Page 96 - General Giuseppe GARIBALDI - english version

94 GENERAL GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

gave Garibaldi the defence of the right bank of the Tiber, with a Division
whose two Brigades were led by General Galletti and General Marocchetti,
respectively. Since Garibaldi was suffering from his fall in Velletri, the com-
mand was temporarily taken by Galletti; this shift of command was a sad
event, because it prevented the general to personally realise which measures
had been taken for the defence and to make up for at least the major defi-
ciencies before it was too late.
General Oudinot had promised not to attack «La Place» before Monday,
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June 4 . Later it was clear that he had played upon words, since by «place»
he intended the enceinte, and not the outposts; in this way, planning to take
by surprise Villa Pamphili and Villa Corsini, he thought to reconcile his con-
science as a good Catholic and the needs of the war.
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On the morning of June 3 , immediately before dawn, gunshots sudden-
ly filled the sky over the Gianicolo with flashes and bangs. What had hap-
pened? A column, led by General Mollière, advancing in silence and in the
darkness along La Nocetta road flanking the southern border of Villa
Pamphili, had placed some mines under the fence, to blow it up. The noise
of their axes and shovels had alarmed the Italian sentries, but these had just
raised their muskets when the mines exploded with a great thunder and the
French penetrated through the breaches and rapidly scattered over the woods.
At the same time, General Levaillant, with another brigade, penetrated
into the park from the west, through a gate that was easily opened, and
swooped down on the defenders who, not expecting such a surprise, were still
deeply asleep. Some of them were killed even before they could take their
arms; others were taken as prisoners after a desperate resistance in those same
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gardens where Garibaldi had changed the fate of the battle on April 30 ; the
rest escaped by a miracle and took shelter in St. Pancras’ monastery.
The French, now in control of Villa Pamphili, attacked Villa Corsini.
Here they found a group of Bersaglieri, led by Colonel Pietramellara, who
counter-attacked energetically and allowed Galletti, to rush to help with
other reinforcements and to drive back a French battalion that had already
penetrated into the gardens. But the French regiments of Mollière and
Levaillant, joining up in a decisive effort, succeeded in imposing their numer-
ical superiority, also supported by the artillery, broke the Italian resistance,
and chased them down the hill, towards Villa Vascello. So, before daybreak,
Villa Corsini, the heart of the Roman defence, was inexorably lost.
In the meantime Garibaldi was resting, knowing nothing, in his very