HARD FIGHTING.
On the following morning Frank was riding with a message from the
general, when he heard a sudden outburst of firing at some distance
ahead of him. He checked his horse to listen.
"That must be near the Porto Termini," he said, "and yet there are none
of the enemy anywhere near there. It must be either some fresh body of
troops that have arrived from the south of the island, or Bosco's column
returned from their fool's errand in search of us. If so, we are in a
desperate mess. Six thousand Neapolitan troops, under one of their best
generals, would turn the scale against us; they must be stopped, if
possible, till the general can collect our scattered troops."
Frank's second supposition was the correct one. The two columns that
had, as they believed, been in pursuit of Garibaldi, had returned to the
town. So unanimous were the country people in their hatred of the
Neapolitans, that it was only on the previous day that they had learned
that the enemy, who they believed were fugitives, had entered Palermo
with their whole force. Furious at having been so tricked, they made a
tremendous march, and arriving at the Termini gate early in the morning,
made a determined attack on the guard there, who defended themselves
bravely, but were driven back, contesting every step.
Frank hesitated for a moment, and then shouted to a soldier near him:
"Run with all speed to the palace; demand to see the general at once.
Say that you have come from me, and that I sent you to say that the
Porto Termini is attacked, I know not with what force, and that I am
going on to try to arrest their progress until he arrives with help. As
you run, tell every man you meet to hasten to oppose the enemy."
The man started to run, and Frank galloped on, shouting to every armed
man he met to follow him. The roar of battle increased as he rode. When
he reached the long street leading to the gate, he saw that the enemy
had already forced their way in, and that a barricade was being
desperately defended by the little force that had fallen back before
them. His horse would be useless now, and he called to a boy who was
looking round the corner of a house.
"Look here, my lad: take this horse and lead him to the general's
headquarters. Here is a five-franc piece. Don't get on his back, but
lead him. Can I trust you?"
"I will do it, signor; you can depend upon me."
Frank ran forward. The tremendous roll of fire beyond the barricade
showed how strong was the force there, and he felt sure that the
defenders must speedily be overpowered. Numbers of men were running
along the street; he shouted to them: "The barricade cannot hold out;
enter the houses and man every window; we must keep them back to the
last. Garibaldi will be here before long."
He himself kept on until within some two hundred yards of the barricade;
then he stopped at the door of a house at the corner of a lane at right
angles to the street, and ran into it. He waited until a score of men
came up.
"Come in here," he said: "we will defend this house till the last."
The men closed the door behind them, and running into the lower rooms,
fetched out furniture and piled it against it. They were assisted by
five or six women, who, with some children, were the sole occupants of
the house.
"Bring all the mattresses and bedding that you have," Frank said to
them, "to the windows of the first floor. We will place them on the
balconies."
In three or four minutes every balcony was lined with mattresses, and
Frank sheltered his men behind them. Looking out, he saw that the
fighting had just ceased, and that a dense mass of the enemy were
pouring over the barricade; while at the same moment a crackling fire
broke out from the houses near, into which its defenders had run, when
they saw that the barricade could be no longer defended. Along both
sides of the street, preparations similar to those he had ordered had
been hastily made; and the men who were still coming up were all turning
into the houses. Directly the Neapolitans crossed the barricade, they
opened fire down the street, which was speedily deserted; but Frank had
no doubt that, as the Garibaldian supports came up, they would make
their way in at the back and strengthen the defenders. A hundred yards
higher up the street was another barricade; behind this the townspeople
were already gathering. Frank ordered his men to keep back inside the
rooms until the enemy came along.
"Your powder is no good till they are close," he said, "but it is as
good as the best at close quarters."
[Illustration: "THE HINGES OF THE DOOR WERE BROKEN OFF"]
From time to time he looked out. The roar of musketry was continuous;
from every window came puffs of smoke, while the enemy replied by a
storm of musketry fire at the defenders. While the column was still
moving forward, its officers were telling off parties of men to burst
open the doors and bayonet all found in the houses. He could mark the
progress made, as women threw themselves out of the windows, preferring
death that way to being murdered by the infuriated soldiers. It was not
long before the head of the column approached the house; then Frank gave
the word, and from every window a discharge was poured into the crowded
mass. Stepping back from the balconies to load, the men ran out and
fired again as soon as they were ready; while through the upper part of
the open windows a shower of bullets flew into the room, bringing down
portions of the ceiling, smashing looking-glasses, and striking thickly
against the back walls.
Several of the party had fallen in the first two or three minutes, and
Frank, taking one of their muskets and ammunition, was working with the
rest, when a woman whom he had posted below ran up to say that they were
attacking the door, and that it was already yielding. Two or three shots
fired through the keyhole had indeed broken the lock, and it was only
the furniture piled against it that kept it in its place. Already, by
his instructions, the women had brought out on to the landing sofas,
chests of drawers, and other articles, to form a barricade there. Frank
ran down the stone stairs with six of the men, directing the others to
form the barricade on the first floor, and to be prepared to help them
over as they returned. It was two or three minutes before the hinges of
the door were broken off, by shots from the assailants, and as it fell
it was dragged out, and a number of men rushed in and began to pull down
the furniture behind.
Now Frank and his party opened fire, aiming coolly and steadily. But
the soldiers rushed in in such numbers that he soon gave the word, and
his party ran upstairs, and, covered by the fire of their comrades,
climbed up over the barricade on to the landing. Here they defended
themselves desperately. The enemy thronged the staircase, those who were
in front using their bayonets, while the men in the passage below fired
over their heads at the defenders. Momentarily the little band decreased
in number, until but two remained on their feet by the side of Frank.
The women, knowing that no mercy would be shown, picked up the muskets
of the fallen, and fired them into the faces of the men trying to pull
down or scale the barricades. But the end was close at hand, when there
came a tremendous crash, a blinding smoke and dust. The house shook to
its foundations, and for a moment a dead silence took the place of the
din that had before prevailed.
Frank and his two companions had been thrown down by the shock. Half
stunned, and ignorant of what had happened, he struggled to his feet.
His left hand hung helpless by his side. He took his pistol, which he
had reserved for the last extremity, from his belt, and looked over the
barricade. At first he could see nothing, so dense was the smoke and
dust. As it cleared away a little, he gave an exclamation of surprise
and thankfulness: the stairs were gone.
"Thank God!" he said, turning round to the women behind him, who were
standing paralysed by the explosion and shock. "We are safe: the stairs
have gone."
Still he could scarce understand what had happened, until he saw a
yawning hole in the wall near the stairs, and then understood what had
taken place. The ships-of-war were again at work bombarding the town.
One of their shells had passed through the house and exploded under the
stairs, carrying them away, with all upon them. Below was a chaos of
blocks of stone, mingled with the bodies of their late assailants; but
while he looked, a fierce jet of flame burst up.
"What was there under the stairs?" he asked the women.
"The store of firewood, signor, was there."
"The shell which blew up the stairs has set it alight," he said. "We are
safe from the enemy; but we are not safe from the fire. I suppose there
is a way out on to the roof?"
"Yes, signor."
"Then do one of you see that all the children upstairs are taken out
there; let the rest examine all the bodies of the men who have fallen;
if any are alive they must be carried up."
He looked down at the two men who had stood by him till the last: one
had been almost decapitated by a fragment of stone, the other was still
breathing; only three of the others were found to be alive, for almost
all, either at the windows or the barricade, had been shot through the
head or upper part of the body.
Frank assisted the women, as well as he was able, to carry the four men
still alive up to the roof. The houses were divided by party walls some
seven or eight feet high. Frank told the women to fetch a chair, a chest
of drawers, and a large blanket, from below. The chest of drawers was
placed against the wall separating the terrace from that of the next
house down the lane, and the chair by the side of it. With the aid of
this, Frank directed one of the women to mount on to the chest of
drawers, and then took his place beside her.
"You had better get up first," he said, "and then help me a little, for
with this disabled arm I should not be able to manage it without hurting
myself badly." With her aid, however, he had no difficulty in getting
up. There were several women on the next roof, but they had not heard
him, so intent were they in watching the fray; and it was not until he
had shouted several times that they caught the sound of his voice above
the din of fighting.
"I am going to hand some children and four wounded men down to you," he
said, as they ran up.
The children were first passed down; the women placed the wounded men
one by one on a blanket, and standing on two chairs raised it until
Frank and the woman beside him could get hold. Then they lowered it down
on the other side until the women there could reach it. Only three had
to be lifted over, for when it came to the turn of the fourth he was
found to be dead.
"You will all have to move on," Frank said, as he dropped on to the
terrace; "the next house is on fire: whether it will spread or not I
cannot say, but at any rate you had better bring up your valuables, and
move along two or three houses farther. You cannot go out into the
street; you would only be shot down as soon as you issued out. I think
that if you go two houses farther you will be safe; the fire will take
some time to reach there, and the enemy's column may have passed across
the end of the street before you are driven out."
The women heard what he said with composure; the terrors of the past
three days had excited the nerves of the whole population to such a
point of tension, that the news of this fresh danger was received almost
with apathy. They went down quietly to bring up their children and
valuables, and with them one woman brought a pair of steps, which
greatly facilitated the passage of the remaining walls. One of the
wounded men had by this time so far recovered himself that he was able,
with assistance, to cross without being lifted over in a blanket. A
fresh contingent of fugitives here joined them, and another wall was
crossed.
"I think that you are now far enough," Frank said: "will you promise me
that if the flames work this way"--and by this time the house where the
fight had taken place was on fire from top to bottom--"you will carry
these wounded men along as you go from roof to roof? I have my duties to
perform and cannot stay here longer. Of course, if the fire spreads all
the way down the lane, you must finally go down and run out from the
door of the last house; but there will be comparatively small danger in
this, as it will be but two or three steps round the next corner, and
you will there be in shelter."
"We promise we will carry them with us," one of the women said
earnestly: "you do not think that we could leave the men who have fought
so bravely for us to be burnt?"
Frank now proceeded along the roofs. Two of the women accompanied him,
to place the steps to enable him to mount and dismount the walls. There
was no occasion to warn those below as to the fire, for all had by this
time noticed it. He went down through the last house, opened the door,
and ran round the corner, and then made his way along the streets until
he reached the spot where the combat was raging. Garibaldi had, on
receiving his message, hurried with what force he could collect to the
scene of conflict; but, as he went, he received a letter from General
Lanza, saying that he had sent negotiators on board the flag-ship of
the British fleet anchored in the roadstead, Admiral Mundy having
consented to allow the representatives of both parties to meet there.
The tone of the letter showed how the Sicilian viceroy's pride was
humbled. He had, in his proclamation issued four days before, denounced
Garibaldi as a brigand and filibuster; he now addressed him as His
Excellency General Garibaldi. Garibaldi at once went on board the
English admiral's ship, but the fire of the Neapolitan ships and their
guns on shore continued unabated. General Letizia was already on board,
with the conditions of the proposed convention. To the first four
articles Garibaldi agreed: that there should be a suspension of arms for
a period to be arranged; that during that time each party should keep
its position; that convoys of wounded, and the families of officials,
should be allowed to pass through the town and embark on board the
Neapolitan war-ships; and that the troops in the palace should be
allowed to provide themselves with daily provisions. The fifth article
proposed that the municipality should address a humble petition to his
majesty the king, laying before him the real wishes of the town, and
that this petition should be submitted to his majesty.
This article was indignantly rejected by Garibaldi. Letizia then folded
up the paper and said, "Then all communications between us must cease."
Garibaldi then protested to Admiral Mundy against the infamy of the
royal authorities in allowing the ships and forts to continue to fire
upon his troops while a flag of truce was flying. Letizia, who could
hardly have expected that the article would be accepted, now agreed to
its being struck out, and an armistice was arranged to last for
twenty-four hours. Garibaldi returned on shore, and at a great meeting
of the citizens explained the terms to them, and stated the condition
that he had rejected. It was greeted with a roar of approval, and the
citizens at once scattered with orders to increase the strength of the
barricades to the utmost. The work was carried on with enthusiasm; the
balconies were all lined with mattresses, and heaped with stones and
missiles of all kinds to cast down upon the enemy, and the work of
manufacturing powder and cartridges went on with feverish haste. Now
that the firing had ceased, officers from the British and American
vessels off the town came ashore, and many of them made presents of
revolvers and fowling-pieces to the volunteers. The sailors on a
Sardinian frigate almost mutinied, because they were not permitted to go
ashore and aid in the defence.
Before the twenty-four hours had passed, General Letizia called upon
Garibaldi and asked for a further three days' truce, as twenty-four
hours was not a sufficient time to get the wounded on board. This
Garibaldi readily granted, as it would give time for the barricades to
be made almost impregnable, and for him to receive reinforcements, while
it could not benefit the enemy. Volunteers arrived in companies from the
country round, and Orsini landed with the cannon and with a considerable
number of men who had joined him.
Such was the report given by Letizia, on his return to the royal palace,
of the determined attitude of the population and of the formidable
obstacles that would be encountered by the troops directly they were put
in motion, that General Lanza must have felt his position to be
desperate. He accordingly sent Letizia back again to arrange that the
troops at the royal palace, the finance office, and the Termini gate
should be allowed to move down towards the sea and there join hands. To
this Garibaldi willingly assented, as, should hostilities be renewed, he
would be able to concentrate his whole efforts at one point, instead of
being obliged to scatter his troops widely to meet an advance from four
directions.
All idea of further fighting, however, had been abandoned by Lanza, and
before the end of the armistice arrived, it was arranged that all should
be taken on to their ships, and the forts, as well as the town,
evacuated. The general also bound himself to leave behind him all the
political prisoners who had been detained in the Castello Mare.
The enthusiasm in the city was indescribable, as the Neapolitans
embarked on board their ships. The released prisoners were carried in
triumph to Garibaldi's headquarters. Every house was decorated and
illuminated, and the citizens, proud of the share they had taken in
winning their freedom, speedily forgot their toils and their losses. The
men who had marched with Garibaldi from Marsala were glad indeed of the
prospect of a short time of rest. For nearly three weeks they had been
almost incessantly marching or fighting, exposed for some days to a
terrible downfall of rain, without shelter and almost without food.
Since they had entered Palermo, they had only been able to snatch two or
three hours' sleep occasionally. They had lost a large number of men,
and few of them had escaped unwounded; but these, unless absolutely
disabled, had still taken their share in the fighting, and even in the
work of building the barricades.
For Garibaldi's staff there was little relaxation from their labours. In
addition to his military duties, Garibaldi undertook with his usual
vigour the reorganisation of the municipal affairs of the town. The
condition of the charitable establishments was ameliorated; schools for
girls established throughout the island; a national militia organised;
the poorer part of the population were fed and employed in useful work;
the street arabs, with whom Palermo swarmed, were gathered and placed in
the Jesuit College, of which Garibaldi took possession, to be trained as
soldiers. The organisation of the general government of the island was
also attended to, and recruiting officers sent off to every district
evacuated by the enemy.
This Garibaldi was able to do, as over £1,000,000 sterling had been, by
the terms of the convention, left in the royal treasury when it was
evacuated by the enemy. Contracts for arms were made abroad; a foundry
for cannon established in the city, and the powder mills perfected and
kept at work. Increasing reinforcements flocked in from the mainland;
Medici with three steamers and two thousand men arrived the evening
before the Neapolitan troops had finished their embarkation; Cosenz
shortly afterwards landed with an equal number; other contingents
followed from all the Italian provinces. Great Britain was represented
by a number of enthusiastic men, who were formed into a company. Among
these was a Cornish gentleman of the name of Peard, who had long been
resident in Italy, and had imbibed a deep hatred of the tyrannical
government that ground down the people, and persecuted, imprisoned, and
drove into exile all who ventured to criticise their proceedings. He was
a splendid shot, and the coolness he showed, and his success in picking
off the enemy's officers, rendered him a noted figure among Garibaldi's
followers.
The army was now organised in three divisions: one under General Turr
marched for the centre of the island; the right wing, commanded by
Bixio, started for the south-east; and the left, under Medici, was to
move along the north coast; all were finally to concentrate at the
Straits of Messina.
It was now the middle of July. Wonders had been accomplished in the six
weeks that had passed since the occupation of Palermo. Garibaldi, who
had been regarded as almost a madman, was now recognised as a power. He
had a veritable army, well supplied with funds--for in addition to the
million he had found in the treasury, subscriptions had been collected
from lovers of freedom all over Europe, and specially from England--and
although there still remained a formidable force at Messina, it was
regarded as certain that the whole of Sicily would soon become his.
One of the Neapolitan war-ships had been brought by her captain and crew
into Palermo and placed at the disposal of Garibaldi; two others had
been captured. Cavour himself had changed his attitude of coldness, and
was prepared to take advantage of the success of the expedition, that he
had done his best to hinder. He desired, however, that Garibaldi should
resign his dictatorship and hand over the island to the King of
Sardinia. The general, however, refused to do this. He had all along
declared in his proclamations that his object was to form a free Italy
under Victor Emmanuel, and now declared that he would, when he had
captured Naples, hand that kingdom and Sicily together to the king, but
that until he could do so he would remain dictator of Sicily.
There can be no doubt that his determination was a wise one, for, as
afterwards happened at Naples, he would have been altogether put aside
by the royalist commissioners and generals, his plans would have been
thwarted in every way, and hindrances offered to his invasion of the
mainland, just as they had been to his expedition to Sicily.
Cavour sent over Farina to act in the name of the king. Admiral Persano,
who, with a portion of the Italian navy, was now at Palermo, persuaded
Garibaldi to allow Farina to assume the position of governor; but, while
allowing this, Garibaldi gave him to understand that he was to attend
solely to financial and civil affairs. Farina's first move, however, was
to have an enormous number of placards that he had brought with him
stuck all over the city, and sent to all the towns of the island, with
the words, "Vote for immediate annexation under the rule of Victor
Emmanuel." The Sicilians neither knew nor cared anything for Victor
Emmanuel, whose very name was almost unknown to the peasants. It was
Garibaldi who had delivered them, and they were perfectly ready to
accept any form of government that he recommended. Garibaldi at once
told Farina that he would not allow such proceedings. The latter
maintained that he was there under the authority of the king, and should
take any steps he chose; whereupon the general sent at once for a party
of troops, who seized him and carried him on board Persano's ships, with
the advice that he should quit the island at once. This put an effectual
stop to several intrigues to reap the entire fruits of Garibaldi's
efforts.
Frank had passed a weary time. His wound had been a serious one, and at
first the surgeons had thought that it would be necessary to amputate
the limb. Garibaldi, however, who, in spite of his many occupations,
found time to come in twice a day for a few minutes' talk with him,
urged them, before operating, to try every means to save the arm; and
two weeks after Frank received the wound, the care that had been
bestowed upon him and his own excellent constitution enabled them to
state confidently that he need no longer have any anxiety upon that
account, as his recovery was now but a question of time. The general
thanked Frank for the early information sent by him of Bosco's arrival,
and for his defence of the house, and as a reward for these and his
other services promoted him to the rank of captain. A fortnight later,
he was so far convalescent that he could move about with his arm in a
sling. He had already regained most of his bodily strength, and by the
end of the second week in July he was again on horseback.
He was, then, delighted when, on July 17th, he heard that Garibaldi was
going to start at once to assist Medici, who, with Cosenz, had advanced
to within some twenty miles of Messina, and had had some skirmishes with
a force of six thousand five hundred picked troops with a powerful
artillery. The Neapolitans, who were commanded by General Bosco, had now
taken up a very strong position near the town and fortress of Milazzo.
Colonel Corti arrived at Palermo on that day with nine hundred men in an
American ship. He had left Genoa at the same time as Medici, but the
vessel was captured by Neapolitan men-of-war, and towed into Naples,
where she was anchored under the guns of the fort. She lay there for
twenty-two days, when the strong remonstrances of the American minister
forced the government of Naples to allow her to leave. She now arrived
just in time for those on board to take part in the operations.
Garibaldi embarked a portion of them on a British merchantman he had
chartered, and proceeded on board with his staff. The next day he landed
at the port of Patti, some twenty miles from Milazzo, and on the 19th
joined Medici's force.
A strong brigade that had been sent by land had not yet arrived, but
Garibaldi determined to attack at once. The position of the Neapolitan
force was a very strong one. Their right extended across the front of
the fortress of Milazzo, and was protected by its artillery; its
approaches were hidden by cactus hedges, which screened the defenders
from view, and could not be penetrated by an attacking force, except
after cutting them down with swords or axes. The centre was posted
across the road leading along the shore. Its face was defended by a
strong wall, which had been loopholed. In front of this the ground was
covered with a thick growth of canes, through which it was scarcely
possible for men to force their way. The Neapolitan left were stationed
in a line of houses lying at right-angles to the centre, and therefore
capable of maintaining a flanking fire on any force advancing to the
attack.
The Garibaldians suffered from the very great disadvantage of being
ignorant of the nature of the ground and of the enemy's position, the
Neapolitans being completely hidden from view by the cactus hedges and
cane brakes. Garibaldi had intended to attack before daylight, but the
various corps were so widely scattered that it was broad day before the
fight began. As soon as the force had assembled they advanced across the
plain, which was covered with trees and vineyards, and as they
approached the enemy's position they were received with a heavy fire by
the unseen foe. For hours the fight went on. In vain the Garibaldians
attempted to reach their hidden enemies, for each time they gathered and
rushed forward, they were met by so heavy a fire that they were forced
to retire. The left wing, indeed, gave way altogether and fell back
some distance from the battle-field, but the centre and right, where
Garibaldi himself, with Medici and many of his best officers were
fighting, still persevered.
At one o'clock Garibaldi sent off several of his officers to endeavour
to rally and bring up some of the scattered detachments of the left
wing. After a lot of hard work they returned with a considerable force.
Garibaldi, at the head of sixty picked men, made his way along the
shore, until, unobserved, they reached a point on the flank of the
enemy's left wing; then, pouring in a heavy volley, they dashed forward,
captured a gun, and drove the Neapolitans from their line of defence.
Suddenly, however, a squadron of the enemy's cavalry fell upon the
Garibaldians and drove them back in disorder. Garibaldi himself was
forced off the road into a ditch; four troopers attacked him, but he
defended himself with his sword, until Missori, one of his
aides-de-camp, rode up and shot three of the dragoons.
The other troops, who had been following at a distance, now came up; and
together they advanced, driving before them the defenders of the enemy's
entrenchments, until these, losing heart, broke into flight towards the
town. The panic spread, and at all points the Garibaldians burst through
the defences, in spite of the fire of the guns of the fortress, and
pursued the flying enemy into the town. Here a sanguinary contest was
maintained for some hours, but at last the Neapolitan troops were all
driven into the fortress, which, now that the town had been evacuated by
their own men, opened fire upon it. The gunners were, however, much
harassed by the deadly fire maintained by Peard and his companions, all
of whom were armed with rifles of the best pattern, while the guns of
the Garibaldian frigate played upon the sea face of the fortress. The
position was, in fact, untenable. General Bosco knew that no assistance
could reach him, for the greater portion of the Neapolitan troops had
already withdrawn from the island. The little fortress was crowded with
troops, and he had but a small supply of provisions.
Three days later, he hoisted the white flag, and sent one of his
officers into the town to negotiate terms of surrender. These were
speedily concluded. All artillery, ammunition, and the mules used by the
artillery and transport, were left behind, and the troops were to be
allowed to march, with their firearms, down to the wharf; there to be
conveyed on board the ships in the harbour, and landed on the mainland.
Frank had not taken part in the battle of Milazzo, which had cost the
Garibaldians over a thousand in killed and wounded; for he had been
despatched by Garibaldi, when the latter went on board ship at Palermo,
to General Bixio, who was in the centre of the island, to inform him of
the general's advance, and to state that probably he would be in Messina
in a week. He said that some little time must elapse before the
arrangements for the passage across to the mainland could be effected;
and that Bixio was to continue to stamp out the communistic movement,
that had burst out in several of the towns there, and to scatter the
bands of brigands; and was, a fortnight after Frank's arrival, to march
with his force to Messina.
Frank would have much preferred to accompany the general, but the latter
said: "No doubt, Percival, you would have liked to go with me, but some
one must be sent, and my choice has fallen upon you. I have chosen you
because, in the first place, you are your father's son. You have already
distinguished yourself greatly, and have fought as fearlessly and as
steadily as the best of my old followers. Surely it would be impossible
for me to give you higher praise than that. In the next place, you are
not yet fit for the hard work of the campaign. Mantoni tells me that it
will be some weeks before your arm will be strong again; though the bone
has healed better than he had expected, after the serious injury you
received in your gallant defence of that house, when Bosco entered the
town.
"But even had it not been for that, I think that you have done more than
your share. There are many ardent spirits who have arrived from the
mainland, who have not yet had a chance of striking a blow for their
country; and it is but fair that they should have their opportunity.
Moreover, your mother sent you out on a special mission, first to hand
to me her noble gift, and secondly to search the prisons in the towns we
might occupy, for her father, and possibly her husband. She knew that,
going with me, you must share in the perils and honours of the campaign.
You have done so gloriously, but in that way you have done enough.
Grievous indeed would it be to me had I to write to your good mother to
say that the son she had sent me had been killed. Her father has been a
victim for Italian liberty. Her husband has, if our suspicions are well
founded, sacrificed himself by the fearlessness with which he exposed
the iniquities of the tyrants' prison-houses. It would be too cruel that
she should be deprived of her son also.
"I regard it as certain that you will not find those you seek in the
prisons of this island. As you saw when we opened the doors here, there
were no prisoners from the mainland among those confined there. You will
be with me when we cross the straits: it is there that your mission will
really begin, and it is best that you should reserve yourself for that.
The battle I go to fight now will be the last that will be needed, to
secure at least the independence of Sicily. And I doubt much whether,
when we have once crossed, we shall have to fight as hard as we have
done. Here we landed a handful; we shall land on the mainland over
twenty thousand strong; the enemy despised us then--they will fear us
now."
"Thank you, general; I should not have thought of questioning your
orders, whatever they might have been, but I felt for a moment a little
disappointment that I was not to take part in the next battle. I will
start at once to join General Bixio. Will it be necessary for me to stay
with him till he marches to Messina, or can I ride for that city when I
have delivered your orders?"
"In that you can consult your own wishes, but be assured that I shall
not attempt to cross the straits until Bixio joins me; and I should say
that you would find it more interesting with him than doing routine work
at Messina; moreover, you must remember that the population there are
not all united in our favour, as they are here. They are doubtless glad
to be free, but the agents of the revolutionists have been at work among
them, and, as you know, with such success that I have been obliged to
send Bixio with a division to suppress the disorders that have arisen. I
have not freed Sicily to hand it over to Mazzini's agents, but that it
shall form a part of United Italy under Victor Emmanuel. Still there is
enough excitement existing there to render it somewhat hazardous for one
of my officers to ride alone through the country, and I think that it
would be much better for you therefore to remain with Bixio."