Page 303 - General Giuseppe GARIBALDI - english version

THE 1867 CAMPAIGN 285

Division of the 5 th company of the legion. He occupied the loggia on the left
of the door and two houses on both sides and internal to the door.
With regard to the open side of the city numbered posts had been placed
along the periphery from the west to the east:
- Post n. 1, at the Vapore tavern behind piazza Lambruschini:
st
1 Division of the 5 th company of the legion (Second Lieutenant Lair),
patrolled the road of the station and the surrounding ground and on the right
was part of the defence of Porta Romana;
- Post n. 2, with 20 to 30 men between gendarmes and legionaries
(Caporal Godfroy);
st
- Post n. 3, 1 Division of the 4 th company of Carabinieri Esteri (Second
Lieutenant Pool) had part of the sequence of forces and overlooked practica-
ble path that crossed the ravine;
- Post n. 4, about 15 men of the Carabinieri Esteri (Caporal Banz): linked
Post n. 3 with the defence of Porta Ducale.
Posts n. 1, 2 and 3 were connected to each other.
The two pieces of artillery were positioned as follows: the howitzer behind
Porta Canonica, the gun behind Porta Palazzo.
The available men left from all the corps, were under the leadership of
Lieutenant Poccioni, in reserve in the courtyard of the Palazzo, double sen-
tinel on the turret.
External guard: one post at the cemetery that was 700 metres from the city
on the road of Montelibretti and another at the convent of S. Maria.

THE BATTLE OF MONTEROTONDO

Garibaldi had planned to take Monterotondo with a surprise attack on the
night of the 25 th (Friday) with the Valzania and Caldesi columns that were
in Monte Maggiore.
th
At 21:00:00 of the 24 , helped by a very dark night, the two columns
began their march towards Torraccia (Torre Fiora?) and Monterotondo guid-
ed by two people with knowledge of the area.
Someone else from the village was also supposed to be near the city to
indicate the best place for the attack; but due to the rain, in the dark of the
night, the guides having been lost or run away, lost the way, the volunteers
wandered for hours in search of the rail road and return to the Salaria road.