Page 336 - General Giuseppe GARIBALDI - english version

318 GENERAL GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

To the faults inherent to this organisation, that made quite risky the amal-
gamation of such different elements, we must add also other causes that made
the setting up of the Army of the Vosges slow, difficult and unfit for the tasks
they had to perform: the misunderstanding that inspired the command organ-
ization in the theatre of operations where the Army had to fight and the dis-
like, that often turned out into a real hostility, of the French military and civil
authorities to provide Garibaldi with the necessary means for that serious task.
Garibaldi’s command did not belong to any territorial jurisdiction: he had
to receive his units, not yet precised, from the prefectures or other military
bodies according to the indications that the Tours Delegation would give and
had to organise in Dôle all those individuals who would voluntarily turn up
to be enlisted in the Corps of snipers. The relationships between Garibaldi’s
command and those of the various strongholds and field units operating in
the regions had to consist of friendly agreements, intents, whose favourable
outcome depended on the good will of the parties more than on subordina-
tion or cooperation obligations.
Gambetta had clearly declared that he would never put a French general
under the lead of Garibaldi; the declarations of some generals and their sub-
ordinates had been similarly clear and someone, as Bourbaki later did, went
so far as to exclude any contact or direct relationship with him. The activities
of the Army of the Vosges would therefore remain separated and independ-
ent from those of the other units operating for the same purpose and in the
same theatre and it is easy to understand the difficulties and the contrast that
Garibaldi had to face and overcome, isolated as he was, disliked by most, tol-
erated by those who were less hostile, intentionally ignored by all. And all
this, without considering the difficulties arising from the lack of their own
means of transport and connection, their own quarters and services.
Despite all that, Garibaldi succeeded in organising that semblance of army
and in facing with them an enemy such as the Prussians; an undertaking that
would have seemed a folly to every other general.
The organisation of Garibaldi’s army started and was developed in these
conditions.
We said that on October 16 only a small squad formed it. The news about
the other units was indefinite and not good.
The prefect of Doubs informed Bordone that in Besançon, where General
Cambriels was in command, disbanded groups of snipers with no order or