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

Borazzo and Santa Theresa. The next day, 24th

they got up some of the troops from Monreale, and
thus strengthened, made another attack—the same
I witnessed from on board ship. The purpose was
gained: they had got another change. Garibaldi
withdrew, leaving just a few of the bands behind. These
latter did not wait long to follow, and the " Regii," as
the soldiers are called, entered both Madonna delle
Grazie and Parco the same afternoon, and pillaged and
burnt the place, according to time-honoured custom,
killing a number of the peaceful inhabitants, and pub-
lishing, as usual, next day, a splendid bulletin, announ-
cing the defeat of the bands-of Garibaldi, and promising
their speedy subjection. Although Neapolitan bulletins
are not much believed, yet there were many in the town
whose hearts sank when they saw Garibaldi retire a
second time.

They little knew the man with whom they had to do,
nor did the Neapolitans either—although they ought to
have remembered Velletri. It was rimier pour mieux
sauter. In order better to deceive the Neapolitans, he
went back to Piana, and sent his artillery even further
back, while he himself, with his chosen, band, made his
way over the mountains again, and, while the Neapo-
litans followed his track to Piana, he had arrived, yester-
day morning, at Misilmeri, on the high road to Catania,
where he had given rendezvous to all the chieftains or
captains on that side of the mountain chain.
I was sick of uncertain rumours, which alone were to
be got in town, and which would leave your readers in
darkness about the true state of things. Besides, know-
ing a little of the-gallant general's tactics, I had a strong
suspicion that something was impending which could be
better seen from without than inside the town, so I

determined to see whether I could not get there. Some
English and American officers had been out in that

direction, and had seen one of the captains,_ a popular
man of this place, called La Maza, so I determined like-

wise to have a trial. Some friends in the town indicated

the way, and I set off in the carriage of one of them.
I rolled along fast enough with my two Calabrese
horses, and passed some American officers, probably
bound for Solento. At the very gates of the town the
people had joined the insurrection, but there was a kind

of neutral ground between the two, which ended in a
village beyond Abate, the name of which I cannot recol-
lect. If the Regii were careless, the insurgents were
not, and at the entrance of the village one of their armed
men asked me for permission to be .my guide, a thing
which exactly suited me. As we drove through the village

the people rushed forward, and, trying to kiss my hands,
asked me for arms. They were all ready to join, but
had no arms, which did not prevent their raising shouts
for Italy, Victor Emmanuel, and" Garibaldi. We had to

gallop off in order not to be stopped at every step. A drive
of half an hour more in a gentle descent, with a lovely

valley beneath and beautiful mountain scenery in front,
brought me to the town of Misilmeri, a wretched little

place, altogether wanting in character. In the little
square held out on one side the committee, which forms
a kind of provisional government, and on the other,
up some wooden steps fixed outside, was enthroned
.the chief of the staff of Garibaldi's expedition in pri-
Mitiie simplicity. Colonel Birtori was just giving a

pass tO two.young American officers from the United
States steamship Iroquois, without which no one was

allowed -to enter the camp. As he had_likewise given
them an officer as a guide, I joined them, and up we

sauntered towards the heights. The general himself

was not there when we arrived, he had taken one of his
morning strolls, but in front of his tent there were all

his trusty followers,—Colonel :Turr, the Hungarian,

although still suffering from the shot in his arm, received
in last year's campaign, yet always ready where there is

danger ; Col. Bixio, another trusty follower and well known
officer of the Cacciatori delle Alpi ; Colonel Carini, the

bravest of Sicilians, like Wise an officer of that corps,
besides a number of others, all brave like him, among
them Garibaldi's young son, with 'a shot wound in his

wrist, received at Calata Fizi, and the son of Daniel

Manin, wounded in the thigh. There was the ex-priest

Guzmaroli, a Romagnole, who has vowed the most
enthusiastic worship to his hero, and follows him like a

shadow, providing for his comforts, and watching his
person in the moment of danger. There was a small

cluster of guides, most of them of good Lombard families,
meant to serve on horseback, but now *on foot, and

the foremost in the battle. Not the least remark-

able among all these figures was the Sicilian monk,
Frate Pantaleone, jolly, like the picture of a monk of
the middle ages, but full of fire and patriotism, and as

brave as any of the others. He had joined the force at
Salemi, and did his best to encourage and comfort them.
Several among the leading men from Palermo and its
vicinity were likewise present among them, with several
priests and monks, who are among the most sincere and

energetic promoters of the movement. They were a
strange sight, indeed, in this by no means very. Catholic

army ; but I assure you their behaviour has been such
that the wildest among these youths honour and respect
them, and in them their order.

Well, all this motley crowd, increased now by the
:wo yoiing American naval men, and soon after joined

by three British naval officers, was collected round a
common nucleus—a smoking kettle with the larger
part'of a calf in it, and a liberal allowance of onions, a

ha Ora+ 4h lhAcana o,sh bread. and o harr.l
taining Marsala. Every ouv helped' himself in the

most communistic manner, using fingers and knife, and
drinking out of the solitary tin pot. It is only in this

irregular warfare that you see these scenes in their
greatest perfection. The long marches and counter-
marches, rains, fights, and sleeping on the ground had

made almost every one worthy to figure in a picture by
Murillo, with all those grand Si&lion. mountains, not
unlike those of Greece, forming a background such as

no picture can reproduce.
Soon after my arrival Garibaldi made his appearance,
and received his foreign ,visitors with that charming,
quiet simplicity which characterises him, lending him-
self with great complaisance to the invariably recurring
demands of autographs, and answering the numerous
questions which were naturally put to him. It was
only after the departure of his guests that the general
resumed business. The question debated was nothing
more nor less than to venture on a coup de main on
Palermo the same night. There was no doubt all the'
information went to show that the Neapolitans had
taken the bait thrown out for them,—that they had
taken a feigned -retreat for a defeat, and the sending
back of the guns towards the interior as a sign of dis-
couragement. As for the flank movement to Misilmers
they seemed to have no idea of it.

The plan which Garibaldi conceived was to surprise
the posts in the lower and comparatively ill-defended
part of the town, to throw himself into the town,
and then gradually work his way from street to
street. The two roads leading to this part of

the town run almost parallel, and not far from each
other. That close to the sea-shore was the least guarded,
containing merely a company' or so, altogether cut off
from all communication. The task would have been
easier from this side had it not been for the fear of the
march of a long column being discovered, and thus an
alarm given. The second, the highroad from the interior,
was, therefore, chosen as the line of operations. It
crosses, about half a mile from the town, the route Del
Amrniraglio, leads through a large open street to the
stradone on this side of the town, and enters the town
at the Porta di Termini. At this gate the Neapolitans
had made a sand-bag barricade, which was occupied by
two companies. The stradone before it was enfiladed
by a couple of mountain guns, placed at the gate of
Sant' Antonino, beyond the stradone small forts extended
all 'along the road up to the bridge, and the outposts
were just on the other side of the bridge.
With that. just coup d'ceil which Garibaldi certainly
possesses, he bad singled out this point as the mostprac-
ticable. Having, with the exception of the troops he
had brought with him, but rough undisciplined guerillas
at his disposal, he saw that the best chance was to con-
centrate all his forces, and surprise or break through by
main force. The operation was to be assisted by a gene-
ral rise of the people in the town.
Having sketched out his plan, he convoked the dif-
ferent guerilla chief, and informed them of his inten-
tion. He told
,them
,that it was not his custom to

have councils of war, but he thought it fore once
good to consult them, as upon the resolution taken
must depend the fate of Sicily, and perhaps of Italy.
There were only two things to be done,—either to try
and get possession of Palermo by a coup de main, or
else to withdraw and begin a regular organisation in the
interior, and form an army. He, for his part, was
for
de main, which would at once :settle the
fate of the
the ceu P
island. He told them to be brief in their
remarks and not deliberate long. Most were utterly
astonished at the boldness of this plan, , and some made
remarks about the want of ammunition for their men.
They were told for the hundredth time, that, it was dot
long shots which imposed on the well-armed Neapofi-
tans, but a determined rush in advance—that they ought
not to waste their ammunition and fire off their guns
for sport, and were promised whatever could be -spared.
This objection being waived, all expressed more or less
loudly their approbation of the plan, and were dismissed
with the injunction to animate their people and keep up
their courage.
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. The guides, and three men
from each company of the Cacciatori delle Alpi, were
formed into an avant-garde, confided to Major Tiikori,
a Hungarian officer, who distinguished himself under'
General Kinky en the 29th of September at Kam.
Behind this avant-garde followed the Sicilians, com-
manded by La Maga, an emigrant who had come over
with Garibaldi. The second line was led by the rifle-
men 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.

In order to entertain the Neapolitans with the idea
that all wai safe on that side, the usual large fires were
kindled on the tops of the mountains, and kept up long