Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1851-03-15
The Bridge of Lodi.

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The victory of Napoleon upon the bridge of
Lodi may be considered among the most re.
markable achievements that distinguished his
military career He was at that period in his
9th year, and had but recently received his
commission az tommander-in-chief Of the az.
my cfItaly. Within the brief space Of thirty
days from the opening of this, his first cam.
paign, be had defeated the Austrans at Mon.
tcnot,e, Milesimo and Mondovi, and compel
led them to evacuate Piedmont, and retire to
the opposite bank of the Adda The AIDA is
arapid and deep river, and is crossed at the
town of Lodi by wooden bridge called the
"Bridge of Lodi" On the left bank of this
river the Austrians, under the command of
Beaulieu, veteran of TO- halted and posted
themselves in all their strength to arrest the
progress of the victorious Napoleon. They
planted thirty pieces of artillery upon the
bridge, and stationed $4,000 infantry and 400
cavalry upon the ground to act in effective CO.
operation. With such formidable means of
defence, nothing but instant death appeared to
await any demonstration on the part of the
French to force the passage of the bridge. Ma
poleon reached Lodi in the afternoon of the
10th of May, 1896, attended by his best gen.
erals and choicest troops, and without hcsita-
ton Immediately resolved to assail the Austrian
position. A few moments antecedent he de.
livered the following laconic address to his SOL
diers "Frenchmen ! here is starvation, there
is the cnemy-beyond him plenty. March!"
His cavalry were ordered to cross at place
where the AIDA was said to be fordable, and
fall upon the Austrian flank; meanwhile Bona
parte, at the head of 5000 chosen grenadiers
under the shelter of the walls Of the town,
waited, until the appearance Of the cavalry,
who had crossed the ford, had disquieted the
Austrian flank; at this critical moment word
of command from Bonaparte brought the gren-
adiers upon the bridge; they rushed forward
with loud shouts of Viue la Republique, but
their appearance was the signal for the OPEN
ing of the Austrian artillery upon their ranks.
The vollies which issued from these field pie
ces were most terrific. At one time, the
French grenadiers unable to resist the dread
ful storm, appeared for an instant to hesitate,
but Lannes, Bonaparte and Berthier hurried to
the head of the column, and by their pres.
ence gallantly renewed the resolution of the
soldiers, and carried the bridge. The artillery
men were quickly bayonetted and the Austrian
army put TO flight, losing in their retreat up
ward Of twenty guns, and thousand prison.
err, and perhaps two thousand more in wound.
ed and slain. 1t has been said that no praise
was more grateful to the ear of Napoleon than
that which characterised him as ahe of Lodi's
Bridge"
This celebrated bridge crosses the AIDA at
the town of Lodi; it is five hundred feet in
length, and built entirely of oak, and is sup
ported by forty two sets Of tressels. The
railing which fianks its sides is rather low, be-
ing only two rails high. The brid se has no
curve or arch, and is level enough for the pas
sage of railroad. With the exception of the
middle portion of it, which was destroyed in
the Italian revolution of l848, the bridge re-
mains in its original condition, entire. 1t is
let by contract to Signor Giuseppe Pogliana,
who pays sixteen hundred dollars per annum
for it, and he collects from every pedestrian
one cent, and from every carriage or other ve-
hicle sixteen cents, toll. ss
The bridge of Lodi is wellregulated and
gravelled, and forms a very pleasant promo
made. On holydays it constitutes the fayorite
resort of the people The country along the
banks OF the river is very beautiful, and the
air is always moved by fresh winds. The AIDA
~ very swift river, and runs with strong
current; afteraa rain storm it swells and be-
comes quite deep; On such, occasions its depth
would average twenty feet.sAs large stone
statue of "Saint Giovanni Nepomiceno' stands
upon the Lodi side of the bridge. This#saint
was, and is still, the protector Of the river Adda,
On the day of the battle the canonade was1o
furious that the saint could not protect even
his own statue from destruction. 1t was
knocked down, had it's head knocked of, one
arm badly fractured, both legs broken, besides
sustaining several severe contusons on the
e.. ho fof xa,o
persons collected the limbs, united them to the
BODY, and restored the statue to its old place.
Upon the opposite bank of the bridge, where
the Austrians were engaged, resides the toll
gatherer, Sig. Pogliani. Here stand five or
six small low stone houses and an old stone
tower in the middle, with a tall lightning rod
rising above its top. These old buildings still
bear the marks of the terrible scenes through
which they passed. Even the sacred effigy of
the Virgin Mary did not escape the fire; it was
pierced in two places by musket balls.
In passing over the bridge 1 counted the
number of steps, and found them to be (from
embankment to embankmenD two hundred
and sixty; as did so, pictured to myself, how
fearful these steps must have been, when Ia
ken in the very face of the laundering dischar-
aes of the Austrian artillery. But the genius
Of Bonaparte triumphed over every opposition
and bore his advancing legions in triumph
through the storm.
Il appears to have been the settled convic.
ton Of this great commander, that bold and
decisive movements in military operations
were conducive, in the end, to the economy OF
life in army. We have practical exempllfl-
cation Of this theory, not only at Lodi, but
likewise in every important engagement that
distinguished his extraordinary career. The
remarkable words uttered by him in riding
along the ranks Of his army on the eve OF the the
battle Of Jenna, can never be forgotten: my
Children" said he, "you must not fear death
len soldiers brave DEATH they drive him into the
ranks Of the enemy"