New-York daily tribune., 1859-07-08
THE FACTS RESPECTING THE AUSTRIAN
OCCUPATION OF THE LOMELLINA.
r,oen ON owD Correspondent.

/ have lust returned from an excurslen through
a part Of the eastern provinces Of Piedmont, which
have been the victims Of the late Austrian occupa-
ton The impression left MON my mind by two
days ride through this scene of devastation will De
strong enough 10 last me all my lifetime. My road,
starting at Noyars, took me by way Of Vigevano as
far o. Garlasco and then back again by Nor
tara. The frst object that caught my eye after
having left NOysIa, wos line OF iortihcatlons
which extended along the whole rOsd as far as Vge-
vsno and is col tnued from there, as am reliably
informed, down to the junction Of the Iicino with
the Po, and from that point along the last-named
riyer ND as far as ValeDza. Ii forms regular IN
trepched camp, provided with all the apparatus of
modern ortifcatoDs- forts, bastlOns, par
apets platforms fox batteries mines, and even case
mates for shetering the troops, surrounded by
ditch IL feet broad and deep, running almost par
allel with the course of the river, fronting toward
the west, and running out from the banks of the
Ticno, about 2 or miles on the average, and an
closing a space of about the size of Staten Island.
Within this space and outside of it, within gun-shot
range, as far as my eye could reach, on both sides
of the road, every trace of cultivation had slmos;
surface of the country has been entirely changed
by the leyeIng of rising grounds, and the erection
OF artificial bigbts; but everywhere, every vestige
of vegetation had been destroyed, and where yodr
eve was once greeted by the fresh green of the
meae ows, by waving rice and wheat telds, by the
vine clustering round the mulberry tree, IT meets
now with nothing but the dreary gray of the naked,
hard stamped earth fields laid waste, and the stiff
rectangular forms of the bulwarks, with not vegeta
ton enough to feed even goat-in short, scene
that reminded me Of the excayated cities of the
dead in the East
This rtupendous work. both Of destruction and
fertilization, was executed, not by the Austrians
themselves, but, under their command and guid-
snce, by the inhabitants OF these unhappy districts.
The whole male population was employed during
thI ty five days in compulsory service to trans
form their own fields into bitches and ramparts.
In the district of VigevanO alone, 1000 persons
were engaged in this work, during FIVE weeks, oil
dsy and part Of the night. Their taskmasters paid
them Of sc. day, but the wages had to be raised
by the common councils Of the neighbOring towns
and villages. ] am told that the damage done to
the fields and harvests near NigeyanO amounts to
500, 900, and have seen IN the same town the
accounts Of Il disbursements OF the wages, which
amount to &1OO OOe. All this does not include the
heavy contributions which were levied by the In
yaders in the shape of yctuAls and other supplies.
Il
itapts in a state of stupefed resignation to their
fate where | had expected the rage of despair.
But even the peasants, who, after their five weeks
restless toll to which they were literally driven by
the bayonet looked wan and baggard as the
shadows in Dante's Inferno, exhibited IN word aud
action a sullen Indifferent mood, as 1t their helds
and gardens bad been swallowed ey an earthquake
or some other natural phenomenon, aganstwhch "
would be useless to vent ones passions. Commu-
th. Ifal,a
little disposition on their part To converse on the
visitation which had been inflicted upon them; but
in all those instances in which l could overcome
their moody reserve aud get them TO speas, they
descanted on their misf0rtunes with an envlaoe
philosophical equanlmity, just Ne II all their h&'d.
ships did not concern them at ALL bUt had happeRed
TO some other people far away and long ago. L
could not help admiring the good com Don sense
and stoical fortitude of mind with which these
generally very igDOrant-people appreciated the
conduct and discussed the merits of their spoilers.
That the foreign army had made tie most OF the
existing usages of war, living upon the country,
leyying contributions, aud even destroying the fields
for the sake of the iortifcatons was not what they
complained of: what they denounced WAS the entire
absence of any plan and system in the Austrian
requisitons the insole1t, overbearng department
of the officers and the lOoseness of the discipline
amoug the soldiers, Wh0 were lelt to rimmage and
pilier TO their hearts content.
BY all account,-and this Interrogation has since
been confirmed by Conversations with Austrian
prisoners with whom had occasion 10 converse
there prevailed an utter cOnusiOl IN the Austrian
conmlssariat Throughout the whsse time OF the oc-
cupaton. There seems TO have been no fixed,
definite rule who was 10 preside over the imposi
ton of the contributions, whether the commissarat
of the army, the commanders OF the corps, or
the subordinate officers, in proportion To the num-
Der of their men quartered upon the seVersl towns
1nfa Of Y1,.h n.nfs
10 was quite unavoidable that the subordipetes, in
their uncertainty whether they would be prov lded
for from above should secure their share OK their
Owl hook, while this share was already Included
in an imposition laid upon the whole district by the
superior commanders. AS one of the Austrian Of
fcers themselves is said 20 have described IT, this
systeIn of yictuallDg was an " lneXtrlcatle hurry
T" bury of orders, counter. orders and disorders.
have been shown at Nigeyano the respective orig
inal orders issned by the Austrian officers on May
-, by which j, is established TO certainty that
the same set OF soldiers was provided FOR by three
different contributions when we're levied on the
came day by three different military suthorities;
and what little chance of order was left was 90
tifely removed b. the continual dslocations OF the
troops, and the eternal marching and counter.
marching they kept up from beginning To end.
Whenever they left place, they took tue whole
uneoDsumed balance of the provisions along with
them, no doubt stimulated by the traditional at
tucbment of the Austrian soldier 10 his BrOGVGgSa,
and by the very natural fear that the place I" which
they were directed night already BE- exhausted BY
their predecessors. The towns and the surround
ing country had, in such cases, to furnish every
thing they possessed in the shape of wagons. carts
horses, mules, bags barrels, aud drivers to carry
the provisions after their departing guests and Of
course great many Of the conyeysnces snd ami
hnals have s'iil to hud their WAY back TO their
ers