As early as the twenty-second of November, a journalist wrote in his diary that provisions of all kinds had doubled in price, and the situation grew worse and worse as time went on. Rice, beans, even bread, were almost impossible to obtain, and macaroni and potatoes were sold for thrice their usual value. Fish and meat were to be had only by the officers in small quantities and of the poorest quality. Then an epidemic of typhus fever broke out, which soon filled every bed in the hospitals. The King and Queen did all in their power to obtain nourishing food for the sick and wounded, sending fish and other delicacies procured for their own table to the Sisters of Mercy to be distributed in the hospitals. Chapter XII Capitulation The siege of Gaeta lasted from the thirteenth of November, 1860, to the thirteenth of February, 1861, a space of three months. With the new year it was pushed with redoubled vigor. Both town and citadel were exposed to incessant fire, and the noise was so deafening that people had to scream to make themselves heard. Not a single building remained intact. Many lives were lost by exploding shells or falling houses, and the whole place presented a scene of utter destruction. The Piedmontese have been accused of sparing neither church nor hospital, and the sick and wounded, as well as their nurses, were exposed to the same dangers as the rest of the inhabitants. The Red Cross Society was not in existence at that time; but the terrible experiences of the wounded in the wars of northern Italy the preceding year led to the formation of that association three years later. The enemy’s fire now began to be directed chiefly against the citadel where the royal family were known to reside, and the officers begged the King and Queen to move to a place of greater safety. One of the casemates of an adjoining battery was accordingly prepared for their occupancy, and here in this small damp vault they lived for the remainder of the siege, with the princes, the few members of the court who had remained loyal, and some of the officers. The casemate was divided by thin wooden partitions into a number of small chambers, each containing a bed, one chair, and a small table. The narrow passage connecting these cells was always crowded with people waiting to speak to the officers and servants who had long since laid aside all badges of royal service.