The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-27 00:00:00

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211 E AFFAIR A T YOLTO.RNO.

(From the Spec Cor)espo:?dent of ti'ic 7'imes.)
SANTA MARIA DI CAPUA, SEPT. 20.
Alter almost a month of silence, there was yes
terday, its honour of San Janua.rius, musketry and
cannon firing. While the blood of the saint graci-
ously liquified in the Cathedral of Naples, fresh
blood, rosier than that in the bottle, flowed on the
banks of the Volturno.
In order to explain how this happened, I must
tell you about the military movements which have
taken plan since the arrival of the army at Naples.
The Neapolitans, before withdrawing in the direc-
tion of Capua and Gaeta, had taken dispositions to
get up a reactionary movement in the eastern pro-
vinces—in the Principato Ultra and in the Capita•
nata—where the old regime thought to have par-
tisans enough to insure success. They had chosen
as the centre of this reaction Ariano, situate in the
high Apennines, not far from Benevento. To give
strength to this reactionary movement the Brigade
Bonani was left in that part to organise a popular
levy, for which everything had been disposed be-
forehand by the clergy and the landed proprietors,
who possess considerable influence in those parts.
Garibaldi, apprised of this scheme, ordered Gen.
Turr, who had just arrived with a part of his divi-
sion from Salerno, to go and stir up that nest of
reaction. It was important that this should be done
as quickly as possible, in order not to leave time to
the intrigues of priests and employes to produce
their effect on the ignorant population. The diffi-
culty was only to get the troops there, the distance
to Ariano being wellnigh 60 miles. The railway
goes as as far as Nola, and of this, naturally, advan-
tage was taken. Arrived there, all disposable carts
and carriages were collected to the number of GO
or 70, and about 900 men put on them, the remain-
der receiving orders to follow as quickly as possible.
On the road from Avellino towards Ariano there
is a cluster of small towns situated just about mid-
way between the two places. Dentecano, which is
one of the post stations, and Montemiletto and
Montefusco, which lie on both sides of it. In these
the seed of the reaction had taken considerable
root ; the tricolour had given way to the white
flag of the Bourboos, the National Guard had
given way to an armed levy which was organising
for resistance. This cluster of towns became na-
turally the first object of attention to the flying or,
better, coaching column. One day was sufficient
to damp their ardour, but it was difficult to dis-
tingisish the guilty from the innocent and to single
out the ringleaders. According to one half of the
population the other half ought to have been
hanged, so 150, about whom the testimony was
tolerably unanimous, were sent under escort to
Naples.
This done, the expedition proceeded at once to-
wards Ariano. General Bonani had taken up his
position at Campo Reale, behind Ariano, keeping
in the town a small garrison and the two squadrons
of cavalry which he had with him. Arrived in the
neighbourhood of Grottaminardi, the last station
before arriving at Ariano, General Turr sent a
herald to ask about General Bonani's intentions.
The answer was that his wish was to join the
King's forces at Gaeta, and that he hoped to be
allowed to go there unmolested with his force.
The answer was that this could not be done; that
the conditions were to lay down their arms and
leave the material, the men go to their homes, and
the officers to keep their swords and have the
liberty of going to Gaeta or wherever they pleased.
After some pourparlers which took place at Grotta-
minardi, all this was agreed to, and besides, the stipu-
lation made that the cavalry should take the horses
as far as Nola. General Turr, without waiting for
the carrying out of the capitulation, went alone
with an aide-de-camp to Ariano, where, in spite of
all evil predictions, he found people as tame as in
the other places. The spoils of the capitulation
were four guns, 150 horses, and above 1,000 stand
of arms. Having arrested some more ringleaders,
reorganised the National Guard, and put the place
into safe hands, the expedition returned as quick
as it had come.
Gen. Tarr had not returned from Ariano when
some movements of troops took place in another
direction. You will remember that the general im-
pression, not unlikely strengthened by a wish to
this effect, was that the King would give up the
game as hopeless after the loss of the capital, tht
adhesion of most of the continental provinces, of
the navy, and a large portion of his army. It was
known that there was great dissatisfaction and de
spondeney among the troops which still remained,
and that it was only the erroneous reports about
the treatment of those who came over which kept
many from following the example of their com-
panions. The foreign regiments had shown them•
selves almost mutinous, and most of the higher
military authorities were of opinion that further
resistance was useless. It became, however, soon
apparent that this impression was wrong, and that,
owing to some influence or other, or to some hope
of foreign assistance, the King had taken the reso-
lution to prolong the resistance within the rayon
which still remained to him.
About 25 miles to the north of Naples runs
down to the sea one of the greatest rivers in the
Neapolitan continent, the Volturno. Coming from
the heart of the Abruzzi down in a southerly direc-
tion, it takes about the height of Alife (the old
Alifa of the Samnites) a sudden bend to the south-
east, skirts the group of the Monte Matise, and
then turns near Cajazzo, another Samnite town, to
the south-west, and flows through the plains of the
Campania into the sea. A couple of miles from its
entrance' into the plain lies the fortress of Capua,
which is the great centre of the chief roads from
north to south. This river lino has been chosen by
the Neapolitans as their line of defence. With
Gaeta, a considerable fortress and the greatest ar-
senal of the Neapolitan army and navy to fall back
upon, the river line itself is by no means despicable.
With the fortress of Capua as a pivot for their ope-
rations; and an always ready tele de pont to de-
boucher to the south, they are protected by the
river, which is, even at this time of the year, scarcely
fordable, except above Cajazzo. With their superio-
rity in artillery, and good roads of connection be-
hind the river, it was not difficult to concentrate a
sufficient force on any point threatened. This line,
then, was chosen for defence, and on it, and in its
neighbourhood, all the remaining force concen-
trated. In order to be secure against any popular
movement, NS hich.might render the defence of the
line more difficult, the National Guard of Capua,
Cajazzo, and other places, was disarmed. They had
broken down the bridges both above and below
Capua, keeping for themselves only the
.passage
through Capua, and here and there a few boats on
the right bank of the river. Having no one against
them, they pushed forward their patrols into the
vicinity of Santa Maria, and in the direction of Ca-
serta. This could not pass without alarming the
goe.' citizens and National Guards of these two
places, atd already, on the 11th inst., message was
sent after message to Garibaldi to inform him of the
dangerous position in which, above all, the town of
Santa Maria, known for its Italian, tendencies,
found itself. The
next day the pressing became so
great that Garibaldi decided on sending a force in
that direction.
All the troops arrived were fatigued by the long
and forced marches from the southrly point of the
continent, and had hoped to have at least some
short time to repose and to repair the mighty havoc
in clothing and accoutrements made by the roving
campaign through Calabria. But, as I have often
told you, Garibaldi, knowing himself no fatigue,
judges others after himself. On the 12th, the
Brigade Ebcr, of the Division Turr, which had
arrived the day before, rece;ved orders to go next
morning to Caserta by rail. The instructions were
to leave the main body at Caserta and push forward
a body of men as far as Santa Maria, watch the
movements of the enemy, and protect the town.
The Brigade Saulis was to follow later in the day.
the advanced
arrived guard of the Brigade Eber
'a at Santa Maria,
.the town was. in the gie.ateost.
fear,xeitemenatnadnedav
infantry owing to considerable bodies
the *1 icimity. Partly
having shown themselves in
account of the lengts3:o7 this account, and partly on
wtheline of outposts towards
Capua and the river, it found expedient to send
for the rest of the brigade, which arrived in the
afternoon by rail.
Guibaldi himself arrived soon after from Naples,

a considerable force to Caserta and its neighbour-

hood, which should ba able not only to keep its
own against any attenTt which the l'..Tcapolitans
might make, but which should be like wlse, capable
of taking the offensive against the river line. Gene-

ral Turr was named commander of the whole force.

As for any evil intentions on the part of the
Neapolitan army, it became soon apparent that
they entertained none. All their measures, after the
arrival of our advanced guard at Santa Maria, were
evidently calculated for defence rather than attack.
Not content with destroying the bridges and taking
off the ferry boats, they began to construct batteries
on all points where there seemed a likelihood
river
dof a
passage. All along the opposite bank of
strong posts of infantry, artillery, andeasa
placed, and only small advancedsent-lry wereout
posts of
l la
espua to observe our movements.
time the troops which were
quartered inktt htehNe-ig samee
s
behind and about Capua were drawn closer, so as
to be available for defence.
This disposition to keep strictly on the defensive
was proved the next morning, the 14th, when two
reconnaissances were sent out from Santa Maria—the
one to the left, consisting of two 'companies of rifle-
men, on the high road to Capua, and the other, con-
sisting of the Hungarian Legion, to the right, on
the road to San Angelo, which leads to the Scapo di
Formicola, a bridge of boats destroyed by the Nea-
politans. As the two bodies advanced the Neapoli-
tan outposts fell back, keeping up skirmishing, but
retreating into the fortress of Capua. The two de-
tachments following till close to the end of an olive
wood which borders the Campo—a kind of glacis in
front of Capua. Arrived there, the guns of the for-
tress opened out. The object of the reconnaissance
being obtained, the troops received orders to fall
back, which they did without losing a single man.
During the next few days all remained quiet,
except a little harmless skirmishing in front of San
Lencio, which lies on the road from Caserta to
Cajazzo. In the meantime more and more troops
were sent to Caserta and its neighbourhood, and
Gen. Turr determined to make an attempt to throw
some troops across the river.
The Volturno is one of the most capriciously
winding rivers in Italy, so that its line from the sea
up to the foot of the heights of Cajazzo, which is
scarcely more than 20 miles by the road, is pro-
longed, through the windings, to almost double
that distance ; its banks are for the most part low,
and of about equal height on both sides. As its
width varies from 50 to 100 yards, there would be
no great difficulty in constructing a bridge and
forcing the passage on that long line.
But there were several reasons against such an
attempt. First, such a crossing is an awkward
operation in the best case, and much more so with
an army which is weak in the technical part of the
art of warfare. Thus our strength lies in the moun-
tains, and by making a movement higher up it was
possible to cross the river without finding resist-
ance, and thus get past the mountains on the left
flank of the enemy, to organize the popular move-
ment in those parts, and unite with the National
Guards of the province of Molise, which had al-
ready declared for us. WWI this view Major Gudafi
was sent with 300 men along the road from Caserta
to Campo Basso with an order to cross the Calore,
4. branch of the Volturno at Amovosi, and throw
himself into the mountains above Cajazzo. This
took place on the lith. He sent back the next
morning a report stating that Cajazzo was
occupied by 2,200 Neapolitans. On this it
was determined to send a battalion of riflemen,
about 300 men strong, under the command
of Major Catabene, in the same direction. The tvto
were to attack Cajazzo the next day, while a great
demonstration all along the line was to attract the
forces of the enemy in another direction, and pre-
vent him from sending reinforcements towards
Cajazzo.
A look at the map will show you that a net-
work of roads leads from Caserta, Santa Maria, and
Aversa towards the river, thus affording the facility
of making demonstrations on several points. There
is, first of all, to the right the road from Caserta
towards Cajazzo. It leads along the defile formed
by the mountains of Caserta and the isolated group
of St. Angelo, till within a couple of miles from the
point where the passage is, or rather was, across the
river. The next is that running from Santa Maria iu
a due northerly direction to St. Angelo, and to the
passage called Scapo di Formicola. This road is sepa-
rated by the ridge of St. Angelo from the first-
named road, but, arrived at the bank of the river, it
turns to the right and skirts the foot of the ridge
of St. Angelo, and unites with it close to the point
where the first comes out of the defile. The third, to
the left, is the main road from Santa Maria to
Capua, running in a north-westerly direction, and
forming an angle of 25 degrees with that of St.
Angelo ; almost parallel to it runs the railway
lino from Santa Maria to Capua. Then comes
the main road from Aversa to Capua, which, leav-
ing Santa Maria to the right, passes Carditello and
the Royal hunting-house close by, unites at La
Foresta with the road running from the sea shore,
and then proceeds along the river to Capua. The
three last named roads—namely, that from Santa
Maria to Capua, the railway line, and the road from
Aversa, enter Capua at the same point—that is,
close to the river in the western angle. The town
itself is built entirely on the left bank of the river,
and is protected by regularly fortified bastions,
while it is skirted behind by the river.
In order to make a diversion and thus facilitate
the taking of Cajazzo, the real object of operations
the demonstration was to be made from all these
roads. The Brigade Saulis, with two guns, was to
advance on the extreme right on the road from Ca-
serta, and engage the enemy's attention towards
the passage of Cajazzo and a ford which lies be-
tween this and the passage of Formicola. The Bri-
gade Eber, starting from Santa Maria, was to de-
monstrate against this latter, to effect a junction
with the Brigade Saulis to the right, and at the
same time assist in the demonstration against
Capua on the high road from Santa Maria to Capua.
Colonel Rustow, with six battalions and two guns,
was to advance towards Capua and occupy the
enemy, while on the road from Aversa to Capua
1 Colonel Spangaro was to go with two battalions to
La Foresta and operate in that direction. The order
for all was not to compromise their men, but do
just sufficient to force the enemy to concentrate his
forces on the different threatened points. All were
to be ready at 6 a.m. in the morning of St. Gennaro.
As & very column acted independently and had its
own scope you must not expect a picture of an en-
semble of operations, but only scraps of incidents as
they occurred on the different points. To begin by
thuright, the Brigade Saulis advanced towards the
passage of Cajazzo. When it debouchcd from the
defile it found that the enemy held with two com-
panies a farmhouse situated just opposite to the
ford, while on the other side of the river two guns
were placed to oppose the passage. There is a row
of poplars and underwood as hich runs along the
river just en that point. These were occupied by a
battalion of riflemen. Higher up were two other
guns and a battalion of riflemen to defend the spot
against an attack on the left flank, while behind
and further clown the liver considerable masses of
troops were concentrated. Gen. Turr commanded
in person on this side. Placing the two guns he
had with him iu an advantageous position close to
the entrance of the defile, a battalion of Saulis'
Brigade was sent forward in skirmishing line,
while another attacked at the point of the bayonet
the companies placed in the farmhouse. These
latter did not wait, but made off as fast as possible
along the river's bank. Having no means of pass-
ing, they had to run back along the river into Ca-
pua. The house was then occupied, and the skir-
mishers here pushed forward close to the river's
bank, taking advantage of the cluster of trees with
which the plain is interspersed. It was the most
tantalising fight to have the enemy so close, and
yet, on account of the river, inaccessible. The feel-
ing was so strong
that one company, which was
sent to the right to molest the enemy on that side,
could not be kept back; the men held on by each
other's shoulders in order to resist the rapid cur-
rent and crossed against orders, remained there
until their ammunition was exhausted, and had,
ultimately, to return as best they could, on which
occasion a number were dispersed and lost.

had just
While this was going on Garibaldi, who