CHAP. VIII. 1821. 79. of Naples, and return of the King March 12. This catastrophe was a mortal stroke to the insurrection; for, independent of the moral influence of such a discreditable scene succeeding the warm appeals and conSubjugation fident predictions of the revolutionists, the position of their main army, and on which alone they could rely for the defence of Naples at St Germano, under Carascosa, was liable to be turned by the Abruzzi, and was no longer tenable. The broken remains of Pepe's army dispersed in the Apennines, and sought shelter in its fastnesses; some made their appearance in Naples, where they excited universal consternation. In this extremity the parliament, assembled in select committee, supplicated the Prince Vicar to mediate between them and the king; and, above all, to arrest the march of the Austrian troops. But it was all in vain. The Imperial generals, seeing their advantage, only pressed on with the more vigour on the disorderly array of their opponents. Walmoden advanced without opposition through the Abruzzi. Aquila March 10. opened its gates on the 10th March, its castle on the 12th; and Carascosa, seeing his right flank turned by the mountains, gave orders for his troops to retire at all points from the position they occupied on the Garigliones. This was the signal for a universal dissolution of the force. Infantry, cavalry, and artillery, alike disbanded and fled. A few regiments of the royal guard alone preserved any semblance of military array, and the main Austrian army advanced without opposition towards Naples, where terror was at its height, securities of all sorts unsaleable, and the revolutionary government powerposcia incalzando i passi, ed alfine in corsa un superbo reggimento di cavalleria Ungherese, sì che nell' aspetto del crescente pericolo le milizie civili, nuove alla guerra, trepidarono, fuggirono, strascinarono coll' impeto e coll' esempio qualche compagnia di più vecchi soldati, si ruppero gli ordini, si udirono le voci di tradimento, e salcarsi chi può: scomparve il campo.-Proseguirono nella succedente notte i disordini dell' esercito: Antrodoco fu abbandonata; il General Pepe seguiva i fuggitivi.-Miserando spettacolo! gettate le armi e le insegne; le macchine di guerra, fatte inciampo al fuggire, rovesciate, spezzate; gli argini, le trincere, opere di molte menti e di molte braccia, aperte, abbandonate; ogni ordine scomposto: esercito poco innanzi spaventoso al nemico, oggi vôlto in ludibrio."-COLLETTA (a Liberal historian), ii. 437, 438. VIII. 1821. March 20. less. Finding further resistance hopeless, Carascosa made CHAP. the Prince Vicar, who had set out to join the army, return to Naples; and on the 20th of March a suspension of hostilities was agreed on, the condition of which was the surrender of Capua and Aversa to the Imperialists. March 23. This was followed by the capitulation of Naples itself, a few days after, on the same terms as that of Capua. The Austrians entered on the following day, and were March 24. put in possession of the forts; while Carascosa, Pepe, and the other chiefs of the insurrection, obtained passports, which were willingly granted by the conquerors, and escaped from the scene of danger. Sicily, where the revolution had assumed so virulent a form, submitted, after a vain attempt at resistance, shortly after; and the king, 1 Colletta, on the 12th May, amidst general acclamations, re-entered ii. 444, 455; his capital, now entirely garrisoned, and under the con- iv. 329, 333. trol of the Austrian troops.1 May 12. Ann. Hist. of the in Piedmont. It was during these events, so fatal to the cause of 80. revolution in Naples, that the old government was over- Movement turned in Piedmont, and the standard of treason hoisted surgents in on the citadel of. Turin. The account of that important March 13. but ill-timed event, which took place on the 13th March, has been already given, as forming the last in the catalogue of revolutionary triumphs which followed the explosion in Spain. 2 Ante, c. As it broke out at the very time when the vii. §118. Neapolitan armies were dissolving at the sight of the Hungarian hussars, and only ten days before Naples opened its gates to the victors, it was obviously a hopeless movement, and the only wisdom for its promoters would have been to have extricated themselves as quietly and speedily as they could from a contest now plainly become for the time hopeless. But the extreme revolutionary party, deeming themselves too far committed to recede, determined on the most desperate measures. War was resolved March 21. on by the leaders of the movement at Alessandria, which had always been the focus of the insurrection, and a ministry installed to carry it into execution; but the 1821. CHAP. Prince Regent escaped in the night from Turin, with VIII. some regiments of troops, upon whom he could still rely, to Novarra, where the nucleus of a royal army began to be formed, from whence, two days after, he issued a deMarch 23. claration renouncing the office of Prince Regent, and thus giving, as he himself said, "now and for ever, the most respectful proof of obedience to the royal authority." This made all persons at Turin who were still under the guidance of reason aware that the cause of revolution was for the present hopeless. Symptoms of returning loyalty appeared in the army; and Count de la Tour, who was secretly inclined to the royalists, resolved to retire to Alessandria, with such of the troops as he could rely on, iv. 346,319. to await the possible return of better times; and orders were given to that effect.1 1 Ann. Hist. 81. Meeting of the Allies, Meanwhile the allied sovereigns at Laybach were taking the most vigorous measures to crush the insurrecand fresh tion in Piedmont. The Emperor of Austria instantly revolution ordered the formation of a corps of observation on the frontier of that kingdom, drawn from the garrisons in the in Genoa. March 24. Lombard-Venetian provinces; and the Emperor of Russia directed the assembling of an army of 100,000 men, taken from the armies of the South and Poland, with instructions to march direct towards Turin. Requisitions were made to the Helvetic cantons to take precautionary measures against a conflagration which threatened to embrace the whole of Italy. Before this resolution, however, could be carried into effect, intelligence was received that the queen's regiment of dragoons had left Novarra amidst cries of "Viva la Costituzione!" This news so elevated the spirits of the insurgents that the orders to retire to Alessandria were countermanded, and on the following day they issued from the seat of government a proclamation, in which, after declaring that the king was a captive in the hands of Austria, and that the Prince Vicar had been deceived, they called on the Piedmontese to take up arms, promising them "the VIII. 1821. succour of the Lombards and the support of France." CHAP. This appeal had little effect; the intelligence of the unresisted march of the Austrians towards Naples froze every heart in the capital. At Genoa, however, the popular determination was more strongly evinced. A proclamation of the governor, calling on the people to March 24. abandon the constitution and submit themselves to the former government, led to a fresh commotion, in which he narrowly escaped with his life, and which was only appeased by the appointment of a junta of government composed of the most decided popular chiefs. The intelligence of this fresh insurrection greatly raised the spirit of the leaders at Turin, and the preparations for war in the capital were continued with unabated zeal by the iv. 352, 353, government.1 1 Ann. Hist. 82. difficulties But it was too late the fate of the Piedmontese revolution had been determined in the passes of the Abruzzi. Increasing Already, on the requisition of Charles Felix, the deposed of the inking, a corps of Austrians, fifteen thousand strong, had surgents. been assembled, under Count Bubna, on the Ticino, the bridges over which had been broken down, to prevent any communication with the insurgents. General La Tour, meanwhile, the governor of Turin, seeing the cause of the revolution hopeless, and wishing to avoid the interference of foreigners, was taking measures to restore the royal authority there without the intervention of the Austrians; and a large part of the army, especially the royal carabineers, were already disposed to second him. But his designs were discovered and frustrated by the Minister at War, a stanch revolutionist, who caused several regiments known to be most attached to the constitution to come to Turin, where they had a skirmish with the cara- 2 Comte bineers, which ended in two-thirds of the latter body Sta Rosa, leaving the capital and taking the road to Novarra, where ments en eight thousand men were already assembled round the 147; Ann. royal standard.2 The knowledge of their strength, which 350, 352. nearly equalled that of the troops on the other side, and VOL. II. N Evéne Piémont, Hist. iv. VIII. 1821. CHAP. of the certain support of the Austrians, made the members of the junta lend a willing ear to the proposals of the Count Mocenigo, the Russian minister, who suggested, in the name of the emperor, a submission to the king on the condition of a general amnesty, and the hope of a constitution which should guarantee the interests of society. 83. feat of the insurgents But, as often happens in such convulsions, the ardour Total de- of the extreme and enthusiastic of the insurgents defeated all the efforts of the more moderate of their party, and at Agogna. left to the Piedmontese the exasperation of civil war and April 8. the bitterness of foreign subjugation. The majority of the junta continued to hold out; and their eyes were not opened to the declining circumstances of their cause even by the disbanding of several battalions of the militia, who, instead of joining the general rendezvous at Alessandria, left their colours, and returned home. At length, seeing no prospect of an accommodation, the Count de la Tour, who had joined the royal army at Novarra, and was at its head, having concerted measures with the Austrian general, advanced to Vercelli. Here, however, he was met by a considerable body of the insurgents, and not deeming himself in sufficient strength to encounter them, he fell back to Novarra, where he was joined, on the 7th April, by the Austrians, who had crossed the Ticino at Buffalora and Mortera. Their junction, which took place at two in the morning of the 8th, was unknown to the insurgents, who, driving the light troops of the royalists before them, appeared, at ten in the morning, in front of the bastions of the place, anticipating its speedy capture, and an easy victory. But they were soon undeceived. Suddenly a terrible fire of grape and musketry opened from the bastions; as the smoke cleared away, the Austrian uniform and shakos were seen above the parapets, and the insurgents found themselves engaged with the combined Austrian and Piedmontese forces, nearly triple their own, supported by the guns of the place. The effect of this unexpected apparition was immense upon the spirits of April 8. |