The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-06-09 00:00:00

evious

T H E

INSURRECTION IN SICILY.

FULL DETAILS OF THE FIGHTING.'
GRAPHIC SKETCH OF THE INCIDENTS

(PROM THE " SPECIAL CORRE iPONDENT.)
PALERMO, May 27.
It is 2 p.m., and 1 am writing to you with the bomb-,
Shells flying above my head through the air. When
the landing of Garibaldi produced the first fit of terror
4t Naples, the youthful Bourbon sent to his brave fleet
concentrated in the Bay of Palermo the order to bombard
his faithful Pidermitans, and reduce their town to ashes
if they dare to rise against his paternal authority. The
Palermitans had
.been treated once already in this pater-
nal by the illustrious father of the present
Sovereign, who, as you remember, figures in history as
Bing Bombs, for , having given these souvenirs•of his
love to every large town of his kingdom. Whoever has
been in a town which is bombarded will tell you that it
very unpleasant, especially if you have not got the
keens of answering in a condign manner, and yet Paler-
ran has risen this morning. ,Yesterday an official bul-
letin of the Government announced to the Palermitans
that Garibaldi's defeated bands were flying in the
direction of Corleone„Sfollowed by the victorious troops
°f the ging ; that the bands which had joined him
In Sicily were going home gradually and tranquilly ;
and that in a short time all would be over. This
horning at daybreak Garibaldi appeared at the eastern
gates of Palermo, and after a comparatively bloodless
struggle entered them. By 10 a.m. the greater part of
the town was in his hands. The Neapolitans were
driven into a number of strong positions round the
loyal palace, to the south-west of the town, and to the
north-west towards the Mole, their line of retreat, and
tot
,being able to do any more, the ships have opened
their fire,—always the last remedy. Almost all the
civilised nations have '_representatives of their fleets on
the spot to Witness and approve by their presence this
noble proceeding—English, French, American, Sar-
dinian, Austrian, none'of them are wanting. Nay, they

have been kind enough to anchor in a way which may
Sot hinder the movements of the brave Neapolitan fleet.
It was, indeed, reported yesterday afternoon in the camp
of Garibaldi that the British Admiral had protested
against such a contingency. The shells which are
tashing through the air in every direction clearly prove
00e of two things—either that the admiral did not
Protest, or that the Neapolitans did not listen to his
Protest.
But I must hurry to facts, for I have a great deal
to tell. Of the events since yesterday I can speak as an
eYewitness. They will prove to you that Garibaldi's
star, so far from being in the decline, seems rising
brighter every day, and that if Sicily becomes free it
will be owing to him.
As you will remember, he left the neighbourhood
01 Genoa on the night of the sth. His intention had
been to leave the day before, but owing to the non-
arrival of one of the steamers singled out for the
expedition he had to defer it to the next day. It
is useless to say that the thorny part of the tran-
saction had been arranged beforehand with the
ewners of the steamers, and that Garibaldi merely
consented to take upon himself the responsibility
of carrying off the steamers. The captain, engineers,
Sad crew had received notice to leave them, the gallant
General being himself a good sailor, and having plenty
01 men of his own to sail and handle the ships. On the
7th a landing took place on the coast of Tuscany at
Talamone, and on the Btch another at Orbitelle, which
detained the expedition the next day. On the evening
of the 9th the expeditiou set out for the coast of Sicily
direct. The Neapolitan Government was perfectly well
informe4, and the fleet wets cruising about iu all directions
except the right one. Little squadrons of two or more
steamers had been concenti .ated in the chief seaport towns
of the island, and tried by .cruising to keep a cordon round
the island. The south en id south-westerly coasts were,
above all, a point of theiir attention, for sonic of their
ships reported having seeu the expedition going towards
Tunis. Two steamers, the Capri and Stromboli,
Were lying at Marsala, and not two hours before the
arrival of the expedition had gone out for a cruise.
The place for landing had not been fixed beforehand ;
an inspiration of the moment induced Garibaldi to
choose the most frequented part of that side of the
island, and his star led him there just in the inter-
val which occurred between the going out and
returning of the steamers. Had it not been for this,
the landing might have failed. One of the steamers
struck on a rock just at the entrance of the port,
While the other went in as close as possible. The
information received was that there was a garrison of
eOO men at Marsala, and the orders had already been
given to land a small party and dislodge them from the
barracks when the boats from the shore came off with
news that no one was there. This made the landing
easy enough ; large barges were brought alongside and
took everything ashore ; but when everything was
landed the Neapolitans made their appearance, and
began firing to their hearts' content, without doing more
than woundiacp slightly two men.
The arrival of tiarthaldi enanged th, or tne
insurrection in Sicily completely. Until then the
different square (bands) of picciotti (youngsters) had
carried on a kind of desultory guerilla warfare without
Much connection between them.
Garibaldi's name and prestige, and the succours
which he brought, became a link between these diffe-
rent squads, which placed themselves under his orders.
Scarce had the news of his landing spread when
the bands from Trapani, Corleone, and one or two
other places joined. It was to meet this force,
which was every day swelling, that Brigadier-General
Landi was sent in the direction of Marsala and
Trapani. The road to these places is the same as far
as Calata Fimi, situated on the top of an elevated
plateau; from thence it separates. A force, therefore,
stationed at the intersection shuts off all communication
by regular roads from Palermo to Trapani and Marsala.
It was on the lower slopes of the plateau that General
Landi had taken his position, with four battalions, one
of riflemen, and four mountain guns. The position was,
therefore, one of the most difficult to carry. Like all
soldiers of the same kind, the Neapolitans, whose mus-
kets are excellent, rely altogether on their fire, especially
if it can be carried on from afar. The reception, there-
fore, of Garibaldi and his troops was so hot that the
equadri soon sought shelter where they could, leaving
all the work to the troops Garibaldi had brought with
him. The Cacciatori delle Alpi justified theirrenown, and,
in spite of the heat of the day, the advantage of position,
and numbers, drove the Neapolitans at the point of the
bayonet from one position to another, taking one of the
mountain guns. One of the students from Pavia, a
youth, certainly not more than eighteen, was the first to
lay hands on it. In less than two hours the Neapolitans
'were driven from all their positions, and flying back to
Tedermo. A letter written by General Landi was found
is the village. He excuses the loss of the gun by saying
that the mule which carried it was shot—a falsehood, for
the gun carriage was taken with it, as well as the two
mules, which are in perfect health.
The retreat of the brigade, which had lost considerably,
was not molested at first, and they passed Alcamo with-
out being attacked ; but at Parteuico, where they had
sacked, burned, and murdered promiscuously, throwing
women and children into the fire, the people were up
and had occupied the houses, from which they tired on
the troops, converting their flight into a regular
debandade, the 11th Regiment losing its colours.
Garibaldi is not the man to lose much time, but still the
necessity of concerting a common action with the bands
in the neighbourhood of Palermo prevented him from
taking the position of Monreale by surprise.
Garibaldi could not unite his forces in time to arrive
at Monreale before the Neapolitans had occupied it in
great force, and when he arrived in the neighbourhood
of the position, four days after the victory of Calata
Fimi, he saw that the taking of Monreale could only
be effected with great loss. He therefore determined to
change his plans. The first thing was to surround and
watch all the outlets, and for this purpose the different
*quadri of the insurgents took up positions all round the
chain of mountains which enclose the bay. It was one of the
finest sights you could see when their fires blazed up at
night and mingled their red glare with the pale light of the
moon. They were watched by the inhabitants like the
holy fire by the Parsee, and the sole occupation during
the last eight days or so seemed to be observe and corn-
Ment on their meaning. Now they seemed stronger on
WO peak, now more spread and continuous on the slope
of lenother mountain, and on the hope kindled by these
Area the uninitiated lived. Palermo was in a state of
excitement and ferment impossible to describe, and strong
enough to brave the state of siege which had been
proclaimed. The Secret Committee, which had main-
tained itself in spite of the vigilance and suspicion of
the police, always found means to communicate with
Garibaldi, in spite of the military authorities. The
eommittee was known to exist, and it circulated printed
bulletins almost daily, but it was so organised that the
police, although aware of its existence, could never dis-
covei the members. It was a kind of freemasonry, with
different degrees of initiation. No one not a member
knew more than one member. The houses where the
meetings were held were continually changed, and all
obeyed blindly.
The committee informed Garibaldi that Palermo was
ready to rise, but it imposed the condition that he
should appear before the gates of the town. He ac-
•cepted this condition, and made his plaus accordingly.
eeing that he had come too late for Monreale,
left a party of the native insurgents to keep up the
fires and engage the Neapolitans, while he took off
the mass of the force, and, by an almost incredible
march along the mountain chain, where the guns
had to be carried by the men, he appeared all at
once at Parco, on the road to Piana, on the 23rd.
As soon as the Neapolitans saw their mistake they sent
zip in hot haste towards Parco whatever they could
muster of forces without exposing their position in the
town. They did not think them sufficient, for, after
some skirmishing on that day, they withdrew again
to their position on two lower plateau; the bane