The Life of General Garibaldi: Translated from his private papers; with the history of his splendid exploits in Rome, Lombardy, Sicily and Naples, to the present time.Garibaldi, Giuseppe
History
The Life of General Garibaldi: Translated from his private papers; with the history of his splendid exploits in Rome, Lombardy, Sicily and Naples, to the present time.
Garibaldi, Giuseppe
Garibaldi, Giuseppe, 1807-1882
"Lichtenstein's corps (the 2d) which should have taken
part in the action of the day, was halted in consequence
of the approach of some French cavalry in its vicinity,
and Prince Lichtenstein, for reasons which he will
doubtless have to explain, returned to Mantua. Again,
General Zedwitz, commanding the cavalry brigade of the
1st Army, instead of advancing, as he should have done,
fell back on Goito, thus depriving the emperor of six
regiments of horse and a considerable amount of
artillery. Thus, while on the part of the allies all the
available guns that could be brought into action were
used, on the side of the Austrians the artillery was
weak and utterly unable to oppose an effectual fire to
that of the enemy. It is true, on the other hand, that
the French artillery did not commit the havoc which it
might have done had its fire throughout the day been
true to the mark, instead of being over it. Still, the
effect of the inferiority under which the Austrians
suffered in this respect, was disastrous, as it
prevented them from repelling the advance of the
infantry opposed to them. Among the wounded, to the
number of 4,000 or 5,000 in Verona and the surrounding
villages, it is remarkable how few suffered from wounds
inflicted by artillery."
In contrast with the condition of the Austrian army, those of Piedmont
and France were in most respects superior, and still more in the
principles for which they fought. To mention again Napoleon's rifled
cannon, in the words of a late writer:
"The superiority of the French artillery during
the late Italian campaign was obvious to every one
who made himself acquainted with the details of
the great battles. At Solferino the heavy and very
dangerous Austrian cavalry was thrown into disorder and
rendered almost useless at distances to which their own
batteries, more favorably placed, would not carry. The
Austrians never yielded a foot on the hill of Solferino,
till a battery of French rifled cannon was brought to
bear upon them at a distance at which their own balls
fell short. The Tower could not have otherwise been
taken but with an infinitely greater slaughter than that
which occurred. When Niel and McMahon had driven the
Austrians back as far as the large open space known as
the plain of Guidizzolo, there was a fair trial of
artillery, which cost the Austrians dear; it was the
last stand made by the immense left wing of the Austrian
army, and one can well imagine how officers and men grew
dispirited in face of artillery that silenced their own
wherever it showed itself."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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