The Express.
London, England, 1862-09-09 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, TUESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 9, 1862.

THE AFFAIR OF ASPROMONTE.

STATEMENT OF GENERAL GARIBALDI.

The following letter from General Garibaldi
himself, relating to the unhappy conflict at Aspro-
monte, will be read with tho greatest interest :

" OD board the Duke of Genoa, Sept. 1.

"They thirsted for blood, and I wished to spare
it. Not the poor soldier who obeyed, but the men
of the clique who cannot forgive the revolution for
being the revolution—it is that which disturbs
their conservative digestion—and for having contri-
buted to the re-establishment of our Italian
family.
" Yes, they thirsted for blood ; I perceived it
with sorrow, and I endeavoured in consequence to
the utmost to prevent that of our assailants
from being shed.
" I ran to the front of our line crying out to
them not to fire, and from the centre to the left,
where my voice and those of my aides-de-camp could
be heard, not a trigger was pulled. It was not thus
on the attacking side. Having arrived at a distance
of 200 metres, they began a tremendous fire,
and the party of bersaglieri who were in
front of me directing their shots against me
struck me with two balls, one in the left thigh,
not serious, the other in the ankle of the right foot,
making a serious wound.
" As all this happened at the opening of the con-
flict, and I was carried to the skirt of the wood after
being wounded, I could see nothing more, a
thick crowd having formed around me while my
wound was being dressed. I feel certain, however,
that up to the end of the line which was at my
litter, and to that of my aides-de-camp, not a single
musket was fired. As there was no firing on
our side, it was easy for the troops to approach
and mingle with ours, and when I was told
that they wished to disarm us, I replied that
the men might disarm themselves. The inten-
tions of my companions were, however, so little
hostile that I only by this disarmed in the crowd
some officers and regular soldiers.
"It was not so on our right. The picciotti,
attacked by the regular troops, replied by a fire
upon the whole line, and although the trumpets
sounded to cease firing, there was at that spot a
smart fusillade, which lasted not more than a
quarter of an hour.
" My wounds led to some confusion in our line.
Our soldiers, not seeing me, began to retreat into
the wood, so that little by little the crowd round
me broke up, and the most faithful alone
remained. At this moment I learned that
my staff and Colonel Pallaviciui, who com-
manded the regular troops, were negotiating
upon the following considerations ; first, that I
should be free with my staff to withdraw where I
pleased. (I replied, On board an English vessel."
Second, that having arrived at the sea shore, the
rest of my companions should be set at liberty.
Colonel Pallavicini conducted himself as a valorous
and intelligent chief in all his military movements,
and he has not been wanting in respect or
courtesy towards me and my people. He showed
his grief in having to shed Italian blood ; but he
bad received peremptory orders and had to obey
them. My arrangements had been purely defen-
sive, and I bad hoped to avoid a conflict, seeing the
very strong position that I occupied and entertaining
the hope that the regular troops had received orders
less sanguinary. If I had not been wounded at the
outset, and if my people had not received the order
under all circumstances to avoid any collision
whatsoever with the regular troops, the contest be-
tween men of the same race would have been
terrible. However, far better as it is. Whatever
may be the result of my wounds, whatever fate the
government prepares for me, 1 have the conscious-
ness of having done my duty ; and the sacrifice of
my life is a very little thing if it has contributed to
save that of a great number of my fellow country-
men.

" In the hazardous enterprise in which I and my
companions had thrown ourselves, with beads
bent, I hoped nothing good from the government
of Rattazzi. But why should I not have hoped for
lass rigour on the part of the King, having altered
in nothing the old programme, and having decided
not to alter it at any price l What afflicts me most
is this fatal distrust, which contributes not a little
to the incompletion of national unity. However it
may be, I once again present to Italy a
serene front, assured of having done my duty. Once
more, my unimportant life and the more precious
ones of so many generous young men have been
offered as a holocaust to the holiest of causes—pure
from all vile personal interests.

" G. GARIBALDI."

We have also received a long and detailed report
of the affair at Aspromoute, signed by fourteen
officers composing the staff of Garibaldi. In this
statement the general's forces is stated to have
been 1,500 men. The rations which had been dis-
tributed were very scanty, and the volunteers had
suffered much iu the previous night from heavy
rains. They had express and formal orders never
to attack or defend themselves, but to march ra-
pidly—nothing more. Ou the approach of the
troops, Garibaldi sent officers along the line to im-
press this again upon his men :

- - -
Garibaldi was in the centre of the bill slope occupied
by his column. He sent his officers all along the front with
repeated, impress, positive orders not to fire. We were
being surrounded on all sides ; the bersaglieri were within
shot ; they had levelled their pieces ; all our column was
perfectly still. Not one shout, not one shot. The General
alone stood up, with his wide gray plaid cloak lined with
red, thrown on his mauive shoulders, following the
movements of the royalists with his spy glass,
and from time to time turning to repeat the order
" Do not fire." The officers took up the cry, and " Do
not fire" went the round of the whole line. But the troops
had, on the contrary, precise orders to attack. The berms -
heri opened fire and moved forward. No intimation or sum-
mons preceded the fire, no park nientairc was sent. The firing
deepened ; the bulleta hissed on all sides round oar heads.
Unfortunately some of our raw recruits, unaccustomed to
such terrible sport, answered by a few random shots ; the
others did not stir. Every one kept his own ground, some
standing, some seated. AU the trumpets gave the signal to
stop fire ; all the officers verbally issued the same order. The
troops, on the contrary, set up the signal " Forward," and
advanced with well-sustained fire. The general, always
at his post, standing, in the midst of the densest shower
of belle, spin cried, " Do not fire !" He was uttering those
words when two bullets struck him ; one, a spent.hall, on
the thigh of the left leg ; another, with full force, on the
ankle of the left foot. Garibaldi, at the moment of being
wounded, not only stood up, upright, but he assumed a
majestic attitude ; be took off his bat, and waving it with his
left band, he repeatedly cried, " Long live Italy ! Do not
fire !" Some of the officers, the nearest to him, removed
him and laid him under a tree. There, with his habitual
calmness, he continued to give his orders. The most
precise were the following :—" Letthem come near. Do not
fire !" On *Hour front the fire had ceased. Presently Me.
notti was brought to the spot. He also bad been hit by a
spent ball in the calf of his left leg. He was in peat pain,
unable to stand. Father and son IMO laid under the same
tree ; a group of officers and soldiers gathered round the
poen!. He had lighted • cigar, and was smoking. He
said to all, " Do not tight !" The officers, questioned by their
soldiers, also invariably answered, " Do not fight." The
trumpets, too, never ceased from their signal, "Stop fire I"
not for our men, but for the troop which. fired as they
advanced, even when they had come up and were mixed
with our volunteers. From the first shot to this moment

hardly a quarter of a; boar elapsed. Here a strange sight
promoted Resit Maeda, relatives, brothers, companions
in recent battle' which they fought for their fatherland,
meet and recognise each other. Some are clad is the red
shirt, others in the regular uniform • and here were shaking
of hands, embraces, mutual reproach and upbraidings, espe-
cially on the part of the redshirta, who protest and declare
that "all they wanted wee Rome."

The narrative proceeds, stating that here a lieu-
tenant of the staff (royal) appeared before Gari-
baldi, who bade him put off his sword, as a parte-
mentaire should be unarmed. Other bersaglieri
officers were disarmed in the same manner, though
the general soon afterwards ordered that their
swords should be restored to them. Meanwhile
the surgeons examined and dressed the general's
wounds. He bade them apply cold water to them,
and all the time he smoked with great calmness
and firmness. He asked whether an amputation
was necessary, in which case it should be done
forthwith. The doctors assured him there was
no occasion for such an operation. Garibaldi
asked to see Pallaviciui, who twenty minutes
later came to him uncovered, and with every
demonstration of respect. It was afterwards
settled between the officers of both staffs that the
Garibaldian column should be disarmed and placed
under the escort of the Royal troops. It was
agreed that Garibaldi should be removed to Scylla,
with as many of his officers as be wished to have
with him, all of whom should retain their swords.
The dead on both sides were very few : very few
also the wounded.

RATTAZZI AND THE FRENCH GOVERN-
MENT.

The Itulipendance of yesterday evening says :

We have received from oar Turin correspondent • very
optimist letter which announces in, a very positive manner
that M. Rattasxi is certainly on the eve of obtaining the solu-
tion of the Roman question, and that be has seat to
Paris an energetic and pressing note, after which it will be
no longer possible for the French government to pursue its
policy of indecision. We strongly hope this statement will
prove true, but we have good reasons for doubting it. M.
Rattarsi is not accustomed to such energetic seta in his ex-
ternal policy, and we are but too well authorised by the ex-
perience of the past to receive save with the utmost caution
the promisee which his friends hasten to make in his name.
A Paris letter says :

It is now stated positively, but the fact appeals prams-
tore, that Victor Emmanuel has intimated to Baron Rica-
soli to hold himself in readiness, as he may be called on to
form a new cabinet.

We read in the Opinion Nationale:

A certain degree of agitation again prevails in Italy. The
party of action is organising demonstrations, and more
arrests have taken place in Lombardy. It it rumoured that
the Italian cabinet has forwarded to Paris an exact report
of the state of affairs, and requesting the Imperial govern-
ment to give it due consideration.