Page 172 - General Giuseppe GARIBALDI - english version

170 GENERAL GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

the column. Garibaldi was at its head with his Staff; all were singing Mameli’s
anthem.
Garibaldi, after the news received by Missori, reporting that the vanguard
patrols had received some gunshots, went scouting on the Pietralunga Mountain.
From there he saw Sforza’s troops. He then ordered that the artillery and equip-
ment be left on the carriageway, protected by Anfossi’s company, and the column
would go to Pietralunga height (436 metres). So both parties took up a good
position on the hills, one in front of the other, separated by a wide and slightly
undulating field scattered with a few farmhouses. For each of the two parties, a
clear advantage would have been to wait for their enemy and remain in their own
positions, and all the more so for Garibaldi’s troops, outnumbered and not so
well equipped. In fact, that seemed to be Garibaldi’s intention. He deployed the
Genoese Carabinieri as forward echelon along the slope of Mount Pietralunga;
behind the edge of the slope, the 8 th and 9 th Companies, one on the left and
th
the other on the right; in the middle, the 5 , 6 th and 7 th companies were
deployed half in succession and half as reserve; as a second echelon, on Mount
Vita side, there was Bixio’s battalion with one company almost by the carriage-
way. On the very far left side, the Sicilian squads were deployed.
Sforza, noticing the small number and weakness of his opponents, although
he had orders by Landi to «only move around the country», believed he could
easily gain the upper hand over that rabble of rascals and, after waiting for a
while, launched an attack at 1pm, sending ahead three companies that went
down to the plain towards Fontana della Spina and up towards the hills on the
opposite side. This was what Garibaldi desired. He ordered the Genoese
Carabinieri not to open fire but to wait until the enemy was at a short distance
and then launch a counter-attack with full force. And that was it. Garibaldi’s
soldiers resisted the royal troops’ attack at first, but as soon as the charge sound-
ed, the Genoese Carabinieri and the forwarded echelons fired some volleys and
then sprang on their enemies in a bayonet attack. This sudden attack pushed
the enemy’s troops back to the main body of their battalion.
But Garibaldi’s intention was to put to flight the first echelon of his enemy’s
troops and possibly take the two pieces; he did not intend to launch a frontal
attack against their formidable position.
He therefore repeatedly ordered to call a halt and stop his men, but in vain.
Also Carini’s companies followed the Carabinieri in the attack, whereas the S.
Anna squads reformed and supported the action with gunshots.
The counter-attack was successful, and the royal troops, shocked, slackened