Page 244 - General Giuseppe GARIBALDI - english version

242 GENERAL GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

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At dawn on October 1 , just as the fight started at S. Angelo, the Perrone
column, with its 2000 men coming from the of Formicola boat, clashed with
the Ferracini battalion, positioned in Grottole and Annunziata, and drove it
back with ease to the Sacchi Brigade deployed in San Leucio.
In the meantime, also Bronzetti was attacked by larger forces in
Castelmorrone and bravely defended his position. Reinforcements were
urgently needed and the Ferracini battalion, reorganised as best as possible,
was sent there. Unfortunately, those reinforcements were inadequate and
arrived too late.
Bronzetti did not have more than 250 men with him and his situation
soon became desperate. At the end, after an intense fight, with his back
against the walls of an old castle and a small church not too far away from
the castle, he preferred to die with most of his men instead of surrendering,
a remarkable example of what bravery can achieve when exalted by the love
for one’s country.
And so, defeated Ferracini’s resistance, destroyed Bronzetti and soon after-
ward driven away Bossi’s volunteers who had rushed to Castelmorrone when all
was lost, the Perrone column, although ignoring completely what was happen-
ing on the right and left flank, continued his march on Caserta Vecchia.
The battle of Castelmorrone was named by Garibaldi “the Italian
Thermopylae” and had his glorious soldier, but not less important for the
defence were the positions of the right flank entrusted with solemn warnings
by Garibaldi to the tested bravery of Bixio.
In fact, if Von Mechel had succeeded in penetrating up to Maddaloni,
all proofs of devotion, bravery and toughness given on that day would have
been useless and the copious shedding of blood in front of Capua and from
Mount Tifata and Mount Virgo would have been in vain; the entire deploy-
ment of Garibaldi’s army would have been hit on its back and the road to
Naples would have been open for the enemy’s raids. But Nino Bixio was not
a man to give way.
As we said, von Mechel and his 7000 men, mostly Bavarians, with 3 bat-
teries, had to go to Dugenta and from there advance to the bridges of the val-
ley and on Maddaloni. He crossed the Volturno in the previous days, and
having reached Dugenta via S. Erasmo, marching on three columns, he head-
ed for the targets he had been given.
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And so, on the morning of October 1 , he met the outposts of the
Eberhardt Brigade on the Molino and Acquedotto hills and, attacking them