Page 194 - General Giuseppe GARIBALDI - english version

192 GENERAL GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

landed in Castellammare del Golfo and Tappeto.
It brought the help of 3500 bold volunteers, 8000 carbines with rifled barrels
and 400,000 cartridges. Corte’s expedition, with 900 men, had sailed off on the
th
8 from Conigliano and Sestri on board of an American ship and had been cap-
tured by the royal ships Fulminante and Fieramosca and taken to Gaeta.

June 25 th - Francis II granted the constitution, with a royal prince appoint-
ed as viceroy for Sicily. This concession came late and was therefore useless. After
loosing Palermo, the loss of the entire Sicily could not be avoided for long.

June 30 th - After mediation by the American government, the Corte expedi-
tion was set free and went to swell Garibaldi’s ranks at the beginning of July.

July 7 th - The Cosenz expedition, with 1,500 men, landed in Palermo.

July 10 th - Captain Anguissola, commandant of the royal corvette La
Veloce, gave himself up to Garibaldi. The ship was renamed Tukery.
In the second half of July, the Sacchi (2500 men) and Dunne expeditions
arrived - volunteers of different age and condition formed them.
Weapons, ammunitions and other means were continuously pouring in
from everywhere.
In the meantime, the revolution spread all across the island. Fabrizi, who
had come from Malta, formed squads of combatants and established his
headquarters at Mascalucia, four miles away from Catania.
st
On May 31 , the insurgents, led by Colonel Poulet, left Mascalucia and
attacked the garrison in Catania. After seven hours of relentless fight, they
had to withdraw, with their commandant wounded, but the royal forces lost
180 men, among casualties and wounded, and abandoned the city that
immediately proclaimed Garibaldi as dictator.
In Messina, General Clary took the command of the Bourbon troops.

THE LAST DEFENCE. THE END

Strengthened by the Medici expedition and other volunteers, Garibaldi
could think to continue his undertaking, i.e. to drive out the rest of the
Bourbon army from the eastern part of the island and to consolidate the new
order of things in its internal territories, obtaining volunteers and clearing