Page 106 - General Giuseppe GARIBALDI - english version

104 GENERAL GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

the house were forced out, leaving, among others, Sergeant Giacomo
Venezian, from Trieste (to whom was later erected a marble bust on the ruins
of the Vascello) and two young Milanese legionnaires, Rasnesi and Magni.
Captain Sorini, the commander of one of the two companies, Girolamo
Induno, a painter, and the young Calcolini from Cremona escaped by a mir-
acle, but were injured.
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On the night between the 23 rd and the 24 , the exhausted garrison in
Giacometti house had at last to abandon that ruin and find shelter in the
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Vascello that resisted by a miracle. On the 26 , the French, resolved to fin-
ish off the defenders, bombarded them with a shower of artillery and suc-
ceeded in knocking down part of the wall that still survived the rest of the
building and buried about twenty defenders under its ruins; with their bay-
onets mounted, the Zouaves then jumped on the heap of ruins, thinking that
they could finally defeat that handful of men. But in vain! At dawn, Medici
was still holding the Vascello, his Vascello, whose flag was lowered only to be
replaced by the banner of the Roman Republic.
In the meantime, the bombing continued also on the city, provoking
protests by foreign representatives, who send a message to General Oudinot
through Colonel Ghilardi and reminded him that Rome was full of centuries-
old works of art, a universal heritage to be considered under the protection
of all civil nations. Oudinot replied that he had the definite order to enter as
soon as possible; the only way to avoid new damage was to surrender.
However, he ordered the artillery to do its best not to strike the most impor-
tant buildings and to concentrate its fire on the terrace of San Pietro in
Montorio and Villa Savorelli: the ruins of the latter, therefore, were forcedly
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abandoned on the 27 .
The people of Rome, and especially those resident in Trastevere, showed
more courage than ever in those days; they only had a moment of discomfort
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when, on the evening of the 27 , rumours spread that Garibaldi had left the
defence of the walls after a new and more serious disagreement with the
Triumvirate and had come down to the city with his men. It seems that
Garibaldi had expressed again his old idea of going out of the city and bring-
ing the fight elsewhere, also, as he said, «to give a wake-up signal to the
Italian provinces».
We cannot say for sure what had happened between the general, Roselli,
Mazzini and the others. Mazzini, who had opposed it at first, this time