Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-06-06 00:00:00

THE ALLIED CAMP.

VERCELLI, May 31.—There were those who smiled at the
idea of the Emperor taking the command of his army in
person. They ought to have been on the spot, and seen the
manner in which this magnificent army has been collected,
provided with everything, protected against any possible
attempt on the part of the enemy to disturb these prepara-
tions, and they ought to see now the manner in which this
army is brought with unexampled rapidity to the desired
point, and they would, I think, already forget smiling, for
this is due to the Erhperor himself ; it is he who keeps
everything together —he who directs and guides. One fact
will show more than anything else how he does this. Not
more than four or five days ago the Bros of the French army
was echeloned from Voghera along the Po and to Alessandria,
and from thence to Valenza and Casale, and to-day this
mass, with the exception of the Guards, has passed the Sesia,
and all this with Out confusion, without accident, and with
so, great skill that until yesterday the general impression
.was that the movement of the army would be quite in
another direction—that is, towards the east. This impres-
sion was so strong that the rumour which was spread on
pUrpose that the Imperial head-quarters would be transferred
to Voghera was fully credited. No doubt the repeated prepara-
tions of departure from Alessandria contributed considerably
to this success. It was yesterday and the day before that the
movement assumed its proper shape. Up to this moment
the great object was to take up a defensive position, so as
to be able to bring up the French army in line. . To realise
what an army of 100,000 men and above is, is something
like trying to acquire a distinct idea of millions of money.
It can never be done unless by actual contemplation, and
the most lively imaginatiorr intiSffeniain behind the reality.
Now, you must know that all the -)nateriel and the largest
part of all provisions has to come from. France the
hundred thousands of tons of stores, baggage,. artillery,

munitions, and p,
undisturbed, for 1

would have retarded all
,here preparations in a frightful proportion. As, therefore,
the French troops arrived, they were sent to the front, in

order to check any attempt on the part of the Austrians
Thus, by degrees, as the French corps d'armee'e were
echeloned along the line of the Po from Casteggio, Voghera,
Castelnuovo, Sale, to; Bassiguano,. with Alessandria and
Tortona as points d' appui, while the Piedmontese army
occupied the line from Valenza to Casale, and, since
the retreat of the Austrians, to Vercelli. The first
point was to gain a passage across the Sesia, one of those
broad swampy rivers which intersect the upper Italian
plains. There was only one bridge from Vercelli: over it,
built on arches of fine masonry. It served for the railway
as well as for the chaussee to Novara. The
Austrians,- you , will remember, blew up two arches
of this fine bridge ;• to re-establish them in the face of the
Austrians would have taken too much time and trouble,
and would very. likely have attracted too much attention
towards this point. The Sardinian division Cialdini re-
ceived therefore the mission to effect a passage across the
Sesia, which, as you know, was done with complete success
more than a week ago. He established himself at Berge
Vercelli, the first considerable place on the road to
A bridge was immediately constructed, and thus a communi-
cation secured between the two banks of the river ; since
that time gradually the mass of the Sardinian army has
been concentrated on that point, the different corps of the
French army succeeding and occupying the places left by
them. The day before yesterday the King himself trans-
ferred his head quarters from Cassale to Borgo Vercelli, a
little village a couple of miles beyond the river. Already
another bridge had been constructed by the French en-
gineers to facilitate the passage of the French army-, and
the French troops began to cross over. In the movement of
the latter from the right to the left of the line, the railway
played a considerable part, and certainly, for a first trial of
the use of railways in warfare, the success was indeed brih
liant. Troops, which would have had five or six days hard
marching, -were transported often in so many hours to the
place of their destination. This had the additional
advantage of relieving the passage of the others on the
road, which would have been too much encumbered
otherwise, and of saving a large mass of troops from
the failure of a forced march. This latter consideration
would have been the least important, for there never,
perhaps, has been an army in finer marching condition
than the French army here. Were it not for the mass,
one might almost imagine they were picked troops. The
greatest part of them are soldiers of several years' standing ;
by their age, mostly from 25 to 30. their free and elastic
step, their thorough soldierlike bearing, you would recog-
nise them in a moment were it not for the mass of
Crimean medals which you see sprinkled about in the
different regiments. • By yesterday afternoon a considerable
part of the. French troops destined to cross were on the
left bank of the Sesia, and ever since then a stream has
been pouring over the bridges. Infantry, cavalry, artillery,
munition, stores, French and Sardinian; pass in an inter-

rupted line, except when ambulance waggons return from.
the othor .iaa with 'the wounded—friends and foes —for
them every one makes room. -smut is most striking, is
the quiet and good humour which prevail in spite of the
frequent delay and contretemps- which naturally occur
under such circumstances. Yesterday, the 11th anniversary
of the battle of Goito, when the Piedmontese effected so bril-
liant a passage across the Mincio, was chosen as the day for
advancing. The Piedmontese had yesterday, too, the
honour of beginning the forward move under the personal
As you will have read in the bulletin,
they took possession, after an obstinate resistance, of the
three villages of Palestro, Casselino, andVinzaglio, all three
in advance on the road to Mortara. Two cannons and about
300 prisoners and wounded were the trophies. The glory.
is entirely due to the Piedmontese ; for, although con-
siderable masses of French troops had already crossed, they
took no part in the action. The Piedmontese deserve it
amply, for, according to all accounts, they fought with great
bray*. The plan seems to have been combined with con.
siderable skill, for the allies could have brought an over-
powering force against the 8.000 or 10,000 Austrians who
occupied the three villages. It is in a great measure due to
the nature of the ground, so favourable for the defendant,
that the Austrians could oppose the resistance they did.
Fancy a low country, intersected with ditches and dykes,
and studded with wood just sufficiently thick to afford
helter to the defendant, and to impede the deploying of
-- The villages • themselves are all built of
house easily converted into a little

direction of the King.

lar-,re masse

stronghold, while the farm-houses,-which are dispersed all reported sold for name consumption to, ono. pvi at L v vv..
about the -country, form so many 'positions.- •It is, . Coffee and Cocoa no arrivals. Hides inquired after,- and
altogether a country - Made for retarding. the advance of prices looking up. Holders deMand 300 r per lb for dry
Th is were in
. Curiously enough; the -Austrian troops which tobacco; a sale of 800 bales is reported at 4 dots TOOT and
hr. ere is no news of importance from the seat of were in the front were Italian, and most of the prisoners, 5 dols ZOOr per arroba. Exchange closed at 241 d.
via -,,, The enemy are advanaing towards the Ticino, of whom 206 have been brought in from this first en- --...-
•L•ovaria in continually increasing force. General gagement.-belong to - a Lombard , regiment: They have
3'1113,- h '
tiN 1 as concentrated his corps d'armee more par- been shut up in a church, where they have become the
THE REPEAL OF THE PAPER. Dirrv..-
Pr arlY in that ri'ver, -in order to• employ in the objects of considerable ._ curiosity. Yesterday, while the and Periodical Press Association, i-
iecTor moment his full force. The Emperor is occu- battle was still going on, about four. o'clock in the after-
the Em eror arrived here. In spite of
itie..`i at Verona in finishing the Organisation of the noon, his Majesty p
omf_eased force of t

Vjpx,‘,
Ofal June 3.—The following adviees are
•

an enem

—The News Pane!

in a circular which they
have issued, say :—The reasons on which the abolition of
the paper tax is advocated are—L That by increasing the
cost of litoratnie, and more eP-

dally of Cheap literature,

had I

the morning,. a c

e rain, v

idvancement

le army, a