The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-23 00:00:00

one step the allies made in advance the Austrians '
made one to the rear. This is literally the whole
story—no incidents except those always consequent
on the march of a large army, more or less heat in
the day, and chill or rain at night, more or less dust
and ineumbrance on the road, fewer or more
dainties to be got by foraging.
,‘ But with all that you must not suppose that
because there was no fighting the march of the large
force of the allies went, as it were, by itself. Although
in popular opinion the idea of a commander-in-chief
is a gentleman on a prancing horse, among no end
of cannon balls and bursting shells, the coup d'ecil
on the battlefield, however important, is by no
means the greatest quality in a commander. Most
battles have been won before even they began, by
the preliminary dispositions. This was the art in
which all great generals excelled.

" As no one could foretell that the Austrians would
continue to retreat, one had to be prepared at every
step for a rencontre with them, and while never
losing sight of this possibility, it was of the highest
importance to conceal the real plan of attack, to
bring up the army under the most favourable con-
ditions before the enemy, and to guard against any
countermovement of the latter. How far this has
been done will be probably apparent shortly. But
besides these strategical dispositions there was like.
wise the res frumentaria to be looked to, on which
Caesar the great commander lays such stress, the
maintenance of a large army making no requisitions.
The Roman armies and those of the French Republic
had the advantage which the Austrian army of the
present day has likewise—namely, to live on the
countries through which they pass. This facilitates
and simplifies marching very much. There are no
long waggon trains which are slow to come up and
encumber the roads, but it becomes quite different
if one has to organise a regular system of supplies
over a long line for a large army in advance. The
French and Piedmontese soldier has, indeed, an
invaluable quality—namely, to carry the most
necessary part of his rations for several days with
him, and to keep them, too, which is the great art.
He is thus never entirely dependent on the com-
missariat. But when it comes to a systematic
advance, and not a short expedition, then the diffi-
culties are the same as with any other army. The
rapidity of the movement scarcely allowed the
drawing of these regular supplies from the country
by means of contracts or ready money purchases ;
at any rate, one could not trust to this expedient,
and it was necessary to be prepared with everything
without reckoning on what the country itself could
supply. Everything had to be brought up over
long distances. To facilitate this, an auxiliary
train has been organised for each of the two armies,
by means of contractors who supply the carts of
the country. It answers well ; the horses and
mules are, in spite of some hard work, round and
sleek, and the men are kept in order by the agents
of their employers, so that no trace is found of all
the excesses by which these bodies of men usually
distinguish themselves. The result of this is that
the soldier has not been a single day without his
full rations, and, what is more, he has them as soon
as he arrives, which makes a great difference.
" Now that the country behind is free of the
enemy all these difficulties will be considerably
diminished. Lombardy is, as every one knows,
extremely rich in all natural productions, and will
be able to supply most things even if the allied
army should have to remain for a considerable time.
" As for the movements by which the troops ad-
vanced from Milan towards the Mella, it would
be premature to speak of them, besides which they
can only be understood when the plan becomes
more developed. I will give you, therefore, only a
general sketch now. As you know,' the first move
in advance of Milan was in the direction of Lodi,
which the Austrians abandoned after having been
driven from their position at Malegnano, which is
just half-way between Milan and Lodi. This move-
meat was only a kind of demonstration to leave the
enemy uncertain as to the point where the passage
was really to be effected. There are not less than
six great passages across the Adda, besides several
other smaller ones. The great are at the fortress
of Pizzighettone, Lodi, Cassano, where the railway
bridge crosses likewise, at Vaprio, Ponte San Pietro,
and at Lecco. All the bridges except this last, which
is out of the way and had been passed before by
Garibaldi, were destroyed by the Austrians, that
of Lodi immediately after the demonstration
towards that place, and the others on the night of
the 10th and 11th. The next day pontoon bridges
were already erected, both at Vaprio and Cassano,
and the troops began to pass across. The same
evening the King left Milan, and the next morn-
ing the Emperor transferred his head-quarters to
Gorgonzola. Every day since the advance has
continued.
" The country beyond the Adda is perhaps more
than any other part of Lombardy intersected by
roads, connecting the many considerable towns and
villages which lie on this line eastwards. This
facilitated the advance considerably, for being so
close to the enemy it was always necessary to
keep well together.
" The Austrians retired so fast that none of the
bridges over the Serio, Oglio, or the Mella have
been destroyed. The railway itself was left unin-
jured, and the telegraph only so little damaged
that almost all along the line the poles remained
standing, removing thus one of the greatest diffi-
culties for its re-establishment. I need not say that
as soon as the army passes both telegraph and rail-
way are put together in working order, and the
bridges which have been destroyed are all in process
of reconstruction.
" According to the last news the Austrians have
large forces concentrated on the open plain before
Montechiaro, which is one of the few spots on this
side of the Chiese sufficiently extensive to be the
battle-field of a large army. One corps, about
20,000 strong, was yesterday still at Bagnolo, and
had made a heavy requisition on the place. A
story is here related, for which I cannot vouch, but
which I have heard from people who have come
to-day from there. The Austrians placed guards
before all the bakers' ovens, and ordered them to
make bread as fast as they could. This bread was
distribUted between the German and Croat soldiers,
but an Italian regiment which was with the corps
received no rations, although the soldiers had had
nothing to eat for the last 26 hours. The people,
seeing this, prepared some polenta for them, but
were prevented from giving it by the Austrian
authorities. If this is true, the Austrians must
have been undeceived as to their first impression
with regard to the Italian troops which are in their
army.
" In spite of the concentration of the Austrians
on this side of the Chiese I can scarcely believe they
will seriously try to defend that line, with the river
in their rear. They may perhaps do something of
the kind behind the Chiese, as the left bank of it on
both sides of the town of Montechiaro is skirted by
a line of low hills, which forms the first of a succes-
sion of positions in the direction of the Upper Min-
cio. The only question is whether the Allies are
obliged to accept a battle on the ground which the
Austrians have chosen for themselves. They showed
already before that they don't always take their
wishes into account, for they left the Austrians at
Mortara and went instead up the Ticino, where the
latter had to follow in hot haste.
" In the meantime the town of Brescia is in no
small excitement at the presence of the Allied troops.
Brescia, as you know, has always been distinguished
for its ardour in the national cause, and was in con-
sequence fearfully illtreated by General Haynau.
If anything, the tragedy enacted here in 1849 has
rather increased the patriotism of the great mass
of the inhabitants. It is, as a general rule, in
these populous towns that one must look for the
reactionary,
force of the Italian movement. There is, of course,
in Brescia, as well as in every one of them, the old
generation of nobles,
who
a are
t o Austria,and
the
the priesthood, which belongs
dutiful daughter of the Church, but this is
only a small, very small fraction, -which comes
scarcely into account. The great majority of the
people engaged in trade, especially the silk trade,
are heart and soul with the movement. The chief
production pf all this part along the southern slopes
of the Alps is silk, and the towns are the centres
where the produce of the surrounding country is
disposed of. But youmust not imagine these towns,
like other country towns on the continent, full of