Page 250 - General Giuseppe GARIBALDI - english version

248 GENERAL GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

fight, he left many of his men on the ground and had to seek safety with the
survivors in a prompt retreat.
The regulars of Piedmont arrived at the right moment to free the Dictator
from so many cares and worries, although they brought him also many disap-
pointments. In fact, although they definitively blocked the way to a reckless
venture on Rome, they nevertheless consolidated the great success of the
Volturno, before time and the political adverse events could frustrate its out-
comes.
Cialdini’s army defeated Lamoricière in Castefidardo, took Ancona, invad-
ed the Marche and Umbria regions and penetrated in the Kingdom; after the
fight of Macerone, the Bourbon troops had withdrew to Caiazzo and had aban-
doned the left bank of the Volturno. Garibaldi then crossed the river, left the
Medici Division from of Capua to protect his flank against a possible sally, and
set about to pursue the royal forces towards the Garigliano. But the vanguards
th
of the northern army had by then arrived in Venafro. On October 26 , in
Caianello, not very far from Teano, the Dictator met Victor Emmanuel II and,
according to Alberto Mario who was present, greeted him with the name of
«King of Italy».
The arrival of the northern army, as expected, and as already stated, was the
start of Garibaldi’s bitter disappointments and those of his loyal followers, since
Cavour’s policy at that point aimed at achieving its end without feigning, with-
out too much concern for the gains and the opportunities of the moment.
The first disappointment was the clear refusal to leave the Garibaldian
troops as vanguard in the impending march on the Garigliano, with the excuse
that they had fought enough. Then the command of the operations to take
Capua, that started four days later, was given to General Della Rocca, even if
11,000 out of the 17,000 men deployed were volunteers. But Garibaldi, with
that high sense of discipline for which he stood out and which he would
demonstrate amply six years later by pronouncing that famous “I obey”, knew
how to step aside, and left the command to Sirtori.
The siege of Capua did not last very long.
st
On October 31 , the besieged made a cavalry sally that was immediately
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driven back and on November 1 , under the eyes of King Victor who was on
top of a hill near S. Angelo that still showed the signs of the violent fight
occurred one month before, the bombardment of the square was started and
continued until the evening, with only a weak response from the enemy’s
artilleries.