2 RECOLLECTIONS OF FORTY YEARS. 



Vecchia under the command of General Oudinot, but 

 the Roman Assembly and the Triumvirate declined 

 to receive what they regarded as a hostile force, and 

 ordered the commander at Civita Yecchia to resist to 

 the last extremity. Their order came too late, how- 

 ever, the French troops having already disembarked 

 and entered upon a joint occupation of the place with 

 the Italian troops. General Oudinot, finding that his 

 entry into Rome would meet with a determined resist- 

 ance, then decreed sterner measures at Civita Yecchia, 

 placing it in a state of siege and disarming the 

 garrison. The prefect of the town having protested 

 against these measures, was cast into prison, and 

 General Oudinot, being anxious to bring matters to 

 a head, marched on Rome, before the walls of which 

 he arrived at the end of April. The result of the 

 combat on the 30th, in which the Roman population 

 spontaneously took so active a part, is well known, 

 and I was able to see for myself that out of every ten 

 Italians whose wounds were being seen to in the 

 hospitals at least eight were natives of Rome. The 

 news of this combat created profound emotion in Paris. 

 The National Assembly, composed of nine hundred 

 members, was very indignant, and showed an inclina- 

 tion not only to upset the Ministry, but to put the 

 Prince President of the Republic upon his trial for 

 treason. The Committee appointed to report upon 

 the situation proposed a resolution calling upon the 

 Government "to take without delay such steps as 



