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CH.APTER VI.

'fhc Fall of lltome-Gan'baldi's Departure-The J.egion-Cicerovacchio-Bigotr

of the Monks-Desertions-The Austriam in Pursuit--Garibnldi Hemmed In

TlloUGB there oould no longer be any doubt as to the speedy dislolu­
tion of the Roman Republid, still, the .A..uembly remained at its post·; aua
the high-millded men who compoted. it, &Waited patiently till force c&me
to discharge them from further services. For two or three days, the de­
putations pl'<ooeed.ing or coming from the French head quarters were
incessant ; bat no llteps led to any definitive oonchuion. All was UDICer­
tainty or melancholy foreboding of evil. In aoine parie of the city, the
people, restlE,ss, agitated, and tumultuous, raised barricades and de­
manded the of the war ; but among the majority of tbe
inhabitants a gloomy despair waa visible. At length on July 3rd, 1M9,
the last acen.e of this mournful drama was enacted: at four P.K., the
of St. Peter iloated once again from the castle of St. Angelo.

On tho previous d&y Garibaldi had convoked, in the square of Ban
Pietro, all the Roman troops. and propoaed to them to quit the city, •
sooner than t!mdure the presence of the victorious foreigner. He added
tllat he would 'be able to arouse a new insurrection in the provinces, for
which the people were pl\Cpared and disposed. "Soldiers," he said in
conclusion, "all I have io offer you is thirst, the ground for a
brd, t1ae bnr11ing sun as the sole solace for your fa.tigues pay, no bar­
racks, no ration8, but continual alarma, forced marehes, and charges with
tho bayonet; let those who love glory, and do not depair of Italy, follow
me ! " Neither tho frightful perspective offered them, nor the well known
srvcrity of Garibaldi checked his brave comrades in arms, so great was
the a.ffeetion they entertained for their chief. More than 4,000 men
responded to this appeal, the last stake of a desperate party, andnrrangc­
wer e ILt once made for quitting Rome. Garibaldi took from the

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military 'oheat, which was the property of the soldiers, a sufficient sum tO
supply the immediate wants of his troops, at the aame time selling his
watch his own support. This fact, attested by an Engliahman present
at the th:J[le at Rome, is a new and fresh proof of the rare disinterested­
ness of our hero. The devoted Annita had joined her husband at the
beginning· of the winter, leaving her three young children in the care of
his mothl,r, at Nice. She persisted in accompanying him, though in an
advanced state of pregnancy, and no entreaty could turn her from her
determination. The numerous dangers to w.lllch she knew her hushand
would be exposed, far from terrifying her, were a further inducement for
her to follow him.

On July 2, 1849, at eight o'clock in the evening, at the moment when
the French were at the gates of Rome, and the flag of Italy was flying in
Venice alone, Garibaldi gave the signal for devarture on that memorable

, retreat, which will probably be his fairest title to military renown.
Guided by the daring Ciceroncchio,• and other Romans no less courage­
ous than him, and favoured by night, the Italian legion, with two
regimenllt of dragoons, incomplete and insufficient, and a great number
of flags belonging to the various corps d'armltJ, defiled in silence, pro­
ceeded through the San Giovanni gate, and following the outer wall of
the city, marched along the Tiburtine road. Numerous ammunition
and waggons followed the troops, who amounted to 4,000
infantry and about 800 horse. After marching all night, the soldiers
and bivonaced, at dawn of July 3, at Tivoli. Here Garibaldi
divided his forces into two legions, and incorporated fresh volunteers
with the second. On the afternoon of the 4th he ordered the camp to

e be struck, and the entire column set out. On the same el"ening they
were in the vicinity of Monticclli, where they passed the night. On the
9th July they eventually reached Terni, after croBBing the spurs of the
AppeninE!S, exhausted by fatigue and privations.
In order not to increase the embarrassment of the communes, '1'1 hich
were alrE!ady compelled to supply provisions and forage, Garibaldi had
arranged that the columns while on tho march should bivouac in tho
monastery gardens, if such were near the place of halt, and this was
nearly always the case, as those buildings are so numerous on the

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