By the scene which I had witnessed my memory was long haunted; but not
so much by a recollection of the impressive part which the mother had
played, as by the defiant countenance, the tall, muscular figure, and
the athletic bearing, of the young officer of the Bersaglieri. I was
curious to learn something of his history, and discovered, to my
surprise, that it was the daring exploits of this son, which, by
recalling attention to the father, were responsible for the tardy
honours now accorded to the latter's memory. I felt I had struck upon
something characteristically Italian. The father, the mother, the
speeches, the procession, the beauties of the scene at the last
ceremony in the graveyard, the watch-fires on the mountains--of all
these not a word more was spoken. Until the moment that we separated in
Rome itself, we were entertained with anecdotes concerning this officer
of the Bersaglieri.
It seemed that as a boy he had served with Garibaldi, and had shown
such promise that his father's friends had thought it worth while to
send him to a military academy. As was the case with so many Italians
in those days, he was entrusted with a command before he had passed his
final examination; but as he speedily distinguished himself, he had not
long to wait before obtaining his regular commission. One act of daring
made his name known all over Italy, even before he had served in
battle. He was out with a reconnoitring party, and chanced to be making
his way, unaccompanied by any of his companions, to the summit of a
wooded hill; when through the thicket, he saw a horse; then, catching
sight of another, he drew nearer, and discovered a travelling carriage,
and, finally, perceived a little group of persons--a lady and two
servants--encamped in the long grass. He immediately recognised the
lady; for, some days previously, she had driven up to the Italian
advanced guard, and sought refuge from the enemy, of whom she professed
great alarm. She had been allowed to pass through the lines; but
instead of continuing her journey, she had evidently found her way back
to this retreat by another route, and was now resting there with her
attendants. The horses looked as if they had received severe treatment,
and had been driven furiously all through the night; it was evident
they could go no further without rest. All this Mansana took in at a
glance.
It was a Sunday morning. The Italian troops were resting on the march;
mass had just been celebrated, and the men were at breakfast, when the
outposts suddenly saw young Mansana galloping towards them, carry a
lady before him and with two riderless horses secured to his
saddle-girth. The lady was a spy from the enemy's camp; her two
attendants--officers of the enemy's force--were lying wounded in the
forest. The lady was promptly recognised, and Mansana's "evviva" was
echoed and re-echoed by a thousand voices. The camp was immediately
broken up, as it was more than likely that the enemy was in dangerous
proximity, and every one realised that the quick presence of mind of
this Giuseppe Mansana alone had saved the whole vanguard from the trap
prepared for them.
I have many more anecdotes to tell of him, but in order that they shall
be properly appreciated, I must mention that he was universally
considered the best fencer and gymnast in the army; on this point, I
never, then or afterwards, heard more than one opinion.
Soon after the close of the war, while Mansana was quartered in
Florence, a story was told, in one of the military _cafes_, of a
certain Belgian officer, who, a couple of weeks previously, had been a
frequent visitor to the place. It had been discovered that this officer
was, in reality, in the Papal service, and that, on his return to Rome,
he had amused himself and his comrades by giving insulting accounts of
the Italian officers, whom, with few exceptions, he described as
ignorant parade-puppets, chiefly distinguished for their childish
vanity. This aroused great indignation amongst the officers of the
garrison in Florence, and no sooner did young Mansana hear the tale
than he straightway left the _cafe_, and applied to his colonel for
leave of absence for six days. This being granted him, he went home,
bought himself a suit of plain clothes, and started away, then and
there, by the shortest route for Rome. Crossing the frontier where the
woods were thickest, he found himself three days afterwards in the
Papal capital, where, in the officers' _cafe_ on the Piazza Colonna, he
quickly perceived his Belgian officer. He went up to him, and quietly
asked him to come outside. He then gave him his name, and requested him
to bring a friend, and follow to some place beyond the city gates, in
order that the reputation of the Italian officers might be vindicated
by a duel. Mansana's reliance on the honour of the Belgian left the
latter no alternative; without delay he found a friend, and within
three hours he was a dead man.
Young Mansana promptly set off on his return journey, through the
forests, to Florence. He was careful not to mention where he had spent
his period of leave; but the news travelled to Florence from Rome, and
he was put under arrest for having left the town, and for having,
besides, crossed the frontier without special permission. His brother
officers celebrated his release by giving a banquet in his honour, and
the king conferred on him a decoration.
Shortly after this he was stationed at Salerno. It was the duty of the
troops to help in the suppression of the smuggling which was being
vigorously carried on along the coast; and Mansana, going out one day
in civilian dress, to obtain information, discovered at a certain
hostelry that a ship, with smuggled goods on board, was lying in the
offing, out of sight of land, but with evident intention of making for
the shore under cover of night. He went home, changed his clothes, took
with him two trusty followers, and as evening came on, rowed out from
the shore in a small, light boat. I heard this story told and confirmed
on the spot; I have heard it since from other sources, and I have
subsequently seen confirmatory accounts in the newspapers; but,
notwithstanding all this corroboration, it is still inconceivable to me
how Mansana, with only his two men, could have succeeded in boarding
the smuggler and compelling her crew of sixteen to obey his orders, and
bring their vessel to anchor in the roadstead.
After the taking of Rome, in which, and in the inundations which
occurred soon afterwards, Mansana specially distinguished himself, he
was sitting one evening outside the very _cafe_ in which he had
challenged the Belgian Papal officer. There he overheard some of his
comrades, just returned from an entertainment, talking of a certain
Hungarian. This gentleman had been drinking pretty freely, and, whilst
under the influence of the insidious Italian wines, had boasted of the
superiority of his compatriots; and on being courteously contradicted
he had worked himself up to the assertion that one Hungarian would be a
match for three Italians. The officers, listening to this tale of brag,
all laughed with the exception of Giuseppe Mansana, who at once
inquired where the Hungarian could be found? He asked the question in a
tone of perfect unconcern, without even raising his eyes or taking his
cigarette from his lips. He was told that the Hungarian had just been
conducted home. Mansana rose to leave.
"Are you going?" they asked.
"Yes, of course," he replied.
"But you are surely not going to the Hungarian?" asked one of the
officers good-humouredly.
But there was not much good-humour in Giuseppe Mansana.
"Where else should I be going?" he replied curtly, as he left the
_cafe_.
His friends followed him in the vain hope of persuading him that a
drunken man could not reasonably be called to account for everything he
might say. But Mansana's only answer was: "Have no fear, I know how to
take all that into consideration."
The Hungarian lived, as the Italians say, _primo piano_--that is, on
the second floor, in a large house in Fratina. The first-floor windows
of Italian town houses, are, as a rule, protected by iron bars.
Swinging himself up by these, Mansana, in less than a minute, was
standing on the balcony outside the Hungarian's room. Smashing one of
the panes of glass, he opened the window and disappeared within. The
striking of a light was the next thing visible to his companions below.
What happened next they were never able to discover; they heard no
further sound, and Mansana kept his own secret. All they knew was that
after a few minutes, Mansana and the Hungarian--the latter in his
shirt-sleeves--appeared upon the balcony; and the Hungarian, in
excellent French, acknowledged that he had taken more wine than was
good for him that evening, and apologised for what he had said;
undoubtedly, an Italian was as good as a Hungarian any day. Mansana
then descended the balcony in the same way as that by which he had gone
up.
Anecdotes of every possible variety were showered upon us--anecdotes
from the battlefield, the garrison, and society, including stories of
athletic feats testifying to powers of endurance in running such as I
have never heard equalled; but I think that those I have already
selected present a sufficiently vivid picture of a man in whom the
combination of presence of mind, courage, and high sense of honour,
with bodily strength, energy and general dexterity, was likely to
excite among his friends high expectations as to his future, even
whilst giving them some cause for grave anxiety.
How it came about that, during the following winter and spring,
Giuseppe Mansana engaged the attention of thousands of persons,
including that of the present writer, will appear in the course of our
story.