Garibaldi Giuseppe
The Life of General Garibaldi
THE BATTLE OF JUNE 30TH
GENERAL GARIBALDI'S LAST OFFICIAL REPORT IN ROME
General Head-quarters, San Pietro in Montorio, July 1, 1849.– Yesterday was a day fruitful in deeds of arms: losses and advantages. Yesterday Italy counted new martyrs. Colonel Manara leaves a void in the Republican files, difficult to be supplied. Young, of surprising merit and valor, he was struck by an enemy's ball, while courageously defending the Villa Spada against an enemy very superior. America yesterday gave, with the blood of a valiant son, Andrea Aghiar, a pledge of the love of liberal men of all countries for our fair and unfortunate Italy.
Lieutenant Colonel Medici distinguished himself by skill and courage, in the defence of the first bastion on the right of the gate of San Pancrazio, and of the position Savorelli. He was distinguished in the company of the brave Colonel Ghilardi, commandant of that line.
The Medici Legion and the first of the line fought like lions. They several times repelled assaults in the breach, and paid with the precious life of many young men, the hope of the country, the sacred debt of all.
Part of the Manara Legion fought at the point of the bayonet with their accustomed courage, in union with the companies of the regiment Massi.
The Italian Legion, under the command of Colonel Manara, showed itself worthy of its fame in the defence of the Villa Spada. The Third of the Line, in defending the positions which were confided to it, covered itself with glory.
Garibaldi.
THE CITY TO CEASE HER RESISTANCE
It was now decided that the further defence of Rome was impossible, without exposing the city to destruction. The enemy were within the walls, and could not be dislodged. They were indeed so strong, that the Romans would be obliged at least to abandon their line, and retire to this side of the Tiber, which General Avezzana and Garibaldi proposed to defend with obstinacy. But the inhabitants apprehended, from such a step, the speedy ruin of their houses by the French cannon and shells; and, after a Council which they held with the Assembly, it was resolved to cease resistance. Garibaldi saw that his work was done in the capital; and, with feelings which we may in some degree realize, he resolved not to witness the disgrace brought upon his noble cause, nor to leave his gallant companions to be disarmed and remain useless to the country. He doubtless foresaw that many of them would follow wherever he would lead; and then certainly, not less than at other times, he felt an impulse to lead where only courageous men would follow. He thought of the city of Venice, then besieged by the Austrians, by sea and land, and indulged the flattering hope of being able to reach her, and join her brave defenders. The wide space to be passed over, and the far superior force which the enemy could send to oppose him, were insufficient to discourage him; and he resolved to go. But one obstacle was in his way. His wife was urgent to accompany him, which he opposed; but in vain.
The government issued the following proclamations: —
[Translated from the Monitore Romano, of Monday,
July 2, 1849.]
ROMAN REPUBLIC:
The Constituent Assembly, in the name of God and the people, decrees:
The Triumvirs, Armellini, Mazzini, and Saffi have deserved well of the country.
ALLOCALETTI, President.SANTARGES,COCCHI,ZAMBIANCH,PINNACCHI.
Rome, July 1st, 1849.
The following was published yesterday: —
Romans! The Triumvirate is voluntarily dissolved. The Constituent Assembly will communicate to you the names of our successors.
The Assembly, deeply affected, after the act of yesterday, performed by the enemy, with a desire to deliver Rome from extreme dangers, and to prevent the fruitless sacrifice of any more lives for the defence, have decreed the cessation of hostilities. The men who were in the right during the contest, could not well continue to govern in the new times which are preparing. The mandate sent to them has ceased de facto, and they hasten to resign it to the hands of the Assembly.
Romans! Brothers! you have written a page which will remain in history, a proof of the power and energy which slept in you, and of your future deeds, of which no force can deprive you… Assembled under the Republican banner, you have redeemed the honor of the common country, elsewhere contaminated by deeds of evil men, and overthrown by monarchical impotency. Your Triumvirs, becoming simple citizens among you, carry with them the highest comfort in their consciousness of pure intentions, and the honor of having their names associated with your bravest deeds.
A cloud is rising to-day over your prospects and you. It is the cloud of an hour. Remain firm in the consciousness of your rectitude, and with the faith in which many armed apostles among you have died. God, who has treasured up their blood, is surely for you. God wills that Rome shall be great; and she will be. Yours is not a defeat; it is a victory of the martyrs, to whom the tomb is the passage to heaven… Viva la Republica Romana!
The Triumvirs,
GIUSEPPE MAZZINI,CARLO ARMELLINI,AURELIO SAFFI.
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC
ADOPTED – THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY DISSOLVED
The Constituent Roman Assembly, in their session of yesterday, definitively voted, with unanimity, and viva voce, the Constitution of the Republic.
Having fulfilled, by this act, the essential part of its high mission, the Assembly decreed, on motion of the Deputy Agostini, that the law be engraved on two marble tables and placed on the capital, as an eternal monument of the unanimous will of the people, legitimately represented by their Deputies. Woe to him who shall touch those tables of the new civil and political compact which the Roman People form with themselves before God, in the view of all civilized nations! This compact has been sealed with the blood of martyrs, with the blood of all those who, following the voice of their hearts, hastened to Rome, as to the ancient Mother, to defend the honor and the liberty of Italy, and to lay the first stone of her future and inevitable independence.
Whatever may be the present results of measures which foreign supremacy is preparing, the Assembly, the People, the National Guard and the Roman Army have the consciousness of having fulfilled their duty.
(From the same paper.)
Before dissolving the solemn session, the Assembly decreed a funeral in the Basilica of St. Peter, to all the heroes who have offered their lives for the country and for the Republic, under the walls of Rome. As to the wounded, as no less worthy of honor, and in need of care, the Assembly voted a Hospital, and appropriated for the purpose one of the national palaces.
Finally, that nothing might be wanting to the harmony which always prevails among the people, the Constituent Assembly and the citizens in whom, in the last moments, they had entrusted the salvation of the country, the Assembly declared, by a solemn decree, well deserving of the country, the Triumvirs, Armellini, Mazzini, and Saffi.
(From the same paper.)
We have said it, and we repeat it, and we will repeat it always: The Republic arose in Rome by universal suffrage; rose on the ruins of the throne of the Popes, which the cry of all Europe, the maledictions of all civilized nations, and the spirit of the Gospel, had crumbled into dust. To-day, when on that throne, stigmatized by civilization, flows the blood of so many victims, who will dare to raise it again? A mountain of corpses shuts up, to the Pontiff, the way to that throne; and to ascend it again, the white stole of the priest must be dyed with human blood! Can the Pope, like the tyrants, sit upon a seat of bayonets? But it is not in the power of France, it is not in the power of Europe conspiring, to restore the Pope to the minds of citizens, after the enormous events which have occurred. The sceptre of the Popes is morally broken for ever.
PROCLAMATION OF THE MINISTER OF WAR
Romans! The last word of the Minister of War is a mark of admiration of your valor, and an urgent request to you, to persevere in the sacred enterprise of the redemption of Italy.
Your martyrs died with this name upon their lips.
Difficulties of your condition – adversity of destiny – diplomatic snares – deceitful words – let them never arrest you.
The legacy of the valiant who have fallen for you on the walls of the Eternal City, is holy and inviolate! They have reopened Roman history – Do you continue its fame.
G. AVEZZANA.
GARIBALDI'S DEPARTURE FROM ROME
WITH HIS REMAINING TROOPS, AND HISCELEBRATED RETREAT TO THE ADRIATIC
Garibaldi collected his troops after the government had determined to cease resistance, and addressed them in his Spartan speech, which has been so much admired; then proceeding out of the gates, followed by a considerable portion of his troops, he took his course across the Campagna, his wife accompanying him on horseback, notwithstanding all his affectionate remonstrances. He had resolved to make a desperate effort, to avoid the necessity of submitting to the enemy.
The retreat of Garibaldi from Rome to the little port of Cesenatico, on the Adriatic, while pursued by an Austrian and a French army, has been much admired for the boldness, skill and judgment which were displayed, through a daily change of dangers, discouragements and sufferings, which would seem too great to be so long endured. His route lay through Forli and Cantalupo to Terni, then declined to the left to Todi, Capretto and Orvieto, where the French troops showed themselves; then on to the frontier of Tuscany, after which they passed Arezzo, and crossing a mountain, reached Cisterna; then, passing on to Borgo, Santangelo in Vado, and Montefeltro, he arrived at San Marino, near the close of July, and left there on the night of the 31st for Cesenatico, where they embarked in several boats, and sailed for Venice. Several of these were captured or sunk, and others driven to the shore, among which last was that which contained Garibaldi, his wife, Bassi, Cicerouacchio, and his two sons, whose fate has been mentioned in the preceding pages.
TEN YEARS LATER
CHAPTER I
"In thy bosom, fair Italia,
Fire is cherish'd warm and bright,
Ling'ring time alone delays it;
Hour expected – day of light!
Three long centuries we've waited;
Lo! it dawns – a glorious sight!"
"Banks of Dora" —an Italian Song of 1846.
GARIBALDI WAITING HIS TIME – THE ISLAND OF CAPRERA – HIS CONFIDENCE IN THE APPROACH OF ITALIAN DELIVERANCE, EXPRESSED IN HIS PRECEDING AUTOBIOGRAPHY, AND AT NEW YORK – HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE – INJUSTICE DONE TO HIS CHARACTER AND STYLE OF WRITING – M. DUMAS' BOOK – PREPARATION OF THE ITALIAN PEOPLE FOR UNION AND LIBERTY, BY SECRET SOCIETIES – CHANGES OF POLICY – THE PRINCIPLES OF THE ITALIAN PATRIOTS ADOPTED BY FRANCE AND ENGLAND – CONSEQUENCES
The portion of Garibaldi's life recorded in the preceding pages, interesting and important as it was, now proves to have been but the prelude and preparation of the mighty and momentous scenes which Providence had in reserve for an extraordinary man like him, fitted by such a long, arduous, and perilous training as he had received, under the supervision of heaven. A war like that of Armageddon, so awfully depicted in the Book of Revelation, was now preparing; and all the effects of the persevering labors and pious prayers of Italian patriots, devoted to the liberation of their country, were now to be seen in the spirit of harmony and bravery which had been inculcated by the secret societies, fostered by the experience gained in the revolutions of 1820, '31, and '46, and many insurrections attempted; and now for the first time, under a leader long known for his unequalled, noble, pure, and exalted character, as well as for his incomparable skill and boldness, and his astonishing success in the field. And what unexpected changes in the situations of Europe, and especially of Italy, were brought about by events whose tendency was not discovered by human eyes, until war commenced between Sardinia and France on the one side, and Austria on the other.
Only a short time before, peace might have been expected to continue, and the oppression of Italians to be prolonged by Austria, the Pope, and the King of Naples. There were no uncommon signs of approaching disturbance; and Garibaldi, in his favorite island retreat, was quietly cultivating his farm, and seemed likely to reap in peace the little field which he was sowing.
THE ISLAND OF CAPRERA
This little rocky island, near the northeastern coast of Sardinia, has now a peculiar interest, on account of its connection with Garibaldi. Its greatest length is five miles, and its greatest breadth three. Its name intimates the nature of its soil and surface, it being rough, rocky, and barren, and well fitted for goats.
It belonged to the government, and a portion of it was purchased by Garibaldi, it is believed, about the year 1856, when he made it his residence, took a number of his fellow-exiles thither, and founded a small colony, directing his attention to the cultivation of the ground. He afterward sent to New York for some American implements, and prosecuted his design with diligence, until a vessel, which he had loaded with necessaries, especially a quantity of lime, was lost on the voyage, and left him without requisite means to proceed with his buildings and other improvements. He still, however, regarded that little secluded island as his home, and has returned to it at every interval of peace and leisure.
There was Garibaldi, waiting for the day to arrive, which he had so many years anticipated, hoped and prepared for, and which he had endeavored to make as visible to the eyes of his countrymen as it seemed to be to his own. Yes, the day was near at hand which he had written down in his preceding autobiography, pages 112, 115, etc. On page 125 he said: "Be great, once more, O Italy, and then the powerful voice of the Almighty will be heard by all thy sons; and the hungry, cowardly vultures which destroy thee, will be stunned by its thundering sound."
Such, also, was the expectation which he expressed in 1850, in his note of courteous but decided refusal of the honors of a public reception in the city of New York, and which we here translate from his refined Italian original, addressed to the committee:
GARIBALDI'S REPLY TO THE NEW YORK COMMITTEE,AUGUST 3d, 1850
"Gentlemen: I much regret that my very poor health does not allow me to take part in the demonstration which you have appointed for next Saturday. The length of my convalescence, and the uncertainty of the time of my recovery, still render it impossible for me to fix a day when I may be able to yield to the wishes of your affectionate and flattering invitation. I hope you will allow me to repeat, more warmly than at first, the desire which I have often expressed to you, that you will entirely abandon the proposed demonstration.
"Such a public exhibition is not necessary to secure for me the sympathy of my countrymen, of the American people, and of all true republicans, for the misfortunes which I have suffered, and for the cause which has occasioned them.
"Although a public manifestation of that affection would be most grateful to me, exiled from my native land, separated from my children, and weeping over the fall of the liberty of my country by foreign intervention; yet believe me, I would rather avoid it, content that it is allowed me, tranquilly and humbly, to become a citizen of this great Republic of free men, to sail under its flag, to engage in commerce in order to earn my livelihood, and to wait for a moment more favorable for the redemption of my country from oppressors, both domestic and foreign.
"In regard to the cause to which I have consecrated myself, I esteem nothing more than the approbation of this great people; and I believe it will be sufficient for them to know, how I have honestly and faithfully served the cause of liberty, in which they themselves have given a great and noble example to the world.
"G. Garibaldi."
The committee published their reply to this letter, and closed it with these words:
"We lament the modesty of Gen. Garibaldi, which, more than his imperfect convalescence, has prevented the success of our urgent requests."
A small volume has been published by Alexander Dumas, a French novel-writer, of which different opinions have been expressed. It was asserted, last summer, by the "Philadelphia Press," that it was pirated from the first edition of this book, in the French language, and had been translated into English and sold to an American bookseller for five hundred dollars. There are many passages in it which might appear to countenance such an assertion; but there are numerous passages, and even entire chapters, which are wholly unlike anything in the latter; and a large part of the volume contains views, sentiments and expressions quite the opposite of Garibaldi's. Indeed, of the 337 small duodecimo pages in the English translation, only 203 are claimed by M. Dumas to be Garibaldi's, other writers being credited for the remaining 134. The 203 pages contain passages which magnify Garibaldi's deeds or spirit much more than he was ever known to do, (for he is always as modest as brave,) with some of his most forcible expressions and passages greatly weakened by useless amplifications. The English translation is in a very loose and inferior style; and various cases occur in both Dumas and his translators, in which ignorant blunders are made in interpreting the standard before them, whatever it may have been. The motto of chapter 6th Dumas gives in his French, "Le Dieu des Bons Gens: " and his English translator: "The God of Good People." And this is afterward repeated, showing a surprising and laughable mistake in the import of the motto of the Italian Republicans, "Dio e Popolo" – God and the People.
The personal appearance of Garibaldi, his mien, address, and manners, are so remarkably accordant with his character, that clear impressions of them seem necessary to a distinct apprehension of the spirit with which he lays his plans, and commences and accomplishes his great deeds. A stranger may obtain such impressions, in a considerable degree, by contemplating the fine steel engraving which forms the frontispiece of this volume, and reading some of the descriptions written by different observers on various occasions. That portrait is accurately copied from a daguerrotype, for which he obligingly sat, at the request of the author, soon after his arrival in New York in 1850; and has been pronounced by many of his friends the best likeness they have ever seen. It certainly is exactly like the daguerrotype, not only in the features, but in the expression of the face.
Any one who would form a correct opinion of the state of preparation in which the people of Italy stood waiting for the time of their emancipation, must recur to the labors of the patriotic leaders who had been constantly laboring to enlighten and inspirit them during the last forty years. Their efforts had been principally through secret societies, formed and conducted somewhat on the plan of freemasonry. The Carbonari (literally, colliers – the makers of charcoal in the mountains, where the patriots often found refuge) were dissolved, after their archives had been seized. The society of Giovane Italia (Young Italy) was then formed, and directed by Mazzini and his friends, from foreign countries, safe from the reach of the enemy. One striking case of their sagacious and successful operations is described in that most interesting and instructive work on Italy, "The Roman Exile," by G. Gajani, formerly an eminent Roman jurist, an officer under Garibaldi in 1849, and now a respected citizen of New York. Thousands of other instances might be mentioned, to prove the powerful influence of those efforts.
The union of Italians was the great object aimed at, and non-interference by foreign powers was the principle claimed of Europe. The Republicans of 1849 declared that monarchy was opposed to both these ends; but, since Sardinia, England and France have all proved by their actions that they have adopted these principles, the Republicans have joined their old opponents, the constitutional monarchists, and ranged themselves under the banner of Victor Emanuel. Garibaldi was a Republican in South America, Rome, and everywhere, until he became convinced of this change of policy; and now he is devoted to Victor Emanuel – because Victor Emanuel is devoted to Italy. When the voice of calumny shall have ceased, justice will be done to men who are now iniquitously stigmatized.
And what men those were, who then, like lions suddenly roused, sprang from their lairs and rushed to the fight in May, 1859. Those alone who knew them, can form an adequate conception of their feelings, because each had passed through trials which none of us have known, or witnessed among our own happier countrymen. Many of them had been exiles in America, and a number had been residents in New York, and personally known, respected and loved.
A large collection of manuscripts now at hand, in various forms, of various kinds, and of different dates, recall the characters and histories of their authors; and what may hereafter be published from them will be strictly true, except some changes of names, which propriety may require. Among the papers are letters, notices of friends in need, warnings against plotting enemies – Jesuits in disguise, and long histories of romantic adventures.
