The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-18 00:00:00

V,...‘ "'>------- ••e-.-z-------) iNEViI',PAPEIi
rz,
the Austrians l•-, taught to -e''` 4-441 -s i'.., 1,
a. e
_ ..-.- ---- badly, trying in vain to hit fi-:ilt *4 .74,V114f- ,
I ,_,
which came nearer and neareic . -_!, 44..ir7./i.'
,
. ~7-2-.-:- *4 . . •
. made to stop them. There \akts.4-11 - 11141* 41
i_ + see , is, t :._. __ a
chance—they would form, and thdtala 411.1,-ei
volley close at them would throw them back ; this
--...., —.....~ at least, they had been taught to believe, but alas
even this doctrine turned out untrue, for there was
' IVI.PED , b no forming from beginning to end, and thus no
-----...:--- occasion left for formidable volleys. The French
I) I were not such fools as to wait for volleys. E very-
one tried to avoid them, and they were upon
the Austrians before the latter had tune to prepare.
It was against all the rules of warfare, and showed
clearly that the French, including their famous
Garde Imperiale, had been schooled among the
savages of Africa, and not in civilised warfare.
How different for a truly military eye were those
splendid lines of Austrians, when they cone on in
martial array to make an offensive return ! The
earth trembled under their military step; they
looked like the elephants of Pyrrhus, ready to break
through iron barriers ; but what could they do
against those pointed missiles with which the air
swarmed, and against which nothing could protect
them ? They had those missiles likewise, but what
was the use of them against men who had taken
care to find some tree, wall, or ditch behind which
they could not be reached, where they loaded their
rifles and jumped out only to fire them off? Be-
fore the wall had approached half way it was a
ruin full of chinks wider than that through which
Pyramus talked to Thisbe.
And yet the average height of the Austrian soldier
surpasses that of the French by several inches. Now,
I don't deny that a mass of-men six feet high looks
more imposing than one composed of men only
five feet three or four; but to reckon on imposing
on active, agile enemies by these means is carrying
the Chinese system of frightening by horrible pic-
tures rather too far. As the average height of Eng-
lishmen is more than that of their neighbours, so
there is no necessity of picking out smaller men than
the average ; but a higher standard than the average
of the population shows the love of immovable ma-
chines, and the predilection for the exploded Pata-
gonian system. How far this prejudice exists still,
in spite of the dictates of common sense, appears
best from the Marines, who, intended as a kind of
naval infantry doomed to live on board ship and
do all manner of sailors' work, surpass in height
every infantry regiment with the exception, per-
haps, of the Foot Guards. It is true many tall men
may be made into as active soldiers as smaller men,
but tall men are not chosen in the British army for
their activity, but for their height alone..
The result of all this is that the ideas now preva-
lent in recruiting about the physical qualifications
of the soldier must be as much changed as the rest
of the recruiting system. The test ought not to be
a certain height, but the general conformation of the
body to make a hardy, active, strong soldier. This
test, more adapted to the present circumstances,
will likewise bring in an additional number of re-
cruits, who are now excluded because they have not
the required height.
The foolish idolatry of silmust be given up, not
only for infantry, but for every other arm where it
exists not less. If the old musket was sufficient to
give the pre-eminence to infantry above all other
arm of the service, the rifle is calculated to increase
this even more, and oblige the cavalry and artillery
to follow the direction given by the improvement
in the infantry.
The old dispute about light and heavy infantry is
practically solved by the introduction of the rifle,
which admits of no other but the first species, in
opposition to the former system, which relied chiefly
if not exclusively on heavy infantry.
This change must be followed by a corresponding
one in artillery and cavalry, else the latter become
useless. The old field-gun, heavy and of short and
inaccurate range, is utterly powerless against well-
drilled riflemen. No battery, however well h andled,
would be a match for a company. The efforts of the
boased Austrian artillery during the late war wore
positively ridiculous ; they seemed to carry it with
them to afford trophies for the French. That re-
spectable old yellow war engine, incapable of get-
ting over a ditch or woll 'lag in heavy ground,
compelled even the Austriuns to hasten to adopt
the light rifled gun which their adversaries had
brought into the field.
The success of Armstrong's gun, the necessary
consequence of the introduction of the rifle, has
decided the question in England, and now it re-
mains only to recognise the principle which it car-
ries with it. It abolishes heavy artillery, and it is
necessary to do away with heavy artillerymen.
The artillery had a plausible pretext not to remain
behind the other arms of the service in size, although,
even with the old description of gun, it is as diffi-
cult to see how far size in the horse artillery in-
fluenced the quickness and precision of firing as it
is to calculate how far the " Busby" promoted this
object. " Agility, and not weight," whistles the
Enfield rifle ; and "agility and not weight," booms
the Armstrong gun. Whatever the proverb Bart,
in this race the palm is not for the tortoise.
With infantry and artillery light, active, and
deadly from a great distance, heavy cavalry is a self-
evident absurdity. If the4elative superiority of
weight and speed is upset AT the other arm of the
service, in the cavalry it is. ten times more so. So
elear has this been made by the last war, that
among the changes to be introduced in the Austriaa
army the abolition of the cuirassiers is reported to
be one of the first. Even when soldiers were armed
with flint-locks authorities differed about the break-
ing of infantry lines or squares, although every one
agreed that it was the fire, and not the bayonet,
which made this experiment difficult. How much
more is this the case now needs no demonstration.
If the cavalry was ineffective in the late war, it must
not be inferred that cavalry will be hencegrth use-
less, or that there was no opportunity for using it
in the plains of Lombardy. The Campo di Medole
is as magnificent ground for cavalry evolutions as
any that could be wished for, but neither of the two
armies had as yet understood how to adapt the
movements of cavalry to those of riflemen and rifled
guns, and thus to give to cavalry an importance
such as perhaps it never had. Hence the numerous
attempts at cavalry engagements resulted in a
desultory skirmishing, and more than one observer
carried away the idea that the sooner the use of
cavalry is confined to patrolling the better it will
be. But, even if they had not reckoned on the
changed circumstances, both parties instinctively
divined the inutility of their heavy cavalry, which
was left altogether in the background, while, even
according to the articles of belief of the old school,
the only use of heavy cavalry is in a pitched
battle, and any other duty spoiled it. The rifle
places heavy cavalry in the same position as the
English bow did the knights in full armour. .
ak Cavalry,eef iii
infantryoier to
an bed effective ,
the wake artillery—sacrificemustfolwloewighint
to speed and agility. Whether
with men as nearly as possible six
tfheeist
hcia.gnhble
leave
If I have made myself clearly.
to the common sense of a nation of
horsemen.
understood it
will
be seen that it is not so mtuhcaht against
these
remarkssi ze a s suchar
are
under any circumstances
made, but against the hobby of sacrificing all other
considerations to the six-feet idolatry. Every one
must see that activity and agility being aimed at
now, as immobility was formerly, height alone is
no longer a test for the physical qualifications of
the soldier, and the sooner this test is done away
with the sooner another link is broken which binds
British military organisation to exploded notions.
It will be the first step to overthrow the acquired
taste for what is called smartness, a kind of clock-
work movement which is supposed to insure the
efficiency of the soldier, and which must follow
flogging before the British soldier will be what he
so easily might become, superior to any other in
`,he world.

- -----,

PRICE 4D• STAMPED, SD.

RETURN OF COUNT C4VOUR 10

PO TY ER.

out the _Daily Nom)
We receive from Turin the important intelli-
gence of the resignation of the Ministry of General
Della Marmora, and the return of Count Cavour to
power. The fallen Ministry was not wanting in
patriotism. It accepted office at a time of great and
general discouragement ; and throughout its course
it has had to contend with unusual difficulties. Its
caution and patience were most useful in the dark
days which succeeded the Peace of Villafranca. But
it outlived the circumstances which gavo value to
these qualities. Its caution became pusillanimity,
and its patience often looked like servility. It has
not only been unequal to the task of leading Italy,
but in tho general recovery of national spirit it per-
mitted itself to be left behind. Under its adminis-
tration Piedmont was rapidly losing its influence
in the Peninsula, while its unconstitutional activity
at home, manifested in the unnecessary multiplica-
tion of laws which ought to have been reserved for
the deliberations of the Chamber of Deputies, dis-
satisfied the Sardinian people. The growing dis-
content of the nation has found abundant expres-
sion in the English press, so that this morning's
intelligence from Turin can take no one by sur-
prise. But in the eyes of Italy perhaps the greatest
fault of General Della Marmora and of Signor Rat-
tazzi was that they occupied a place which by every
title belonged to Count Cavour. NO other states-
man is competent to direct the affairs of Piedmont
in the present crisis. Great difficulties have yet
to be overcome—difficulties which only a man able
to oommand the full confidence of the Italiannation
can hope successfully to take in hand. Should no
untoward event hinder the formation of a Cavour
Ministry, we shall see Sardinian policy putting on
its old vigour and directness, to the immense ad
vantage of Italy, and of every European State.

(Rom the Tines.)
On every side we find proofs that the reactionary
policy which had been pursued by France and im-
posed on Sardinia since the agreement of Villafranca
is giving place to one bolder and more liberal. We
are able to announce to-day that the Ministry of
M. Ratazzi has resigned, and that the King has
charged Count Cavour with the formatiz,n of a new
Cabinet. This event will fill the friends of Italy
with courage, for it indicates that the pressure has
been taken off Sardinia—that the King is now able
to take a truly national course. The statesman
who guided the councils of Victor Emmanuel dur-
ing the long and dark period which preceded the
late war, and who retired in indignation and de-
spair when Austria, defeated in two great battles,
had yet managed to obtain the confirmation of her
dominion in Italy, is now restored to. the place
which no one but himself can worthily fill. Count
Cavour returns to power at a moment when France
and England are united to recognize the Central
Italian State, and when the Pope shows that he
has lost all hope of cajoling the French ruler by
the manner in which he inveighs against his almost
acknowledged acts. It is but fair to presume that
this important step has not been taken without due
consideration, and that it has the acquiescence of the
French Government. What opinion must we, then,
form of the consequences of this change ? It is evi-
dent that it is the signal for a more decided action
on the part of Victor Emmanuel, and the direc-
tion of this action can scarcely be doubted. Sar-
dinia must be destined to have a more immediate
influence in Central Italy than has yet been allowed
her. Count Cavour would hardly have taken office
on any other terms. He abandoned power because
his cherished hopes of Italian independence under
the leadership of his country had been crushed for
the time, and he can hardly take once more the
reins of government without some assurance that
Piedmontese policy shall again be recognised as
that most fitting for Italy. Whether his appoint-
ment be the result of a direct understanding that
Victor Emmanuel shall finally accept the sove-
reignty of Central Italy remains to be seen. We
think that this would be the best solution of the
question ; for, though there are, no doubt, jealou-
sies between Italian provinces, they aro certainly
not greater than those which existed between the
three kingdoms of these islands for long after their
union ; and the firm, temperate rule of a Constitu-
tional Sovereign, avoiding all undue centralisation,
would in the end satisfy both Turin and Milan,
Florence and Bologna: These events, however,
are as yet part of the future ; we must be content
with congratulating ourselves that an important
advance has been made, and that the independence
of Italy may now be considered as secure.

IffILIT4RY ORGANIZATION.

,FROM THE TIMES' CORRESPONDENT LATE WITH
THE FRENCH ARMY IN ITALY.)
•

We laugh at the ingenious devices by which the
agents of Frederick William I. of Prussia kid-
napped giants all over Europe for the Grenadiers of
Potsdam. and we laugh still more at the expedients
adopted by this monarch for propagating forcibly
this race of giants, and thus ensuring the continua-
tion of this wonderful corps d'elite. We pity the
poor benighted king, and yet, strange to say, we
try to ape him as far as our means allow. It is
still the pride of the British army to have an aver-
age height of several inches above any other army,
and any reduction of the standard height is re-
garded by all true believers as a symptom of de-
generation. Many a strong, active young man is
rejected because nature has made him a little
shorter, although perhaps more capable of enduring
fatigue. Every commander of a regiment thinks
it a point of honour to excel all his colleagues in
this respect; infantry, cavalry, and artillery vie
with each other to surpass the rival arm.
That more than a century ago a narrow-minded,
obstinate despot should think of becoming great
by this Patagonian system is not only not surpris-
ing, but shows, on the contrary, that in spite of
all exaggeration he understood and followed the
spirit of his age, and laid down the foundation for
the superiority which the Prussian army acquired
under his son ; but that this worship of the great,
or rather the tall, should be so blindly adhered to by
a nation in most things so far ahead of others as the
British is, and in the second half of the 19th century
—the age of rifles and rifled guns, is an anachro-
nism which will give considerable material for mer-
riment when it shall be related by the Carlyles of
the 20th century.
The more perfect arms of projection become, the
smaller are the chances of weight against speed and
agility. With clumsy flint locks, almost harmless
beyond 50 yards, and with unwieldy cannon not
much more effective, bullets and balls played the
same part as the short javelin of the Romans did ;
they were a kind of preparation for the real work
which was done by the bayonet. It showed, there-
fore, a groat deal of sense to try and get Patago-
nians for soldiers, and make them into an iron-
spiked wall, by which to bear down the adversary.
With rifles deadly at 800 and more yards, ie the
hands of men almost sure of their aim ; with rifled
guns, ranging to several thousand yards, and al-
most unerring, the relative position of the bayonet
and the missiles must be reversed. The real work
is done by the last, and not by the first, which be•
comes at most an auxiliary means to complete de-
feat. With the reversal of this relative position,

that of weight and speed is likewise upset, so that,
as formerly the organisatioa relied chiefly, if not ex-
clusively, on the first, it must now do everything to

increase the last.

The desultory firing which played such a conspi-
cnous part in old battles becomes every day more
impossible. No two lines of infantry could now
fire at each other for honrs as they did in olden
times. The late Italian war, in which for the first
time the improvements in the arms of projection
came to a trial on a grand scale, can leave no doubt
about this. All the fights, from beginning to
end, consisted of a succession of attacks on both sides,
in which the advantage remained to him who had
the superiority in firing and the greater agility. It
was curious to watch the difference in this respect
between the two armies—the French, opening out
in shockingly loose order, rushing and cr in
creeping
turn, spying out, taking advantage of every little
obstacle which came in their way, and going out of
their way to reach it, and all the -while firing and
loading as fast as they could, diminishing thus the
chances of the fire of the Austrian line, protecting
themselves, and causing considerable havoc among
the enemy, and getting closer and closer upon him;

THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OP M.
MASSEY O'GRADY.—The Cork Examiner states that •
letter has been received in that city from a, lady in the
county of Limerick, the wife of a stipendiary magistrate,
stating that the body of Mr. Massey O'Grady, /shoes name
ai
stood second on the list of sheriffs nominated .r the county
Limerick for the present year, and whose m sterious die.
f appearance some short time since was ann anced in the
public journals, had been found buried, and lat no doubt
exists that the unfortunate gentleman had bten Innrdered•
The letter adds that four persons had been tuweeted:on ens-
picion.