THE EXPEDITION SAILS.
Frank spent a pleasant three weeks in Genoa. The three young men did all
in their power to make the time pass agreeably to him: they introduced
him to their families and friends; one or the other of them always
accompanied him to the theatre or opera, or, as much more frequently
happened, to gatherings at their own houses or at those of
acquaintances. Many of these were, like themselves, members of the
Genoese corps; and both as a relative of two men who had sacrificed
their lives in the cause of freedom, and especially for the aid that his
mother had sent to Garibaldi to enable him to carry out his plans, he
was everywhere most warmly received. He himself had not told, even his
three friends, the amount that his mother had contributed; but
Garibaldi's companions had mentioned it to others, and it soon became
known to all interested in the expedition.
Twice a week Frank drove out to Quarto. Matters had been steadily
progressing. A thousand rifles, but of a very inferior kind, had been
obtained from Farini, and a few hundred of a better class had been
bought. These latter were for the use of Garibaldi's own band, while the
others would be distributed among such Sicilians as might join him on
his landing. These would for the most part come armed, as large numbers
of guns and stores of ammunition had been accumulated in the island for
use in the futile insurrection a few months previously.
On May 5th all was ready. Frank paid his hotel bill, left his trunk to
be placed in the store-room until he should send or return for it, and
with a bundle, in which his sword was wrapped up in his blanket, cloak,
and a light waterproof sheet, and with a bag containing his red shirts
and other small belongings, together with his pistols and a good supply
of ammunition, drove to the Villa Spinola. On the previous day he had
sent on there a saddle and bridle, valise and holsters. The horses were
to be bought in Sicily. Outside all seemed as quiet as usual, but once
within the gates there was a great change. A score of gentlemen were
strolling in little groups in the garden, talking excitedly; these were
almost all new arrivals, and consequently unknown to Frank, who passed
on into the house where Garibaldi, the officers of his staff, and other
principal officers were engaged in discussing the final arrangements.
Most of the staff were known to him, as they had been there for some
days. He joined three or four of the younger men, who were sitting
smoking in a room on the ground floor while the council was being held.
"So at last the day has arrived, lieutenant," one of them said. "I think
everything augurs well for us. I am convinced that the government do not
mean to interfere with us, but are adopting the policy of shutting their
eyes. Of course, they will disavow us, but they will not dare to stop
us. They must know what is going on; there are too many people in the
secret for it not to have leaked out. I don't know whether you noticed
it, but I could see, when I was in the city this morning, that there was
a general excitement; people met and talked earnestly; every stranger,
and there are a good many there to-day, is watched eagerly. You see,
there is no ship of war in the port, which there certainly would have
been, had they intended to stop us."
"I shall be very glad when we are well at sea," Frank said, "though I
agree with you that it is not likely we shall be interfered with."
They chatted for upwards of an hour, and the council broke up. A list
was handed round, appointing the boats to which the various officers
were told off; and Frank found that he was to go in the third that left
the shore, together with Orsini, commander of the second company, and
Turr, the first _aide-de-camp_ of the general. The hours passed slowly.
No regular meals were served, but food was placed on a long table, and
each could go in and take refreshments as he pleased. The new-comers,
and indeed all the officers, with the exception of two or three of
Garibaldi's most trusted friends, were still in ignorance as to how they
were to obtain vessels to take them to Messina, and Frank, who was
behind the scenes, listened with some amusement to the wild conjectures
that they hazarded. He knew that the matter had been privately arranged
with the owners of the Rubattino line of steamers that the _Lombardo_
and _Piemonte_, both of which were in the harbour, should be seized by
the Garibaldians. They were warm adherents of the national cause, but
could not, of course, appear openly in the matter. They had already been
paid the sum agreed on for any damage or injury that might happen to the
vessels; while openly they would be able to protest loudly against the
seizure of their ships, and, like the government, profess entire
ignorance of what was going on. Only a few hands would be left on board.
These were to offer a feigned resistance, but were to make no noise.
Among Garibaldi's followers were several engineers, who were to take
command of and assist in the engine-rooms. In order to save time, the
_Lombardo_, which was much the larger of the two vessels, was to take
the _Piemonte_ in tow. There was still, however, some anxiety on the
part of the leaders lest, at the last moment, the government should
intervene, seize the arms, and take possession of the steamers. The
seizure of the great magazine of arms at Milan showed that Cavour was in
earnest in his endeavour to put a stop to an expedition of whose success
he had not the slightest hope; but whether he would risk the ferment
that would be excited, were Garibaldi and his followers to be seized at
the moment of starting, was doubtful.
This was a question that had been discussed time after time by Garibaldi
and his friends. That the minister was well informed as to all the
preparations, the purchase of fresh arms, and the arrival of so many men
at Genoa, was certain; but he could not know the exact hour at which the
expedition was to start, nor even be sure that it might not march down
the coast, and take ship at some other port than Genoa.
Ignorant as were the great bulk of those gathered at the Villa Spinola
of Garibaldi's plans, they knew that the movement was to begin that
night, and there was a general feeling of restlessness and excitement as
evening approached. From time to time messengers brought news from the
city. All was well; there was no unusual stir among the troops. The
police went about their usual duties unconcernedly, and apparently
without noticing the suppressed excitement of the population. At
nightfall the word was passed round that all were to lie down as they
could, as there would be no movement until one o'clock. The order was
obeyed, but there was little sleep. It was known that Bixio and some
other officers had already left the villa; and a whisper had run round
that they were going to seize some ships, and that the embarkation would
take place before morning.
At one o'clock all were in motion again. The servants of the villa
brought round bowls of coffee and milk, and as soon as these were drunk
and some bread hastily eaten, all made ready for a start. Frank had that
evening donned his uniform for the first time, and had been at work,
with two other members of the staff, serving out rifles and ammunition,
from an outhouse which had been converted into a magazine; the men
coming in a steady stream through a back entrance into the garden, and
passing again with their arms through another door. Another party were
at work carrying down boxes of ammunition and barrels of flour and other
provisions to the shore. At one o'clock the whole force were gathered
there. It was an impressive sight, and Frank for the first time fully
realised the singularity and danger of the expedition in which he was to
share.
Here were a thousand men, all of whom had fought again and again under
Garibaldi in the cause of Italian liberty. They were about to start,
against the wishes of the government of their country, to invade a
kingdom possessed of strong fortresses and an army of one hundred and
twenty-eight thousand regular troops. Success seemed altogether
impossible. But Frank had deeply imbibed the conviction of his mother
and Signora Forli that the people at large would flock to the standard.
He had been carried away with the enthusiasm of the general and those
about him, and even the darkness of the night, the mystery of the quiet
armed figures and of the boats hauled up in readiness for the
embarkation, did not damp the suppressed excitement that made every
nerve tingle, and rendered it difficult to remain outwardly impassive.
The men talked together in low tones. Here were many who had not met
since they had parted after the events that had laid another stone to
the edifice of Italian Unity, by the addition of Tuscany, Parma, and
Modena to the Kingdom of Sardinia. The greater part of them were
Lombards and Genoese, but there were many from Turin and other cities of
Piedmont. Some were exiles, who had received a summons similar to that
sent by Garibaldi to Captain Percival. The greetings of all these men,
who had been comrades in many dashing adventures, were warm and earnest,
though expressed in but few low words.
Hour after hour passed, and expectation grew into anxiety. All knew now
that Bixio had gone to seize two steamers, and that they should have
been in the roadstead at two o'clock; but at four there were still no
signs of them, and the fear that he had failed, that the government had
at the last moment intervened, grew stronger. It was not until dawn was
beginning to break that the two steamers were made out approaching, and
anxiety gave place to delight.
Steadily and in good order the men took their places, under the
direction of the officers assigned to each boat, and by the time the
steamers arrived as near as they could venture to the shore, the boats
were alongside with their crews. The embarkation was quickly effected.
It was found that there had been no dangerous hitch in the arrangements,
the delay having been caused by the difficulty Bixio had had in finding
the two steamers, which were anchored in the extensive roadstead of
Genoa among many other ships. The stores were hastily transferred from
the boats to the steamers, and these at once started for the spot where
two boats, laden with ammunition, percussion caps, and rifles, should
have been lying off the coast. Either through misunderstanding of orders
or the interference of the authorities, the two boats were not at the
rendezvous; and after cruising about for some hours in every direction,
Garibaldi decided that no further time could be lost, for at any moment
government vessels might start in pursuit. Accordingly the steamers'
heads were turned to the south, and the expedition fairly began.
Delighted as all on board the _Lombardo_ and _Piemonte_ were to have
escaped without government interference, the loss of the ammunition was
a very serious blow. They had brought with them from the Villa Spinola
scarcely sufficient for a couple of hours' fighting for those on board.
They had neither a reserve for themselves, nor any to hand over with the
guns to those they expected to join them on landing. It was, therefore,
absolutely necessary to touch at some port to obtain ammunition, and
Garibaldi chose Talamone, at the southern extremity of Tuscany, within a
few miles of the boundary of the Papal States. They arrived there early
the next morning, and Garibaldi at once went ashore and desired the
governor of the fort, in the name of the king, to hand over to him
supplies of ammunition and some guns.
Whatever doubts the governor may have had as to Garibaldi's authority,
he and the governor of the much larger neighbouring town of Orbetello
rendered him all the assistance in their power, and gave him a
considerable amount of ammunition and several guns. The vessels filled
up with coal, and the inhabitants welcomed the expedition with
enthusiasm. For this conduct the governor of Talamone afterwards
received a severe reprimand from the government, who were obliged to
clear themselves of any participation whatever in the expedition, and
had, a few hours after Garibaldi left Genoa, despatched a fast screw
frigate, the _Maria_, under the orders of Admiral Persano in pursuit.
His official orders were to capture and bring back the steamers and all
on board; but there can be little doubt that he received secret
instructions in a contrary sense. At any rate, the frigate, after a
prolonged cruise, returned to Genoa without having come within sight of
the expedition.
Before leaving Talamone, Garibaldi accepted an offer of one of his
followers to undertake, with sixty men, to effect a diversion by raising
the population in the north of the Papal States. The expedition seemed a
hopeless one with so small a force; and it would seem that Garibaldi
assented to it in order to rid himself from some whose impetuosity and
violent disposition might have led to trouble later. As was to be
expected, the little party failed entirely in their object, and were
defeated and captured very shortly after crossing the frontier.
All were glad on board the two ships, when they were again under steam,
and heading for their goal. As by this time it was certain that the news
of their departure from Genoa would have been telegraphed to Naples, and
that the ships of war of that country would be on the look-out to
intercept them, it was decided, at a council of war held by Garibaldi,
that instead of landing near Messina, they should make for the little
island of Maregigimo, lying off the north-west corner of Sicily, as by
this route they would be likely to escape the vigilance of the
Neapolitan ships-of-war, which would be watching for them along the
coast from the Straits of Messina to Palermo.
Arriving at Maregigimo late on the evening of the 10th, and learning
from the islanders that the coast of Sicily was everywhere patrolled,
they decided to take the bold step of sailing into the harbour of
Marsala. As a large mercantile port, this offered several advantages.
The true character of the vessels would not be suspected until they
arrived there, and hostile ships cruising near might take them for
ordinary merchantmen. There was also the advantage that, being only some
seventy miles from Cape Bona, in Africa, it afforded a better chance of
escape, should they meet with misfortune after landing, and be obliged
to re-embark. As they neared the coast they made out several sailing
vessels and steamers near it, and in the roadstead of Marsala two
ships-of-war were anchored. To their joy, they were able to make out
through a telescope, while still at a considerable distance, that these
vessels were flying the British ensign, and so headed straight for the
port, which they found full of merchantmen.
They had indeed been attended by good fortune, for three Neapolitan
ships-of-war had left the port that morning and were still in sight.
Being evidently suspicious, however, of the two steamers entering the
port together, they turned and made for Marsala again. Not a moment was
lost by the Garibaldians, and the disembarkation at once began. It
happened that the British vessels-of-war were in the line of fire, and
consequently the whole of the men were landed before the Neapolitans
could bring their guns to bear. Two-thirds of them were still on the
quay, getting the ammunition and stores into the carts, when the enemy
opened fire upon them with shell and grape; fortunately the discharges
were ill directed, and the Garibaldians marched off into the town
without loss. They were welcomed with lively acclamation by the working
classes of the town; but the authorities, while throwing no opposition
in their way, received them under protest, as indeed was natural enough,
for they could hardly suppose that this handful of men could succeed
against the power of Naples, and dreaded the anger of the government
should they bestow any warm hospitality upon these adventurers.
Two days were spent at Marsala in gaining information as to the state of
the country, making arrangements for the march inland, and for the
transport of ammunition and spare rifles, and in obtaining stores of
provisions sufficient for two or three days. It was fortunate indeed
that no Neapolitan troops were stationed in the town, and that they were
therefore able to pursue their work without interruption. During the
voyage the force had been divided into eight companies, and a ninth was
now formed from the Sicilians who joined them. The enthusiasm, that had
been necessarily shown rather in action than in shouts by the people of
Marsala, who, with Neapolitan ships in the bay, feared that any
demonstration might draw upon themselves a terrible retribution, now
showed itself openly. The force was accompanied by great numbers of men
and women,--even monks joined in the procession,--while from every
village parties of fighting men, many of whom had taken part in the late
insurrection, joined the party; and when on the day after leaving
Marsala they reached Salemi, the force had been augmented by twelve
hundred men.
Here Garibaldi, at the request not only of his own men, but of the
authorities of the little town and deputies from villages round, assumed
the title of dictator, in the name of Victor Emmanuel, King of
Italy--thus proclaiming to the world that he had broken altogether with
the republican faction.
Except when on duty, there was a thorough comradeship among the
Garibaldians. Fully half of the thousand men who had left Genoa with him
belonged to the upper and professional classes, and were of the same
rank of life as the officers; consequently, when the march was done or
the men dismissed from parade, all stiffness was thrown aside, and
officers and men mingled in the utmost harmony. All were in the highest
spirits. The first well-nigh insuperable difficulties had been overcome;
the hindrances thrown in their way by the Italian government had failed
to prevent their embarkation; the danger of falling into the hands of
the Neapolitan navy had been avoided, and the reception which they met
with showed that they had not overestimated the deep feeling of
hostility with which the Sicilians regarded their oppressors.
Frank, while on capital terms with all the officers, who were aware how
much the expedition owed to his family, and who saw the almost
affectionate manner in which Garibaldi treated him, kept principally
with his special friends, Maffio, Rubini, and Sarto.
During the voyage, as an occasional change from the one absorbing topic,
they asked him many questions about his school-days, and were intensely
interested in his description of the life, so wholly different from that
at Italian schools and academies.
"We don't have such good times as you have," Rubini said; "you seem to
have done just what you liked, and your masters do not appear to have
interfered with you at all."
"No, except when in school, they had nothing to do with us."
"And you went where you liked and did what you liked, just as if you
were grown-up men? It is astonishing," Maffio said; "why, with us we are
never out of sight of our masters!"
"We might not quite go where we liked: there were certain limits beyond
which we were supposed not to pass; but really, as long as we did not
get into any rows, we could pretty well go anywhere within walking
distance. You see, the big fellows to a certain extent keep order; but
really they only do this in the houses where we live--outside there is
no occasion to look after us. Though we are but boys, we are gentlemen,
and are expected to act as such. I can't see why boys want looking
after, as if they were criminals, who would break into a house or
maltreat an old woman, if they had the chance. It is because we are, as
it were, put on our honour and allowed to act and think for ourselves,
instead of being marched about and herded like a flock of sheep, that
our public school boys, as a rule, do so well afterwards. Our great
general, Wellington--at least I think it was he--said, that the battle
of Waterloo was fought in the playing fields of Eton. Of course, though
he said Eton, he meant of all our public schools. Certainly we are much
less likely to come to grief when we leave school and become our own
masters, than we should be, if we had been treated as children up to
that time."
"That must be so," Rubini said thoughtfully. "I wish we had such schools
in Italy; perhaps we shall have some day. We have many universities, but
no schools at all like yours. Of course, your masters are not priests?"
"Well, they are almost all clergymen, but that makes no difference. They
are generally good fellows, and take a lot of interest in our sports,
which is natural enough, for many of them have been great cricketers or
great oarsmen--that is, they have rowed in their university boat. A
master who has done that sort of thing is more looked up to by the boys,
and is thought more of, than fellows who have never done anything in
particular. The sort of fellows who have always been working and
reading, and have come out high at the universities, are of course very
good teachers, but they don't understand boys half as well as the others
do."
"But why should you respect a master who has been, as you say, good at
sports, more than one who has studied hard?"
"Well, I don't know exactly. Of course it is very creditable to a man to
have taken a high degree; but somehow or other one does have a lot of
respect for a fellow who you know could thrash any blackguard who had a
row with him in a couple of minutes--just the same as one feels a
respect for an officer who has done all sorts of brave actions. I heard,
some time ago, that one of our masters had been appointed to a church in
some beastly neighbourhood in Birmingham or one of those manufacturing
towns, and the people were such a rough lot that he could do nothing
with them at first. But one day, when he was going along the street, he
saw a notorious bully thrashing a woman, and he interfered. The fellow
threatened him; and he quietly turned in, and gave him the most
tremendous thrashing he had ever had, in about three minutes. After that
he got to be greatly liked, and did no end of good in his parish. I
suppose there was just the same feeling among those fellows as there is
with us at school."
"It seems impossible," Rubini said, in a tone almost of awe, "that a
minister should fight with his hands against a ruffian of that kind."
"Well, I don't know," Frank replied: "if you saw a big ruffian thrashing
a woman or insulting a lady, or if even he insulted yourself, what would
you do? I am supposing, of course, that you were not in uniform, and did
not wear a sword."
"I do not know what I should do," Rubini said gravely. "I hope I should
fly at him."
"Yes; but if he were bigger and stronger, and you could not box, what
would be the good of that? He would knock you down, and perhaps kick you
almost to death, and then finish thrashing the woman."
The three friends looked gravely at each other.
"Yes; but you say that this man was a priest, a clergyman?" Maffio
urged.
"Yes; but you must remember that he was also a man, and there is such a
thing as righteous anger. Why should a man look on and see a woman
ill-treated without lifting his hand to save her, simply because he is a
clergyman? No, no, Maffio. You may say what you like, but it is a good
thing for a man to have exercised all his muscles as a boy, and to be
good at sports, and have learned to use his fists. It is good for him,
whether he is going to be a soldier, or a colonist in a wild country, or
a traveller, or a clergyman. I am saying nothing against learning;
learning is a very good thing, but certainly among English boys we
admire strength and skill more than learning, and I am quite sure that
as a nation we have benefited more by the one than the other. If there
was not one among us who had ever opened a Latin or Greek book, we
should still have extended our empire as we have done, colonised
continents, conquered India, and held our own, and more, against every
other nation by land and sea, and become a tremendous manufacturing and
commercial country."
The others laughed. "Well crowed, Percival! No doubt there is a great
deal in what you say, still I suppose that even you will hardly claim
that you are braver than other people."
"Not braver," Frank said; "but bravery is no good without backbone. If
two men equally brave meet, it is the one with most 'last'--that is what
we call stamina--most endurance, most strength, and most skill, who must
in the long-run win."
"But the fault of you English is--I don't mean it offensively--that you
believe too much in yourselves."
"At any rate," Frank replied, "we don't boast about ourselves, as some
people do, and it is because we believe in ourselves that we are
successful. For example, you all here believe that, small as is your
number, you are going to defeat the Neapolitans, and I think that you
will do it, because I also believe in you. It is that feeling among our
soldiers and sailors--their conviction that, as a matter of course, they
will in the long-run win--that has carried them through battles and wars
against the biggest odds. That was the way that your Roman ancestors
carried their arms over Europe. They were no braver than the men they
fought, but they believed thoroughly in themselves, and never admitted
to themselves the possibility of defeat. What a mad expedition ours
would be if we had not the same feeling!"
"I won't argue any more against you, Percival," Rubini laughed; "and if
I ever marry and have sons, I will send them over to be educated at one
of your great schools--that is, if we have not, as I hope we may have by
that time, schools of the same kind here. Can you fence? Do you learn
that at your schools?"
"Not as a part of the school course. A fencing master does come down
from London once a week, and some of the fellows take lessons from him.
I did among others; but once a week is of very little use, and whenever
I was in London during the holidays, I went pretty nearly every day to
Angelo's, which is considered the best school for fencing we have. Of
course my father, being a soldier, liked me to learn the use of the
sword and rapier, though I might never have occasion to use them, for,
as I was his only son, he did not want me to go into the army. It is
just as well now that I did go in for it."
"I don't expect it will be of much use," Rubini said. "If the
Neapolitans do not show themselves to be braver soldiers than we take
them for, there will be no hand-to-hand fighting. If, on the other hand,
they do stand their ground well, I do not expect we shall ever get to
close quarters, for they ought to annihilate us before we could do so.
Well, I long for the first trial."
"So do I. I should think that a good deal would depend upon that. If we
beat them as easily as I have heard my father say they were beaten near
Rome in 1848, it is hardly likely that they will make much stand
afterwards. It is not only the effect it will have on the Neapolitan
troops, but on the people. We cannot expect that the Sicilians will join
us in considerable number until we have won a battle, and we want them
to make a good show. Even the most cowardly troops can hardly help
fighting when they are twenty to one; but if we are able to make a fair
show of force, the enemy may lose heart, even if the greater part of our
men are only poorly armed peasants."
To most of those who started from Genoa, fully prepared to sacrifice
their lives in the cause they regarded as sacred, the success that had
attended their passage, and enabled them to disembark without the loss
of a man, seemed a presage of further good fortune, and they now marched
forward with the buoyant confidence, that in itself goes a long way to
ensure success; the thought that there were fifty thousand Neapolitan
troops in the island, and that General Lanza had at Palermo twenty-eight
thousand, in no way overawed them, and the news that a strong body of
the enemy had advanced through Calatafimi to meet them was regarded with
satisfaction.
Calatafimi stood in the heart of the mountains, where the roads from
Palermo, Marsala and Trapani met; and on such ground the disproportion
of numbers would be of less importance than it would be in the plain,
for the cavalry of the enemy would not be able to act with effect. The
ground, too, as they learned from peasants, was covered with ruins of
buildings erected by Saracens, Spaniards, and Normans, and was therefore
admirably suited for irregular warfare. Garibaldi, with a few of his
staff, went forward to reconnoitre the position. He decided that his own
followers should make a direct attack, while the new levies, working
among the hills, should open fire on the Neapolitan flanks and charge
down upon them as opportunity offered.
At Marsala the staff had all bought horses, choosing hardy animals
accustomed to work among the mountains. It was not the general's
intention to hurl his little force directly on the Neapolitan centre,
situated in the valley, but, while making a feint there, to attack one
flank or the other, the rapidity with which his men manoeuvred giving
them a great advantage. While, therefore, the six little guns he had
obtained at Talamonte were to open fire on the enemy's centre, covered
by a couple of hundred men, the rest were to act as a mobile force under
his own direction; their movements would be screened by the ruins and
broken ground, and he would be able to pass in comparative shelter from
one flank to the other, and so surprise the enemy by falling upon them
where least expected.
As they approached the scene of action, the Garibaldians left the road,
scattering themselves in skirmishing order on either side, and working
their way along through the ruins, which so covered their advance, that
it was only occasionally that a glimpse of a red shirt or the gleam of
the sun on a musket-barrel showed the enemy that their assailants were
approaching. On ground like this horses were of little use, and
Garibaldi ordered all the junior members of his staff to dismount,
fasten their horses in places of shelter, and advance on foot with the
troops, as he should not require their services during the fight.