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

IP LE HEAD-QUARTERS OF THE
ALLIED ARMIES IN ITALY.

We (Times) have been favoured with the follow-
ing letter from the same correspondent who has
already described the principal events of this cam-
paign- :

" BERGAMO, JUNE 14.
" You will, of course, ask yourself what I can
have to do in this rather out of the way place. The
answer is simply that I wished to have a look at
the Italian movement in its everyday garb. On all
the line where the great army of the Allies passes
it spreads such a halo around it that everything else
is aiade obscure for miles, and you see nothing but
this colossal symbol of force and determination.
Nor can it do otherwise ; there is a grandeur in the
very sight of. a large armed force which imposes
and subdues. How much more must this be the
case when it comes with the prestige of victory and
in the name of freedom. It must eclipse everything

else. Besides, in this special case one must remem-
ber that the initiative, long before the war even
began, was taken out of the hands of the people.
It was in order to regulate the Italian move-
ment, and not to let it run wild, as it did in
1848, that the two Sovereigns have put them-
selves at the head of it. They kept down sys-
tematically all fermentation, prevented agita-
tion, and the people, trusting to their powerful
interference, 'gave scarcely any sign of life while
their fate was being decided. One must keep this
always in mind, for had it not been for the assur-
ances from France and Sardinia we should have seen
a repetition of many of the scenes of 1848. As it
was, the people had not trusted in vain, for town
after town and district after district were rid of the
Austrians by the gradual advance of the Allies, and
without any danger or sacrifice on their part.
There were, indeed, numbers of youths who, even
before the war broke out, went over to Piedmont
and enlisted, but this was the act of individuals as
such, and not of the people collectively.
" These latter had hitherto only had occasion to
show their spirit in most parts by enthusiastic dis-
plays of welcome and gratitude towards the Allies.
Wherever, therefore. the Allies have passed on their

line of advance hitherto, the Italian movement is
only as it were beginning.
" The slopes of the mountains to the North form,
however, an exception ; here the popular element
was called early into play. Garibaldi, the renowned
partizan chief of Italy, was sent over, long before
the allied armies moved, to rouse the population of
the hills, and to drive out the Austrians with their
assistance. With a body of 4,000 or 5,000 men,
among whom was a large number who had come
over from Lombardy, Garibaldi was the representa-
tive, as it were, of the popular element ; his mission
being to make a diversion on the flank of the armies
which still occupied the country in firm, it could
only be accomplished by the assistance of the people.
"Here, then, if anywhere in Lombardy is, for the
moment, the place to see whether an Italian move-
ment, which, like every other, must imply risks and
sacrifices, exists or not. It has not only been left to
itself, but stimulated to show itself. Remember
now the facts which tell more than anything else.
Before the allied forces stirred from the Po, Gari-
baldi with his troops was at Varese, between
the Lago Maggiore and Como. Before they had
crossed the Sega he had gone to Como, before the
Allies entered Milan he was at Lecco, before they
stirred from Milan he had entered Bergamo, and
while they were crossing the Adda he was already
in Brescia. That all this did not happen without
vicissitudes and losses is natural, but this does not
impair the great fact.
" No doubt, to the boldness and resources of the
commander and the bravery of his troops this suc-
cess is due in the first instance. There was always
an apprehension abroad that the Italians would not
fight very desperately. The bravery of the regular
Piedmontese army of course no one doubted, but
the volunteers had a rather dubious renown from
1848, when with some brilliant exceptions they did
not show much fight. Garibaldi's troop formed
then one of these exceptions, and certainly the
pacciatori delli Alpi keep up the renown of their
chieftain. To any commander, but above all to the
leader of light troops like Garibaldi's, the confi-
dence of the soldier is one of the most necessary
qualifications. The leader of the Cacciatori delli
Alpi possesses this to an incredible degree ; he
seems to know how to inspire every one with kind
obedience and unbounded trust in his skill and luck.
Hence it arises that all the more enthusiastic of the
youths, many among them of the best Italian
families, have entered his troop, which, unlike other
volunteer corps, may be looked upon rather as a
corps d'elite. The result of this is that, if anything,
too great daring is their fault.
" To such a body of men it was alone possible to
undertake the hazardous mission which it received to
throw itself on the right flank of the enemy on the
slopes of the Alps, and rouse the population in
those parts. If the people did not rise, and if the
Austrians sent an overwhelming force, there was no
outlet but to surrender or be killed. The Aus-
trians did send, as you know, General Urban with a
division to catch Garibaldi, and he would possibly
have succeeded in forcing his troops to with-
draw into Switzerland and be disarmed had it not
been for the good spirit of the population. As it
was, Garibaldi kept him back by continual skir-
mishes and clever marches, until the advance of the
allies forced him to withdraw. The whole expe-
dition of the Cacciatori was rather one of those
adventurous en'erprises in the style of the middle
ages than of modern wartire, and t will read a! most
like a romance when all its details are known.
Aided by the hardiness and the spirit of his troops
Garibaldi was able to realize the mission of light
troops to perfection. Now on the flank, now on the
rear, now in front of the enemy, and appearing on
points where he was least expected, lie owed to this
mobility his escape from the superior forces which
were sent against him.
" But all this would, perhaps, have as little availed
him as the bravery of his troops had he not found
the people ready to side with him. He had worked
here in 1849, and his name was well known ; it was
one of the few which had come out without a stain
from that war. He was therefore the man for the
work.
" If you look at the map, you will find on the
northern slopes of the Alps a number of larger or
smaller towns scattered about, with a population
ranging from 5,000 to 40,000. Most of these towns
are of old origin, and not few among them have
played a considerable part in history, as the heads of
one or another confederation of Lombard towns.
Although centuries have passed since they lost their
independence, so strong seems the vitality of free-
dom that the traditions of it are religiously kept up,
and a spark of the spirit which once animated
them has survived centuries of subjection. It was
natural to suppose that, if anywhere, here one
could reckon on supporters of the Italian cause.
" Nor was this supposition wrong ; for they who
would have stirred sooner had they not had orders
to remain quiet lost no time in answering the signal
for rising. As soon as Garibaldi's troops showed
themselves in the neighbourhood of one of these
towns the Austrians thought it time to quit, in order
not to expose themselves to be attacked in a town in
revolt. Arms, of the existence of which no one
knew, were rapidly forthcoming. A national guard
was immediately organized, barricades thrown up
to resist, in case the Austrians tried to return,
volunteers were enrolled, means of subsistence as
well as of transport organized for the friendly troops,
and information collected about the movements of
the Austrians. And this spirit was not displayed in
one town or two, but in all without exception.
,‘ There was but one class which, as a body, did
not join in this general movement, and this was the
clergy, which is strong in numbers and influence
over the peasantry in the villages. This was espe-
cially the case at Bergamo, whichan in
istchreedsiebalte ofanancient bishopric and possesses
num-
ber of convents. Too weak to make head against
the stream, most of its
member apparently follow
it, but in reality exert their influence secretly
against it. As this is known, the feeling
against.
the whole class is very strong in the towns, and if
ever the movement should take a revolutionary
turn it will end ill for them.
The peasantry in the villages, although unmis-
takeably worked upon by the priests, have shown
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