"At 7 A.M. we took up the line of march for Capua. The sun rose in all his glory, after having hid his face for three days. The troops were in the finest spirits, and decked their arms and colors with branches and flowers, and as they marched up the road the bands played the opera of 'Don Giovanni,' the troops joining in the chorus, the gay Calabrese dancing with very joy. With such music as this, with glorious mountains, and a beleaguered city lying prostrate before us, you can imagine that we do not sigh for the Academy of Music. At 11 A.M., 12,000 men laid down their arms in the beautiful plain in front of the city. A sadder sight I have not witnessed since the surrender of Vera Cruz to Lieutenant General Scott. The city is now in the quiet possession of our troops, and all the cities in the valley are illuminated. General Avezzana's division marched tonight for Caserta, the palace of the king. Captain Warwick, the young Virginian, is now with Colonel Wyndham, the gallant commander of General Dunn's brigade (General Dunn having been severely wounded). General Jackson, a major general of the English army, has been here for three weeks past, lending his sympathy and his presence, even upon the field of battle, to this glorious cause. "The palace and hunting park at Caserta are said to be the most magnificent in the world."
After the surrender of Capua, the battalions of volunteers were disbanded, to be reorganized in the regular Italian army, if they wished to remain in service. They were to be sent to Northern and Central Italy, and disposed as follows: The Medici division in Parma; the Turr division in Palermo; the Cosenz in Bologna; and the Bixio in Florence.
Garibaldi asked of the king amnesty for all the soldiers who had deserted from the Sardinian army to join his expeditions, and the request was immediately granted to both regulars and volunteers.
Garibaldi decreed as follows on the 15th of October:
"That the Two Sicilies, which owe their rescue to Italian blood, and who have freely chosen me as Dictator, form an integral part of Italy, one and indivisible, with her constitutional king, Victor Emanuel, and his descendants."
GARIBALDI'S ADDRESS ON DELIVERING FLAGS TO THE HUNGARIAN HUSSARS IN NAPLES.
"Neapolitans: This is a fine day—a great day! It is fine and great, because it reunites, with a new chain, the brotherhood which binds Italy to Hungary. The peoples are consolidated together. The free Italians cannot, ought not, to forget it—nor will they forget it." (Here the people broke out in overwhelming applause, "Viva Garibaldi!" The general replied:) "Italians free! Yes, they shall be—all, and soon. To a life wholly consecrated to the cause of liberty—to the thought of our nationality—nothing else have I added, nothing else do I wish to add, but the right to speak the truth—to speak it equally to the powerful and the people.
"Hear me, then, generous people of this great and beautiful metropolis, and, if I deserve anything of you, believe my words.
"The canker, the ruin of our Italy, has always been personal ambitions—and they are so still. It is personal ambitions which blind the Pope-king, and urge him to oppose this national movement, so great, so noble, so pure—yes, so pure—that it is unique in the history of the world. It is the Pope-king who retards the moment of the complete liberation of Italy. The only obstacle, the true obstacle, is this.
"I am a Christian, and I speak to Christians—I am a good Christian, and speak to good Christians. I love and venerate the religion of Christ, because Christ came into the world to deliver humanity from slavery, for which God has not created it. But the Pope, who wishes all men to be slaves—who demands, of the powerful of the earth, fetters and chains for Italians—the Pope-king does not know Christ: he lies to his religion.