On the 8th they attacked the communes of Letino and Gallo,
burned the archives of the first named, pillaged the treasury of the
preceptor, and burned the parish house of the second. On the 9th and
10th they tried to penetrate the other communes, but in vain, for they
found them all occupied by troops sent directly by the government to
oppose them. Their provisions were exhausted, and they would have bought
a fresh supply in the village of Venafro, only the soldiers gave the
alarm and pursued the band as far as a wood, in which they hid
themselves. All of the 11th was spent in a long march through rain and
snow. The jaded band was finally surprised and captured in a sheepfold,
where they had sought shelter for that night. Two of the revolutionists
escaped, but were recaptured a short time afterward. They were confined
in the prison of Santa-Maria Capua Visere, to the number of
thirty-seven, among them being Cafiero, Malatesta, Ceccarelli, Lazzari,
Fortini (cure of Letino), Tomburri Vincenzo (cure of Gallo), Starnari,
and others. On December 30 the Chamber of Arraignment of Naples rendered
its decision. The two priests and a man who had served as guide to the
insurgents were exempted from punishment, but the thirty-four others
were sent before the court of assizes on the charge of conspiracy
against the security of the State. As these were political crimes, which
were covered by a recent amnesty, there remained only the murder of a
carabineer, of which the court of assizes of Benevent finally acquitted
Cafiero, Malatesta, and their friends in August, 1878.[10]

By the above series of events the Propaganda of the Deed was launched,
and from this day on it became a recognized method of propaganda.
Neither money, nor organization, nor literature was any longer
absolutely necessary. One human being in revolt with torch or dynamite
was able to instruct the world. Bakounin and Nechayeff had written their
principles, and had, in fact, in some measure, endeavored to carry them
into effect. But the Propaganda of the Deed was no more evolved as a
principle of action than these four daring youths put it into practice.
In the next few years it became the chief expression of anarchism, and
little by little it made the very name of anarchism synonymous with
violence and crime. Surely these four zealous youths could hardly have
devised a method of propaganda that could have served more completely to
defeat their purpose.

The year 187