The city once invested, military hospitals became a necessity. The Princess Belgiojoso, a Milanese by birth, and in her day a social and political notability, undertook to organize these[244] establishments, and obtained, by personal solicitation, the funds necessary to begin her work. On the 30th of April, 1849, she wrote the following letter to Margaret:—
"Dear Miss Fuller,—You are named Superintendent of the Hospital of the Fate Bene Fratelli. Go there at twelve, if the alarm-bell has not rung before. When you arrive there, you will receive all the women coming for the wounded, and give them your directions, so that you are sure to have a number of them, night and day.
"May God help us!
"Christine Trivulze, of Belgiojoso."
CHAPTER XV.
SIEGE OF ROME.—MARGARET'S CARE OF THE SICK AND WOUNDED.—ANXIETY ABOUT HER HUSBAND AND CHILD.—BATTLE BETWEEN THE FRENCH AND ITALIAN TROOPS.—THE SURRENDER.—GARIBALDI'S DEPARTURE.—MARGARET JOINS HER HUSBAND AT HIS POST.—ANGELO'S ILLNESS.—LETTERS FROM FRIENDS IN AMERICA.—PERUGIA.—WINTER IN FLORENCE.—MARGARET'S DOMESTIC LIFE.—ASPECT OF HER FUTURE.—HER COURAGE AND INDUSTRY.—OSSOLI'S AFFECTION FOR HER.—WILLIAM HENRY HURLBUT'S REMINISCENCES OF THEM BOTH.—LAST DAYS IN FLORENCE.—FAREWELL VISIT TO THE DUOMO.—MARGARET'S EVENINGS AT HOME.—HORACE SUMNER.—MARGARET AS A FRIEND OF THE PEOPLE.
Margaret writes to Mr. Emerson in June: "Since the 30th of April I go almost daily to the hospitals, and, though I have suffered, for I had no idea before how terrible gun-shot wounds and wound-fever are, yet I have taken great pleasure in being with the men. There is scarcely one who is not moved by a noble spirit."
"Night and day," writes the friend cited above,[F] "Margaret was occupied, and, with the Princess,[246] so ordered and disposed the hospitals that their conduct was admirable. Of money they had very little, and they were obliged to give their time and thoughts in its place. I have walked through the wards with Margaret, and have seen how comforting was her presence to the poor suffering men. For each one's peculiar tastes she had a care. To one she carried books; to another she told the news of the day; and listened to another's oft-repeated tale of wrongs, as the best sympathy she could give. They raised themselves on their elbows to get the last glimpse of her" as she went her way.
Ossoli, meanwhile, was stationed, with his command, on the walls of the Vatican,—a post of considerable danger. This he refused to leave, even for necessary food and rest. The provisions sent him from time to time were shared with his needy comrades. As these men were brought, wounded and dying, to the hospitals, Margaret looked eagerly to see whether her husband was among them. She was able, sometimes, to visit him at his post, and to talk with him about the beloved child, now completely beyond their reach, as the city was invested on all sides, and no sure means of communication open to them. They remained for many days without any news of the little one, and their first intelligence concerning him was to the[247] effect that the nurse with whom he had been left would at once abandon him unless a certain sum of money should be sent in prepayment of her services. This it seemed at first impossible to do; but after a while the money was sent, and the evil day adjourned for a time.
Margaret's letters of the 10th of June speak of a terrible battle recently fought between the French troops and the defenders of Rome. The Italians, she says, fought like lions, making a stand for honor and conscience' sake, with scarcely any prospect of success. The attack of the enemy was directed with a skill and order which Margaret was compelled to admire. The loss on both sides was heavy, and the assailants, for the moment, gained "no inch of ground." But this was only the beginning of the dread trial. By the 20th of June the bombardment had become heavy. On the night of the 21st a practicable breach was made, and the French were within the city. The defence, however, was valiantly continued until the 30th, when Garibaldi informed the Assembly that further resistance would be useless. Conditions of surrender were then asked for and refused. Garibaldi himself was denied a safe-conduct, and departed with his troops augmented by a number of soldiers from other regiments. This was on July 2d, after it became known that the[248] French army would take possession on the morrow. Margaret followed the departing troops as far as the Place of St. John Lateran. Never had she seen a sight "so beautiful, so romantic, and so sad."