The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-30 00:00:00

PRINCE NAPOLEON'S' ARMY.

A letter from Pontremoli, dated June 23, says :
The movements of our Imperial Commander-in-
Chief are not more rapid than those of his troops.
He was for two days at Massa, breakfasted at Sar-
zana on the 21st, and came to rest the night before
last at Aulla. Yesterday he reached Pontremoli, and
left again this morning to cross the Cisa Pass. I
suppose he will be in Parma on Saturday at the
latest. There was a vague rumour that the Prince
would prolong his stay in Parma for a fortnight ;
but the report is as destitute of foundation as it
is of common sense. The truth is, indeed, that we
are not likely to be in the presence of the enemy for
at least two weeks after we reach Parma ; but this
must arise, not from any desire on the part of the
Prince to lose precious time, as it was lost in Tus-
cany, but from a fatal necessity, which will compel
us to throw away at least 10 days' march to be able
to cross the Po at Piacenza—that is, at the only
point where we can do it without molestation on the
enemy's part, and without having to throw a bridge
across the immensely broad river at Sacca, opposite
to Casal Maggiore, especially as the sth corps carries
with it no bridge equipage. There is no bridge on
the Po between Piacenza and Ferrara ; the latter
place is still in the hands of the Austrians. At the
other the bridge of boats constructed by those troops
is still standing. We might, indeed, attempt to take
Ferrara, a fortress of no great mark, and from there
we might easily cross over into the Venetian terri-
tory ; but, in the first place, the sth Corps has no
heavy siege artillery, and an attack on Ferrara
might be repulsed ; in the second place, the Aus-
trians, even if they lost Ferrara, could easily destroy
the pontoon bridge on their retreat, and we should
still have the wide stream of the " king of rivers"
between us and them, without the means of cross-
ing it. In the third place, even if we could convey
ourselves into the Venetian territory, we should in
all probability find ourselves isolated, and as, when
all united, we shall only make a force of 38,000 to
40,000 men, we might be exposed to unnecessary
danger.
Of course our real movements after Parma are
matters of great uncertainty, and will to a great
extent depend on the progress made by the Allies
during the time we have yet to lose in this round-
about march. But if the Franco-Sardinians are yet
on the Mincio, or have not yet reached that river,
it is extremely likely we shall have to go 40 miles
out of our way in quest of a bridge at Piacenza, and
that we shall then have as many miles to come back
along the Po, so that we shall only take our place,
on the extreme right of the Allied Army, our op-
pointed post—that is, probably, under Mantua—
by the sth or 6th of July next. There is a talk
among the officers that the Emperor Napoleon, who
is held by them to be infallible, has promised to re-
serve a last decisive battle, to be fought on the sth
of July, that the sth Corps may come up in time to
take part in it.
Although the sth Corps is so far as yet from any
chance of having its share in real warlike opera-
tions, we have had occasion to wage war against
the elements. At Massa, for two days, the troops,
under their poor tents, had to withstand floods of
incessant rain. At Sarzana, besides a stronger
deluge than ever, we were visited both by an earth-
quake and a most terrific thunderstorm. Large
stores of provisions, and the sacks, and even muskets
of a whole company of infantry were swept away
by the swollen tide of a petty river, on the sands
of which, on account of its diminutive size, and the
dryness of its bed, preferable to the damp grass a
French regiment of foot had had the improvidence
to encamp. On Tuesday morning the camp at Sar-
zana presented a woful sight, and even the wonted
buoyancy of the French character was not proof
against such a complication of dire sufferings. They
had orders to leave for Aulla at 4 o'clock ; but to
say nothing of the unspeakable disorder into which
all things animate and inanimate,'had fallen, there
were serious fears, in the first place, that the moun-
tain torrent Aullela, which we had to ford before
we reached Aulla, might have swollen to such a
height and violence as to prevent our progress ; and
then it was necessary to send the Sappers and Pio-
neers to clear the reads of the masses of rock which
the heavy rains of the night had carried down from
the steep and loose ravines on the mount..in sides
along our track.
We started at noon, however, and the roads were
free; and the ford, though deep, was not dangerous.
The Aullela, however, had swept down stream two
plank bridges reared by our Pioneers for the in,
fantry, so that a third one had to be hastily con-
structed.
We have other enemies of a far different nature
to contend with, and against these the French troops
begin justly to entertain rather savage feelings.
The people here are most unmercifully plundering
them. The sth Corps carries all its provisions for
man and beast along with it, so that for hardly any
of the necessaries of life are we indebted to our
churlish hosts; but there are 10,000 objects of
luxury the Commissariat does not supply, and for
these application is made to inn and shop keepers
or to private persons indiscriminately. Well, ,all
dealers, with scarcely any exception, have three
advantages over the poor defenceless soldier, and
use all of them most unmercifully. In the first
place, they hold in their hand the coveted article,
at a crisis in which the improvidence of the people
has made the -supply altogether inadequate to the
demand, and raised commonplace things, such as
fruit, vegetables, cheese, &c., to almost fabulous
prices. In the second place, the dealer does not, or
chooses not, to understand his customer, and can
afford to laugh in his sleeve at all the big oaths,
reproaches, and threats that are hurled at his head.
In the third place, even when a price has been fixed
to the article, and the bargain is struck, the poor
Frenchman puts forth an honest bright-faced, in-
telligible twenty-franc piece, and the wily dealer
gives change in such a Babel of Tuscan, Lucchese,
Modenese, Maltese, Genoese, and Parmesan, lire,
pauls, sons, centimes, cranie, farthings, &c., all
worn-aut coins, sweated into undistinguishable
slices, dirty tin and copper, and a variety of mix-
tures of those metals, so that not only a stranger,
but even a native, cannot reckon the small coin for
20 francs without breaking down several times in
the intricate calculation. Hereve are, for instance,
in the Duchy of Parma, where, as early as in 1814,
the decimal French coinage was declared to be the
currency of the State. With all that, howefer,
there is in the duchy a genuine lira or franc and
an abusive lira ; there is the old Parmesan liro—
worth four sous—and besides every variety of
Italian, no less than German and other coin ; Aus-
trian zwanzigiers, Milanese crowns and half-crovx s
—Bavarian piastres, and all the rubbish of every
one of the adjoining duchies.
Armed with all these offensive weapons, the
dealer holds the soldier completely at his discretion,
and it is but to little purpose that the better
and more disinterested classes step in between
vendor and purchaser, endeavouring to see justice
done, and to prevent misunderstanding, which
would often lead to open collision. Altercation is
carried to such extent, • indeed, that sometimes the
Hussar or Chasseur, unwilling to put up with pal-
pable imposition, will snatch up the coveted article,
either giving the first coin that comes to hand in
return, or even refusing payment of any kind. Id-
dignation is the feeling which leads to this deed of
spoliation, and not -dishonesty; but the rogue,
outwitted by honest open violence, raises an out-
cry against spoliation and military plunder, so that
it not unfrequently happens that, after two or three
such conflicts, the shops are closed and trade is at
an end, With the well-trained, well-behayed