The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1859-06-14 00:00:00

NOTES OF THE WAR.

In the aecond action of Palestro the Zouaves are said
to have surpassed themselves. Arrayed on the slope
before Palestro, towards the stream, they were greeted by
the fire of the Austrian battery and by the Tyrolese
Chasseurs ensconced in the high crops. The stresin
looked so insignificant that when the order came to drive
away the Austrians the Zouaves threw themselves into
the river, expecting it to reach perhaps to their knees.
Instead of this they found themselves up to their belts
in water, which wetted the cartridges they carry in the
pockets of their loose trousers They were unable to
use them. Nothing daunted by this contretemps, or the
had of grape amid rifle bullets which showered upon
them, they ran up to the battery without filing a shot,
and bayonetted the artillerymen and took the guns.
This brilliant eiiimde cost the regiment about 300 men.
A rather unpleasant feeling is said to appear, now
and then, among the Piedmonts-ee at the "faint praise"
which !WOMB to be bestowed on their prowess by their
powerful friends. In the French reports of the different
affsire which have taken place with tl.c enemy the more
sensitive among the Piediuontese think that they do not
get their proper share of praise.
The Duke of .Moilena, before leaving his duchy, sold
or otherwise disposed of everything lie could lay his
hands on. HO sold the palace furniture to • broker,
down to the bed be slept upon the night before Ile left,
and got rid, to a Government contractor, of the wood.
wine, 5.000 sacka of grain in store, aid even the uncut
hay anil standing crops on the Crown lands. They say
lie has not only taken away every picture of any value,
but the silver bell-pulls and handle, to the doors in the
palace of the same metal. Every piece of plate has
also disappeared. Ile also took I.o:cession of the public
money that happened to be in the trenaury, being deter-
mine:l, as he said, to leave the French nothing. He
tried, but of course without success, to raise a loan be-
fore leaving.
A " British officer," writing from Milan, says :
"having just returned from a visit to the Pieilmontese
territory now occupied by the Austrian troops, I con-
alder it only a justice due to them to state the following
facts as an eyewitness: :--The inhabitants of that portion
of the country are as happy as it is passible for pvoille to
be at the seat of war. The crops and trees are untouched
everywhere, and the peasants are occupied tilling the
soil ea in the time of peace. The shop' in the towns
and villages are all open. and both officers and men psy
strictly for every article they take. The conduct of the
troops is exemplary, and in two cauipaigus in which I
have served I never saw men behave better." The fact
is, however, that the Austrians have taxed the country
very largely for supplim of food And forage. But we
hear that the allies" pay for everything they take, and
at far more than the current prices."—This is generosity
indeed ! " Wherever the troops have palmed they have
left • great deal of money ; and I am afraid patsiotisin
does not prevent the people froin exacting rather twice
the value of a thing than its fair price."
The Allpemeine Zeitnng, • German journal, of great
authority, has • startling article lately on the propriety
of finishing the war by one great stroke. The writer
pmpoees that Germany, in its whole strength, shall
Immediately ileclarc war against France, and forthwith
march upon Paris. The calculationa of the proceeding
are these. If Germany falter, England and ItlIS8i& will
both falter, and the French alliance will have more
time to develop itself. At the present moment France
liaa barely 3110,01X1 men left to defend a frontier of a
hundred wiles long ; the garrison of Paris is weak ; and
there are sworn enemies of the Napoleonic dynasty in
the French capital. Whereas, " Germany is ready as
far as is requisite. She has • good line of fortresses
from Rastadt tam Wesel ;" alie Can at once march with
250,000 men from the Middle Rh-inc and as many from
the Upper Rhine. A blow struck immediately will
bring England "to the aide of Germany as an ally," and
"awe Russia in quirt." The gain to Germany should
be Alaatia and Lorraine. The Palle correspoudent of
the Times writes:—" The feeling in some of the German
Statue against the French is no strong that • French
manufacturer, who has a large establishment at Hesse
(:ousel, where lie employs from 600 to 7(X) workmen,
has been forced to quit the place, in consequence of the
excitement which prevaila here."
It is said in the French Gawp that high premiums
have been offered to the beat marksmen in the Aus-
trian army to pick off the French Emperor.
The railway has thong wonders in this war, and has
not only equalled but surpassed the expectations formed
of its assistance; and it must be remembered that the
system in Piedmont is not no extensive as it is in other
countries; many of the branches have only • single
line of rails, which ocsaiiions delays and dangers. The
great central station in Alessandria, where the branch
linen converge from all points of the conspaaa, is
scarcely equal in extent to • third or fourth rate
English station: and yet with these imperfect means
the assistance which is rendered CAD scarcely be calcu-
lated; indeed, without it the whole warfare, such as it
wllll, would have been impossible. The whole seems
almost magic. You arrive at a town in the evening,
and find it full of troops, every one running about to find
room for himself and his cattle. You have to put tip
with a mattress in a corner ;
if you want to eat you
have to serve yourself; you have to run for a spoon if
you want it, or for a glass or plate; and when you
awake next morning you find yourself the sole occupier
of your room, of your hotel, and the town has assumed
the listless, dead appearance of provincial towns all over
the world.