The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-29 00:00:00

THE ALLIED ARMIES IN ITALY.

--(From the Times.)
The following letter is by the same able corre-
spondent to whom our readers have hitherto been
indebted for the only account by an eye-witness of
the progress of the Allies. It is amusing to observe
how unexpected the movement of the Austrians in
advance, which led to the late battle, was in the
Allied camp :

" LONATO, JtrNE 22, 11 A.M.
" Well, what was yesterday uncertain is no more
so to-day. The Austrians have retired behind the
Mincio, leaving only patrols and small detachments
on this bank of the river. Now that we are on the
ground which they occupied and can speak with the
people, one can easily ascertain the truth about their
movements. It seems now certain thatit never was
the intention of the Austrians to risk the chances of
war on this side of the Mincio. All they wanted
was to oppose sufficient forces to the allied armies to
retard the march of these latter, to gain time to
withdraw whatever they had of troops and materiel
on the line of the Po, and to mature their own
plans. For this purpose they seem to have sacrificed
about 40,000 men—probably the same corps of
Benedek which was so astonished by the charge of
the Zouaves at Melagnano. This corps, which did
not take part in the battle of Magenta, was, it
seems, pushed forward as a strong arriere-garde,
under the protection of which the troops defeated.
at Magenta and those coming from the more outly-
ing points could retreat by the southern road to
Mantua. After the rude attack at Melagnano this
arriere-garde contented itself with destroying the
brides over the Adda and the Chiese, and thus re-
tarding the progress of the allied armies. Their
own retreat was determined by the progress of our
troops. As these latter advanced the Austrian
arriere-garde vanished, and nothing was seen of it
except their camping ground. It was only in the
north, where Garibaldi's corps was always in ad-
vance of the great army, that they showed, and
near the Chiese even stood on the defensive, but
there they also gave way when the avant-garde of
the allies came up. Whether those troops with
whom Garibaldi had his skirmish on the 15th inst.
formed part of the great arriere-garde, or were
merely the garrisons of the northern towns col-
lected in a body, I could not make out from the
contradictory statements ; so much is however cer-
tain that the Austrian troops withdrew sooner from
the main road to Verona than from that to Goito
and Mantua. Already on Wednesday last, that is
just a week ago, the railway bridge, as well as that
over which the main road goes to Peschiera, were
blown up, while the great arriere-garde, or, at any
rate, part of it, was still at Bozzolo on the Melia,
on Friday last. From that day till the day before
yesterday they were still hovering about the plain
of Montechiaro as if regretting to leave it. It was
in the afternoon of that day that they finally re-
treated on all the line. Most of them retreated over
the two bridges of Ponti and Monzambano, pro-
bably because it was their most direct line of retreat.
" This movement of retreat was better executed
than one might have supposed after the bad general-
ship shown in the battle of Magenta ; but it was
not very difficult:to make a good retreat when it
never was in the plan of the attacking army to fol-
low close—and that for more than one reason,
which will probably become self-evident by and by.
All that was wanted was to gain the upper road,
near which likewise the railway line leads, and to
clear everything north of that as far as the Lake
of Garda. It was for this purpose that an oblique
line was taken, the left wing pushed forward, and
right wing always kept somewhat in the rear. This
forward movement of the Allies explains the back-
ward movement of the Austrians, wbo, pressed on
their right by the advance_of our left, gave way and
retired sooner from that side. The day before yes-
terday our real advance against the position on. the
Chiese began, and on that day they left definitively,
for the Mincio, carrying with them the rifled can-
non which they took from the French in the fight
at Ponte de Magenta and 45 prisoners. Yesterday
afternoon Lonato and Castiglione were occupied by
our troops, and the head-quarters transferred to
Castenedolo. This morning we pushed in advance

to Desengano and the Lake and in the direction of
the passages of the Mincio. All that remains of the
enemy on this side of the river are a few patrols,
who roam about, bat of course withdraw at our ap-
proach. It was against one of these that a few can-
non shot were sent yesterday. To-day the Berssg-
heti and a Sardinian patrol fell in with another
Austrian patrol, took four prisoners, and killed
their officers.
" Before retiring into Mantua the Austrians de-
stroyed the bridge over the Oglio at Pozzolo, over
which the great road from Mantua to Cremona,
Pizzighetone, Piacenza and Pavia leads.
" Thus the Austrians are fairly in their, as the
German papers I am told call it, impregnable
quadrildtere, and now is to come their turn for

showing their plans. Part, at any rate, of this
plan is evidently an aggressive movement of some
kind or other in our rear. Its first symptoms
became visible just when they retired behind the
Mincio, and, as it is ascertained that they have con-
siderable masses of troops concentrated about the
Stelvio Pass, it is by no means impossible that they
may intend to come down upon Milan or Brescia,
while at the same time they debouch from behind
the Mincio. Well, if they do that, they will give
a fine opportunity to the Emperor Napoleon to
show how much he has inherited of the military
genius of his uncle.

" As soon as one abandons the idea of consider-
ing the quadrilatere as another Sebastopol, where
an enemy can concentrate all the forces he can dis-
pose of, and if one makes an offensive plan in which
the quadrilatere comes in only as part of the
whole, thert one launches into a field of conjecture
which has no end. For all amateurs of real cam-
paigning it would be desirable to see the Austrians
adopt some plan of that kind, for then the second
phase of this campaign, which promised nothing
but dull siege work, enlivened, perhaps, by divers
cunning new devices, would become extremely in-
teresting. There would be then two armies against
each other in the open field, each thinking itself a
match for the other, while hitherto this has never
been the case. When the Austrians rushed into
Piedmont the Allies thought themselves no match
for them. When the allied armies advanced, the
Austrians began to think that they were no match
for the Allies in the open field, and they retired to
their fortresses.

"Hitherto only some of the corps francs have
shown themselves in the mountains, and Garibaldi
has been sent against them. The movement must
take more shape before one can judge about its real
importance. In the meantime every one delights
in campaigning in such a beautiful country, and is
in admiration of the views which the hills to the
south of the Lake offer. From every one of them a
magnificent panorama opens out over the range of
the Tyrolese Alps on one side, and over the plain of
Montechiaro and down to Brescia and Mantua on
the other side. But the crown among them all
belongs without contradiction to the Castle-hill of
Lonato. The range of hills which skirt the southern
shores of the Lake follows in their direction more
or less that of the Lake itself. Every.cape which
you see on the south-western and southern shores
becomes the starling point for one of these
successive ranges. The first starts from the
promontory of San Biagio with a bold rock. The
mound rises more gently from Disengano, and the
two almost meet, leaving an opening, where the road
passes to Peschiera. The castle of Lonato is on the
abrupt termination of the first range. The view
from it is so much the more striking as you don't
suspect it. Coming from the Chiese, which you pass
at Ponte di San Marco, the gentle slopes of the
hills come gradually nearer and nearer, looking like
the last spurs of the Alps which you see towering
in the distance. Yoioso little suspect what awaits
you that your first question is how far
.you have to
go to see the lake, which you know is not many
miles distant. You are told to go to the castle hill,
on which you see the ruins of an ancient keep, such
as are almost-in every one of the Lombard towns.
You make your way through a number of little
ruined gateways and mount over the successive lines
of circumvallations until you come to the top, and
you have before a panorama such as you rarely see.
You see in the foreground before a semicircle of
hills gently descending towards the lake. You would
almost imagine it an amphitheatre of giants, made
. by nature for a great naval combat to be fought on
the lake. The illusion is so much the greater as the
terraces, which were made for the purposes of cul-
tivation, represent perfectly the steps. And beyond
this amphitheatre stretches out the blue lake, until
it loses itself between the high mountains, which,
beginning from Salo, descend in true Alpine style
to
the edge of the water, leaving scarce room for
the little villages which nestle at their feet. To
your right you see the peninsula of Sermione run-
ning out into the lake, and its churches and spires
contrasting with the blue water. Further
you look over
on the lower range of hills,
to Peschiera, where ou can see, with a
glass, the Austriansgoodbusy throwing up new
works, while to your right you can follow the whole
range down to Castiglione. And all over this space
of miles and miles are scattered houses, villages,
steeples, forts in ruins, and camps of the allied

troops.
" It would take pages to describe this panorama,
and yet the description would never Come up to the
reality. If you want to form an idea of it, I should
recommend you to go and look at Turner's Italy,
the picture with the two stone pines. Only imagine
in the middle of the picture the blue lake. Even
the two pines are there, only not quite in the fore-
9Tound, but in the neighbourhood of the lake. It is,
in one word, the poetry of an Italian landscape
Which you must imagine, and instead of the allego-

rical figures in Turner's pictures you must substi-
tute Bersaglieri and Piedmontese soldiers in their
gray coats. I nevdr knew what Turner was until I
looked from the Castle of Lonato on Lake Garda.

" But even for those in the allied armies who
don't take much interest in the picturesque, the
hills about here have a great interest,for they are
just as important as military positions as they are
picturesque. One cannot enough wonder that the
Austrians could resist the temptation to hold them.
At Lonato they made some preparations, cut down
the trees on both sides of the road, threw up earth-
works in the beginning of the village, but left the
position sooner than that of Montechiaro.
"I told you a few dap ago that some guns were
sent to Salo, when Garibaldi was still there to an-
swer the of the steamers. The answer was
satisfactory, for three days ago one was hit and
foundered, on which the others moved off. It was
all one could do to prevent the volunteers from get-
ting into boats and trying to take the others.
" To-day the general head-quarters are to be
transferred to Montechiaro.
" CASTIGLIONE, JUNE 23.

" When there are few or no enemies you must
expect :little fighting, and no relations of deeds
of heroism. All that occurs in the fighting line is
the meeting now and then of patrols or little par-
ties going out for a reconnaissance. There was one
of this kind this afternoon between a detachment of
French Lancers and an Austrian post they fell in
with at Solferino, on the road to the Mincio bridge
at Valeggio. The troop which took pait in it has
not returned yet, but as it was alone without in-
fantry and artillery the whole probably consisted
in the exchange of pistol shots. Although more
open as regards trees, the undulations of the ground
are so varied and the windings of the road so sud-
den in many places, that with every precaution it
is extremely difficult to explore the country, conse-
quently the meeting of two hostile patrols is more
frequent than such an accident would be in a more
open country.
" Castiglione, as you can see by the map, lies
just on the edge of the hilly country to the south of
the lake, Like all Italian towns, it has its old wall
of enclosure and its ruined citadel, now supporting
vines and ivy. From the top of it you get a very
good look far down towards the Mincio, and in
clear days towards the south-east as far as Mantua.
All this hilly country seems to be formed by the
deposits of the lake at a time when the whole plain
of Upper Italy formed, perhaps, part of the lake.
There is not a trace of rock, although the hills on
the edge towards the plain cannot be less than 500
to 600 feet in height, and at some points I should
say rather more than that. They are an agglome-
ration of gravel and smooth round stones, mostly
granite and trap, of the size of a 12-pound shot.
Even before you get to the hills you see of what
they consist, for all the buildings and pavements in
the neighbourhood are made of these stones. Most
of the hills are coveredwith vines,which are trained
up to small trees in the usual Upper Italian style,
while here and there you see the unusual sight of
a smooth green hill used as pasture ground.
" The more you look at this hilly country the
more you are struck by the advantages which it
offers for defensive warfare. As far as the eye
reaches you see one military position after the other.
The roads winds along them in most capricious and
sudden turns, so that you never can be sure of what
you have before you. All the outer edge is now in
our hands ; we are fairly established there. It is
curious to watch the passage of the army, this mov-
ing city through the country, how it inspires life
into the dullest Italian village, and leaves it, if
possible, more dead than before. While the passage
or stay lasts the native population seems altogether
to disappear, so small become its proportions, and
when you return to the place after a few hours,
while the camp fires are perhaps still alive, you feel
almost oppressed with the stillness. As a general
rule Italian cities as well as villages seem always
far too large for their population, which arises from
the great size of the houses. n the space where
here one family lives, at least three or four families
would be living in other parts of Europe. The
practical turn of mind of the Italian peasant shows
itself strongly on the occasion of the passage of the
allied armies. There is a good deal to gain, and it
is wonderful how vendors of wine, spirits, cheese,
sausages, &c., appear whenever the army stops for
more than a day at the same place. The whole
country population around seems to be taking to
trading, and brings up whatever it can collect at
home of eatables and drinkables. As the detached
farms include usually a good deal of land, and em-
ploy a good many labourers, engaged by the year,
besides a number of occasional ones during the busy
season—for instance, the present harvest time—
there is always a supply of provisions at hand,
which is now sold at great advantage to the soldier.
"For the rest, it is impossible to imagine a war-
fare which affects the countryman less than the
present. There is no trace of those abandoned
houses, interrupted labours, &c., which we usually
couple with the idea of war. A good deal, of
course, in this is due to the circumstance that there
is no fighting, but still there is such a feeling of
security about themselves and their property, such
a confidence that nothing will be done to harm
them, that you see not only on the more outlying
fields, but also in those dos?, to. the mainroad, men
and women going on with their work as if the road
was made on purpose for the passage of armies, and
it was a daily occurrence.
"It is true that the strictest orders are given
against all requisitions, and whatever is wanted of
wood, straw, hay, &c., is paid for, or a bond given,
which will be taken into account against the taxes.
" Nothing more has been heard, as far as I
know, of the Austrian column which was to have
made the diversion on our left flank and rear. Both
the roads so laboriously constructed by the Aus-
trians over the Stelvio and Toreale passes have been
made impassable, several of the galleries which sup-
ported them havingbeen blown up. Of course there
remain still a number of little passes, but these are,
even in the best season, only practicable for small
bodies of infantry, and they are of so limited a
number that they can be easily watched; so I
don't apprehend much from that side.
" The Austrians have burnt the bridges over the
Oglio, not only at Bozzolo but likewise at canetto,
and their patrols remain only on the left bank.
The first of these two bridges has not been burnt
down to the water's edge, the piles remaining six
or seven feet above it, so that it will require little
work to open the road from Cremona to Mantua."

HEALTH OF LONDON DURING THE
WEEK.

(From the Report of the Registrar General.)

The total deaths in London, which had fallen to
913 in the previous week, rose to 970 in the week
ending last Saturday. In the ten years 1849-58 the
average number of deaths in the weeks correspond-
ing with last week was 1,000; but as the deaths
that are returned for last week occurred in a popu-
lation that has increased, they can only be compared
with the average raised in proportion to that in-
crease—namely, with 1,100. The comparison shows
that the deaths of last week were less by 130 than
the number which would have occurred if the
averagehad pratreevoafiled.mortality for the third week of
June
The returns of
shown that the season now passing is for London
the healthiest in the circle of months ; but there is
already indication that the complaint peculiar to
summer, and which is so fatal to children, has begun
w
to prevail. Diarrhcea was fatal in two previous
weeks in six and 20 cases respectively
ailpectiv xeelycp
;elt fiastvwe oc-
curredeek
the
34,
fide h
these a child died at 8,
cr
numberto
ch
irlodsree
n t o.
eßird-street, Marylebone, from " choleraic diarrhoea."
Twenty-three deaths occurreacoiduselraat:ste Southwark. u
ri.e a showeekrt
time c from small-
pox,ort three of which, on the 18th and 19th
inst.
Ano-
therwereino death
eeafatmh iflryoamt 3t, he Chasralmese-
time previously in the same family. Scarlatina was
fatal in 39 cases, diphtheria in 12. rive children
and two adults died from syphilis ; nine infants from
inanition and want of breastmilk ; also 17 who had
been born prematurely. Five persons were regis-
tered who had attained the age of 90 years or up-
wards, one of whom was a woman, 98 nears old,
and there was also a centenarian, the widow of a
labourer, who died on the 20th inst., at 1, White-
hind-alley, Southwark, and whoSe age is stated to
have been 105 years.
Last week the births of 936 boys and 829 girls—
in all 1,765 children—were registered in. London.
In the 10 corresponding weeks pf the years 1849-58
the average number was 1,555.
At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean
height of the barometer in the week was 29.840 in.
The barometer rose from 29.67 in. on Tuesday to
29.97 in. on Friday, being the lowest and highest
readings in the week. The mean temperature of
the week wEis'6o-deg., which is just ecr,:ial to the
average of the same week in 43 years (as deter-
mined by Mr. Glaisher). The highest arid lowest
readings of the thermometer in the sbLade were
obtained on the same day—viz., Saturday, and
were respectively 78.8 deg. and 43.5 i leg. The
extreme range of temperature of that da:r, and also
of the week, was therefore 35.3 deg. The mean
daily range was 20 8 deg. The difference between
the mean dew-point temperature and air tempera-
ture was 9.3 deg. The mean degree of the humidity
os the air was 72 ; the humidity on Thrirsday was
only 60. The mean temperature of th.re water of
the Thames was 64.8. The wind blew most fre-
quently from the south-west. The rain.. measured
was 0.16 in., which fell on Monday.