The Sun.
London, England, 1859-07-04 00:00:00

THE BATTLE OF SOLFERINOI
1 -

(Fr& a Special Correspondent of the Times.)
VERONA, JUNE 26
I sketched yesterday as rapidly as I could the
principal incidents of the great battle which
. I sup-
pose will
be called the Battle of Solfermo. The
field having been lost to us, I am deprived of the
advantage which will be possessed exclusively by
those on the other side of examining every part of
it; but it is still possible for me to enter into more
particular details than I was able in my letter of
yesterday to do.
Solferino is a straggling village, through which
runs the road to San Cassiano. On its western side
rises the hill called Rocca, on which stands the
tower of which I have already given you a descrip-
tion. The hill stretches in a westerly direction
about 1,000 paces, the spit of it descending some-
what abruptly to the hamlet, or Contrada Pozzo
Catena. This line of height was occupied at the
opening of the action by Bils's brigade of the Divi-
sion Pallfy, of the sth Corps. To the right of the
tower on the Rocca, that is north-east of it, Stern-
berg's division of the sth Corps held a line from the
heights of San Pietro and Rola, facing the enemy
on the little stream called Redone. The first at-
tack on this position was successfully repulsed, but
as the allies advanced over the spit of the Monte
Cara the attack was renewed with incredible
fury. e hilly position of the Austrians does not
seem to have permitted them to make much use of
their artillery, of which many batteries remained
in reserve. At the foot of the Solferino tower to
the west they had some guns playing on the French
crescent in the plain ; others on the east side of the
tower checking the advance of the enemy. Their
chief dependence was not, however, on their artil-
lery in these positions, but rather on the fire of the
infantry, which, on its part, had to face the Minie
rifle of the Grenadiers of the Guard, which com-
mitted dreadful havoc amongst the officers of the
foremost line.
The road through Solferino is on a much lower
level than the hill of Rocca or that of San Pietro,
which command it on both sides. The efforts of
the French were directed at an early period towards
this point, every step they took in advance there
giving them a chance of turning the flanks of the
Austrians defending both Solferino and San Pietro.
As their masses became more compact and difficult
to repel they gradually forced their way up the
road, driving back the Austrians both in flank and
front, and separating the extreme left of the sth
Corps from its right and centre. The Brigade Bils
rallied again as the Ist Corps, under Clam, advanced
to its support from Cavriano. The Ist and sth Corps,
thus fighting in line together, maintainedthemselves
at that point till past 11 o'clock, when the latter fell
back exhausted to the rear. The rest of the Ist with
the sth preserved their positions against every at-
tack successfully till half-past 1, when the enemy
began to make head against them, throwing back
the former to its direct rear on Cavriano, and the
latter to its right, thus cutting off the communica-
tion between the Bth and sth corps and the rest of
the Austrian army. At the same time, under cover
of their batteries in the Campo di Medole, and
others on the heights of Monte Fenile, which en-
filaded the road between Volta and San Cassiano,
the French advanced a heavy body of infantry
which at once held in check the 7th corps under
Zobel at San Cassiano, and outflanked the Austrians
on their left on the height of Rocca. The position
at this point was thus becoming rapidly untenable.
Attacked in front and on both flanks, it stood out
on the apex of an isosceles triangle, of which the
front and two sides were closely pressed by an over-
powering enemy. The Ist corps, which in the
morning held Cavriano, had been forced early into
fire; its only reserve in case `of a check being the
7th, Zobel's. But it had already been found neces-
sary to use up Zobel in the defence of San Cassiano,
so that when the Ist corps began to yield and fall
baek from Solferino there were no fresh troops to
oppose to the enemy. The French crowned the
heights of Solferino about half-past 1, and their
batteries, placed on the range of Monte Margan,
began shelling Cavriano, while the Ist corps con-
tinued to dispute the intermediate ground. It was
at this moment that the Emperor and his Staff left
the Monte Roccolo, and took the direction of a
casein° on the road east of Cavriano, where already
several wounded soldiers had found their way.
The Emperor, cool and collected as a veteran,
stood on the height of Madonna delle rieve, close
by a church surrounded by cypress trees, till a
quarter to 4. Count Sehlick and his aide-de-camp,
his Highness the Prince of Nassau, were standing
by him at Madonna della Pieve. while the masses
on the plain below were already retiring. The
French were pressing hard on Cavriano. They
had already gained possession of an old bridle
path called the Strada Cavallara, which runs
direct from Solferino to Valleggio, and al-
ready the road from Madonna delle Pieve to the
latter place was becoming excessively dangerous.
The Emperor now went off leisurely to Volta with
a few aides-de-camp, while the Archdukes with the
Hereditary Grand Duke of Tuscany and his
brothers followed a by-path through groves and
over rocks towards Valleggio. While we quietly
rode on few of us knew that the enemy, following
a parallel direction to our own, were within half a
mile of us. The French, on the other hand, were
happily
in equal ignorance of our true position, or
they
would have made a dash to cut us off. We
struck the Strada Cavallara just below the Monte
Oliveto, meeting the head of Stankovitsch's divi-
sion of the Ist Corps as it was retreating on the
road from Castellaro Lagusello to Volta. The
right of the sth Corps was at that time withdrawn
to Monzambano, while the Bth, Benedek's, had
fallen back as far as Salionze, north of Pozzolengo,
and on the road to Peschiera. At half-past five
Cavriano had been finally taken by the French,
who then made a combined attack on Volta and. on
Guiddizzolo, but both those attacks were success-
fully repulsed, which enabled the Austrians to retire
• their tnateriel and guns by bridges at or near the
Molino di Volta during the night, and move off
their first army by the same road on the next day.
As we came up to Borghetto heavy banks of
cloud had gathered in the west and lowered heavy
and black over the hills. The bridge of Valleggio
and
its approaches were encumbered with wag.
gnus, through which we passed with difficulty,
while the ascent into the village itself was almost
choked up with
cavalry moving towards Villa-
franca,•of wounded, and artillery with its
head turned towards the bridge of Borghetto. As
we slowly threaded
our way through these ob-
stacles, a tremendous hurricane of wind, the pre-
cursor of the coming
Storm, raised a dark veil of
dust. The sky became completely overcast, and
black as ink. The dust and gravel of the road
rattled furiously in our faces, casting everything
into darkness. The roar of thunder
wasn mingled
in sublime confusion with that of can
which
-appeared to be so close that its reverberations might
be distinguished from that of the thunder that
rolled around us. I thought that the high wind
had brought in the sound of the fight which might
still be proceeding at Cavriano, not knowing that
the French were following us at 20 minutes' dis-
tance on the Strada Cavallara. A tremendous down-
pour of rain inundated me in the Streets of Val-
leggio before I could find refuge in my old. quarters.
Here were visible some of the results of the battle.
Soldiers of every corps and every regiment were
gathered together in the streets ersprengt, or sepa-
rated from their proper positions. The people of
Valleggio were all at their windows or communing
together outside the houses, in spite of the heavy
rain. The storm disappeared as speedily as it had
come on, the sun shone out again with brightness
in the west, and still closer and closer came the
sounds of artillery. It was evident now the enemy
was threatening the tete de pont of Vallewgio. At
all events, Valleggio was not exactly the place to
choose for a night's rest, so, without hesitation, fol-
lowing the example of the Imperial Head-quarters
(we had ridden all
day without food of any kind),
I started from Valloggio
and rode through Ouatderni
to Villafranca, where the
Emperor had already
arrived. There dispositions were speedily wide to
guard the passage of the M. •
mcio, the wandering
soldiers were brought together on the roads,. and
idirected back on Valleggio. Batteries of position

were moved so as to cover Borghetto, and the sth
Corps was ordered to stand fast at Monzambano,
where, as you are aware, there is a bridge over the
Mincio. It was night when I came on to Villafranca,
where the first batches of wounded were beginning
to arrive. An ambulance had been formed at the
railway station, where they continued to arrive
during the night. As it is natural to suppose
those who first came were slightly wounded, but
gradually more severe cases called for attention.
As cart after cart gave up its freight of groaning
victims, these were taken in hand by the doctors,
and carefully attended to. When their wounds
were dressed the sufferers were placed in railway
carriages and transported to Verona, where, in
addition to the great hospital, the convent of the
Jesuits, and other temporary establishments, the
Casino had been filled with beds for their reception
It was half-past seven in the morning of the 25th
when I returned to Verona. As I anticipated, a
sharp contest took place for the possession of Mon-
zambano yesterday. But notwithstanding the
French, the sth Corps preserved that position, while
the head-quarters of Count Schlick stood at
Borghetto. The Allies, as well as the Austrians,
must re-assemble and re-arrange their army, when
doubtless, hostilities will be resumed. There are
here 400 or 500 Piedmontese, and some French
prisoners. What the losses on this side may turn
out to be it is impossible as yet to state with pre-
cision. They cannot be less then,000 or 15,000
men hors de combat. No g were killed.
Among the wounded are Count Panty, slightly ;
Gen. Philipovic.s, Gen. Bailin, and, 1 believe, one or
two others. Several colonels and numbers of officers
have been killed or wounded. Prince C. Windisch-
gratz is dead, as well as Col. Mumm.
I must here correct an error I committed in my
letter of yesterday. I stated that the 2d Corps,
under Prince Edward Lichtenstein, was in rear of
Guiddizzolo yesterday. This was a mistake, as this
corps remained at Mantua, and did not come into
action.

There is no doubt that the Austrian army on the
24th suffered mach inconvenience from the fact that
they were attacked by the French and Piedmontese
three hours sooner than the time fixed by them-
selves for assuming the offensive. Their disposi-
tions, admirably as they may have been made for
an attack, must have been faulty, when it became
necessary to repel an advance of hint enemy. It is
evident also that if the Emperor nded to ad-
vance at nine o'clock in the morning it was because
he knew that his various corps would not be in their
proper positions till that hour. He was therefore,
to a certain extent, "already at six o'clock in the
morning. The 10th and 11th Corps' movements,
which should have turned the French left at Me-
dole, very probably depended upon a calculation of
time, which was part of the Austrian scheme of
attack. The 11th Corps (Weigl) did, I believe, come
in sight of the enemy, but it did so too late to have
any serious effect on the result of the day, while
the 10th Corps seems never to have come up at all.
These facts suggest some reflections. How was it
that the French were ready at six o'clock to make
a combined attack against the Austrians, who, on
their part, had but just taken up positions on the
previous evening ? An easy answer can be given
to that question. No sooner was the first Austrian
battalion out of Yalleggio on the 23d than a balloon
was observed to rise in the air from the vicinity of
Mozambano—a signal, no doubt, for the French in
Castiglione. I have a full conviction that the Em-
peror of the French knew on the evening of the
23d the exact position of every Austrian corps ;
that he made his preparations accordingly ; and
that, on the other hand, the Emperor of Austria
was utterly, unable to ascertain what was the num-
ber or distribution of the forces of the Allies. This,
it may be said, is the result which must be antici-
pated in every military movement on Italian soil.

OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE
OF SOLFEBINO.

The Moniteur of Saturday contains the subjoined
official report, besides the two telegrams from Volta
and Valeggio
Head-quarters, Cavriana, 28th June.
" After the battle of Magenta and the combat of
Malegnano, the Austrians had precipitated their
retreat on the Mincio, abandoning, one after the
other, the lines of the Adda, the Oglio, and the
Chiesa. There was every reason to believe that
they intended to concentrate all their resistance
behind the Mincio, and it was important that the
allied army should occupy, as soon as possible, the
principal points of the heights which extend from.
Lonato as far as Volta, and which forms on the
south of the Lake of Garda an agglomeration of
small hills, in many places very abrupt. The last
reports received by the Emperor Napoleon indi-
cated, in fad, that the enemy had abandoned those
heights, and retired behind the river.
" According to a general order given by the Em-
peror of the French on the evening of the 23d, the
army of the King of Piedmont was to advance on
Pozzolengo ; Marshal Baraguay d'Hilliers, on Sol-
ferino ; Marshal the Duke deMagenta, on Cavriana ;
General Niel, on Guidizzolo ; and Marshal Canro-
bert,on Medola. The Imperial Guard was to march
on Castiglione, and the two divisions of cavalry of
the line to take a position in the plain between Sol-
ferino and Medola. It had been decided that the
movements should commence at two o'clock in the
morning, in order to avoid the excessive heat of the
day.
" Nevertheless, during the 23d, several detach-
ments of the enemy showed themselves on different
points, and the Emperor had received notice of it ;
but as the Austrians were in the habit of making
numerous reconnaissances, his Majesty only re-
garded those demonstrations as a mark of the care
and attention which they give to obtaining infor-
mation and protecting themselves.
" At five in the morning of the 24th, the Em-
peror, who was at Montechiaro, heard the report of
cannon in the plain, and proceeded in all haste to-
wards Castiglione, where the Imperial Guard were
to assemble. During the night, the Austrian army
which had decided on assuming the offensive had
passed the Mincio at Goito, Valeggio, Monzam-
bano, and Peschiera, and again occupied the po-
sitions which it had recently abandoned. This
was the result of the plan the execution of
which the enemy had pursuei from the time
of their leaving Magenta, by retiring slices-
sively from Piacenza, Pizzighettone, Cremona,
Ancona, Bologna, and Ferrara—in a word, by eva-
cuating every, position in order to accumulate their
forces on the Mincio. They had besidesincreased
their army with the greater part of the troops com-
posing the garrisons of Verona, Mantua, and Pes-
chiera ; and it was thus that they were able to
assemble nine corps d'armee, numbering altogether
from 250,000 to 270,000 men, who advanced towards
, the Chiesa, covering the plain and the heights.
This immense force appeared to be divided into two
armies ; that on the right, according to notes found
after the battle on an Austrian officer, was to take
possession of Lonato and Castiglione, and that on
the left to march on Montechiaro. The Austrians
thought that the whole of the allied army had not
yet crossed the Chiesa, and their intention was to
drive it back on the right bank of that river.
" The two armies, on their way one against the
other, met therefore suddenly. Scardely had
Marshals Baraguay d'Hilliers and de M'Mahon
passed Castiglione, when they found themselves in
presence of considerable forces which opposed their
advance. At the same instant, General Niel en-
countered the Austrians near Medola. The King's
army, which was going to Pozzolengo, also met the
Austrians in advance of Rivoltella ; and on his part,
Marshal Canrobert found the village of Castel-
goffredo occupied by the enemy's cavalry.
" All the corps of the allied army being at the
time on their march at a somewhat considerable
distance one from the other, the Emperor first of
all directed his attention to bringing them together,
so that they might mutually support each other.
For that purpose, his Majesty went immediately
to Marshal the Duke de Magenta, who was
on the right in the plain, and who had deployed
Perpendicularly to the road which leads from
Castiglione to Goito. As General Niel did not yet
appear, his Majesty. hastened the march of the
cavalry of the Imperial Guard. and placed it under
the orders of
the Duke de Magenta, as a reserve
to
operate in the ' the right of the 2d corps.
The lain on
t •
The Emperer, at the same time, sent orders to Mar-
shal Canrobert to General Niel as much
support
as possible, whilst recommending him to guard
himself on the right against, an Austrian
to accordingwhich, according
" fromformation given to his Ma-
jesty, was to marchham Mantua on Azola.
\ingbeentakenthe
Ern._
These measures •
peror repaired to the heights,Bin the centre o f the
line of battle, where Marsa araguay d'Hilliers,
too distant from the Sardinian
act in conjunction with it, hadatromy struggle in very
difficult ground against troops which were inces-
santly"
The marshal had neverthelessseiaferri
renewed. to be able to
r 0i s f built.
steep hill on which the village of arrived at the
That village was defended by considerable
cemetery,
entrenched in an old chateau and a large forces,
both of which were surrounded by thick and
great
lated walls. The marshal had already lost a
number of men, and had had more than once to
expose himself by leading on the troops of Bazaine's
and Ladmirault's divisions. Worn out with fatigue
and heat, and exposed to a heavy fire of musketry,