The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-09 00:00:00

TILE WAR IN ITALY.

(From the Times)
The predicted battle between- the Austrian 'in-
vaders and the French and Sardinian defenders of
Piedmont has not yet been fought, and the parties
preserve the relative positions which they occupied
when we last
_epitomized the news of the campaign.
The Austrians are still continuing what the Aus-
trian General properly calls " demonstrations,"
They extended their lines, or pushed forward their
advanced guard, as far as Trino, a few miles beyond
Casale, on the road to Turin, and they have since
withdrawn this movement and fallen back again to
Vercelli, a town which, although in the neighbour-
hood of the threatened fortress of Casale, is some
miles to the north, and away from the river. They
also have intermitted for the oment their attempts
to pass the Po, they have withdrawn the troops
they had thrown across the river, and they have
allowed the Sardinians to seize the few military
stores that had been placed on the southern bank.
A telegram has' also stated that the Austrians have
evacuated Tortona and Voghera. Now, these two
towns are on the southern bank of the Po, and ap-
proximate-closely. to the plain of Marengo, now oc-
cupied in force by the French. Tornona and Vog-
hera are names conspicuous the accounts of the
great battle of Marengo, and on the morning of
that day they were in the possession of the French.
They were in this campaign occupied by the Aus-
trians, who to hold them must have pushed forward
some of their reserves at Pavia and Piacenza, thus
threatening the right flank of the Franco •Sardinian
army, and the communication between Alessandria
and Genoa. The troops withdrawn from Tortona
and Voghera would naturally retire upon Pavia and
Piacenza, and circumstances seem to indicate that
the Austrians anticipate that the fortress of Pia-
cenza, which they have so carefully fortified and
extended, in fraud of that clause in the Treaty of
Vienna which gave them possession only of the little
citadel of the old uufortified town, is soon about to
have its strength tested by a siege.
Still later telegrams, which bring down to the
date of last night such news as Europe is permitted
to receive, do not greatly vary the position of affairs.
It appears that the Austrian troops, which, as we
have above stated, had occupied Vercelli, had
marched towards Gattinari, which is situated some
miles to the north of Vercelli, and on the line of the
river Sesia ; and the information already received
that the Austrians are fortifying their position on
the Sesia is confirmed. The official bulletin from
Turin states also that General Della Marmora has
made the river Dora his strategical line ; g,nd if we
could rely upon this as a fact we might infer from '
it that fears were still entertained for the safety of
Turin, and that the division of the Austrian army
which advanced from the Lago Maggiore, and has
not since been heard of, causes disquietude. It was
along the valleys that lead from the Grand St.
Bernard down to theline of the Dora that Napo-
leon advanced in his campaign of 1800. We can-
not, however, lay any stress upon what may be said
in an official bulletin as to future strategics, for no
General ever yet published th 9 plans of his cam•
paign, except for the purpose of deceiving his
adversary. All that the news from the seat of war
up to last night amounts to is, that the Austrians
are marchin and countermarching on the northern
bank of the 'Po; that they are occupying the line
of the Sesia—a river which flows through the
broadest part of the level plain down into the Po ;
that they are intrenching themselves on the Sesia,
and that they have withdrawn those troops whose
position upon the right flank of the French seemed
likely to bring on a collision near ,the plain of
Marengo.
These small manoeuvres are not very significant
in themselves, for they are capable of various in-
terpretations, and military critics are divided as to
whether the Austrian is concentrating his force for
a great effort, or cautiously withdrawing in retreat.
No doubt, the present position of General Gyulai
is one which, if not of immediate peril, is of great
embarrassment. He has advanced into a country
which has become a swamp, and ''orse than a
swamp, and he has a swollen river between him j
and the hill country, where he might find firm
footing and a strong enemy. It is contrary to the
character of an invader to stand still. Rapid pro-
gress is one of the conditions which he accepts
when he takes upon him that character. If Gyulai
halts long in those rice-fields he must expect to
have his army reduced by ague and dysentery more
certainly than by the sword, and would have no
advantage to show against the loss of his troops,
except some contributions levied from the Sardi-
nian towns, and the satisfaction of encamping upon
the patrimonial possessions of Austria's great
enemy, Count Cavour. All things counsel an early
movement on the part of the Austrians, and there
is a remarkable concurrence of opinion both at
Vienna and Turin that the object of the first blow
is Casale. The Austrians are moving by various
roads upon this point, and that they are as rapidly
as possible pushing up reinforcements and bring-
ing up stores appears sufficiently by the activity
kept up upon the railways in their rear—an
activity which sometimes degenerates into con-
fusion, as may be noted in that terrible accident
which has, on the Verona Railway, exploded am-
munition waggons, and killed and wounded
nearly 150 Austrian soldiers. The position is
very new, and, in a military point of view, very in-
structive. For the first time we see two large
armies encamped in immediate contiguity, and
in possession of all the new facilities which it has
been anticipated will change the art of war. Be-
hind the Austrian lines there is a network of rail-
ways, which keep open a communication with all
Europe, and which can deliver in General Gyulai's
camp all the resources of Austria and Lombardy.
In the same manner steam brings to Genoa and
deposits at the foot of the Cenis all the power of
France, and railways in the rear of the allied
position distribute that power at Genoa, Alessan-
dria, or Turin, and redistribute it from hour to
hour as the exigencies of the war may render
expedient. These two armies ought to have no
difficulty in obtaining the utmost possible con-
centration of military power. There needs be no
intermission in the arrival of men and arms and
provisions and military stores, and of artillery to
any amount. The Generals can play out their
match without being at any trouble about the in-
struments of their game; the board is before them,
and the pieces are at hand. The facilities for the
contest, therefore, are more equal than was calcu-
lated when Austria first appeared as a challenger.
Our correspondent at Vienna calculates the strength
of the Austrian invading army at 120,000, and
from Turin we have an estimate that 80,000
Frenchmen have already reached the Sardinian
States, and that the Piedmontese would be under-
estimated at less thin 65,000 good troops. These
numbers may well incline General Gyulai to caw•
tion and concentration. The country in which he
finds himself is full of historic precedents not en-
couraging to Austrian Generals. He must know all
the details of the campaign of 1796, when the young
General Bonaparte seized upon the Piedmontese
fortresses, and drove the Austrians before him
out of Sardinia and Lombardy ; and General Hess,
at least, can remember the circumstances of that
campaign of 1800, when the First Consul crossed
the Grand St. Bernard, and threw himself between
the Austrians and their communications with Lom-
bardy. The Austrian Generals have, doubtless,
much meditated upon these precedents, which,
although they point to disaster, yet mark that
Austrian sluggishness and French promptitude
were the causes of Napoleon's success ; and these
events of the present moment, read by past lights,
give likelihood to the general expectation that a
battle must be fought either on the plain of Marengo
or under the walls of Casale.

But the Emperor of the French is about on
Tuesday next to set out to take the command of the
army, and in his motley suite will be found chiefs
of all the nationalities. As he goes to make history
he carries also with him his bureau historique, and
we shall, doubtless, then have more important
events to chronicle than those which have yet
occurred. When Louis XIV. set out for the camp
it used to be considered as a proof that matters were
thought to be going well, and that the particular
city then beleagured was in extremity. When the
Emperor Napoleon 111. reaches Genoa we must
expect that it will be to inaugurate his military
career by some great movement decisive of the con-
flict he has thus provoked. The world is waiting
with an eager curiosity to judge of the debut of
this Emperor General, uncertain whether they will
be forced to admire or only tempted to declare that
he had better have stayed at home.