At no stage of the struggle were there greater efforts of heroism than on this 19th of March. At the bridge of San Damiano two men held at bay a whole corps of Austrians; not far from the Porta Romana another champion carried off some youthful scholars, one after another, on his shoulders, in the face of a body of Croats. Guns were often wanting, but the insurgents used swords and sticks instead. The Tyrolese fired from the tower of the cathedral upon the people, and the cannons from the Piazza Mercante played upon them; but three cannoneers were killed, and at last the cannon were captured by the Milanese. The 19th of March was a Sunday; and, as the congregation came out from mass in the church of San Simpliciano, they were attacked by the Austrians and driven back into the church. Food was brought them from neighbouring houses; and they retained their position till four o'clock in the afternoon, when they succeeded in making their escape. Nor were there wanting touches of the Milanese humour to relieve the terrors of the fight; boys sometimes exhibiting a cat, sometimes a broomstick with a cap on it, as a mark for the Austrians to fire at. But the fiercest fight raged at the Porta Nuova, on the south side of the town, where Augusto Anfossi commanded in person. There a band of Austrian grenadiers brought their cannon to bear on the defenders of the city; and Anfossi had a long and fierce struggle before he could drive them back. At last, however, he made his way to the gate; and, lifting on high the Italian flag, he kissed it, and planted it on the arch of the gateway.
On the 20th the Austrians began to show signs of giving way. The Tyrolese fled down the giddy staircases of the Cathedral tower and escaped through secret passages; and the family of Torresani fell into the hands of the insurgents. But the Milanese, though they had seen their children spitted on the bayonets of the soldiers, their women insulted, and the prisoners tortured by Radetzky, were ready to take charge of the family of one of their worst tyrants, and to protect them from violence. Even the brutal Bolza, when he became a prisoner in their hands, was carefully guarded from ill-treatment; and he is said to have been so much impressed by this unexpected magnanimity that he died penitent. Again offers of compromise were made by the Austrians, and a truce of fifteen days was proposed till the officers could hear from Vienna. Again Casati hesitated; but again his hesitation had no effect on the struggle.