The Express.
London, England, 1849-07-03 00:00:00

ITALY.

ROMANS TATIS.—It is now almost certain that,
If the Romans resist aa they have done hitherto, the
French cannot get pcsatesion of the city before the
expiration of at least fifty days; that is, allowing the
French to be able to proceed with every advantage on
their side. This view is quite sustained by the opinion
of a general officer now with the army of Italy, who
thus writes to the Ntitional:
We have advanced considerably, but are not near the end
of our work. We have forced on one point the bastioned
wall which coven the Transuivere ; but immediately before
us is the Aurelian wall, built of solid masonry, four yards
thick and ten or twelve yards in height, flanked by towers,
which form a very respectable outwork or stronghold, into
which we must penetrate. This is • new siege to make.
We mutt start from our two bastions and the wall which
joins them, make our way by the sap, drag artillery into the
Mucha., establish one or two breaching batteries within 60
yards of the wall, and then asrault the breach or breathe' we
shall have made ; then we shall occupy the Transtevere—
that is, unless we are opposed in the streets there by barri
Ades. To do this will take at least ten days, if not more.
The Transtevere being carried and cleared, we shall have
to go on farther if the Romans resist, as It is to be feared
they will. A pemage of the Tiller by main force cannot be
thought of. We shall therefore be obliged to move from the
Transtevere upon the Vatican, In order to attack the front
called the San Spirit°. This will be • third seige and e
third assault, that will take a fortnight. The Vatican once
being taken, it will become necessary to besiege St. Angelo,
a psatagon of which each aide is 200 yards long, and of
which the bastioned defences are joined to those of the
Vatican. It may possibly be reduced by destroying It with
shells and cannon, but should this not second then a fourth
siege and assault must take place, which will take five or sit
days. The right bank of the Tiber being thus conquered,
the denuders of Rome may, if they chow, resist vet a long
time. Suppling that they do resist, we must C7Olll to the
left bank of the Tiber, at Pants Moil*, prohably, open a
trench then, and besiege on that side near the Porta del
Popolo. Then we shall merely have the old wall of Rome
which has no slanting abutments, and which is much less
difficult to approach than the wall that has already been
forced. But still It would take us levee or eight dags to do
this. Then, the assault having succeeded, we she l have
entered Rome, unless, indeed, we are still toned to take the
barricades in the streets.

Bach u the conclerion moo to by a superior officer
of the French army. But, in order to premed as he
point/ out, there are other points to be considered.
He gays. that the soldiers are not frightened at this
perspective of peril and labour, but they all ask why
the force of men and material is so small ; and he oat-
eludes by saying that more guns and smnronition
must be brought over, and that a reinforcement of at
least fifteen thousand men, and a great quantity of
materials of war are indispensable. It is a strange
circumstance, he says, that we have been kept so
much in want of heavy artillery. On the 3rd Inns,
the day on which we opened the trenches, we had
only 13 pieces, including two 18-inch howitzers and
four 8-inch mortars. Ws had fourteen 18-pounder
gans, bat without carriages, and could only use them
by degrees as we received the latter, which had
doubtlees bees forgotten at Toulon. Our supply of
8-inch shells was also very small, and we were
obliged to procure them from the ships of war, but
the fuss were not of equality for our purpoee, as they
used to break in the trenches and wound the men at
work. For want of the proper material we were not
able t 3 silence the Are of a battery near the Ban Pan-
amigo gate, whisk kept up • most destructive Ate on
as. An artillery diem of rank mays :" We Mill re-'