Military life in Italy : sketches - Societa italiana di storia militare

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3 84 MILITAR Y LIFE.
times they succeeded, at others they were attacked, beaten,
and then they returned on a run to
the barracks, armed themselves,
came out again ;
the rioters shut themselves up in their
houses, and fired from their windows, so that they were obliged
to break down the doors, penetrate into the houses, and attack
them regularly. During the daytime
there were continual
fatigue at ; night short and interrupted slumbers and
; danger
and anxiety always.
Besides this, in most of the districts the soldiers were
obliged to go and take the bodies from the houses, carry them
to the cemeteries on the regiment wagons, and dig ditches in
which to bury them.
At such times the populace offered every
possible resistance ; they were obliged to penetrate
into their
lurid dwellings, bayonet in hand, and take possession of the
bodies by main force These
bodies they sometimes had to go
and hunt for in the country, and when the arms of the soldiers
did not suffice for the work, they had to force the peasants to
render their assistance by threatening and dragging them to
the spot.
They were obliged to prevent the people from flying
from the districts, by following and leading them back by
force to their houses, taking by the arm entire families, beggars,
and troops of women and children who burst out into tears
and cries of despair.
Throughout all the corps and detachments collections
were taken up for the poorest families ;
in some places a
certain quantity of bread was distributed every day ;
in
others meat and soup ;
when nothing else was to be had,
they gave the remains of the rations, straw, old clothes,
and something at least. In many corps they formed committees
for permanent succor ;
the officers went every day in