LIJilt Oi'·

eountry deepEn' and deeper in an agreement with N aplea, Austria, and
Spain, for thepue aad aimplere-eetablishmentof the Poldifioial a.uthority
i• Rome. On the 29th Marcil, 184.9, after receiving the unezpected news

· of the of Novea. tRe Roman Constituent held a leCl'et meeting.
The agitation was great and opinions varied One party
voted for th•e in.Tasion of N aplea, while the war was still fermenting in
Sicily;

wished to proceed into Lombardy, but no one could
periRlade himself that all hope was lost.

1
It was at this decisive moment that the French Republic decided oa
stifling her at Rome in her fa.tal General Oudinot was
nominated chief of the expedition, and on the 24th April, the result of
the deliberdiou in the French Legislative Assembly reached Rome. On
the same day a French frigate entered the port of Civita V ecchia, and
landed an <l>ffioer to demand the aurrender of the fortress. But the
French AsSE>mbly was not united 88 to the justice of the step taken
against the Roman. Republic, and Ferdinand de Lesseps was sent to
Rome on a speeial misl!ion, which ended in nothing. On April 28th, the
Roman Cow1iitaeat, to prove that it did not distrust the French nation,
approved a decree of the following purport:­

"llf THE NAME OF GOD AND THE PEOPLE.

"Confiding in t.he generous virtue of the Romans, as in their valour,
convinced that, although determined to defend to extremities against
every invadErr the independence of their

, the Roman people do
not render the French Nation responsible for the errors of its govern­
ment ; placi1ag unbounded trust in the people and the sanctity of the
republican principle, the triumvirate deCl'ees :­

" The strangers, and specially the }'rench, dwelling peaoeably in Rome,
are placed w11.der the safeguard of tle nation. Any one who proposes to
outrage or molest them will be considered guilty of dishonouring Rome.
The government will watch that no one transgress the laws of hospitality."

Two days after the approval of this decree Rome received the news that
the French were advancing. Upen this the means of defence were
haetily arranged, and the triumvirate recalled Garibaldi from the frontier,
although the general impressioa. ,,.ae that Oudinot would not proceed to
ho1tilitiea. 'We have seen that the Guerillero, in spite of himself, and
yielding to t11e public wish, had allowed himself to b& nominated general
at Monte Video. No atep was ever better gained, for it was the price of

1 zedbyGooglc

LII'B 01' G.UUBJ.LDI.

the greate,st services rendered as commander-in-chief. Still, eo little im­
portance does our hero attach to that sort of thing, that he had not
hesitated 100 serve Rome with the t itlQ of colonel ; but, at the moment
when he 111light have to endure with his legion the principal weight of
the contest, a new tiUe seemed indispensable, and the Ministry-of-War
promoted him to the rank of general. Here he was then, for the second
time, in poBBession of the rank regularly conferred. He will obtain it a
third as if to prove his right still more fully to the stars on his
epanlettes.

The Ro:man troops were thus arranged : the first brigade, commanded
by Garibaldi, occupied outside the walls the line extending from
the Portesa to the San Pancrazio, Gate ; the second, commanded by
Col. Masi,. was drawn np in front of the Cavallegieri Gate, the Vatican,
and the Augelica Gate; the third, composed of two regiments of dragoons,
was in reserve on the N avona-aquare ; the fourth was also in reserve at
the Nuova and on the Cesarini·square; while Colonel Galetti and
the carbineers, and Major Manara with the Lombard volunteers, held
themaelve1 1 in readiness to proceed wherever they might be wanted.
Along the road from Civita V ecchia to Rome small placards were posted
up, on which could be read, "Art. 5 of the preamble of the French Con­
stitution. The French Republic respects forPign nationalities, as it
intends to make ita own respected ; it undertakes no war of conquest,
and will n•ever employ ita forces against the liberty of any people."

It was fated to be otherwise, and the extremity in which Garibaldi
would soon find himself of fighting against the French was not the least
painful circumstance in his life. But the Roman Republic was attacked,
he had swc•m to defend it, and must do his duty as an Italian and soldier.

On April30, the French army, divided into two columna, marched on
the Cavall•egieri and Angelica gates ; the place of junction, arranged by
the Commander-in-Chief, was the San Pietro-aqnare. The French occupied
two honseu near the Villa Pamphili, and thence opened a sharp fire of
musketry and artillery. Garibaldi attacked their flank with great im­
petuosity, broke them, and made 300 prisoners. Ably seconded by the
artillery under the command of Col. Calandrelli, Col. Masi was equally
successful. The action began at si:r in the morning and lasted seven
hours before the French general ordered his men to retire. It ended
with the exhaustion of the French troops, and their inability to continue
fighting. The French army fell back on Palo, on the road to Cirita
V eochia, and Garibaldi set out in pursuit, but was stopped by the orders
of the triumvirate. Rome celebrated this victory by demonstrations of