From Lusia I followed General Medici's division to Motta, where I left
it, not without regret, however, as better companions could not easily
be found, so kind were the officers and jovial the men. They are now
encamped around Padua, and will to-morrow march on Treviso, where the
Italian Light Horse have already arrived, if I judge so from their having
left Noale on the 15th. From the right I hear that the advanced posts
have proceeded as far as Mira on the Brenta, twenty kilometres from
Venice itself, and that the first army corps is to concentrate opposite
Chioggia. This corps has marched from Ferrara straight on to Rovigo,
which the forward movement of the fourth, or Cialdini's corps d'armee,
had left empty of soldiers. General Pianell has still charge of it, and
Major-General Cadalini, formerly at the head of the Siena brigade,
replaces him in the command of his former division. General Pianell has
under him the gallant Prince Amadeus, who has entirely recovered from his
chest wound, and of whom the brigade of Lombardian grenadiers is as proud
as ever. They could not wish for a more skilled commander, a better
superior officer, and a more valiant soldier. Thus the troops who fought
on the 24th June are kept in the second line, while the still fresh
divisions under Cialdini march first, as fast as they can. This,
however, is of no avail. The Italian outposts on the Piave have not yet
crossed it, for the reason that they must keep distances with their
regiments, but will do so as soon as these get nearer to the river. If
it was not that this is always done in regular warfare, they could beat
the country beyond the Piave for a good many miles without even seeing
the shadow of an Austrian. To the simple private, who does not know of
diplomatic imbroglios and of political considerations, this sudden
retreat means an almost as sudden retracing of steps, because he
remembers that this manoeuvre preceded both the attacks on Solferino and
on Custozza by the Austrians. To the officer, however, it means nothing
else than a fixed desire not to face the Italian army any more, and so it
is to him a source of disappointment and despondency. He cannot bear to
think that another battle is improbable, and may be excused if he is not
in the best of humour when on this subject. This is the case not only
with the officers but with the volunteers, who have left their homes and
the comfort of their domestic life, not to be paraded at reviews, but to
be sent against the enemy. There are hundreds of these in the regular
army-in the cavalry especially, and the Aosta Lancers and the regiment of
Guides are half composed of them. If you listen to them, there ought not
to be the slightest doubt or hesitation as to crossing the Isongo and
marching upon Vienna. May Heaven see their wishes accomplished, for,
unless crushed by sheer force, Italy is quite decided to carry war into
the enemy's country.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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