Vacca seemed more than twice as much. After an hour or two he gave up the attempt, and joined Albini off Manego, The forts there were judged to be even higher than at Comisa, and as the big Dahlgren gun which one of the frigates carried in her forecastle could not reach up to them, no other shots were fired. Towards evening, the two divisions went round and rejoined the admiral off San Giorgio.
There the action had been lively. The forts at the entrance of the harbor had been blown up by shells bursting in their magazines; and the main fort (Madonna) which raked the harbor had been silenced several times; but the Austrians stuck manfully to their guns, and each time renewed their defence. The "Rè d'Italia" alone fired thirteen hundred shot. Boggio enjoyed his holiday on the poop, and wrote the next day to his friend Depretis: "The noise was infernal. Your humble correspondent remained on the poop from eleven o'clock to half past six, exposed to a storm of shell." After which he was good enough to send a certificate of the admiral's conduct. "Persano is most unjustly accused; he deserves the perfect confidence of the government and the country. The heavy responsibility may have rendered him unduly careful; but now that the time of action has arrived, what a difference is there between him and others!" Nevertheless, when evening closed in, no decisive advantage had been gained, nor did it seem probable that, without troops, any could be gained. And time was scant; for the obvious precaution of cutting the telegraph wire had not been adopted till the fleet had been seen and reported from the island to Pola — not indeed till the engagement had actually commenced; and the record of a return message from Tegetthoff had been found: "Hold out till the fleet can come to you."
The following day the "Affondatore" and two wooden frigates joined from Ancona, bringing a strong detachment of soldiers. This put Persano in a position to land twenty-two hundred men, and he determined to persevere. The "Terri-bile" and "Varese" were again sent to occupy the attention of Comisa. The "Formidabile" and "Affondatore" were to go into the harbor and engage Fort Madonna; Vacca in the "Principe di Carignano" was to support them. For this, Vacca found there was no room. The "Formidabile," leading in, took up a position in front of the fort; the "Affondatore" was held in play by some flanking works which did her no more damage than she did them; but the "Formidabile" had a hot time, and after an hour she had had enough of it and drew off. She had three or four men killed and about sixty wounded; her rigging, boats, bulwarks and everything not covered by the armor were cut to pieces, her funnel shot away, and six of her port-lids;[1] and though neither shot nor shell had penetrated her armor, a shell bursting on the sill of one of the ports had killed two and wounded ten men at the gun, and filled the battery with such a dense smoke that the guns' crews were nearly stifled. The attack for that day had failed; the only result of it had been to get the "Formidabile" knocked to bits. It was resolved, therefore, to try on the morrow what the landing party could do. And this resolution Persano stuck to, notwithstanding Tegetthoff's intercepted telegram: "Hold out till the fleet can come to you." He seems to have been positively unable to entertain or weigh two ideas: the one, to capture San Giorgio, had filled his mind; the other, the probable advent of Tegetthoff, could find no place.
Accordingly, the next morning preparations were made for landing. The "Terribile" and "Varese" were to renew the attempt on Comisa. Albini, from the wooden ships, was to land the troops and small-armed men. The ironclads were to engage the forts. No intimation was given to the captains of the ships, nor even to the vice and rear admirals, that the enemy's fleet might be expected. Vacca alone had heard of the telegram; and that only by reason of the accident of his having had direct communication with the flagship. When about eight o'clock in the morning (July 20, 1866), the "Esploratore," a despatch vessel, came in from her lookout station, with the signal flying, "Enemy in sight," it was to the whole fleet as startling as a thunderclap. Albini, with his division, had the boats out and full of military stores, waiting for the signal to land. The signal was, instead, to hold on, and a few minutes later, "Enemy in sight — prepare for action." It was the first intimation he had that there was a near chance of the enemy's fleet coming. Neither on the previous evening, nor at any other time, had there been any consultation, or any explanation of the admiral's wishes or intentions. The order had indeed been given that, as Albini had been
- ↑ The port-lids are the solid shutters that close the ports: the idea conveyed in the term would seem to be analogous to that in eyelids.
