PALERMO.
Frank's heart beat fast with the excitement of the moment. Save himself,
there was not one of Garibaldi's own men but was accustomed to the sound
of artillery, and he could scarcely restrain himself from starting when
on a sudden the Neapolitan batteries opened fire, and their missiles
struck rocks and walls round him, or burst overhead.
"It is not so bad as it looks," Rubini, whom he joined as he ran
forward, said with a laugh.
"It is fortunate that it is not," Frank replied; "it certainly sounds
bad enough, but, as I don't think they can see us at all, it can only be
a random fire."
He soon shook off the feeling of uneasiness which he could not at first
repress, and presently quitted his friend and pushed forward on his own
account, keeping close to the road and abreast of Garibaldi, so that he
could run up and receive any orders that might be given. It was not long
before the enemy opened a musketry fire. The guns had been following
Garibaldi, and he now superintended them as they were run into position,
three on either side of the road. They were not placed at regular
distances, but each was posted where the men would, while loading, be
sheltered behind walls, from which the guns could be run out, wheeled
round and fired, and then withdrawn. Frank was not long in joining the
Garibaldian line, which was lying in shelter at the foot of the
declivity.
In front of them was a level space of ground with a few little
farmhouses dotted here and there. On the opposite side of this the hills
rose much more steeply. Near the summit were the main body of the
Neapolitans, who were altogether about two thousand strong; an advanced
guard of some five or six hundred had descended into the valley, and
were moving across it; they had guns with them, which were now at work,
as were others with the main body.
When Garibaldi joined his troops he at once ordered the Genoese company
to attack the advancing enemy and if possible to capture the guns they
had with them. Followed by a party of the Sicilians, and by Frank and
several other officers who had no special duties to perform, they dashed
forward. At the same moment a number of the peasants, who had made their
way round on either flank unobserved, opened fire upon the Neapolitans,
who at the order of the officer in command began to fall back. The
Garibaldians hurled themselves upon them, and hastened the movement. The
guard had no idea of making a frontal attack upon an enemy so strongly
posted, and had, as Frank had heard him say before he dismounted,
intended to compel them to fall back by flank attacks. He was not
surprised, therefore, to hear the trumpet sounding the recall.
The summons was, however, unheard, or at any rate unheeded, by the
Genoese, who continued to press hotly upon the Neapolitans; the latter
had now been joined by their supporting line, and Garibaldi saw that the
small party, who were now almost surrounded, must be destroyed, unless
he advanced to their assistance. The trumpet accordingly sounded the
charge, and the men sprang to their feet and dashed forward at full
speed. The fighting had been hand to hand, and the Garibaldians had only
gained the advantage so far from the fact that they were accustomed to
fight each for himself, and were individually more powerful men; it was
indeed their habit, in all their fights, to rely on the bayonet, and
they still pressed forward. Frank was now as cool and collected as he
would have been in a football match, and had several times to
congratulate himself on the training he had received in the use of his
sword, having two combats with Neapolitan officers, and each time coming
off victorious.
Presently, in front of him, he saw one of the Neapolitan standards. In
the confusion it had been left almost unguarded; and calling to three or
four of the men around him, he dashed at it. There was a short, sharp
fight: the men standing between him and the flag fell before the
bayonets of the Garibaldians. Frank engaged in a tough encounter with
the officer who held the flag, and finally cutting him down, seized the
staff and carried it back into the Garibaldian ranks.
"Well done, well done, Percival!" He turned and saw Garibaldi himself,
who, at the head of his main body, had that instant arrived.
The Neapolitans, although also reinforced, fell back up the hill. The
face of the ascent was composed of a series of natural terraces, and as
they retreated up these, a storm of fire from the reserve at the top of
the hill and the cannon there, was poured upon the Garibaldians. The
general halted his men for a minute or two at the foot of the lower
terrace, where they were sheltered by the slope from the missiles of the
enemy; they were re-formed, and then re-commenced the ascent. It was
hot work; the ground was very steep, and swept by the enemy's fire. As
each terrace was gained, the men rushed across the level ground and
threw themselves down panting at the foot of the next slope, where they
were to some extent sheltered. Two or three minutes, and they made their
next rush. But little return to the enemy's fire was attempted, for the
wretched muskets with which they had been supplied at Genoa were
practically useless, and only the Genoese, who had brought their own
carbines, and were excellent shots, did much execution.
Several times the Neapolitans attempted to make a stand, but were as
often driven back. On this occasion, however, they fought well and
steadily; the terror of Garibaldi's name had ceased to have its effect
during the twelve years that had elapsed since Ferdinand's army had fled
before him, but the desire to wipe out that disgrace no doubt inspired
them, and Garibaldi afterwards gave them full credit for the obstinacy
with which they had contested his advance. At last the uppermost terrace
was reached; there was one more halt for breath, and then the
Garibaldians went forward with a cheer. The resistance was comparatively
slight: the Neapolitan troops at first engaged had already exhausted
their ammunition, and had become disheartened at their failure to arrest
the impetuous assault of their enemies; and when the Garibaldians
reached the summit of the hill, they found that the enemy were in full
retreat.
Exhausted by their efforts, and having suffered heavy loss, they made a
short halt; the horses of the general and his staff were brought up by
the small party who had been left with the guns, and who had advanced
across the plain at some little distance in the rear of the fighting
line. As soon as they arrived the advance continued until the little
army halted at Calatafimi, some miles from the scene of battle. The
Garibaldians had captured only one cannon, a few rifles, and a score or
two of prisoners, for the most part wounded; but by the defeat of the
enemy they had gained an enormous advantage, for, as the news spread
throughout the country, its dimensions growing as it flew, it created
great enthusiasm, and from every town and village men poured down to
join the army of liberation.
The Neapolitan governor had indeed made a fatal mistake in not placing a
much larger force in the field for the first engagement. The troops
fought bravely, and though beaten, were by no means disgraced; and had
they been supported by powerful artillery, and by a couple of regiments
of cavalry, which could have charged the Garibaldians in the plain, the
battle would have had a very different result.
At Calatafimi the Garibaldians halted. The Neapolitan wounded had been
left here; their own had, when the fighting ceased, been sent back to
Vita. The inhabitants vied with each other in hospitality to them, and
although saddened by the loss of many of their bravest comrades, all
regarded the victory they had won as an augury of future success.
Already the country had risen; the Neapolitans in their retreat had been
harassed, and numbers of them killed by the peasants; every hour swelled
the force, and next morning they set out in the highest spirits, and
with a conviction that success would attend them. And yet there were
grave difficulties to be met, for ten thousand Neapolitans were massed
in two formidable positions on the road by which it was believed that
the Garibaldians must advance, and twelve thousand remained in garrison
at Palermo. That evening they reached Alcamo, a large town, where they
were received with enthusiasm. The excitement was even more lively when
the next day they entered Partinico, where the inhabitants, who had been
brutally treated by the Neapolitans in their advance, had risen when
they passed through as fugitives, and massacred numbers of them, and
pursued them a considerable distance along the road to Palermo. At this
point the Garibaldians left the road, and ascended to the plateau of
Renne, and thence looked down on the rich plain in which Palermo stands,
and on the city itself. Here two days of tremendous rain prevented
farther movement.
"You are now seeing the rough side of campaigning, Percival," Rubini
said, with a laugh, as the four friends sat together in a little arbour
they had erected, and over the top of which were thrown two of their
blankets.
"It is not very pleasant, certainly," Frank agreed; "but it might be a
good deal worse; it is wet, but it is not cold, and we are not fasting;
we each of us laid in a good stock of provisions when at Partinico, but
I certainly never anticipated that we should have to rely upon telegraph
poles for a supply of fuel: it is lucky that the wires run across here,
for we should certainly have had to eat our meat raw, or go without, if
it hadn't been for them."
None of the men appeared to mind the discomfort; the supply of wood was
too precious to be used except for cooking purposes, and indeed it would
be of no use for the men to attempt to dry their clothes until the
downpour ceased. Two days later, the enemy having sent out a strong
reconnoitring party, Garibaldi determined to cross the mountains and
come down upon the main southern road from Palermo. Officers had been
sent to the various towns on that road to summon all true men to join.
The force started in the evening and performed a tremendous march; the
guns were lashed to poles and carried on the men's shoulders, the boxes
of ammunition were conveyed in the same manner. The rain continued
incessantly, and there was a thick fog which added greatly to the
difficulties. It was not until daylight that the head of the column
began to straggle into Parco, on the southern road.
They at once seized some commanding positions round the place, and began
to throw up entrenchments, but as Parco was commanded by hills, it could
not be defended against a determined attack. Two days later two strong
columns marched out from Palermo. The first advanced by the road that
crossed the valley, and threatened the Garibaldian rear by the passage
through the hills known as the pass of Piana dei Greci. Garibaldi at
once sent off his artillery and baggage by the road, and with a company
of his cacciatori and a body of the new levies, who were known as
picciotti, hurried to the pass, which they reached before the
Neapolitans arrived there. On their opening fire, the Neapolitans,
thinking that they had the whole Garibaldian force in front of them in
an extremely strong position, retired at once. Finding that the freedom
of his movements would be embarrassed by his cannon, which under the
most advantageous circumstances could not contend against those of the
enemy, he sent them away along the southern road, while he withdrew his
force from Parco, and for a short time followed the guns; he then turned
off into the mountains and directed his march to Misilmeri, a few miles
from Palermo, having completely thrown the enemy off his track. The
pursuing column, believing that the whole Garibaldian force was
retreating with its guns, pushed on rapidly, while Garibaldi had
already turned the strong position of Monreale, and was preparing to
attack the town.
His force had here been increased by the volunteers who had arrived from
the southern villages. The Neapolitan general, Lanza, soon obtained
information as to the invader's position, and prepared with absolute
confidence to meet his attack, which must, he believed, be made by the
coast road. On the evening of the 26th Garibaldi moved across the
country by a little-frequented track, and the next morning appeared on
the road entering the town at the Termini gate. The twelve thousand
Neapolitan troops who still remained in the town had no suspicion that
their foe was near. The day before, the commander of the column that had
passed through Parco had sent in the news that he was in hot pursuit of
the Garibaldians, who were flying in all directions, and the governor
had given a banquet in honour of the rout of the brigands. The military
bands had played on the promenade, and the official portion of the
population had been wild with joy.
On the other hand, messages had passed constantly between Garibaldi's
agents and the leaders of the patriotic party in the town, who had
promised that the population would rise as soon as he entered the city.
It was upon this promise that the general based his hopes of success;
for that three thousand badly armed men could hope to overcome twelve
thousand troops, well supported by artillery, and defending the town
street by street, seemed impossible even to so hopeful a spirit. No time
was lost. The Garibaldians rushed forward, drove in at once an outpost
stationed beyond the barriers at the gate, and carried the barricades,
before the troops could muster in sufficient force to offer any serious
resistance.
But beyond this the opposition became obstinate and fierce; the
cacciatori pressed forward by the principal street, the bands of
picciotti distracted the attention of the enemy by advancing by parallel
streets, and, although the cannon of the Castello Mare thundered,
pouring shot and shell broadcast into the quarter through which the
Garibaldians were advancing, and though from the large convent of San
Antonio, held by a battalion of bersaglieri, a terrible fire was
maintained upon the flank of the cacciatori at a distance of a couple of
hundred yards, they nevertheless pressed on, clearing the street of the
troops who opposed their advance, until they reached the square in the
centre of the city.
All this time the guns of the Neapolitan ships-of-war had been pouring a
fierce fire into the town, with the apparent object of deterring the
populace from rising, for it was upon private houses that the damage was
committed, and was, so far as the Garibaldians were concerned,
innoxious. For a short time the object was attained: so terrible was the
fire that swept the principal streets leading down to the water, so
alarming the din of exploding shells and falling walls, that for a short
time the populace dared not venture from their houses; but fury
succeeded to alarm, and it was not long before the inhabitants flocked
out into the streets, and under the direction of Colonel Acerbi, one of
the most distinguished officers of the thousand, began to erect
barricades. These sprang up with marvellous rapidity; carts were wheeled
out from the courtyards and overturned, men laboured with pickaxes and
crowbars tearing up the pavements, women threw out mattresses from the
windows; all worked with enthusiasm.
Garibaldi established himself at the Pretorio Palace, the central point
of the city; and here the members of the revolutionary committee joined
him. His staff were sent off in all directions to order all the bands
scattered throughout the city to assemble there. The people of Palermo
were wholly without firearms, as all weapons of the kind had been
confiscated by the authorities; but armed with hatchets, axes, knives
fastened to the end of sticks and poles to act as pikes, long spits and
other improvised weapons, they prepared to defend the barricades. A few,
indeed, brought out muskets which had been hidden away when all the
houses had been searched for weapons, but the greatest difficulty was
experienced from the want of powder.
Garibaldi now stationed his forces so as to intercept all communications
between the various points where the Neapolitan troops were
concentrated. Lanza himself, who was at once commander-in-chief and
viceroy, was with several regiments at the royal palace.
The Castello Mare was held by a strong force, and there were some
regiments at the palace of finance. These points they had only reached
after hard fighting; but once there they were isolated from each other,
and to join hands they would have to pass along streets blocked by
barricades, and defended by a desperate population, and exposed to the
fire of the Garibaldians from every window and roof.
That night hundreds of men and women were set to work to grind charcoal,
sulphur, and saltpetre, to mix them together to form a rough gunpowder,
and then to make it up into cartridges. Such a compound would have been
useless for ordinary purposes, but would have sufficient strength for
street fighting, where it was but necessary to send a bullet some twenty
or thirty yards with sufficient force to kill.
The fire of the fleet, Castello Mare, and the palace was maintained all
day. The town was on fire in many places. A whole district a thousand
yards in length and a hundred yards wide had been laid in ashes,
convents and churches had been crushed by shells, and a large number of
the inhabitants had been killed by grape and cannister; but after four
hours' fighting there was a lull in the musketry fire: the Neapolitans
were gathered in their three strong places, and were virtually besieged
there. In spite of the continued cannonade, the populace thronged the
streets which were not in the direct line of fire, the bells of the
churches pealed out triumphantly; bright curtains, cloths and flags were
hung out from the balconies, friends embraced each other with tears of
joy; while numbers continued to labour at the barricades, the monks and
clergy joining in the work, all classes being wild with joy at their
deliverance from the long and crushing tyranny to which they had been
subjected.
Frank had entered the city with the chosen band, who had led the attack
on the Termini gate, and advanced with them into the heart of the city.
In the wild excitement of the fight he had lost all sense of danger; he
saw others fall around him, his cheek had been deeply gashed by a
bullet, but he had scarce felt the pain, and was almost surprised when a
man close to him offered to bind up his wound with his sash. One of the
first orders that Garibaldi gave, after establishing himself at the
Pretorio Palace was to send for him.
"Lieutenant Percival," he said, "I commit to you the honour of leading a
party to the prisons, and liberating all the political prisoners you
find there. You have won that distinction by having, in the first place,
captured the flag of the tyrants at Calatafimi, and also by the gallant
manner in which you have fought in the first rank to-day. I marked your
conduct, and it was worthy of your brave father. I can give it no higher
praise."
Taking twenty men with him, Frank went to the prisons. On entering each,
he demanded from the officials a list of all prisoners confined, and the
offences with which they were charged, so that no criminals should be
released with the political prisoners. He hardly needed the list,
however, for the criminals were but few in number, the Neapolitan
authorities not having troubled themselves with such trifles as
robberies and assassinations, but the prisons were crowded with men of
the best blood in the city and the surrounding country, who had been
arrested upon the suspicion of holding liberal opinions, and who were
treated with very much greater severity than were the worst malefactors.
The thunder of the guns had already informed them that a terrible
conflict was going on, but it was not until Frank and his men arrived
that the prisoners knew who were the parties engaged, and their joy and
gratitude was unbounded when they learned that they were free, now and
for ever, from the power of their persecutors.
As they marched to the prison, several of the men had shouted to the
crowd, "We are going to free the captives." The news had spread like
wildfire, and as the prisoners issued from the jail they were met by
their friends and relatives, and the most affecting scenes took place.
Although Frank considered it unlikely in the extreme that persons
arrested on the mainland would be carried across to the island, he
insisted on the warders accompanying him over the whole prison and
unlocking every door, in spite of their protestations that the cells
were empty. Having satisfied himself on this head, he went to the other
prisons, where similar scenes took place.
The fire of the Neapolitan ships was kept up until nightfall, and then
ceased, rather from the exhaustion of the gunners, who had been twelve
hours at work, than from any difficulty in sighting their guns; for in
Palermo it was almost as light as day, the whole city being lit up by
the tremendous conflagration, and in addition every house save those
facing the port was illuminated, candles burning at every window.
Throughout the night work was carried on, fresh barricades were erected,
and others greatly strengthened. It was all-important that the three
bodies of troops, isolated from each other, should not effect a
junction. Boats were sent off to the merchant ships in the harbour in
order to purchase powder, but none could be obtained; however, by
morning so much had been manufactured that with what still remained in
the Garibaldian pouches there was enough for the day's fighting.
At Garibaldi's headquarters there was no sleep that night: the
revolutionary committee received orders from the general where the armed
citizens were to take their posts at the barricades, and how their men
were to be divided into sections. They were to impress upon all that,
though the fighting must be desperate, it could not last long. At the
royal palace there were no provisions of any kind for the troops
stationed there, nor were there any in the palace of finance; so that if
the struggle could be maintained for another day or two at the most, the
troops would be driven to surrender by starvation.
Frank had time, after he returned from the prisons, to have his wound
dressed, and he then received the congratulations of his three friends,
all of whom were more or less severely wounded.
"You have come out of it rather the best of us, Percival," Maffio said:
"I have a bullet through the arm, Rubini has lost two of the fingers of
his left hand, and Sarto will limp for some time, for he has been shot
through the calf of his leg; so we shall have no scars that we can show,
while you will have one that will be as good as a medal of honour."
"I am sure I hope not," Frank said; "I can assure you that, honourable
as it may be, it would be a nuisance indeed, for I should be constantly
asked where I got it, and when I answered, should be bothered into
telling the whole story over and over again. However, I think we can all
congratulate each other on having come out of it comparatively unhurt; I
certainly never expected to do so,--the row was almost bewildering."
"It was almost as bad as one of your football tussles," Sarto laughed.
"You may laugh, but it was very much the same feeling," Frank replied.
"I have felt nearly as much excited in a football scrimmage as I was
to-day; I can tell you that when two sides are evenly matched, and each
fellow is straining every nerve, the thrill of satisfaction when one
finds that one's own side is gaining ground is about as keen as anything
one is ever likely to feel."
The next day the fighting recommenced, the Neapolitan troops making
desperate efforts to concentrate. The fighting in the streets was for a
time furious. At no point did the enemy make any material progress,
although they gained possession of some houses round the palace and
finance offices. The barricades were desperately defended by the armed
citizens and the picciotti, and from time to time, when the Neapolitans
seemed to be gaining ground, the men of Garibaldi's thousand flung
themselves upon them with the bayonet. That morning, under the
superintendence of skilled engineers, powder mills were established, and
the supply of gunpowder was improved both in quantity and quality, men
and women filling the cartridges as fast as the powder was turned out.
Fighting and work continued throughout the night, and all next day.