Page 150 - General Giuseppe GARIBALDI - english version

148 GENERAL GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

the King the order to retreat to S. Eufemia della Fonte, where he would have
been received by the Cialdini Division, who the King himself had ordered to
rush to Rezzato in support of the Hunters of the Alps. It was then that
Garibaldi sent Cosenz the order to retreat.
The combat ended at 2pm. Urban, despite the un-hoped for success
achieved, did not pursue with his 4000 available men the 1400 volunteers
who, with reckless audacity, had attacked him for the third time in a few
days. The news received by the explorers that general Cialdini was advancing
contributed in part to his decision to stop the battle. In fact this rushed in
aid of Garibaldi, preceding the Division with a light column of a cavalry reg-
iment, two battalions of Bersaglieri and a battery.
If in this battle the impulse of Garibaldi’s men and Colonel Türr was
admirable, the precise tactical intuition of Enrico Cosenz deserves attention:
with unshakable cool headedness, he never allowed himself to be over-
whelmed, but was capable of defending himself by attacking. The King, writ-
ing to the general two days later, complimented him for the moves of the
th
15 , that is for the way in which the volunteers were capable of extricating
themselves in that unequal battle, he expressed his regret for the great losses
suffered recommending the brave leader to be prudent “above all in his first
march against forces way superior to his”. Indeed the losses were not little,
considering the scant troops involved; they amounted to a total of 154, com-
pared to 109 imperials.
The Treponti battle is the first one of a certain importance that was not
led by Garibaldi. Even if he didn’t see the action in person, he knew that the
1 st regiment had behaved with great courage, led by the brave Colonels
Cosenz and Türr. He was a witness though to the retreat of that regiment and
manifested with harsh words his displeasure to see those divisions retreating
like a scared rabble, piled up rather than in chains and, knowing the human
heart, he told them: “The Hunters of the Alps, who rightly deserved to be
called brave in the previous clashes, I would have preferred that they had not
been seen in such a retreat not only by the braves of the French and Italian
armies, nor by the women”.
That battle, moreover, even though tactically of little importance, was not
without consequences. As stated in the Austrian official report, two Army
Corps and the cavalry Division made themselves ready, with a laudable ini-
tiative, to run to the aid of the Urban Division engaged with Garibaldi’s men.