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A combined attack was made on Angrogna on the 15th of June, 1655. On that day four separate bodies of troops advanced up the heights from different directions, thereby enclosing the little Vaudois army of three hundred men assembled there, and led by the heroic Javanel. This leader first threw himself upon the head of the column which advanced from Rocheplate, and drove it downhill.
But, greatly as I was delighted with the topographical interest of my journey, yet I would not forget that it was the people and their fathers' deeds and sufferings that had led me to undertake this rather fatiguing enterprise; and long before I reached the Barricata, or Pra del Torno, I had a great enjoyment in being taken by a Vaudois mechanic, who left his work at Angrogna, and would have no acknowledgment but my thanks, in order to show me one of those wonderful hiding-places in the very heart of the mountains, where the God of the hill and of the Vaudois so effectively succoured his people.
They were about 400 strong, exclusive of that division which had fixed itself on the mountains of Angrogna, and the two little bands which still found a refuge in the wilds of the glen Guichard, or among the rocks overhanging Bobbio. The question of food made them anxious. But that God who had so wonderfully provided for them in the past, had made as remarkable provision for this necessity.
Our route lay through the luxuriant and lovely Val Angrogna, which now rejoiced in the fascinating charms of springtide. Everywhere the eye rested on scenes of softness and beauty, the turf not unlike that which gives such a charm to an English landscape, while the undulating slopes were covered with an unutterable profusion of flowers.
By the side of a cavern we find houses; branches of the vine where we only looked for brambles; vineyards in desert places, and fields amidst the overhanging rocks." All this is true beyond exaggeration, especially after you leave the village of Angrogna, with its parsonage-house in the most picturesque situation of any we encountered.
Janavello then gave thanks to God, and after leaving a guard led his troops down the valley, exclaiming, "Let us sweep these cowards from the hills!" After a determined charge in flank, and the renewed efforts of the Vaudois already posted at the gate of Angrogna, the Piedmontese fled, leaving behind them over six hundred dead, besides many wounded.
On the occasion of the defeat of the Count de la Trinité by the little Vaudois band near the village of Angrogna, in November, 1560, the general drew off, and waited the arrival of reinforcements.
It was more it was their school and college; for in the depths of the Pra du Tour the pastors, or barbas, educated young men for the ministry, and provided for the religious instruction of the Vaudois population. It was the importance of the Pra du Tour as a stronghold that rendered it so often the object of attack through the valley of Angrogna.
Lorenzo, near Chamforans, the site of the Angrogna Synod; and a second was built at Serre, in the same valley. This latter temple was standing at the time of our visit, though needing repair. It would seem that the evangelical spirit was so decided at this period that the few priests who continued hovering about the valleys in the hope of effecting perversions retired in despair.
It is remarkable that the deputies from Angrogna were the readiest to believe in Pianezza's promises, and also the first to fall victims to his murderous soldiery.
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