their side of the torrent, poured their fire upon our line of cavalry. Already the valiant first brigade, under the orders of Netto, had drawn their sabres from their sheaths, and only awaited the sound of the trumpet to dash at the two battalions which had crossed the torrent. These brave Continentals were confident of victory, they and Netto having never been beaten. The infantry, échelonned in divisions at the summit of the hill, and covered by a rise in the ground, trembled with anxiety to engage. Already the terrible lancers of Canavarro had made a movement forward, enveloping the right flank of the enemy, forced by them to change their front, which change was made in disorder.

A true forest of lances was that incomparable corps, almost totally composed of slaves liberated by the Republic, and chosen from amongst the best horsetamers of the province; all were black, except the superior officers. Never had an enemy seen the shoulders of these children of liberty. Their lances exceeding the ordinary measure of that arm; their swarthy faces, their robust limbs rendered still stronger by their sharp and fatiguing exercises; their perfect discipline-altogether made them the terror of the

enemy.

Already the animating voice of our leader had vibrated in every breast: "Let every man fight to-day as if he had four bodies to defend his country and four hearts to love her!" said the valiant man who had all the qualities of a great captain-except good fortune.

As for me, my heart, so to say, felt the palpitations of battle, and was inundated with the confidence of victory. Never was a day more beautiful, never had a more magnificent spectacle presented itself to my eyes. Placed in the centre of our infantry, at the extreme summit of the hill, I could see all—field of battle and double army. The plains upon which the murderous game of war was being played were strewed

with low and few plants, offering no obstacle to strategic movements or to the eye that followed them; and I could say that at my feet, beneath me, in a few minutes, would be decided the destinies of the greater part of the American continent, perhaps even of the greatest empire in the world.

Will there be a people or not? That corps so compact, so well soldered to one another, are they about to be defeated and dispersed? In an instant, are not all these about to become carcases and mangled members detached from the bodies, floating in blood? Is all this beautiful and living youth about to fatten with its fragments these magnificent plains? On, then! sound trumpets, thunder cannon, roar battle! and let all be decided, as at Zama, as at Pharsalia, as at Actium!

But no; it was not to be thus: this plain was not to be one of carnage. The enemy's general, intimidated by our strong position and our firm aspect, hesitated, made his two battalions repass the torrent, and, from the offensive, which he had taken, fell back upon the defensive. General Calderon had been killed at the commencement of the attack, and thence perhaps arose the hesitation of Georgio. From the moment when he ceased to attack us, ought we not to attack him? Such was the opinion of the majority. Should we have done rightly? The fight commencing in the primitive conditions, and with our admirable position, all the chances were in our favour. But by abandoning this position, to follow an enemy more than four times as strong as ourselves in infantry, the fight must be carried to the other side of the torrent. That was perilous, though tempting. In fact, we did not fight, or we fought but little, and we passed the whole day in face of each other, satisfying ourselves with skirmishes.

In our army meat was short, and the foot soldiers were particularly hungry; perhaps thirst was still more insupportable than hunger; there was no water to be found anywhere but in the torrent, and that was in possession of the enemy. But our troops were broken

in to all sorts of privations, and one complaint alone issued from the mouths of men dying with hunger and thirst-that of not fighting. Oh, Italians! Italians! on the day when you shall be united, sober and patient under fatigue as were these men of the American continent, the foreigner, be assured, will no longer trample your soil under foot, or degrade your hearth by his presence! On that day, oh Italians! Italy will have resumed its place, not only among nations, but at head of the nations of the universe.

During the night old General Georgio had disappeared, and when daylight came we sought in vain for the enemy; when the fog, however, had cleared off, we saw them again in the strong positions of Taquarè. We were shortly after informed that their cavalry was crossing the river. The Imperialists, then, were in full retreat; they must be attacked, and our general did not hesitate.

The enemy's cavalry had crossed the river, assisted by some boats; but their infantry remained entirely on the left side, protected by those same boats and by the forest. Their position was one of the most advantageous possible. Our second brigade of infantry, composed of the third and the twentieth battalions, were ordered to commence the attack. They effected it with all the bravery they were capable of. But the enemy were numerically so superior to these brave fellows, that after having performed prodigies of valour, they were forced to retreat, supported by the first brigade, the first battalion of artillery-without cannon --and the marine. The fight was terrible, particularly in the forest, where the noise of the shots and the breaking of trees seemed, amidst the cloud of smoke, like an infernal tempest.

There were not less than five hundred killed and wounded on each side. The bodies of our brave republicans were found on the very edge of the river, whither they had repulsed and almost precipitated their enemies. into the current. Unfortunately these losses produced

no results proportioned to their importance; since, the second brigade being in retreat, the fight was suspended. In this state of things night came on, and the enemy were enabled to cross the river.

Amongst his brilliant qualities, to which I believe I have done justice, I must notice some of the defects of General Bento-Gonzales: the most deplorable among them was a degree of hesitation, the probable cause of the disastrous issues of his operations. It would have been better if, instead of risking these five hundred men, so inferior in numbers to the body they had to attack, he had led against the enemy, not only all our foot, but even our cavalry dismounted; as from the nature of the ground they were unable to fight in their usual manner. Such a manœuvre would no doubt have procured us a splendid victory, if, making the enemy lose ground, we could have driven them into the river; but unfortunately the general was afraid to risk all his infantry-all he could have-all the Republic could have.

As it was, the result to us was an irreparable loss, not knowing how to replace our brave foot-soldiers, whereas, on the contrary, the infantry constituted the principal strength of the enemy, and numerous recruits immediately filled up the vacancies in their ranks.

The enemy, in conclusion, remained upon the right bank of the river Taquarè, and consequently masters of all the country. As for us, we resumed the route to Mala-Casa.

All these false manœuvres rendered the situation of the Republic worse. We came back to San Leopoldo and Settembrina, and at length to our old camp of Mala-Casa, abandoned, at the end of a few days, for that of Bella-Vista.

An operation conceived about this time by the General might have replaced us in an excellent position, if fortune had, as she ought to have done, seconded the efforts of this man, who was as unfortunate as he was superior.

CHAPTER XXXII.

ASSAULT OF SAN JOSÉ OF THE NORTH.

THE enemy, to be in a state to make their incursions into the country, had been forced to draw their infantry from their fortified places. San José of the North had

been particularly weakened.

The

This place, situated on the northern shore of the mouth of the lake Los Patos, was one of the keys of the province, commercially as well as politically. possession of it might have changed the face of things for the Republicans, at this moment so gloomy. The capture of it became more than useful-it was necessary. The city contained objects of all kinds indispensable for the clothing of soldiers, and of which ours were at that time deplorably in want. Now, not only on this account, and its dominating importance as being the only port in the province, San José of the North deserved any sacrifices to be made for obtaining it, but still further from its being on that side alone that the atalaga-that is to say, the signal-mast of vessels, which indicates to them the depth of the waters at the mouth -was found.

The same thing, unfortunately, happened in this expedition as had happened at Taquari. Conducted with admirable skill and profound secrecy, the fruit of all was lost by hesitating to strike the last blow.

A persevering march of eight days, twenty-five miles per day, brought us beneath the walls of the place. It was one of those winter nights in which shelter and fire are blessings of Providence, and our poor soldiers of liberty, hungry, clothed in rags, their limbs stiffened by cold, their bodies chilled by the rain of a frightful tempest our companion during the greater part of the march-advanced in silence against forts and trenches filled with sentinels.

The horses of the leaders were left, at a short distance from the walls, under the guard of a squadron of