but, relatively, our losses
were more felt than his. Pimodan had been wounded in the face; but,
nevertheless, he retained his command. I observed that his two battalions
and a half were not sufficiently strong to carry the second position; so I
sent for the two reserve battalions, and ordered the cavalry to pass the
river, and follow on our right flank the march of our columns. During this
time the enemy had endeavored to overwhelm us on both sides. Major
Becdelievre brought together what remained of his battalion, rushed upon
the fusileers and forced them back into the wood whence they had come."
These were splendid feats of arms. But the excessive inferiority of
Lamoriciere's artillery and numbers made victory impossible. The
revolution had its emissaries enrolled as soldiers in the Pontifical army.
One of these, by a traitorous blow from behind, slew the brave Pimodan in
the height of the battle. These traitors also caused a panic at the
decisive moment by spreading false alarms. The youthful soldiers of the
reserve, who had never seen fire, became demoralized, and fled in
confusion, without hearing the sound of a single ball. Others followed.
The artillery, now no longer supported, and, fearing to be taken, sought
safety in flight. But instead of gaining the road to Ancona, it fell back
on Loretto, where it could not fail to fall into the hands of the enemy.
Lamoriciere, always calm in such terrible discomfiture, made unheard-of
exertions, as did also his aids-de-camp, Messrs. de Maistre, de Lorgeril,
de Robiano, de France and Montmarin, in endeavoring to guide the
precipitate retreat. His orders either were not conveyed or were not
executed. Then, as was his custom in Africa, he hurried alone on horseback
to within a hundred feet of the lines, in order to ascertain the
situation, rejoined his staff, labored to stay the flight, and when all
was lost, he executed, with five-and-forty horse and a hundred infantry, a
movement which with the army was impossible. He took the route of Ancona,
which a Piedmontese squadron was preparing to bombard, and reached that
place by five o'clock in the evening. The brave Franco-Belgians sacrificed
themselves in order to save the rest of the army. They held out in the
farm which they had occupied as long as their ammunition lasted. The
neighboring fields and hedges were covered with dead and wounded
Piedmontese; but they themselves were all either killed or taken. Among
the slain and