"The first idea was to make the attack in the middle of the night—the Neapolitans don't like to stir at night, and there was every chance of a panic among them; but there was some danger that way likewise for the Sicilian insurgents, and it was thought best to make such arrangements as would bring the force at dawn to the gates of the town. According to the original and better plan of the general himself and his adjutant-general, Colonel Turr, the movement was to have been made along the main road from Misilmeri, broad enough to admit of considerable development of the columns, and commodious in every respect. The native captains, however, suggested the Pass of Mezzagna, which descends from the heights behind Gebel Rosso into the plain of Palermo. According to their statements, it was much shorter and by no means difficult. Their statements were believed, and the whole force received orders to be concentrated by nightfall on the summit of the pass, crowned with a church. "According to the first disposition, the troops brought by the general himself were to lead the way, and the _squadre_ to follow; but some of the chiefs begged it as a favor for their corps to have the honor of being first in the town—a claim which could not be very well refused. The plan was, therefore, modified. The guides and three men from each company of the Cacciatori delle Alpi, were formed into an _avant-garde_, confided to Major Tüköri, a Hungarian, an officer who distinguished himself under General Kméty on the 29th of September, at Kars. Behind this _avant-garde_ followed the Sicilians, commanded by La Maga, an emigrant, who had come over with Garibaldi. The second line was led by the riflemen of Genoa—excellent shots, all armed with the Swiss carbine. Behind them came the two battalions of Cacciatori delle Alpi, and in the rear the rest of the Sicilians.