The Express.
London, England, 1859-05-11 00:00:00

THE FRENCH AT GENOA.

A letter from Genoa, of the 6th, in the Sleek
says :
The pest movement of troop• between Toulon and Genoa
has ceased during the last two days; 65,000 French have
disembarked at Genoa, and the sambas who have arrived
in Piedmont by 151314 is estimated at 86,000. We ere
exposing every moment 4,000 or 6,000 cavalry from
France, so that the French will have • good affeo-
tire force to put in Use against the Austrians. It
must not be forgotten that, without coanti•g the Italia&
'oh:items of all countries, there are 80,000 Piedmentess,
perfectly disciplined, and desirous to combat by the side of
our soldiers, and that of those 80,000 ors-half at bat Moe
been under Are. Genoa ought to bine the arrival of our
troops. The officers who wan obliged to leave Prance
suddenly wan not able to Focus for themselves all the ob.
jet's woman for • cenmaige, and it is at Genoa that they
minima. everything, choke, teats, trunks, to. It la also
at Genoa that mule., vrhidr, ad carts an bought. The
liret named have beta brought from • distance of Bites
leagues, end have been sold for as mash as 500 fr. each. The
e&droaa have supplied omit and sheep; whilst the soldier.
of Gyulai, who, as that general states, have come to deliver
Piedmont from the parties that oppress her, enacted, on
crossing the Ticino, 200,000 rations, and imposed extraorii-
aaryoontributions. The French army has paid reedy mosey for
everything, and has disbursed is Genoa Woos anent millio•e.
A Tuna letter says :—" Asti, the native town of Alfieri, is
o,lebrstall for the superiority of ha wines. It Is on the road
from Toils to ilellandll/4 followed by the bee& troops•
Etome of the principal person of the country came iverd •
plan 'which was unanimously agreed to, M offer a glass of
wine tr every French soldier that passed, and • committee
wee formed to carry at the idea with regularity. Bach
meow as could not amply wine of their services in
the distribution of it, and the bakers and pmencoara were
not less generous. The tank w that when a regiment
arrived either on foot or otherwise, • glass of goof wine, •
biscuit, sad • cigar, were offered to each man."

ITALY.

SARDINIA.

71011 ova owe COWllirow...--,
TURIN, MAT 6.
A great battle appears to be imminent in the
neighbourhood of Aleseandria, and the probability is
that this letter of mine will reach you after the
event. But, in order to follow up the thread of my
narrative, I shall continue to mention such details of
importance as may possibly fail to appear in the
bulletins or to reach you through the telegraph.
The Austrian army at this moment amounts to one
hundred and forty thousand men, and is spreading
out at its two wings—that is to say, towards the
south-west over the parts about Vercelli and Biella,
and to the noeth-east about Tortona. They are con-
structing some fortifications at Vercelli, and have
pushed their vanguard as fur as Slot* on the
road to Turin. We do not understand what
they are aiming at by their occupation of
those plains, for, although General Cialdini's
division has abandoned the fortifications of
the Dora and fallen back upon Casale, yet
the French, who are arriving every day at Tann,
, may at soy moment occupy and defend them by
taking the rail from Turin to Chinas°, where they
would be at a very short distance from them. Nor
as we make out what the drift of the Austrians is
in taking Tortona and Voithers, which are not
strongholds, and from which they may be dislodged
with heavy loss by the Sardinian or French troops
stationed= the nearest Apennine. In the mean-
time, wherever the Austrians make their appearance,
they ravage everything, wry off hostage*, impose
oentributions, sad, in short, behave in such • way
that Marshal Canrobert, it is said, has written to
Gyulai, and asked him whether he means to carry on
the war like a barbarian, or in accordance with the
principles of modern civilisation.
For the rest, the Austrians appear to have their
thoughts directed far more to an assault than to a
retreat with its attendant losses, against which they
are making no provision. For, with the exception
of Piacenza and Pavia, no other point strong by
nature or by art can lend them strength in the hour
of need and give them breathing time, along the
whole line of the Ticino, should they have to retreat
in the face of a victorious army. Timid people are
of course, everywhere, and we therefore have and;
here, who are lamenting because they hear that •
body of Austrians, 16,000 strong, with 20 pieces of
artillery, are on the road to the capital. But they
forget in their wild alarm that entrenchments have
been thrown up along the Dora for a space of seven
miles with extreme skill, behind which a few
thousand soldiers can keep a whole army in check
fur several days.
I have this minute opened &letter front Rome, and
my correspondent tells me that the Pops has sent
all the political prisoners to Ancona. His Holiness
is both grieved and irritated at all that is going on in
Italy, nor can he be calmed by all the asiuranoes
that the Emperor of the French gives him. The
Duke of Grammont ha*, however, obtained from his
Holiness his word of honour that he will not attempt
to escape from Rome, and in return the French
government has guaranteed tranquillity and order in
the Eternal City. In the provinces the case is differ-
ent, and the people may be said to be pretty much
their own muters ; as fur the native troops, they are
breaking up by desertion, amid many leave to take
service under the Piedmouteae colour. The Pope
asked Spain not long ago to send troops to the Ro-
raima to replace the Germans and French. But the
government of Madrid requested to be excused, and
disapproved the project. It was on this subject that
Count Cavort. addressed a note to the Spanish
minister residing here. A.