The Papal army was composed of 13,000 men, General de Courten commanding the portion of it which could be spared out of Rome.  The Breton, Colonel Charette, had charge of the Zouaves.  Since the French garrison left, much trouble had been taken to make this force efficient.  Under Garibaldi’s own orders there were between 7000 and 8000 volunteers.  Those who have made a higher estimate have included other bands which, either from the difficulty of provisioning a larger number, or from want of time for concentration, remained at a distance.

The chief’s arrival soon infused new life into the camp.  On the 24th he moved towards Monte Rotondo, one of the castellated heights near Rome, which commands the Nomentane and Tiburtine ways to the south, and the railway and Via Salara to the west.  It was generally considered the most important military position in the Papal states.  The garrison was small, but, perched as they were on a hill crest which looks inaccessible, the defenders might well hope to hold out till help came from Rome.  They had artillery, of which the volunteers had none, and the old castle of the Orsini, where they made their principal stand, was well adapted for defence.  From the morning of the 25th till midnight, the Garibaldians hurled themselves against the walls of the rock town without making much way; but at last the resistance grew weak, and when the morning light came, the white flag was seen flying.  At four in the afternoon of the 26th a Papal column tardily arrived upon the scene, but they perceived that all was over at Monte Rotondo, and, after firing a few musket shots, they fled to Rome in disorder.

Garibaldi rode into the cathedral, where he fixed his quarters for the night.  In Italy churches have ever been applied to such uses.  After the reduction of Milan, Francesco Sforza rode into the Duomo, and when King Ladislaus of Naples conquered Rome, he rode into the basilica of St John Lateran.  The guerilla chief bivouacked in a confessional, while his Red-shirts slept where they could on the cathedral floor.  Four hundred of them had been killed or wounded in the assault.

The prisoners of war were brought before Garibaldi, who praised their valour and sent them under an escort to the Italian frontier.  Two or three were retained for the following reason.  Garibaldi had heard of the Cairolis’ heroic failure, and after his victory his first thought was of them and of their sorrowing mother.  He asked Signora Mario if there were any notabilities among the Papal prisoners.  She mentioned Captain Quatrebras and others, and he sent her into Rome on a mission to the Papal commander with a view to exchanging these prisoners for the wounded Giovanni and for his brother’s body.  The proposal was accepted, and the compact kept after Mentana had changed the aspect of affairs.

‘Garibaldi at the gates!’ was the news that spread like wildfire through Rome on the evening of the 26th of October.  Terror, real terror, and no less real joy filled all hearts; but the sides were soon to be reversed.  Another piece of news was not long in coming:  ‘The French at Civita Vecchia!’