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Michele
Caruso from Torremaggiore (Potenza), leader of
the gang of "brigands" with the same
name. |
Years
later, P.S. Mancini recalled the work of military
tribunals and said that he would be silent on
this matter not to be forced to «reveal
things that would horrify all Europe» .
Molfese wrote that «people
who voluntarily responded, under age young people
not captured in a battle, individuals who could
not be punished for brigandage but only for
common crimes and perhaps had been also charged
of brigandage by the Carabineers in their reports
were condemned to capital punishment and executed.
The wives of brigands were sentenced life imprisonment
as first-level accomplices. Girls under 12,
daughters of brigands, were sentenced 10 or
15 years. A source of many horrors was the power
to order the imprisonment of accomplices granted
by circular n. 29 of August 1863 to all "military
authorities"» .
Between August 1863 and the end of 1864, 3,613
trials were held for 5,224 people. Between April
and June 1863, the Carabineers arrested 6,564
people, and this before the coming into force
of the Pica Law, that marked a outstanding wave
of arrests. Records report 12,000 people arrested
and deported under the Pica Law only.
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Of
course, all this gave its results. The population,
frightened and driven to despair, began to calm down
and the leaders of the gangs were isolated or killed.
After 1864, in the regions of Benevento, Salerno,
Naples, in Terra di Lavoro and in the region of L’Aquila
the rebellion was still alive. It continued until
1870 in the regions of L’Aquila, Terra di Lavoro,
Salerno, Lagonegro, Calabria and Abruzzo; moreover,
between 1866 and 1868, to coincide with the war against
Austria and Garibaldi’s expedition against Rome,
the “brigandage” dangerously reappeared,
especially in the Pontifical State, but these were
only the last fires, completely extinguished by the
taking of Rome by the Piedmont army.
Roberto Martucci, in his important works, attempted
an interesting overall calculation of the entire counterrevolutionary
phenomenon and came to the conclusion that the number
of people from southern Italy who died (either on
the battlefield or executed) varies from «a
minimum of 20,075 and a maximum of 73,875 people executed
and killed in several ways. This means a figure largely
exceeding the total number of casualties in all risings
and wars of the Risorgimento from 1820 to 1870»
.
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