Page 22 - General Giuseppe GARIBALDI - english version

20 GENERAL GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

The concentrated artillery fire of the enemy’s ships tacking very closely,
swept the deck of the Rio Pardo where many had died and the ship itself
looked drilled through by hits on the side and with very damaged masting.
But there was a brave response from the Rio Prado, and when the distance
lessened, they were also able to use rifles. Anita, rifle in hand, gave an exam-
ple of a most heroic resistance; helped the wounded, encouraged the fighters.
Urged by Garibaldi to take shelter under the deck, she obeyed for a short
while but then went back on the deck, pushing forward by sabre slashes some
of the crew cowardly found hiding in the hold.
Meanwhile, the cannon wisely placed by Garibaldi on the close promon-
tory, skilfully used, gave with its heavy fire invaluable aid to the republicans.
The enemy tried on several occasion to board the Rio Pardo, but it was
always repulsed. Finally, after hours of relentless battle, the imperial ships,
maybe because of the death of their commander, let go and, being severely
battered, retreated.
The republicans, after repairing their ships as much as possible, with the
cannon on board again, sailed in the middle of the night with a favourable
wind and, escaping by miracle the still close enemy surveillance, managed to
return to Laguna, where they were welcomed with wonder and enthusiasm,
for the very hard trial they had overcome so brilliantly.

At this point though, the situation started to deteriorate for the people of
Rio Grande. The enemy was advancing with great forces by land, determined
to break the revolt. On the other hand, the insurgents of Santa Catarina, who
had been treated too harshly by the generals of Rio Grande, began to react and
some becoming reconciled with Brazil, to the point that the need arose for
some punitive expeditions to avoid this kind of desertion. In this difficult con-
tingency, the noble soul of Garibaldi was again manifested, both by deploring
the excesses of his republican fellow soldiers, and energetically stopping by any
means a degeneration of the war into acts of cruelty and looting, towards
which he always showed the most unswerving and deep repugnance.
The persisting advance of the considerable enemy forces, and the various
attempts by the brave Rio Grande general Texeira to stop it, placed the base
of Laguna, a centre of diffusion and supply for the republican army, in a crit-
ical situation to the point of necessitating an imminent and painful evacua-
tion. An evacuation that in fact took place near the end of 1839, offering to