Page 235 - General Giuseppe GARIBALDI - english version

FROM THE STRAITS TO THE VOLTURNO 233

Colonel Rüstow then decided to withdraw, and the retreat was carried out
in good order, under the protection of strong rearguards that forcefully
repelled all attempts at pursuit. Only the men of the Puppi Brigade had a
moment of disorder and bewilderment, when they saw their commander
falling from his horse, fatally wounded.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, the Bourbon troops tried to take advantage of the
moment and launch an offensive, but everywhere they found strong resist-
ance, especially at Fornace – where the artillery of Major Bricoli continued
its fire until he himself was wounded, the gunners were killed and almost all
the guns dismantled – at Formicola and in front of Gradillo.
Finally, at 11am, General Türr ordered the general retreat to rear positions
and the fight rapidly decreased and left the place to episodic actions.
The attack on Capua would have therefore concluded in this way, without
producing any effect, if Rüstow, noticing in front of the fortress a large group
of troops who, clearly, had the intention to move on S. Maria, had not decid-
ed to resume the attack both to stop the enemy’s attempt before it started and
to foster the attack of Cattabene, that he knew was marching on Caiazzo.
Rüstow’s troops, with their usual enthusiasm, despite the precise aim of the
artillery, engaged the Bourbon troops with all their might and stopped them
for a long time without allowing them to make any progress whatsoever.
While these things were taking place, Major Cattabene completed the dif-
ficult task he had received; he crossed the Volturno and entered the town,
climbed on the spur of Caiazzo, with its Longobard castle at the top, and
drove away the small garrison left by the royal forces who that morning had
rushed to the cannon in Capua. And certainly Caiazzo would have been kept,
if the occupants had been immediately reached by the necessary forces to
oppose the return of the enemy, who could not have missed the seriousness
of that loss. But the weak force could not even induce respect in the hostile
inhabitants.
In the meantime, Garibaldi arrived on the battlefield. He had returned
that morning from Palermo to Naples, since he had received the news of the
fight underway and had rushed to Caserta together with General Medici.
Immediately the commander with his experienced intuition understood the
mistake made by Türr in all its seriousness. But if the affection he felt for
Cattabene pushed him to order his retreat on this side of the Volturno, the
die was cast, and he did not like to recall those valiant men also because he
clearly saw the danger that a retreat through the river would involve.