Page 112 - General Giuseppe GARIBALDI - english version

110 GENERAL GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

other side of the mountain with a small squad of lancers and galloped
towards Montecelio, to scan the plain towards Rome. Being sure that the
ways on that side were free, he ordered the column to go towards Mentana
and Monterotondo, following the line of Montecelio hills, Sant’Angelo
Romano and the gorge of S. Angelo, where he hoped to join another corps
of volunteers led by the English Forbes, who during the siege of Rome had
manoeuvred along the roads of Spoleto and Viterbo; he, however, marched
with his cavalry to the foot of those hills, covering his left flank and sending
patrols for a radius of 16 kilometres, up to the Aniene.
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At 10am of July 4 , after circling around Rome for more than 100 kilo-
metres in 36 hours, the column stopped in Monterotondo; its rearguard
stopped in Mentana.
It was only to be expected that the French would soon discover where
Garibaldi was really headed, and therefore they had to be tricked again into
believing that he was going to Viterbo. To this end, a squad of cavalrymen,
led by Major Müller, swam across the Tiber and set off to Morlupo,
Campagnano, Nepi, Sutri, Vetralla, to announce that Garibaldi’s soldiers
were near. But the army, on the contrary, left Monterotondo at 2am of the
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5 , and marched towards Passo Corese, where they stopped. The following
night, they advanced to Poggio Mirteto and occupied the hills on the west
side of the town.
Meanwhile, the presence of Müller on the right bank of the Tiber had
been signalled to the French column of General Morris, who came in contact
with Garibaldi’s cavalrymen at Monteroso, and considering them a real rear-
guard, followed them up to Ronciglione.
The Spanish, having heard that Garibaldi had left Tivoli and was headed
to Arsoli and Tagliacozzo, did not delay, as they hoped to cross his path, to
climb across the harsh ridge between Valmontone and the Aniene Valley, and
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to arrive unexpectedly in Subiaco on the morning of the 5 ; but here,
informers intentionally misinformed made Cordoba believe that Garibaldi’s
soldiers had suddenly turned north towards Rocca Sinibalda and Rieti, and so
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was induced to go to that city, where his troops arrived, exhausted, on the 6 .
The Bourbons that were also informed of Garibaldi’s detour, had
remained calm; and the Austrian made no moves.
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On the 7 , before dawn, the general gave the order to strike camp and
take the road to Cantalupo and Terni, all the more so because Forbes had sent