The Indianapolis journal., 1890-06-08

A Thrilling Episode from the Aussro-Ital-
ian War.


The "reminiscences of General Di Rever'
contains the following stirring account of
the saving of the Tag. During the Italo-
Austrian war of 1859, on the 2ith of June.
part OF the Forty-fourth Italian Infantry.
consisting OF a group OF about ten officers
and twenty-five men, got separated from
their regiment during a surprise. and, be-
ing hard pressed by the Austrians, entered
a villa called Fenile, near Alzarea. and pre-,
pared for an obstinate defense They had
with them the flag of the regiment, and the
OLDEST ofilcer present. Captain Bar0ncellit,
took the command. After the AustriaEs had
been repeatedly repulsed they. set fire to
some heaps of straw. hay, and other In.
nammable material kept In the garrets or
the villa The Italians. half suffocated by
the smoke, and seeing that 1t would be I'M
possible to defend themselves mnch longer.
determined to save their flag before sur
rendering. They stripped the bunting from
its staff and tore it into small pieces, Of
which each officer hid portion under his
clothes; the spear-point, being lndestruct-
ible, was hidden under a fireplace IN the
house, and the staff was broken into pieces
and burned. This done, Lieutenant Chi
verni, who spoke German. fixed white
handkerchief TO the point Of his sword,
and. leaning from window IN the midst
of smoke and fire, offered to sGrrender-a
proposition immediately accepted by the
enemy. The brave little troop issued from
the house and surrendered their
arms to Colonel Altemps, of the Hohenlohe
Regiment. Where are the othersf asked
the Colonel, seeing so few men; and when
he had ascertained that there were really
no more he exclaimed. 'Bravoi You defend
ed yourselves like lionsp The Italians.
taken prisoners to Austria. managed to
keep their precious relics secret. and one
of them dying, his piece cf bunting was
buried with him. On the 1st of July fol-
lowing General Di Revel was appointed
commander of the division, and while in
specting the Forty-fourth Infantry was
surprised to see no flag. He was told that
it had been taken by the enemy, but as the
matter had never been mentioned. not even
by the Austrians, who would naturally
have been proud of such a trophy, the Cen
eral called the officers of the Forty-fourth
together and begged them to keep perfect
silence as 10 their loss, and the first time
they found themselves within reach of an
enemy's flag to revenge themselves by TAX
ing it. -, . a. ,.;o,
of the Red Cross the Italian military doc
tors were set free, and one of them came to
General Di Revel and informed him of what
had been done with their flag by the group
OF officers of the Forty-fourth. The General
spected. On the 9th of October, when Di
Revel went TO Verona. merchant of that
city was presented TO him, and In secret
consigned to him the spear-point of the
missing flag. which had been found in the
villa of Signora Rose Faina, and by her
jealousy preserved in order to be restored
TO the italian army. One can imagine the
gratitude of the General He reported
the affair to the Minister of War,
begging him to provide q flagstaff.
This was done, and when peace
was concluded and the prisoners of war rel
turned home. the officers of the Forty
fourth consigned to the General the severa-
pieces of their flag. They were sewn to-
gether by three workwomen in the presence
of two officers of the company. and at
tached to the staff and spear-point, the
whole proceeding being written down, wit
messed to and signed. and an account of the
saving OF the flag added. On the 25th of
October the Forty fourth Regiment was
drawn up in the square of st. Mark. and In
front stood Lieutenant Libretti, bearing the
recovered flag. The guardia vol was sound
ed and General Di Revel expressed his
pleasure at being able to restore to
the assembled regiment the actual
flag stained with the blood of the
handful of heroes who had so valliantly
preserved iJ from the enemy. One piece
only he concluded, is missing, and that
lies in the heart of the brave man who
carried it with him to the tomb A storm
of applause burst from the regiment and
the spectators; then, while the men pre-
sented arms, the General kissed the flag
and gave it TO Lieutenant-colonelZ Zarni,
the commander of the regiment, who also
kissed it and then reconsigned it to Lieut..
Libretti, who, bearing alOft the glorious
banner, accompanied General Di Revef
along the front of the regiment amid re-
newed acclamations. The General speaks
of this incident one of the most moving
in his military career"