Page 220 - General Giuseppe GARIBALDI - english version

218 GENERAL GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

The time had come when Garibaldi would deliver his great blow. We have
already said that the Neapolitan government was afraid of the defence of
Salerno and Naples more than of the situation in Calabria, since the gather-
ing of the volunteers at Punta del Faro and the showy preparations had
induced them to believe that Garibaldi wanted to repeat what he had so hap-
pily done in Sicily. The commander, on the contrary, had secretly decided
where to land, much further from the area where the Bourbons were keeping
a more careful and stronger watch.
Although aiming at his goal, he did lose sight of the vivid dream that
intoxicated him, not even when he received the famous message from King
Victor Emmanuel in which the sovereign, after confirming his disapproval of
the Sicilian undertaking, informed the general that he did not consider it
opportune to continue the invasion of the Kingdom, if the King of Naples
committed himself to let the Sicilians choose their future. Garibaldi well
understood that at that particular time and in those conditions disobedience
was meritorious – and perhaps the Piedmonts’ warrior King would have
appreciated it – and therefore replied that he could not leave unfinished the
mission that the Italians had given to him. «Allow me, Sire – he concluded –
to disobey you this time. As soon as I have fulfilled my duty, by freeing the
people from an abhorred yoke, I will lay down my sabre and obey you until
the end of my days».
th
Once arrived, as we said, in Taormina on the afternoon of the 18 ,
Garibaldi ordered Bixio to immediately embark his men – about 4,000 – on
board of the Franklin and the Torino and was about to board himself when
he was informed that those worn out vessels needed urgent repairs. The he,
the Dictator, placed himself at the head of the workers and went back to
being a sailor to direct and speed up the work, nor did he disdain to take up
carpenter tools with his beautiful hands that he so much cared for, and to get
them dirty with pitch and bitumen. Finally, when the two vessels had been
patched up as best they could and they were able to sail, he ordered them to
leave and set course for the southern Calabrian Coasts.
The ships weighed their anchors on the evening of the 18 th and reached
Melito, east of Capo dell’Armi, the following day. The landing operations,
immediately started, were successfully completed.
Only the Torino, that ran aground near Rumbolo, was sunk by a Bourbon
ship that at the very last moment saw and attacked it. As for the Franklin,
that flew the American flag, it did not receive any damage whatsoever.