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Montevideo, as I have said, but he encamped at Cerito. Perhaps, in the state of disorder in which the city then was, he might have entered it at once, but he believed he had many partisans, and waited for a demonstration on their part. But the demonstration was waited for in vain, and Orribes gave Montevideo time to organize its defence.

He remained then within an hour's march of Montevideo, at the head of from twelve thousand to fourteen thousand men. Montevideo was able after a time to oppose them with nine thousand men, of whom five thousand were blacks who had received their liberty, and who made excellent soldiers.

When Oribes had lost all hopes of entering Montevideo in a friendly manner, he fortified his camp at Cerito, and skirmishes commenced.

On their side, the Montevideans fortified the city in the best manner they were able; our engineer was Colonel Echevavrio. The general organization of the troops belonged to General Paz. Joaquin Sonarez was president, Pacheco y Obes minister of war. Paz soon left Montevideo, to endeavour to effect a rising in Corrientes and Entra-Rios.

The first time they left the lines, I know not whether the fault lay with the leaders or the soldiers, but the whole legion was seized with a panic, and came back without firing a single shot.

I obliged one of the commanders to give in his resignation; I made a powerful harangue to the Italians, and wrote, the second time, to Anzani, who was at his house of business at Uruguay, to join me immediately. That excellent friend arrived towards the month of July, and with him everything regained strength and life the legion had been horribly administered; he gave his most earnest attention to it.

In the meantime, by some means or other, a little flotilla had been reorganized, of which I was ordered to take the command, Mancini assuming my place at the head of the legion. The flotilla held communication,

by means of the river, with Cerro, a fortress which remained in the power of the Montevideans, although it was three or four leagues higher up the river La Plata than Cerito, which had fallen into the hands of Oribés.

Cerro was of great importance to us. It was at once a point for collecting provisions, for sending parties into the plains, and for collecting fugitives.

Before the organization for defence was completed, Admiral Brown's squadron made an attempt upon Cerro and the Island of Los Ratos. For three days I defended the island and the fortress. The island had cannon of eighteen and thirty-six pounds, and I forced Admiral Brown to retire with great loss.

I have said that with the arrival of Anzani the peculations had ceased; his skilful eye watched over every expenditure. This did not at all suit the peculators, and a plot was formed, the object of which was to assassinate both of us, and sell the Italian legion to the enemy.

Anzani was warned of this. The conspirators found they had nothing to hope on his part, and, one morning, when the legion was in an advanced post, twenty officers and fifty soldiers passed over to the enemy. But let me do justice to the soldiers-they returned by degrees, one at a time.

The legion was all the better for being purged of its traitors; Anzani restored confidence among them: "If I had wished to choose the good from the bad," said he, "I could not have succeeded so well as the bad have done."

On my part, I harangued the troops, and General Pacheco made them a long speech.

A few days after the first sortie in which the Italian legion had given such a sad programme of itself, I was determined to restore its character, and proposed to undertake an expedition, which was agreed to. This was to go and attack the troops of Oribés which were before Cerro. Pacheco and I placed ourselves at its

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head; attacked the enemy at two o'clock in the afternoon, and put them to flight at five. The legion, consisting of four hundred men, charged a battalion of six hundred. Pacheco fought on horseback; but I, on foot or on horseback, as circumstances required. We killed a hundred and fifty of the enemy, and made two hundred prisoners. We had five or six killed, and about half a score wounded; among the latter was an officer named Ferrucci, whose leg it was found necessary to amputate.

We returned in triumph to Montevideo. The next day, Pacheco assembled the legion, thanked them, praised them, and presented Sergeant Loreto with a gun of honour. The affair took place on the 28th of March, 1843. From that time I was at ease; the legion had received its baptism of fire.

In the month of May our flag was consecrated. It was of black stuff, with Vesuvius painted upon it, as emblematical of Italy, and of the revolutions it contained within its bosom. It was entrusted to Sacchi, a young man of twenty, who had behaved admirably in the fight at Cerro. He is the same man that afterwards fought with me at Rome, and who is now a colonel.

CHAPTER XLII.

COLONEL NEYRA.

On the 17th of the November of the same year, the Italian legion occupied the advanced posts, and I was with them. After breakfast, the Montevidean Colonel Neyra got on horseback, and passed through the line, followed by a few men. The enemy fired upon him, and he fell from his horse mortally wounded. On seeing him fall, the enemy charged and gained possession of his body.

As soon as I learnt this, I could not bear the idea of leaving the body of so brave an officer exposed to

the insults of the enemy, and getting together the first hundred men that came to hand, I charged at their head. I recovered the body; but the soldiers of Oribés then became exasperated in their turn, and such a reinforcement came up that I was soon surrounded. Fresh men seeing this, came to my succour, so that by degrees the whole legion was engaged.

Excited by my voice, my men then rushed forward, overthrew all that opposed them, took a battery, and drove the enemy from their position. The enemy then advanced upon us in full force; all, or nearly all the troops of the garrison came out; the fight became general, and lasted eight hours. We were forced to abandon the position taken at the first dash, but we caused the enemy to undergo an enormous loss, and we returned to Montevideo conquerors in reality, and satisfied, from that time, of our superiority over the enemy. About sixty of our men were killed or wounded.

I had allowed myself to be carried away in the charge, like a mere soldier, consequently I only saw what passed around me. But in the midst of the mêlée I saw Anzani fighting with his ordinary coolness, and I was sure that, dominating the contest as he did, no detail would escape him. That same evening I requested him to give me a report of those that had distinguished themselves; and the next day, assembling the legion, I praised their valour, thanked them in the name of Italy, and made some promotions of officers and subalterns.

After these two fights, the Italian legion had created such an impression among the enemy, that when they saw them march upon them with the bayonet, they did not wait for their charges, and if they did, were sure to be overthrown.

In the meantime, Riveyra had succeeded in getting together a little corps d'armée of five or six thousand men, with whom he held the field and fought the enemy. His opponent was Urguisa, now President of

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the Argentine Republic. From time to time, he sent, by way of Cerro, provisions to Montevideo. Oribés grew tired of seeing Riveyra manœuvre in this manner, and detached a certain number of men of his army, ordering them to join Urguisa, and transmit to him the order to attack and destroy Riveyra, with the aid of the reinforcement he sent him.

CHAPTER XLIII.

PASSAGE OF THE BAYARDA.

WE heard, at Montevideo, of the marching of these men from the main body of Oribés' army, and General Paz determined to take advantage of the weakness that must ensue.

Beyond Cerito was a corps d'armée of about one thousand eight hundred men. We set out on the 23rd of April, 1844, at ten o'clock in the evening. This was our plan-to attack the corps of observation of Cerro. Seeing this attack, Oribés would send succours to Cerro, and would weaken himself the more; in the meantime the garrison would march out and attack the camp.

We followed the sea-coast and passed Larayo Secco, which, in spite of its name, came up to our shoulders in water. From thence we took the plain, and made a circuit of the encampment. We marched with such precaution that we awakened nobody.

At length we arrived in sight of the corps of observation. The garrison of Cerro was to march out and second our attack. A discussion arose between the two principal officers in Cerro, each of whom was desirous of having the command. The eighteen hundred men being put to flight, we were to fall back upon Oribés, and take him between two fires, ours and that of the garrison of the city.

The discussion in Cerro caused the failure of the

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