In every place volunteer companies were formed which
speedily joined us, and the enthusiasm in the surrounding villages
reached its height. The disbanded troops of the enemy did not stop till
they reached Palermo, where they brought terror to the Bourbon party and
confidence to the patriots. Our wounded, and those of the enemy, were
brought in to Vita and Calatafimi. Among ours were some men who could
ill be spared.
Montanari, my comrade at Rome and in Lombardy, was dangerously wounded
and died a few days after. He was one of those whom doctrinaires call
demagogues, because they are impatient of servitude, love their country,
and refuse to bow the knee to the caprices and vices of the great.
Montanari was a Modenese. Schiaffino, a young Ligurian from Camogli, who
had also served in the Cacciatori delle Alpi and in the Guides, was
among the first to fall on the field, bereaving Italy of one of her
bravest soldiers. He worked hard on the night of our start from Genoa,
and greatly assisted Bixio in that delicate undertaking.
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