Out with Garibaldi: A story of the liberation of Italy

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER XVII.

  THE BATTLE OF THE VOLTURNO.

  Before starting for his drive Frank telegraphed to his mother: "Have notfound him here. I do not yet despair. Have a faint clue that may lead tosomething."

  That evening he wrote a long letter, acknowledging that he had beenbitterly disappointed, but saying that Signor Forli had found out thatsome of the prisoners had been sent away to Capua before Garibaldientered the town, and that he still hoped his father might be among thenumber. He gave no detail as to these prisoners, for he was anxious notto raise hopes that might not be fulfilled; indeed, he had in all hisletters said little on the subject. He knew his mother had refused toallow herself to cherish any hope, and he had written almost entirely ofmatters concerning the events of the march, the country through which hehad travelled, and the scenes in which he had taken a part. He andSignor Forli had at Salerno received long letters from home full of thedelight which the news of the discovery and release of the latter hadgiven them. His mother had said:--

  "This is a joy indeed, my boy--one that I had never expected, or evenhoped for. But do not let yourself anticipate for a moment that becausethis unlooked-for happiness has been given to us our other dear lost onewill similarly be recovered. That my father had been thrown into aNeapolitan prison we never doubted for a moment; and I believed that,should he have survived, Garibaldi's success would open his prisondoors. But it is not so in the case of your father. The evidence isalmost overwhelming that he died in the hands of the brigands whocarried him off, and nothing short of knowing that he is alive willinduce me to abandon the conviction I have all along felt that this wasso. I pray you not to indulge in any false hopes, which can but end inbitter disappointment. You will, of course, search until absolutelyconvinced that he is not in any of the prisons of the country. Thesearch will at least have been useful, for it will remove the last dreadwhich, in spite of myself, I have occasionally felt ever since he hasbeen missing, that he has been wearing his life out in one of thesehorrible dungeons."

  The next ten days passed slowly. Frank and the other members of thestaff had bought fresh horses a few days after the capture of Reggio;and he was now constantly in the saddle, carrying messages betweenGaribaldi's headquarters and the army. Garibaldi himself had beendistracted by the intrigues going on around him, and had been obliged togo to Sicily. Depretis, who had been appointed head of the governmentthere, was inclined to the annexational policy, which was opposed byCrispi and the other Garibaldians, and the consequence was that analarming state of affairs existed there. Garibaldi was therefore obligedto hurry over there himself, and having appointed Mordeni, a determinedpartisan of his own, pro-dictator, and arranged affairs generally, hereturned to Naples, where his presence was urgently required.

  POSITION ROUND CAPUA]

  The Neapolitan army at Capua had been very largely reinforced, and hadtaken post along the river Volturno. Turr, who was in command of theGaribaldian army, had in consequence, taken up a defensive position atMadelone, Caserta and Aversa, thereby barring any advance on the part ofthe royal army. The latter's position was an extremely formidable one:its right rested on Gaeta near the sea, and forty thousand men weremassed on the right bank of the Volturno, a river which was here fromfifty to a hundred yards in width, their left was at Cajazzo, in themountains of the Abruzzi, where the inhabitants were favourable to theroyal cause.

  Capua itself, on the left bank of the river, afforded them a means ofmoving forward to the attack of the Garibaldians. Three sides of itsfortifications were surrounded by the river, which here makes a greatloop, and around the town twenty thousand men were massed, one half ofwhom were in position in front of it. The only bridge across the riverwas at Capua, but there was a ferry near Caserta. The position was sothreatening that Turr, who had under him about seventeen thousand men,pushed a force up to the town of Santa Maria and the heights ofSant'Angelo, both of which points were occupied after a skirmish.

  On the 17th, six hundred men were sent off to march far up the river, tocross it, and to throw themselves into the mountains above Cajazzo,which was occupied by two thousand two hundred men with four guns.Garibaldi arrived at Caserta on the night of the 18th, but did notinterfere with Turr's command. In order to attract the attention of theenemy, and keep them from sending reinforcements to Cajazzo, it wasarranged that a feint should be made against Capua: two battalions wereto advance from Aversa to menace the southwest of that town, sixbattalions were to advance directly against it from Santa Maria, andEbor's brigade was to march to Sant'Angelo, and then to drive theNeapolitans on their left into Capua, and to extend on the right alongthe hills as far as the road to Cajazzo.

  The movement was completely successful. Cajazzo was captured, and theforce in front of Capua obliged to retire under the guns of the citadel.Some loss, however, was sustained, owing to the division from SantaMaria, instead of returning as soon as the work was done, being kept forfour hours under the fire of the guns of the fortress, owing to amisconception of orders. The positions now taken were occupied instrength. The next day, six hundred and fifty men were sent off toCajazzo to strengthen the small force of three hundred there, as theplace was attacked by no fewer than twelve thousand Neapolitan troops.Although without artillery, the town was desperately defended for fourhours. The barricades at the end of the main streets were held, in spiteof repeated attacks and the fire from eight guns. Not until two hundredof the little force had fallen, did the Garibaldians fall back, and theysucceeded in crossing the river at the ferry, covered by two companiesand a couple of guns, which had been posted at that point to prevent theNeapolitans from crossing.

  There was an interval now: the Garibaldians were far too weak to attacktheir numerous enemy, posted in an almost impregnable position.Garibaldi was so much harassed by the political intriguers, that he leftCaserta every morning long before daybreak, and remained the whole dayat a cottage on the heights of San Antonio. He had already done all inhis power to satisfy the royal party that he had no intention offavouring a republic. Bertram, who had done so much for him as chieforganiser and agent, was requested to leave Rome. Mazzini also was sentaway, and other appointments were made, showing how bent he was onhanding over his conquest to Victor Emmanuel. There can be no doubt nowthat it would have been far better had he from the first abandoned hiswish not to present his conquests to the king until they were completed.Had he, on his arrival at Messina, at once declared Victor Emmanuel kingof the island, and requested him to take possession, he would haveallayed the jealousy and suspicion with which his movements were viewedby Cavour and the Piedmontese ministry.

  A similar course, as soon as Naples was occupied, would have had a stillgreater effect, and both Garibaldi himself and his brave followers wouldhave been spared the bitter humiliations and the gross display ofingratitude, which, however, disgraced those who inflicted them far morethan those so undeservedly treated.

  Turr remained idle during the next six days, and beyond throwing up twoor three small intrenchments, did nothing to strengthen the position. Infact, it was daily becoming more probable that there would be no furtherfighting. Cialdini's division had landed near Alcona, had defeated thearmy of Lamoriciere, and was advancing westwards without opposition.Fanti, with another army, had crossed the northern frontier of theNeapolitan territory, and was marching south. Thus, in a short time, theNeapolitans would be surrounded by three armies, and would be forced tolay down their arms.

  On the 29th it became evident that a considerable movement was inprogress on the other side of the river and fort. Forty thousand menwere being concentrated at Capua and Cajazzo.

  Garibaldi's force, available in case of attack, was about twenty-fourthousand men, of whom thirteen thousand were Northern Italians, eleventhousand Calabrians and Sicilians, and one inhabitant of Naples. Ofthese, two thousand five hundred were with Conti at Aversa, and overseven thousand at Caserta; the remainder being at Santa Maria,Sant'Angelo, the village of Santa Lucia, and Madalone. The positionoccupied w
as nearly thirty miles long, but the reserves at Caserta andMadalone, lying behind the centre, could be despatched speedily to anypoint required. Frank had come out with Garibaldi to Caserta, and spentthe whole of his time riding between the different points occupied, withcommunications from Garibaldi to his generals.

  At three o'clock on the morning of October 1st, Garibaldi started asusual for the front. Frank, with two or three of the youngerstaff-officers, rode, and three carriages carried the general and theolder members of the staff. They had scarcely left the town when ascattered fire of musketry was heard near Santa Maria. This rapidlyincreased in volume; and soon afterwards the guns at Sant'Angelo openedvigorously. When approaching the town, a mounted soldier, riding at afurious gallop, overtook them. He was the bearer of a message that atelegram had just been received from Bixio, who was in command atMadalone, saying that he was being assailed in great force. This waseven more serious than the attack in front, for, if successful, it wouldhave cut the communication between the Garibaldians and Naples.

  Galloping on to Santa Maria, Garibaldi sent a telegram to Sartori, whocommanded at Caserta, to tell him to hold a brigade in readiness tosupport Bixio if the latter was pressed; and that Turr, with the rest ofthe reserves, was to hold himself in readiness to move to the front, butwas only to send forward a single brigade, till quite assured of Bixio'ssuccess. At Santa Maria were the greater part of the old cacciatori,with four thousand other good troops, and Garibaldi felt confident thatthe town was in no danger of being taken. He accordingly started at oncefor Sant'Angelo, which was the key of his position. Morning had brokennow, but a heavy mist, rising from the low ground near the river,rendered it impossible to see more than a few yards. The din of conflictwas prodigious. The Garibaldian guns at Santa Maria kept up a desultoryfire, answered by those of the Neapolitans, and the rattle of musketrywas incessant ahead, and, as it seemed, the fight was raging all round;but it was impossible to tell whether Santa Lucia and other posts to theright were also attacked. Suddenly a volley was fired from an invisibleenemy within a hundred yards. The balls whistled overhead.

  "This is uncomfortable," Frank said to the officer riding next to him."They have evidently broken through our line connecting Sant'Angelo withSanta Maria. If we had had a few earthworks thrown up this would nothave happened. Now they will be able to take Sant'Angelo in rear; and,what is much more important, we may at any moment run right into themiddle of them, and the loss of Garibaldi would be more serious thanthat of all our positions put together."

  The Neapolitans had indeed issued out in three columns. One of them,pushing out under cover of the deep water-courses, had broken throughthe weak line, had captured a battery of four guns and a barricade, andhad then mounted one of the spurs of Tifata and taken Sant'Angelo inrear; while a second column, attacking it in front, had captured anotherfour-gun battery and a barricade two hundred and fifty yards below thevillage on the Capua road, and had taken two or three hundred prisoners,the rest of Medici's division taking up their position in and around theabbey, which stood on the hillside above the village.

  Map of the BATTLE of the VOLTURNO

  October 1860.]

  Three of the guides, who had accompanied Garibaldi to carry messages,and the three mounted staff officers, took their place in front of thecarriages in readiness to charge should they come suddenly upon theenemy, and so give time to their occupants to escape. The horses wereall galloping at full speed; and though occasionally caught sight of bythe enemy, and exposed to a fire, not only of musketry but of roundshot, they remained uninjured until two-thirds of the distance toSant'Angelo, which Garibaldi believed to be still in possession of histroops, had been covered. Presently, however, they saw, but sixty orseventy yards away, a strong body of Neapolitans on the road.

  "Turn off to the right!" Garibaldi shouted. As the carriage left theroad a round shot struck one of the horses. Garibaldi and the otheroccupants at once jumped out, and shouting to the carriages behind tofollow them, ran across the fields. Fortunately there was a deepwatercourse close by; and the others, leaving their carriages, all randown into this. The mist was too thick for the movement to be observed,and the Neapolitans kept up a heavy fire in the direction in which theyhad seen the carriages through the mist. As soon as they entered thewatercourse Garibaldi told Frank and his companions to dismount, as,although the bank was high enough to conceal the men on foot, those onhorseback could be seen above it. All ran along at the top of theirspeed. As they did so, Frank told his companions and the guides, if theycame upon any force of the enemy, to throw themselves into their saddlesagain and charge, so as to give time to the general to turn off andescape.

  They had gone but a few hundred yards when a party of the enemy, whowere standing on the left bank of the watercourse, ran suddenly downinto it. Frank and the others sprang into their saddles, and with ashout rode at them; there was a hurried discharge of musketry, and thenthey were in the midst of the Neapolitans. These were but some twenty innumber. They had already emptied their muskets, but for a minute therewas a hand-to-hand contest. The horsemen first used their revolvers withdeadly effect, and then fell on with their swords so fiercely that thesurvivors of their opponents scrambled out of the watercourse and fled,just as Garibaldi and his staff ran up to take part in the conflict. Itwas well for the general that he had found the road to the villageblocked, for, had he ridden straight on, he must have been captured bythe enemy, who were already in full possession of it, with the exceptionof the abbey church and a few houses round it, and the slope of thehill.

  Two of the mounted party were missing. One of the guides had fallen whenthe Neapolitans fired, and an officer had been killed by the thrust of abayonet. One of Garibaldi's party was also missing; but whether he hadbeen killed by a chance shot or had fallen behind and been takenprisoner none knew. As they ascended the slope of the hill they gotabove the mist, and could now see what had happened. A part of thecolumn that had broken through the line of outposts had pressed on somedistance, and then moved to its left, until in the rear of Sant'Angelo,where its attack had taken the defenders wholly by surprise. The forcehad then mounted the hill, and from there opened fire upon the defendersof the abbey and the houses round it.

  These were stoutly held. The houses were solidly-built structures inwhich resided the priests and servitors of the church, and the only roadleading up from the village to it was swept by twotwenty-four-pounders, while from the windows of the houses and from theroof of the abbey a steady musketry fire was maintained. Garibaldiordered Frank to gallop to the pass, a short distance behind thevillage, where two companies of Genoese carbineers and two mountainhowitzers were posted, and to direct them to mount the hill and take upa position on the heights above that occupied by the enemy. With a cheerthe men ran forward as soon as they received the order. Ignorant of whatwas taking place in front, but certain from the roar of battle that itwas raging round the village, they had been eager to advance to takepart in the struggle; but their orders to hold the pass had beenimperative, as their presence here was indispensable to cover theretreat of the Garibaldians in Sant'Angelo, and to check pursuit untilreinforcements came up from the rear.

  The movement was unobserved by the enemy, who were fully occupied intheir attempts to capture the abbey; and it was not until the twocompanies were established on a ridge well above that occupied by theNeapolitans, and opened a heavy musketry fire, aided by their two guns,that the latter were aware that they had been taken in rear. Theirposition was altogether untenable, as they were unable to replyeffectively to the fire of their opponents, and, descending the slopes,they joined their comrades in the village. Several desperate attackswere made upon the abbey, but each was repulsed with heavy loss; and asthe carbineers had now moved lower down, and their guns commanded thevillage, the Neapolitans lost heart and fell back.

  A battalion of Garibaldi's bersaglieri now came up. They were commandedby Colonel Wyndham, and occupied the village as the Neapolitans fellback, quickened their retreat, and
then, descending to the four-gunbattery that had first been taken, turned the guns, which the enemy hadforgotten to spike, upon them.

  In the meantime the fighting had been fierce round Santa Maria. At firstthe Garibaldians had been hard pressed, and the Neapolitans had carriedall before them, until they came under the fire of the batteries placedon the railway and in front of the gate facing Capua. These were wellserved, and although the assailants several times advanced with bothcavalry and infantry, they never succeeded in getting within a hundredyards of the guns. The left wing, however, swept round the town, andcaptured all the out-buildings, except a farmhouse, which was gallantlydefended by a company of Frenchmen.

  On the right the Neapolitans fared still more badly, for when theirattack upon the battery failed, the Garibaldian force at San Tamaro,nearly three thousand five hundred strong, advanced and took them inflank, and drove them back with heavy loss. By eight o'clock the attackhad ceased all along the line; but as the enemy, while falling back,preserved good order, no attempt was made to follow them.

  The battle had lasted four hours, and the Garibaldians were nowstrengthened by the arrival of a brigade with four guns from Caserta,where the news had just arrived that Bixio was confident of being ableto hold his ground at Madalone. Two of the newly-arrived regiments wereordered to endeavour to reopen communications with Sant'Angelo, andfighting went on with the force still threatening Santa Maria; these,after suffering heavy loss, the Garibaldians, at ten o'clock, drove somedistance back, and captured three guns and many prisoners.

  At eleven a fresh attack was made, Count Trani, one of the King'sbrothers, having brought some fresh battalions from the town. Thisattack was also repulsed, the Garibaldians maintaining their strongpositions. But the Neapolitan troops were still full of spirit, and at aquarter-past one made another determined effort: their field batteriesadvanced within three hundred yards of the town, and their cavalrycharged almost up to the railway battery, but were received with soheavy an infantry fire by the troops protecting the guns, that they wereforced to fall back. The infantry, however, pressed on, covered by astorm of fire from their field artillery, while the guns of Capua aidedthem by firing shell into the town. The Garibaldians serving the guns atthe gate and at the railway suffered very heavily, but volunteers fromthe infantry regiments took their place, although at one time their firewas arrested by the explosion of a magazine which killed many of themen, and dismounted two or three of the guns.

  All this time, fighting was going on fiercely round Sant'Angelo. The tworegiments that had been sent out from Santa Maria to open communicationswith the village had been unable to effect their object, the enemy'sforce being too strong for them to move far from the town. At eleveno'clock, the Neapolitans being largely reinforced, made a fresh attackon the battery and barricades in front of Sant'Angelo, and an obstinatestruggle took place here; but superior force triumphed, and the royaltroops again captured the battery, killing or taking prisoners almostthe whole of the force that defended it.

  Infantry and cavalry then advanced against the village; but theGaribaldians, having their leader among them, fought with extraordinarybravery, and for three hours maintained themselves, as did those in theabbey, although the enemy brought up their cannon and rocket batteriesto within a short distance of it. The walls of the abbey were, however,so massive that even the artillery failed to make much impression uponthem. Seeing that the assault upon Santa Maria had been repulsed,Garibaldi sallied out with his entire force, retook the houses that hadbeen captured by the enemy, drove them back to the battery, and at lastcaptured this also. Knowing that some of the reserve would soon be up,Garibaldi at half-past two rode out from the rear of Sant'Angelo, andmaking a wide detour, entered Santa Maria, and at once ordered a generaladvance. Ebor's brigade sallied out by the Capua gate, and advancedagainst the Carthusian convent and cemetery on the Capuan road, while abrigade moved out to endeavour once more to clear the way toSant'Angelo.

  The former attack was successful. A small squadron of Hungarian hussarscharged three squadrons of the enemy's dragoons, defeated them, andcaptured the two guns that accompanied them. The infantry went on at arun, but it required an hour's hard fighting to gain possession of theconvent and cemetery. By this time five thousand men with thirteen gunshad arrived from Caserta, and the advance became general. Medici issuedout from Sant'Angelo, and the whole force from Santa Maria advanced, theNeapolitans falling back from all points; and by five o'clock the wholehad re-entered Capua, abandoning all their positions outside it, and theGaribaldian sentries were posted along the edge of a wood half a milefrom the ramparts. Until the arrival of the five thousand men of thereserve, the Garibaldians had throughout the day, although but ninethousand five hundred strong, maintained themselves successfullyagainst thirty thousand men supported by a powerful artillery.

  At Madalone Bixio had routed seven thousand men who had advanced againsthis position, and had captured four guns. The only reverse sustained wasat Castel Morone, which was garrisoned by only two hundred andtwenty-seven men of one of Garibaldi's bersaglieri regiments. They heldout for some hours against a Neapolitan column three thousand strong,and then, having expended all their ammunition, were obliged tosurrender. The battle of the Volturno cost the Garibaldians one thousandtwo hundred and eighty killed and wounded, and seven hundred takenprisoners, while the enemy lost about two thousand five hundred killedand wounded, five hundred prisoners, and nine guns. At two o'clock adetachment of Sardinian artillery, which, with a regiment ofbersaglieri, had been landed a few days before at Garibaldi's request,had arrived at Santa Maria, and did good service by taking the places ofthe gunners who had been almost annihilated by the enemy's fire. Thebersaglieri did not arrive at Caserta till the battle was over. Weariedby the day's fight, the Garibaldians, as soon as the long work ofsearching for and bringing in the wounded was over, lay down to sleep.

  Frank and the two other aides-de-camp of Garibaldi were, however,aroused, within an hour of their lying down. The news had arrived thatthe Neapolitan column, which had captured Castel Morone had suddenlyappeared on the heights above Caserta: their number was estimated atthree thousand. Orders were sent to Bixio to occupy a strong position.Columns were directed to start from Sant'Angelo and Santa Maria forCaserta, while another brigade was to reinforce the garrison of SantaLucia. At two in the morning Garibaldi himself started for Caserta, andmoved out with two thousand five hundred Calabrians and four companiesof Piedmontese bersaglieri. The latter soon found themselves obliged totake off their knapsacks, hats, and useless accoutrements, findingthemselves, picked men as they were, unable to keep up with theGaribaldians, clad only in shirt and trousers, and carrying nothing butninety rounds of ammunition.

  There was but little fighting. The Garibaldians lost but seven or eightmen, among whom were three Piedmontese, who were the first men of theSardinian army to shed their blood for the emancipation of Naples. Byevening over two thousand five hundred prisoners were taken, and thisnumber was doubled in the course of the next few days by the capture ofa large portion of the force which, after being defeated by Bixio intheir attempt to seize Madalone, had scattered over the countrypillaging and burning. Thus, including the fugitives who escaped, theNeapolitan army was weakened by the loss of nearly ten thousand men. Theexplanation of the singular attack upon Caserta, after the defeat of theNeapolitan army, was that, after capturing Castel Morone, theircommander had received a despatch stating that a complete defeat hadbeen inflicted on Garibaldi, and urging him to cut off the retreat ofthe fugitives by occupying Caserta.

  Now that the work was over, and that there was nothing to be done untilthe royal army advanced from Ancona, and, brushing aside all opposition,arrived to undertake the siege of Capua, Frank broke down. He had notfully recovered from the effects of the two long days spent in thepestilential atmosphere of the prisons; but had stuck to his work untilthe Neapolitans surrendered; then he rode up to Garibaldi, and said,--

  "General, I must ask you to spare me from my dutie
s, for I feel sostrangely giddy that I can scarce keep my seat."

  "You look ill, lad. Hand your horse over to one of the guides. I havesent for my carriage; it will be up in a few minutes. Sit down in theshade of that tree. I will take you down to Caserta with me, and one ofBixio's doctors shall see you at once."

  On arriving at Caserta, the doctor at once pronounced that it was a caseof malarial fever, the result of the miasma from the low ground,increased, no doubt, by over-fatigue. Garibaldi immediately orderedanother carriage to be brought round, instructed two of his men to taketheir places in it with Frank, and despatched a telegram to ProfessorForli at Naples, telling him to have four men in readiness to carry himup to his room as soon as he reached the palace, and to have a doctor inwaiting. Frank was almost unconscious by the time he arrived at thecity. Everything was ready, and he was soon undressed and in bed, iceapplied to his head, and a draught of medicine poured down his throat.In a week the fever left him, but he was so much weakened that it wasanother fortnight before he could move about again unassisted.

  "You have lost nothing: things have been very quiet," his grandfathersaid. "To-day the voting takes place. Of course that is a mere farce,and the country will declare for Victor Emmanuel by a thousand votes toone. Medici has been occupied in putting down an insurrection in themountains, and Cialdini has won two battles on his way west; and a largePiedmontese force has landed here, and undertaken the work of thegarrison."

  "How long will it be before Cialdini arrives with his army beforeCapua?"

  "I should think that it would be another week."

  "I must be able to go forward again by that time," Frank said. "I mustbe at Capua when it is taken."

  "I quite understand your feelings, and I am eager to be there myself;but we must have patience. The Neapolitans have withdrawn their forcesfrom Cajazzo, and the country round, into the town. There are now somenine thousand men there, and if the commander is obstinate he ought tobe able to defend the place for some months. Still I grant thatobstinacy has not been the strong point of the Neapolitan generalshitherto; though it must be said that their troops fought gallantly theother day, coming back again and again to the attack. But the commanderof the town, however brave he may be, must see that even if he can holdout for the next ten years he would not benefit Francesco. The game isalready hopelessly lost. The Garibaldians, single-handed, have provedthemselves capable of defeating the Neapolitan troops; and with the armythat Cialdini has brought from Ancona, and that which has marched downfrom the north, the cause is beyond hope. The army now in Gaeta and thegarrison of Capua alone remain in arms; and I should say that, ereanother fortnight has passed, Francesco is likely to have left thiscountry for ever."

  "Quite so, grandfather," Frank replied; "that is what I have beenthinking for the last week, and that is why I am so anxious to goforward again as soon as possible."

  "That you shall certainly do; at any rate you have a few more days tostay here, then we will get a carriage and go to Santa Lucia, lying highin the mountains. The change to the splendid air there will benefit you,while a stay at Santa Maria or Caserta would at once throw you back."