little ammunrition, and uomer.ttawere'}Jl'eci1lus .. However, hdbad Je00018e
oaee again to su.tagem. -&1:ae evning:of JulyJ!Sth,'by. a .ftank
movement be compelled'tlae -amhduke lie pe up his .for a . t.i-..,
and, before he .could retillrn, Gambaldi..had-caniedlofl'his•toru .and .JIQeD
in triamph, ,lfiih tlle J.a of,ouly .a-f6W'killed ud .waundod. The ADs·
t.·ians, <When they found how ihey had been deoeived, -Mellt oa, corps .of
chassetU'II <in punuit,of <the :rear-guud; -but 'he OOIIIPf!oDY o£.bra9e tirail
laurs,led by.COlonel Fol'bts,-wlk>-was ever-the first in daoger, constanlly
covered the marCh or the legions, a-ad oompelled tile enemy .to keep at .a
disllnnce.
It is painful to ad4 ·fhat, at-the -moment when the Garibaldiana were
engaged with the Austrians, several superior officers ignominiously de
serted. They wepe the -colo11el oommanding . t'be cavalry, -two m11-j•rs
oommandiug· ·ooborbl, sd· four o:flioeN of lewer ruk. Tbe de&Mtioll
which had been aanifaste1 -ever ainee leaving. Rome had ·11•w attaill8d
such a pitclt, that the ttro 'legio1111 and >the -a.v-Alry ·did uot
amount to llllore than 1,600 men.
The band .of braves lftill oollected 'l'Ollnd the 1lag of liberty; thoqgh
resolute in their determination not to a.bt.Rdon. their ·leader, grew -d ..
aponding when they witnessed these.l'epeate.:Ldesertions,·for·the defec-
tion of some of the leadtwa Jwll!OUMd a spirit of i.naobordiuation amoqg
the subaltel'll 11fficenJ. -One of 4he <iraitcrs -had been an: intimate frioucl
and confidaJJ1t of the general, and had d'oJlowed him.in America ud Italy
through all the phaltes r>frhis brillia&t capeer. Owing -to Garibaldi's
pow e rful support, .he .bnd atta*d·.the rank of colonel, and, up to thi1
tillK', h!id f11rnisbed : Mliple proofs ef -his courage a.nd devotion to the
cause of the people. ·But. at the moment when his aid would have been
most useful to cheer the drooping and inspire confidence in the troops by
his example, this mi!OI'able w.reteh a.Oalldoned the cause. His
flight \Vtl8 tl1e more infamous as it offered a bad example,
too frequently imitated. Garibaldi .and his faithful Annita 'lll·ere pro
foundly affeoted by this ingratitude ; the soldiers complained of it much,
for the abandonment of .thcir leaders seemed a fJreboding of diSllllter.
The majority censed to put any flllith in the of the officers
who remained; and, no longer satisfied with words, demaaded proofs of
the future. Some new-spapers, 11'hich full into their ·hands, were not
adapted to r,eanimate their courage. All the ,cahtmRies owhich the reac
tionary party always invents 111gainat its were heaped upoa
the Garibaldians. These valiant ahampions,cseoing their ineessant-suft'er
-so poorly recompensed,,grtve wny .at t-imts tto ·.real deapair. Some
E 2
LJ.
1 zedbyGooglc