The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-05-03

brooklyn Cabmnn Tells of Brave
Stand of roo Irishmen in Italy.

From the Brooklyn Standard Union.
There are not many people in Brook
iyn. or, for that matter, anywhere else
outside of Italy, Ireland excepted, who
ever heard of the battle of Spoleto,
though it was a bloody fight and de-
populated the Emerald Isle by just
as many souls as were disembodied
upon that occasion in the Pope's army.
AS the foregoing is not the plot for
novel, but plain statement of facts
concerning Patrick Reilly of 37S Smith
street. it should be said at once that
during the Instruction in the provinces
of the papal states AZ years ago. Spo-
leto. a town of 10000 inhabitants in
Central Italy was held by 700 Irishmen,
of whom Patrick Reilly was one. They
fought as Irishmen always night, like
devils, and won glorious victory for
the Pope against overwhelming odds.
1t would not require painful stretch
of the imagination to weave a romance
around the person of Patrick Reilly
considering that he was left an orphan
in Ireland, came to this country In
early youth and enlisted in the United
states army, then dedicated his sword
to Pope Plus TX, returned from Italy
to fight in the Civil War; and wound
up by being a Brooklyn cabman, an
occupation he stuck to for thirty years.
Mr.. Reilly can best tell his own story:
Il was in Ireland on a visit from the
United States when the trouble in Italy
broke out. Though l had no more
idea what it was about than the man
in the moon l, with several thousand
other Irishmen, decided to fight for
the Pope. We were taken into Italy
in small parties. in a roundabout way,
passing through Belgium.
Germany and Austria, and finally
boarding a steamer at Trieste which
landed us at Ancona, where the big
gest battle of the war was afterward
fought. To make a long story short,
the First Irish Battalion, composed of
something over 700 men, under Maj.
Miles O'Reilly, was sent to Spoleto to
protect that town from the enemy. 1
was in Company B, commanded by
Capt. j. J. Coppinger, now a retired
general of the United States army. The
Italians, whether they sided with the
Pope or not, hated the Irish, and in our
march we had a good deal to put up
with. The men jeered at us, and the
women spat in our faces. But for Maj.
O'Reilly there would have been a good
many dead Italians left in the wake of
the First Irish Battalion on its march
to Spoleto.
well, we got there at last, and
were quartered in an old fort on hill
in the center of the town. So far we
had been without uniforms. Now they
were ready for us-bright red trousers
and blue coats. We didn't like the
combination, but it was the Pope's uni
form, and had to be respected. After
all the color of our unmentionables
didn't matter as long as we got what
we longed for more than we did for
Epn Gly rd oh VIC III
soon enough.
zone morning, just as it was getting
light. 1 spied a white flag from my post
at one of the gates and informed the
officer of the guard. 1t turned out 10
be a flag of truce borne by an Italian
officer who was accompanied by half
dozen other officers, all without arms.
Maj. O'Reilly went out to meet the del
egation. Said the fellows who held the
flag:
Major, Ancona has fallen. I give
you 20 minutes to surrender. Otherwise
the ashes of Spoleto will cover the
dead bodies of the LIST Irish brigade be-
fore the day is over. The officer then
pointed to the surrounding hills, which,
as we could see, were swarming with
the enemy, busily engaged in planting
artillery. Major O'Reilly took in the
situation at a glance and replied:
1--WE us ~ minutes lot DISdhldSl
and Wen be ready for you.
said the Italian: Surrender?
"'No,' said the major. fight
"They acted like gentlemen and gave
us the 20 minutes asked for. Even an
Irishman can't fight well on an empty
stomach, and nobody knew that better
than our commander.
But the enemy was prompt. When
the time was up they opened fire on
the minute, and most of us didn't get
chance to finish the meal. To tell
the truth, we didn't eat much, anyhow.
None of us had ever been under fire.
The strain during those few minutes
before the first shot Numbered from
a nearby hill was so terrible that four
of our men went crazy. / am not
ashamed to say that / myself was al
most paralyzed with fear. l tried to
lift cup of coffee to my lips, but
couldn't do it to save my life. Mind
you, had served a term in the United
States army, too, and was looked upon
as a good soldier. In the civil war in
this country l saw men affected in the
same way who afterward proved them
selves the bravest of the brave.
AT last the first cannon shot rang
out and the spell was off. Even be-
fore the echo of that shot died out, /
felt as If l could have attacked the en-
envy single handed. The faces of the
men about me, but a moment ago
white with fear, were now flushed and
their eyes shon, like diamonds. The
Irish blood was up and before the day
was done, the Italians learned that an
Irishman always fights to a finish.
Il have said that the fort was sur
rounded by hills. Fortunately, only
one of them was higher than the hill
upon which stood the fort, but that
one was so steep that the enemy try as
they would, could not get a gun to the
top. We were also protected by walls
60 feet high and 10 feet thick-other-
wise most Of us would have been killed
in less than an hour after the bonn
bardment commenced, for they poured
shot and shell at us from ten batteries
Il was reloading my musket for the
fourth or fifth time when a man stand
ing a couple of feet away from me had
his head taken off by a cannon ball so
clean and swift that he never knew
what struck him. Bombs fell inside
the walls and kept us on the lump
But meanwhile our sharpshooters were
getting in their work, too. The enc
my's artillery was within easy range
of our rifles and the Italians serving
the guns were picked off as fast as
they showed themselves. At the end of
three hours the cannonading ceased.
They either did not want to sacrifice
any more men, considering the little
damage the artillery seemed to be do
ing, or they run out Of ammunition.
don't know which.
ye-I,.- a