dinand, promised the
property and estates of the patriots to those who should take up arms
for the holy cause of the king. Apulia was overrun by four Corsican
adventurers; the other provinces were infested by bands of ruffians,
mostly the outpourings of the prisons and galleys, which had been thrown
open by the furious populace when preparing to defend the city against
the French. A miller, by name Mammone, was one of the most ferocious and
dreaded leaders of these banditti. His cruelties, as related by General
Pepe, almost exceed belief. "He butchered in the most dreadful manner
all who fell into his power, and with his own hands murdered nearly four
hundred of them, chiefly Frenchmen and Neapolitans. Blood-thirsty by
nature, he seemed to revel in shedding blood, and carried his cruelty to
such a pitch, that when seated at his meals, he delighted in having
constantly before him a human head newly divided from the trunk and
streaming with blood. This monster, the perpetrator of so many horrors,
was, nevertheless, greeted by King Ferdinand and his Queen Caroline, in
the most affectionate manner by the title of 'dear general,' and of
'faithful supporter of the throne.'"

After long and unaccountable delay, two columns were formed for the
pursuit of the Bourbonites, and a regular civil war began. At first the
Republicans, supported by the French, had the best of the fight, and the
strong towns of Andria and Trani were taken, after a vigorous defence,
with great loss to the royalists, and no inconsiderable one to the
assailants. But the Austrians and Russians now prepared to drive the
French from northern Italy, and Macdonald, compelled to keep his army
together, was unable to follow up these successes. Cardinal Ruffo's
forces increased; he besieged and took several towns, and overran entire
provinces, his ferocious followers committing, as they proceeded, the
most terrible excesses and acts of cruelty. At last, in the month of
May, Macdonald evacuated the Neapolitan territory, placing French
garrisons in the castle of St. Elmo and in the fortresses of Capua and
Gaeta, and leaving the handful of republicans to defend themselves as
best they might against the vast majority of the nation that supported
the cause of the king. Against such odds, the enthusiasm of the
liberals, ill assisted by a feeble and vacillating government, was
unable successfully to contend. Nevertheless, they still struggled on;
fresh troops were raised,