The fine old Roman bridge over the Brenner, at Laditsch, was
blown up. In the pass of the Brixen, leading to this bridge, the French
and Bavarians found themselves assailed in the old Swiss manner, by
rocks and logs rolled down upon their heads, while the unerring rifles
of the hidden peasants swept the pass. Numbers were slain, but the
remainder succeeded in escaping by means of a temporary bridge, which
they threw over the stream on the site of the bridge of Laditsch.
Of the Tyrolese patriots to whom this outbreak was due two are worthy of
special mention, Joseph Speckbacher, a wealthy peasant of Rinn, and the
more famous Andrew Hofer, the host of the Sand Inn at Passeyr, a man
everywhere known through the mountains, as he traded in wine, corn, and
horses as far as the Italian frontier.
Hofer was a man of herculean frame and of a full, open, handsome
countenance, which gained dignity from its long, dark-brown beard, which
fell in rich curls upon his chest. His picturesque dress--that of the
Tyrol--comprised a red waistcoat, crossed by green braces, which were
fastened to black knee breeches of chamois leather, below which he wore
red stockings.
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