Rule of the Monk; Or, Rome in the Nineteenth CenturyGaribaldi, Giuseppe
History
Rule of the Monk; Or, Rome in the Nineteenth Century
Garibaldi, Giuseppe
Italian fiction -- Translations into English; Rome (Italy) -- History -- 1798-1870 -- Fiction
On May 6th, General Garibaldi gained the battle of Palestrina,
completely defeating the Neapolitans, 7000 strong, and taking their
artillery. Shortly after, however, the ambassador of the French
Republic, Ferdinand de Lesseps, entered Rome with Michael Accrusi, the
envoy of the Roman Republic in Paris, and by means of the good offices
of the French Ambassador, the armistice, against which General Garibaldi
had given a strong opinion, was concluded. The Roman Government resolved
to take advantage of this truce to get rid of the Neapolitan army. At
the same time Mazzini first created Colonel Roselli a general, and then
named him general-in-chief of the forces. The friends of Garibaldi urged
upon him not to accept a secondary position under a man who the day
before only had been his inferior. The General, however, was utterly
inaccessible to personal considerations where the welfare of his country
was concerned, and he therefore accepted, he states himself, even with
gratitude, the post of general of division.
On the 16th May the entire army of the Republic, consisting of 10,000
men and twelve pieces of cannon, marched out of the city of Rome by
the San Giovanni gate, General Garibaldi being ordered to proceed
in advance. He had received information that the Neapolitan army was
encamped at Velletri, with 19,000 to 20,000 men and thirty pieces of
cannon.
In the end the army of the King of Naples was again entirely defeated by
General Garibaldi's division alone. In an early part of the day he sent
to the commander-in-chief for reinforcements, and received for answer
that soldiers could not be sent, as they had not eaten their soup. He
then resolved to do what he could with his own strength, and victory
again crowned his efforts. Towards midnight his troops took possession
of Velletri itself.
At daybreak the General resumed the pursuit of the Neapolitans; but he
received orders to return to Rome, which he re-entered on the 24th of
May, amidst an immense multitude, who hailed him with the wildest cries
of joy. The utter incapacity of General Roselli is now acknowledged by
all; however, in those days, he shared the views of the Roman Government
regarding the French.
In the mean time, General Oudinot, having received the reinforcements
which he required, disavowed the treaty entered into by the Roman
Government and the envoy extraordinary of his master the President of
the French Republic. It would have been thought that the dream of
a French alliance would now have faded from the ideas of the Roman
Government, but they were only half convinced even yet, and they allowed
their commander-in-chief, the newly created General Roselli, to indite a
letter, from which the following is an extract:-
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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