of
praise—less so to the living, especially my own
relations. When moved to righteous anger by wrong
done to me, I have endeavoured to control my feelings
before speaking of the offence and the offender.

In all my writings I have waged open war against
priestly influence, which I have always believed to
be the prop of every vice, despotism, and corruption
to be found on this earth.

The priest is possessed by a lying spirit—the liar
is a thief, the thief a murderer, and an endless series
of infamous corollaries might be deduced from the
same starting-point.

Many people, I myself among the number, believe
education to be the cure for the priestly leprosy that
afflicts the world. But is it not the educated, privileged
class by which the world is governed, that keeps it
what it is ?

“Liberty for all!” is the universal cry; and the

PRELIMINARY. 3

principle is recognized even among the best-governed
nations. But does this imply liberty for thieves,
murderers, mosquitoes, vipers,and priests? As for this
last-named black brood, this pestilent scum of humanity,
this caryatid of thrones, still reeking with the stench of
human burnt-offerings, where tyranny still reigns; it
takes its place among the slaves, and is reckoned among
their famished herd. But in free countries it pretends
to freedom—-will accept nothing else—no protection, no
subsidy outside the law. The reptile, forsooth, is satis-
fied to be free! There is no lack of fools and bigots
in the world; and of scoundrels whose interest it is to
maintain the imbecility and superstition of the masses,
there is always abundance.

I shall be accused of pessimism, but let those who
have the patience to read, forgive me. To-day I
complete my sixty-fifth year; and, though for the
greater part of my life a believer in the improvement
of the race, I have been embittered by the sight of so
much evil and corruption in this self-styled age of
civilization.

As I cannot boast of a good memory, I may perhaps
have forgotten to record some dear and meritorious
names. :

Of the surgeons who shared the hardships of my
various campaigns, from Montevideo to Dijon, I will
name the following,

Odicini, surgeon to the Montevideo Legion, rendered
great help to our fellow-citizens and fellow-soldiers,
through his uncommon professional skill.

4 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

Ripari, my very dear friend, was with me—and cured
me of a wound—at Rome in 1849. As surgeon-in-
chief to the expedition of the Thousand, he performed
his difficult and noble task with characteristic ability
and patriotism.

At Aspromonte I owed the preservation of my right
foot—perhaps of my life—to the care and kindness of
Drs. Ripari, Basile, and Albanese.

Bertani was “surgeon-in-chief to the forces com-
manded by me in 1859 and 1866. His singular merits,
whether as an officer or a surgeon, no one will, I think,
dispute. In 1867 also he distinguished himself in the
ill-fated battle of Mentana.

The very eminent professors Partridge, Nélaton, and
Pigoroff showed, by the generous interest they took in
my dangerous situation, that true merit and true
science are of no nationality. To my dear friends Drs.
Prandina, Cipriani, Riboli, as well as to Dr. Pastore,
I likewise owe a debt of gratitude. In France, Dr.
Riboli, surgeon-in-chief to the army of the Vosges,
though suffering from a serious and obstinate illness,
did not fail to render most valuable services.

In estimating the individual merit of each of my
companions, I make no pretensions to infallibility ; if
I have been guilty of any error, I repeat, it was unin-
tentional. :

Whether the society of to-day is in a healthy state, I
leave to the judgment of men of sense (July 4, 1872).
Hardly yet has the poisoned air of the battle-field
been cleared by the hurricane, and already plans of

PRELIMINARY. 5

vengeance are being discussed. The nations are visited
with calamities of every kind—famine, flood, cholera—
what matter? all are arming to the teeth; all are
soldiers.

The priest!—Ah! he is indeed the veritable scourge
of God. In Italy he holds a cowardly government in
the most degrading humiliation, and renews his strength
in the corruption and misery of the people. In France
he urges that unhappy nation to war. “In Spain, worse
still, he stirs up the people to civil strife, and, placing
himself at the head of bands of fanatics, sows destruction
on every side.

Lovers of peace, right, and justice, we are yet forced
to agree with the saying of an American general :
La guerra es la verdadera vida del hombre—“ War is the
true life of man.”

‘

FIRST PERIOD.

CHAPTER &
MY PARENTS.

I must not begin the story of my life without some
reference to the worthy parents whose character and
affection so greatly influenced, not only my mental
growth, but also my physical development.

My father, a sailor’s son, and himself a sailor from
his earliest years, was certainly not furnished with the
stores of information common in our day to men of
his class. In his youth he had served on board my
grandfather’s ships, and, later on, had commanded ships
of his own. He had experienced many vicissitudes of
fortune, and I have often heard him say that he might
have left us better provided for. Be that as it may, I
am most grateful for the inheritance he bequeathed me,
for I know that he spared no pains or expense to give
me an education, even when, owing to business reverses,
the upbringing of his sons became a heavy tax on his
honest earnings. That the education thus provided for —
me was not more complete—gymnastics, fencing, and
other bodily exercises, in particular, being omitted—

*

8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

was not so much my father’s fault as that of the times
~ in which he lived,—times when, thanks to our tonsured
pedagogues, the endeavour was to make young men
priests and lawyers, rather than good citizens fitted for
serving their unhappy country in any useful employ-
ment.

Moreover, so strong was his paternal affection that he
could not bear the idea of his sons betaking themselves
to warlike pursuits. This timidity on the part of my
dear father is perhaps the only thing with which I have
to reproach him; but the result was that, fearful of
exposing me too young to the risks and hardships of
the sea, he kept me at home, contrary to my own
inclination, till I was about fifteen.

This, I think, was unwise; for to this day I am con-
vinced that a sailor should begin his career as early as
he can—if possible, before the age of eight. The Genoese
and the English, who are the greatest masters of this
craft, bear me out in this opinion. To compel lads
intended for a seafaring life to study at Turin or Paris,
and only to send them on board ship when they are
over twenty, is, to my mind, the worst system that can
be conceived. It would surely be better for them to
carry on their studies on board, learning, at the same
time, the practical part of navigation.

Of my mother, I say with pride that she might have
been a model to all mothers, and I can say no more.
I shall always regret that it was not in my power to
cheer the last days of that good mother, whose life had
so often been disquieted by my adventurous career.

a — to

MY PARENTS. Oe

Her tenderness for me was perhaps excessive, but to

her love, to her angelic sweetness of character, do I
not owe the little good to be found in me? to her pity
for others, to her kind and loving spirit, to her gentle |
compassion for the wretched and the sorrowful, may I
not trace the origin of that love of my country, which,
inadequate though it be, has gained me the sympathy
and affection of my worthy but unfortunate fellow-
citizens ?

Though far from being superstitious, yet repeatedly
at the most critical moments of my stormy life—as
when I escaped unscathed from the wild Atlantic
breakers, or from the leaden hail of the battle-field—it
has seemed to me that I beheld my loving mother, on
bended knees before the Infinite, a suppliant for the
life of her son. And, though I had no great belief in
the efficacy of her prayers, I was touched by them, and
felt myself, if not happier, at least less miserable than
before.

10 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI,

CHAPTER II.
EARLY YEARS.

I was born at Nice, on July 4, 1807, in a house on
the sea-shore, near the head of Porto Olimpio. Like
most other children, I spent the period of infancy
in frivolous pursuits—sometimes gay, sometimes in
tears. I was fonder of play than of study; nor did I
profit so much as I ought by the care and expense
incurred by my dear parents in my behalf. My child-
hood offers nothing remarkable; but the following
incidents, in themselves of little consequence, at least
show that I was tender-hearted.

One day I picked up a grasshopper, and brought it
into the house. The leg of the poor insect got broken
in my hands, whereat I was so much distressed that I
shut myself into my room and wept for hours.

Another time, when I accompanied a cousin on a
shooting-expedition into the district of the Var, we
halted on the edge of a deep ditch used for steeping
hemp, where a poor woman was washing clothes. How
it happened I do not know, but she fell head-foremost
into the water, and was in danger of drowning. Though
small for my age, and encumbered with my game-bag,

————<—=« - - «Ww

EARLY YEARS. tp

I jumped in after her, and succeeded in pulling her out.
In after-years I have never shrunk from helping any
fellow-creature in danger, even at the risk of my own
life.

In accordance with a pernicious custom, which I
believe to be the chief cause of the moral and physical
inferiority of the Italian race, my earliest instructors
were two priests. Of the third, Signor Arena, from
whom I learnt Italian, writing, and mathematics, I still
preserve an affectionate remembrance.

Had I had more sense, or could I have foreseen my
future relations with the English, I should have en-
deavoured to gain a more accurate acquaintance with
their language, which I could have obtained from my
second master, Father Giaume, a priest singularly free
from prejudice, and at home in Byron’s glorious tongue.

I have always regretted my carelessness in this
respect—a regret renewed by every circumstance of my
life which has brought me into contact with English
people.

To my third instructor, Signor Arena, a layman, I
owe whatever knowledge I possess. I shall always
remember him with gratitude—above all, for having
taught me to understand and appreciate my own tongue,
and initiated me into the history of Rome.

The absence of serious instruction in the affairs and
history of our own country is a very common defect in
Italy ; but particularly so at Nice, a border city, and
often, unhappily, under French rule. In this my
native city, up to the present date (1849) but few

12 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIRALDI.

have even known themselves to be Italians. The
~ large influx of French inhabitants; the local dialect,
which strongly resembles the Provengal; and the
neglect of the people by our rulers, whose sole object
seems to have been to plunder them, and lead away
their sons as soldiers ;—all conspired to engender in the
Nizzards a feeling of absolute indifference towards their
country, and, in the end, to facilitate the severance, by
the priests and Bonaparte in 1860, of that beautiful
branch from the parent tree.

It is partly, then, to those early readings in history
and partly to the exhortations of my elder brother
Angelo—who, writing from America, used to urge on
me the study of our own most beautiful of languages—
that I am indebted for what little I know on these
subjects.

I will close this first period of my life with the
recital of an event which was, so to speak, a fore-
shadowing of future adventures.

Tired of school, and impatient of being always fixed
to one place, I one day proposed to some companions
of my own age to run away to Genoa. We had no
definite plan, but started with a vague idea of seeking
our fortunes. We seized a boat, put on board some
provisions and fishing-tackle, and started eastward.
We had already arrived off Monaco, when a coastguard
vessel, sent after us by my dear father, overtook and
brought us back in deep mortification. An abbé had
betrayed our flight. Strange coincidence! an abbé,
an embryo priest, was perhaps the means of saving me

EARLY YEARS. ~¢

from ruin, and I am ungrateful enough to persecute

those poor priests! All the same, a priest is an

impostor, and I am devoted to the sacred worship of
truth. ;

Cesare Parodi and Raffaelle Deandreis were two of
my companions in this escapade; the names of the
others I have forgotten.

Here I am glad to recall to memory the youth of
Nice, active, strong, and courageous—magnificent
material for all social and military purposes, but,
unhappily, led into wrong courses, first by the priest,
and then by the depravity imported from abroad,
which has made the beautiful Cymele of the Romans
the cosmopolitan seat of every kind of corruption.

Ye

14 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER III.
FIRST VOYAGES.

To youth, eager to launch forth in the unknown future,
how beautiful do all things appear! How lovely wert
thou, O bark, whereon for the first time I was to
plough the Mediterranean waters, bound for the Black
Sea! Thy ample sides, thy tapering masts, thy
spacious deck—nay, thy very figure-head, with its
curved outline, will remain for ever engraved on my
memory. With what a graceful roll her San Remo
crew, true types of our hardy Ligurians, moved
about! With what delight I sought the forecastle, to
listen to their ballads and their harmonious choruses!
Their songs, all of love, soothed or excited me with
emotions which for me had as yet no meaning. Qh,
that they had sung to me of my country—of Italy, of
oppression, of slavery! But who was there to teach
them to be Italian patriots, champions of the dignity _
of manhood? Who was there to tell us young fellows
that in Italy we had a country to avenge and to
redeem? Who indeed? The priests, our sole instruc-
tors? Like the Jews, we had grown up without a
country—money was the only end or aim :pointed out

for our pursuit,

FIRST VOYAGES. 15

Meanwhile’my mother, overwhelmed with grief, was
preparing my outfit for my first voyage to Odessa with
the brigantine Costanza, Captain Angelo Pesante,* of
San Remo—the best skipper I ever knew,

If our navy ever becomes what it ought to be
Captain Pesante should certainly command one of our
first men-of-war; no ship could be in better hands.
There is nothing needed for any class of vessel, from a
cock-boat to a ninety-one-gun frigate, that he would
not contrive and construct, if it would enable her to do
honour to Italy.

And here I must remark that, in case of a naval war, ~~.

_¥ our country ought to make great use of her excellent
mercantile marine, which is a nursery, not only of
brave sailors, but also of gallant officers, capable of
doing their duty, whether in. war or peace.

‘ My first trip was to Odessa, but as such voyages
have since become very common, I shall not waste
time in describing it. My second trip was to Rome,
in egmpany with my father, on board his own felucca,
the Santa Reparata.

Rome, that should have revealed herself to me as the
capital of the world, is to-day only the capital of
the most odious of sects;—the world’s capital, by virtue
of the endless and sublime ruins wherewith are linked
the memories of all that is greatest in the past, become
the capital of a sect who once indeed were followers
of the Just One, the Deliverer of slaves and Founder of

* Dead several years ago, but alive when I began to write these
memoirs, 2

ee
<.*

16 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

the equality which He ennobled; blessed during count-
less generations by priests who were the apostles of
popular rights, but who now have sunk to be the very

- scourge of that Italy which, seven and seventy times,
.they have sold to the stranger.

No! the Rome I beheld with the eyes of my youth-
ful imagination was the Rome of the future*—the Rome

‘that, shipwrecked, dying, banished to the furthest

depths of the American forests, I have never despaired
of: the regenerating idea of a great nation, the domi-
nant thought and inspiration of my whole life.

It was then that she grew to be dearer to me than
anything else on earth. I worshipped, with all the
fervour of a lover, not only the haughty bnlwarks of
her secular greatness,’ but the merest fragment of her
ruins. This love I hid away as a sacred treasure
in the depth of my heart, only revealing it when I
could boldly raise aloft the object of my worship. It
was a passion which, so far from diminishing,
strengthened with distance and exile. Many and
many a time I consoled myself with the thought of
beholding her once more. For me, in a word, Rome
is Italy, and I see no Italy possible save in the com-

pact or federative union of her scattered members. For

me Rome is the symbol of our United Italy, whatever
form you may please to give it. And the most accursed
work.of the Papacy has been the keeping it in a state
of moral and material disunion.t

* Written in 1849.
t Such have always been my ideas, as recorded in 1849, and
copied to-day, in 1871.

Eo

CHAPTER IV.
OTHER VOYAGES.

AFTER making several other trips with my father, I
sailed for Cagliari, with Giuseppe Gervino, captain of
the brigantine Enea. .

During the voyage I witnessed a terrible shipwreck,
the recollection of which will never -be effaced from’
my memory. On our return from Cagliari, we had

reached the headland of Noli, accompanied by several

vessels, among which was a Catalan felacca. For some
days a gale had been threatening from the south-
west, and the sea was very high. At last the wind
burst upon us with such fury as to oblige us to heave-to
off Vado, it being dangerous to enter the Gulf of Genoa
im so violent a storm.

The felucca at first behaved admirably, and stood
the sea so well that our most experienced sailors
declared they would rather be aboard her than our
own ship. But a pitiful sight was soon to be presented
to us by her luckless crew. A fearful wave broke over

our ship and threw her on her beam-ends. For a

moment we could distinguish some of her sailors

standing upon the side that still floated, stretching
VOL. I. e

18 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

out their hands to us as though for help. Suddenly
they vanished, swept away in the breaking of a second
and still more terrible wave. The catastrophe took place
to windward of us, and it was impossible to succour the
shipwrecked men. The vessels which followed us were
likewise unable to render any assistance, the storm being
too violent, and the sea too high. We heard afterwards
that nine members of one family had perished. The
tears which this spectacle brought to the eyes of the
more sensitive among us were soon dried by the thought
of our own danger,

From Vado we proceeded to Genoa, and thence home
to Nice. I now engaged in a series of voyages to the
Levant and elsewhere, in vessels belonging to the firm
of Gioan. I also sailed to Gibraltar and the Canaries in
the Coromandel, owned by Signor Giacomo Galleano, and
commanded by his nephew, Captain Giuseppe, of the
same surname, of whom I shall always retain a pleasant
recollection,

After this trip I returned to the Levantine voyages,
in one of which, having sailed in the brigantine Cortese,
Captain Carlo Semeria, to Constantinople, I was detained
in that city by illness. The vessel sailed, and, my
malady being unexpectedly prolonged, I found myself
in great straits, I have never allowed myself to be
dismayed by any circumstances of distress or danger,
and have always had the good fortune to meet with
people kind-hearted enough to interest themselves in
my fate, Among these I shall never forget Signora
Luigia Sauvaigo, one of those women who have so often

OTHER VOYAGES. 19

forced me to confess that, whatever men may think of
themselves, woman is the most perfect of God’s creatures.
A mother, and a model for mothers, her first thought
and care was for the happiness of her excellent husband
and her charming family, to whom she devoted herself
with incomparable tenderness.

The war which had broken out between Russia and
the Porte led to my stay at Constantinople being still
further prolonged. It was on this occasion that I made
my first essay in teaching, having been recommended
by Signor Diego, Doctor of Medicine, to the Signora
Timoni, a widow lady in want of a tutor for her boys,
I took advantage of the interval of quiet I enjoyed in
her house to study a little Greek, which, as well as the
Latin acquired in my schooldays, I afterwards forgot.

I recommenced my sea-life by embarking under
captain Antonio Casabona, on the brigantine Nostra
Signora delle Graze, in which vessel, after my return
_ from Constantinople, I obtained my first command as
Captain on a voyage to Port Mahon and Gibraltar.

I need not dwell on my remaining voyages to the
Levant, as nothing worth noting took place in them.

A passionate lover of my country from childhood up,
and burning with indignation against her oppressors,
I was earnestly desirous of being initiated into the
secret plots for her redemption. With this object in
view, I sought everywhere for books and other writings
relating to Italian liberty, and to the men whose lives
were consecrated thereto. On a voyage to Taganrog I
fell in with a young Genoese, who was the first to inform

ag *

20 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

me of the progress of our cause. Columbus can hardly
have experienced so much satisfaction at the discovery
of a new world, as did I on finding a man who was
actually concerned in the redemption of our country.

I threw myself body and soul into what I had so
long felt to be my true element; and on the 5th of
January, 1834, I left the Porta della Lanterna at Genoa,
disguised as a peasant, an outcast from my country.
This was the beginning of my public career. A few
days later, I had the pleasure of seeing my name for
the first time in a newspaper. It appeared in a decree
condemning me to death, reported in the Marseilles
Peuple Sowverain. After remaining idle at Marseilles
for some weeks, I shipped as mate on board the French
merchant brigantine Z’ Union, Captain Frangois Gazan.
One evening, when I happened to be in the cabin,
dressed in my best for going ashore,* the captain and
I heard a splash in the water, and, rushing on deck,
found that a man was drowning undér the vessel’s stern,
between the ship and the breakwater. I sprang over-
board, and by great good luck succeeded in saving the °
Frenchman, in full view of a large and enthusiastic
crowd. He proved to be a lad of fourteen, named
Joseph Rambaud, and I was rewarded by the grateful
tears of his mother and the blessings of his whole
family. Some years before, in the roadstead of Smyrna,
I had been similarly fortunate in rescuing my early
friend and companion, Claudio Terese.

* At that time no lights were allowed on board ship at night in
Marseilles harbour.

OTHER VOYAGES. 91

I made one more voyage in the Union to the Black
Sea, and one to Tunis, with a frigate built at Marseilles
for the Bey. I then sailed from Marseilles to Rio
Janeiro in the Nantes brigantine Nautonier, Captain
Beauregard.

During my last stay at Marseilles—whither I had
returned from Tunis on board a Tunisian sloop of war—
the cholera was raging in the town, and causing fearful
havoc, I gave in my name as a member of one of the
volunteer ambulance corps, and during the short time I |
remained, spent part of every night in watching cholera
patients.

22 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER V.
ROSSETTI.

ARRIVED at Rio de Janeiro, I was no long time in
finding friends. Rossetti, whom I had never seen,
though I should have recognized him easily in any
crowd, through the mutual attraction of good-will and
sympathy, met me at Largo do Passo. Though it was
our first meeting, we felt lke old acquaintances ; we
looked into each other’s eyes, smiled, and were brothers
for life—not to be parted save by death.

May not this subtle sympathy be one of the many
emanations of that infinite Intelligence which, we may ~
believe, pervades space and animates the worlds, and
the insects, like ourselves, which swarm on their surface ?
Why deprive myself of the delightful thought that I
may yet hold communion with a mother’s love, restored
to the infinite source whence it sprang, or with the
affection of my dearest Rossetti? I have elsewhere
described the charm of that most beautiful and lovable
soul. Perhaps I shall die without the satisfaction of
raising, on the soil of South America, a stone to mark
the spot where rest the bones of the noblest among the
lovers of our unhappy country. The burial-ground of

ee ee,

Fe a

OE ee

ROSSETTL . 23

Viamao* is, I suppose, the last resting-place of the
gallant Ligurian, who fell in a night attack by the
imperial troops on the village, at which, by mere
accident, he happened to be present.

After four months passed in inactivity, Rossetti and I
engaged in commercial speculation—a career for which
neither of us was in any way qualified.

During the war at this time waged against the Bra-
zilian empire by the Republic of Rio Grande, President
Bento Gongales and his staff were taken prisoners ; and
among the rest Zambeccari, son of the famous aeronaut
of Bologna, who was acting as secretary to the President,
and also as commander-in-chief of the republican army.
Through him Rossetti obtained letters of marque from
the Republic, and we fitted out a diminutive vessel, the
Mazzini, under the very eyes of the authorities, in the
harbour of Rio Janeiro.

* A village a few miles outside Porto Alegre, in the province of

Rio Grande do Sul—called Settembrina by the republicans, in
honour of a victory gained in September.

24 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF G/USEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER VI.
BUCCANEERING.

HERE, then, was I launched on the ocean, in this tiny
bark, a buccaneer with twelve companions. Defying an
empire, we were the first to unfurl, on those southern
shores, the republican flag of Rio Grande. Falling in
with a coasting-schooner, laden with coffee, off the Ilha
Grande, we boarded her, and as, for want of a pilot,
we could not navigate both ships, we scuttled the
Mazzin.

Rossetti was with me, but all my companions were
not like him, either in looks or manners. Some of them,
indeed, not satisfied with the effect of their naturally
forbidding countenances, put on an appearance of
ferocity, in order to terrify our harmless enemies. I, of -
course, used all my efforts to restrain them, and, as far
as possible, to tranquillize the fears of our prisoners.
When I boarded the schooner, a Brazilian passenger
came to me, beseeching me to spare his life, and offered
me a casket containing three valuable diamonds. These
I refused, and at the same time gave orders that the
private property of passengers and crew should be left
untouched. This was my invariable practice in similar

BUCCANEERING. 25

circumstances, and my orders were never disobeyed, my
subordinates being, no doubt, well aware that in such
matters I was not to be trifled with.

We got rid of the crew and passengers north of
Itapekoroia Point, giving them the launch of their vessel,
the Luisa, and allowing them to take away with them,
in addition to their own personal luggage, whatever
provisions they wanted.

We now sailed southward, and a few days later
reached the port of Maldonado, where we were much
encouraged by the friendly reception given us by the
authorities and the populace. Maldonado, standing on
the north shore of the La Plata estuary, is important
from its situation, and has a fairly good harbour. We
found there a French whaler, outward bound, and passed
a few festive days ashore, after the manner of buccaneers.

Rossetti leaving us for Montevideo, to settle our
affairs there, I remained behind with: the schooner for
about a week, after which our horizon began to darken.
Things might, indeed, have ended tragically for us, had
the Jefe politico of Maldonado been less friendly, or
I less fortunate. I was warned by this official not only
that (contrary to what I had been told) the Rio Grande
flag was not recognized, but that strict orders had been
issued for the arrest of myself and the vessel. This
. obliged me to put to sea in a north-easterly gale, and
steer my course up the La Plata River, hardly knowing
whither I was going, and with barely time to send word
to an acquaintance that I meant to make for the point
of Jesus Maria, in the barrancas (cliffs) of San Gregorio,

26 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

north of Montevideo, where I would await the result of
Rossetti’s conference with our friends in the capital.

We arrived at Jesus Maria, after a difficult run,
narrowly escaping shipwreck off the point of Piedras
Negras, through one of those unforeseen circumstances
on which many lives often depend. At Maldonado,
threatened with arrest, and mistrusting the good-will
even of the Jefe, I had remained on shore to make
certain final arrangements, but had sent orders on board
to have the arms got ready, which was immediately
done. It so happened, however, that on being brought
from the hold, where they had been stowed, the arms
were placed, so as to be handy, in a cabin close to the
binnacle. In the hurry of our departure, it never
occurred to any one that the proximity of the arms
might affect the compass.

Luckily, I had that night little inclination for sleep,
and, the wind having freshened to a gale, I kept to
leeward of the helmsman—that is, on the right side of
the ship—observing, with a practised eye, the line of
coast between Maldonado and Montevideo,—an exceed-
ingly dangerous one, by reason of the reefs that ran out
from each of its headlands. It was the first watch,
and a dark and stormy night. Still, to an eye accus-
tomed to look for land through the darkness, there was
no difficulty in perceiving the coast—all the less that
it seemed to come constantly nearer, notwithstanding
my orders to the helmsman to steer a course which
should carry us clear of it.

“ Luff two points—two points more!” and already I

BUCCANEERING. 27

think I had luffed over eight points, yet, in spite of
all I could do, we drew nearer and nearer to the coast.
About midnight the look-out forward sang out, “Land!”
It was not land, but something else. In a few minutes

we found ourselves in the midst of the breakers, the

jagged rocks showing their black heads above the water,
and no possibility of escaping them. The danger was
extreme and inevitable. There was nothing for it but
to go boldly on into the midst of the reefs, and try
to find a passage through. Happily, I did not lose
my presence of mind, but sprang into the fore-rigging,
and bawled out my orders with a voice like a trumpet,
directing the vessel’s course towards the points which
seemed to me least dangerous.

The sea washed completely over our poor vessel, and
broke on her deck with as much fury as on the rocks.
A new sight to me was a great shoal of sharks, which,
regardless of the tempest, surrounded the ship on all
sides, and played about like so many children in a
meadow, though their black snouts, of the same colour
as the surrounding rocks, and a certain threatening
aspect even in their sport, were little calculated to
reassure us. Who knows whether the idea of a succu-
lent meal at our expense was present in those ugly
black heads? Be that as it may, the thought of our
danger overpowered every other consideration; and it
was truly by an extraordinary chance that we got out
of that rocky labyrinth, without once touching. The
slightest contact with any one of the reefs would have
sent our storm-driven vessel to shivers.

28 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

We reached, as I have said, the point of Jesus Maria,
about forty miles from Montevideo, up the La Plata
River. It was only on the day of our arrival that I
discovered the fact of the arms having been removed
from the hold, and placed in such dangerous proximity
to the compass.

Here, as might have been expected, no new tidings
awaited us. Rossetti, threatened by the Governor of
Montevideo, in order to escape arrest, was obliged to go
into hiding, and consequently could do nothing in our
behalf. We were short of provisions, we had no boat
to land in, and yet twelve hungry men must be fed.
Descrying a house about four miles inland, I resolved
to land on a table, and run all risks to bring supplies
on board. The pampero, the prevailing wind of the coast,
was blowing at the time right on the shore, so as to
make landing very difficult, even for the smallest boats.
We moored with two anchors as near shore as we could
—in fact, at a distance which at any other time would
have been imprudent, but which was absolutely neces-
sary to enable me to gain the beach on a small table,
buoyed up with a cask at either end.

Here, then, was I, with one sailor, Maurizio Gari-
baldi, launched on a cabin-table and a couple of casks,
with our clothes tied like a trophy to a spar set upright
on this new-fangled ship, which revolved rather than
sailed among the breakers of that inhospitable coast.

The La Plata River skirts, on its left bank, the state
of Montevideo, called also Banda Oriental (or Uruguay),
which beautiful district being composed of hills more

BUCCANEERING. 29

or less high, the current has eaten away the sides, form-
ing a long stretch of cliffs of a nearly uniform and
sometimes considerable elevation ; this same important
river washes, on its right bank, the state of Buenos
Ayres, where it continues to accumulate the alluvial
deposit which, in the course of centuries, has formed
the vast plain of the Pampas.

We landed safely, and drew up our iattcred bark on
the beach ; and then, leaving Maurizio to repair it, I
took my way alone towards the house I had discovered.

30 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER VII.
THE PLAINS OF URUGUAY.

THE sight which met my eyes for the first time, when
I reached the top of the barrancas, is really worth
recording. The vast undulating plains of Uruguay
present a landscape entirely new to a European, and
more particularly to an Italian, accustomed from child-
hood to a country where every inch of ground is
covered with houses, hedges, or other labour of man’s
hands. Here there is nothing of the kind; the
Creoles keep the surface of the country exactly as it
was left by the natives whom the Spaniards exter-
minated.*

The plains are covered with short grass, except along
the course of the arroyos (streamlets) or in the cafiadas,t
overgrown with maciega (a tall, reed-like grass), The
banks of the river and the sides of the arroyos are
covered with fine woods, often containing timber of a
tolerable size. These lands, so favoured by nature,
are inhabited chiefly by horses and cattle, antelopes

* IT have seen the last surviving family of the Charruas, the
aboriginal inhabitants, begging for scraps of meat in our encamp-

ments.
{ Caziada, a depression between two hillocks.

THE PLAINS OF URUGUAY. 31

and ostriches.* Man, here a veritable centaur, rarely
visits them, and only to announce the presence of a
master to his numerous savage subjects. Not seldom
the warlike stallion, followed by his drove of mares,
or the bull, accompanied by his court, rushes up as he
passes by, and, by vigorous and unequivocal signs,
shows his contempt for man’s pretensions.

So have I seen, in my unhappy country, an Austrian
riding roughshod over the multitude. But how dif-
ferent the attitude of the downtrodden slaves, who,
fearful to offend, scarcely dare to lift their eyes from
the ground! God grant that the descendants of Calvi
and Manara may never come to such degradation as
‘this.

What a handsome fellow is the stallion of the
Pampas! His lips have never winced at the iron bit,
and his glossy back, never crossed by a rider, shines
like a diamond in the sun. His flowing, uncombed
mane floats over his flanks when, assembling in his
pride the scattered mares, or flying from human pursuit,
he outruns the wind. His unshod hoofs, unpolluted
by the stable, are white and polished as ivory; and his
silky tail, an ample defence against insect attacks,
streams behind him in the wind of the Pampas. He
is a true sultan of the desert.

Who can conceive the feelings awakened in the
heart of a buccaneer of twenty-five by his first sight of
that untamed nature? To-day—December 20, 1871—
bending with stiffened limbs over the fire, I recall with

* The American ostrich, rhea, or nandu (Rhea Americana).

32 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

emotion those scenes of the past, when life seemed to
smile on me, in the presence of the most magnificent
spectacle I ever beheld. I for my part am old and
worn. Where are those splendid horses? Where are
the bulls, the antelopes, the ostriches, which beautified
and enlivened those pleasant hills? Their descendants,
no doubt, still roam over those fertile pastures, and will
do so, till steam and iron come to increase the riches of
the soil, but destroy those marvellous scenes of nature.

The horse and bull, unaccustomed to the sight of men
on foot, are lost in astonishment on seeing them for the
first time, stare at them in dumb amazement, and then,
as though despising the wretched bipeds, who would
pass themselves off as lords of the world, attack them
in sport; though, were they to take things seriously,
and measure out strict justice, they would make short
work with their oppressor, goring or trampling him to
death. The horse gambols, threatens, but never attacks ;
the bull is less to be trusted ; the antelope and ostrich
fly at sight of man with the swiftness of the racer,
stopping short on the nearest height, and looking round
to see whether they are pursued.

At that time, the district I speak of had remained out-
side the area of the war, and therefore abounded in
animals of every kind.

(33)

CHAPTER VIIL
A HOME IN THE WILDERNESS.

Arter a four miles’ walk through the scenes just
described, I ‘reached the house descried from the ship.
Here I was to meet with a delightful surprise. I was
welcomed in the most hospitable manner by a young and
graceful woman—not, perhaps, a Raphaelesque beauty,
but good-looking and well-educated, and, moreover, a
poetess. So remarkable a combination of attractions in
this wilderness, so far from the civilization of cities,
made me think that I was dreaming.

She told me that she was the wife of the capataz
(overseer) of the estancia, which lay at a distance of
several miles, the house she inhabited being only an _
outpost. She did the honours with a graceful courtesy
which I shall remember all my life, offering me the
national maté, and such a roast as is found nowhere but
in those countries where flesh is the sole food. When
I was rested and refreshed, she talked to me of Dante,
Petrarch, and the rest of our great poets, insisted on my
accepting as a souvenir the poems of Quintana, and,
finally, told me her history. She belonged to a wealthy
Montevidean family, who had been forced by business

YOL. I. D

34 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

reverses to retire into the country. Here she had met.
her husband, with whom she lived in such content and
happiness that, with her romantic turn, nothing could
have induced her to exchange her position for the
brilliant life of the capital. On my asking for a bullock
to provision our vessel, she assured me that her husband
would be glad to oblige me, but that I must await his
return,

It was now too late to have the beast brought to the
shore that evening. Some time passed before the
husband arrived. My knowledge of Spanish being at
that time limited, I spoke little, and had leisure to
meditate on the vicissitudes of existence. There are
events in our lives which one never forgets. To meet in
that desert—married to a man who was, perhaps, half
a savage—a pretty, well-bred young woman, highly
cultivated, and a poetess to boot! In early manhood,
one gladly finds poetry everywhere, and some of my
readers may suspect this chapter of my narrative to be
rather a creation of fancy than a true tale.

After presenting me with Quintana’s poems, which
served us for some time as a subject of conversation, my
charming hostess offered to recite me some of her own
compositions, and I confess I admired them immensely,
It may be asked, “How could you admire them when
you knew nothing of poetry and next to nothing of
Spanish?” I admit that I am no judge of poetry, yet
it seems to me that even a deaf man may be touched by
its beauties. Again, the Spanish tongue is so nearly akin
to our own, that I had no great difficulty in under-

A HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. 35

standing it, even on my first arrival in a country where
it was spoken. .

Thus the time passed agreeably enough in the society
of the amiable lady of the house, till the arrival of her
husband—a person of a rugged but not unpleasing
countenance, who promptly agreed to slaughter a
bullock for me next morning on the shore. At dawn
I bade adieu to the muse of the Pampas, and returned
to the coast, where Maurizio was awaiting me in some
anxiety, since, knowing that part of the country better
than I did, he was aware that jaguars—animals certainly
less easy to deal with than either wild horses or wild
eattle—abounded in the neighbourhood. It was not
long before the capataz appeared with a lassoed bullock,
which he killed, skinned, and quartered in an incredibly
short space of time—so great is the dexterity of his
countrymen in these sanguinary exercises. Now, how-
ever, came the question as to how the meat was to be
conveyed from the shore to the ship—a distance of at
least a mile through the heavy surf which broke on the
coast, and afforded anything but a reassuring spectacle
to those by whom the attempt had to be made,
Maurizio and I set to work to lash the two empty
barrels to the ends of our cargo-boat, and fasten the
quarters of beef to the improvised mast, so as to be
clear of the waves, while each of us was supplied with
a pole for rowing and punting. The crew, stripped
almost to the skin, had hardly pushed off when they
found themselves up to the waist in water. Neverthe-
less we put to sea, highly delighted with our new

36 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

method of navigation, and proud of the danger incurred
in sight of the American, who cheered us from the
shore, and of our shipmates, whose prayers perhaps
were more directed to the safety of the beef than of the
boatmen. For a time all went fairly well; but on
reaching the outermost and heaviest breakers we were
repeatedly submerged, and, what was worse, driven
back towards the shore. When, by great efforts,
we had succeeded in getting through the surf, we met
outside a new and for us insuperable difficulty, in the
strong current of the river, which, flowing in a channel
of about four fathoms deep, carried us far to the south-
east of the Zuwisa. The only remedy was for the
schooner to set sail and follow in our track, till near
enough to throw us a rope. At last we were safe,
together with all the beef, which our famished com-
-panions at once fell upon with hearty good-will. Next
day, as we were passing a palandra (a small river
vessel), it occurred to me that, if we could buy the
launch we saw on her deck, we might find it useful.
Accordingly we set all sail, and, overhauling the
palandra, found her crew very willing to part with
the coveted launch for a sum of thirty esewdos. We
remained all day in sight of the point of Jesus Maria,
waiting in vain for news from Montevideo.

CHAPTER IX.
THE FIGHT WITH THE GUNBOATS.

NExt day, while anchored a little to the south of the
point above named, we sighted two gunboats coming
from Montevideo. We took them for friendly vessels ;
but, as they did not show a red flag—the signal we’
had agreed upon—I thought it advisable to get under
way. Our vessel was then hove-to, with all sail set,
so that we were ready for any emergency.

These precautions were not needless, as the larger of
the two gunboats, on board of which only two persons
were visible, after approaching to within a stone’s throw,
summoned us, in the name of the Government of
Uruguay, to surrender; while at the same moment about:
thirty well-armed men showed themselves on her deck.
I had scarcely time to order our yards to be trimmed,
when we were raked by a volley of musketry. We
too now had recourse to our weapons, which I had
previously caused to be brought out of the magazine,
and placed, ready loaded, on the top of the fore-hatch.
The order was given to fire, and an obstinate engage-
ment ensued, ;

The gunboat had attacked us on our starboard

38 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

quarter, and some of the enemy were preparing to
board. But a few shots and a few strokes of our
eutlasses sent them back into their own ship or into
the sea.

All this passed in a few minutes, and, as our men
were little skilled in warfare, there was necessarily
much confusion. Consequently, my orders to trim the
yards were not carried out, for, while many of the crew
had hastened, at the word of command, to haul on the
port braces, none had remembered to ease away those
to starboard, so that all this hauling was in yain.
Fiorentino, a seaman from the island of Maddalena, and
one of the best of our Italian hands, sprang forward
from the helm, where he was stationed, to repair this
mistake, but immediately fell dead, with a bullet
through his head. I had been standing near him,
firing at the enemy, and instantly seized the helm. As
I did so, I was struck in the neck by a bullet, and
dropped senseless on the deck. After this the fight,
which lasted about an hour, was mainly carried on
by the boatswain, Luigi Carniglia, the pilot, Pasquale
Lodola, and the ordinary seanien, Giovanni Lamberti
and Maurizio Garibaldi. The Italians—all but one—
fought. stoutly; the. foreigners and freed blacks—of
whom there were five—hid themselves in the hold.

For half an hour I lay like a corpse on the deck, and
even after I had recovered consciousness I reniained
incapable of speech or motion, so that I was thought to
be dead,

. The enemy, finding our fire too hot for him, presently

Ble

——

THE FIGHT WITH THE GUNBOATS. 39

retired, and, not being disposed for further fighting on
that part of the coast, sailed away up the Plata to refit
and obtain supplies.

Our position was now very critical. I was the only
man on board who knew anything of geography, and,
badly wounded as I was, and without power of motion,
I was carried to the chart, that I might cast my dying
eyes over it and indicate some port to. which the men
could direct their course. Observing the town of
Santa Fe, on the river Parana, printed on the chart in
capital letters, I pointed to it.

None of us, except Maurizio, had ever been up the
Parana, and he only once. To confess the truth, our
erew, with the exception of the Italians, were in a state
of great alarm. For as the Government of Montevideo,
which alone was believed to be friendly to the Rio
Grande Republic, had refused to recognize us, we
might at any moment be dealt with as pirates. My
own wretched plight, and the sight of Fiorentino’s
corpse, together with the fear just now referred to, of
being everywhere taken for pirates, produced a terror
which showed itself in the looks of the crew, who, in
fact, deserted on the first opportunity that offered. No
boat or bird appeared on the horizon but was believed
by these cowards to be an enemy sent to pursue them.

_ Fiorentino’s body was committed to the deep—the
seaman’s ordinary place of burial—with the ceremonies
usual on such occasion, that is to say, with a farewell
salute fired by his shipmates. For my own part, I
must confess that this kind of burial was little to my

40 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

liking; but as I could not interfere with the rites paid
to my comrade, and as in all probability I was soon

to meet with a similar fate, I contented myself with.

calling my attached friend Luigi to me, that I might
secure his help in case of need. In making my short
but solemn appeal, I recited to my friend those beautiful

lines of Ugo Foscolo—
“Un sasso
Che distingua le mie dall’ infinite ossa,
Che in terra e in mar semina morte!”

Luigi promised, with tears in his eyes, not to bury
me at sea. Who knows whether, had the occasion
arisen, he would have been able to keep his promise ;
or whether my corpse would have filled the hungry
maw of some shark or alligator of the great La Plata
River? Then indeed I should never again have beheld
Italy, the idol of my whole existence, nor ever have
fought for her. On the other hand, I should never have
seen her relapse into shame and slavery.

Who could have foretold that, before the year was
ended, I should have seen my good, gallant, warm-
hearted Luigi washed away by the surf, and should
seek in vain for his body, that I might bury it in a
foreign land, and with a stone mark the spot to the
passer-by 2? Poor Luigi! During the whole voyage to
Gualeguay he nursed me like a mother, and in my
misery his friendly face and kindly care were my
only comfort.

( aby

CHAPTER X.
LUIGI CARNIGLIA.

I wisH to speak of Luigi. And why not? Because he
was a plebeian, born one of the multitude who work
for all? Because he was not one of the upper class,
who, as a rule, work for none and devour for many—
of whom alone History cares to speak, not troubling
herself about the common herd, whence, after all,
sprang Columbus, Volta, Linneus, and Franklin ?’
Had not Luigi Carniglia a lofty soul—lofty enough to
maintain everywhere the honour of the Italian name,
to defy every danger for the sake of doing right, to
watch over and care for me in misfortune, as if I had
been his own child? When, helpless and weak with
illness, on the point of being deserted by all, I lay
raving in mortal delirium, Luigi sat beside me with
untiring, gentlest patience. O Luigi, thy bones,
scattered through the abysses of ocean, deserved a
monument where the grateful outlaw might one day
have repaid thee with a tear—on the sacred soil of Italy !

Luigi Carniglia was from Deiva, a little village on
the Riviera, east of Genoa. He had received no literary
instruction, in a country where the government and the

A2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

priests keep seventeen millions in ignorance of their
letters ; but he made up for the want of learning by
superior intelligence. Though devoid of the nautical
knowledge necessary for a pilot, he steered the Luisa to
Gualeguay, where he had never been, with the skill and
success of a veteran. In the fight with the gunboats, it
was chiefly owing to him that we escaped. Armed with
a blunderbuss, and standing in the post of greatest
danger, he struck terror into our assailants. Robust
and tall of stature, he combined great activity with
extraordinary bodily strength, so that one might, with-
out fear of exaggeration, have exclaimed, on seeing him,
“That man is a match for ten!” Most agreeable in
the ordinary intercourse of life, he had the gift ot
making himself beloved by every one with whom he
came in contact. One more martyr to Freedom—one
of the many Italians destined to serve her everywhere
save in their own unhappy land!

(43)

CHAPTER XI.
CAPTIVITY, |

Ir is strange that, in all my long military career, I
should never have been taken prisoner, although so
often in positions of extreme danger. In our present
circumstances, since our insurgent flag of the Rio
Grande do Sul had not been recognized, we were sure
to be made prisoners, in whatever place we landed,
On arriving at Gualeguay, in the province of Entre Rios,
we recéived much help from Captain Luca Tartabull,
ef the schooner Pintoresca, of Buenos Ayres, and his
passengers, all natives or inhabitants of the same place.
Falling in with this vessel off the mouth of the Ibicuy,
a small tributary of the river Gualeguay, Luigi was
sent on board to ask for some provisions.. The captain,
who was also bound for Gualeguay, generously offered
to accompany us thither, and, moreover, recommended
me to the governor of the province, Don Pascarel
Echague; who, though himself obliged to leave the
town, was kind enough to send me his own surgeon,
Don Ramon del Arca, a young Argentine, who at once
extracted the ball remaining in my neck, and effected
a complete cure.

~

44. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

I spent the six months of my stay in Gualeguay at
the house of Don Jacinto Andreus, and met with the
greatest kindness and courtesy from that excellent man
and his family. But I was not free! In spite of the
good-will of Echague, and all the friendly interest shown
by the people, I was not allowed to take my departure
until the point had. been submitted to the decision of
the Dictator of Buenos Ayres,on whom the Governor of
Entre-Rios was dependent. But it was not the habit
of the dictator to decide anything. “a

When my wound healed, I began to take exercise,
and was permitted to make excursions on horseback to»
a distance of ten or twelve miles. Besides my board,
which I owed to the generosity of Don Jacinto, I was'
allowed a peso per day—a great sum for those countries,
where slender incomes are the rule. But all this did
not compensate for the liberty I had been deprived of.
I had been given to understand by certain persons—
whether insidiously or in good faith—that my disappear-
ance would not be altogether displeasing to the govern~-
ment; and I incautiously resolved to escape, thinking
the execution of this plan less difficult, and the conse-
quences less momentous, than afterwards proved to be
the case, and believing, as I have said, that I should not
be considered guilty of a very great crime. The
commandant of Gualeguay was a certain Millan. He
had treated me rather well than otherwise—this line of
behaviour having been imposed on him by the provincial
government—and had hitherto really given me no cause’
of complaint, though he did not show much interest

CAPTIVITY. AD

in me. Being resolved, therefore, to depart, I made
my preparations accordingly. .One stormy evening, I
set.out for the house of a good old man, whom I was
in. the habit of visiting at: his residence, about three
miles out of town. I explained my plan to him, and
commissioned him to find me a guide who would supply
horses and go with me as far as the Ibicuy, where I
‘hoped, without being recognized, to find a vessel to take
‘me across to Buenos Ayres or Montevideo.

Having found a guide and horses, I set off across
country, so as to escape notice. We had fifty-four miles
to ride, which we did by night, and nearly all of it at
a gallop. At daybreak we were in sight of the Ibicuy
—that is, of the estancia of the same name, lying about
half a mile off. My guide then told me to wait for him
‘in the wood where we were, while he went to make
inquiries at the house. Accordingly, he started alone,
and I remained behind, well content to give my limbs,
which had suffered considerably from all this galloping,
a little rest; for, being a sailor, I was no great horseman.
I dismounted, and tied my horse’s bridle to one of the
acacia trees, of which these woods are entirely composed,
though they are so open that horsemen can freely pass
under and through them. I waited a long time,
stretched on the ground, till at last, seeing that my
guide did not appear, I walked to the edge of the wood
-and endeavoured to catch sight of him, when I heard
‘behind me the trampling of hoofs, and looking round,
‘perceived a troop of horsemen charging me with drawn
sabres. They were already between my horse and me,

$

A6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

so that any attempt at flight, and still more at resistance,
was out of the question. They bound my hands behind
me, and, having placed me on a wretched horse, tied
my feet together under it; and in this manner I was
brought back to Gualeguay, where far worse treatment
awaited me. Ishudder whenever I recall this, the worst
experience of my life.

Being brought before Millan, who awaited us at the
door of the prison, he asked me who had furnished me
with the means of escape. Finding that I would tell
him nothing, he fell to beating me most cruelly with a
whip which he held in his hand; and when I persisted
in my refusals, he had me hung up by my hands toa
rope, passed over one of the beams of the prison, Twe
hours of this torture did that scoundrel make me suffer
—me who had devoted my whole life to the relief
of sufferers, to war against despots and priests, the
patrons and administrators of torture !

My body burned like a furnace, and the itches
dried up the water which a soldier was constantly pour-
ing down my throat, as though it had been a red-hot
iron. It was agony that cannot be described. When
they loosed me, I had ceased to complain—lI had fallen
intoa dead swoon. In this state they put me in irons.
I had ridden over fifty-four miles of swamp, where the
mosquitoes, at that time of year, are intolerable. With
bound. hands and feet, I had been compelled to endure
helplessly, first, their attacks, and afterwards the tortures
inflicted by Millan, I had indeed suffered sorely, ie
now I was in irons, by the side of a murderer.

CAPTIVITY. ae

Andreus, my benefactor, was in prison; all the
inhabitants of the village were panic-struck; and had
it not been for the generous devotion of a woman, I
must have died. The Senora Aleman, an angel of virtue.
and goodness, undaunted by the prevailing fear, came
to the succour of the tortured captive. Thanks to this:
generous benefactress, I wanted for nothing during my
imprisonment.. A few days later I was taken to
Bajada, the capital of the province, where I remained
two months in prison. After this, the governor told me:
that I might go where I pleased.

Although my principles differ from those of Baier,
and I was fighting for another cause—that of freedom,
and the Republic of Montevideo; whereas he was a
lieutenant of the despot of Buenos Ayres, who was doing,
his best to destroy them—in spite of all this, I say, I
must acknowledge the many obligations I owe him, and.
wish I could this day prove to him my gratitude for
all, but more especially for my liberty, which, but for
him, I might not have recovered for an indefinite period.

48 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER XII.
FREEDOM.

From Bajada I took passage in a Genoese brigantine,
commanded by Captain Ventura—a man far superior
to the common run of our seafaring countrymen, in
most of whom, thanks to their Israelitish education,
a mean. self-interest is the mainspring of character.
The self-interest I speak of is altogether different from
that indispensable economy, the basis of honest living
in every station, which makes the citizen, adapting
himself to his circumstances, balance his expendi-
ture with his income, and being able to spend, say
ten, spend only eight; thus keeping a reserve fund,
which not only makes him independent of others, but
procures him the one incomparable pleasure of doing
good. Luxury, depraved appetites, and an inability to
adapt one’s self to his position and to a sober and
laborious life, are the undoubted origin of that host of
worthless sluggards who congregate at the feet of power
and convert it into a nursery of rascality, a hotbed of
spies and ill-doers of every kind.

Captain Ventura, who treated me with a chivalrous

——

tee pe

FREEDOM. A9

generosity, took me as far as Guassu, at the junction of
the Parana and La Plata, where I embarked for Monte-
video on a palandra, also commanded by a Genoese,
Pasquale Carbone, who likewise treated me with the
greatest kindness. Neither good nor bad fortune ever
comes singly, and as things were just then, it seemed
as though the former were to be my uninterrupted lot.
At Montevideo I found many friends, among them
Rossetti, Cuneo, and Castellini, the first-named just
returned from a voyage to Rio Grande, where he had
been favourably received by all the citizens of that
ardent republic. At Montevideo, however, I was still
proscribed, on account of the affair with the gunboats,
and forced to remain in hiding at the house of my friend
Pesente, where I stayed a month.
My state of seclusion was cheered by the visits of
many Italian acquaintances, who in those times of
prosperity for Montevideo—as always in time of peace—
showed a courtesy and hospitality worthy of all praise.
The war, especially the final siege, embittered the lives
of these kind people, and greatly straitened their means.
Accompanied by Rossetti, I left for the Rio Grande
after a month at, Montevideo, and greatly enjoyed this
my first long journey on horseback. We reached Pira-
tinim, where I was well received by the provisional
Government of Rio Grande, established in this village
as being a central point, and out of reach of imperialist
raids. Nevertheless, the Government had already been
obliged to pack the archives in waggons and follow the
republican army to the field, sharing with the soldiers.
VuL. J, E

50 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEIPE GARIBALDI.

the hardships and dangers of battle. This was the
course followed by the Republican Government of the
United States, when their capital, Philadelphia, was
threatened by the English army ; and similar sacrifices
must always be made by a nation that prefers hardship,
privation, and peril to the degradation of becoming
subject to a foreign power.

Almeida, the minister of finance, simply but very
gracefully offered me his hospitality. Bento Gongales,
President of the Republic, and commander-in-chief of
the army, had marched at the head of a cavalry brigade
to oppose the Brazilian general, Silva Tavares, who had
passed the canal of San Gongales, and was occupying
the eastern part of the province.

Piratinim, the seat at that time of the Republican
Government, is only a small village, but pleasing from
its Alpine situation. It is the capital of the depart-
ment of the same name, and surrounded by a warlike
population devotedly attached to the Republic. Finding
nothing to do at Piratinim, I asked to be attached to
the column of operation on the San Gongales, and my
request was granted.

Having been presented to Bento Gongales and very
well received, I passed some time in the company of that
extraordinary man, who, though nature had certainly
endowed him with her choicest gifts, was almost con_
stantly thwarted by fortune—greatly to the advantage
of the Brazilian empire.

Bento Gongales had been the true ideal of a brilliant
and generous warrior, and was so still, though nearly

en

“a: FREEDOM. 51

sixty years old, when I made his acquaintance. Tall
and slightly made, he rode a spirited horse with the
grace and dexterity of the youngest of his compatriots,
who, as is well known, are reckoned among the best
horsemen in the world. Of great personal bravery, he
had repeatedly been victorious in single combat. His
disposition was equally generous and modest, and I do
not believe it was with any idea of personal aggrandize-
ment that he incited Rio Grande to shake off the yoke
of the empire. He was as temperate as any son of that
valiant nation, subsisting, when on active service, on
the same rations as the common soldier. Though this
was the first time we had met, he shared with me his
frugal repast, with as much good-fellowship as if I had
been his equal, and lifelong friend.

Thus gifted by nature, Bento was the idol of his
fellow-citizens ; and yet he was almost invariably un-
successful in battle—a circumstance which has always:
inclined me to think that chance counts for a great deal
_ in the issues of war, One quality, indeed, was wanting
in the gallant republican—that stubborn endurance in
action, the lack of which I consider a very grave defect,
Before giving battle, a general ought to. think matters
well over; but, once engaged, he should never despair of
victory till he has tried his utmost efforts and brought
his very last reserves into action. ¥

I followed Bento as far as the Canudos (the cross-
ing of the San Gongales Canal, which unites the lagoons
of Patos and Merim), which had been passed by Silva
Tavares, in escaping from the first brigade of the re~

‘ yf

a AvropiognaraY OF GIUSEPPE ann.

a =

‘publican army, who were in close pursuit. )
unable to reach the enemy, the brigade retreated,

the same time we received the news of the great r
lican victory at Rio Pardo.

’

i” i 4 o “ at
4 - ‘yi i el at sear

ea uf
4 oN AT ea

( 53)

CHAPTER XIII,
MORE BUCCANEERING.

I HAD orders to see to the arming of two gunboats, then
in the Camacuan—a stream flowing into the Laguna dos
* Patos—and prepared to start from that place with some
comrades who had accompanied me from Montevideo.
Rossetti remained at Montevideo, busy editing the
journal O Povo (The People)—and certainly no man
could be better qualified for managing a republican
paper.

Arriving at Bento Gongales’ estancia on the Camacuan
River, I found the gunboats, and armed them. One of
them, the Republicano, was to be commanded by the
American, John Grigg, whom I found on the spot,
he having assisted in the construction of the vessels. I
myself took command of the larger vessel, the Rio
Pardo.

We began by cruising about the lagoon and seizing a
good-sized bark with a rich cargo, which we unloaded on
the western shore, near Camacuan, setting fire to her,
after removing everything capable of being turned to
account in our slender arsenal. This first capture was a
considerable acquisition to our small navy. ©The crews;

54 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

who till then had been very badly off, now received a
liberal share of the spoil, while some attention was
likewise given to their clothing.

The imperialists, who had hitherto despised us, now
began to feel that we had a certain importance on the
lagoon, and employed their numerous men-of-war in
pursuing us. The life we were compelled to lead while
fighting in this fashion was full of activity as well as of
danger, from the greater number of the enemy, and their
superiority in all warlike appliances. For all that, it
was a glorious life, and exactly suited to my natural
inclination for adventure. We were not confined to the
sea, as, having seven horses on board, and being able to
get as many more as we wanted, in a country where they
are always extremely abundant, we were, when occasion
required, transformed, not perhaps into a brilliant cavalry
force, but still into one by no means to be despised.

On the shores of the lagoon were certain estancias
which had, in the vicissitudes of war, been abandoned
by their. proprietors, where we found cattle of every
description, both for slaughter and for riding. Besides
this, nearly all these establishments had rossas (culti-
vated lands), with abundance of vegetables—maize,
beans, and sweet potatoes ; and frequently oranges, which
in that region are excellent.

My followers were a truly cosmopolitan crew, made
up of all colours and nations. Those of them who were
natives of America were mostly freed negroes or mulat-
toes ; and these, on the whole, were the best and most
trusty. Among the Europeans, I had seven Italians, all

a

——

MORE BUCCANEERING. 55

of them men to be reckoned on in an emergency,
including Luigi and Edoardo Matru, my friend from
boyhood. The rest of the crew belonged to that class of
seafaring adventurers known on the Atlantic and Pacific
coasts of America as freres de la céte—a class which,
in former times supplied the pirates and buccaneers
with crews, and has, even in our own day, furnished its
contingent to the slave trade. In my inexperience
of human nature—with its innate perversity, even in
educated men, and still more in the ignorant—I
treated my crew with perhaps excessive kindness.
Undisciplined as they were, however, they certainly did
not lack courage ; moreover, they obeyed me implicitly,
and gave me little cause to be harsh with them. This
satisfied me; and I must confess that I have always had
the same experience when in command of men of that
stamp. Camacuan, where we had our little arsenal, was
the base of operations of the republican fleet. The
estates extending along the greater part of the river, and
covering an immense acreage, were the residences of
several influential families, among them those of —
Goneales and his brothers.

This vast stretch of fine pasture-land was grazed over
by immense herds of cattle, untouched by the war, being
out of reach of the contending armies. The arable land,
also, produced crops of every kind in abundance. Be it
observed that in no part of the world can you find more
frank and cordial hospitality than in the province of
Rio Grande. But more especially in those houses,
where, to a naturally benevolent character, the head of

56 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

the family added sympathy with our opinions, we
received a truly affectionate welcome.

The estancias where we stopped most frequently, on
accountof their proximity to the lagoon, their convenience
in other respects, and the reception that always awaited
us, were those of Donna Antonia and Donna Anna,
both sisters of Bento Gongales. Donna Antonia’s house
stood at the mouth of the Camacuan ; her sister’s at that
of the Arroyo Grande. Ido not know whether my age
influenced my imagination and predisposed me, being
young and inexperienced, to embellish everything; I
can, at any rate, assure the reader that no period of my
life recurs more pleasantly to my recollection than that
passed in the delightful society of these ladies and their
families. Donna Anna’s house, in particular, was a
perfect paradise to us. This lady, though advanced in
years, retained singularly fascinating manners. She had
staying with her the family of Don Paulo Ferreira, who
had been forced by the war to remove from Pilotas, on
the banks of the San Gongales. Three young ladies,
each more charming than the other, adorned that happy
spot, and one of them, Manuela, reigned lady paramount
of my heart. I never ceased to love her, though hope-
lessly, for she was betrothed to the President’s son. It
was an ideal beauty I adored in that angelic form ;
there was nothing profane in my love. On the occasion
of a skirmish, when it was reported that I had been
killed, I discovered that I was not altogether indifferent
to her, which was enough to console me for the im-
possibility of her ever being mine. For the rest, the

MORE BUCCANEERING. ‘BT

people of Rio Grande, and especially the ladies, are
endowed with a high type of personal beauty. Even
the coloured slaves we saw in those numerous estab-
lishments were not bad-looking. As may easily be
imagined, we held high festival every time a contrary
wind, a squall, or an expedition of any kind carried us
in the direction of the Arroyo Grande. It was with
heartfelt pleasure that we descried the group of tall
tirwa palms which marked the entrance to the stream,
and saluted them with noisy cheers. And when it fell
to our lot to transport our hostesses to Camacuan, to
visit Donna Antonia, and her charming company, then
there was a hurrying to and fro, a busying one’s self in
attentions to the fair travellers, an eager rivalry in the
display of devotion, respect, and veneration.

Between the Arroyo Grande and Camacuan lay
several sand-banks called puntal, which, starting from
the western shore, extended at right angles to the same
across the lagoon, reaching with their eastern extremity
nearly to the opposite bank, from which they were
separated by the channel called Dos Barcos. If we had
been obliged to round these points in the transit from
the Arroyo Grande to Camacuan, the journey would
have been a rather long one; but as, with a little trouble,
it was possible to cross the banks—that is to say, by the
crew jumping overboard and pushing the vessel with
‘the whole force of their shoulders—this expedient was
almost always adopted, especially when we were honoured
by the presence of the ladies. Whatever the direction
of the wind, our launches were run boldly on the bank,

58 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

and the order “.A/ agua, patos!” (“ Ducks to the water !”’)
was scarcely given, when my shipmates were at their
posts in the water, and I with them.

Under such circumstances the order was always
jubilantly obeyed; and cheerfully enough even on
other occasions. Sometimes the same manceuvre be-
came necessary when we were pursued by the enemy—
whose force was always superior to our own—or over-
taken by a tempest. Nay, sometimes we were forced
to pass a whole night in the water, at a distance from
the shore, with no protection against the waves dashing
in from the sea; or, in the rainy season, against the
colder waters of the sky. At such times there was real
suffering to face. We required all the ardent courage of
youth to carry us through without giving in.

( 59 )

CHAPTER XIV.
FOURTEEN AGAINST A HUNDRED AND FIFTY.

AFTER our seizure of the schooner, no imperial merchant
vessels set sail except under convoy, so that it was now
a difficult matter to plunder them. The operations of
our gunboats were therefore limited to cruising on the
lake, without much success, pursued by the imperialists
both afloat and ashore.

A sudden attack made on us by Colonel Francisco de
Abreus nearly put an end to our vessels and their
voyages together. We were at the mouth of the
Camacuan, with our gunboats beached in front of the
galpon de charquenda (storehouse of a meat-curing
establishment), which was at that time used for the
stowage of yerba maté, the tea of South America. This
building belonged to Donna Antonia, the president’s
sister. No meat was being cured at present, on account
of the war, and the building was half filled with tea ;
and, as it was very spacious, we used it as our arsenal,
and beached the gunboats for repairs between it and the
river.

The establishment, though business was suspended,
preserved all the appearance of its former importance.

60 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

Its smiths and carpenters were still on the premises. The
conntry, covered with underwood and forest, afforded
charcoal in abundance; nor was there any want of steel
or iron, suitable to meet the requirements of our diminu-
tive ships. If anything further was needed for our
arsenal, one of us set off at a gallop, to call at the
friendly estancias, more or less remote, some of which
were well provided with all kinds of stores, to which we
were made welcome. .

With courage, good-will, and perseverance, no enter-
prise is impossible; and here I must do justice to my
comrade, John Grigg, who before my arrival had faced
so many obstacles and overcome so many difficulties, in
superintending the construction of the two gunboats.
He was young, of unblemished character, tried courage,
and infinite patience and perseverance. Belonging to a
family in easy circumstances, he had generously devoted
his life to the cause of the Republic. When a letter
came from his relatives in the United States, asking him
to return home, and announcing that he had succeeded
to an enormous fortune, he had already met with a
glorious death in the service of an unfortunate but
gallant and generous nation.

We had, as I said, beached the gunboats, and were
working industriously at repairs. Part of the crew
were busy with the sails and rigging; others had gone to
gather wood to make charcoal. All were occupied, those
not actually at work being on guard or out exploring.
Francisco de Abreus, commonly called Moringue, had
on various occasions shown a desire to surprise us, and,

FOURTEEN AGAINST A HUNDRED AND FIFTY. 61

indeed, had attempted to do so,—unsuccessfully, it is true,
but not without causing us some alarm, for hé was a
bold and adventurous man, well acquainted with the
Camacuan, which was his native district. This time
he did surprise us in a way that was really masterly.

All night we had been patrolling the country both on
horse and foot, the rest of the men being assembled in
the galpon, with arms loaded and ready. As the morn-
ing was foggy, no one moved till it had completely
cleared, when careful reconnaissances were made in all
directions outside the camp. About 9 am., as nothing
had been discovered, the scouts returned, and the men
were sent to their respective posts, the greater number
of them to cut wood, for which purpose they were
obliged to go some distance into the forest. At that
time I had about fifty men for the two gunboats; but
on this particular day; from one cause or another, only a
very small number had remained near the vessels.

I was seated near the fire, at which the breakfast was
being got ready, drinking some maté handed me by the
cook, who was the only man left near me. Our kitchen
was in the open air, about forty yards from the galpon
door. All of a sudden, and, as it seemed, at my very
ear, I heard the drums beat the charge, and saw a crowd
of imperialist horsemen ride up and close round me
from behind. I started up and rushed at full speed to

the entrance of the galpon, which I reached barely in

time, for already my poncho was pierced by an enemy’s
lance.

It was fortunate that, having been on the alert all

62 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

night, we had our rifles loaded and leaning against the
wall inside the building, where I had no sooner got than
I opened fire and brought down several of the enemy.
At first I was alone; but Ignazio Bilbao, a Biscayan,
and Lorenzo N , a Genoese, both brave officers, were
at my side in a moment; then Edoardo Matru, Natale,
Raffaelle and Procopio—both freed slaves, one a mulatto,
the other a negro—and a mulatto boatswain called

Francisco. I wish I could recall the names of all the —

gallant fellows, fourteen in number, who fought for
several hours against 150 enemies, killing and wound-
ing so many that at last we got rid of them altogether.
Among our assailants were eighty Austrian infantry,

who usually accompanied Moringue on similar expedi- .

tions, and were excellent soldiers, both on foot and on
horseback. On their arrival, they had dismounted and
surrounded the house, taking advantage of the cover

afforded by the inequalities of the ground, and a few .

shrubs and small huts which stood near the principal
building. This manoeuvre of theirs was our salvation ;
for, although they kept up a terrible fire against us—
that is, against the main door—it is invariably the case
in surprises that the least hesitation entails almost
certain failure. If the enemy, instead of taking position,

had advanced at once and resolutely attacked the galpon, —

all would have been over with us, our small number
being quite incapable of resisting so many, and the side
doors of the galpon (which we had always left open for
fear the enemy should imagine we were afraid) wide
enough for a loaded waggon to pass through.

eae

FOURTEEN AGAINST A HUNDRED AND FIFTY. 63

In vain they advanced in crowds against the entire
circuit of the walls, and even clambered on the roof,
throwing down blazing faggots and pieces of the rafters
on our heads. Thence they were dislodged by musket-
shots and lance-thrusts through the loopholes we had
made in the walls, many being killed and wounded.
To make our numbers seem larger, we shouted aloud
the republican hymn of Rio Grande (“War, war!
fire, fire! against the barbarous tyrants, and also
against the patricians who are not republicans!”), while .
two of our strongest men stood, lance in hand, at each
doorway, the steel projecting outside, which damped
the enemy’s eagerness for the charge. About 3 p.m.
they retreated, with many wounded, among them the
general with’a broken arm; and leaving six corpses
close to the galpon, and others at various distances.
Meanwhile, eight of our fourteen were wounded, and
Rossetti, Luigi, and the rest of our band, being either
absent or destitute of arms, could lend us no assist-
ance. Indeed, some, to their bitter mortification,
were forced to swim the river, closely pursued by the
enemy, while others took to the woods. One, caught
alone and unarmed, was killed on the spot.

* The brilliant result of this fight against overwhelming
‘odds gave increased confidence both to our men and to
the inhabitants of the coast, who had long been exposed
_to the raids of that bold and crafty leader. Moringue
was unquestionably the best of the imperialist generals,
excelling especially in night attacks, wherein he showed
both a perfect knowledge of the country and people,

*
a
e

b-

64 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI. q

and an unfailing shrewdness and intrepidity. Himself
a Rio Grande man, he did great injury to the cause of
the Republic, and it was in a great measure to him that
the empire owed the submission of that province.
Meanwhile, we were celebrating our victory, well

pleased at our escape from so violent a storm. Twelve

miles away, at Donna Antonia’s estancia, a young girl

asked eagerly for news of me—a circumstance it made |

me very happy to hear of. Yes! loveliest daughter of
Rio Grande, I was happy to have been, even so far, an
object of thy solicitude. Thou wast destined to become
the wife of another man. For me Fate was reserving
another Brazilian maiden, who was all the world to
me—whom I mourn to-day, and shall mourn all my
life. She too knew me in misfortune, and loved me,
perhaps, rather for my misfortunes than for my deserts.
It was adversity that consecrated her mine for ever.

?

_ — -

( 65 )

CHAPTER XV.
THE SANTA CATERINA EXPEDITION,

AfTER the incident above recorded, little or nothing of
importance happened in the Laguna dos Patos. We

_ began to build two new gunboats, getting the necessary

materials from the remains of our prizes, and receiving
help from the neighbouring inhabitants, who were
always friendly and well-disposed. When our new
vessels were completed and armed, we were summoned
to Itapua, to co-operate with the army then besieging
Porto Alegre, the capital of the province. But for
want of artillery the army could do nothing, and we
likewise were compelled to remain inactive all the time
we were in that neighbourhood, An expedition being
proposed into the province of Santa Caterina, I was
called upon to take part, accompanying General
Canabarro, who was to take command. The two
smaller gunboats remained in the lagoon under the
orders of Zeffirino d’Utra; and I, with the other two,
accompanied Canabarro’s division—he to operate by
land, and I by sea. I had Grigg with me, as well as
a chosen band of our comrades. ~

The Laguna dos Patos is 135 miles long, and, on an

VOL. I, F

66 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

average, between fifteen and twenty broad. On the
right bank of the channel which leads from the eastern
end of the lagoon to the sea stands Rio Grande do Sul,
a fortress quite as important as the capital. On the
other side is Rio Grande do Norte, also a fortified town.
Both of them, as well as Porte Alegre, were at the time
in the hands of the imperialists, who thus commanded
the only outlet of the lagoon. It was consequently
impossible for us to pass out to sea, and we were,
therefore, obliged to transport our vessels on wheeled
carts, constructed for the purpose. It may be seen
from this that the largest were of very trifling size.

On the north-eastern side of the lagoon there is a
deep bay called Capibari, so called from a small stream
flowing into it, which in its turn takes its name from
the capybara, a kind of amphibious wild hog very
common in these regions. This spot. was chosen for
beaching the gunboats and hoisting them on wheels,
which operation was, in fact, carried out on the right
bank of the stream.

A resident in that part of the province, named De
Abreu, had prepared eight wheels of great solidity,
each pair being connected by an axle of a strength
proportioned to the weight of the boats. Having got
together about two hundred draught-oxen, we brought
the gunboats close to the shore, and put the wheels
under them in the water, at a due distance from one
another with regard to the weight they had to carry.
The axles were then slipped under the vessels in such
a manner as not to interfere with the free action of the

THE SANTA CATERINA EXPEDITION. 67

wheels, and, the oxen being attached with strong traces,
' the republican ships gradually emerged from the water
and were seen sailing over the plain. Having then
been adjusted with more ease and exactness than had
before been possible, they travelled in this fashion,
without obstruction, for fifty-four miles—presenting
a curious spectacle to the few inhabitants of the country
—to the shores of Lake Taramanday, where they were
hauled down, equipped, and got ready for sailing.

Lake Taramanday, formed by the streams. draining
the eastern slope of the wooded Serra do Espinasso,*
discharges its waters into the Atlantic by an opening
so shallow as to have, even at high tide, no more than
four feet of water. Add to this that, off that alluvial
coast, inhospitable as the Sahara itself, the sea is
continually agitated by the perpetual breezes of the
torrid zone, and the roar of the tremendous surf is
heard by the inhabitants many miles inland, sounding
like distant thunder, while the sight is dazzled by
clouds of wind-blown spray and sand.

* The “backbone” of Brazil—running parallel to the east coast,

and covered with one of the finest and most extensive forests in the
world.

68 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER XVI.
SHIPWRECK.

WE were now ready to start, and only waited for the
flood-tide. It was four o’clock in the afternoon before
we got under way. Had it not been for our previous
practice in launching through breakers, I do not know
how we could have got our barks afloat; for, though
we had chosen the exact time of high tide, the depth
of water was barely sufficient. Before nightfall, how-
ever, our efforts were crowned with complete success,
and we cast anchor in the Atlantic, outside the heavy
surf, at a distance of about six hundred yards from
land. It should be borne in mind that no vessel of
any kind had ever got out of Taramanday before.

About 8 p.m. we set sail, with a light breeze from
the south, which gradually increased to a gale; and
by 3 pm. on the following day we had been wrecked
near the mouth of the River Areringua, sixteen of our
crew drowned, and the Rio Pardo, which I commanded,
shattered to pieces in the raging Atlantic surf.

On leaving Taramanday, the wind, continuing to
blow from the south, gradually strengthened, and
menaced danger. Besides her crew of thirty hands,
the Rio Pardo had on board a 12-pounder swivel, and

—

a

SHIPWRECK. 69

a large quantity of provisions and other stores. These
I had shipped, not knowing what straits we might. be
put to in the hostile country where we were about. to
land. The vessel was consequently out. of trim, and
was sometimes so overmastered by the sea that for a
while we were submerged, and it was several minutes
before we could get clear of the waves. The perilous
situation of the little craft, which threatened at any
moment to capsize and go down, made us determine
to approach the coast at all hazards, and run her
ashore. But the wind and sea, continually increasing
in fury, gave us no time to choose our ground. A
terrible wave broke over us. I happened, at the
moment, to be at the fore-masthead, looking out for a
place where we might take the ground with less danger.
The ship heeled over to starboard, and I was thus
flung off to some distance in that direction. I re-
member well that, though in a position of great danger,
I had no apprehension of death. I knew that many
of my companions, unaccustomed to the sea, were
below, prostrated with sea-sickness. The thought was
agony. I got together as many oars and other floating
objects as I could, brought them close to the ship, and
recommended each man to take one to keep him afloat
and assist him in gaining the shore. The first man I
fell in with was Edoardo Matru, my companion from
boyhood, to whom I pushed a hatch, telling him not
to let it go on any account. He had been clinging to
a stay on the submerged side of the ship, by seizing
which I was able to climb once more on board.

70 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

Luigi Carniglia, the brave boatswain, who was at
the helm when the disaster took place, had remained
holding on to the deck about the port quarter—that is,
the side which was uppermost. Unfortunately, the
thick jacket of heavy woollen stuff which he had on,
so clung to him, being soaked with water, that it was
impossible for him to take it off, all his efforts being
needed to save himself from being washed away. He
signalled to me, and I hastened at once to my friend’s
assistance., With a little white-handled clasp-knife,
which I got out of my trousers-pocket, I began with
all my strength to cut the velvet collar. I had
accomplished this, and was making another effort to
undo the stitches or tear the garment down the back,
when a crested wave broke over us with a tremendous
crash, shattering the vessel to pieces, and sweeping
away all who still clung to her. I was shot to the
bottom of the sea like a projectile,.and when I came
up again, stunned by the blow and choked by the
waves, my unfortunate friend had disappeared for ever.

My activity during this catastrophe may seem
strange to landsmen; a sailor, however, will see
nothing extraordinary in it, bearing in mind that, in
a storm, three heavy waves are generally followed by
a moment of calm; and it was during this interval
that I was able to help my companions.

When I rose to the surface, I saw some of my
scattered companions doing their best to gain the
shore, and to save myself I had to follow their
example. A swimmer from my earliest childhood, I

—_— ee

—

7 ae. ee

SHIPWRECK. 71

was the first to reach land. As soon as my feet touched
ground, I turned back to learn the fate of the others,
and saw Edoardo not far off. He had relinquished
his hold of the hatch, or rather it had been torn
from his grasp by the violence of the sea. He was
swimming, indeed, but the efforts he made showed
the extreme exhaustion to which he was reduced. I
loved Edoardo like a brother, and his desperate con-
dition distressed me beyond measure. It seems to
me that in those days, I was more sensitive and
generous than I am now. Hearts grow cold and callous
with years and troubles. I sprang towards my friend
to push him a spar, which had helped to save me.
Already I had almost reached him, and, urged on by
the greatness of the stake, I should have saved him—
what a joy it would have been! too great !—if it had
not been for a wave that covered us both. A moment
later I floated to the surface, and, not seeing him, called
him—called again desperately, but in vain. My early -
friend was swallowed up in the abysses of that ocean
which he had not shrunk from crossing in order to be
with me, and to serve the cause of a nation. One more
martyr to Italian liberty, without a stone to mark his
resting-place beneath the sands of the New World.

The bodies of sixteen of my shipmates shared the
same fate. Engulfed by the sea, they were swept by
the currents to a distance of thirty miles northward,
and there buried in the sands of the coast. I was the
only Italian surviving; the other six had all perished
—Luigi Carniglia, Edoardo Matru, Luigi Staderini,

72 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

Giovanni D , and two others whose names I do
not remember, all strong and brave young fellows.
The survivors, fourteen in number, had all landed, one
by one. In vain I looked among them for an Italian

face; all were gone. I felt absolutely alone in the -

world, and was quite beside myself; the life I had
made such efforts to save seemed a worthless thing
after all. Many mere landsmen, quite unable to swim,
had escaped. Explain it who can! Besides my Italian
comrades, I had lost others who were very dear: two
freed slaves, a mulatto and a negro, Raffaelle and Pro-
copio, brave and faithful hearts both of them.

A cask of brandy being washed ashore at the same
time with us, I thought this a piece of great good
fortune, and said to Manuel Rodriguez, a Catalan
officer, “Let us contrive to open it, and keep up our
strength and that of our friends who are just landing.”
We set to work to force out the bung, but while trying
to do this we grew so benumbed with cold that, had we
not luckily taken to running, we should certainly have
dropped where we stood, overpowered with fatigue and
cold.

As our clothes were wet through, and the wind was
biting, this was natural enough. We ran and ran
mechanically, southward along the coast, encouraging
each other to keep on. A ridge of sandhills that
skirted the beach protected us a little from the violence
of the wind. On the inner side of this ridge was the
Areringua, an unimportant stream with a northerly
course, parallel to the shore for a short distance, till it

_—————————

a o

SHIPWRECK. 73

turned and flowed into the sea. We followed the right
bank of this stream for about four miles, till we came
to an inhabited house, where we met with a most
hospitable reception. This house stood just within that

-immense and majestic forest which covers the mountains

of Southern Brazil, and is certainly one of the largest in
the world. It was a cabin erected within a small clear-
ing, and inhabited by father, mother, and child. All
around rose magnificent trees, the growth of centuries,
and in one corner of the clearing was an orchard of
oranges and lemons, the finest I ever saw, the fruit
being perfectly marvellous. A pleasing surprise for
shipwrecked mariners !

74 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER XVII.
ASSAULT ON THE LAGUNA SANTA CATERINA.

THE second of our cruisers, the Sezval (commanded by
Grigg), was more fortunate. Though not much larger,
she was better built than the Rio Grande, and thus able
to weather the violence of the storm, and reach her des-
tination in safety. Fortunately for us, that part of the
province of Santa Caterina where we had been wrecked
had risen against the empire on receiving tidings of the
approach of the republican forces, so that we not only
found friends, but were regularly /éted, and supplied
if not with all we needed, yet at least with all that
the generous inhabitants could offer. We at once
procured the means of transport to join General
Canabarro’s vanguard, which, under the command of
Colonel Teixeira, was advancing by forced marches on
the town of Laguna (situated on the shore of the
Laguna Santa Caterina), in hopes of surprising it.

In fact, the little town did not stand a long siege;
the garrison of about four hundred men retreated north-
ward, and three small men-of-war were surrendered
after a slight resistance. I took up my post, with my
shipwrecked comrades, on board the topsail schooner
Itaparica, of seven guns.

ASSAULT ON THE LAGUNA SANTA CATERINA. 75

During the first few days of our occupation, fortune
so smiled upon the republicans that it seemed as
though she designed to overwhelm us with kindness.
The imperialists, neither aware of nor believing in so
sudden an invasion, but informed that such an expedi-
tion was intended, showed great energy in sending
arms, ammunition, and men to Laguna, all of which,
arriving after us, consequently fell into our hands.

The townsmen of Caterina welcomed us as brothers
and deliverers—a character which, unfortunately, it
was not in our power to keep up during the whole of
our stay among them.

General Canabarro established his head-quarters in
the town of Laguna, to which the republicans had
given the name of Villa Juliana, having conquered it
in the month of July. I say advisedly conquered,
since our behaviour in those regions, where we ought
to have acted as brothers, was indeed that of conquerors.
Immediately after our entry, a provincial republican
government was set up, a priest of much influence
among the people being the first president. Rossetti,
with the title of Secretary of State, was really the
mainspring of the government ; and for such a position
Rossetti was just the man.

Everything was going on admirably. Colonel Teixeira
—a brave officer—having, with his gallant advance
column, pursued the flying enemy till he had shut
them up in the provincial capital, had proceeded to
make himself master of the greater part of its outlying
villages and territory. In every place our men were

76 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

received with open arms, and we enrolled numbers of
imperialist deserters, who passed at once into the
service of the Republic. No end of fine projects were
devised by General Canabarro, a brave and honest
republican soldier, a little rough, but kind-hearted—
noticeably so in those troublous times. It was a
favourite saying of his that a hydra should rise from
the lagoon to devour the empire ; and perhaps it would
have proved true, had our fortunate expedition been set
about with more judgment and better arrangements.
But our haughty bearing towards the good people of
Caterina—our friends at first, and afterwards our bitter
enemies—the insufficiency of the means employed in
so important an expedition, and perhaps some jealousy
and ill-will towards our general on the part of those
who should have done their best to co-operate with and
support him, led to our losing the fruits of a most
brilliant campaign, which might have brought about
the fall of an empire and the triumph of the republican
principle over the whole American continent.

UTES )

CHAPTER XVIIL
IN LOVE.

GENERAL CANABARRO having decided that I was to leave
the lagoon with three armed cruisers, and attack the
imperial forces on the coast of Brazil, I prepared for
the work by collecting all materials necessary for the
equipment of my vessels.

At this time took place one of the supreme events of
my life.

I had never thought of marriage, believing myself
entirely unsuited to such a life on account of my
independent spirit and love of adventure. To have
a wife and children seemed to me entirely forbidden
to a man absolutely devoted to a principle—a principle
which, however excellent, would not allow me, while
fighting for it with all the ardour of which I felt myself
capable, to enjoy the quiet and stability necessary for
the father of a family. Destiny decided otherwise.
The loss of Luigi, Edoardo, and others of my country-
men, had left me utterly isolated; I felt quite alone in
the world. Of all the friends who had made those
desolate regions like home to me, not one was left.
I was not intimate with any of my new companions;

78 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

indeed, I scarcely knew them. I have always felt the
need of a friend in my life; but among these I could
find none. Moreover, the change in my position had
come about in a manner so unexpected and so horrible,
that it was long before I could recover from the blow.
Rossetti, the only man who could have filled the void
in my heart, was far away, busied in getting the
machinery of the new state into working order; I
could not, therefore, have the enjoyment of his society.
In short, I needed a human heart to love me, one that
I could keep always near me. I felt that unless I
found one immediately, life would become intolerable.
Young as I was, I had enough knowledge of human
nature to be well aware how difficult it is to find a real
friend. ... A woman! Yes, I have always believed
women to be the most perfect of God’s creatures; and,
whatever men may say, I think it is infinitely easier to
find a loving heart among them than among us.

Walking up and down the quarter-deck of the [tapa-
rica, wrapped in my own gloomy thoughts, I came, after
trying every species of argument, to the conclusion that
I would look out for a woman, so as to escape from a
position of intolerable weariness and discomfort.

By chance I cast my eyes towards the houses on the
Barra—a tolerably high hill on the south side of the en-
trance to the lagoon, where a few simple and picturesque
dwellings were visible. Outside one of these, by means
of the telescope I usually carried with me when on deck,
I espied a young woman, and forthwith gave orders for
the boat to be got out, as I wished to go ashore. I

IN LOVE. 79

landed, and, making for the houses where I expected to
find the object of my excursion, I had just given up all
hope of seeing her again, when I met an inhabitant of
the place, whose acquaintance I had made soon after
our arrival.

He invited me to take coffee in his house; we entered,
and the first person who met my eyes was the damsel
who had attracted me ashore. It was Anita, the
mother of my children, who shared my life for better,
for worse—the wife whose courage I have so often felt
the loss of. We both remained enraptured and silent,
gazing on one another like two people who meet not
for the first time, and seek in each other’s faces some-
thing which makes it easier to recall the forgotten past.
At last I greeted her by saying, “Thou oughtest to be
mine!” I could speak but little Portuguese, and
uttered the bold words in Italian. Yet my insolence
was magnetic. I had formed a tie, pronounced a decree,
which death alone could annul. I had come upon a
forbidden treasure, but yet a treasure of great price.

If guilt there was, it was mine alone. And there
was guilt. Two hearts were joined in an infinite love ;
but an innocent existence was shattered. She is dead;
I am wretched; and he is avenged—yes, avenged! On
the day when, vainly hoping to bring her back to life,
I clasped the hand of a corpse, with bitter tears of
despair, then I knew the evil I had wrought. I sinned
greatly, but I sinned alone.

80 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER XIX.
BUCCANEERING,

THE three gunboats destined to cruise on the Atlantic
were the fio Pardo (a new vessel which had received
the name of the wrecked one), commanded by me, the
Cassapara, under Grigg—both topsail schooners—and
the Seival,* a gunboat brought over on wheels from
the Laguna dos Patos, and commanded by the Italian,
Lorenzo. The entrance to the lagoon of Santa Caterina
was blockaded by imperial men-of-war. We got out by
night, unperceived, and steered northward. Off Santos
we met with an imperial corvette, which pursued us in
vain for two days. The Brazilian vessels were certainly
not so well officered as in the Paraguay campaign. In-
deed, if they had had a capable commander, the poor little
republican boats would have been knocked to pieces in
a few hours; for we had in all only three small guns,
one to each boat, two nine-pounders, and one twelve-
pounder; while the corvette had twenty large guns in
a covered battery, and was a regular man-of-war. On
the first day, we threatened to board her; and, after a
great deal of cannonading, she stood away leaving us in

* These three vessels were named after republican victories.

BUCCANEERING. 81

possession of the sea. Next day, when we kept closer
to shore, a heavy squall from the south put an end to
the semblance of a combat, which, being carried on at
no great distance, in a heavy sea, ended with no result
either way.

After this we touched at the Ilha do Abrigo, where
we took two brigantines laden with rice. Pursuing our
course, we made other prizes, among them a brigantine
already plundered by Grigg, who had put a few of his
men on board as a prize crew. These had been attacked.
by the Brazilian crew, and put in irons, to be carried
prisoners to the enemy’s head-quarters. It was a stroke
of good luck for our friends thus to fall in our way.

We returned to the lagoon after a week’s absence.
I had a presentiment that we should fare badly in those:
parts, as, even before our departure, the people of Cate-

rina had shown us no good-will, and it was known that.
a strong body of imperial troops was advancing from the
north, under the command of General Andrea, famous.
for the pacification of the Para, and the atrocious
system of repression practised by him in that province.
On our return to the lagoon, we met with an armed Bra-
zilian patacho off Santa Caterina. We had only the Rio
Pardo and the Seival, the Cassapara having separated
from us on a dark night several days before. We were
sailing towards the Laguna di Santa Caterina, with a
strong breeze astern, when the patacho was sighted ahead
of us, apparently cruising eastward from the island of
the same name. We made out that she was sailing as
close as she could to the wind, which was off her port.
VOL, I. @

82 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

quarter. She carried seven guns, and was built for a
man-of-war. The fio Pardo, with only one nine-
pounder amidships, was a small merchant schooner,
without any of the necessary warlike equipments.
However, we had to put a good face on the matter, and,
haying signalled to the prizes, three in number, to make
for Imbituba, the Rio Pardo got within musket-shot of
the ‘patacho, luffed to port, and opened fire on the
enemy. The patacho replied gallantly, though the fight
could have little or no result, as the sea was running
‘ very high—so much so that we mostly had our star-
board gunwale under water, and the utmost damage
they could do was to make a few holes in our sails.
The result of the fight was our loss of two prizes, one of
which ran ashore, and the other—her -commander
having lost his presence of mind—struck her colours.
One prize only was saved—that commanded by a
gallant Biscayan officer, Ignazio Bilbao; she anchored
in the port of Imbituba, occupied by our forces. The
little Seival, whose one gun had got dismounted during
the action, took the same course, so that I also was
forced to make for Imbituba, with a north-easterly wind,
which during the night veered round to south. With
such a wind, it was impossible to enter the lagoon, and
in any case the imperial men-of-war stationed off the
island of Santa Caterina, warned by the Andurinha (the
vessel with which we had been engaged), would have
attacked us. We had, therefore, to prepare for combat.
The dismounted gun of the Seival was placed on a
promontory forming the eastern side of the bay of

in ae

BUCCANEERING. : 83

Imbituba, where we threw up an earthwork. This work
was completed during the night, and at daybreak three
imperial vessels were discovered bearing down on us.
The Rio Pardo was run close in shore at the.head of
the bay,and a very unequal combat began, the imperial
forces being beyond comparison the stronger. The
enemy, favoured by the slight wind blowing out of the
bay, kept all sail set, with short braces, and cannonaded
us furiously, being able to direct their fire—which was
all concentrated on my poor solitary vessel, the Rizo
Pardo—at any angle they pleased. The fight was
carried on, nevertheless, with the greatest resolution on
our part, and at close quarters, a musketry fire soon
being opened on both sides. Our losses certainly were
in inverse ratio to our strength. Our deck was already
covered with dead and wounded; the Rio Pardo’s sides
riddled with shot, and her rigging quite destroyed. We
had resolved to fight to the last—a resolve which was
strengthened by the sight of the Brazilian Amazon,
Anita, who not only refused to leave the vessel, but bore
a glorious part in the conflict. While we fought thus
resolutely, we received no slight assistance from the
skilful and effective fire which the gallant Manuel
Rodriguez kept up from our gun on the shore. |

The enemy were most persistent in attacking the
Rio Pardo, and several times approached so near that I
quite expected them to board us. We were prepared
for anything but surrender. At last, after several hours’
obstinate fighting, to our great surprise the enemy
retired. We afterwards heard that the reason of this

84 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

retreat was the loss of the commander of the Belle
Américaine, one of their largest vessels. We spent the
rest of the day in burying our dead, and repairing the
worst of the injuries sustained by the Rio Pardo. Next
day the enemy kept at a distance from us, preparing for
a new fight. We waited till night, and then, protected
by the darkness, weighed anchor for Laguna, the south
wind having fallen to a calm.

With nightfall we had silently shipped the cannon
which had been on shore, and by the time the enemy
perceived our departure, were already some distance off.
It was only on the morning of the following day that
they overtook and fired some shots at us, which all
missed.

We entered the lagoon of Santa Caterina, to be received
with the greatest joy by our friends, who were at a loss.
to understand how we had been able to escape from a ~
force so superior to our own.

( 85 )

CHAPTER XX.
RETREAT. |

Business of a different and very serious kind was
awaiting us at Laguna. The enemy’s advance.with a -
strong land force, and the overbearing manner in which
we had treated the people of Santa Caterina, incited
certain of the inhabitants of the adjacent country to
‘rise against the Republic, and among others those of
the village of Imirit at the south-western corner of the
lake. General Canabarro entrusted me with the odious
task of reducing this district, and ravaging it as a punish-
ment. I was obliged to obey orders, but, even under
a republican government, passive obedience goes very
‘much against the grain. The garrison and inhabi-
tants having made preparations for defending the lake-
shore, I landed three miles to the east of the town, and
attacked it suddenly from the mountains—that is, in the
rear. Having defeated and put to flight the garrison, the
placeremained in our hands. I hope—as assuredly every
man would who had not forgotten his manhood—that I
may never have to sack another town. The fullest
narrative of such misdeeds can give but a very im-
perfect notion of their hideous foulness and wickedness.
I never, before or after, passed a day of such remorse,

86 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

and such disgust with my species. The loathing and
fatigue experienced on that miserable day in attempting
to restrain, at least, violence to the persons of the
citizens, were unspeakable. It was only by free use of
the sabre, and at the risk of my own life, that I suc-
ceeded at all. As to property of every description,
it was impossible to avoid the most frightful disorders.
Neither my authority as commander, nor the exertions
of myself and the few officers not carried away by the
mad lust of plunder, were of any avail. We caused a
rumour to be spread that the enemy was returning to
the attack in greater numbers than before, but to

no purpose; though if he really had appeared, he.

must have effected a terrible slaughter of our men,
coming upon them by surprise while they were dis-
banded and drunken. Nor was the rumour without
foundation, since the enemy’s forces were visible on
the heights, though they did not venture to attack us.
Nothing availed to stop the plundering; and, most
unhappily, the town, though small, was the magazine
whence most of the inhabitants of the neighbouring
hills drew their supplies, and consequently well provided
with stores of every kind, especially spirituous liquors,
so that the intoxication was general. Be it noted that
I did not know the men who had landed with me; for
the most part they were a raw levy, utterly undis-
ciplined. If fifty imperialists had attacked us under the
circumstances, it would most assuredly have been all
up with us.

At last, by dint of threats and blows, and even cutting

=

RETREAT. 87

down a few of the most insubordinate, I succeeded in
getting those unchained wild beasts on board again.
We also shipped some provisions, and a few casks of
brandy for the division, and returned to Laguna.

The following incident may serve to show the class
of men I had to deal with on this expedition. A
German sergeant, much looked up to by the soldiers,
had been killed at Imirit. I gave orders for his burial ;
but, as the soldiers had other matters to attend to, they
insisted on bringing the corpse on board, alleging that
the gallant fellow deserved an honourable funeral at
Laguna, After we started, I was walking up and down
the deck, when I noticed a light in the hold, where the
greater part of our men were lodged during the voyage.
Looking down the hatchway, I saw the corpse of the
sergeant, a tall, stout man, stretched out in the midst of
a crowd, whose countenances, flushed with wine, were
anything but pleasant to contemplate. The brutal faces,
seen by the light of tallow candles stuck in bottles
placed on the breast of the corpse, seemed those of
demons playing at dice for souls. As such I remember
them, the plunderers of Imirit, gambling away their
booty across their comrade’s dead body.

Meanwhile our van, under Colonel Teixeira was
retreating before a strong force of the enemy, which
advanced rapidly from the north. We began to trans-
port the baggage of the division to the right bank of the
Barra, and had soon to turn our thoughts to the trans-
port of the troops themselves.

88 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER XXII.
FIRE AND SWORD.

On. the day of our retreat, when our whole division,
with a large quantity of stores, was being conveyed to
the right bank, I had my full share of work; for,
though our men were not very numerous, the greater
part of them were cavalry, and the stretch of water
to be crossed was very wide and full of currents.
I worked from early morning till about noon, using
as many boats as I could get to ferry them all across.
I then ascended a height near the entrance of the
lagoon, to watch the enemy’s ships, which, crowded
with troops, were advancing in conjunction with the
land force.

Before ascending the hill, I sent word to the general
that the enemy was preparing to force the entrance of
the Barra—being certain that such was his intention,
from what I had observed of the movements of his
fleet while I was conducting the passage of our troops.
From the top of the hill I was able to assure myself
that this was indeed the case. The enemy’s ships were
twenty-two in number—vessels of no great draught,
but suited to the depth of water in the entrance of the

-
a

!
|

FIRE AND SWORD. 89

lagoon. I therefore immediately repeated my warning
to Canabarro, there being, in fact, no time to lose. But
—whether it was due to indecision on the part of the
General, or whether the men really stood in absolute need
of food and rest—no one arrived to take part in the
defence of the Barra; though, if our infantry had been
properly posted, they must have made havoe among the
enemy. So far from this being done, the only resistance
offered came from the battery on the eastern point,
commanded by the brave Captain Esposto, which,
however, through the bad state of the guns, and want
of practice on the part of the gunners, did very little
damage. Similar difficulties were experienced on board
the three small republican vessels commanded by
myself. These had been short-handed from the first,
and on that day many—and those the picked men of the
crew—were engaged in transporting the remnant of the
division. Others remained mutinously on shore, not
choosing to expose themselves to the risk of hard
fighting at heavy odds. I descended the hill, and was
soon at my post on board the Rio Pardo. When I
arrived, my Anita had already, with her wonted fearless-
ness, levelled and fired the first cannon, while her words
reanimated the flagging spirits of the crew.

The fight was short, but decisive. We did not lose
a large number of men, having so few on board; but of

the officers on the three vessels, I was the only one

left alive. The enemy’s whole squadron entered the
lagoon, keeping up an incessant and vigorous fire with
artillery and small arms. The wind and tide being

90 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

in their favour redoubled their speed; and they sus-—
tained very little injury, and cast anchor within gun-
shot, continuing to bombard us with pieces of heavier
calibre than our own.

I asked General Canabarro for men to continue the
combat ;. but the only answer I got was an order to
set fire to the vessels, and retire on shore with the crews.
I had sent Anita with this message, charging her not
to return to the ship; but she would not send the
answer—she came back with it herself. Indeed, it was
entirely owing to her admirable coolness that I was
able to save any of the ammunition.

The order to set fire to our little fleet, as it had
to be carried out without assistance, and as the enemy
continued to rake us with their guns, was not of easy
execution. A painful sight it was to watch the fire
devouring the bodies of my comrades. It was impossible
to give them any funeral honours, or, indeed, any other
kind of burial than this. Passing from one of our ships
to another, in order to fire them, I found the decks
turned into a shambles. The commander of the
Ltaparica, Juan Enrique, a native of the Laguna district,
lay among other corpses, pierced through the chest by
a grapeshot. Captain John Grigg, of the Cassapara,
-had been struck by a grapeshot in such a manner, and
at such short range, as to carry away the whole lower
part of his body, leaving only the upper. His fair
complexion had not changed, and, as he was left leaning
against the bulwarks on the opposite side of the ship
to where he had been standing when struck, I saw,

FIRE AND SWORD. Of

looking from below, only the uninjured head and
shoulders, and at first sight took him to be still alive.
In a few minutes the ashes of our brave comrade were
beneath the waves, and the vessels which had filled the
empire with alarm, and which, according to General
Canabarro’s prophecy, were one day to have destroyed
it, no longer existed. Night was already falling when
LT assembled the remnant of my band, and marched in
the rear of the division, retreating on Rio Grande by
the same road which, a few months before, we had
trodden, heralded by victory, and our hearts beating.
high with hope.

92 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER XXII.
CAMPAIGNING ASHORE—VICTORY AND DEFEAT.

AMONG the many vicissitudes of my stormy life, I have
not wanted happy moments; and such, paradoxical
though it appears, was the one when, at the head of
a few men, the survivors of many battles, who had
honestly earned the name of heroes, I rode along with
the woman of my heart beside me, throwing myself
into a career which, even more than the sea, had an
immense attraction for me. What mattered it to me
that I had no clothes except those I stood up in? or
that I served a poor Republic which could pay not one
penny? I had asword and carbine, which I carried
before me across the saddle. Anita was my treasure,
and no less zealous than myself for the sacred cause of
nations, and for a life of adventure. She looked upon
battles as a pleasure, and the hardships of camp-life as
a pastime; so that, however things might turn out,
the future smiled on us, and the vast American deserts
which unrolled themselves before our gaze seemed all
the more delightful and beautiful for their wildness.
Besides all this, I could feel that I had honestly done

= eS

CAMPAIGNING ASHORE. 93

my duty in the various perils which I had been called
to share, and had earned the respect of the warlike sons
of Rio Grande.

We retreated, then, as far as Las Torres, on the
boundary of the two provinces, where we pitched our.
camp. The enemy, content with occupying the lagoon,
did not attempt to follow us. Acunha’s division, however,
which had come from the province of Sao Paulo, to
cut off our retreat, was, advancing over the forest-covered
mountains, by way of Cima da Serra, a department in
the mountains belonging to the province of Rio Grande.
The inhabitants of the Serra, overpowered by a superior

force, asked for help from General Canabarro, who

arranged to send to tHeir aid an expedition under
Colonel Teixeira, of which we formed part. Having
effected a junction with the Serrios, under Colonel
Aranha, we completely defeated Acunha’s division at.
Santa Vittoria. The imperial general was killed while
crossing the river Pelotas, and the greater part of his

_ troops taken prisoners. This victory re-established

the authority of the Republic in the three departments
of Lages, Vaccaria, and Cima da Serra. A few days
after we entered Lages in triumph (January, 1840).
Meanwhile, the invasion had revived the hopes.of the
imperial party in the province of Missiones; and the
imperial colonel Mello had increased his cavalry corps
there to about five hundred. General Bento Manuel,
who had been intended to oppose him, had contented
himself with sending Lieut.-Colonel Portinhos, who,
not having sufficient forces, did nothing but watch

94 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI. —

Mello’s movements. The latter turned towards Sao
Paulo, where, in our position and with our forces, we
could not only have opposed his passage, but have
utterly routed him. But fate would not have it so.
Colonel Teixeira, uncertain whether the enemy would
come by way of Vaccaria, or by another road, that of
Coritibanos, divided his force into two portions, send-
ing Colonel Aranha with the greater part of the
Serra cavalry into Vaccaria, and himself marching
towards Coritibanos with the infantry and part of
the cavalry, the latter corps being chiefly made up of
the prisoners taken at Santa Vittoria. This last hap-
pened to be just the point for which the enemy was
making,

The division of our forces was a fatal mistake; our
recent victory, the daring spirit of our leader, and the
republicans in general, and the information we had
received about the enemy (depreciating both their
numbers and their morale), made us unduly confident in
our own strength. A three days’ march brought us to
Coritibanos, where we encamped at a certain distance
from the pass of Maromba, whence we expected the enemy
to arrive. Sentinels were posted at the pass, and at
other parts which it was necessary to guard, Towards
midnight the outposts at the pass were attacked by the
enemy with so much fury that they scarcely had time
to fall back, exchanging a few shots. From that moment
till daybreak, we remained with all forces ready for
action. We had not long to wait for the appearance
of the enemy, who, having passed the river with all

ie

CAMPAIGNING ASHORE. 95

his men, had drawn them up in fighting order, not
far from us. Any man but Teixeira, seeing the odds
against us, would have immediately sent word to
Aranha to hasten back to us, and have contrived in the
mean time to delay the enemy till we had effected a
junction, But the gallant republican was afraid that
our foes would escape us, and that we should lose the
chance of a battle. We attacked them, regardless of
their superior position. Mello, taking advantage of -the
_uneyen nature of the ground, had formed his line
of battle on a high hill, having in front a deep valley
overgrown with thick bushes. He had also hidden on

his flanks some detachments of cavalry, which we could
not see. Teixeira ordered us to attack with a detach-
ment of infantry in skirmishing order, taking advantage
of the obstacles in the valley. We attacked, and the
enemy made a feint of retreating; but our column,
while pursuing them, after crossing the valley, was
charged in flank by a troop protected by the enemy’s
right, and driven back in disorder upon the main
body. In this encounter we lost Manuel N , one
of our bravest officers, and very highly esteemed by
our chief.

Our column, having been reinforced, marched for-
ward again with more resolution; and this time the
enemy fell back and began to retreat, leaving one man
dead on the field. The wounded on either side were
few, not many men of either force having taken part in
the fight. Meanwhile, the enemy was retreating hastily,
and we pursued without stopping.

96 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

Both cavalry columns—our vanguard and the enemy’s
rear-guard—kept up an incessant skirmishing, over a
space of about nine miles. We were obliged to leave
our infantry far behind, as, in spite of every effort, they
could not keep up with the horses. Of this cirewm-
stance the enemy took full advantage—if, indeed, they
had not purposely contrived it.

When our van had reached the highest point of the
pass of Maromba, its commander, Major Jacinto, sent
word to the colonel that the imperialists were passing
the ford, and that their ganado* and caballadast were
already on the other side, an indication that they
were still in retreat. The brave Teixeira did not
hesitate a moment, but ordered the cavalry detachments
to set off at a trot, so as to charge the enemy from the
height of the pass, and disperse them; at the same time
he directed me to make every effort to follow with the
infantry. The astute Mello had been manceuvring to
deceive us. Having marched his detachments hastily
forward, in order to get them out of our sight, and reached
the neighbourhood of the river Coritibano, he did, it is
true, send his horses and cattle over to the other side;
but, at the same time, he drew up his troops on our
left, behind some hills which entirely hid them from
view. Having taken these measures, and left a detach-

* A herd of cattle driven along for the supply of the army, who
carry no baggage-train.

+ The drove of spare horses, indispensable in those countries
where the greater part of the force consists of cavalry ;—every

soldier being obliged to have two spare horses, besides the one he
is riding.

CAMPAIGNING ASHORE. 97

ment to protect his column of sharpshooters, as soon
as he perceived our infantry in the distance, he retreated
to the cover of the high hills on our left; and, dashing
out suddenly with a diversion to the left, attacked our
eavalry in flank, and completely scattered each detach-
ment .in succession. The detachment acting as a
support to our column, whose horsemen were driving
the retreating imperialists before them at the lance’s
point, was the first to perceive the error, but, not
having even time to turn aside, met with the same fate
as all the rest. The same thing happened to all, in
spite of the courage and determination of Teixeira and
other brave Rio Grande officers; and in a short time
our cavalry presented the disgraceful spectacle of a
panic-stricken flock of sheep.

I had not liked our leaving the infantry so far
behind, knowing our cavalry to be composed of such
very untrustworthy elements, many of them prisoners
taken at Santa Vittoria. For this reason I hurried on
my men as fast as I could, so as to get them up in
time for the battle, but in vain. From a height which
I reached, I saw the slaughter of our troops, and knew
that it was too late to decide the victory, though not to
prevent the total destruction of our forces.

I called a dozen of the most active and intrepid of
my sailors, who broke into a run at the sound of my
voice, as though they were not already tired out with
a long forced march. I posted them on a spot which .
not only commanded a good view, but was difficult of
access on account of rocks and bushes, and therefore

VOL. I. H

98 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

a strong position for infantry. From this position we
began to make head against the enemy, and show them
that their victory was not complete, after all.

At this juncture the colonel fell back with some of
his staff, after having with indomitable courage made
every effort to arrest the course of the fugitives. The
infantry, under Major Peixotto, who commanded under
my orders, came up with us in the same _ position;

and the defence became obstinate and exceedingly

destructive to the enemy. We lost many foot-soldiers,
who, remaining behind, were involved in the flying

cavalry, and nearly all killed. Meanwhile, as seventy-—

three of us were now assembled in a strong position,
we fought at a certain advantage, the enemy having no
infantry, and being unaccustomed to oppose that force.
Notwithstanding this advantage, our position was
isolated, and we found it necessary to seek a safer one,
whence we could secure an unmolested retreat, without
giving the enemy time to collect their forces, or our
own men to lose heart.

A capon (an isolated clump of trees and underwood)
was in sight about a mile distant, and towards this we
directed our retreat. The enemy endeavoured to throw
us into confusion on the march, and kept charging us
en échelon whenever the ground allowed it. Under
these circumstances, it was greatly in our favour that
our officers were armed with carbines; and our men,
all being veterans, were able to stand against the shock
of the enemy’s charges, and repulse them with cool
daring. In this manner we succeeded in gaining the

CAMPAIGNING ASHORE. 99

shelter of the capon, where the enemy no longer
molested us. Having penetrated some distance into
the wood, we selected a clear space of ground, and all
together, with our arms ready to hand, sat down to
rest, and await the night. The enemy, from without,
challenged us several times to surrender; but we made
no reply to these demonstrations,

100 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER XXIII.
RETURN TO LAGES.

AT nightfall we made some preparations for leaving.
The greatest difficulty was the transport of the wounded,
one of whom was Major Peixotto, who had received a
ball in the foot. About 10 p.m., having accommodated
them as well as we could, we began the march, skirting
the capon, which we left on our right, and endeavouring
to reach the edge of the forest. This forest, perhaps
the largest in the world, extends through thirty-four
degrees of latitude, from the alluvial flats of the La
Plata to those of the Amazon, covering the crests of the
Serra do Espinasso (the backbone of Brazil). T.do
not know its longitudinal extent, which is probably
enormous. The three departments of Cima da Serra,
Vaccaria, and Lages, are, so to speak, clearings in the
midst of this forest.

Coritibanos, in the department of Lages and the pro-
vince of Santa Caterina—so called from the inhabitants,
who migrated from Coritiba, in the province of Sao
Paulo—is the scene of my narrative. As I said, we
skirted the capon in order to approach the above-
described forest, and made for Lages, so as to rejoin

RETURN TO LAGES. - 101

Aranha’s corps, unhappily separated from us. Our
issuing from the capon was the signal for one of those
incidents which seem to show that man is the sport of
‘circumstance, and shows the power of panic even over
the bravest of men. We were marching in silence, and,
as was natural, quite ready to fight should the enemy
appear. A horse, which had probably lost its rider
during the day, and was seen with saddle, bridle, and
bit still on, trying with difficulty to graze, was startled
by some slight noise we made, and took to flight. A
voice was heard, saying, “The enemy!” and all at once
those very seventy-three who for several hours had
been resisting a force of five hundred, were seen to
rush into the thickest of the underwood, and in such
a manner that, though we wasted many hours in
trying to collect them, it was impossible to get them
all together again, and several were lost. Nevertheless,
having assembled as best we could, we resumed our
march, and at break of day had reached the longed-for
forest, and were skirting it in the direction of Lages.
When the enemy sought us on the following day, we
were already out of their reach.

The day of the battle had been one of terrible fatigue,
privations, and hardships ; but the excitement of fight-
ing overpowered every other idea. But in the forest,
where meat, our usual food, was not to be had, and
where we could get no other, matters became serious.
We remained four days without anything to eat save
the roots of plants. Nor can one describe the fatigue.
undergone in making our way where no track existed,

—"

102 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

and where nature, rank and productive beyond all
conception, rears under the colossal pines of the
immense forest the gigantic ¢aguara (bamboo). The
decayed stalks and leaves of this plant, piled up among
the trees, form an impassable soft mass, capable of
swallowing up and burying any one who should
ineautiously set foot on it.

Many of our men lost heart, and some deserted. At
last it became necessary to call them together, and
seriously impress upon them that it was better they
should frankly state their wishes, and that every man
who did not care to follow us was perfectly free to
leave. This measure had the desired effect; from that
time forward there were no more desertions, and the
men became more hopeful of our ultimate escape.
On the fifth day from that of the combat we reached
the entrance to the piceada, or path cut through the
forest and leading to Lages, where we came across a
house, and satisfied our hunger by killing two bullocks.
In this house we made two prisoners belonging to the —
force which had defeated us, and then set out for Lages,
where we arrived on a rainy day.

( 103 )

CHAPTER XXIV.
LAGES—THE BATTLE AT THE FOOT OF THE SERRA.

’ TuE town of Lages, which had féted us on our victorious
arrival, had, at the news of our Coritibanos disaster,
changed its colours, and some of the most resolute
citizens had already established the imperial form of
government. ‘These last fled at our approach, and as
the greater number were tradesmen, and the richest in
the town, they left us their warehouses well stocked
with all the comforts of life. This enabled us to
improve our condition by supplying ourselves abun-
‘dantly with all necessaries. Meanwhile, Teixeira sent
orders to Aranha to rejoin the main body; and at the
same time, we received notice of the coming of Lieut.-
Colonel Portinho, who with his column had been sent
by General Bento Manuel* to pursue that very
force of Mello’s which we had unfortunately met in
Coritibanos.

I have served the cause of nations in America, and
proved my sincerity in so doing by the consistent way
in which I have everywhere fought against despotism.

* This general afterwards betrayed the Republic, and went over to
the imperialists.

ad

104 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

An admirer of the republican form of government,
which suits my idiosyncrasy, I have ever, for the same
reason, been the opponent of the contrary system.
Tracing all human ills back to their source, the selfish-
ness of our unhappy nature, I have always been
inclined rather to pity than to hate my fellow-men.
This day (1850), at a distance from the stage where the
scenes I am describing were enacted, I can relate them
calmly, and have a right to be considered impartial. I
wish, therefore, to assert that these gallant sons of the
Continent * were fearlessness itself, and that our occu-
pation of Lages—an occupation which we kept up for
several days, ready to hold the place against a victorious
enemy of ten times our numbers, and divided from us
only by the river Canoas (which we could not defend,
our auxiliary troops being at a distance)—was a stroke
of supreme audacity.

Many days passed before ‘the arrival of Aranha and
Portinho, during all which time the imperialists were
kept at bay by a mere handful of men. Scarcely had
our reinforcements arrived, when we marched resolutely
on the enemy, who would not accept battle, but retreated
when we came close to them, falling back on the
province of Sao Paulo, whence they expected consider-
able reinforcements, both infantry and cavalry.

Here we became aware of the usual weak point of
republican armies, namely, the unwillingness of the

* A name given, probably by the discoverers, to the large and
fine province of Rio Grande do Sul, there being another province
of the same name in the north of Brazil.

THE BATTLE AT THE FOOT OF THE SERRA. 105

soldiers to remain in the field when no immediate fight
was in question—a defect which made itself felt in
Washington’s army, as it always must where men do .
not see the value of the true discipline of soldiers of
freedum ;—a discipline which must arise from individual
conviction of duty, and is very different from the com-
pulsory discipline of the soldier of despotism. In this
last case, the soldier is either forcibly taken from his
home and obliged to perform, at the caprice of a tyrant,
any atrocious deed that may be required of him; or he
is a hireling, sold, body and soul, to any one who pays
him, and disposed by natural inclination to commit
actions a wolf would be ashamed of. The citizen
soldier of a free nation joins the colours whenever he is
summoned to them, because his country is threatened
by powerful enemies. He willingly gives his life in
defence of that country and his dear ones, and never
leaves the national army till the danger is past, and he
is. dismissed by his leaders. The republican army of
Rio Grande was composed, for the most part, of brave
citizen soldiers, who, however, did not intend to remain
under arms. When, in their judgment, the danger to
their country was over, and the season no longer suitable
for fighting, they left the ranks without waiting for
orders from the authorities. This failing of theirs
almost proved our ruin on one occasion, when a more
enterprising enemy could have profited by this insubor-
dination and our weakness to crush us altogether.

The Serraos, people of the surrounding mountains,
were the first to leave the ranks, taking with them not

106 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

only their own horses, but also those belonging to the
division. Portinho’s men, from the province of Missiones,
followed their example; and before long our force was
in this way so far diminished that we were obliged to
evacuate Lages, and fall back on the province of Rio
Grande, fearing the approach of the enemy, whom we
should have been too weak to resist. The small rem-
nant of our force, in want of necessaries, and particu-
larly of clothing—for, in the mountainous country where
we were, the cold was beginning to get intolerable—
became more and more demoralized; and the men
loudly demanded the right of returning to their homes,
in the level and sunny part of the province.

The province of Rio Grande is divided into two parts—
the lower, bounded on the east by the Atlantic, and on
the west and north-west by the Serra do Espinasso,
is an almost tropical region, of mild temperature ;
coffee, sugar, and oranges flourish on its fertile soil, and
it has, moreover, the advantages of an unlimited supply
of cattle, and a fine population, as well skilled in
horsemanship as the inhabitants of the La Plata
provinces. The high region of the Serra, with a much
lower temperature, possesses all the fruits belonging to
colder climates—apples, pears, peaches, and others—and
is crowned by the southern extremity of the vast forest
already mentioned, whose gigantic pines strike the eye
like rows of temple-columns.

Colonel Teixeira, obliged to yield to the importunities
of his men, ordered me to descend the Serra with what
was left of the infantry and marines, and rejoin the

THE BATTLE AT THE FOOT OF THE SERRA. 107

army, while he prepared to follow with the cavalry.
This descent was a difficult one, owing to the roughness
of the road, and the obstinate hostility of the inhabitants,
who were bitter enemies to the republicans. It is a
strange but true fact, that peasants as a class, who
should be more than any other in favour of a free
government, always detest and oppose it.

We descended by the piccada (forest track) of Peluffo,
being about sixty in number. We had to face some
terrible ambuscades, but got past by incredible good
fortune ; thanks to the determination of the men under
my command, and the fact that our enemies were but
little skilled in warfare.

As the path we were passing over was very narrow,
and cut through the thickest of the jungle, the
imperial troops, natives to the country, and therefore
well acquainted with the ground, chose the roughest
places for ambuscades, and rushed out- furiously upon
us with tremendous yells, while a dropping fire of
musketry was kept up at us from the most tangled
thickets. Yet the coolness of our bearing struck such
terror into these mountaineers, that we lost only one
horse, and a few of our men were very slightly
wounded. We reached head-quarters at Malacara,
twelve miles from Porto Alegre, where President Bento
Gongales, at that time commander-in-chief, was
stationed.

i
a
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108 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER XXV.
AN INFANTRY ACTION.

THE republican army was preparing to march when
we came up with it. The imperialists, after losing
the battle of Rio Pardo, had revictualled at Porto
Alegre, and, leaving that place by order of old General
Giorgio, had taken up their position on the banks of
the river Cahd, protected by their ships of war, with a
large number of cannon; and, reinforced by a strong
body of infantry, only waited to be joined by General
Calderon, who, coming from Rio Grande, had got together
some tolerable cavalry in the country.

The empire, with all the means of corruption at its
disposal, did not want for adherents in the province of
Rio Grande—a district where, as in La Plata, one may
say that the men are born on horseback, and where the
very spirit of the cavalier makes them warlike. But
not all cavaliers are capable of resisting decorations,
gewgaws, and, above all, the omnipotent metal.

The same failing noticed above—the disinclination
of the republicans to act in concert except in the
actual presence of the enemy—facilitated such measures
on the part of the latter; and by the time General
Netto, who commanded the republican forces in the

i

AN INFANTRY ACTION. 109

plains, had got together sufficient men to beat Calderon,
the latter had already joined the main army on the
Cahd, with a large number of horses, of which the
imperialists stood in great need. General Giorgio, there-
fore, threatened the besiegers of the capital with a vastly
superior force, and obliged them to raise the siege.

To enable us to offer battle to the imperial army, it
was indispensable that the President should join Netto’s
division, and this junction, successfully carried out, re-
flects great honour on the military capacity of Bento
Goneales. To a European army hampered with baggage,
this manoeuvre would have been simply impossible.

We marched with the army from Malacara—taking
the direction of the German colony of St. Leopold—
passed by night within two miles of the enemy, and
after two days’ and two nights’ continual marching,
almost without eating, reached the neighbourhood
of Taquary, where we fell in with Netto, who was
coming to meet us. I said—almost without eating ;
and the fact is, that as soon as the imperialists heard
of our being in motion, they made forced marches to
give us battle, and, in spite of being far more heavily
weighted then we were (having both artillery and
baggage), came up with us several times while we
were resting from our long marches, and occupied in
roasting the beef, which was our only food. More
than once they obliged us to take our roasts * on our

* The roast beef (agado) which is the principal food of South

American soldiers, is spitted on a green branch, so as to be more
easily picked up and carried on one’s back.

110 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

backs and make a hasty start, in order to reach our
destination in safety.

At Pinheirinho, six miles from Taquary, we halted,
and prepared for battle. The republican army, con-
sisting of 5000 cavalry and 1000 infantry, occupied
the heights of Pinheirinho, a moderately high hill half
covered with pines—the infantry in the centre, com-
manded by old General Crescenzio, the right wing under
Netto, and the left under Canabarro. Both wings
were composed of cavalry alone, and that, without
exaggeration, the best in the world, although the men
were farrapos.* Our infantry, consisting entirely, with
the exception of the officers, of men of colour, was also
excellent; and all were eager to fight. Colonel Joan
Antonio, with a cavalry corps, formed the reserve.

The enemy had 4000 infantry, 8000 cavalry, and
several pieces of artillery, and had taken position on
the further side of a small torrent-bed which divided
the two armies. Their aspect was by no means
contemptible. The best troops of the empire were
there, and under old General Giorgio, who was con-
sidered its most capable officer.

The imperial general had up to that point marched
on boldly, and had already made all arrangements
for an attack according to rule. He had sent across
the dry bed of the torrent two battalions of infantry,
who thereupon immediately formed in square, Two

* The name of farrapos (‘“ragamuffins”) was given by the
imperialists to the republicans, who returned the compliment by
the epithet of caramuru (“men of fire,” in the native dialect).

AN INFANTRY ACTION. Hie

guns, advantageously placed on the other side, were
thundering at our cavalry columns and their supports.
Already the brave men of the first cavalry brigade,
under the orders of Colonel Netto, had unsheathed
their sabres, and were only waiting for the charge to
be sounded, to fling themselves on the two battalions
that had crossed. These warlike sons of the Continent,
who with Netto had never been defeated, had all the
confidence given by a succession of previous victories.

Our infantry, with colours unfurled, écheloned in
divisions on the highest part of the hill, and covered
by its ridge, was raging with impatience for the
fight. Already Canabarro’s terrible lancers, all freed
slaves, and all horse-breakers by profession, had made
a forward movement, and thrown into confusion
the right flank of the enemy, who was thus obliged
to form front on the right, in great disorder. The
courageous freedmen, proud of their task, drew up
in more solid order, and seemed a perfect forest
of lances. This incomparable corps was composed
of negro slaves liberated by the Republic, chosen
from among the best horse-breakers of the province,
and officered by white men. These true champions
of freedom, if any men ever deserved that name, had
never been known to turn their backs on the enemy.
Their lances, beyond the ordinary length, their coal-
black faces, their sturdy limbs, hardened by constant
and vigorous exercise, and their perfect discipline,
struck terror into the foe.

Already the encouraging voice of the commander-

112 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

in-chief had passed along the ranks. “To-day each
one of us will have to fight for four,” had been the
laconic words of that hero, endowed with all the
qualifications of a great general, except luck. Our
hearts felt the throb of battle, and the confidence of
victory. Never did I see a fairer day, or a more
magnificent sight.* Posted in the centre of our infantry,
on the highest point, I had a good view of both armies.

The fields below us, covered with a short and scattered
growth of herbage, opposed no obstacle to the eye, and
we could perceive even the slightest movement on the
part of the enemy. There, beneath my feet, in a few
minutes, would be decided the fate of Brazil, the larger
portion of the American Continent! the destiny of a
nation decided! These bodies of men, so compact, so
flourishing, so brilliant, will in a few moments be broken
up, scattered, thrown into horrible confusion, and breath-
ing the lust of destruction. Ina short time, blood, broken
limbs, the corpses of so many splendid young fellows—
will disfigure the beautiful and virgin plains. And yet
we were panting with eagerness for the signal of battle.
But in vain; the field of slaughter was not there.

The imperial general, intimidated by the behaviour
of the republicans, and the strong position we occupied,
hesitated in the attack at first planned, withdrew his
two battalions; and from the offensive, which he had
hitherto assumed, passed to the defensive. .

* What a confession for a disciple of the peace-loving Beccaria !
But what can one say? I have met, in the course of my career,
with Austrians, priests, and despots !

ee

AN INFANTRY AOTION. 113

General Calderon had been killed in a reconnaissance,
which, perhaps, partly accounted for Giorgio’s irresolu-
tion. It was the opinion of many that, as he did not
attack us, we ought to have attacked him. But I
doubt whether this would have been well. Attacked
in our superior position on Pinheirinho, we had a fair
chance of victory; but had we quitted our ground in
order to harass the enemy, we should have had to cross
the bed of the torrent, which, though dry, was very
rough walking; besides which, the enemy considerably
outnumbered us, and had artillery, while we were with-
out a single piece. In short, we did not fight, and the
armies remained all day in sight of each other, with
_ some slight skirmishing.

One of the disadvantages of excessively strong
positions attaches also to fortified towns, which create a
tendency to repose and inaction; when much advantage
might be derived from a resolution to fight. One
might adduce an infinite number of examples in
_ support of this assertion, and the opinion of our Italian
masters in the art of war (1872) is greatly to be deplored.
It is the wish of these gentlemen to sow the peninsula
with fortresses, because they are afraid to arm two
millions of citizens and send the priests to reclaim the
Pontine Marshes.

Food was growing scarce in our, camp, and the
infantry especially were famishing. Still more unen-
durable were the sufferings occasioned by thirst, as
there was no water in the position we occupied. But
these people were born to a life of privation, and not a_

VOL. I. I

114 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

complaint was heard, except of our not fighting. My
fellow-citizens! on the day—distant, alas! as yet—when
you shall all be united, and as temperate as the men of
Uruguay, the stranger will no longer tread your soil or
desecrate your homes. Italy will again have taken her
place among the first nations of the world.

In the night old General Giorgio disappeared, anit
the next morning we could nowhere perceive the enemy,
and remained ignorant of their new position till 10 a.m.,
on account of the]fog. About that hour, at last, we
discovered them strongly posted at Taquary.

I am certain that the enemy’s cunning stratagem
caused profound mortification to the noble-hearted
republican general. But there was no help for it;
he had lost a splendid opportunity of ruining the
empire, and probably assuring the triumph of his
country.

A short time after, we received information that the
enemy’s cavalry was passing the river Taquary, under
cover of the imperial vessels. The enemy were’ there-
fore retreating, and it was necessary for us to attack
them in the rear while crossing. In this our general —
did not hesitate, and we marched resolutely to battle.
The enemy’s cavalry had indeed crossed the river,
assisted in the passage by several imperial ships; but
the infantry had remained on the left bank in a strong
position, protected by the men-of-war, and by an exceed-
ingly thick wood of tall trees. Our second infantry
brigade, composed of the second and third battalions, was
destined to begin the attack. They charged with all

. ‘

AN INFANTRY ACTION. 115

possible courage; but the enemy far outnumbered them ;
and our brave soldiers, after performing prodigies of
valour, were obliged to retreat, supported by the first
brigade, composed of the first brigade of marines
and the artillery without their cannon. The infantry
engagement in the wood, where the rattle of small-
arms and the crash of broken boughs, amid clouds
of smoke, seemed like an infernal tempest, was
indeed a tremendous one. The loss in killed and
wounded was not less than 500 on both sides. The
corpses of the gallant republicans were found even
on the river-bank, whither they had rushed on to
-bayonet the enemy; but, unfortunately, all this valour
was without result and valueless, since—the second
brigade being overpowered. by heavy odds and forced
to retreat—the fight had to be suspended. When
night came on, the enemy was able to effect his pas-.
sage to the right bank of the Taquary without let or
hindrance.

With all Bento Gongales’ brilliant qualities, many
noted a want of resolution—the origin of the dis-
astrous ill-success of his operations—and would have
judged it better if, a disproportionately weak infantry
brigade being once engaged in face of so numerous
an enemy (at least six to one), he had completed the
attack by sending up the first brigade, and all the
cavalry we had, armed with carbines. My judgment is
the same. When an attack is preparing, it should be
thoroughly well considered; but once it is decided on,
every disposable force should be employed, even to the

116 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

last reserves. Of course, this does not apply to a recon-
naissance—that is, an attack on the enemy for the
purpose of forcing him to betray his numbers and the
strength of his position ;—when one feigns to employ
one’s whole force, but, after accomplishing the object,
returns to one’s own lines. This is all that is needed
in a simple reconnaissance; but one ought always to be
ready to repulse a real attack on the part of the enemy.
A general attack in the case under consideration might,
in truth, have gained us a brilliant victory, if we had
forced the enemy from his ground and driven him into
the river. The fact of our pursuing him into his retreat
certainly threw his troops into a panic, and had we
attacked with our whole force, there would have been
some probability of success. Our commander did not
think it well to stake the entire infantry of the republic
on the issue of a general combat. No doubt he re-
pented not having given battle the day before, when his
soldiers, out in the open plain, would have performed
miracles. The fact is that this fight was a real dis-
aster to us, losing as we did about half our gallant
infantry, whom it was impossible to replace. The loss
of five hundred cavalry was of no consequence to the
enemy.

The enemy remained on the right bank of the
Taquary, and therefore in possession of almost the
whole country. We proceeded on our march to Porto
Alegre, in order to resume the siege.

The condition of the Republic was now somewhat less
hopeful than before. We returned to St. Leopold, whence

AN INFANTRY ACTION. LIZ

we proceeded to Settembrina,* and thence to our old
camp at Malacara. Thence, in a few days, the encamp-
ment was transferred to Bellavista, a position nearer the
Laguna dos Patos, and north-east of Malacara. At the
same time General Bento Gongales conceived the: plan
of another operation, which, if successful, might result
in*a considerable improvement in the state of our
affairs.

* A village near Porto Alegre, so named by the republicans in
honour of the month in which the Republic was proclaimed. It

had formerly been called Viaméo (= See the hand), because it com-
mands a view of the five rivers which form the Rio Grande..

TELE -

118 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER XXVI.
THE NORTHERN EXPEDITION.

THE imperialists, to get men for their expeditions into
the open country, had somewhat weakened the garrisons

of their fortified places, and among them that of San

José do Norte. This place, on the northern bank of
the. channel leading from the Laguna dos Patos into the
sea, was one of the keys to the lagoon ; and its possession
determined the whole aspect of affairs. The principal
advantage to be derived therefrom was an abundance of
victuals of all kinds, arms, and ammunition. Our men,
at present in a wretched condition, could then be
clothed and supplied with all necessaries. Besides, not
only was the town of importance as commanding the
entrance to the lagoon—the only harbour in the
province—but the atalaya, the signal-mast which indi-
cated to ships the depth of water in the Barra, was also
in its neighbourhood.

Unfortunately, this expedition had the same fate as

the one to the Taquary. The enterprise was carried out
almost to the very end, with the greatest prudence and
discretion, and then the fruit of it entirely lost by a
little hesitation. An uninterrupted march of eight days,

2s

a

THE NORTHERN EXPEDITION. 119

at not less than twenty-five miles a day, brought us
unexpectedly to the trenches of the town. It was one
of those winter nights when a shelter and a little fire
are the greatest imaginable boon; and the poor soldiers
of freedom, ragged and hungry, with their limbs stiff
with cold, exposed to the tempestuous downpour of a
heavy rain which had accompanied our whole march,
were advancing, silent and fearless, against the sentinel-
guarded ramparts. The horses had been left a little
way off, guarded by a squad of cavalry; and each man,
wrapping his miserable rags round him, prepared for
_ the attack, which was to take place at the first challenge
of the sentinels. The warriors of the Republic carried
those walls as well as the first soldiers in the world
could have done. A few shots from the besieged, a
little resistance on the walls—and our men, climbing on
each other’s shoulders, were inside the town, though a
little further resistance was made by the four forts com-
manding the trench. At 1 a.m. the attack began, and
at 2 we were masters of the trench and of three forts,
with comparatively slight losses, and without having
fired a shot. As we held three forts out of four, and the
whole interior of the town, it seemed impossible that we
could be dislodged. And yet even this time we were
to get the worst of it. The star of the Republic was set-
ting, and fortune had turned against our leader. Find-
ing themselves inside the town, our soldiers, hungry and
in rags, thought they had nothing further to do but
eat well, drink better, clothe themselves, and plunder.
The greater part therefore dispersed, with the intention

120 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

of sacking the place. Meanwhile the imperialists, re-
covering from their surprise, massed themselves in a
strong quarter, and stood on the-defensive to the number
of several thousand. We attacked them, and they re-
pulsed us. Our men, when wanted to renew the attack,
could not be found, or else; drunk and loaded with
booty, refused to risk their lives again, now that
they had become rich. Some of them had damaged
their muskets by using them to batter in the doors of
the houses and shops they wished to plunder; others
had lost their flints. The enemy, for their part, lost no
time ; and several men-of-war in the harbour took up a
position which enabled their guns to rake the streets we
occupied, the place being built on the very edge of the
lake.

From Rio Grande do Sul, a few miles off on the other
shore, they sent reinforcements: of troops; and the only
fort we had neglected to seize was occupied by the
enemy. The fort called the Imperial, the largest of the
four, which had been attacked and taken by us in the
night, and which occupied a commanding position in
the centre of the line of trenches, so that its possession
was a point of the highest importance—was rendered
useless by a terrible gunpowder explosion, which killed
and wounded many of our men. It was not yet light
when the catastrophe took place, and I shall never
forget- having seen those who occupied the fort flung
into the air like glow-worms, their clothes having
caught fire, and dashed to the ground horribly mutilated.

In short, the most glorious of triumphs was changed

:

THE NORTHERN EXPEDITION. 121

towards noon into a shameful retreat, almost a flight.
The few gallant fellows who had kept up the fight to
the last were weeping -with rage and vexation. Our
loss was, in comparison, enormous; from that day our
superb corps of black infantry became a skeleton
regiment.

The small number of cavalry accompanying the
expedition served to cover our retreat. The division
marched to its quarters at Bellavista, and I remained
with what was left of the marines, at San Simon, an
estate on the shore of the lagoon. The naval force was
reduced by this time to about forty, officers and men

122 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI. 4

CHAPTER XXVII.
WINTER, AND PREPARATION OF CANOES.

In the southern hemisphere, as is well known, winter
falls in the months when we in the northern have
summer. This was said by the inhabitants to be a
severe winter, and seemed all the more so to us, who
were unprovided with warmer clothing—a want it was
quite impossible to supply. The object of our remain-
ing at San Simon was to engage some canoes, and open
communications with the other side of the lake. But
during several months which we passed there, no canoes
appeared, so that this intention was not carried out.
In place of boats, therefore, we turned our attention to
horses, finding in that place large numbers of colts,
abandoned for months past by their owners, who be-
longed to the imperial party. These colts served to
turn my sailors into horsemen; and some of the latter
even became horse-breakers, of a sort.

San Simon is a fine and extensive estate, though at
that time destroyed and deserted. It was formerly, I
believe, the property of a count of the same name; but
either he or his heirs had been banished, on account of
opinions opposed to the republican way of thinking then

WINTER, AND PREPARATION OF CANOES. 123

dominant. The proprietors being absent, and indeed,
in any case, our enemies—we signified our temporary
ownership by making use of the cattle for our food—for
we had no other—and breaking colts for our amusement.

At that time (September 16, 1840), my Anita had
her first child, Menotti, whose: existence might truly
be said to be a miracle, considering the privations and
hardships undergone by his mother for some months
past; not to mention her having been present at several
battles, and sustained a serious fall from her horse, which
inflicted a bruise on the infant’s head. Anita’s confine-
ment took place in the house of an inhabitant of the
district named Costa, near the small village of Mus-
tarda, and she received all imaginable care from this
kind and noble-hearted family. I shall be grateful to
these good people as long as I live. It was well for
my poor wife that she was able to find shelter in this
house, for the distress suffered by our army had then
reached its height; and I had not the means to get so
much as a single handkerchief for her or the infant.

I resolved, in order to get a few clothes for my dear
ones, to make a journey to Settembrina, where I had
some friends, especially the excellent Blingini, who I
knew would help us.*

Accordingly I set out across the flooded plains of that
part of the province (which is altogether alluvial), where
I had to ride for days together with the water up to
my saddle-girths. In the Rossa Velha (old cultivated

* The Republic was not in the habit of paying its soldiers,
though, indeed, it was served none the worse for that.

7
124 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI. j

ground) I met Captain Massimo of the negro lancers,
who welcomed me like a true and generous comrade.
He had been sent, with a detachment of his men, to
guard the reserve horses on those excellent pasture-
grounds, I reached Rossa Velha in the evening, with a
heavy rain, passed the night there, and set off again at
daybreak the next morning, though the storm had
increased—contrary to the advice of the good captain,
who wished me to stop and wait for better weather.
My errand was too pressing to be deferred, so I ventured
anew into the inundated plains. When I had ridden
some miles, I heard shots in the direction of the place
I had quitted. I had my suspicions; but as it was, I
could do nothing but ride on. I arrived at Settembrina,
bought a few little things in the way of clothes, and set
out again for San Simon. On reaching Rossa Velha, I
heard the cause of the shots,’and the sad fate which
had overtaken Captain Massimo and his brave freed-
men immediately after my departure from the house.
Moringue, the same who surprised me at Camacuan, had
surprised Massimo, and, after a desperate defence on the
part of that gallant officer and his lancers, had succeeded
in killing nearly all of them.

The best horses had been put on board ship, and
sent to Porto Alegre, and the inferior ones all killed. The
enemy had executed this enterprise with ships of war
and infantry, then, after re-embarking and landing
a second time, the infantry had, along with the cavalry,
marched by land towards Rio Grande del Norte, dis-
persing all the small republican forces scattered over

a. «~

—

WINTER, AND PREPARATION OF CANOES. 125

that territory, or throwing them into a state of panic.
Among these were my poor sailors, who had to abandon
their position and seek refuge in the forest, the enemy
being too many for them. My poor Anita, too, was
obliged to fly and face the inclemency of the weather,
with her twelve-days’ old infant in front of her saddle.

Being unable to find my family or followers on my
return to San Simon, I was obliged to track them to the
edge of the forest, where they were still encamped when
I found them, having no accurate information of the
enemy's movements. We returned to San Simon, re-
mained there for some time, and afterwards shifted our
quarters to the left bank of the river Capivari, formed
by the outflow of the various lakes scattered over the
northern part of the province of Rio Grande, between
the Atlantic coast and the eastern slope of the Serra do
Espinasso. It takes its name from the Capybara, a
kind of wild hog very common in the rivers of South
America.

From the Capivari and the Sangrador* do Abreu,
where we had obtained and fitted out two canoes, we
made several voyages to the western side of the Laguna
dos Patos, taking passengers and letters.

* Sangrador, a canal draining a marsh.

126 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE DISASTROUS RETREAT ACROSS THE SERRA.

MEANWHILE the position of the republican army was
growing worse and worse, our wants increasing every day
with the difficulty of supplying them. The two actions
at Taquary and Norte had so thinned the ranks of our
infantry, that the battalions had become mere skeletons.
Excessive distress had generated discontent, which
caused many desertions. The people, as is always the
case in long wars, grew wearied and indifferent, with
the alternate passing and repassing of troops, and the
exactions of both friends and foes.

In this state of things, the imperialists made proposals ~

for peace, which, although advantageous, considering the
present circumstances of the republicans, were scornfully
rejected by the nobler part of the army. This refusal,
however, increased the discontent of those who, being
thoroughly tired of the war, were more inclined to com-
promise. At last it was decided to raise the siege of the
capital, and retreat.

Canabarro’s division, of which the naval force formed
part, was to begin the movement, and clear the passes of
the Serra occupied by General Labattue, a Frenchman

’

DISASTROUS RETREAT ACROSS THE SERRA. 127

in the service of the empire. Bento Gongales and the
rest of the army were to follow, forming the rear-guard.

At this time our Rossetti died—an irreparable loss !
He had remained behind with the republican garrison
of Settembrina, who were to be the last to march; they
were surprised by the famous Moringue, now the
incubus of the republicans, and the gallant Italian fell,
fighting bravely, in the struggle. When called upon to
surrender, as he lay on the ground—having fallen
wounded from his horse—he replied by sword-strokes,
selling dearly a life that Italy could ill spare.

There is not a corner of the earth but the bones of
_ some noble Italian are whitening there. And Italy for-
gets them! She is busy buying islands to form convict
settlements ;* she is fawning on foreign powers, in order
to recover her lost territories by their help, and, “ girt
with a sword not her own,” applauding the rulers who
sell her; she is coquetting with the sacerdotal idea—
supplicating it on her knees to keep her sons in ignor-
ance and brutality, and calls the infamous act “guaran-
tees ;” and she forgets those who made her name glorious
in the New World! And in every country of the world
she will feel the want of them, on the day when she
desires to rise and use as a stepping-stone the corpses
of the birds of prey who devour her.

The retreat, undertaken in the winter, over the pre-
cipitous mountain-paths, amid almost unceasing rain, ©
was the hardest and most terrible that I ever saw. We
drove along with us, for all provision, a few haltered

* From England, for instance.

128 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

cows, as there were no animals on the steep tracks
we had to pass—rendered still more difficult by the
rains. The numerous rivers of the Serra, running high
in flood, rolled over men, arms, and baggage. We

marched in the rain without food; in the rain we ~

encamped. In the interval between one torrent and
the next, those whose turn it was to remain in the
neighbourhood of those unlucky cows had meat; the
rest went without. The poor infantry* especially
suffered terribly, being in want even of horseflesh,
which the cavalry were in the habit of using when they
had no other.

There were scenes to make one shudder. Many
women, as is the custom in that country, accompanied
the army, and, indeed made themselves extremely
useful, being employed to look after the spare mounts,
which they did on horseback, being thoroughly accus-
tomed to this exercise. With the women there were,
naturally, children of all ages. Of the younger ones,
not many got out of the forest alive. Some few were
picked up and carried by the riders of the horses we
contrived to save; but many mothers, as well as
children, remained behind, dead or dying with hunger,
hardship, and cold.

There are, forests in the lower part of the province
where the climate is almost tropical; and here we
could find wild fruits in abundance which are edible

* In these countries where flesh is the sole food, and is procured
on horseback by means of the lasso, it can be understood that in
times of scarcity the cavalry often have abundance, while the
infantry suffer from hunger.

y~

DISASTROUS RETREAT ACROSS THE SERRA. 129

and nourishing, such as the guava, the arassd, and
others ; but in the forests of the high Serra, into which
we had penetrated, there were no such fruits to be
found, and scarcely could we get taquara leaves—a
poor kind of fodder for animals and insufficient to save
the lives of the two mules carrying my poor baggage ;
for now that I had a wife and child, I had been
obliged to provide myself with a tent and some other
articles.

. Anita was in constant terror at the thought of losing
our Menotti—and indeed it was a miracle that we saved
him. In the steepest parts of the track, and when cross-

_ ing the torrents, I carried him—then three months

old—slung from my neck by a handkerchief, trying to
keep him warm against my breast and with my breath.
Of a dozen beasts, my own property, which I had
brought with me into the forest, some for riding, and
others to carry baggage, I had only two horses and two:
mules left; the rest had foundered, and been left hehind.

The guides, to complete our misfortunes, had mis-
taken the track, and this was one of the causes which
made it a matter of difficulty for us to cross that
terrible forest de las Antas. (Anta is a wild animal
which; I was told, resembles an ass. It is quite harm-
less ; its flesh is exquisite, and its hide serves for many
purposes. I have seen the hide, never the animal
itself. )

As we went on and on, never finding the end of the
path, I remained in the forest with the two mules,
which were now quite worn out, and sent Anita on

VOL. I. K

130 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

with my assistant and the child; so that, riding our two
remaining horses in turn, she might make an attempt
to get out into the open country, and there find some
food for herself and the infant. These two horses, and
her own high-hearted courage, were the means of saving
what was dearest to me on earth. She got to the end
of the piccada, and found some of my soldiers round a
fire—a thing we had not been able to obtain, on account
of the rain which had continued to fall in torrents, and
the poor condition to which we were reduced.

My comrades, who had succeeded in drying some
rags, took the child—a favourite with them all—
wrapped him up, warmed and revived him, when the
poor mother almost despaired of the tender little life.
With the kindest care, the good fellows then tried to
find some food to restore the strength of my dear wife
and her first-born.

I laboured in vain to save the mules. Remaining
with the poor exhausted beasts, I cut as much sedge
and young bamboo as I could to feed them, but it was
no use; I was obliged to leave them, and try to get out
of the forest myself, on foot, and nearly famished as I
was.

Nine days after we had entered it, the rear of the
division was only just outside the piccada, and very few
of the officers’ horses had been saved. General Labat-
tue, who had preceded us in his flight, had left some

guns in the same forest de las Antas, which we could not

bring on for lack of means of transport; and they have
remained buried in that howling wilderness eyer since.

DISASTROUS RETREAT ACROSS THE SERRA, 131

The storms seemed to have their home in this forest,
for as soon as we had emerged from it on the plains of
the table-land, in the department of Cima da Serra, we
had beautiful weather, and found cattle in abundance;
so as to forget, in some measure, our past hardships.

We then entered the department of Vaccaria, where
we remained some days, to wait for Bento Goncales’
division, which arrived, scattered and in great disorder.
The indefatigable Moringue, hearing that this corps was
retreating, had followed in its rear, harassing its march
in every way, with the assistance of the mountaineers,
always obstinately hostile to the republican cause. All
this gave Labattue time to effect his retreat and his
junction with the main body of the imperial army. He
arrived, however, almost alone, on account of the
desertions caused by forced marches and the same
privations and hardships as we had suffered. Besides

this, a strange accident happened to the French general,
- which I will relate, on account of its extraordinary
_ character, Having, on his march, to cross the two
forests known under the names of Matto Portuguez and
Matto Castellano, he found in that neighbourhood
several tribes of savage Indians called Bugres, the most
ferocious natives known in Brazil. These, hearing of
the passage of the imperial troops, attacked them from
various ambuscades in the bush, with great slaughter ;
at the same time giving Canabarro to understand that
they were friendly to the republicans. Indeed, they
occasioned us no trouble during our march through their
forests. We saw, however, their fogas—deep pits care-

132 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

fully covered over with earth, into which the incautious
traveller falls, and is then, in this helpless condition,
attacked by the savages. For us none of these holes
were covered, and the formidable stockades of logs
raised alongside the path, whence they usually aim darts
and arrows at the passers-by, were deserted.

About this time a woman, who in her youth had
been carried off by the Indians from a house in Vaccaria,
took advantage of our being in the neighbourhood to
escape. She was, poor thing, in a truly deplorable
condition when we met with her outside the forest.

As we had no enemies either to fly from or pursue in
those mountain regions, we took our marches slowly ;
being almost totally destitute of horses, and obliged,
as we went along, to break some of the stray colts.
we found about the country. Almost the entire corps
of negro lancers, now marching on foot, had to be
remounted on these colts. It used to be a fine sight to
see, as we did almost every day, a number of those
young and stalwart blacks (all of whom were professional
horse-breakers) spring on the back of their wild steeds
and scour over the upland, the brute at first making
every effort to get rid of his burden, and fling it away
into the air; the man, admirable in his dexterity,
strength, and courage, holding on with the grip of a
vice, striking, spurring, and at last overpowering the
proud son of the desert, who at length, conscious of the.
superiority of his rider, flies off like an arrow, and
covers in a few moments an immense extent of ground,
to return with the same swiftness, breathless and reeking-

4

—_

DISASTROUS RETREAT ACROSS THE SERRA, 138

In that part of America, the colt is brought in from the
field, lassoed, saddled, bridled, and, -without other
preparation, mounted by the breaker in the open plain.
The exercise usually takes place several times a week,
and in a few days the horse can be bitted. Even the
most restive, in this way, turn out capital horses in the
course of a few months; but it is difficult to have
them well broken in by soldiers on the march, when
they cannot have the conveniences, the care, and, above
all, the rest necessary for proper training.

After passing Matto Portuguez and Matto Castellano,
we descended into the province of Missiones, shaping
our course for Cruz Alta, the chief town of that province,
a well-built little city, beautifully situated on a table-
land. The whole of this part of Rio Grande, indeed,
has very fine scenery. From Cruz Alta we marched to
San Gabriel, where we established our head-quarters,
and constructed temporary barracks for the accommoda-
tion of the army. I too erected myself a hut, in which
I lived for some time with my family.

I had now passed six years of my life in hardship
and privation, severed from all the associations of my
youth, and from my parents, of whose fate—owing
to the isolation in which I had been living, and the
impossibility of getting news, at a distance from any
seaport—I was absolutely ignorant. This naturally
made me desirous of getting back to some place where
I might be able to hear from home. My affection for
my parents, though perhaps overpowered for a time by
the excitement of my life of adventure, was still alive

134 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDR

and strong in my heart. Besides, I was obliged to — | =
provide myself with many things which I had not —
hitherto felt to be necessary, but which, now that I had
a wife and child, had become indispensable. I therefore
decided on asking permission from the President to 4
remove for a time to Montevideo. He not only granted —
my request, but authorized me to collect a small herd
of cattle in order to pay my expenses. aa

et eel

Eee aa eee
‘

5 Oe

CHAPTER XXIX.
MONTEVIDEO.

BEHOLD me, then, a truppiere, that is, a cattle-drover.
In an estancia called Corral de Pedras, with the
authorization of the minister of finance, I succeeded
in getting together with incredible exertions, in the
space of twenty days, about nine hundred beasts, which,
with still greater labour, I was to drive to Montevideo.
Here, however, I arrived, not with the bullocks them-
selves, but with about three hundred hides. I had met
with insuperable obstacles on the road, especially the

_Rio Negro in flood, where I nearly lost my entire capital.

The river, my inexperience in the business, and the
rascality of some men I had hired to help me, conspired
to prevent my getting more than five hundred head
across the Rio Negro; and these were afterwards so
exhausted by the long march, the scarcity of fodder;
and the difficulty of passing the rivers, that they were
pronounced incapable of reaching Montevideo. We
therefore made up our iinds to slaughter them, take
away the hides, and leave the flesh to the carrion crows,
which seemed the only means of saving any part of
them. It may be remarked that whenever one of these

136 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

poor beasts was worn out, I was obliged to sell it,
receiving, as a great favour, the sum of half a dollar.
At last, after some fifty days of indescribable discomfort,
cold, and vexation, I reached Montevideo, with the few
hides which were all that remained of my nine hundred
bullocks, and which brought me in a few hundred
dollars, scarcely enough to furnish scanty clothing for
myself and two comrades.

I put up at Montevideo, in the house of my friend
Napoleone Castellini—to whose kindness, and that of
his wife, I am much indebted—where I passed some
time. My means were exhausted, and I had a family
to keep; it was therefore necessary to secure the
independent maintenance of three persons. The bread
of charity has always seemed bitter to me; and yet,
how often in my life of vicissitudes have I needed a
friend! And I have always been fortunate enough to
find one.

In the mean time, I entered upon two occupations,
not very lucrative, indeed, but enough to supply us with
bread—those of shipbroker and teacher of mathematics |
in the excellent school of Signor Paolo Semidei.* This
kind of life lasted till I began to serve in the oriental
or Montevideo squadron.

The Rio Grande question was proceeding towards
settlement, and Anzani, whom | had left in charge of
the small force I had commanded for that Republic, on

* T recall with affection and gratitude the generous kindness of
Giovanni Battista Cuneo, my unalterable and lifelong friend, and
of the brothers Antonino and Giovanni Risso.

MONTEVIDEO. 137

retiring from active service, wrote me that there was
nothing further to be done in that part of the country.
The Republic of Montevideo soon offered me the
command of the corvette Constitucion, of eighteen guns,
which I promptly accepted. The oriental squadron was
commanded by Colonel Cohe, an American, and that of
Buenos Ayres by an Englishman, General Brown.

Some naval actions had taken place, with results of
no great moment. About the same time, the ministry
of war had been entrusted by the Republic to a
certain Vidal, a man of baleful and despicable memory.
One of his first ill-advised ideas was to get rid of the
trouble of the naval force, which, he said, was both
useless and burdensome to the state. This force had
cost the Republic enormous sums; without it, Monte-
video could never have freed itself from the sway of
Buenos Ayres—and, worse still, of Rosas, the tyrant of
that republic ; and properly developed, as at that time
it might very well have been, and efficiently directed, it
might have established a marked pre-eminence in the
La Plata. Instead of this, the navy of Montevideo
was entirely annihilated, through the perverse imbecility
of this minister, the ships being sold at shameful
prices, and their timbers broken up. To complete the
work of destruction, I was sent on an expedition the
result of which could only be the loss of the vessels
under my command.

138 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI,

CHAPTER XXX,

I COMMAND THE MONTEVIDEO SQUADRON-—FIGHTING IN
THE RIVERS,

Wir the corvette Constitucion of eighteen guns, the
brigantine Pereira with two eighteen-pounder swivels,
and the transport-schooner Procida, I was bound for
the allied province of Corrientes, to help in its warlike
operations against the forces of Rosas, the tyrant of
Buenos Ayres. We had also the object—or the pretext
—of taking supplies to that province. I will give a
short explanation of the new war in which I was
preparing to take part.

The Republic of Uruguay was, like the greater
number of the South American republics, in that state
of civil war which, long-continued and almost chronic

as it is, forms the greatest hindrance to the progress of -

which that splendid country—certainly second -to no
part of the world in natural resources—is susceptible.
These internal discords were at this time caused by the
rival claims to the office of president of the two generals,
Fruttuoso Ribera and Manuel Ourives. ;

Ribera, at first more fortunate than his rival, succeeded,
after several victories, in banishing Ourives, and seizing
upon the power wielded by him. . The defeated candidate

I COMMAND THE MONTEVIDEO SQUADRON. 139

took refuge in Buenos Ayres, where Rosas welcomed
him and other emigrants from Uruguay, and employed
them against his own enemies, then under the command
of General Lavalle. These enemies were called Unionists,
while Rosas’ party took the name of Federals. Lavalle
having been defeated, the ferocious ex-president of
Montevideo set about recovering his lost power; and
this entirely met the views of Rosas, who aimed at the
final destruction of his mortal enemies, the Unionists
—their last retreat being Montevideo—and also at
humbling the power of a neighbouring and rival re-
public which disputed with Buenos Ayres the supremacy
of the vast river, launching into her midst the most
obstinate and formidable elements of a tremendous civil
war.

When I left Montevideo, and entered the river, the
Uruguayan army was at San José, and that of Ourives
at Bajada, the capital of the province of Entre-Rios.

‘Both were preparing for a decisive battle.

The army of Corrientes was making arrangements to
unite with that of Uruguay, and I had to ascend the
Parana to reach the former province, passing. over
a space of more than 600 miles, between two hostile
shores, where I could not land except on islands and ir
uninhabited spots. Leaving Montevideo with the three
vessels above mentioned, I sustained a first engagement
with the batteries on the island of Martin-Garcia, which
commands the river towards the confluence of the
Uruguay with the Parana. This island is of a consider-
able height, and we were forced to pass close to it, as the

140 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

more distant channels would not admit large vessels.
We got past, with some loss in killed and wounded.*
Three miles above Martin-Garcia, the Constitucion ran_
on a sand-bank, and, unluckily, with the tide falling ; so
that it cost us immense exertions to set her afloat again.
‘Thanks, however, to the great determination and energy
shown by officers and men alike, our flotilla was not
lost this time. .
While we were occupied in shifting all heavy articles
into the Procida, the enemy’s squadron of seven ships
appeared on the other side of the island, bearing down
on us at full sail, and with a favourable wind. The
Constitucion was three feet deep in the sand, and the
largest of her guns were piled up on board the little
Procida, It was really a terrible situation for me.
The Procida completely useless, the Constitucion worse
than useless, I had nothing left but the brigantine
Pereira, whose brave commander was beside me, with
the greater part of his crew, helping us in our task,
Meanwhile, amid the cheers of the troops on the island,
the enemy came on, presenting a splendid sight, and
confident of victory, with some heavily armed vessels ;
while we had but one fit for action, and that a small
one, I did not give myself up to despair—I have
never done so in my life—but I leave it to the dis-
cernment of others to form an idea of my state of
mind. It was not a question of life only—that just
then mattered little to me—but it was scarcely possible

* In this action I lost an Italian officer of great bravery—Pocaroba
of Genoa, who had his head carried off by a cannon-ball.

I COMMAND THE MONTEVIDEO SQUADRON. 141

for us to die honourably, even with the .excuse of
unforeseen and fatal circumstances, since in our position
it was impossible to fight. But fortune once more
laid her powerful and protecting hand on my destiny ;
nothing was required but a turn of her wheel. The’
enemy’s flagship, the Belgrano, ran aground close to the
island, about two cannon-shots off, and we were saved.
This disaster to the enemy increased our alacrity; in
a few hours the Constitucion was afloat, and her guns
and ammunition replaced on board her.

It is a popular saying that good as well as. bad
fortune never comes singly, and this was once more
proved true in our case. A thick fog, which came on
as if by enchantment, covered everything, and favoured
us greatly by hiding our course from the enemy. This
was of the greatest advantage to us, as, when the enemy
had succeeded in floating the Belgrano, they began, not
knowing the direction we had taken, to pursue us up the
‘Uruguay, which we had not entered; and so lost many
days before finding out our real destination. In the
mean time, concealed by the fog and favoured by the
wind, we had turned up the Parana. I was conscious
of the importance of the enterprise, certainly one of
the most arduous of my life. The joy of escaping from
an imminent danger, and the pleasure which I felt
in realizing the greatness of the undertaking, were
embittered for me that day by the panic terror and
obstinacy of the guides, who up to that moment had
thought they were going up the Uruguay, of which the
left bank at least was held by our party, while both

142 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

banks of the Parana were absolutely in the power of
formidable enemies—Ourives on the left bank, and Rosas
on the right. All the guides declared that they did not
know the Parana; and indeed, to deceive the enemy
J had sought for and procured men from Uruguay,
From that instant forward, they declined all responsi-
bility whatever. .
I cared little about the responsibility; I wanted a
guide, and at last, by means of many careful inquiries,
I found out that one of them had some knowledge of
the river, but was keeping it back through fear. My
sabre soon removed all obstacles, and we had a guide.
The favourable wind brought us in the night to the
neighbourhood of San Nicolas, the first Argentine
settlement on the right bank of the river. There were
some merchant vessels there; we needed transports and
pilots—a night excursion with our ship’s boats soon
procured us both. We were obliged, by our critical
position, to use a certain amount of force. One Antonio,
an Austrian, who had for some time navigated the
Parana, fell into our hands with the rest of the prisoners,
and rendered us some important services on the voyage.
Proceeding towards the upper river, we met with
no obstacles as faras Bajada, the capital of the province
of Entre Rios, where Ourives was stationed with his
army. Landing, as we did on various occasions during
this journey, to procure fresh beef, we were opposed by
the inhabitants and the cavalry guarding the shore,
and some slight skirmishing took place, with alternate
advantage and loss. In one of these fights I lost an

I COMMAND THE MONTEVIDEO SQUADRON. 143

Italian officer, Vallerga, of Loano, a splendidly brave
young fellow of great intellectual promise, among
other things a profound mathematician, I missed him
terribly. One more cross erected over the bones of a
son of our most unhappy land! He died in a just
cause, it is true, but, like so many others, he had hoped
one day to give his life for his own country.

At Bajada, where Ourives had his head-quarters, we
found formidable preparations for receiving us. Here
we risked a battle, which at first promised more
important results; but the favourable wind, and the
distance we were able to leave between ourselves and
the enemy’s batteries, in passing, allowed us to escape
once more from dangers which might have been
serious, There was a brisk fire kept up on both sides,
but the losses were insignificant.

At Las Conchas, a few miles above Bajada, we landed
by night, and, in the teeth of a fierce resistance on the
enemy's part, carried off fourteen. bullocks, Our men
fought on this occasion with distinguished valour,
Vallerga, whom I have already mentioned, and a horse-
breaker named Battaglia signalizing themselves beyond
all the others.

The enemy’s artillery followed the river-bank, and,
profiting by the contrary wind and the narrowness of
the stream, cannonaded us whenever they could do so
with advantage ; and also, when possible, galled us with
musketry-fire. At Cerrito, a strong position on the
left bank of the Parana, the enemy established a battery
of six cannon. The wind was favourable, but slight,

144 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDL

and just at that point, on account of the windings of the
river, it blew right in our faces, so that we were obliged
to resort to kedging “for the space of about two miles,
taking forward small anchors, with long hawsers attached
to them, and hauling at the latter, while the drums
sounded the charge. Thus we proceeded at slow speed,
as the opposing current was strong in narrow places.
Fortunately, the enemy’s battery was too high and too
near, so that their fire passed over our heads.

This fight was a brilliant one. The greater number
of our men were stationed at the hawsers and in the
boats, the rest at the guns and muskets. We fought
and worked away with the greatest cheerfulness—hattles
had become a game for my gallant comrades.

It should be remembered that our adversaries belonged
to an army elated with recent victory, and therefore
full of proud confidence—the same army which shortly
afterwards completely defeated ours—together with that
of Corrientes, which had joined us—at Arroyo Grande.

Every obstacle was overcome, with slight loss, and
that only from the enemy’s muskets, as the heavy guns
fired over our heads, scarcely damaging the rigging.
After having silenced the enemy’s fire and dismounted
some of his guns, we passed on; and soon found our-
selves, with all our vessels, out of danger, and with
plenty of sailing-room. Several Corrientes and Para-
guayan merchant vessels, which had placed themselves
under the protection of the battery, fell into our hands
with little trouble on our part. These acquisitions
furnished us with victuals and stores of all kinds.’

( 145°)

CHAPTER XXXTI.
THE TWO DAYS FIGHT WITH BROWN.

WE proceeded thence on our arduous voyage up the
river. The enemy grew tired of obstructing our passage,
and, after grounding several times with one or other of
our vessels—generally the Constitucion—we reached
Cavallo-Guatia, where we joined the Corrientes flotilla,
consisting of two gunboats and an armed palandra.
These vessels supplied us with fresh provisions, so that
our condition in this respect was somewhat improved.
We had skilled and trustworthy pilots, and a reinforce-
ment which, though small, was very useful, especially
as regards the morale of the men.

Having in this way reached the Costa Brava, we
were obliged to stop there, on account of the shallowness
of the river, there being only about three feet more
water than the draught of the Constitucion. This draw-
back began to cause me grave misgivings as to the issue
of the expedition.

I knew well enough that the enemy would use his
utmost endeavours to frustrate our bold, not to say rash,
attempt; for had we reached Corrientes, we could have
done him immense injury by acquiring a hold on a
river like the Upper Parana, in an intermediate position

VOL, I. L

146 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

between Paraguay and the internal provinces of the
Argentine Republic. The river might also have become
the head-quarters of bands of pirates, who would harass
and virtually destroy his commerce.

In this extremity no efforts were neglected for our
destruction—rendered an easy matter by the lowness of
the river, which, according to the assertion of the guides,
was such as had not been seen for fifty years, a state:
ment confirmed by Perré, governor of Corrientes, him-
self, As it was impossible to go on, I decided on putting

the flotilla in the best state of defence, day by day
expecting the appearance of Admiral Brown, whose
mistake could not last very long. .

From the left bank of the Parana, below the sand-
bank which impeded our further progress, and in a bend
of the stream where there was a sufficient depth of water
close to the bank, I drew out a line of ships beginning
with a merchant yacht, on which I had four cannon
placed. The Pereira was in the middle, and the Consti-
tucion on the right, the line being thus at right angles to
the direction of the river, and raking it with the port bat-
tery of the corvette, which mounted more and heavier guns
than the others. We thus opposed as large a force as pos-
sible to the enemy, who was expected to come up the river.

This arrangement cost us much labour on account of
the current, which, although slight at the point we had
chosen, did not fail to call into requisition our chains,
anchors, and cables for mooring the vessels, especially
the Constitucion, which had eighteen feet draught. We
had not yet finished our work, when the enemy hove in
sight, with seven vessels. Their force was far superior

THE TWO DAYS’ FIGHT WITH BROWN. 147

to ours, and moreover, from its position, able to receive
reinforcements and supplies at pleasure. We were not
only at a distance from. Corrientes, the only country that
could help us, but almost certain of receiving no assist-
ance, as the facts will show. Yet we had, even with
the certainty of defeat, to fight at least for the honour
of our arms. And fight we did.

The enemy, under the command of General Brown
(reputed the first naval officer in South America, and
justly so, having commanded the Buenos Ayres squadron
ever since the revolt against the Spanish dominion), pro-
ceeded against us, full of confidence in their own powers
—TI think it was June 15, 1842. The wind, though on
that day favourable to the enemy, was slight; and they
were obliged to resort to kedging, in order to get the
vessel along, following the left bank of the river, as
the right was too shallow to be practicable for large
vessels. As we commanded the left bank, on which our

Dy left flank rested, part of the crews and of the marines

not needed on board were disembarked, in order to dis-
pute the enemy’s path inch by inch. Our land forces
fought gallantly, and greatly retarded the enemy’s pro-
gress ; but the latter having landed 500 infantry on the
same bank, our men were forced by superior numbers to
fall back under the protection of the flotilla. Major Pedro
Rodriguez, who commanded our landing-party, fought
that day with all imaginable’ skill and bravery. He
posted the pickets towards evening on the shore, and
_ thus we remained all night, both sides preparing for the
fight on the following day,

148 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

Before sunrise on the 16th, the enemy opened fire on
us with all the forces they had been able to bring up to
the front during the night. I could have wished them
to come nearer, since only our centre guns were of long
range, and capable of damaging them; the rest—the
greater number, indeed—were small pieces, which could
do them no harm at the distance they maintained, and
therefore remained inactive. The old English admiral
was well aware of the range of our artillery, and its
marked inferiority compared with his own; and there-
fore, sacrificing the brilliant spectacle of a storm of
grapeshot and a hand-to-hand encounter, he consulted
the safety of his men by taking advantage of the longer
range of his guns, and remained at a distance, which did
not suit us at all.

We fought without interruption till after nightfall,
and with the greatest obstinacy on both sides. The
first victim on board the Constitucion was again an
Italian officer of great bravery—Giuseppe Borzone, a
most promising young man; and as the battle that
instant grew fiercer, I could not attend to his burial.

The losses on both sides were great—so much so that
our ships had become mere hulks. The corvette, though
we never ceased caulking the shot-holes, was leaking to
such an extent that the water could with difficulty be
kept under by incessant pumping, at which the whole
crew took turns. The commander of the Pereira had
been killed in a daring attack by land on the enemy’s
vessels. I lost in him the best and bravest of comrades.

The dead were many, the wounded still more; and

4

THE TWO DAYS’ FIGHT WITH BROWN. 149

the rest of the crew, though worn out, could not get any
rest, on account of the water rising in the hold. Yet we
still had powder and shot on board, and were bound to
fight on—not for victory, not for safety, but for honour.

Honour! I feel inclined to laugh, a bitter laugh of
scorn, when I think of a soldier's honour! The
honour of Bourbons, Spaniards, Austrians, French! the
honour of the murderer, who assaults the defenceless
traveller on the high-road! the honour which makes
us slaughter our fellow-countrymen, our political co-
religionists ;—while a monster on the throne, a sceptred
scoundrel, eajoys the sight, laughing in his sleeve,
amid the lurid revelry of Naples, Vienna, Madrid, or
Paris.

We at least might truly be said to fight for honour,
and for an honour which did not clash with the dictates
of conscience; since we fought to defend a nation
against two tyrants—for honour’s sake, six hundred
‘miles from Montevideo, with enemies on all sides, after
weeks of hunger, weariness, and hardship, and with all
but certain destruction before us!

And all this time Vidal, Prime Minister of the
Republic, was heaping up doubloons—to spend in driving
about in a carriage, and otherwise making a figure in
the first capitals of Europe. And the people? Created,
seemingly, to be food for such as these: Malatesti,
Baglioni, emperors, kings, to rule over them ; priests and
doctrinaires to deceive them! Honour, liberty, justice,
laws! Here they are! This is the world! What is
the advantage to the people, to those who toil, and die

150 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

of hunger? What is the advantage to those who throw
away their lives—to the countless noble Italians driven
into strange lands by the misfortunes of their country ?
Columbus in chains; Castelli beheaded in the Plaza at
Buenos Ayres; Borso di Carminati shot in Spain!
What men! what services rendered! And how repaid ?
By the foreign sympathies just now manifested in
Rome, when nations, who owe to her their escape from
barbarism, joined together to thrust her back into the
degradation from which she was struggling to raise
herself. O Rome! O mother! great teacher and
lady of nations! Yet they trembled at the shaking of
thy locks, and had to resort to: fraud, to division sown in
thy ranks, to shameless espionage, before they could
debase thee! And therefore Italy is still great, and on
the day when a fearless word of redemption reaches the
ear of her sons, the vultures tearing at her heart will
vanish away.

During the night of the 16th all the men were busy
making cartridges, as we had consumed our whole stock;
in cutting up chains to supply the missing bullets; and
in pumping out the water, which still continued to rise.
Manuel Rodriguez, the same Catalan officer who had
escaped with me from the wreck of the Rio Pardo on the
coast of Santa Caterina, with a handful of the best men,
equipped a few merchant vessels as fire-ships with all
the combustibles procurable. When these were ready,
about midnight, they were towed in the direction of the
enemy. This expedient could not fail to harass them
all night long, but did not have the result I expected:

THE TWO DAYS’ FIGHT WITH BROWN. 151

the principal cause of our want of success being the
extreme fatigue of our men.

Among the contretemps of that disastrous night, the
one that affected me most was the desertion of the Cor-
rientes squadron. Villegas, its commander, like so many
other braggarts, recognized by me as such in times of
peace and revelry, was so unnerved at the approach of
danger as to resolve om the most degrading and
ignominious of crimes—that of deserting in presence of
the enemy. He could be of little use to me in a fight
at long range, as his guns were too small; but he might
have given great assistance in fighting at close quarters,
had we boarded any of the enemy’s vessels, or had they
boarded us, his crew being composed of young and
Spirited men. Besides, as he himself knew the river
well, and had good pilots on board, he was very
serviceable to me; and, lastly, would have been in-
valuable after the catastrophe, to save the wounded, and
‘make the retreat less disastrous.

From the beginning of the fight I had seen that
Villegas was alarmed, and had for this reason ordered
him to take up his position behind our line, so as to be
sheltered from the enemy’s projectiles, and given into
his charge the merchant vessel which was to serve as
hospital. Towards evening he sent me word that he
was changing his position, giving some reason which I
forget. As I required his co-operation during the night
in the launching of the fireships, I sent for him, and
was thunderstruck on hearing that he was nowhere to
be found. I would not believe him capable of such

152 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

treachery, and went myself in a small boat to ascertain
the fact. Not finding him, I advanced some miles
towards Corrientes, but in vain; the coward had escaped
and betrayed us. I returned, overwhelmed with grief
and anxiety.

My anxiety was fully justified, as the majority of our
light vessels had perished during the fight, and I was
reckoning on the Corrientes ships for the inevitable
retreat, to save our many wounded and transport the
provisions necessary for all of us; as we were still at a
great distance from the inhabited frontier of Corrientes.
My last hopes vanished in this wretched failure of our
allies. Desertion in the hour of danger is the most
heinous of all crimes.

Daybreak was not far off when I returned on board.
We had to fight ; and all the men I saw around me were
utterly worn out with fatigue. I heard no sound but
the heart-rending moans of our unhappy wounded, not
yet removed to the hospital, which was already full. I
sounded the réveille, called the men together, and, stand-
ing on a pump, addressed to them a few words of
comfort and encouragement. My words were not in
vain; I found in the hearts of my wearied companions
enough resolution to raise my own spirits, and convince
me that at least they were willing to save our honour.
With one voice those gallant fellows shouted our battle-
cry, and every one was at his post.

It was not yet quite light when the battle began
again; but though on the preceding day the advantage
had seemed to be on our side, on the second it was

THE TWO DAYS’ FIGHT WITH BROWN. 153

evident beyond possibility of mistake that we were
getting the worst of it. Our new cartridges were of
inferior powder ; the balls of the right calibre had come
to an end, and their places were supplied with smaller
ones, whose size prevented accuracy of aim, especially
in our long-range eighteen-pounders, placed in the centre
of the Constitucion’s battery, and in the two swivels on
board the Pereira, which had done so much execution
the day before. We had, indeed, cut up some chain-cables
during the night, to serve as projectiles; but even
these, which might have been of service at close quarters,
were useless at long range. The enemy perceived that
our shots were growing less frequent, and being, more-
over, informed of our situation by numerous deserters,
who took advantage of our contact with the shore, grew
bolder and bolder; and, influenced by the same con-
siderations, brought all their ships into line, which
they had been hindered by our fire from doing on the
previous day. Their condition was improving, moment by
moment, as ours grew worse. At last we were obliged to
think of retreat—but not for the ships, which could not
be moved from the spot, as there was scarcely a whole
timber about them, and the rigging was nearly all in
pieces, not to mention the want of water in the river.
The Pereira was subjected to a momentary investiga-
tion, in order to learn whether she could be put under
sail, but we found her totally unfit. Only the Procida
could be saved, with part of the wounded, and some
ammunition. We therefore had to confine ourselves to
saving the remnant of the crew, and firing the flotilla.

154 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

To this end, I ordered the rest of the wounded to be
removed into the boats that were left, along with all the
small arms, ammunition, and provisions that could be
got on board. Meanwhile, the fight went on more
feebly than before on one side, and with much more
spirit on the other; while at the same time we prepared
to burn the ships.

Here I must relate a distressing episode, caused by
excess in spirituous liquors. The crews commanded by
me included men of all nationalities. The foreigners
were for the most part sailors, and nearly all deserters
from men-of-war—who, I must confess, were the least
rascally. As to the Americans, nearly every man of
them had been turned out of the land army for some
crime—usually for murder; so that they were as easy
to rule as wild horses, and required all the rigorous
discipline of a man-of-war to keep them in order. Only
on the day of battle were this motley crew at all subject
to discipline; and then indeed they fought like lions.
Now, in order to set fire the more effectually to the
vessels, we had collected piles of combustibles in the
hold of each, and emptied over them the brandy-casks
which had formed part of our stores. Unfortunately,
these men, accustomed to scanty rations of spirits, find-
ing themselves in presence of such unheard-of abundance,
got so drunk as to be quite incapable of moving.

It was a most painful position to be placed in—to
find one’s self confronted by the urgent necessity of
leaving brave and unfortunate men a prey to the
flames. I did my utmost, entreating those of their

ED et ee ee a no)

THE TWO DAYS’ FIGHT WITH BROWN. 155

comrades who were a little more sober not to desert
them; and myself, up to the last moment, seizing as
many as I could, and carrying them on my back into
safety. Unhappily, however, several were blown up with
the fragments of the ship.

In certain battles, I have been disgusted by seeing
even officers in a state of intoxication. Probably they
wished to give themselves courage. If such degradation
is sickening in any man, however low his rank, in an
officer it is truly disgraceful.

All being ready, we set fire to the vessels, and I left
them, in company with the few men who had remained
with me to the last. The enemy, of course, per-
ceived that we had disembarked, and were retreating;
and all their infantry, to the number of about 500, at
once marched in pursuit of us. We were quite willing
to fight, but a battle just now would have been on most
unequal terms, what with our numerical inferiority, the
better training of the enemy’s infantry, and, lastly, the
state of our weapons and men. Another great dis-
advantage was the fact that our line of retreat was
crossed at a short distance by an important tributary of
the Parana. We were only saved by the explosion of
the powder-magazines of the flotilla, which took place
in an imposing and terrible manner; so that the enemy,
struck with consternation, desisted from pursuit.

The explosion of the ships was a surprising spectacle.
On the spot where they had been, the surface of the river
remained, smooth as a mirror; while on both banks of
the wide stream the fragments fell with an awful crash.

156 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER XXXII.

THE RETREAT ON CORRIENTES, AND BATTLE OF THE
ARROYO GRANDE.

WE passed the river Espinilla in the night, and en-
camped on its right bank. We took three days getting
to Esquina, the first village of Corrientes, marching
with difficulty among islands and swamps, and reduced
to a scanty daily ration of one small biscuit. On reach-
ing Esquina, our condition was somewhat improved ;
we were able to place our wounded under cover, had
meat in abundance; and found unlimited hospitality
among the kindly people of the country. |
During several months, which we passed in the
province of Corrientes, nothing of interest happened.
The provincial government projected the arming of a
small flotilla, but nothing came of it, except that I was
forced to waste a great deal of time. I then received
orders from the Montevideo government to march to-
wards San Francisco, in Uruguay, and place myself and
my forces under the orders of General Ribera, stationed
with his army in that neighbourhood. We therefore
crossed the Corrientes territory from Santa Lucia to
the pass of Higos above the Uruguay, and, traversing

THE RETREAT ON CORRIENTES. 157

the pass, descended to San Francisco partly by river
and partly by land. At Salto I had the pleasure of
meeting Anzani, who had at that time turned trader,—
or rather clerk to Bini of Brescia, established for some
time in that country. On arriving at San Francisco,
I found some of our men-of-war there, and took command
of them.

General Ribera, President of the Republic of Monte-
video, had passed with our whole army into Entre-Rios,
where he was to unite with the Corrientes army, and
then attack that of Ourives. On December 6, 1842,
took place the famous battle of Arroyo Grande, in
which our side succumbed :—three nations fighting for
their sacred rights against a tyrant. I shall not com-
ment on the causes of this disaster; they were too
many and would take too long to enumerate in detail.
It is certain, however, that the discords fomented by
the ambition and selfishness of a few aspirants to power
caused immense misfortunes to whole nations, ex-
posing them defenceless to the exterminating force of
a pitiless conqueror. Later on, the same thing as was
then happening in the La Plata provinces took place in
Italy, through the operation of the same forces broken
loose from hell. I made but a short stay at San
Francisco, where I found General Aguiar, who had re-
mained there on account of his health. I soon received
orders from him to repair with all my disposable forces
to the pass of Vissillac. I was to be joined by a few
hundred soldiers called aguerridos, under the command
of Colonel Guerra, who were to co-operate with us.

158 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

Arrived at Vissillac with the ships, I found there a few
remnants of the army—that is to say, of the matériel,
but not a single man. I sent scouts to search the
country ; nothing! It was the fatal 6th of December—
all, to a man, had been summoned to the battle which
was being decided eighteen miles away on the banks of
the Arroyo Grande.

There is something in our natures above ae beyond
the region of intellect, which cannot be defined or
explained, but certainly exists; and its effects, however
confused, are a presentiment—whatever sense may be
attached to the term—which brings either satisfaction
or bitterness to the heart. Perhaps. that infinitesimal
spark, emanating from the Infinite, which has its abode
in this wretched outward husk, but is immortal as the
Infinite itself, is capable of a consciousness beyond
the reach of sight or sense. We could perceive nothing
whatever on those arid plains, yet that day there was
a look of grim, desolate solemnity about them—deso-
late as the hearts of those who lay wounded and dying
on the battle-field, trodden underfoot by the insolent
soldier, or the hoofs of the conqueror’s charger,—
his rider rejoicing the while in the sufferings, torture,
and death of the vanquished. And we call these scenes
of slaughter—glory, heroism, victory ; and for such are
Te Deums chanted in our cathedrals by tonsured
hirelings!

Very few indeed escaped with their lives from that
terrible fight, and the presentiment of disaster felt by us
was in nowise exaggerated.

THE RETREAT ON CORRIENTES. 159

Finding no one to give us news of the army, and no
orders from the commander-in-chief (which General
Aguiar had given me to understand I should receive),
we resolved to land the whole force, with the exception
of a small reserve to be left in the ships, and march in
search of the enemy. A small corps, coming entire into
‘the neighbourhood of a routed army, may—as I have
more than once experienced—hbe of the greatest service.

It may not be possible to change the defeat into a
victory, but one can always save part of the matériel,
and some of the men, wounded or not, who without
help would certainly fall into the hands of the enemy.
Often, too, it is very probable that the enemy’s troops—
themselves, though victorious, necessarily somewhat dis-
ordered after a battle—will halt on seeing a small corps
advancing firmly and in good order, and leave the
conquered an easier and less fatiguing retreat.

Such certainly was the result which followed the
conduct of the volunteers in the campaign of 1866, at
the battle of Custozza. Forming, as they did, the extreme
left of the Italian army, and being entrusted with the
defence of Lake Garda, the volunteers, who, in small
bodies, occupied the western shore of the lake, pushed
forward on the retreat of the army after the battle,
towards Lonato and Rivertella; and by this movement
facilitated the saving of the ammunition-waggons, and
also of some of the wounded and stragglers.

I remark, in passing, that, following my favourite Rio
Grande system, I never made a land-march without a
cavalry contingent, chosen from among my amphibious

160 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

soldiers of fortune. Some of them were capital horse-
men, expelled from the army for irregular conduct,
perhaps for crimes; but however that may be, they
usually fought splendidly; and, of course, were punished
when they deserved it.

Although we found no men at that place, we met
with some horses which had been left behind, and with
these my free-lances soon succeeded in making up a
sufficient mount for the intelligence department—an
operation rendered very easy by the abundance of horses
in those regions.

We were ready for the march, and indeed in motion,
when we were recalled to San Francisco by an order
from General Aguiar. We should certainly have fallen
victims had the enemy found us on the open plains
of Entre Rios; for, since our army had that day been
completely dispersed, we should, instead of meeting with
it, have encountered all but inevitable destruction. We
therefore re-embarked without knowing why, or obtaining
any news of what had happened.

Having reached San Francisco, I received a note from
Colonel Esteves, beginning with the ominous words,
“Our army has suffered a reverse.’ General Aguiar
had marched along the left bank of the Uruguay to
pick up, stragglers. I was requested to remain at San
Francisco, to protect the supplies left there.

In the period which elapsed between the battle of the
Arroyo Grande and the beginning of the siege of Monte-
video took place that confusion, that taking up, rejec-
tion, and resuming of plans, which is usual in a similar

THE RETREAT ON CORRIENTES. 161

conjuncture—that is, after a great defeat. The catas-
trophe to our army was a real one—almost amounting
to utter annihilation, since, for a long time, nothing like
a corps could be collected out of its remnants.

When it is remembered that the Montevideo army
was going to attack the strongest body of troops ever
seen in South America, elated by many recent victories,
and to attack it in so disadvantageous a position as to
have the great river Uruguay in their own rear, one
can understand how the remnants of our army were
dispersed or made prisoners.

There was also much panic on our side, much irreso-
lution, and many individual desertions,——as must of
necessity be the case in a war where both parties speak
the same language, and the head-quarters on both sides
are in the same country. The nation, however, re-
sponded with firmness and heroism to the brave men
whose energetic voices called it to the rescue, proclaim-
ing the country in danger, and summoning every one to
arms.

In a short time we had a new army, neither so strong
nor so well-disciplined as the first; but at least far
fuller of dash and enthusiasm, more penetrated by the
feeling of the sacred cause of duty which demanded —
their service. It was no longer the fortunes of one man:
which stimulated these multitudes to face the chances
of battle—that man’s star had set in the last conflict,
and no subsequent efforts could make it rise again—
but the cause of the nation, before which all hatred,
all personal feelings, all petty dissensions, were silent.

VOL. I. M

162 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

The Republic was threatened with foreign invasion.
Every citizen hastened to range himself, with horse and
weapons, under the banner of defence. The danger
increased with the approach of Rosas’ formidable army,
commanded by his terrible lieutenant Ourives ; and as
it rose, the zeal and patriotic devotion of that noble
nation rose likewise. No one said a word about com-
promise, or negotiation with the invader; and from
this fact may be inferred the unshaken firmness and
heroic sacrifice, of which the nation was capable, which
sustained a nine years’ siege in its own capital, and
conquered in the end.

I blush to think of what we have done in Italy since
the battle of Novara. And yet all Italy was united in
the desire to shake off the stranger’s yoke—she was
panting to fight, and I know our people to be fully
capable of stubborn endurance and enthusiastic energy.
But the cause? Oh, the causes of our misfortunes are
so many! And how many, too, are the traitors of
deepest dye, but masked in countless disguises, nourished
by our own beautiful and most unhappy land!

ee

(163° )

CHAPTER XXXIII.
PREPARATIONS FOR RESISTANCE.

In the mean time, I received orders to sink the largest
ships of our flotilla in the deepest part of the river, in
the track of the enemy’s fleet, should it ascend the
Uruguay. Before I had done this, however, the order
was countermanded, and I was directed to burn them
instead. Here I was, then, obliged to destroy a third
fleet. At least, in the first two cases we had been able
to fight as our duty demanded! Again becoming a land-
force, we remained a few days longer at San Francisco, so
as to allow of the remaining supplies of the army being
withdrawn to Montevideo; after which, we too marched
on the capital, in the neighbourhood of which were to
be assembled all the republican forces gradually being
organized.

Little or nothing of importance occurred on our
march, except the sagacity exhibited by General Pacheco,
then a colonel at Mercedes. This illustrious Uru-
guayan began in those perilous circumstances to give
proof of a distinct superiority in courage, energy, and
capacity. He was, beyond doubt, the principal champion

of his country in the gigantic struggle sustained by

164 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

Montevideo against foreign invasion—a struggle which
will serve to future generations as a specimen of the
spirit of nations who will not submit to an aggressor,
however strong.

I am proud of having shared with that gallant people
several years of their immortal defence. Montevideo
in those days presented a surprising spectacle. Ourives
was victorious, and ruthlessly advancing at the head of
an army which had passed like a tempest, like a thunder-
bolt, over the Argentine provinces disaffected towards
Rosas’ government. The supplications of priests, wives,
and mothers would have been of no avail to soften the
Montevidean Coriolanus. The idea of chastising the
insolent city which had driven him away to proclaim
a hated rival in his place, and had watched his flight
with derision, was to the fierce conqueror of Lavalle*
the most delightful that could be imagined. Such utter
destruction had fallen on the Montevidean army as has,
perhaps, seldom been the lot of any, and only small
and widely scattered bodies of troops were now to be
found in the territory of the Republic. The flotilla was
annihilated, arms and provisions exceedingly scarce,
the treasury empty—as may well be imagined, with
men like Vidal intent on nothing but amassing gold
pieces, the most portable form of wealth, in case of
meditated flight. And that thief was prime minister!

Yet we must defend ourselves—such was the unani-
mous wish of that glorious nation. There were many

* One of the bravest of the Argentine generals, and the bitter
enemy of Rosas. ,

= Se.

ne

PREPARATIONS FOR RESISTANCE. 165

devoted adherents of Ribera, who could not possibly
escape with their lives, if Ourives, Ribera’s antagonist,
effected his entrance—who, therefore, found defence
absolutely necessary for their own safety; yet these,
fettered, for the most part, to the official manger, were
helpless and irresolute. But to the nation, the real
people, Ourives was not the opponent of Ribera, but the
paid leader of a foreign army, the instrument of a
tyrant whose weapons were invasion, slavery, and death.
And the people rushed to the defence, fully conscious of
their sacred rights. In a short time several cavalry
corps were formed in the country ; and an army almost
wholly composed of infantry was being organized at
Montevideo, that Palladium of Uruguayan _ liberty,
under the auspices of the often-victorious General Paz
certainly one of the best and most honest chiefs. of
South America. ita
. General Paz, removed from the command by official
envy and imbecility, responded to the call of his
country’s danger, appeared at the head of the forces in
the capital, and organized, with fresh recruits, and the
slaves just emancipated by the Republic, that army
which for seven years has been the bulwark of his
country’s liberties, and which. still (1849) fearlessly
holds its ground against the most formidable host
those regions have ever seen. wae

Many illustrious chiefs, hitherto forgotten, or in-
different to wars where individual interests predomi-
nated, appeared in the ranks of the defenders, and
increased their enthusiasm and trustworthiness. <A

166 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

line of fortifications was traced round the city, on the
land side of the isthmus, at which the whole population
worked with so much zeal as to complete it before the
enemy’s arrival.

Manufactories of arms and ammunition, cannon-
foundries, workshops for the making of clothes and all
necessaries for the soldiers—all these were improvised
as if by miracle. The cannon which, since the time
of the Spaniards, had been considered useless, and
placed in the streets to form a kind of balustrade
along the edges of the pavements, were taken up and
mounted for the defence. The arrival of General
Pacheco from Mercedes, and his appointment as
minister of war, gave the finishing touch to the
preparations.

I was appointed to organize a new fleet, as not even
the slightest traces of the former one remained—thanks |
to the traitorous minister alluded to above. A few
small merchant vessels were hired, which we armed
as well as we could, being enabled by a fortunate
incident to pursue this undertaking with some success,
The Oscar, a Buenos Ayres brigantine, cruising about
the coast by night, ran aground off the point of the
Cerro (a mountain about six miles west of Montevideo,
jutting out into the river, and so forming the western
sides of the harbour); and, in spite of many efforts to
‘ get her afloat, the enemy were obliged to abandon her
—a circumstance of which we did not fail to take |
advantage. At first they attempted to prevent our
approaching the wreck, and sent the topsail-schooner.

PREPARATIONS FOR RESISTANCE. 167

Palmar to bombard us; but, seeing the slight result
of their shots, and our obstinacy in recovering the spoil
from the rocks, they left us free to finish our work.

Among the many articles saved from the Oscar were
five cannon—exceedingly valuable to us, as they served
to arm three small vessels, the first of the new flotilla,
which were immediately used to cover the left ex-
tremity of the line of forts. The wreck of the Oscar
seemed to me a good omen for the arduous defence
now preparing, and was a new stimulus to the general
confidence.

168 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER XXXIV.
BEGINNING OF THE SIEGE OF MONTEVIDEO.

On February 16, 1843, when we had only just completed
the fortifications of the city, and mounted a few guns
thereon, the vanguard of the Buenos Ayres army ap-
peared on the adjoining heights. General Ribera, at
the head of the cavalry force, which was too weak to
oppose the enemy, had found his way past the latter,
and, taking to the open country, turned their left flank,
and harassed their rear. Such a manceuvre easily
succeeds in a country where every man is an accom-
plished horseman, and where, meat being the only food
on campaign, the cumbersome baggage-trains indispen-
sable in European wars are needless. Ribera, moreover,
though not a great general in regular battle, was a
master of the stratagems peculiar to guerilla warfare;
and this step, dexterously carried out, enabled him to
give great annoyance to the enemy.

General Paz remained in command of the forces in

the capital. These were numerous in comparison with
the extent of walls to be defended; but considering
that they were all raw recruits, and by no means all
model warriors—that is, penetrated with true patriotism

BEGINNING OF THE SIEGE OF MONTEVIDEO. 169

—no one can do otherwise than admire the sagacity,
courage, and determination of the illustrious commander,
who, having organized and disciplined this force,
sustained with it the first and most dangerous conflicts
of the siege. In spite of the generous enthusiasm of
the people, there were plenty of malcontents, cowards,
and traitors. Vidal, the prime minister, had robbed
the treasury and absconded. One Antuna, colonel of a
corps and chief of the police, had gone over to the
enemy, with many other officials and employés. One
of those corps called “Los Aguerridos,” which were
composed of foreigners in the pay of the Republic, had
not only deserted, almost wholesale, in several instal-
ments, but, one night when occupying the outposts,
seriously endangered the city’s safety by its treason.
Such actions were the natural consequences of the
conduct of certain individuals, who, believing everything
‘to be lost, quitted the ranks of the defenders under one
pretext or another, and went over to the enemy. Our
affairs were in a desperate state from the first; and I
could never understand why Ourives, who was kept
minutely informed of all by his adherents within the
city, did not take advantage of this disorder, and the
insufficiency of our fortifications, to make a vigorous
attack on the place. He confined himself to reconnais-
sances and sham attacks by night, which served only to
exercise the inexperienced Montevidean soldiers.
Meanwhile, the foreign legions were being armed and
organized ; and, whatever view may be taken of the
motives which dictated the arming of the French and

170 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

Italian legions, it cannot be denied that the first call
to arms was the effect of a generous impulse to defend
against invasion the hospitable land which had offered
them an asylum. It is indeed true that, later on, cer-
tain individuals introduced themselves into these troops
from motives of self-interest; but, be that as it may,
the arming and organization of these corps, if not decisive
of victory, served at least to guarantee the safety of the
city.

The French, more numerous than ourselves, and. with
a better military reputation, had in a short time about
2600 men under arms. The Italians assembled to the
number of about five hundred, few enough compared
with the total of our compatriots settled in the country,
yet more than I had ever hoped for, considering our
daily habits and the nature of our education. Their
numbers afterwards increased, but never exceeded seven
hundred.

General Paz, taking advantage of this increase in his
force, established an exterior line, at the distance of a
cannon-shot from the walls. From that time forward
there was a regularly organized system of defence, and
the enemy was no longer able to approach the city.
Being in charge of the fleet—the work of organizing
which was still going on—I proposed as commander of
the legion a certain Angelo Mancini, of infamous
memory, who was accepted by the Government.

(171 )

CHAPTER XXXV.
FIRST ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE ITALIAN LEGION.

THE legion performed its first service in a sortie, and, as
indeed one could not expect much from men quite
unused to fighting, made no great figure; and the Mon-
tevideans derisively expressed their doubts of Italian
valour. I was consumed with shame, and felt the
necessity for silencing the laughers.

On another occasion, it fell to the lot of the legion to
take part in an expedition to the Cerro, in which I was
to accompany them. This expedition was under the
command of General Bauza, a good soldier, though very
old. We remained in sight of the enemy, marching and
countermarching without any result. It was, perhaps,
prudent not to attack an enemy who, if not more numerous
than ourselves, were certainly better skilled in warfare;
but Iwas impatient to try my countrymen, and was urging
on the old general, though in vain, when fortune sent
us General Pacheco (then minister of war) from Monte-
video. I was encouraged by the arrival of a man
whom I knew to be both brave and enterprising, and,
approaching him with the confidence and familiarity he
always permitted me, I asked his leave to dislodge the

172 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

enemy from behind a parapet commanding a ditch on
the side nearest us, which afforded them a strong and
secure position. The minister not only acceded to my
request, but ordered General Bauza to support the
movement of the Italian legion. I had the legion
drawn up in column, by sections, under cover of a group
of half-ruined houses. Two companies deployed in
column to the front, and, after having recalled to their
memories the glorious past of our country, I gave orders
to attack the enemy’s left wing. Accustomed to treat
us with contempt, they awaited us without moving from
their position, and received us with a terrible fusillade.
But the Italian legion had sworn to conquer that
day, and kept their oath. In vain did many of our men
fall wounded; we went on unflinchingly, till, when we
came within bayonet-thrust of the enemy, the latter
took to flight, and were pursued by us for some distance.
Our centre and left wing were also victorious, so that
forty-two prisoners remained in our hands. This achieve-
ment, though slight in itself, was of the greatest value
in raising our army’s morale, and lowering that of the
enemy; and from that day forward, the Italian legion
followed its glorious career, to the general admiration.
That day was the precursor of a thousand gallant
deeds performed by our countrymen, never again de-
feated! On the same spot, near the Cerro, the Italian
legion, with a detachment of cavalry and a small
number of native infantry, gained a few months later,
on March 28—I do not remember the year—a splendid
victory, in which a notorious. general, Nunez, lost his

EE

THE ITALIAN LEGION. 173

life. On the day following our first small advantage,
the legion was drawn up on the Plaza della Matriz, the
principal square of Montevideo, in sight of a whole
nation, hailed by universal acclamation, and receiving
the praise and congratulations of the minister of war,
whose eloquent words had found an echo among the
multitudes. I have never heard words more touching, or
better calculated to awaken a nation’s best enthusiasm.

With the Italian legion had fought on that day, for
the first time in his life, and with great distinction, that
same Giacomo Minuto—commonly called Brusco—who,
as cavalry captain at Rome in ’49, was wounded by a
bullet in the chest, and died through tearing off his
bandages when he heard that Bonaparte’s troops had
entered the city. |

Major Pedro Rodriguez, an officer in the marine
infantry, also fought gallantly.

From that day until Anzani joined the legion, I was
seldom at a distance from the corps, though nearly
always occupied on board ship. Anzani happened to be
about that time at Buenos Ayres, whence, on receiving
my invitation, he repaired to Montevideo. He was an
immense acquisition to the Italian legion, especially as
regards instruction and discipline. He was a veteran
warrior, having been through the Greek and Spanish

‘wars; and I never knew a braver, cooler, or better-

informed officer. He was, I repeat, a treasure; and I,
not being a good organizer, was very fortunate in having
such a friend and comrade at my side. Anzani was,
moreover, free from selfish ambition and incorruptibly

174 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

honest; and I felt certain that, with him at the head of
the legion, all would go well, and I should be free to
devote myself to the fleet.

- Anzani was much thwarted by Mancini and Danus—
the one titular colonel, the other major, and both of
them worthless scoundrels, as was subsequently proved.
These two could not brook the superior merit of Anzani,
who, in spite of numberless petty annoyances from his
two subordinates, soon, with his abundant military
and administrative experience, placed the corps on as
regular and systematic a footing as circumstances
permitted.

(- 195 -)

CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE FLEET, AND ITS ACHIEVEMENTS.

THE fieet under my orders, though in itself of slight
importance, was of some use in the defence of the town.
It was posted at the left extremity of a line drawn
across the isthmus which connects the peninsula on
which Montevideo is situated with the mainland. The
ships, drawn up at right angles to this line, not only
completely protected it, but also menaced the enemy’s
right flank, in case of attack on the part of the latter,
They also formed a link between the important position
of the Cerro and “ Liberty Island,” called also the
Island of the Rapids, and, above all, facilitated and
actually took part in the attacks continually being
made on the enemy’s extreme right, which was
blockading the Cerro. The enemy had already cast
his eye on Liberty Island with a view to seizing it,
As the Buenos Ayres squadron, under General Brown,
was preparing to do this, it was resolved by our
Government to anticipate their occupation, and I was
entrusted with the duty of transporting thither two
eighteen-pounders and a company of national guards.
This operation took place by night. By about 10 p.m.

176 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

all were landed in the island, and I was returning, with
the launch, which had served to transport the guns, in
tow.

One of those events then took place which, when
conceived by the imagination of romancers, must be
a real satisfaction to their authors. Liberty Island,
only a short cannon-shot from the shore of the Cerro,
is distant about three miles from Montevideo. The
wind was blowing from the south, which in that part
causes an agitation of the water proportioned to the
force of the wind, especially in crossing from the island
to the breakwater of the city. I was on board a boat
lately bought by Government—one of those launches
belonging to merchant vessels, which, with their great
breadth of beam, are principally used in weighing
anchor,—accompanied by the sailors necessary for the
operation just effected, and having in tow the same
long-boat on which we had brought the guns to the
island. Between the heavy sea from the south and the
almost cubical shape of the long-boat, which, having
nothing heavy on board, rode very high on the water,
we progressed slowly, and with much leeway towards
the interior of the bay, on the north. All at once we
perceived some men-of-war on our lee, to the north-
west, so near that the sentinel called out to us from
the bows of one of them, “ Who goes there?”
“ Silence!” I said to the men; it was beyond all doubt
the enemy’s squadron. Speaking in a low voice, I
urged them to redouble their speed, and make as little
noise as possible with the oars; but, after the warning

THE FLEET, AND ITS ACHIEVEMENTS. 177

given by the sentinel, I fully expected a hail of bullets.
Instead of which, we escaped as if by miracle, passing
almost under the bowsprit of a vessel which I recognized
as the Belgrano, and were able, without further moles-
tation, to continue our voyage to Montevideo.

The cause of our safety was, that at that very time
the enemy’s boats, laden with troops, had been sent to
attack Liberty Island. The enemy’s silence, then, was
explained. The order had been issued because they
wished to surprise the island; while, for the same
reason, they did not send their boats to seize us, as they
might easily have done.

But what a stroke of luck for us! We landed in
safety at the breakwater, where we heard the beginning
of a tremendous fusillade from the island, at that
moment being attacked. I immediately informed the
Government of what had occurred, and went on board,
to prepare our little vessels for departure to relieve the
island, should there be still time to do so.

Our men in the island numbered about sixty, ill-
armed and ill-provided with ammunition. At dawn
I set sail from Montevideo, with only two out of the
three ships we had; the third was not yet fitted with
her guns. With two small vessels, each armed with
a twelve-pounder carronade, taken from the wreck of
the Oscar, we took up our position between the Cerro
and the island, sailing with the wind; and, in order to
' put an end to the uncertainty whether the island was
in our hands or the enemy’s, I was obliged to send the
officer Clavelli in a yawl to reconnoitre. He returned

VOL. I. N

178 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

with the joyful news that the island was ours, and that
the enemy’s night-attack had been repulsed. Our brave
nationals, though novices in arms, had fought like
heroes, and not only driven back the enemy, but
inflicted serious injury on them; and the corpses of
Rosas’ soldiers were seen for several days after, floating
on the waters of the harbour.

I immediately landed the ammunition for the two
eighteen-pounders, and an officer with several gunners
to handle them. It was meanwhile growing lighter,
and scarcely had we finished the above operation, when
the enemy opened fire, and the island gave a quick
response. We got the weather-gage of the enemy’s
squadron, and poured in a broadside with our two small
guns. The combat, however, was extremely unequal,
our opponents having two schooners and two brigantines,
among which was one armed with sixteen heavy guns.
The guns of the island, capable of doing more damage
than ours, had no platform—only, by good fortune,
an old half-ruined parapet. They were very poorly
provided with accessories, having been mounted in
haste, and, worse than all, had very little ammunition.

Although the sea was not very heavy, our shots from
on board were rendered uncertain by the rolling of our
small craft. At last, the officer Raffaele, an Italian,
whom I had sent to direct the fire of the two guns on the
island, having exhausted his ammunition, lay down with
his gunners and the nationals behind the little ruined

parapet, on which the enemy were concentrating all
their fire, .

THE FLEET, AND ITS ACHIEVEMENTS. 179

The firing from the island having ceased, and that
which we kept up from the vessels being of little con-
sequence, the enemy began to put their ships about,
running inshore ; and the Palmar sent a grapeshot from
a long-range gun, which wounded several men on my
deck, among others my mate Francisco, a brave mulatto,
who was mortally injured.

Once more does fortune come to our aid! Commodore
Purvis, then commanding the British station at Monte-
video, sent, or came himself, in a yawl, with one of those
flags which quell the tempest—the flag of England. He
interposed, putting an end to the conflict as though he
had touched the combatants with a magic wand. It was
the height of good fortune for me and for the Republic.

From that moment negotiations began; the enemy’s
squadron left the port, and the island never again fell
into the hands of a foreign power.

What a splendid way of employing force! What
conduct compared with that of certain miserable
Powers, who by a mere sign might have stopped,
and might still stop, the shedding of rivers of blood!
With the lifting of a finger they might restore fallen
nations, and restrain the madness of oppression in the
powerful. Whatever Commodore Purvis’s other reasons
may have been, it is undeniable that this honest and’
generous Englishman was actuated by a chivalrous
sympathy with a brave but unfortunate people.

From that moment the Montevideans knew that they
had in the English commodore not only a friend, but a
protector.

180 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

The affair of Liberty Island, the fortunate issue of
which, although no efforts had been spared in its defence,
was due rather to luck than to our own merit, added
fame and importance to the arms of the Republic, in spite
of the insignificance of the action. In this way—that is,
by means of small but successful undertakings—a cause,
by many believed to be already lost, was gradually
retrieved ; which clearly proves that despair is never
allowable, either in war or in politics, especially where
the cause of justice is the one at stake. The patriotic
and excellent administration of the Government, with
Pacheco at the head of it ; the conduct of the war, in the
hands of the upright and high-minded General Paz ;
the fearless and resolute bearing of the people, now freed
from the presence of the few cowards and traitors who
had disgraced them, the arming of the foreign legions ;—
everything, in short, take it for all in all, presaged a
fortunate issue.

‘CHAPTER XXXVII.
BRILLIANT FIGHTING OF THE ITALIAN LEGION.

THE Italian legion, whose first begmnmg had excited

the ridicule of some, particularly of the French (long

accustomed, through our own discords, to despise us),
attained to such fame as awakened the envy of the best
troops. Never yet defeated, it had shared the most
difficult enterprises and the most arduous combats.

At Tres Cruces, when the intrepid Colonel Neira,
through his excessive gallantry, had fallen within the
enemy’s lines, the legion—that day under his orders
in the van—sustained a truly Homeric hand-to-hand
struggle, driving the Ourivistas from their strongest
positions, till the body of their leader was recovered.

The losses of the legion on that day were considerable,
in proportion to the smallness of its numbers,—but also
proportionately glorious. That success, which was so
fearful a drain on its ranks, effected a still greater
increase ; for it attracted large numbers of new recruits,
soldiers of a day, who fought like veterans. Such is the
Italian soldier—such are the sons of the despised nation,
when, once removed from the corrupting influence of

182 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

priests and cowardly rulers, they are stimulated by the
love of what is beautiful and noble.

The passage of the Bajada (April 25) was also a
_ skirmish of some importance. An army corps, under
the orders of the same General Paz, had left Monte-
video, and, passing the enemy’s right wing, skirted the
shore to the north of the bay, as far as the Pantanoso,
a small muddy stream about two cannon-shots from
the Cerro. They were to join our forces stationed in
that fortress, and strike a blow—if possible, a decisive
one—at the enemy’s forces thus enticed from their
strong position at Cerrito, Ourives’ head-quarters—or
at least to surprise two battalions, posted on the banks
of the marshy stream already mentioned.

This enterprise, which was to accomplish so much,
had little or no result, because, as often happens in com-
plicated operations, the different divisions employed
failed to act in concert. We were engaged, during the
passage of the Pantanoso, in an obstinate combat. Of
the three divisions which comprised our corps of 7000
men, the rearguard was so beset by the enemy, who
grew more confident as they recovered from their first
surprise—in addition to the difficulty of crossing the
river—as only to escape by great efforts and with the
loss of many lives. I commanded the central division,
which was already on the right bank of the Pantanoso,
the name of which was no exaggeration, as there was in
the bed of the stream a quagmire (pantano) which
swallowed up men and horses, and had to be passed on
scattered and uneven stepping-stones. The general

BRILLIANT FIGHTING OF THE LEGION. 183

ordered me to recross the stream to help those in
danger, and of course I had to obey, though much
against my judgment, as I was certain to lose many
men, and it was scarcely possible to accomplish the
business satisfactorily. Our rearguard fought gallantly,
but the enemy had surrounded them in ever-increasing
numbers, and were already occupying a strong position
in their rear—that is, on their line of retreat—within a
salting-house (saladero). Besides which, our men found
that their ammunition was exhausted. The van of the
Italian legion was about to enter the saladero, when
the head of a Buenos Ayres column had already entered
it from the opposite direction, and appeared on the side
nearest us. Here began a desperate hand-to-hand fight
with the bayonet, in which at last Italian valour
triumphed. By this time the ground was covered with
corpses, and among the losses on our side we had to
mourn the death of a gallant Ligurian, Captain Molinari.
But our comrades of the rearguard were safe, and the
balance of the fight re-established in our favour. Other
corps came to our support, and the retreat was carried
out with admirable success. After the battle, General
Paz grasped my hand and said, “To-day I have seen
that the Italians are really brave!”

The French legion, which ought to have carried out a
simultaneous operation on the lines of the city, met with
a reverse on the same day; and thus we were enabled
worthily to reply to the derisive speeches of these
neighbours of ours. 7

The 28th of March also was a day of great glory for

184 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

the republican arms and the Italian legion. On that
day the enterprise was directed by General Pacheco.
The enemy was besieging the Cerro under General
Nunez, one of the most famous leaders of the country,
but a man who had at the beginning of the siege
disgracefully deserted our ranks for those of Buenos
Ayres. They were very active in that direction, and
had several times even reached the ramparts of the
fortress, threatening to cut off communication between
it and the city, and destroying, by means of musket-
shots, the light-house erected on the upper part of the
buildings.

General Pacheco ordered several corps to be transferred
to the Cerro, our legion being one of them. The move-
ment took place at night, and with the dawn.we of the
legion were concealed in an old powder-magazine, sur-
rounded by ruined buildings, about a mile to the north of
the fortress. These buildings, though in ruins, still had
some walls standing, and were large enough to contain,
at a pinch, the whole of our force. The skirmishing
began from the Cerro, after which the battle gradually
grew fiercer. General Nuiez, by nature impetuous,
pushed boldly forward, till he gained possession of a
strong post called Quadrado, a short cannon-shot from
the old powder-magazine. Already we counted among
our wounded two of the best of our leaders, Colonels
Tajes and Estivaéo, when, as the signal for leaving our
position did not appear from the top of the Cerro,* and

* The fortress stands at a great height, on the top of that sugar-

———
bag .

BRILLIANT FIGHTING OF THE LEGION. 185

the affair was growing serious, we were summoned to
rescue Colonel Caceres, in charge of the fighting force.
I shall always be proud of having belonged to that
handful of brave men called the Italian legion of Monte-
video, who, whenever I saw them, were on the road to
victory. But indeed on that day our Italians made a
fine display of coolness and valour. They excited the
admiration of the haughty Americans, who justly claim
a reputation for exceptional bravery.

The problem was to attack the enemy when posted on
a height, and doubly sheltered by a ditch and a parapet.
The ground we had to traverse in marching to the attack

afforded no cover of any kind, so that the enterprise was

a hazardous one. But the legion would that day have
faced the devil himself. The men remembered that on
the very ground they had won their diploma of valour.
The blessings of a grateful people, the applause of
Montevidean beauties, were still ringing in their ears.
They marched on the enemy without firing a single
shot, and without halting, till they had driven him into
the Pantanoso, three miles from the battle-field. Nuiez
was killed, and many prisoners taken. Our comrades
of the Uruguayan corps also fought with great bravery,
and if the above-mentioned movement could have been
retarded a little, so as to allow our right wing, under
the brave Colonel Diaz, to advance and occupy the

loaf seen by the Portuguese cabin-boy from the mast-head of the.
vessel which discovered the country. Through his exclamation,
‘Monte vide eu!” (“I have seen a mountain!”) it gave its name to
the future city.

—. 7

ground between the stream and the enemy, not one of
the latter’s infantry could have escaped.

This feat of arms does great honour to the military
genius of General Pacheco, forcing, as he did, the

enemy’s extreme right to remain on the defensive, at a — as

distance from the Cerro, and on the further side of the
Pantanoso, .

Di, i

€. 987)

CHAPTER XXXVIIE.
THE EXPEDITION OF THE SALTO.

INNUMERABLE were the actions performed by the Italian
legion during the first years of the siege, heavy were
their losses in dead and wounded, but not a single
encounter resulted in dishonour to those brave fellows—
a band Italy may well be proud of.

We too, in the first disastrous period, had our
traitors—that Mancini of whom I have already made
mention, one Danus, one Giovanni N , and a few
poor wretches led away by them, deserted to the enemy.
It was an untoward incident, but one soon forgotten in
the glory won shortly after by the gallant legion.

General Ribera was defeated at India Muerta, but
this event caused no change in the zeal with which the
defence of the capital was carried on. The leaders of
the army, kept in practice by continual fighting with
the besiegers, had acquired a moral superiority which
increased every day. Then came the Anglo-French inter-
vention, and now everything betokened a favourable
ending to the war.

- Every country in the world will always be better off
without foreign intervention. May this be, in the

188 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

future, the lot of our poor Italy, so often a victim to
this misfortune. In Montevideo, the conditions were
somewhat different, this capital being a true cosmo-
politan emporium, where foreigners of every nation are
at least equal in number to the natives, while foreign
interests are nearly always stronger than native ones.
If Italy, diplomatically speaking, had been of any
account in the Rio de la Plata, she ought to have taken
part in the Anglo-French intervention, the resident
Italians being quite equal in number to the subjects of
those governments which took part in the treaty. But
in 1842, when the siege began, the representative of the
Itahan Government at Montevideo was very little
thought of, and only one small man-of-war showed the
Italian flag on that roadstead.

An expedition into Uruguay was one of the projects
arranged between the Government of the Republic and
the admirals of the two allied nations, and with the
conduct of this expedition I was entrusted. Various
additions had for some time past been made to our fleet
—some were hired vessels, like the first; others were
the confiscated property of enemies of the Republic; and
others seized from the Buenos Ayreans, who used to
send their merchant vessels into the Buceo—a harbour
close to Ourives’ head-quarters—and to other ports
occupied by their army.

Through the acquisition of these ships, and two others
confiscated by the English and French, and placed at
the disposal of the Montevidean Government, the expe-
dition into Uruguay consisted of some fifteen vessels,

THE EXPEDITION OF THE SALTO. 189

the largest of which was the Cagancha, a brigantine of
sixteen guns, while some of the smaller ones were only
whale-boats. _

The troops to be landed were the Italian legion, about
two hundred national guards under Colonel Battlle, now
(1872) general, and President of the Republic, with a
cavalry force of about a hundred men, and artillery,
consisting in all of two four-pounders and six horses.

Towards the end of 1845, this expedition left Mon-
tevideo for Uruguay, to begin a glorious campaign,
full of brilliant deeds, though unproductive as regards
the ultimate welfare of the unfortunate and generous
Oriental * nation.

We reached Colonia, a town situated on a lofty
promontory on the left bank of the Plata, where the
Anglo-French squadrons were waiting for our arrival to
storm the position. The undertaking was not difficult,
under cover of overwhelming fires from the ships of
three squadrons. I landed with my legionaries, followed
by the nationals. The enemy offered no resistance
within the walls, but when we had left them, we found
him disposed to fight us. The allies having landed after
us, I asked the admirals to support us while I was
attempting to drive the enemy from the ground; and
accordingly, a force of both nations landed for the
purpose. But when we were engaged in the open

* It should be remembered that the Republic of Montevideo is
ealled in full ‘‘ Republica Oriental del Uruguay,” being on the
eastern bank of that river, whence the title “Oriental” often
applied to the people,

190 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

plain, and had obtained some advantage, in spite of
the superior strength of the enemy, the allies—for what:
reason I know not—retired within the walls, and obliged
us to do the same, being unable to continue the fight
unsupported. Before our landing, when the Buenos
Ayreans, overawed by the naval force, determined on
abandoning the town, they obliged the inhabitants to
evacuate it, and then attempted to set it on fire; so that
many houses presented the dreary spectacle of a confla-
gration ; while,in order to make the fire take effect more
quickly, they had broken up the furniture, and dashed
to pieces everything they could lay hands on.

When we landed—that is, the legion and Battlle’s
nationals—we had immediately followed the retreating
enemy, and the allies, landing afterwards, occupied the
empty town, sending, as we have seen, part of their
troops to support us.

Now, between the confusion of the fire and that of
the ruins, it was difficult to keep up such discipline as
to prevent all plundering; and the French and English
soldiers, in spite of strict orders from the admirals, did
not fail to make use at their pleasure of the things left
in the houses and about the streets. Our men, on their
return, partly followed their example, in spite of all
that the officers could do to restrain them. The repres-
sion of disorder was not easy, seeing that Colonia was
a place well supplied with every kind of provisions, more
especially with spirituous liquors, which inflamed the
unlawful inclinations of the plunderers.

For the matter of that, however, our men took

THE EXPEDITION OF THE SALTO. 191

nothing worth mentioning, but provisions and some
mattresses, which they carried into the church they were
quartered in, to sleep on; and these were, of course, left
behind when we started, a few days later. However,
if the allies had not set the example, such excesses on
the part of our men would have been avoided.
I have been somewhat prolix as to the details of this
event, describing it with scrupulous truthfulness, in
order to refute certain descriptions written by a chuwvin,
M. Page, at that time commander of the French brigan-
tine Ducouadic, a man called by his countrymen a
creature of Guizot, and sent out by that minister of
Louis Philippe in the capacity of a secret agent.
In describing the occurrences which took place at

Colonia, this diplomatic spy has no words bad enough
for the brigands Italiens ; and the result of his Gallic
sympathies was seen when we landed to take the
initiative in the operations. I had to place my own
men under cover, not from the enemy’s fire—for the
enemy fled at our approach without pulling trigger—
but from that of the Ducouadic, which, as her battery
was broadside on to us, shelled us in a way which was
perfectly scandalous. Some of the men received severe
contusions from splinters and fragments of masonry
sent us by the shots of this friendly power.

I recollect that, among other titles, he has honoured
us in his extravagant narrative with that of Condottieri—
a word used by that gentleman to depreciate better men
than himself.

192 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER XXXIX.
THE MATRERO.

WE had been obliged to take part in the capture of
Colonia, but our real commission was to pass on and
re-establish the authority of the Republic on the left
bank of the Uruguay. The island of Martin-Garcia,
where, with a small expedition, I anticipated Anzani,
surrendered without resistance. In this island we pro-
cured some cattle and a few horses.

Here we met with a certain Vivorigna, one of the
party in our favour, and the first matrero who joined
us.

A word about this class of adventurers, whose gallant
services were of such assistance to us on this difficult
and glorious expedition. The matrero is the true type
of the independent man. Why should he remain in
the midst of a corrupt society, dependent on a priest
who deceives him, and a tyrant who revels in luxury
on the fruit of his toil, when he might live on the
boundless virgin plains of a new world, free as the
eagle and the lion, resting his head when he is weary
in the lap of the wife of his heart, or flying on his wild

THE MATRERO. 193

courser over the vast Pampas, in search of daily food
for himself and his dear one ? *

The matrero recognizes no government; but what
does the happiness of the much-governed Europeans
amount to? Enough ill-fated experiments have been
and are being made in this matter to render the
question a very difficult one. The matrero is inde-
pendent, and rules over that immense expanse of
country with the same authority as a government. He
levies neither tax nor tribute, and does not take from
the poor man his only hope, his son, in order to turn
him into a paid cut-throat. He asks from the inhabi-
tants, as a free gift, what is necessary to support his
wandering existence—the matrero’s necessities are
limited indeed—and repays the giver by his work
on horseback, most valuable in those countries. A>
good horse is the matrero’s first requirement; his arms
are usually carbine, pistol, sabre, and the inseparable
knife, with which he kills and eats his dinner.

It must be remembered that the bullock provides
him with all the furnishing of his saddle—the mancador,
to tether his horse when grazing; the mancas, to
accustom it to remain in one place without straying;
the bolas, to catch the caguar (wild horse) at his greatest
speed, and overthrow him by entangling his legs. If
not the most useful, the bolas are the most terrible

* To one of these men of the plains, in South America, the
piece of roast beef chosen and cooked by himself is the most
natural and savoury of foods. I have seen them smile compas-
sionately on seeing me eat partridges.

’ VOL. I. 0

194 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

weapon of the gaucho. With the bolas he strikes the
caguar, as just mentioned; the ostrich, the bird which
does not fly, but in running rivals the horse in swift-
ness; and man, when, after the battle, he flies before
the enemy who has vanquished him. Woe to the
fugitive mounted on a poor or a tired horse; if pursued
by the boleador, he will, while unable to free himself,
feel his faithful companion give way under him and
fall—unless, indeed, by letting his poncho trail behind
him, he can dexterously catch the bolas, and thus keep
his horse’s hind-legs free,

It is a surprising spectacle for us Europeans to see a
cavalry force flying before the victorious enemy. The
bolas of the .pursuing troop, being all thrown at once,
rise into the air like a cloud, and the fugitives are
entangled, ridden down, and slaughtered by the fore-
most horsemen, who, while doing so, do not even check
their headlong course after the rest.

The lasso—not the least useful auxiliary of the
gaucho or the matrero (the two words are almost synony-
mous, though the former is not like the latter, invariably
independent of what is called a government; often, after
all, nothing but the amalgamation of a few of the most
powerful)—the lasso, which always hangs at the horse’s
right shoulder in a way which seems careless, but is the
result of perfect calculation, serves the South American
as an instrument for procuring his food, and gaining his
livelihood in the rare cases when he finds himself forced
to work for his living. Flesh, generally beef, is the
matrero’s only food.

THE MATRERO. 195

Considering all those articles for the construction and
continued use of which the knife is indispensable, we
can form an idea of the importance assumed, in the
eyes of the matrero, by this weapon, with which he
shows wonderful dexterity, in slashing the face or
cutting the throat of an enemy. He will never refuse
to share his acado with you; but you ought to have
a knife of your own, so as not to run the risk of being
refused the loan of his, which he values beyond
everything else, and would, if lost, have great difficulty
in replacing, being, as he is, at a distance from any
town. The matrero, we have said, is the same as the
“gaucho de las Pampas,” the monarch of the cuchilla
(hills) of the Rio Grande, only more lawless and
independent. He will obey when the government falls
in with his own notions and sympathies; if not, the
plains and the forest are his abode, and the sky his roof
at most times. He sometimes, indeed, constructs huts
in the forest, but it is seldom that he appears in
inhabited places, and never without a sufficient reason—
usually furnished by his mistress. The matrero has a
mistress, and is generally adored by her; she shares his
hardships and dangers with a courage equal to his own.
What a wonderful being is woman! A creature of
higher perfection than man, she is also more daring and
chivalrous of temper than he; but the servile education
to which she is condemned prevents this from being
observed as frequently as would otherwise be the case.

Vivorigna, then, who was found in Martin-Garcia by
Colonel Anzani, was the ‘first matrero who joined us

196 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

though certainly not the best. On the banks of the
Canal del Inferno, between Martin-Garcia and the main-
land, he had lain in wait for a boat, and forced the
boatman, by holding a pistol to his head, to ferry him
over to the island, where he came to present himself
to me.

Many other matreros subsequently made their appear-
ance, and, as I have already said, were of immense
service to us. But the man whom I should like to
adorn with a more creditable title, and who united to
the daring courage of the matrero the chivalry and
coolness of the stainless gentleman, was Captain Juan
de la Cruz Ledesma, whom I shall often have to
mention in the course of my account of the Salto
expedition. Juan de la Cruz, with his black hair, his
eagle eyes and noble bearing, had also the bravest and
tenderest of hearts.

He was a fearless and true-hearted comrade to me
through all the Uruguay campaign, which I consider
the most brilliant one of my life. I shall never forget
either him or José Mundell, the son of a Scotchman,
who had passed his life from infancy among those
daring and independent sons of untamed nature.
Mundell had not so much of the outward appearance
of a matrero as Juan de la Cruz; but, though of a
different type—that of the countrymen of Wallace—he
was as brave and better educated.

Colonel Battlle (now President of the Republic) had
remained with his nationals to garrison Colonia. He
was a man equal to any undertaking, however arduous,

THE MATRERO. 197

and had been my comrade since the beginning of the
siege. And I parted from this brave and kind-hearted
officer with real regret.

Having planted the Uruguayan standard at Martin-
Garcia, and left some men there, the expedition con-
tinued its voyage up to the river. Anzani led the van
with some of our. smaller ships, and seized several
merchant vessels under the enemy’s flag. In this
manner, we reached Jaguary, where the Rio Negro
joins the Uruguay.

198 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER XL.
JAGUARY.

THE Rio Negro, at the point where it flows into the
Uruguay, forms several islands of considerable extent,
usually consisting of wood and pasture-land. In the
winter, when the rivers rise after the rains, these
islands are almost entirely flooded, so that very few
animals can remain there, and the greater part even of
these swim over to the mainland, where they find the
richest of pasture. Nevertheless, we found;in the islands
enough cattle to keep us supplied with meat, and also
some wild mares and foals. The greatest advantage to
us, however, was the fact that we could land the horses
we had with us, and let them recover from the discomforts
of shipboard.

Besides these islands to the eastward, washed on the
south by the Rio Negro, and on the north by the
Uruguay, there is the Rincon de las Gallinas (Hens’
Corner), a splendid and fertile piece of ground, united
to the mainland by an isthmus. This peninsula
abounded in animals of every kind, not excepting
horses; and was, therefore, a favourite station of the
matreros.

JAGUARY. © 199

One of my first cares was to land some of the troops
and establish myself on the shore of the Rincon,
whence I sent out Vivorigna and his comrade Miranda
as mounted scouts. They were not long in returning,
bringing with them several matreros of the neighbour-
hood. These new acquisitions were followed by others,
and from that time forward we were able to begin
organizing a cavalry force, which progressed visibly.

The cavalry secured us abundance of meat, and the
same night we undertook an operation against a party
of the enemy, which turned out perfectly successful.

The enterprise was entrusted to a Lieutenant Gallegos,
who had left Montevideo with us—an officer whose
brilliant valour was marred, unfortunately, by a blood-
thirsty disposition. He surprised a detachment of the
enemy, numbering about twenty, and brought back six
prisoners (of whom some were wounded), killing nearly
all the rest. The affair gained us some excellent horses,
a most important item in our situation.

The enemy’s system of imprisoning the inhabitants
of the coast in their houses, in order to cut off
communication with us, caused a large number of those
unfortunate people to join us. We offered them the
largest island as a home, sending over a good number of
cattle and several flocks of sheep as provision for them.

The increase of the expedition in numbers and im-
portance was greatly due to the fact that Juan de la
Cruz had joined us. He and Mundell deserved the
title of Prince of the Matreros; and the way in which
we discovered him is quite worthy of record.

200 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

The matreros of the Rincon informed me that Juan de
la Cruz, at the head of several parties of his men, had
some days before defeated other parties of the enemy,
but, overpowered by numbers, had been obliged to
disband his followers and take to the woods alone.
After this, he left his horse, and wandered in a light
canoe among the least-known islands of the Uruguay,
the object of the greatest vigilance on the part of the
enemy, who—especially after the battle of India Muerta,
when we no longer had any cavalry on the plains—used
every effort to persecute the matreros, who would have
none of their government. In such straits was our friend
when it was suggested to me to send in search of him.
I therefore sent Commandant Soldana, an old friend of
Juan de la Cruz, with some matreros in a small boat
we had, with orders to find his hiding-place and bring
him to us. They were successful. After a few days’
delay, they came upon Juan de la Cruz in an island,
up a tree, at the foot of which his canoe was hidden in
the bushes, the islet being just then in a flooded state.
He was quite ready to take to the bush again, had the
searchers been enemies; for from his post he could
discover them at a sufficient distance to allow him to
get away in safety. Our young Italians should take to
heart this lesson as to the life they may be called upon
to lead, if they really want to save our country. The
fact, though disagreeable, is incontestable, that national
independence and liberty must be won by dint of hard-
ships, sacrifices, and courage.

Juan de la Cruz was a valuable addition to our force.

JAGUARY. 201

When once he had joined, we had with us all the
matreros of the district, forming an excellent cavalry
foree—an indispensable condition of success in those
countries which, by their very nature, are so well suited
to horsemen.

202 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER XLI.
EXPEDITION TO GUALEGUAYCHU—HERVIDERO—ANZANI.

THE island of Biscaino, the principal one of the Jaguary
group, soon became a colony peopled by families flying
from Buenos Ayrean barbarity, and by some of the
poorer inhabitants of the capital, driven by want to
follow in our tracks, where they were certain of finding
meat, if nothing more. To this island we sent over large
supplies of cattle, besides leaving some horses, with an
officer in charge.

Proceeding up the river, the expedition anchored at
a point in front of Fray Bentos, but on the opposite
side, in the province of Entre-Rios. Below, about eight
miles from Fray Bentos, but still in the same part of
Entre-Rios, is the mouth of the river Gualeguaychu,
a tributary of the Uruguay. The town of the same
name is about six miles up the stream.

The province of Entre-Rios was hostile, and contained
excellent horses, of which we stood greatly in need.
Besides, the town of Gualeguaychu had the additional
attraction of being a rich emporium, capable of clothing
our whole ragged regiment, and providing us with

EXPEDITION TO GUALEGUAYCHU. 203

saddlery and all other necessaries. We therefore resolved
to touch there.

We had expressly gone about six miles higher up
the river, to avoid arousing suspicion. During the
night our brave legionaries, with the cavalry and a
few horses, embarked on board our small ships and
boats, and we made our way down with all speed to our
destination.

There was a family settled at the mouth of the river,
where it was known that there were also several merchant
vessels and an armed whaleboat. It was needful to
take all these by surprise—which we did.

We were so fortunate in this enterprise that, by one
surprise after another, we reached the house of the
commandant of Gualeguaychu, Colonel Villagra, who
was found asleep in bed. All the authorities and the
national guards fell into our hands as prisoners. We
garrisoned the strongest points, established advanced
outposts at a certain distance along every road by which
the enemy might make his appearance, and then pro-
ceeded to collect horses, and to requisition from the
place all articles of pressing necessity. We procured at
Gualeguaychu a large number of good horses, the
material necessary for clothing all the men, saddlery for
the cavalry, and some money, which was distributed
among our poor soldiers and sailors, so long exposed to
' want and privation. The prisoners were all released at
our departure—a piece of generosity which the fierce
followers of Rosas, had they been the conquerors, would
not have imitated. One cavalry detachment forming

204 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI, |

part of the garrison, which had been absent from the
town at the time of our entrance, returned during our
occupation. They were seen by our sentinels; and a
few of our horsemen—already better mounted and
_equipped—being sent to meet them, an encounter took
. place in which the enemy were put to flight. This first
small engagement—a brilliant bit of fighting—greatly
cheered the hearts of our men, and excited their passion
for adventure, the more so as it took place in the
presence of all. Only one of our men was wounded,
but very severely.

In the peninsula at the mouth of the Gualeguaychu,
between that river and the Uruguay, was the residence
of the family mentioned above. This peninsula suited
us admirably for completing operations undisturbed ;
as among these warlike people a cavalry force of
surprising courage and activity can be raised in a very
short time, among the inhabitants themselves. Our
infantry embarked in the small vessels we had brought
with us; the cavalry, riding on the good horses we had
seized, led the rest ; and we met again in the peninsula.

The work of shipping and disembarking horses was
not new to us, and in a few days all were landed—some
on the island of Biscaino, the rest on other islands in
the upper part of the river, to serve for future operations.

We went on into the interior, and as far as Paysandu
little or nothing took place worth mentioning. At that
town, where there was a considerable garrison, the enemy
had constructed several batteries, and sunk a large
number of boats at various points of the channel to

EXPEDITION TO GUALEGUAYCAU. 205

obstruct our passage. All these obstacles were overcome,
a few balls, which struck our vessels, and some wounds
received on board, being the sole effect of a heavy
cannonading which we kept up against these batteries.

I ought to mention two officers, one English, the other
French, who, commanding two small ships of war of
their respective nations, accompanied us, greatly to our
advantage, through almost the whole of that expedition.
Dench was the name of the English officer, who re-
mained with us but a short time. The Frenchman was
Hippolyte Morier, in command of the goélette LZ’ Helair.
This latter remained with us all the time that our enter-
prise lasted. He was an officer of great merit, and we
became much attached to him.

We reached El Hervidero, formerly a fine estate, but
then deserted, though still abounding in cattle, and
therefore able to supply us during the whole’ time of
our stay. This point on the left bank of the Uruguay
is called Hl Hervidero, from the Spanish hervir, “ to boil.”
In fact, when the river is low, it seems like a boiling
ealdron on account of the whirlpools caused by a
number of rocks under water, which, always lashed by
an exceedingly swift current, make the passage of that
spot very dangerous.

A spacious house, with an azotea, or terraced roof,
rises on the eminence commanding the left bank of the
river. Round it a number. of ranchos (huts roofed with
straw) attest the multitude of servants kept by the owner
of the famous estancia in quieter times.

The ganado manso, or herd of tame cattle, were still

206 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

wandering round the houses, in search of the exiled
inhabitants, and with them a majada, or flock of sheep,
amounting to nearly forty thousand. These sheep, not
having been shorn, trailed their fleeces along the ground
and, when they moved over the hills, looked like waves
of the sea. The number of cattle, including the wild
ones (the ganado chucro, or alzado), cannot have been
much less. Add to these, innumerable mares and foals,
mostly wild, and other kinds of quadrupeds—hogs,
asses, deer, etc.—and you will have an idea of those
vast estates called estancias, where many families might
live at ease—without a soul to inhabit them. All this
is the result of the intestine wars from which this
beautiful and unfortunate country is condemned to
suffer.

El Hervidero was also, in flourishing times, a saladero—
that is, an establishment for salting down meat, hundreds
of animals being slaughtered every day. Can it be
that the misfortunes undergone by these nations are a
retribution for the sufferings inflicted by them on the
lower animals? I believe that death is simply a trans-
mutation of matter, to which one must submit peaceably
—or rather, with which one should try to grow familiar.
But sufferings inflicted by one creature on another! I
truly believe that, if retribution exists in nature, it
should fall upon the ministers of torture—of every
suffering inflicted on dumb brutes.

The buildings intended for all the different operations
carried on in this vast establishment were still standing,

so that it resembled a village with its feudal castle

-_ oe

EXPEDITION TO GUALEGUAYCHU, 207

rather than a private country house. The expedition
halted at El Hervidero, took possession of the houses,
and threw up some temporary fortifications. The depth
of the river was not sufficient to allow of our proceed-
ing with the larger vessels.

Anzani, with the Italian legion—about two hundred
infantry—took up his quarters on the estate, in military
occupation, as I have already said. These measures of
precaution were well timed, and enabled us to repulse
an unexpected attack, arranged between the hostile
forces of Entre-Rios under General Garzon, and those of
Uruguay under Colonel Lavalleja. This action took
place during my absence from the Hervidero, an absence
which I will proceed to explain.

Among other things, Juan de le Cruz had under-
taken to send word, through some of his men, to all
matreros to be found in the vast plain on the left bank
of the Uruguay, and especially those of the Queguay, .
who were very numerous. A certain Magallanes, and
one José Dominguez, both subordinate chiefs, were
among the most celebrated; but all willingly obeyed
their principal leader, José Mundell, who has already
been mentioned. Mundell was a Briton by birth,
but, having come to the country as a child, he had
quite identified himself with the people and their habits
of life. He had managed one of the best estancias in
the neighbourhood, and was one of those few privileged
men who seem born to rule without violence over every
one who comes near them. Without any particularly
striking physical characteristics, he was supple and

208 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

strong, and, as a frank and generous horseman, had
gained the hearts of all—especially of the matreros,
to whom he showed kindness in all their difficulties,

while moderating their excessively adventurous and
sometimes even sanguinary spirit. Mundell, though he-
had passed the greater part of his life in the desert, had,

without other object in view than the gratification of
his inclinations, cultivated his mind, and acquired by
study no contemptible amount of knowledge. He had

never mixed himself up with politics, so long as these

centred merely in individual rivalries, impatience of
-authority, or personal ambition; but when, led by

Ourives, foreigners invaded Uruguayan territory, Mun-

dell considered indifference criminal, and immediately

joined the ranks of the defenders of that country whose

hospitality he had enjoyed from his childhood.

With the reputation he had acquired among his
gallant neighbours, he soon mustered several hundred
men; and, at the time I am speaking of, he caused °
information to be conveyed to me that he would follow
me with these. The brave lads sent by Juan de la Cruz
to Mundell had reached Hervidero with this message, and
I immediately, in accordance with Mundell’s wish, re-
solved on a personal interview with him in the Arroyo
Malo, about thirty miles below the Salto. The Hervi-
dero was attacked during the first night of my absence.
As the firing could be heard from Arroyo Malo, I was
naturally very anxious, though full of confidence in the
courage and capacity of Anzani, whom I had left in sole

charge.

EXPEDITION TO THE GUALEGUAYCHU. 209

The attack on the Hervidero had been planned and
arranged in such a manner that, had the execution
corresponded to the conception, it might have been
fatal to us. Garzon, whose forces amounted to at least
-2000 men, the greater number infantry, was to approach
on the right bank of the Uruguay, while Lavalleja was
to attack the Hervidero on the left bank with 500 men,
Two fireships constructed in the Iuy, a small stream
above our position, had at the same time been impelled
towards the squadron to prevent it from giving any
assistance to the land force. Anzani’s courage and
coolness, and the fiery valour of my two hundred,
rendered all the enemy’s efforts and stratagems useless,
Garzon obtained no result from the file-firing of his
infantry, as he was too far off, and his side of the river
was exposed to the guns of our ships, which kept up
a heavy fire. The fireships, left to the current, passed
at a distance from our vessels, or were destroyed by
the cannon. Lavalleja vainly urged on his men against
our legionaries, who, entrenched within the buildings,
terrified the enemy by their proud and silent bearing.
Anzani had ordered them not to fire a single shot till
the enemy should be quite near, and this measure had
the desired result; for, thinking that our men had
evacuated the houses, they came close up, when, a
general discharge saluting them on all sides, they
immediately took to flight, and showed no inclination
to return to the attack.

Having made arrangements with Mundell regarding
his entry into Salto, when occupied by us, I returned

VOL, I, P

210 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

to El Hervidero, At this time I received news from
Uruguay that Colonel Baez was preparing to join me
with a number of men, while the enemy’s only man-of-
war, stationed in the Iuy, deserted to us, with part of
her crew. Everything, therefore, seemed to smile on
our enterprise.

(3 Qh)

CHAPTER XLII.
ARRIVAL AT SALTO—VICTORY OF THE TAPEBY.

AFTER the battle of Arroyo Grande, the province of
Corrientes had again fallen under the sway of Rosas ;
but the admirable resistance offered by Montevideo;
and some other favourable circumstances, roused it to
claim its independence once more.

The brothers Madariaga, the principal originators of
that glorious revolution, had summoned General Paz
from Montevideo, and placed him in command of the
army. The good old general had, through his own
reputation and capacity, brought about an offensive
and defensive alliance with Paraguay, which had
furnished a respectable contingent to the Corrientes
army. Matters, therefore, promised well in this direc-
tion, and not the least among the objects which the
expedition had in view was that of opening communi-
cation with these interior provinces, and collecting
together in the department of Salto the Uraguayan
emigrants scattered through Corrientes and Brazil.

I therefore sent a whale-boat from El Hervidero,
with a message to General Paz. But her crew being
discovered and pursued by the enemy, were forced to

212 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

abandon her and take refuge in the woods. Three
times the attempt had to be repeated, till a brave
Italian officer, Giacomo Casella, taking advantage of a
strong rise in the river, succeeded in overcoming all
obstacles and reaching the province of Corrientes. The
same rise brought me with the flotilla to Salto, which
town was garrisoned by the same Lavalleja who had
attacked El Hervidero, and a force of about three
hundred men, horse and foot. For some days he had
been busy getting the city evacuated by the inhabi-
tants, whom he placed with his own force in a fortified
camp on the left bank of the Tapeby, at a distance of
about twenty-one miles from the Salto.* We therefore
occupied the city without resistance, and contrived to
throw up some works there, which, as we shall see, were
of great use to us.

Having occupied this point, we were in consequence
besieged on the land side; all the plain of Uruguay
being in the power of the enemy. One of our principal
disadvantages was, of course, the want of provisions, as
all the cattle had been withdrawn into the interior.
We did not, however, long remain in this situation.
Mundell, having raised about 150 men, attacked one
of the enemy’s generals who was annoying him, and
then joined us at Salto. After this we began to make
sorties and drive off the cattle we needed. With the
cavalry of Mundell and Juan de la Cruz, we were quite

* The Spaniards call a cataract saléo. There are several in the
neighbourhood of this town, from El Hervidero to the Salto Grande
on the upper river.

ARRIVAL AT SALTO. 213

able to hold the country, and at last to seek Lavalleja
in his own camp. Some deserters having given me
exact particulars of his position and forces, I determined
upon attacking him. One evening, having got together
two hundred cavalry and a hundred of our legionaries,
we started from Salto at nightfall, intending to surprise
the enemy before morning. Our guides, the deserters
already mentioned, though they knew the country well,
led us astray, as there was no beaten track in the
direction we had taken; and day overtook us at a
distance of three miles from the camp we were in
search of. It was, perhaps, imprudent to attack an
enemy at least as strong as ourselves, who was, more-
over, entrenched in his camp, and might at any moment
receive some reinforcements he had sent for. A retreat,
however, would not only have been disgraceful, but
would have discredited Italian valour in the eyes of
the new troops I was leading, who had formed a high
idea of it. In truth, I was little troubled by any
thoughts of retreat, and resolved to attack, without
checking our onward movement, so as to get all the
advantage we could from a surprise.

Having reached the top of an eminence, an outpost
of the enemy’s retiring at our approach, I discovered
the camp, and acquainted myself fully with its position.
IT saw several knots of cavalry concentrating themselves
from various directions upon it. They had been sent
separately, during the night, to different points, to
reconnoitre us—the general having heard rumours of
our approach, in spite of all our precautions, Several

214 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

herds of horses and bullocks—the first highly important
as remounts for the cavalry, the second as the only
food-supply to be had on the plains—were also being
driven towards the camp.

I immediately ordered Mundell, who led the van, to
detach half of his cavalry to prevent, or at least delay,
this concentration, The enemy, perceiving this move-
ment on our part, imitated it, so as to protect the rest
of their force.

Mundell had executed his manceuvre with great
bravery, himself supporting, with the rest of his force,
those sent to the front, and had charged and dispersed
several detachments of the enemy; but, in the heat
of battle, not remembering the great distance which
separated him from our infantry, he advanced too far,
and found himself and his force surrounded by the
whole of the enemy’s cavalry, who, recovered from the
first shock of surprise, were now almost within lance-
thrust of them, and threatened to cut them off from
our main body. The distance was great, but our
infantry, young men luckily, were advancing at the
double.

I had a full view of the whole, as the plain was quite
open, and we were coming downhill. At first, wishing
to mass our small force, so as to execute a decisive
coup de main, I hastened the march of the infantry,
yet kept the entire force of Juan de la Cruz, who was
marching in the rear, as a reserve. However, seeing
that Mundell’s situation would not admit of delay, I
left the infantry behind, in charge of the gallant

ARRIVAL AT SALTO. 215

Marrocchetti, and hurried on the cavalry reserves en
échelon, The first échelon, commanded by Lieutenant
Gallegos, dashed bravely in and somewhat re-established
the balance of the cavalry conflict. When Juan de la
Cruz charged, the enemy retired, falling back on their
camp, and drawing up their forces behind the line of
infantry, under cover of a barricade of waggons. ;

I had ordered the last échelons of our cavalry to
charge in a body, without breaking their order, so that,
covered by them, Mundell’s matreros who, had fought
gallantly, were able to form again ina moment. We
then marched for the enemy’s camp in regular battle-
array—infantry in the centre, massed in sections, and
under orders not to fire a shot; Mundell on the right,
and Juan de la Cruz on the left, with some reserve
detachments of cavalry following in the rear.

The enemy’s cavalry, as I said, had, after the first
encounter, re-formed behind the infantry, the latter
being in its turn covered by a line of waggons; but the
fearless aspect of our men, their compact and silent
advance, so intimidated Lavalleja’s troops that they
offered but slight resistance. In another moment it
was no longer a battle, but a rout, and the enemy were
flying in disorder towards the crossing of the river
Tapeby.

At that crossing, some of the bravest, after having
passed, wished to turn and make head against us.
They might have done this, as the ford was a difficult
one—and, indeed, they stopped our cavalry—but at the
word of command, “Oartridge-pouches to your necks,

216. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

and forward!” the legionaries rushed into the water
like so many demons, and there was no further resistance.

I have never been able to explain to myself why
Colonel Lavalleja had established his camp on the
left bank of the Tapeby, instead of the right, where
he could certainly have offered a far more effectual
resistance, especially if he had constructed some flying |
works at the ford itself.

The left bank was nearest to Salto, and probably it
did not enter into the calculations of the brave old
colonel that a few sailors and raw soldiers could march
twenty miles in a night, and come up in time to fight
him. Or else, aware of the approach of Urquiza’s
victorious army, he did not suppose we could think of
leaving Salto. The fact remains, that, in time of war,
precautions are usually more or less neglected.

The triumph was complete, the whole of the infantry,
some two hundred in number, and a few of the cavalry,
remaining in our hands, as well as all the families of .
Salto, dragged from their hearths by Lavalleja; thirty-
four carts filled with all kinds of provisions, also
brought from the town; and, lastly, a large number of
horses—a most welcome acquisition to us.

The rarest and most important article among the
spoils was a bronze six-pounder cannon, cast at
Florence during the Middle Ages by a certain Cenni.
It had probably come into the country with the first
Spaniards, at the time of the discovery of the La Plata,
or with the Portuguese, and was the same gun which
had fired on us at El Hervidero, and, having been

ARRIVAL AT SALTO. 1%

dismounted during the fighting of that night, was under
repair at the camp.

Our return to Salto was a triumphal march. We
received the blessings of the people restored to their
own homes, and this victory acquired our small corps
a well-deserved reputation as a complete army capable
of holding the country.

’

218 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE @GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER XLIII.
ARRIVAL OF URQUIZA.

THE operation on the Tapeby had been executed with
the greatest promptitude. After the fight, having
collected together, as far as possible, all horses, arms,
and other necessaries, we were once more ready for the
march to Salto—in which our activity stood us in
good stead.

As I have already mentioned, Lavalleja was awaiting
reinforcements; and these were no other than the
victorious army of General Urquiza, who was returning
from the rout of Ribera’s forces at India Muerta, and
marching towards Corrientes, to fight the army of
that state. Vergara, who commanded his vanguard,
appeared in sight of Salto the day after our return
thither, and drove off some of our stray horses from the
pastures of the neighbourhood.

Foreseeing the tempest which awaited us, we mei
every effort to resist it. A battery, the plan of which
was traced by Anzani, rose as if by magic in the centre
of the city; soldiers and citizens working at it with
a will. The houses adapted for defence were fortified,
and all the men, soldiers, sailors, and horsemen,

ARRIVAL OF URQUIZA. 919

stationed along the line, ready for battle. We landed
some ship-cannon, which were got into position on
earriages in the battery. At the same time, moreover,
Colonel Baez arrived at Salto with about sixty horses.
Urquiza was not long in appearing with his army,
horse, foot, and artillery, and very confident of victory.
He had assured his friends that he would cross the
Uruguay at Salto with the help of our captured fleet,
but his prophetic powers were this time at fault. The
enemy's attack was simultaneous with the appearance
of his main body. There is on the eastern side of
Salto, about a musket-shot from the first houses, a hill
overlooking the whole town which we had not fortified
on account of the small force at our disposal, and
because it would have extended our line of defence too
far; so that, rather than guard it weakly, we preferred
to abandon it altogether, and concentrate all our forces
in the battery, and the nearest houses to right and
left of it. As might have been expected, Urquiza took
up his position on this hill, where he placed six pieces
of ordnance; and while urging his infantry at the
charging pace against our right, poured a heavy fire into
us from these guns. About the same time we had suc-
ceeded in fixing two pieces on our battery, but had
neither platform nor parapet, and the guns, in firing,
buried themselves in the not yet consolidated ground.
Our right was really our most vulnerable point, the
enemy's approach to it being protected by a depression
in the ground; and, in fact, the impetuous and sudden
appearance of his forces in considerable numbers so

220 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

startled our right wing, that, quitting the azoteas, they
fled towards the river, of course with the intention of
taking refuge on board the ships. They did not, how-
ever, succeed, all our small vessels being moored at a
distance—a preventive measure which proved quite
successful.

I remained on the battery, within which, when I
arranged the men, I had kept one company of the legion
in reserve. Jimmediately ordered half of this company,
under the brave Lieutenant Zaccarello, to charge the
inrushing enemy. The second half charged after the
first, and so well was this carried out, that the enemy
in their turn precipitately fled.

The company I speak of was commanded by Captain
Carone, and numbered scarcely fifty men, the two
detachments being under the orders of Ramorino and
Zaccarello, both brave officers and excellent soldiers.
Our success on the right wing deterred the enemy from
trying to attack us, and the fight was confined to
artillery practice. In this last kind of fighting—though,
for want of time, we had been obliged to let the enemy
catch us unprepared—we did not fail to make a pretty
good figure.

I had caused the ship-cannon to be landed, under the
supervision of those gallant naval officers, Antonio
Suzini and Cogliolo Leggiero, both from the island of
Maddalena, and a third, José Maria; so that the enemy’s
artillery, though superior in numbers and position, was
much damaged, and forced to retire every now and then
behind the hill.

ARRIVAL OF URQUIZA. ; 22h

The losses on both sides were not very serious, as
there was no general assault all along the line. We
lost, however, the greater part of our cattle, which were
in a corral (enclosure), and, being wild, rushed out like
a tempest and scattered over the plain, as soon as the
enemy opened the gate.

For three days Urquiza continued his efforts, and
found us each day better prepared, as, even at night, we
lost not a moment in completing the works at the
battery, raising barricades, and repairing the damage
done during the day.

We placed five guns in the battery, and completed
the platform, the parapet, and the powder-magazine.
At last, seeing that he made no progress by attacking
and bombarding us, Urquiza adopted the blockade
system, and enclosed us hermetically on the land side.
But even then he was still disappointed, for we
remained masters of the river, and could in this way
receive the necessary supplies.

During the siege we did not remain idle, but, being
obliged to provide ourselves with hay for the animals,
had some skirmishing with the enemy every day. After-
wards, as they had been obliged, in order to restrain our
excursions, to form a circle of outposts round us, we
took advantage of the negligence with which these
were guarded, to attack them unawares, and all but
successfully, At last, after eighteen days’ siege, tired
out, or perhaps called by urgent affairs to another part
of Uruguay, Urquiza left us, and crossed the river above
Salto—but not in our vessels, as he had promised.

222 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI ;

CHAPTER XLIV.
BESIEGED IN SALTO BY LAMOS AND VERGARA,

THE two cavalry divisions of Lamos and Vergara
remained, with about 700 men, to invest us. From that
time forward the enemy could only keep us besieged
from a great distance, so that we were able to make
some sorties, sometimes bringing in cattle, and sometimes
colts, which enabled us to restore our cavalry to their
normal standard—a large number of our horses . having
perished through the scarcity suffered in the siege. It
must be remembered that the horses of this country are
generally grass-fed only, very few being kept on corn.

In these days took place a brilliant operation of a
kind quite new to us Europeans. Garzon’s army
corps, stationed at Concordia, opposite Salto, had
marched to join Urquiza, in order to throw itself, under
the command of the latter, on Corrientes. <A cavalry
corps of observation remained at Corrientes, whose
sentinels could be seen from Salto, as well as their
troop of spare horses, which were driven down every
day to the river-bank, where the pasture was better—
not to mention the greater ease in watering them—and
withdrawn inland at night,

a

BESIEGED BY LAMOS AND VERGARA. 223

Colonel Baez proposed to me to seize on this cabal-
lada, One day, a score of picked horsemen were
chosen, armed with sabres only, and a company of
the legion distributed among the vessels, with orders to
be ready at any moment to take to the boats. It was
about noon, when the sun is hottest, and the enemy’s
sentinels, with their lances stuck upright in the ground,
and their ponchos arranged as a kind of tent, were
dozing or playing at cards in the shade. The river, at
the point where we proposed crossing, is about five hun-
dred yards wide, and very deep, with a strong current.
The signal agreed upon was given, the horsemen left
their shelter under the bushes on the bank, and plunged
into the water with their horses, not saddled, but only
bridled. The men of the legion, who had dropped
into the. boats one by one (on the side nearest to us, so
as not to be perceived by the enemy), set off rowing at
full speed. By the time the enemy’s sentinels were
aware of the movement, the shots of our active swim-
mers were already whistling about their ears, and the
amphibious centaurs, reaching the bank, were pursuing
them uphill. The gallant American cavalry is the
only one in the world capable of such operations. Both
men and horses being excellent swimmers, and accus-
tomed to the passage of large rivers, they can traverse
the greatest distances with ease, generally holding the
horse’s mane with one hand and swimming with the
other, while towing arms and baggage behind them in
the carona, or square of raw hide laid under the saddle,
which, with the four corners tied together, forms a small

224 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

vessel quite capable of holding a man’s weapons and
clothing. This is called a pelota, and is fastened to the
horse’s tail when swimming.

. Part of the horsemen remained on the look-out on
the hill, while the others were collecting the scattered
horses and leading or driving them to the bank. On
being pushed into the stream, at the place called the
porto, where they were usually watered, the greater
number swam across, while a few, the most reluctant or
those considered most valuable, were tied to the boats
and so dragged over. Meanwhile the legion exchanged
a few shots with the enemy, who, though assembled in
increasing numbers, were not numerous enough to ven-
ture upon a charge, and kept at a respectful distance, in
consideration of a few broadsides from the flotilla. To
be brief, in a few hours we had a hundred and odd
good horses, without the loss or even the wounding of a
single man.

This occurrence was remarkable on account of its
novel character, and because it took place in full view
of the town of Salto. Moreover, the horses of Entre
Rios are universally esteemed, and with good reason.
Our success in acquiring these naturally made us
desirous of trying the strength of our besiegers a little.
Vergara’s division was pressing us closely, so we sent
some men who knew the country to make observations,
and were by them informed of the position he occupied,

By day it would have been impossible to surprise
him, so that we had to attack him by night. I had
given the ¢ommand of our cavalry to Colonel Baez.

BESIEGED BY LAMOS AND VERGARA. 225

Anzani commanded the infantry ; and thus we marched
out of Salto at nightfall, and made for the enemy’s
camp, about eight miles off. In spite of the care and
silence with which our march was conducted, we were
heard by the enemy’s outposts, so that Vergara had
time to mount and commence a retreat. We, how-
ever, attacked without delay, though with our cavalry
alone, the infantry being unable, in spite of all their
efforts, to come up with us in time to join in the
engagement.

The enemy fought obstinately, but at the opportunely
given command, “Advance, infantry!” they yielded
their ground, and at last broke and fled; such was the
prestige acquired by this small but gallant infantry
corps. We pursued for some miles, but, owing to the
darkness, our triumph was of little advantage to us.
We made a few prisoners, and captured some horses;
there were very few killed or wounded on either side.

By daylight the ground would scarcely have been
known for a battle-field; we had been fighting on the
march, and only a few detachments could be perceived
in the distance. Colonel Baez remained with the
cavalry to continue the pursuit and collect a herd of
cattle, while we returned to Salto,

VOL. I. Q

226 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDIL

CHAPTER XLV.
SAN ANTONIO.

AxsovuT the beginning of the year 1846, we received
news that General Medina—appointed by Government,
in the absence of Ribera, to the chief command of
all the troops on the plains—was to join us at Salto,
with some Uruguayan emigrants, who had been staying
in Brazil and Corrientes after the disaster of India
Muerta. Vergara’s defeat had, it is true, given us a
certain advantage, but not the results we might have
hoped for, had we been able to surprise him. Lamos, who
was busy breaking colts at no great distance, hastened
up at the news of his colleague’s misfortune, and helped
him to collect his scattered troops. Both generals then
formed a camp a few miles from Salto, and recommenced
a siege, the operations whereof chiefly consisted in
driving off our cattle—which, with their numerous
cavalry force, they found an easy task.

When General Medina had been appointed com-
mander-in-chief, it became necessary to protect his*
entry into Salto. Colonel Baez, as I have already
said, had assumed the command of our cavalry, and, with.
his skill and experience in that branch of the service,

.

SAN ANTONIO. py f

thoroughly reorganized it. Through his energy, the
number of horses was greatly increased, and the city
and garrison supplied with cattle. Mundell and Juan
de la Cruz were under his orders, and had, at the time
I refer to, both been detailed to break and bring in
fresh horses, Colonel Baez, being better known to the
general than the rest of us, was in direct communi-
cation with him; from Baez, therefore, I learnt that
Medina, with his little troop, was to appear in sight of
Salto on February 8; and it was arranged that I
should escort him with the infantry.

At dawn, on February 8, 1846, we left Salto for the
small stream of San Antonio, on the left bank of which
we were to await General Medina and his suite.
Anzani—fortunately, as it turned out—was somewhat
indisposed, and had to remain in the town. The
enemy, following their usual custom when we marched
out in this direction, sent a few groups of cavalry to
show themselves on the hills to the right, These
approached one after another, as if to see whether we
were driving in cattle, and disturb us if such proved |
to be the case. Against these scouts Colonel Baez sent
off a detachment of mounted sharpshooters, and for
some hours we kept up a skirmishing fire against the
enemy’s column.

The infantry had halted and massed themselves near
a stream, on an eminence called the “Tapera de Don
Venancio,’ where were the ruined buildings of an
estancia, or a saladero. I had left the infantry, and was
looking on at the skirmishers, Accustomed to this

228 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

kind of warfare, in which the skill, courage, and activity
of the American soldier are most brilliantly displayed,
we found this quite an agreeable diversion. But so
artful was the enemy’s strategy, that, wishing to hide
the approach of their main swarm behind this play of
skirmishers, they advanced in a feeble and careless
fashion, the better to deceive us, and give time for the
formidable forces marching up from the rear to approach,

The ground in the whole department of Salto is more
or less undulating, which is also the character of the
plains of San Antonio, so that the imposing force which
was marching against us was able to approach within
a short distance, behind the curtain formed by the
cavalry of Lamos and Vergara. While, having reached
the position above described, I was casting my eye on
the other bank of the San Antonio, I perceived, to my
consternation, on the top of the first hill facing us—
where up to that moment we had seen but a few
horsemen—a forest of lances, serried squadrons of
cavalry with colours flying, and a division of mounted
infantry double the number of ours, who, having ridden
up to within two rifle-shots of us, alighted, drew up in
battle-array, and, sounding the charge on the drums,
marched forward to attack us with the bayonet. Baez
was confounded, and said to me, “We must retreat.”
Seeing the impossibility of such a measure, I replied,
“There is no time for that; we must fight.” Then to
the legion, in order to destroy or mitigate the impres-
sion which would be made on their minds by the
appearance of so formidable an enemy, I added, “We

SAN ANTONIO. 999

will fight ”—a welcome word to those gallant Italians.
“We are accustomed to defeating cavalry ; to-day we
shall have a little infantry as well.”

We might fly,.get ourselves killed to the last man,
but not retreat. A six miles’ retreat with the bayonets
of 300 of the enemy’s infantry at their backs is im-
possible for 180 foot-soldiers, especially when sur-
rounded, besides, by between 900 and 1200 of the best
horsemen in the world. The word retreat, in such a
dilemma, is reprehensible and cowardly. We had to
fight, and we fought like men who preferred an
honourable death to disgrace.

On the tapera where we stood, some upright posts,
once part of the walls of an old wooden building, still:
remained. A man was stationed at every post; and the’
rest of the legion, in three small divisions, drawn up in’
column behind the building, and covered by the brick
walls of its northern side, which formed a space capable-
of containing about thirty men, and entirely provectett
the front of our small column.

On the right of the infantry, Baez was stationed with
the cavalry—those armed with carbines dismounting, —
and the lancers remaining on horseback. We had about’
100 cavalry, and 186 of the legion. The enemy had 900.
horse—some said 1200—and 300 foot. There was only’
one way of escape for us—to rout the enemy’s infantry.:
Of this I was persuaded, and to this we bent all our
efforts. If that infantry, instead of charging in line,
with an extended front, had charged in column, with:
a line of sharpshooters in front, but without firing a

230 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

shot themselves, I think their attack would have been
irresistible. We should have fought hand to hand; no
quarter was to be hoped for from such an enemy, but,
once mixed up together, the enormous mass of cavalry
coming up from their rear would have trampled us
under the horses’ hoofs. The plains of San Antonio
would to-day have been white with Italian bones, and
our country would have mourned the loss of a handful
of her bravest sons, not one escaping to tell the tale.
Instead of this, the enemy’s infantry advanced briskly,
beating the charge, in a single line; and never fired till
they were within a few yards of us, when they halted
and gave us a volley. This proved our safety. The
legion had orders to wait till the enemy were quite
close, and they did so. Our volley was decisive. Many
of our men, it is true, fell before the enemy’s fire; but
few of our shots were lost. And when the gallant
Marrocchetti, who commanded the three reserve divisions,
came out from under shelter, his men charged Vergara’s
already decimated infantry in mass. They turned and
took to their heels, bayoneted by our men.

Among us, too, there was a moment of hesitation and
disorder, at the sight of so numerous an enemy. We
had with us some negroes, prisoners from the Tapeby,
and perhaps a few others who, believing defence to
be impossible, looked round in vain for a way of escape.
But those gallant fellows who flung themselves like
lions on the enemy—never shall I forget that glorious
sight !

. From the moment when I fixed my whole attention

SAN ANTONIO. 931

on the enemy’s infantry, I had no longer seen or noticed
Colonel Baez and our cavalry. They had fled! This
circumstance, too, had discomposed the weaker ones not
a little. ‘Five or six horsemen had remained with us,
whom I placed under the charge of the brave José Maria.
- The enemy’s infantry being defeated, I encouraged
myself with hopes of safety. We took advantage of the
moment of quiet left us by the consternation of the
enemy, to draw up our ranks again in some order.
They had just reckoned on annihilating us to a man,
and found themselves greatly disappointed.

On the bodies of those who had fallen, especially at
the time when they had halted to fire,’ we found an
abundant supply of cartridges. Many guns better than
our own, left by the dead or dying, served to arm those
officers and men who were without such weapons.
Unsuccessful in the first attempt, the enemy several
times repeated his charges—dismounted many of his
dragoons, and assailed us again and again with these,
with the scanty remnants of his infantry, and with
cavalry evolutions which made the earth shake, and
used every effort to throw us into disorder. But this
was not. possible; our men were filled with the
sacred duty of fighting for the honour of their name,
and had convinced themselves that with courage and
coolness one can fight without reckoning the enemy’s
numbers. Each time I saw the enemy about to charge
us, I kept some chosen men of the legion ready, with
the few horsemen who remained to us, and ordered
them to charge. The enemy several times tried. to

Pl

232 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDLI

send a white flag, and open a parley—of course, to try.
whether we were disposed to surrender. _ I then chose
our best marksmen, and ordered them to fire till they
had put the messenger to flight.

_ We went on in this manner till about 9 p.m., the
battle having begun at noon. We stood in the midst of
a barricade of corpses. About nine o'clock we prepared
for retreat. Our wounded were more than those who
had remained uninjured, and included nearly all the
officers—Marrocchetti, Casana, Sacchi, Ramorino, Rodi, _
Beruti, Zaccarello, Amero, and others. Carone and
Traverso alone escaped.

It was a difficult and painful task to remove the
wounded. We placed some of them on the riderless
horses, while those who could drag themselves along on
foot were supported by their comrades. These having
been. provided for, the remainder were arranged in four
divisions ; and as they took their places in rank, they
were ordered to charge, so as to be less exposed to the
continuous fire of the enemy. A few hints as to their
mode of action, and we began the retreat.

“It was a fine piece of work, too, the retreat of that
handful of men, in serried ranks, through a swarming
crowd of the best horsemen in the world. Their orders
were, not to fire a single shot, except at close quarters,
till they had reached the edge of the thickets which
cover the bank of the Uruguay. I had also ordered the
wounded to be conveyed in the van, certain that the
enemy would charge our rearguard and flanks. But
how to keep the poor sufferers in rank? They fell

SAN ANTONIO. 233

into disorder, and some of the stragelers—one or two,
I think — perished. The remainder, a considerable
number, were saved.

The little column —as I remember with pride —
behaved admirably. They fixed bayonets at starting,
and in closed ranks, as they had set out, they arrived at
their destination. In vain the enemy made every:
possible effort to throw us into confusion, charging at
all points with their whole force; in vain did the
lancers ride up to assail our men in the ranks—we only
replied with bayonet-thrusts, and marched on, still more
compactly than before. |

We sometimes halted and faced about when too
closely pressed by the enemy, who were easily repulsed
by a few shots. When we had reached the edge of the:
wood, we could at our leisure pour volleys into them,
and drive them to a distance.

Thirst had been one of our greatest sufferings through
the day, especially for the wounded. When we reached
the river-bank, it may be imagined with what eagerness
we rushed to the water. Some of us drank, while the
rest kept the enemy at bay. The brilliant success of
our first retrograde movement resulted in our being less:
molested afterwards. We formed a chain of riflemen to:
cover our left flank, which was constantly threatened by’
the enemy till we reached the town of Salto, and thus.
skirted the river-bank. When the enemy charged—
which they did incessantly, disappointed as they were’
at seeing their prey escaping them—we halted, and our
men, now quite recovered, and elated with their recent.

234 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

success, cried out to them in Spanish, “ Why don’t
you come on?” and jeered at them while putiing them
to flight with musket-shots.

Anzani was awaiting us at the entrance of the city,
and, moved almost to tears, was ready to embrace us
all. This brave and modest warrior had never despaired
—as he himself assured me—though the fight had been so
furious, and the number of the enemy so out of propor-
tion to our own. He had assembled within the citadel
the brave men remaining, mostly convalescents, and had
replied to all intimations of surrender as Pietro Micca
did at the siege of Turin; and, like Pietro Micca, he
would have blown up the whole world first.

During the conflict, the enemy, confident in the
strength of their forces, had summoned both us and
Anzani in Salto to surrender. I have already men-
tioned the reply they received from us on the field.
But still more significant was Anzani’s reply, match in
hand.

Any man weaker than he was, hearing not only the
summons of the enemy, but the assurances of Baez
himself and his men that all was lost outside the
town, and}that they had seen me fall (which was true,
though it was only my horse that was killed),—any
other man, I say, would certainly have surrendered.

But Anzani did not despair. And I point out this
fact—I would fain cry it aloud—to those of my fellow-
citizens who have sometimes despaired of the redemp-
tion of Italy.

It is true, there are few Anzanis in the world; but

SAN ANTONIO. 235

the man who despairs is a coward. And we have given
full proof that we refuse to despair of the complete
redemption of our country, in spite of the traitors
always ready to sell it, and the boastful neighbours so
well accustomed to buy it.

Anzani, by his heroic act, had saved everything, and,
thanks to him, we were able to re-enter Salto in triumph.
About midnight we entered the city. Not one, either
of the garrison or the people, was asleep at that hour ;
and the generous inhabitants crowded to claim the
wounded, succour them, and take them into their houses,
where they received every care and kindness.

Poor people! who have suffered so much in the
various vicissitudes of war; I shall always remember
them with a deep sense of gratitude.

We had some serious losses in this affair, and the
enemy suffered still more severely. General Servando
Gomez, supreme commander of the Buenos Ayres forces,
who had in so masterly a manner surprised and almost
annihilated us, disappeared on the 9th, drawing off his
shattered division towards Paysandu, whence he had
started. He carried off a great number of wounded, and
left the plain of San Antonio covered with corpses.

The whole of the 9th was spent in finding accommoda-
tion for and attending to the wounded, both our own
and the enemy’s who had been left behind. Two French
surgeons were of the greatest assistance to us in this
humane work—the medical officer of the Belair, a
young man as skilful as he was energetic, whose name I
do not remember ; and Deroseaux, another capable young

236 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

fellow of the same nationality, who had been for some
time attached to the legion, and had fought at San
Antonio like a true soldier. Both of these*lent their
aid most effectually ; but more welcome than anything
else to our poor sufferers was the tender nursing of the
gentle Salteynas. The following days were employed in
collecting and burying the dead.

As the fight had been of an extraordinary character,
it seemed to me that the burial of the dead ought to be
peculiarly solemn. I remembered the tumuli I had
seen long ago on Eastern battle-fields; and on the hill

which overlooks Salto—which had more than once been’

the scene of glorious fights—we dug a trench for all the
corpses indiscriminately. Then a basketful of earth

apiece covered the remains alike of friend and foe; and

we raised the tumulus, which may be seen to this day,

topped by a cross, on which can be read the following’
words : —“ Italian Legion — Uruguay Marines: and’
Cavalry.” And on the other side, “ February 8, 1846.” "

‘The names of the brave men who fell or were:
wounded in the glorious struggle, are recorded in the

journal of the legion kept by Anzani.

General Medina was able to enter Salto unhindered,

with his suite, and maintained himself in command

there till the date of the revolution brought about by”
the Riberistas at Montevideo. During the whole of this:

interval nothing of importance happened.

CHAPTER XLVI.

‘REVOLUTIONS IN MONTEVIDEO AND CORRIENTES—FIGHT

AT THE DAYMAN.

TE revolution at Montevideo in favour of Ribera
gave a tremendous shock to the affairs of the Republic.

The war ceased to be a national one, and turned into a
petty contest of factions presided over by one man or
other—generally quite destitute of merit, for no man
of real worth would, for the sake of his personal interest,
drag his country into a long and murderous civil. war.
About the same time took place in Corrientes the
revolution instigated by the brothers Madariaga against
the aged and upright General Paz. :

These young chiefs, who had rendered themselves
illustrious by surprising acts of heroism, delivering
their country more than once from the hateful dominion
of Rosas, now, out of jealousy and ambition, lowered
themselves to take part in the basest of conspiracies,
and ruined the cause of their country.

General Paz was obliged to abandon the Corrientes
army, and retire into Brazil. The Paraguayans recalled
their forces after the departure of the general, whom
they trusted ; the Madariagas, left to their own resources, .

238 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

were completely defeated by Urquiza, when Corrientes
again fell under the power of the ferocious Dictator of
Buenos Ayres,

The affairs of Montevideo were progressing no better.
Ribera, restored to power by his partisans, got rid of
all who did not belong to his faction, The greater part
of those who had entered upon the noble conflict with
so much valour and disinterested patriotism, went into
banishment; others, driven from the posts they had
honourably filled, had their places supplied by incapable
bigots. After losing two armies, he found in Monte-
video, the city of miracles, the materials for a third,
which he transferred to Las Vaccas, on the left bank of
the Uruguay. The Montevidean soldiers were accus-
tomed to victory, as they proved in their first encounters
with the enemy on the plains. At Mercedes, in
particular, they performed prodigies of valour. But the
evil genius which had already enticed Ribera to the
Arroyo Grande, and to India Muerta, led him to
Paysandu, where, after gaining a victory, he had his
army entirely dispersed. At Maldonado he embarked
again, to go into exile on Brazilian territory. I know
not whether to call him more unfortunate or guilty,

When the government of Montevideo fell into’ the
hands of Ribera, I regretted the fact, foreseeing trouble.
Old General Medina, appointed commander-in-chief
’ during Ribera’s absence by the Government, not only
bowed to events, but, the better to get into favour with
the new master, plotted against my unfortunate person—
perkaps because of the achievements, such as they were, ©

FIGHT AT THE DAYMAN, 239

accomplished by us, the favourites of fortune—and
arranged, in our own camp, a revolution against Jos
gringos (the Italians), with the intention of destroying
us toa man. But in this he was disappointed.

Italians and Uruguayans—lI say it, and am proud to
say it—both loved me, and I might, without fearing
any man, have set myself up as dictator, in opposition
to the new and illegal power; but I held the cause of
that noble and generous, though unfortunate, nation too
sacred to distress it with further internal discords, At
Montevideo, after Ribera’s ascendency, the squares had
been stained with blood. At Salto, they had some idea
of playing the same farce; but it did not succeed. I
contented myself, by way of reprisals, with assuming
the command of the forces as before.

At this time took place the splendid fight against the
diyisions* of Lamos and Vergara, who continually
harassed us at a distance. On May 20, 1846, we sur-
prised them, as usual by a night-march, on the banks
of the Dayman, a tributary of the Uruguay. They had
recoyered after the affair at San Antonio—when they
had fought under the orders of Servando Gomez—had
received reinforcements of horses and men, and re-
occupied their former position in the neighbourhood of
Salto, changing their encampments, but always keeping
about a day’s march distant from us, on account of the
infantry, which alone inspired them with fear, our
cavalry being few and badly mounted.

* These divisions are far inferior to European ones in number,
and generally composed of cavalry alone.

940 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

The enemy did not fail to molest us as often as they
could, especially, when we rode out to collect cattle, by
driving the latter as far away as possible. A certain
Major Dominguez, sent by General Medina to get
together a herd of cattle, had been completely beaten,
losing all his horses and some of his men, and being
forced to save the rest by taking to the woods which
lined the left bank of the river. Ihad the position of
the enemy’s camp observed, and on the night of the
19th, we marched out to fight them, with about 300
horse, and about 100 of the legion, the sacred battalion
—poor fellows! they had been sadly decimated! My
object was to surprise the enemy’s camp at dawn,
in which, this time, we succeeded perfectly. My bagu-
cano (guide) was one Captain Paulo, a native Indian,
one of that unhappy race which was the dominant one
in the New World before the invasion of European
freebooters. ‘These people still possess a peculiar and
special knowledge of their native plains. Having
placed our infantry on horseback, we marched all night,
and by dawn, having done over twenty miles, arrived
in sight of the enemy’s camp-fires on the right bank of
the Dayman. The infantry dismounted, and resolutely
attacked in column, without firing a shot.

The victory was easy, and Vergara’s men, whose
camp we had attacked, were driven into the river,
leaving behind arms, horses, and a few prisoners. The
‘triumph, however, was far from being complete—as I
perceived when the day broke.

Lamos’ camp was separated from that of Vergara by

FIGHT AT THE DAYMAN. 241

a small stream running into the Dayman; and the
general, hearing the attack on Vergara’s camp, had
formed his men, and posted himself on a hill which
overlooked the position. Vergara, with the greater
part of his men, had been able to cross the stream and
join Lamos. They were brave veteran soldiers, well
accustomed to the ever-varying fortunes of war.

After having collected all the serviceable horses from
the abandoned camps, we pursued the enemy, but in
vain. The greater part of our cavalry were riding
rodomons, or freshly tamed horses ; the enemy, besides
being more numerous, were better mounted. I was
therefore unwilling to risk my raw cavalry without the
support of the superb soldiers of the legion.

We had, then, to desist from uselessly running after
the enemy, and to confine ourselves to the advantages
already gained, retracing our steps to Salto. Fortune,
however, had not ceased to favour us that day. We
were marching towards Salto in the following order :—
one squadron of cavalry in detachments in the van;
the infantry, in four divisions, in column in the centre;
the rest of the cavalry in the same order in the rear.
The vanguard was commanded by Colonel Centurion,
the centre by Major Carone, and the rearguard by
Colonel Garcia.

Two strong cavalry columns, commanded by Major
Carvallo and N. Fausto, covered our right flank, which
was the one exposed to the enemy. The caballada and
the horses belonging to the infantry were marching on
the left. The enemy, having re-formed as I have

VOL. I, R

242 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

already mentioned, and reconcentrated all their detach-
ments (numerous enough to surround us at a great
distance), amounted to about 500 horse. Having recon-
noitred our force, they marched along on our right flank
at a short distance, keeping a direction parallel to our
own. Judging by their action, they seemed to have the
intention of avenging the insult received in the night.

I had entrusted the command of the cavalry to
Colonel Callisto Centurion, whose courage was beyond
reproach. The infantry was commanded by our Carone,
whom I had recommended to keep them together-at any
cost. I told him always to maintain unbroken ranks
while fighting, and never to wheel about, but only
execute flank-movements, with a “ right—left ” or “ front
—rear ;” while the infantry was to serve not only as a
point dappur to Centurion, but as a shelter behind
which to form again in any emergency. The enemy
grew bolder as their forces increased with the arrival
of the different detachments.

We were marching over pleasant hills, about two
miles from the banks of the Dayman. The grass, of
a most vivid green, was only just appearing above the
surface of the ground, which undulated like the ocean
in all its peaceful majesty when undisturbed by storms.
Not a single shrub or tree offered an obstacle over all
that splendid plain. It would have been a pleasant
scene for a picnic, which would have suited better

with the spot than the slaughter that took place on it.

that day.
We had reached the edge of a stream, where the

FIGHT AT THE DAYMAN. 243

maciega (dry grass) was of the height of a man; but I
did not wish to cross, as we should have had to throw
our small column into disorder by passing in single
file; besides which, the hill on the right covered the
enemy's main body, so that we could see nothing
on the summit but their line of voltigeurs. Justly
apprehending an attack on this point, I ordered a hallt,.
and instructed Majors Carvallo and Fausto, both brave
officers, to charge the enemy’s line, drive it back over
the hill, and inform me of the arrangement of their
army. In fact, having reached the crest of the hill,
they stopped, and I was informed, by a staff-officer at
full gallop, that the enemy were wheeling to the left,
and advancing on us at a trot, and in order of battle.
There was no time to lose. Our cavalry detachments
on the wings wheeled to the right, and were immediately
reinforced by our reconcentrated line. The infantry
did the same on the left flank, and we marched on the
enemy in good order. When our line of battle presented
itself on the top of the eminence, the enemy’s line
appeared marching towards us, about a pistol-shot off.
Here I must acknowledge that I saw the enemy
execute a movement from the centre to the wings,
of which I believe American cavalry alone to be
capable, and which shows with what proved warriors
we had to deal. In order to avoid the shock of contact
with our dreaded infantry, they opened in the centre,
and, wheeling their detachments to right and left—thus
describing a semicircle—fell upon our two wings at
full gallop, and would have entirely destroyed them

944 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

had not our own detachments wheeled and charged
simultaneously.

As soon as I had discovered the enemy, I ordered
a front charge, so as not to lose the impetus gained by
our downward movement; but the result of the tactics
above described was that the first shock was of cavalry
alone, and, as might have been expected, sustained by
the worst of our force, inferior both in numbers and
the quality of their horses.

Our infantry was for a time isolated and inactive,
but remaining in the centre of the conflict, now firm
and compact as a field fort, now rushing into the
thickest of the fray, it was often of service in allowing
our dispersed horsemen—who, though their order was
broken by the enemy, fought like lions, and then

formed again behind us—to regain their order under its -

protection.

A small cavalry reserve, which we had left to guard
the caballada, was also, by concentrating itself on the
infantry, of great use for the reorganizing of our broken
detachments. Several cavalry charges took place with
varying success on both sides. It was a continual
oscillation of ranks, now compact and now broken.
I do not know which side showed most valour. The
enemy’s cavalry, superior both in number and in
the quality of their horses to our own, drove back
the latter on the infantry, and often measured their
lances with our bayonets; and ours, thereupon, re-
organized by the support of the foot, repulsed them to
a distance, after a hand-to-hand fight.

FIGHT AT THE DAYMAN. 945

Our young Italians—how glorious they were that
day !—compact as a rampart, yet most active, hastened
up wherever their help was needed—of course, always
in the thickest of the fight, always putting to flight
the pursuers of their mounted comrades. Their shots,
few, but measured and certain, diminished the enemy’s
numbers and threw them into confusion.

At last, from the continual succession of charges, the
enemy's army lost all order, and was only a shapeless
mass. Our men, on the other hand, supported by the
infantry, could always regain their ranks. The conflict
had in this way lasted about half an hour, when our
men, no longer charged by an ordered force, re-formed
in several compact bodies and hurled themselves in
a decisive charge. The enemy wavered, broke, and
began to fly. A cloud of bolas then soared through the
air, and formed a curious spectacle—if slaughter under
any form can be the object of curiosity.

I count the American cavalry-soldier second to none
in any kind of fighting. After a victory, I do not think
there is his equal for pursuing and capturing a flying
enemy. A true centaur, no obstacle on the plain can
arrest his course. A tree will not allow him to pass
upright—he bends down along the horse’s back and
disappears from view, the two outlines being con-
founded together. If the obstacle is a river, the South
American dashes in, holding his weapon between his
teeth, and strikes the enemy even in the midst of
the waters. Besides the bolas, they have the terrible
knife—their lifelong companion, never parted from—

246 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

which they handle with unique and perhaps excessive
dexterity. Woe to the enemy whose horse is wearied
out or entangled in the bolas; he cannot escape the
knife of his pursuer. To spring from his horse, cut
the throat of a fallen man, and mount again to join
his comrades—all this is the work of a few minutes.
Their habit of living on flesh only, and slaughtering
cattle every day, is probably the reason why they find
homicide so easy.

Such customs among a courageous people sometimes
give rise, even after a victory, to conflicts which make
one positively shudder. I do not exaggerate. One of
these fights was engaged in not far from where I stood,
between an enemy whose horse had been killed, and
our men. The former, when he was unhorsed, con-
tinued to fight the man who had done it, on foot, and
was handling him very severely, when another of the
victors came up, then another; at last the gallant
fellow was fighting six men at once, and on one knee,
being wounded in the thigh. I arrived late, but in
time to save the brave fellow’s life.

The triumph was complete, and, the enemy’s troops
being entirely routed, we pursued them for several
miles. The immediate result of this victory was
not what it ought to have been, on account of the
inferiority of our horses, which allowed many of the
enemy to escape. Nevertheless, during the whole time
we remained at Salto, we had the satisfaction of seeing
this fine department clear of the enemy.

J have been somewhat diffuse in narrating the affair

FIGHT AT THE DAYMAN. 947

of May 20, because this was really a fine and hon-
ourable action, fought on a splendid field clear of every
obstacle, in a climate and under a sky which recalled
our own beautiful country, so that every evolution,
every movement, could be plainly seen; and against
an enemy of tried strength, and superior in numbers —
and in the quality of his horses—the principal item
in that kind of warfare which consists of a series of
duels on horseback, fought with equal valour on both
sides.

Our cavalry, considering the inferiority above men-
tioned, performed miracles that day. As for the infantry,
I will repeat the verdict of Major Carvallo, who fought
beside us at San Antonio and at the Dayman, like the
hero he was, and in each battle received a bullet in the
face, two finger’s-breadths under the eye, in the promi-
nent part of the cheek, one on the right, the other on
the left side of the face, in a perfectly symmetrical
position. Though wounded at the beginning of the
fight, he would not quit the field. When it was over,
he asked me for permission to ride to Salto, to get his
wound attended to. Passing under the battery of the
town, he was asked how the day had ended, and replied
—he could scarcely speak—“ The Italian infantry is
steadier than your battery!” I should wish this to
remain impressed on the minds of our young Italians,
who may yet unhappily find themselves called upon to
measure their strength against our boastful neighbours,
since—whatever may be the reason, and I think, what-
ever other conjectures may be formed, that it is the

248 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

fault of our rulers and priests—we are very far from
possessing the moral and material requisites necessary
for due resistance to a powerful invader. I have heard
our lads cry, “ Cavalry! cavalry!” and—it is a shame-
ful thing to say—throw down their arms and fly,
often before an imaginary danger. Cavalry! but the
Italians at San Antonio and the Dayman laughed at
the first cavalry in the world, at a time when they
were armed only with wretched flint-lock guns. What
might they not do to-day, with improved weapons ?

We: are, as regards cavalry, inferior to all the
neighbouring nations who are accustomed to trample
our rights underfoot, and who might again gratify
their overbearing instincts at our expense. Without
depreciating cavalry, which is most useful in certain
contigencies of war, we ought to accustom our young
men to it, and familiarize them with the idea that
infantry ought never to fear cavalry.

Let us suppose a company of a hundred men—such as
we had at the Dayman—ranged in a compact mass, and
occupying a square of ten métres. However numer-
ous the enemy’s cavalry may be, this square cannot
be charged on any one side by more than five horsemen
in line, while it can open fire with two ranks, that
is, twenty soldiers, at once. It follows that, unless
the infantry lose their heads, the five or ten charging
cavalry will never get near enough—considering the
recent improvements in the weapons of the infantry—
for swords and bayonets to be brought in contact.

——————————

( 249)

CHAPTER XLVII.
SOME OF THE DEAD AND WOUNDED OF THE LEGION.

I HAVE already remarked that in the Journal of the
Montevideo Italian Legion, kept by Anzani, are
recorded the names of the dead and wounded, and
those who distinguished themselves in any of the
engagements in which the legion took part. Neverthe-
less, I do not think it superfluous to name a few- of.
those gallant companions-in-arms whom I can remember.

Dead in various battles of the Italian legion on the
plains of Uruguay :

Badano, a Genoese sergeant, the handsomest and
bravest soldier of the legion. No one gained greater
distinction in the various engagements, especially that
at San Antonio. On our return to Montevideo, he
asked leave to go back for a time to Salto, and found
himself present at an attack on that city made by
Ourives’ general, Servando Gomez. Badano was not
the man to remain idle when there was fighting going
on. Having fought like the man he was, he fell, selling
his life dearly. Santo N——, a Piedmontese corporal,
as brave as Badano. In the beginning of the fight at
San Antonio, he was hit by three balls, and had both

BA

250 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

legs broken, besides a disfiguring wound in the face. I
helped him to a horse, in the retreat, and left him with
a soldier; but he never reached Salto. His corpse
was found next day in the Uruguay. Alessandro, a
Venetian, a good soldier and sailor, killed .at San
Antonio. Rebella, a Genoese, a brave soldier, killed at
San Antonio. Azzalino, a Genoese, a brave sergeant,
died at Salto, in consequence of wounds received at San
Antonio. Beruti, a Genoese sergeant, died at Salto
from wounds received at San Antonio. Luigi Vicenti,
a Genoese (all were brave), died at Salto of wounds
received at San Antonio. Antonio, called Trentuno, a
Genoese who, having fought at San Antonio, and
received some wounds from which he recovered, was
killed by a bullet outside the walls of Montevideo.
Tortarello, a Genoese trumpeter, was by my side at
San Antonio, and on May 20, at the Dayman. Battles
were a joy to him. Having received a wound in his
right arm (which afterwards necessitated amputation),
he passed the trumpet to his left hand, and continued
to sound the charge. He also died at Montevideo.

Severely wounded :

Vittorio Richieri, of Nice, sergeant—a tremendous
bullet-wound in the knee, which obliged him to have
his leg amputated, and one less severe in the hand.
His cure was promoted by his imperturbable courage. -
Collegari, sergeant, of Bergamo—the most extraordinary
wound I eversaw. His wonderful stoicism, no doubt,
had a great influence on his almost miraculous recovery.
Giuseppe Marrocchetti, captain, wounded by a bullet in

DEAD AND WOUNDED OF THE LEGION. 251

the thigh, at the beginning of the battle of San Antonio.
Casana, a Genoese captain, same as the preceding.
Sacchi, of Pavia, first lieutenant, wounded by a bullet
at the beginning of the fight at San Antonio. Ramorino,
a Piedmontese, second lieutenant, wounded by a bullet
at San Antonio. Rodi, a Piedmontese, second lieutenant,
wounded by a bullet in the head at San Antonio.
Amero, called Grafigno, of Castiglione d’ Asti, second lieu-
tenant, wounded by a bullet at San Antonio. Zaccarello,
the younger brother, a Genoese, wounded by a bullet
at San Antonio. Giovanni Battista Beruti, a Genoese
captain, same as the preceding. Natale Paggi,a Genoese
officer, wounded by a bullet in a fight on the river
Uruguay. Pateta, a Genoese, bullet and sword wound
at San Antonio. Gismondi, Genoese, sword and lance
wounds at San Antonio.. Ferranditi, Genoese, a lad of
fourteen, shot through the chest under the walls of
Montevideo. Juancito Otero Gallega, served as staff-
officer at San Antonio; died a hero’s death in a naval
action in the Rio de La Plata. |

José Maria Villega commanded the small number of
cavalry remaining to us, after Baez’s flight from San
Antonio, and fought most gallantly.

I should have held it a sacred duty to remember the
names of all the valiant Italians who made our country
so illustrious in those far-off regions, and by whose
means the Italian who lands to-day in this, one of the
most important parts of the New World, finds himself
considered almost a fellow-citizen by honest men, and
respected by those accustomed to see an enemy in every

252 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

foreigner. In the Journal of the Italian Legion, kept
by Anzani, which, unfortunately, 1 cannot now find,
the names and deeds of those gallant fellows are cer-
tainly recorded. I have forced my poor memory to
recall some ; but the greater number are irrecoverably
gone from me.

7
Le il death

( 253 )

CHAPTER XLVIII.
RETURN TO MONTEVIDEO.

Arter the fight of May 20, 1846, at the Dayman,
nothing further of importance occurred in our Uruguay
campaign.

I had orders from the Government to return to
Montevideo, with the flotilla and the detachment of the
Italian legion. Some of our smaller craft were left
behind at Salto, which remained under the orders of
Commandant Artigas, a brave officer who had dis-
tinguished himself in the affair of the 20th of May.
A few days after my departure, Colonel Blanco arrived
at Salto, and took command there by order of General
Ribera.

Owing to the mistakes made in Corrientes and at
Montevideo, the affairs of Rosas were flourishing, while
those of the nations of La Plata had fallen back into
the most wretched condition. Corrientes saw her army
annihilated by Urquiza-in a single battle; and that
unfortunate people, after having been plunged into a
sea of blood, now languished under the most execrable
despotism,

Ribera, not profiting by the lessons of misfortune,

254 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

was ending as he had begun—removing from office the
men who had honourably performed the duties of the
same, and substituting for them his own creatures;
destroying the materials for an army of operation, which
the courage and firm purpose of the citizens had created
and maintained with incomparable heroism. He ended
by sacrificing the relics of this army, and at last went
into banishment, followed by universal execration.

May such an end come—as come it will without fail—
to every man who thinks nations only created to satisfy
the passion for luxury, riches, and power, which sway
that lowest class of men called monarchs, and certain
presidents of republics still worse than they. The
French and English, wearied out by our misfortunes,
and rendered distrustful by so deplorable a course of
conduct, were inclined to give us up entirely—especially
the latter, the French being withheld by a sense of
responsibility for the safety of their numerous com-
patriots, rather than by interest in a failing cause. Our
posts in the interior were one by one falling into the
power of the enemy. Salto, so gloriously won and held
by us, succumbed to the attacks of Servando Gomez; the
brave veteran, Colonel Blanco, perishing in its defence,
along with many others—among them that Lieutenant
Gallegos already mentioned by me as brave, but cruel
and bloodthirsty, who was, therefore, massacred as soon
as he fell into the enemy’s hands. The defence was
confined to Montevideo itself, the last remaining bul-
wark of the liberties of Uruguay. At Montevideo, all
those men, drawn to each other by six years of hardships,

RETURN TO MONTEVIDEO. 255

dangers, glory, and adventures, gathered themselves
together once more, and set to work undauntedly to
rebuild an edifice which the wickedness of man had
razed almost to the ground. Colonel Villagram, the
gallant veteran of forty years’ wars, renewing his youth
in battle; Diaz and Tajes, gallant chiefs basely
banished by Ribera, because they served not him, but
their country; and many other young leading men,
deprived of their posts by the same tyrant, resumed
them in the full consciousness of a just cause, bringing
back with them resolution and mutual faith into the
ranks of the defenders.

Uruguayans, French, and Italians now began, under
the strong stimulus of public need, to march with
the same alacrity as formerly, to the defence of their
common country—the hospitable city which had so
generously given us an asylum being considered as
such by us. In short, no one uttered another despon-
dent word, The siege of Montevideo, when its details
are better known, will not be counted the least note-
worthy among the noble defences sustained by nations |
fighting for their independence, with courage, constancy,
and sacrifices of every kind. It will prove the power of
a nation which refuses to bow the knee before the arro-
gance of a tyrant; whatever may be its fate, that nation
deserves the applause and admiration of the world.

The period between our return from Uruguay and our
departure for Central Italy is one of slight distinction.
The Italian legion, justly esteemed for its glorious
achievements, had resumed its accustomed outpost

256 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

duty, alternately with the other corps in the capital.
Anzani marched with it, and, although no important
action took place, the legion never failed in any
encounter to be worthy of its fame.

I turned my attention rather to the navy, putting
some of the vessels which needed it most, under repairs,
and cruising with the schooner Maipu in the La Plata
River. During this time I was called to the honour of
commanding the army of the Republic. Nothing of
importance occurred during my command, which I
afterwards handed over to the brave old veteran Villa-
gram.

Meanwhile, the influence of the French was declining
day by day. They were no longer willing to use war-
like methods for obtaining the solution of the problem,
but confined themselves to diplomacy, which excited
the derision of Rosas. Various negotiators had suc-
ceeded in obtaining from the dictator nothing but
insignificant armistices, the only effect of which was to
consume the scanty supplies collected with such diffi-
culty in the besieged city. With this change of policy,
France had also changed her agents. For the ambas-
sadors Deffaudis and Ouseley, for Admirals Lainé and
Inglefield—well worthy of sustaining a generous and
popular policy—had been substituted men given to
compromise, and to a policy whose only aim ,was to be
rid of the business at any cost.

The Uruguayan Government, helpless for want of
resources, was obliged to submit to the dictates of the
mediating Powers.

RETURN TO MONTEVIDEO. 257

A deplorable situation! Unhappy are the people who
look to foreigners for their well-being. And every
time we meet with a fresh exemplification of this dis-
tressing truth, our thoughts turn back sadly to our poor
ltaly.

At that time-—the beginning of 1848, I think—we
heard the news of the recent pontifical reforms, while it
had already for some time been evident, from all the
correspondence which reached La’ Plata, that Italian
intolerance of foreign dominion had reached its height.

The idea of returning to our own country and giving
our strength for her redemption had long made our
hearts beat high. It was indeed painful to leave the
land of our asylum, our adopted country, our brothers-
in-arms ; but the Montevidean question had become a
purely diplomatic one, and nothing was left to us save
weariness and annoyance, if not worse—as might well
be imagined, since we had to deal with that French
Government which was always hostile to our nationality.

Such being the state of affairs, we decided to gather
together a handful of our bravest, find the means of
transport, and set sail for Italy.

VOL. I, S

SECOND PERIOD. .

CHAPTER I.
VOYAGE TO ITALY.

THERE were sixty-three of us left the banks of the La
Plata to fight out the war of redemption on Italian
soil. We had heard many reports of revolutionary
movements in the Peninsula, but had decided—even
should these prove to be untrue—to try our fortune,
and attempt to promote such movements by landing on
the wooded coast of Tuscany, or elsewhere where our
presence might be most acceptable and opportune. We
embarked on board the brigantine Speranza, which we
had chartered with our own savings, aided by the
generous patriotism of some of our countrymen, among
whom were distinguished G. Battista Capurro, Gianello
Dellazoppa, Massera, G. Avegno, and, above all, our
excellent Stefano Antonini, who was responsible for the
greater part of the hire and the provisions necessary
for the voyage.

We were marching towards the fulfilment of the
longing, the passion, of our whole life; we were hastening
to dedicate the weapons gloriously wielded in the ser-

saad

VOYAGE TO ITALY. 259

vice of the oppressed of other countries to our own
beloved land. That thought more than compensated
for the dangers, hardships, sufferings of a whole life of
tribulation. Our hearts threbbed high with lofty hopes
and enthusiasm. If the right hand, hardened in the
battles of far-off lands, has been strong in defence of
others, what will it not be for Italy ?

Before us opened the Eden of our imagination. Had
it not been marred by the remembrance of -all we
left behind us, our happiness would have been quite
complete. Behind us remained the people of our
affection—for indeed the Uruguayans are a very lov-
able nation. We had so long shared their few joys and
their many griefs, and now were leaving them, not
conquered, not cast down from their sublime courage,
but a prey to the worst evil ever conceived by the
human mind—to French diplomacy.

We left our comrades in arms before the last battle
was fought. It was hard, even considering the reasons
that made it necessary. The people who had welcomed
us with such enthusiasm, who had such quiet con-
fidence in the courage of our soldiers, took every oppor-
tunity of showing their affection and gratitude. The
land, too, which we loved as if it had been our own,
contained the bones of so many of our Italian comrades
who had given their lives for it.

Our departure took place April 15, 1848. Leaving
the port of Montevideo with a favouring breeze, although
the weather was threatening, we were towards evening
about half-way between the Maldonado coast and the

260 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

Isla de Lobos. On the morning of the following day
we could only just distinguish the peaks of the Sierra
de las Animas; and after a time these disappeared from
view, leaving to our sight only the vast level of the
Atlantic, and. to our hearts the fairest and sublimest.
of hopes—the deliverance of our country.

Sixty-three of us, all young, all used to the battle-
field. Anzani, whose health had been terribly weak-
ened in the sacred contest for the cause of nations, was.
wasting away in the agonies of consumption. Sacchi
had been severely wounded in the knee, and his leg was
in a frightful state; but faith and the brotherly care of
his comrades brought him safe, though not cured, to the
Italian shore. Anzani landed in Italy only to find a
grave beside his parents.

Our voyage was short and prosperous. The hours.
not employed in navigating the vessel were spent for
the most part in profitable occupations. The unlettered
were taught by those better instructed; nor did we neg-
lect gymnastic exercises. A patriotic hymn, composed
and set to music by our friend Coccelli, was our evening
prayer. We sang it every night, standing in a group on
the deck of the Speranza. Led by Coccelli, the sixty
voices joined in and repeated the chorus with the
greatest enthusiasm.

Thus we crossed the ocean, in uncertainty as to the
fortunes of Italy, knowing only of the reforms promised
by Pius IX. We had agreed to land in Tuscany, where
we were to disembark quite irrespective of the political
situation, prepared alike to meet friends or foes.

VOYAGE TO ITALY. 261

However, circumstances modified our plan and shaped
our course for Nice. Anzani was growing worse day by
day; the few provisions we had suitable to his state
were exhausted, and we were obliged to approach the
coast in order to procure fresh supplies, which we did
at Santa Pola, on the coast of Spain. Captain Gazzolo,
commanding the Speranza, went ashore, and quickly
returned on board with news to turn the heads of men
far less enthusiastic than ourselves. Palermo, Milan,
Venice, and a hundred sister cities had brought about
the momentous revolution. The Piedmontese army
was pursuing the scattered remnants of the Austrian ;
and all Italy, replying as one man to the call to arms,
was sending her contingents of brave men to the holy
war.

The effect produced on all of us by this news may
be better imagined than described. There was a rush-
ing on deck, embracing one another, raving, weeping for
very joy. Anzani sprang to his feet, excitement over-
powering his terrible state of weakness. Sacchi abso-
lutely insisted on being taken from his berth and carried
on deck.

“Make all sail!” was the general cry ; and indeed, if
this order had not been executed at once, confusion
would have been the result. In a flash the anchor was
weighed and the brigantine under sail. The wind
seemed to second our desires, our impatience. In a
few days we had passed the coasts of Spain and France,
and arrived in sight of Italy, our promised land! no
longer exiles, no longer forced to fight for the privilege

262 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

of landing on our native shores. For this purpose,
having abandoned our first design of landing in Tuscany,
we chose Nice,* the first Italian port we came to, where
we landed about June 23, 1848.

Through all the troubles of my past life, I had con-
stantly hoped for better days. Here at Nice I found a
combination of happiness, as great as is ever accorded to
mortal man. Too much happiness, indeed. I had almost
a foreboding of misfortunes not very far distant.

My Anita and my children, who had left America
some months earlier, were there with my aged mother,
whom I loved almost to idolatry, and had not seen for
fourteen years. Dear relatives and valued friends of
my youth greeted me, rejoicing to see me again, and at
so auspicious a time.

My good fellow-citizens, excited by the noble hopes
which shone brightly on the horizon of Italy’s future,
were proud of the little I had done in the New World.
Certainly my position was an enviable one. I am
deeply touched, remembering those sweet emotions
which were to end so quickly and so painfully. We
had not yet reached the entrance of the harbour, when
I saw my dear wife in a boat, unable to contain herself
for joy. Crowds of people were seen on all sides,
hastening to welcome back the little band, who,
scorning distance and danger, had crossed the ocean to
offer their lives to their country.

My good and gallant comrades! How many of you

* Nice, which the great men of to-day have sold like a rag to the
foreigner—a rag which did not even belong to their miserable outfit !

VOYAGE TO ITALY. 263

were to die in your native land, in bitter despair of her
redemption! How grand they were in their loyal
goodness, their young valour, their great deeds achieved,
those comrades of mine! They proved themselves
worthy of their mission on their country’s battle-fields,
where their bones are whitening to-day—perhaps un-
buried, and without a stone to remind this new genera-
tion, whom they have delivered from a foreign yoke,
of such valour and such sacrifices!

On the spot where Montaldi, Ramorino, Peralta,
Minuto, Carbone fell with their brothers in glory, the
priest has raised a monument to the hirelings of
Bonaparte who fled before them, and afterwards, over-
powering them by mere numbers, butchered them amid
the blessings of those who had betrayed Italy.

At Nice we were to have awaited some quarantine for-
malities, etc., but all delay was obviated by the voice of
the people, then fully conscious of their own power. To
give an idea of the state of our finances, it is enough
to say that we had not enough to pay the pilot, one
Cerasco, who took us into the harbour.

Once our brigantine was anchored, and the landing
of Anzani and Sacchi provided for, our men all rushed
ashore, panting to set foot on Italian ground. I
hastened to embrace my children, and her whom I had
so grieved by my adventurous life. Poor mother!
My dearest wish was certainly that of cheering and
comforting her last days; her most ardent desire was
naturally that of seeing me at peace beside her. But
how could one hope for a time of quiet, or enjoy

264 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

the blessing of consoling her failing and painful old

_ age, in this country of priests and robbers ?

The few days passed at Nice were an unbroken
holiday ; but they were fighting on the Mincio, and idle-
ness was a crime while our brothers were engaged in
conflict with the foreigner.

We started for Genoa, where the good people were no
less desirous of giving us a friendly welcome. A
steamer was sent from this city to hasten our arrival;
but, not finding us at Nice, sought us in vain along the
Ligurian coast. We had been driven towards Corsica
by the current and a slight contrary wind. We
arrived at last, and with us some young Nizzards,
who, with the enthusiasm belonging to their age, and
at that time pervading, like a vital flame, the whole
population of the Peninsula, had insisted on accompany-
ing us.

The people of Genoa welcomed us in a tumult of joy
and affection; the authorities, with the coldness of a
conscience ill at ease. It was the prelude to that series
of insincere temporizings which accompanied us in our
country, wherever we met with those devotees of com-
promise and moderate ideas, who were drawn into
liberal measures rather from fear of the people than
from faith in them and zeal for human improvement.

Anzani, whom I had left with my mother, had pre-
ceded us to Genoa—urged on by the impatience of his
own fiery spirit—embarking on board the steamer, in
spite of the weakness and exhaustion to which his
mortal illness had reduced him.

VOYAGE TO ITALY. 265

Here begins the ostracism to which the friends of
Mazzini subjected me in 1848, and which lasts to this
day (1872) more obstinately than ever. Their motive
or pretext was, no doubt, my wishing to march with my
comrades to the battle-field—at that time on the Mincio
and in Tyrol—and this because it was a royal army
that was fighting the Austrians. Be it noted that the
chiefs of that same party who in 1848 tormented poor
dying Anzani to use his influence with me, are at this
day the most faithful adherents of the monarchy.

When I heard my dearly loved comrade in many a
glorious fight entreat me “not to desert the people’s
cause,’ I confess that I felt it bitterly—no less than
when asked in recent days to “declare myself openly
a republican.” In a few days, that truly great Italian
—for whom all Italy should by rights have mourned—
died in the house of our friend Gaetano Gallino. Had
we been fortunate enough to have him at the head of
our army, the Peninsula would certainly have been
cleared of all foreign rulers long ago. I never knew a
more capable and honourable man, or a soldier of loftier
character, than Anzani. His body was quietly carried
through Liguria and Lombardy, to be buried in the
grave of his fathers, at Alzate, his native place.

266 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER II.
AT MILAN.

Our purpose on leaving America had been to save Italy
and fight against her enemies, whatever might be the
political leanings of our leaders in the war of emanci-
pation. The majority of our fellow-citizens manifested
the same wish, and I was to lead our small contingent
to join the rest of those already fighting in the sacred
war. These were at that time under the leadership of
Carlo Alberto; and I repaired to his head-quarters at
Roverbella, to offer, with no feelings of bitterness,
myself and comrades to the service of the man who in
1834 had condemned me to death.

In the interviews I had with him, I perceived a
certain diffidence in welcoming me, and deplored the
destiny of our poor country, committed to the hesita-
tions and uncertainties of such a man. I would have
served Italy under that king’s orders with the same
fervour as if the country had been a republic, and would
have persuaded the young men ,who trusted me to
follow on the same path of self-denial. To unite Italy,
and save her from the pestilence of foreign dominion,
was my aim—as I believe it to have been most men’s

AT MILAN. 267

at that period. Italy would not have repaid her
deliverers with ingratitude. I will not open the grave of
that dead man, to pronounce on his conduct. I leave
it to history to judge him, and will only say that, called
by his position, by circumstances, and by the voice of
the majority of Italians, to the leadership in the war of
redemption, he did not respond to the trust reposed in
him, and not only showed himself incapable of making
use of the enormous resources at his disposal, but
proved the principal cause of our ruin.

My comrades had to march from Genoa to Milan,
owing to an unfortunate impression generally prevalent,
and no doubt due to those who maintained the useless-
ness and pernicious influence of volunteer corps; while
I was hastening from the former city to Roverbella, from
Roverbella to Turin, and thence to Milan, without
obtaining permission to serve my country in any
capacity.

Casati, a member of the Provisional Government of
Lombardy, was the only one who thought he could
make use of our help, which he did by attaching us to
the Lombard army. My vagabond journeyings, there-
fore, ended with my establishment at Milan, where the
Provisional Government entrusted me with the organi-
zation of various fragmentary bodies, to include my
few comrades from America. Things would have gone
pretty well had it not been for the sinister influence of
a member of the cabinet, one Sobrero, whose crooked
ways and unaccountable methods of proceeding disgust
me even now.

268 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

The members of the Provisional Government, placed
by circumstances in that position, were, I think, honest
men, though their avowed political opinions were con-
trary to my own; but certainly they lacked experience,
and were not fitted to cope with those times of urgent
need and imminent political convulsions. Sobrero took
advantage of their weakness, and managed them at his
will—so that, completely under his domination, these
good, inexperienced men were unconsciously marching
on their ruin. A fever which I had caught on my
journey to Roverbella, and the conferences with Sobrero
(among whose aversions was the red shirt, which, he
said, offered too conspicuous a mark to the bullets of the
enemy), made my stay in the beautiful and patriotic
city of the Five Days well-nigh intolerable; and I
breathed freely once more, on the joyful day when I left
the Lombard capital for Bergamo, followed by a hand-
ful of badly clothed and half-armed men. This time,
too, I was sent to organize—a task in nowise fitted to
my natural capacity and scanty knowledge of military
theory.

It should be remarked that the men entrusted to me
had nearly all been rejected by or discharged from the
volunteer corps carrying on the war in the Tyrol, and
were demoralized by a long stay in the capital.

Our sojourn at Bergamo was short. While we were
preparing for a defence, and using all possible means of
calling the brave population to arms—agents being sent
to mountains and valleys, to assemble the stalwart
inhabitants, principally through our indefatigable

AT MILAN. 269

friends Davide and Camozzi, whose influence in the
district was paramount, and whose unwearied efforts
were entirely nullified by our hasty departure—a
peremptory order recalled us to Milan, to rejoin our
army—then in retreat before the Austrians—and to
take part in the great battle which was imminent in
the neighbourhood of that city.

Whether under good or evil auspices, they were at
last thinking of fighting, and no time was lost about it.
Several remnants of Piedmontese battalions, and some
others then being formed under the direction of the
gallant Gabriele Camozzi (with two small and well-
handled guns acquired with his private means),
together with the small column raised under the name
of the Italian legion, and led by the Montevideo
veterans—3000 men in all, were marching eagerly
forward to help in deciding their country’s fate. <At
Merate, we left all baggage and knapsacks behind, in
order to get on faster. Near Monza, we received orders:
to manoeuvre on the enemy’s right flank, and were
already preparing to do so, by sending scouts on horse-
back to ascertain their movements and position. But
when we reached Monza, we found that the news of the
capitulation and armistice had arrived at the same time,
and the streets were soon blocked by streams of fugitives.

Only a short time before, I had seen the Piedmontese
army on the Mincio, and my heart had throbbed with a
proud confidence at the sight of those fine young fellows,
all impatient to meet the enemy. I had passed some
days among officers of this army already accustomed to

270 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

the fatigues of campaigning, who showed the joyousness
of the warrior sighing for battle. Truly, I would joy-
fully have yielded up my life, fighting beside these
brave men, if a conflict had taken place with the
enemies of Italy! To-day this army was said to be
routed without a defeat—dying with hunger in fertile
Lombardy ; Piedmont and Liguria in their rear, and no
ammunition! Turin, Milan, Alessandria, Genoa, still
intact, and a whole nation ready and willing to make
any sacrifice that might be asked of it; Italy, torn to
pieces by contending powers, was falling back into
slavery ; and no man appeared able to unite her scattered
fragments, and lead a strong nation against the enemy
and the traitor. That army, undivided and properly
commanded, would have been enough to face any num-
ber. of enemies and traitors. Armistice, capitulation,
flight—these were tidings which fell upon us, one after
the other, like thunderbolts, and with them panic and
demoralization among the citizens, in the ranks, and
everywhere. Certain cowards, who were, unhappily, to
be found among my men, left their guns on the square
at Monza, and began to fly in all directions. Those who
remained true, furious and scandalized at so great a
disgrace, pointed their muskets at them; but, fortunately,
the officers and I were able to prevent the massacre,
and keep our force in some degree together. Some of the
fugitives were punished, others degraded and expelled.
Such a state of things decided me to take my departure
from this scene of disaster, and make my way to Como,
with the intention of holding out in that mountainous

a

AT MILAN. — 271

country, and, awaiting the issue of events, determined to
carry on a guerilla warfare, if nothing else could be
done.

Between Monza and Como I met Mazzini* with his
banner, “Dio e Popolo.” He joined us on the march, and
accompanied us as far as Como, whence he proceeded
into Switzerland, while I was making my arrangements
for holding the mountain fastnesses of that district.
Many of his actual or supposed adherents, who were
with him, followed him across the frontier. This
naturally served as an inducement to others to leave
us, so that our ranks were somewhat thinned.

At Milan, I had been guilty of the mistake—which
Mazzini never forgave me—of suggesting to him that it
was not well to keep back a number of young men from
joining us by the promise of proclaiming the Republic
if they would. wait, while army and volunteers were
fighting the Austrians.

Arrived in Como, we found less disorder, though not
less consternation, at the fatal events which had taken

place at Milan, and the disaster which had befallen the
army.

* To-day he is dead (March 28, 1872). I am not accustomed
to bear malice against individuals, especially after their deaths.
Writing, however, of what is matter of history, I find it my duty to

describe impartially the various circumstances in which he acted
wrongly towards me.

272 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER IIT.
COMO—SESTO CALENDE—CASTELLETTO.

At Como we were well received by the kindly inhabi-
tants, who had already shown us much sympathy;
having, from the time of our first arrival at Milan,
expressed the wish that we had been destined for Como
rather than any other place, to organize our army.

The municipal authorities also received us well,
and supplied us with all they could provide, especially
clothes, of which my men stood in great need.

As for putting the town into a state of defence, and
holding it against the Austrians, this did not meet their
views; and, in fact, Como would require strong outside
works and a numerous garrison to defend it against a
powerful enemy. It is low, being built on the lake-
shore, and overlooked by many heights. On the second
day after we reached Como, General Zucchi arrived in
a carriage, on his way to Switzerland. When the in-
habitants heard of his arrival, and his intention of
leaving Italy, they were inflamed with indignation,
rushed in a body to the inn where he had put up, and
announced their intention of dragging him out and
ill-using him. Warned in time, I hastened to the spot,

COMO—SESTO CALENDE—CASTELLETTO. 273

and succeeded in pacifying the people, by reminding them
of the general’s advanced age and former distinctions.

On the evening of the same day we evacuated Como,
and, after a short march, encamped west of the town, on
the road to San Fermo. At Como, many of our men
deserted, crossing the frontier into Switzerland; many
others, I think, only refrained out of shame, in the
presence of the brave and enthusiastically patriotic
people, and waited till they were outside the walls of
the town before leaving the ranks of those who were
preparing to defend the last strip of Italian territory
with their lives.

During the first night’s bivouac the desertions were
numerous, piles of abandoned muskets being seen at
daybreak in the camp. With pain, but from a sense of
duty, so that my fellow-citizens may learn from the
example of the past not lightly to give up their beau-
tiful country again to the insatiable foreigner, I relate
our disgraces as they happened. For truth’s sake, how-
ever, I must say that my soldiers, especially one battalion
from Vicenza, were for the most part clothed only in
linen, and had no cloaks—in spite of the generosity of
the Comaschi, who did what they could for us. The
royal commissariat officers at Milan, who had found the
red shirt too conspicuous a mark for the enemy, had,
nevertheless, not troubled themselves to furnish us
with cloaks—a neglect from which my volunteers
suffered over and over again. The nearness of the
Swiss frontier, moreover, increased the men’s inclination
to desert; perhaps it was no wonder if the majority

VOL. I. v

274 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

found it pleasanter to relate their glorious deeds in the
inns and cafés of Lugano, than to stay and endure the
hardships and dangers of the camp.

For a few days we wandered through those mountains,
picking up the arms of our deserters, and piling them on
“requisitioned” carts, which accompanied our march.
But this excessive encumbrance increased every day,
and we were more like a caravan of Bedouins than a
body of men ready to fight for their country, I there-
fore determined to leave Lombardy for the present, and
pass into Piedmont. We marched to Varese, and thence
to Sesto Calende, where we passed the Ticino, having
already a corps of Austrians on our track.

At Castelletto, on the right bank of the Ticino, I
planned a.halt, and consulted the authorities of that
small but friendly town as to whether they would assist
in the defence, in case we were attacked there by the
enemy.

All the municipal authorities and the people willingly
assented, and we set to work upon some temporary
fortifications, on a site which, being easily defensible,
would have enabled us to offer an effectual resistance.
The morale of the men was also improved, Captain
Ramorino, sent to the opposite bank of the river, where
the enemy had appeared, put one of their advanced
outposts to flight, wounded some men, and brought
back as a trophy to the camp a few lances and cavalry
trappings,

We spent some days at Castelletto. The enemy gave
me notice of the suspension of arms, which I caused

COMO—SESTO GALENDE—CASTELLETTO. 2'75

my men to observe, though I refused to agree to a
proposed exchange of visits between the camps.

The Salasco armistice was concluded, and filled us
all with indignation at its degrading conditions. The
slavery of poor Lombardy was sealed; and we, who
had come to defend her, who had been hailed as the
champions of that unhappy people, had not even
unsheathed our sabres for her. It was enough to make
a man die of shame

276 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER IV.
RETURN TO LOMBARDY.

A PROCLAMATION repudiating the infamous treaty was
immediately issued, and our one thought was that of
returning to Lombard soil, to fight against its oppressors
in any way we could. At the news of the armistice,
Daverio came to us from Lugano, sent by Mazzini, with
promises of assistance in men and money, to make the:
attempt over again—which was like butter to our bread.

There were two steamers on Lago Maggiore, running
with cargo and passengers between Italy and Switzer-
land. Our first idea was naturally to get possession of
these, for transport across the lake. They put in
periodically at Arona, the nearest point to us. We
reached it in one night’s march, and seized one of the:
steamers; the other, arriving during the following day,
met with a like fate. A proportionate number of boats.
were loaded with horses, stores, and part of the infantry ;
the two small cannon were placed on board the
steamers. The municipality of Arona supplied us on
demand with funds and provisions, and we steered for
Luino, towing all the loaded boats behind the steamers..

Our progress along the western shore of this mag-

RETURN TO LOMBARDY. 277

nificent lake was a touching sight. A large number
of Lombard families, emigrants from their own homes,
had fixed their abode on this picturesque shore, one
of the loveliest in the world. Knowing our inten-
tions, they saluted us everywhere with waving of flags
and handkerchiefs, and joyful “ Evvivas,’” Everywhere
we could see our beautiful countrywomen leaning
from the balconies of the houses, with their charming
faces so animated by enthusiasm, that it seemed as
though they would fly to welcome the brave men who
did not despair of snatching their homes from the
foreigner. We responded to the cheers of our loved
compatriots, with a proud consciousness of their
applause and our own determination.

Crossing the lake, we reached Luino, where we
landed, about 800 in number, taking with us a few
horses, and leaving the two guns on board the steamers,
which were commanded by Tommaso Risso. Next day,
while we were getting ready to start from the Beccaccia
inn at Luino, to dash into the district of Varese, I
heard that an Austrian column was advancing on us
by the high-road from the south. Our column having
already started along a path which forms a short cut to
Varese, I made those in the rear turn back at once, and
ordered one company of the rearguard to take up their
position once more at the inn and in its surrounding
buildings, so as to prevent the enemy from occupying
them. But it was already too late; the Austrians,
having reached that point in force, seized it, repulsing
our small body with ease. Our column, divided into

278 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

three corps, and shut in by the narrow path, which
had high rocks on either side, was unable to deploy
or assume any other than a flank formation; but,
returning to the inn, we found more space, and could
draw up the second and third corps in column by
sections. I looked upon the inn as the key to the
position, and therefore the objective point of the battle- .
field—which we had to gain, or abandon the ground
with the appearance of a defeat.

The Beccaccia was a strong building, with several
enclosures, and surrounded by a number of hedges and
wood-piles, all of which were in the hands of the enemy,
and had to be retaken. It was therefore necessary
resolutely to charge the position; and the third corps
attacked en échelon, but was repulsed, in spite of the
efforts of Major Marrocchetti, its commander.

The second corps, consisting of the Pavia Bersaglieri,
commanded by Major Angelo Pegurini, had orders to
charge; while Captain Coccelli, climbing with his
company over a wall on our left, appeared on the
enemy’s right flank. .

The Pavesi charged with the coolness of old soldiers ;
it was their first fight, and, though several of them fell,
they got far enough to bayonet the Austrians, who,
struck with consternation by such valour, and by the
appearance of Coccelli on their left, turned and fled
outright. |

With fifty cavalry to pursue them, few or none of
those enemies of Italy would have escaped. The few
horsemen I had—among them the officers Bueno and

RETURN TO LOMBARDY. — 279

Giacomo Minuto, both of conspicuous bravery—were
employed as scouts and vedettes.

Some Austrians were killed, and thirty-seven re-
mained prisoners, among them a surgeon.*

The result of this victory was to leave us masters
of the Varese district, which we traversed in every
direction without opposition. The inhabitants roused
themselves somewhat from their dejection, and we
entered Varese amid the enthusiastic acclamations of
‘those good people. On this occasion I was conscious
of the revival of a hope I had cherished for many
years—that of inducing our countrymen to enter upon
a kind of unsystematic guerilla warfare, which, in the
absence of a regular army, might be the prelude of
our country’s emancipation, by promoting the general
arming of the nation, in case the latter was firmly and
honestly resolved to free itself. I therefore detached
Captain Medici’s company (composed of picked young
men), and several others, with directions to act inde-
pendently of each other.

But the success of the campaign was to terminate at
Luino. The capitulation of Milan, the retreat of the
Piedmontese army, and the abandonment of the Lombard
territory by the numerous volunteer corps of Durando,
Griffini, and others, had discouraged the populace.
There was, indeed, a gleam of enthusiasm on our re-

* Here I owe a word of praise to that excellent lady, Signora
Laura Mantegazza. The firing was not yet over, when this noble
woman crossed the lake in a boat, and, taking away all the wounded,
without distinction of friend or foe, received and cared for them in
her house. She has earned the blessings of every one.

‘280 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

‘appearance, and again after our success at Luino. But
despondency once more gained ground when they saw
our small numbers, and heard of the frequent deser-
tions from our force—desertions encouraged by. those
very men who had promised us reinforcements and
subsidies from Lugano.

Medici, after having done his best, and fought bravely
against heavy odds, had been obliged to pass into
Switzerland; the rest of the detachments are not worth
mentioning. Meanwhile the Austrians increased their
numbers in every direction, and were not ashamed to
send imposing forces against a mere handful of Italian
volunteers.

We remained a short time in the town of Varese, and
several days in the neighbourhood, making all haste, so
as to avoid encotntering the enemy, whose numbers,
superior to begin with, were increased from day to day.
Near Sesto Calende, we were joined by a Neapolitan
captain, of the Durando column, with some men, and
two heavy guns, which, under other circumstances, would
have been invaluable to us, but at present were only an
encumbrance, as we could not attempt to measure our
strength with so numerous an enemy in the open field.

I sent the captain back towards the Ticino with the
guns, while the soldiers—few, but brave men—re-
mained with us. We had to move and change our
position almost every night, in order to deceive the
enemy, who—through a misfortune incident to Italy,
especially in those times—always found plenty of
traitors ready to act as spies for them, while we, even

RETURN TO LOMBARDY. 281

by spending handfuls of gold, could with difficulty get
accurate information about the enemy. Here I had
my first experience of the indifference of the peasants
to the national cause, whether because they are the
creatures and the prey of the priest, or because they
are generally hostile to their own landlords. Most of
these had been forced to emigrate by the foreign invasion,
thus leaving their tenants to grow rich at their expense.

No more halts were made after this, except to let the
-men rest, and collect sufficient provisions. In this way
we passed some time, awaiting the enemy by day in a
strong position, where they did not venture to attack
us; and, when they tried to surround us with increasing
numbers, marching by night to other similar positions,
where, as a rule, the same process was repeated.

In these movements, which certainly required no
slight knowledge of the country, our Daverio, like
another Anzani, was of immense service to me. A
native of the district, enthusiastically beloved by all
classes, of indomitable courage and resolution, he found
matters easy, and did his best to make them so for
others. Even in outward appearance Daverio bore a
strong resemblance to my matchless comrade of Monte-
video, though differing from him in the possession of an
iron constitution.

The people were terrified by the imposing appearance
of the numerous Austrian corps, and not a single
inhabitant of any class joined us. It was only with
the greatest difficulty we could get guides. I had
hoped that young refugees would hasten from Switzer-

282 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

land to join us, and that we should be furnished with
supplies by those who had the means; not only did no
one move to swell our ranks, but from the very same
place rumours reached us of high enterprises preparing
at Mazzini’s head-quarters, which caused desertions
among cur soldiers, and consequent despondency among
the few who remained.

Near Ternate, we were so hemmed in between hostile
columns that it became very difficult to escape—indeed,
it would have been impossible on level ground; but the
mountainous nature of the country favoured us again,
or we Should certainly have been lost.

Here again Daverio, with some guides he had fous,
was of the greatest service to us.

We marched resolutely on that column of the enemy
which seemed to us the nearest. It was separated from
us by a deep valley, The head of our column, haying
reached the bottom, wheeled to the left, while the
enemy thought they were being attacked in the other
direction ; and—rather hastily, it must be confessed—we
made for Morazzone, leaving the Austrians several miles
behind us. On the way we collected all the bread that
could be found in the neighbouring villages, and had it
carried after the column in baskets on the backs of
porters.

Reaching Morazzone about 5 p.m., we drew up our
men in the main street—which was so narrow that they
had to stand sideways—and distributed sufficient rations
and pay, with orders not to leave the ranks or lay down
their muskets.

RETURN TO LOMBARDY. OR

The distribution being over, we had already made
arrangements for marching, and I was taking a piece of
bread and a glass of wine on the same bench whence:
the rations had been served out, when some of my
officers, who had had some soup made, came to invite
me to join their mess.

We were close to Porta Varese, on the ground-floor of
a house, when suddenly cries were heard without, in the
direction of that gate. The Austrians had entered,
mixing with our guards, who, through hunger or weari-
ness, had allowed themselves to be surprised. I do not
know, to this hour, to whose treachery or carelessness it
was due; but there was most certainly, if not treachery,
culpable negligence on the part of those who should have’
been on the look-out. In any case, the enemy were
within the town, and not fifty paces from the place
where I was, with the handful of officers who had
invited me.

Night was falling, and I leave it to be imagined what
confusion arose among our men, who were raw recruits,.
inferior both in courage and discipline. To seize my
sabre and rush out to the rescue, accompanied by the
few gallant officers who were with me at the time, was
the work of an instant. Among these were Daverio,
Fabrizi, Bueno, Cogliolo, and one Giusti, a young
Milanese staff-officer, who received his death-wound
in the skirmish—a young fellow of matchless valour,
whose memory I commend to my countrymen.

The fugitives stopped on hearing our voices, and
turned on their pursuers, rushing together in a hand~

284 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDL

to-hand struggle. There were some moments of con-
fusion, during which the tide of battle turned more
than once; but at last Italian valour carried the day,
and the enemy were driven out of Morazzone. We
took measures of defence by barricading the ap-
proaches to the village, and occupying a few houses
on its outskirts, which seemed well adapted for offensive
action.

I must not forget to mention a Polish captain, who,
with a few of his countrymen, had joined us, and per-
formed prodigies of valour. I regret that I cannot
remember the names of these brave comrades, who so
brilliantly sustained their country’s reputation for
courage.

The Austrians, driven out of Morazzone, were mean-
while carrying on the atrocious practices usual with
them—particularly in Italy, the land of expiation and
martyrdom ; that is, they set fire mercilessly to all the
houses round the village, at the same time pouring a
heavy cannonade into it. The fire communicated itself
from one house to another with frightful noise and
swiftness, while the musketry-fire on both sides added
to the confusion. ;

The Austrians, once repulsed, did not try to attack us
again. It was impossible for us to attack them in their
position ; on the contrary, everything considered, nothing
else remained for us but to risk attempting a retreat.
We were certain of being surrounded by an overpowering
force in the morning, as the enemy, already numerous,
kept receiving reinforcements. We were few in numbers,

RETURN TO LOMBARDY. 285

and the morale of our men not high;* and, over-
powered by the conflagration gradually gaining the upper
hand in the village, we were driven to extremities, like
the salamander, and had nothing left us but a retreat,
which we effected about 11 p.m.

Having ranged the men in order, attended as best we
could to the wounded, and placed some of them on
horseback, we began to defile out of one of the lanes
which was not watched by the enemy, and had already
been barricaded by us. No guides were to be found,
and we had to take with us a priest, who naturally
accompanied us with the greatest reluctance. That
race of vampires only remains in Italy to act as go-
betweens to the foreigner. ‘This priest, consigned to two
of our men, who made him walk between them, was of
little use to us, and contrived to make his escape, in
spite of all possible vigilance, a short distance from the
village.

The night was dark, and the only light we had was
from the burning houses. The march began in good
order, and continued thus for a time. We kept asking,
and had the word passed along, “whether the rear of
the column was coming up.” Sometimes we heard the
reply, “It is coming all right.” Once, however, the
answer came, “It has not come up;” and in spite of a
long halt, and of my sending all the staff still near

* One of the great inconveniences of such a war, in a country
little used to it, as Lombardy was in those days, was the great
number of enemies seen by the inhabitants in every direction, which
terrified our young soldiers.

286 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

me-—among them Aroldi and Cogliolo—and returning
myself almost to Morazzone, it was impossible for me
to get the men together again. We who remained were
about seventy,

This occurrence caused me much regret—more espe-
cially as our poor wounded were among those separated
from us—Coccelli; a brave Polish soldier; Demaestri,
who afterwards had his right arm amputated; pat
others, whose names I do not remember.

Demaestri’s loss of his arm did not prevent him from

fighting, like the brave man he had always been, in the
defence of Rome, at Palestrina and at Velletri, and
being one of the last to lay down his arms in the noble
strife for Italy, at San Marino, whence haying been
dismissed, he was arrested by the Austrians and flogged
in the most atrocious way. It may, well be asked
whether such treatment was ever meted out by us to
our Austrian prisoners, and Italians may well remem-
ber the shame and wrong inflicted on us by the pesti-
lence from which our beautiful peninsula has so long
suffered, and which still defiles its frontier.
_ After some delay, it became necessary for us to pro-
ceed, and: get away during the night from the enemy’s
main body. In that wearisome night-march, over
almost impassable paths, more than half the remaining
men were separated from us, and we gained the Swiss
frontier on the following evening, with only about
thirty. Broken up into small groups, all the rest had
got over into Switzerland.

.

PF td

(een dee»)

_ CHAPTER V.
THE TEDIUM OF INACTION.

I CONTINUED to suffer from attacks of the fever caught
at Roverbella; and, having been thus tormented during
the whole campaign, I was quite exhausted when I
reached Switzerland.

However, I did not despair of being able to make
some fresh attempt on Lombardy. There were many
young Italians in Switzerland, who, after a taste of
exile, were desirous of resuming the campaign at any
cost. The Swiss Government was certainly not dis-
posed to endanger its relations with Austria by favouring
the Italian insurrection. The Italian population of the
Canton of Ticino, however, naturally sympathized with
us, and we were able to hope for subsidies from private
individuals in this part of Switzerland, where the
majority of the refugees had collected, I had been
forced to take to my bed at Lugano, where a federal
colonel told me that, if we were disposed to try our
luck again, he—not as belonging to the Swiss Goyern-
ment, but as Luini (his own name)—would, along with
his friends, favour and help us in every possible way,

I communicated this proposal to Medici, then the

288 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

most influential man on Mazzini’s staff; and Medici
answered me, “ We shall do better.”

Medici’s reply, which I understood to be inspired
from above, convinced me that my presence at Lugano
was quite useless; and from Switzerland I went with
three companions to France, in order to reach Nice,
where I hoped to recover, in my own home, from my
continued attacks of fever. ?

I reached Nice, and spent some days there with my
family, trying to get cured. Being, however, ill in
mind rather than in body, the quiet of my own house’
did not suit me, and I went on to Genoa, where the
general impatience of our country’s humiliation found
a louder voice; and thus I completed my cure.

The march of events in Italy, though not yet
threatening ruin to our cause, still inspired well-founded.
misgivings. Lombardy had again fallen under the
power of the tyrant. The Piedmontese army, which
had undertaken her defence, had vanished. It was not
destroyed, but its own leaders were convinced of its
powerlessness. That army, with its glorious traditions,
and composed, as it was, of first-rate material, was
under the influence of an incubus—an inexplicable but
distressing and terrible fatality. Whoever was account-
able, the genius of fraud, of unjust gain, of malice, of
our misfortunes, presided over its destiny and hampered
its action. The Piemontese army had lost no battles,
but—who knows why ?—had retired before a defeated
enemy, under the pretext of guarding itself against the
plots of the zealots multiplying in Italy. Naturally,

THE TEDIUM OF INACTION. 289

the coldness and duplicity of princes chilled the
enthusiasm of the soldiers, and paralyzed their arms in
fight.

Supported, as it was, by the whole nation, this army
would have performed miracles in the hands of a man
strong enough to tread fear and hesitation underfoot
and march straight to the goal; instead of which it was
reduced to a nonentity. The army, then, retired from
Lombardy, disbanded, not defeated; and the naval
squadron, still less defeated, from the Adriatic. The
people who, without help from any one, had so heroi-
cally shaken off the infamous yoke, were now lying at
the mercy of their barbarous ruler! the same people
who, when alone, had in five memorable days driven
the veteran mercenaries of Austria before them like
sheep !

In the duchies, which were still held by our army,
reaction was fermenting; as also in Tuscany, ruled
_over by a dictator whom history will judge. In both
countries the peasants were arming—as they always
will against free governments, encouraged as they are
by priests, spies, and partisans of the foreigner. In
the Roman states, Rossi and Zucchi were called to
the direction of politics and of the army, with the idea
of masking behind those old-established reputations
the retrograde projects which already prevailed.

The people, after having looked upon the dawn of
their deliverance, were infuriated on discovering how
they had been cheated. At Bologna, on the immortal
8th of August, the first body of Austrian troops—called

VOL. I. U

290 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

in by the priests—was received with volleys of musketry,

and driven in confusion to the other side of the Po,
The people of Naples, also, were making noble efforts to
get rid of their executioner, but were less fortunate.
Sicily, who had showed herself, as it were, the rampart
and bulwark of Italian liberty, was now, after heroic
efforts, wavering in her choice of political institutions,
for want of a man able to direct her destiny. Italy,
in short, full as she was of enthusiasm and all the
elements of action, capable not merely of resisting
the enemy, but of actually attacking him on his own
ground, was rendered prostrate and inert through the
imbecility and perfidy of her rulers, kings, doctors, and
priests.

While I was at Genoa, Paolo Fabrizi arrived, and
invited me, in behalf of the Sicilian Government, to
pass over to that island. I willingly consented, and
with seventy-two of my old and new comrades—the
majority experienced officers—embarked on board a
French steamer bound on that voyage. We touched
at Livorno. I had not intended to land; but, our
arrival coming to the knowledge of the generous and
enthusiastic inhabitants, I was forced to change my
plans.

We landed. I yielded—perhaps I ought not to have
done so—to the solicitations of these people, who, in
their frantic excitement, thought that we were, perhaps,
departing too far from the principal scene of action.
They promised me that a strong column should be
formed in Tuscany, with which, increased on the way

THE TEDIUM OF INACTION. 291

by volunteers, we might march by land on the kingdom .
of Naples, and thus co-operate more effectually with
Sicily in the cause of Italian freedom. I agreed to these
proposals, but soon perceived my mistake. Telegrams
despatched to Florence, concerning the movements
specified, received only evasive answers. The wish
expressed by the Livornese was not openly opposed,
because the Government was afraid of them; but one
who understood anything of the matter could easily
gather that their intentions were not looked on with
favour at head-quarters. But whether this was so or
not, we determined to stay ; and the steamer left.

Our stay at Livorno was brief. We received a few
guns, obtained rather through the good-will of the >
popular leader, Petracchi, and our other friends, than
through that of the Government. The increase in our
numbers was slight. We were told to march to
Florence, where more would be done.

Arrived at Florence, we found matters, if anything,
worse than before; a splendid welcome from the people,
indifference on the part of the Government, who left us
hungry, so that I was obliged to put some friends under
contribution to feed the men. The duke was in the
Tuscan capital, but the chief management of affairs was
said to be in Guerrazzi’s hands. I am writing history,
and hope that I do not offend that great Italian by
speaking the truth.

Montanelli (deservedly hailed by public opinion) I
found just what I had imagined—upright, frank, and
modest, with a heart set on the good of Italy, and the

992 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

fervid spirit of a martyr; but the antagonism of others
neutralized every good determination on his part, and
for this reason the good and brave hero of Curtatone
could be of little use to us during the short time he
remained in power.

From Florence, where I thought our stay both useless
and wearisome, I proposed to pass on into Romagna,
where it was hoped we should do better, and whence, in
the last resort, it would be easier to reach Venice by
way of Ravenna. However, new and harder troubles
awaited us in the Apennines.

On the road, where the Tuscan Government was to
have given us the necessary assistance, we had nothing
but what we obtained by the benevolence of the
inhabitants, who were willing indeed, but not able to
supply all our wants. A letter from the Government
above mentioned to a syndic on the frontier, limited
the supplies, and ordered the importunate adventurers
to vacate the country.

In this condition we reached Filigari, where we
found that the Pontifical Government prohibited our
crossing the frontier. At least, the priests were con-
sistent—they did not keep up a pretence of friendship.

Zucchi—the same man we had saved at Como, now
minister of war—hastened from Rome to get these
orders executed; while from Bologna marched a corps
of papal Swiss with two guns, to oppose our entrance
into the state.

Meanwhile the weather was growing worse among
the mountains, and the snow was knee-deep on the

THE TEDIUM OF INACTION. 293

roads. It was November. Truly, it was worth while
to come from South America in order to fight the
snows of the Apennines! The Italian Governments I
had had the honour of serving, and whose territories
I had passed through, were not even able to afford
a cloak apiece to my poor brave comrades. It was
cruel to see those gallant young fellows, in that bitter
weather, among the mountains, clad for the most part
in linen, some in rags, and without needful food, in
their own native country, where all the thieves and
scoundrels of the world have enough and to spare.

We collected all the money possessed by the greater
number of the officers, to form a common purse; and,
with the help of the worthy landlord of the inn at
Filigari, we got through some days wretchedly enough.

Meanwhile the papal Swiss were taking up a military
position on the other side of the frontier, and preparing
to resist any attempt at crossing on our part, but
evidently ashamed of the disgraceful action of their
imbecile Government.

Our position at Filigari was not tenable many days;
and there was no way of changing it except by turning
back into Tuscany. I had read the communication
of the Tuscan Government, in which the syndic was
recommended to get rid of us as quickly as possible ;
and I saw that it was necessary either to submit to the
humiliation or to commence hostilities. If we wished
to pass into Roman territory, we had to fight those who
were ready to oppose our progress. In such disgraceful
perplexity were we kept by the Governments from

294 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

which the Italians were hoping for their liberation.
Yet we had crossed the Atlantic, poor indeed—for
had we not refused riches ? *—but with the sole object
of devoting our lives to Italy; free from every con-
sideration of self-interest, ready to sacrifice to our
country even our personal politics, and to serve,
in order to serve her, even those whose infamous
antecedents did not deserve our confidence. ;

The names of Guerrazzi and of Pius were then held
in reverence in our hearts; yet there in the snow,
deprived of necessary food, in cruel suffering, they
kept that band of young veterans, who were soon to
leave their bones scattered over the unhappy land,
dying in defence of Rome against the foreigner, and in
death despairing of her redemption.

The people of Bologna, hearing of us, were filled with
indignation at these disgraceful proceedings. Bologna
is a city whose indignation is no empty boast, as the
Austrians have ere now discovered to their cost. The
Papal Government was struck with consternation; and
I obtained permission to proceed thither, in order to
confer with General Latour, who commanded the Swiss
forces in the papal service. And to General Latour,
while he stood on the balcony of his palace, the
Bolognese cried out, “Either our brothers come here, -
or you come down from that balcony !”

I arrived at Bologna amid the acclamations of
those noble citizens, whose ardour I was compelled

* We had not accepted the lands offered us by the President of
the Montevidean Republic.

THE TEDIUM OF INACTION. 295

to restrain, because, forsooth, they were determined
to get rid of foreigners and reactionaries. While
arranging with Latour for our passage through Romagna
to Ravenna, where we were to embark for Venice, I
recommended him to make haste and lend his aid to
a Mantuan company which had left Genoa with the
intention of joining us.

In an interview with Zucchi, I had also obtained
leave to recruit Romagnole volunteers, in order to
increase our force. In fact, some of them started,
under the command of a Captain Bazzani, of Modena,
to join us at Ravenna.

Under these circumstances, I met for the first time
at Bologna the gallant Angelo Masina, a man to win
one’s love and admiration at first sight. Masina, after
the retreat of the Roman division from Lombardy,
where he had fought bravely, had remained in the
neighbourhood of Bologna; and was now at the head
of those Bolognese citizens who had so heroically freed
their city from the Austrians on the past 8th of August,
restraining their wrath excited by the vile treachery of
priests and renegades.

At the same time, finding another outlet for his
impetuous activity, he was collecting horses and men—
partly at his own expense—and organizing a company
of lancers, which might have excited the envy of any
force in the world, as well for the bravery of the men
as for their handsome appearance and becoming uniform.
His personal prestige was immense, and he could excite
or restrain the people at his will. Certainly he and

296 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

Padre Gavazzi had, by their great influence over the
Bolognese, contributed to our liberation from Filigari.
Masina, at this time, also intended to start for Venice,
partly because he was weary of inactivity, partly at the
instigation of the Austrian and priestly party. At
Comacchio he was preparing for his voyage.

Meanwhile, with about 150 men, I reached Ravenna,
where I was joined by Bazzani with fifty recruits. At
Ravenna, fresh altercations with a priestly government
awaited us. The agreement with Zucchi at Bologna
had been to wait at Ravenna for the arrival of the
Mantuans, and then embark together for Venice; but
the hesitation and fear excited by my little band, ill-
armed and worse clad as they were, was such as to
inspire the priests with an ardent desire to get rid of us
as quickly as possible.

Latour, after some evasions, signified to me that I
was to embark immediately. I replied that I would
not do so till all the men I was waiting for had arrived.
Threats were uttered on the part of the Papal Govern-
ment, and, as the Ravennati, like the Bolognese, are
people who care little indeed for threats, they courage-
ously prepared arms and ammunition, in order to take
our side in case of violence.

“ Mutual fear governs the world,’ a friend of mine
used very sensibly to say. However that may be, the .
people who show least fear usually get the best treat-
ment. This was the case at Ravenna, and the over-
bearing swaggerers, with their sabres and cannon and
thousands of veteran soldiers, never ventured to measure

THE TEDIUM OF INACTION. 297

their strength against that of a few poor and almost
unarmed patriots. Masina was similarly situated at
Comacchio, The papal party wished to force him to
embark at once; and he, in order to do so at his leisure,
and arrange his march to agree with ours, resisted all
intimations of violence, supported by the populace and
their leader, the gallant Nino Bonnet; and put himself
in a respectable state of defence. Thus, at Comacchio
too, “just justice” * triumphed.

“Help yourself, and God will help you.” To-day I
am quite lavish of proverbs; I hope my future readers
will pardon me. Here, in the course of my duty as a
historian, I must call attention to one of those men
to whom monuments are raised by monarchical and
sacerdotal Italy. Things were in this train, when a
Roman dagger changed the aspect of ourdestiny. From
being proscribed wanderers, we acquired the rights of
citizenship, and found an asylum open to us on the
continent.

As a follower of Beccaria, I am opposed to capital
punishment, and therefore I blame the dagger of
Brutus ; the gallows, which, instead of showing us the
figure of the dwarf minister of Louis Philippe, who so
well deserves it, presents the corpse of a humble son
of Paris, who only strove to gain his rights; and, lastly,
the terrible stake, which by itself alone proves the
priesthood to be an emanation from hell. Be that as it

* An expression which we shall have to add to the vocabulary
required in this age of rascality, along with the “ Republican
Republic ” of France.

298 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

may, Harmodios, Pelopidas, and Brutus, the men who
freed their country from tyrants, have not been painted
by ancient history in colours so dark as those in which
our modern devourers of nations would like to exhibit
any man who has touched the ribs of a Duke of Parma
or a Neapolitan Bourbon.

Our affairs, then, were, as already described, in a
deplorable condition; and a Roman dagger made us
worthy no longer of proscription, but of belonging to
the Roman army.
+, The ancient metropolis of the world, worthy once
more of her former glory, freed herself on that day from
the most formidable satellite of tyranny, and bathed
the marble steps of the Capitol with his blood. A
young Roman had recovered the steel of Marcus Brutus.

The consternation occasioned by Rossi’s * death anni--
hilated our persecutors for the time being, and not a
word more was heard on the subject of. our departure.
Rome and Italy did not obtain the desired political con-
dition on the death of the pope’s minister; but the
state of Rome was, at any rate, somewhat ameliorated,
from the point of view of Italian liberty, whereof the
papacy, stripped of its mask of reform, was and
always will be the mortal enemy. As for us—objects
of mortal hatred to the Roman court, whether through
the fears of Rossi’s survivors, or not, I do not know—

* A son of Rossi’s, who has served under me in Lombardy, is a
brave and distinguished officer. His father may have been a genius,
as some say, but, genius or no genius, an honest man’s duty is to

serve the cause of his own country, which the papacy at that time
betrayed.

THE TEDIUM OF INACTION. 299

we began to find life tolerable within the bounds of the
Peninsula.

That dagger-stroke announced to all advocates of
compromise with foreign powers that the people knew
them, and would not return to the slavery to which
they sought, by falsehood and treachery, to entice them
back.

300 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

CHAPTER VI.
IN THE PAPAL STATE—ARRIVAL IN ROME.

Rossi's death gave the rulers of Rome to understand
that the rights and wishes of the nation were no longer
to be disregarded with impunity. Less unpopular men
were called to the ministry, and our continued presence
in Roman territory was not objected to. The dread,
however, in which we were held, did not pass away, and,
though we were annexed to the Roman army, great
tardiness was shown in fixing our destination and
providing our pay, and especially our supplies—begin-
ning with the coats, which would be indispensable in
the depth of the now approaching winter.

The long-expected Mantuans had arrived at Ravenna ;
Masina had joined us with his fine though scanty
cavalry ; and together we formed a force of about four
hundred men, not completely armed, and the greater
part of them not dressed in uniform, and, in fact,
scarcely clothed at all.

The municipality of Ravenna, which had been main-
taining us, gave me to understand that it would be
better for them to share this burden with other towns.
To this end, they suggested that we should shift our

IN THE PAPAL STATE—ARRIVAL IN ROME. 301

quarters to several places in turn. This was done, and
after a stay of about twenty days we parted from that
generous and sympathetic population.

During my short stay in Ravenna, I witnessed a
singular and very consolatory circumstance, which I
had not met with in any one of our cities which I had
previously passed through. I saw in the ancient capital
of the Exarchate, a cordial understanding between the
different classes of citizens, which truly delighted me.

Perfect concord between the various classes in a city
—unhappily so rare in Italy—is, when extended to the
‘whole nation, the pivot on which her independence
turns, the phoenix of her liberty, the want of which, I
doubt not, is the origin of our misfortunes and degrada-
tion. This phcenix seems to me, happily for these
citizens, to have built her nest beside the mausoleum
of Dante, under the egis of the greatest of our great
ones. Here I did not find a “popular,” an “Italian,”
a “national,” party; one association here, and another
there, each having its own particular niche, its own
staff of officials—each striving to get the first place, and
avoid an understanding with the rest. No; here was
only one party, composed of all the citizens—only one
way of thinking, common to noble and plebeian, rich
and poor. All were intent upon the deliverance of their
country from the stranger, without for the present
troubling themselves with the question of the form
their government was to take—a question which might
at that time have complicated the situation, and dis-
tracted the general attention from the main point.

302 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

I have, by experience, found the Ravennati to be
people of few words, but prompt action; and the
following incident, which was related to me in their
city, seems quite credible. A spy appeared at Ravenna
in open daylight ; he was shot down in the midst of the
crowd, and the slayer retired quietly, and made no haste
to escape, knowing well that no second spy was likely
to be found. The execrated corpse remained as a warn-
ing to the multitude.

We left Ravenna, and passed some time in various
towns of Romagna, welcomed by the people, and pro-
vided for by the municipalities. At Cesena, leaving my
men, I went to Rome to obtain an interview with the
minister of war, so as, if possible, to systematize our
vagabond and troublesome mode of existence.

I then heard of the Pope’s flight ; and arranged with
the minister Campello that the Italian legion (the
name given to the corps commanded by me both in
America and in Italy) should form a part of the Roman
army, and to this end be provided with the necessary
supplies, and marched towards Rome, to complete its
numbers and perfect its organization. I therefore
wrote to Major Marrocchetti, whom I had left in com-
mand of the corps, to proceed to Rome, while I marched
to meet him.

A painful incident had taken place in the ranks during
my absence—the death of Tommaso Risso, a loss which
we felt terribly, all the more so that it was caused by
discord between two brave Itahians, and brought about
by a comrade’s hand. In a dispute, Risso had struck

IN THE PAPAL STATE—ARRIVAL IN ROME. 303

Ramorino with a whip, an act which rendered a duel
inevitable. I should certainly have expelled from the
legion the officer who would take a blow from any one;
and Ramorino was not the man to put up with an
insult like the one he had received. Knowing what
had passed, I treated them both with coldness, but had
a presentiment of misfortune. I would have given my

» life-blood to wash out the disgrace incurred by my brave
comrade, but it could not be done. When I left Cesena
for Rome, Risso—towards whom I had, contrary to my
custom, been very distant—came up to the carriage, and
pressed my hand ; his was cold to the touch as the hand
of a corpse. The presentiment of my-friend’s death did
not leave me during the whole journey, and the news,
when it reached me, pained but did not surprise me.
They had fought outside the walls of Cesena, and
Ramorino had killed Risso.

Tommaso Risso had a peculiarly winning character—
“una fiera natura,” an Italian woman who loved him once
said of him. In his youth, he had followed the sea; but,
on arriving in the Rio de La Plata, he landed at Monte-
video, went up country, and found occupation on one of
the large estates called estancias, which are entirely
given up to grazing, and where all the work is done on.
horseback. He had completely fallen in with the
usages of the country, and, being of a strong and active
physique, could break in a colt as well as any gaucho,
and fight any of the natives, knife in hand, like the best
of them ; and his name was always uttered with respect
among the stalwart sons of the pampas. In the wars

304 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

continually going on between the nations of La Plata,
Risso had fought in the ranks of the Montevideans ; and,
promoted for his bravery, served gallantly in the Italian
legion. In one of the many battles in which he was
present, he received a wound in the neck which would
have killed a rhinoceros, but from which he recovered
as if by miracle. In consequence of other wounds,
however, his arms were almost paralyzed.

Tommaso had little or no book-learning, but he
supplied its place by a natural intelligence which
made him capable of executing any task. He had
commanded the steamers on Lago Maggiore, and had
acquitted himself surprisingly well of this difficult
duty. Jealously careful of Italian honour, he would
have fought the devil, had the latter sought to fasten
a stain on it. He possessed all the qualities which
make the popular leader—strong, good-natured, gener-
ous, he found his element in the multitudes, and was
capable of calming them when excited, or stirring them
up on occasion, and rousing them into heroism with
his gestures and the manly sound of his voice.

Risso’s death was a source of great grief to his
comrades. He bitterly regretted being unable to shed
his blood on the battle-field for the Italy he idolized.
Let Cesena keep the remains of the gallant champion
of our country’s liberty, and let his fellow-citizens
sometimes remember him with the esteem and affection
he deserves.

Reaching Foligno, I found the legion there, but at
the same time received orders from Government to

IN THE PAPAL STATE—ARRIVAL IN ROME. 305

march with it to the port of Fermo, in order to guard
a point menaced by no one. This proved to me that
the distrust of the new Government, and their wish
to keep us at a distance from Rome, had not passed
away.

My representations that the men were destitute of
the warm cloaks absolutely necessary for recrossing
the snow-covered Apennines were entirely disregarded,
and we had to turn back, pass the Colfiorito a second
time, and repair to Fermo. Of course, I understood the
intention of the Government; they had no motive for
sending us thither other than a wish to remove us from
the capital, where they dreaded the contact of men sup-
posed to be essentially revolutionary, with the Roman
people, just then in the mood to exercise their rights.
I was confirmed in this opinion by the minister of war’s
injunction not to let the legion exceed the number of
five hundred.

In Rome, the same spirit which had ruled Milan and
was yet ruling Florence was still prevalent. Italy
was supposed to be in need, not of fighters, but of
orators and composition-mongers, to whom might be
applied Alfieri’s words concerning the aristocracy, “Or
superbi, or umili, infami sempre.” Despotism had for
a time yielded up the reins of public affairs to the
talkers, whose business it was to fool the people and
put them off their guard—all but certain that these
popinjays would facilitate the tremendous reaction
preparing through the whole of the Peninsula. We
crossed the Apennines, then, for the third time; my

VOL. I, =

306 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

poor comrades still unprotected from the weather,

though it was the depth of winter—the month of

December, 1848. Among the troubles which bowed us
; down in our own country, the calumnies of the clerical
party, whose poisonous influence, secret and deadly
in its workings as that of the rattlesnake, had been pro-
pagated among the ignorant populace, depicting us in
the most horrible colours, were not the least trying.
| According to these dealers in the black art, we were
capable of every species of violence—scoundrels with-
out the shadow of discipline, and respecting neither
the property nor the families of the inhabitants, who
dreaded our approach as if we had been wolves or
murderers.

This impression, however, was always changed at
the sight of the manly, well-conducted young fellows
who accompanied me—nearly all belonging to the
cultivated classes of the towns; for it was a notorious
fact, that, in all the volunteer corps I had the honour
of commanding in Italy, the peasant element was,
thanks to the machinations of the reverend ministers
of falsehood, conspicuous by its absence. My soldiers
nearly all all belonged to distinguished families in the
different Italian provinces. It is true that at all times
there were some few worthless ones to be found among -
my volunteers, who had either fraudulently intruded
themselves on us, or been sent among us by the police
and the priests, in order to instigate disorder and crime,
and thus discredit the corps. But these scarcely ever
stayed long, soon escaping from the punishment which

———————

IN THE PAPAL STATE—ARRIVAL IN ROME. 307

did not fail to overtake them, and exposed by the real
volunteers, ever jealous for the honour of the legion.

During our transit from Romagna into Umbria, we
had heard that the people of Macerata, fearing our
passage through their town, had signified that they
would shut their gates on us; but on our return—
that is, on our march to Porto di Fermo—being better
informed, and repenting of their unjust resolution, they
sent me word that they wished for a visit from us,
in order to prove that their conduct on the first occasion
had originated in a mistake.

The weather was most inclement during our passage
over the Apennines, and my men suffered greatly ; but
the welcome we received at Macerata compensated for
all. The Maceratesi not only welcomed us like brothers,
but entreated us to remain in their city till new arrange-
ments were made by the Government; and, as the latter
had no object in sending us to Porto di Fermo except
that of removing us from the capital, there seemed no
reason, now that we had the Apennines between us
and Rome, why we should make any difficulty about
remaining at Macerata.

Here we were forced to think of clothing the men;
and, thanks to the good-will of the inhabitants and the
assistance of the ministry, succeeded in accomplishing
the greater part of this task. About the same time, the
election of deputies to the Constituent Assembly took
place, and our soldiers were called upon to vote.

Deputies to the Constituent Assembly! It was a -
striking sight, that of the sons of Rome again called to

nein

308 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

the Comitia, after so many centuries of slavery and
prostration under the shameful yoke of the empire, or
the still worse one of the papal theocracy. Without
tumult, without passions—unless patriotism and zeal for
freedom are to be called by that name—without bribery,
without prefects or police-agents to intimidate the
voters, the sacred function of the plébiscite was per- .
formed; and in the whole state there was not a single
instance of a mercenary vote, or a citizen selling him-
self to the patronage of the powerful.

The descendants of the great people showed the dis-
cernment of their forefathers in the choice of their
representatives, and elected men who would have been
an honour to their kind in any part of the world—men
of courage not inferior to that of the ancient Senate, or
the modern assemblies of Helvetia and the country of
Washington. But the hatred, the jealousy, the fears of
the modern rabble of potentates and priests were not
asleep; terrified at the reappearance of the Republic,
they at once banded themselves together to extirpate
its germs, while yet tender and incapable of serious
resistance.

Hope on, Italy! and in the time of distress into
which tyrants from without and robbers from within
have plunged thee, do not lose confidence! They are.
not all dead, the young heroes who fought for thee on
the barricades of Brescia, Milan, Casale ; at the bridge
over the Mincio; on the ramparts of Venice, Bologna,
Ancona, Palermo; in the streets of Naples, Messina,
Livorno; there, on the Janiculum ; and in the Forum of

IN THE PAPAL STATE—ARRIVAL IN ROME. 309

the ancient capital of the world. They are scattered
over the surface of the globe in both hemispherés,
their hearts athirst with a matchless love for thee and
desire for thy redemption, a love which the cold specu-
lators and traffickers in thy limbs and thy blood cannot
understand, nor will, till the day when the stains with
which they have defiled thee are all washed away!
Never lose heart. That generation, grown grey under
the burning sun of battles, will appear in the van of thy
new generation now growing up in hatred of the priest
and under the guns of the foreigner, strengthened by
the recollection of such outrages, and stimulated by the
desire of avenging their sufferings in exile and in prison.
The Italian is not attracted by the fair climate of a
foreign land, or the charms of the daughters of strangers ;
nor can he permanently transplant himself into another
country, like the sons of the north. He vegetates on
strange soil, he paces it, gloomy and thoughtful, ever
tortured by the longing to see once more his own fair
land and fight for her deliverance. /
' None knows, O Italy! how long may last the degra-
_ dation in which thou art plunged; but all know full
well that the solemn hour of resurrection cannot be:
_ far off.

310 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.~

CHAPTER VII.
PROCLAMATION OF THE REPUBLIC, AND MARCH ON ROME.

WE remained at Macerata throughout the month of
January, and then left for Rieti, with orders to garrison
that town, The legion marched thither by way of the
pass of Colfiorito, and I, with three companions, by way
of Ascoli and the valley of the Tronto, in order to pass
the Neapolitan frontier and make some observations
beyond it. We crossed the Apennines by the rugged
heights of Monte Sibilla, meeting with severe snow-
storms, in consequence of which I suffered from
rheumatic pains, which detracted greatly from the
picturesqueness of the journey. We were well received
by the stalwart mountaineers, féted everywhere, and
enthusiastically escorted on our way. The precipices
resounded with their cheers for Italian liberty; and
yet a few days later that brave and energetic people,
corrupted and instigated by the priests, rose against
the Roman Republic, wielding arms furnished for the
purpose by those black traitors.

I reached Rieti, and completed the supply of clothes
for the legion, but it was impossible to obtain a sufficient
number of muskets; and, as I saw that all further

PROCLAMATION OF THE REPUBLIC. 311

requests would be useless, I resolved to have lances
made, so as to furnish the unarmed with weapons.

At Rieti, we were joined by Daverio, Ugo Bassi, and
several good soldiers—among them the two brothers
Molina and Ruggiero, who afterwards so distinguished
themselves as officers in the various fights in which
the legion took part. ;

The corps continued to increase, while it was being
organized as well as circumstances permitted; but the
Roman ministry did not want soldiers, and, as they
had formerly limited the number of the legion to
500, so they now intimated to me that I was not to
let it exceed 1000; so that, having already a few more
than the prescribed number, I was obliged to cut down
the wretched pay supplied—including that of the
officers—to maintain them all. Yet not one complaint
was heard in the ranks of my brave comrades.

We made use of the time afforded by our stay at
Rieti to drill the legion; and also took measures for
defending the frontier against the attacks of the
Bourbon, who was already unmasked, and in open
reaction against Italian liberty.

Being elected a deputy by the people of Macerata, I
was summoned to Rome to form part of the Constituent
Assembly ; and on February 8, 1849, I had the good
fortune to be one of the first to proclaim, almost
\ unanimously at 11 p.m., that Republic of glorious
memory, so soon to be crushed by Jesuitry allied—as
always—with the autocracy of Europe.

It was the 8th of February, 1849, and as I was so

312 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDL

prostrated with rheumatism as to be unable to walk, I
had to be carried on the shoulders of my staff-officer
Bueno into the halls of the Roman Assembly. On
February 8, 1846, almost at the same hour, on the
battle-field of San Antonio, not a few of the wounded
of our gallant legion had been carried on my shoulders,
and placed on horseback, to accomplish the difficult
but glorious retreat to Salto.

Now I was present at the new birth of the giant of
republics—the Roman; on the stage of the greatest
events the world has ever seen—in the city of cities.
What hopes! what a future! Then they were no
dreams, those fancies, those presages which, a tumul-
tuous crowd, had occupied my mind from my child-
hood up, exciting my eighteen-years imagination,
when for the first time I roamed among the splendid
ruins of the Eternal City. They were no dreams,
those hopes of my country’s resurrection, which made
my heart throb in the thick of the American forests,
and amid the ocean-storms—which guided me to the
fulfilment of my duty towards suffering and oppressed
nations.

Here, in the same hall which used to witness the
assemblies of the ancient tribunes of Rome’s greatness,
were we assembled—perhaps not unworthy of our fore-
fathers, if only we had been presided over by the same
genius that they were fortunate enough to recognize
and to acclaim as greatest. And the -prophetic voice
of the Republic rang out in the august precincts as it

PROCLAMATION OF THE REPUBLIC. 313

did on the day when kings were driven thence for ever.
To-morrow the Republic, proclaimed from the Capitol,
will be hailed in the Forum by a people who have
suffered for centuries, but have never forgotten that
they are descended from the greatest of Peoples.

Meanwhile, the boastful chawvins beyond the Alps
had been assuring the world that Italians do not fight,
that they are not worthy of freedom ; and were marching,
under the guidance of the priest, to the destruction of
the Roman Republic. The thought of a united Italy
terrified Autocratic and Jesuitical Europe, especially our
western neighbours, whose doctrinaires proclaimed the
French supremacy on the Mediterranean incontestable
and perfectly legitimate, not considering how many
important nations there are who have more right to it
than they.

Through our own unhappy divisions, they have power
to take us from our families, and ruin our property,
with the hypocrisy of the Jesuit to whom they have
allied themselves; but they cannot take from us the
right of flinging their sophisms in their face, and
making them at least confess that they are afraid of
_ seeing us take up again the fasces, the ancient insignia
of power. To-day, like ourselves, they are the vassals
of that parody on an emperor who governs them, who
has imposed himself on all our tyrants, and whose
shameful dominion will be finally overthrown in the
dust by the sword of eternal justice.

From Rome, I returned to Rieti, after the proclama-

314 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI.

tion of the Republic, and about the end of March I had
orders to proceed with the legion to Anagni. In April,
we heard that the French were at Civita Vecchia, and,
after their occupation of that seaport town—which
might have been successfully defended but for treachery
on their side and imbecility on ours—it. became known
that they intended to march on Rome.

About the same time General Avezzana had arrived
in the capital, and entered on the office of minister of
war. I did not know him personally, but from in-
formation received as to his character and - military
career in Spain and America, I had conceived a high
degree of esteem for him; so that his accession to the
head of that department filled me with hopes, destined
not to be disappointed. The first proof I had of this
was the sending of fifty new muskets; for up to that
moment we had not been able, in spite of repeated
requests, to obtain a single one.

It was not long before we received orders to march
on Rome, then threatened by the soldiers of Bonaparte.
Needless to say that we marched willingly to defend
that city of great memories. The legion consisted of
about 1200 men; when we left Genoa we had been
sixty.

It is true that we had marched over a large extent
of country, but, considering that we had been rejected
by every government, ‘calumniated as only priests can
calumniate, deprived of the commonest necessaries of

5 life, and nearly all the time without arms, all cir-

PROCLAMATION OF THE REPUBLIC. 315

cumstances tending to disgust volunteers and hinder

_ their enrolment, we might well be satisfied with the

| number we had attained. We reached Rome, and
took up our quarters in the deserted convent of San
Silvestro.

END OF VOL. I.

LONDON : PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.

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