Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1859-05-16
Crossing of the Ticino.


From thr London Tunes. April %
There can be no doubt that On the evening of
Tuesday. the 10Th. the main Austrian army, said
IL he lgoNWo strong crossed the Ticino IN three
great divisions. and invaded the Piedmonteso ter
ritory. Thus began the with which Europe
has been SO long threatened. and of which no man
can prr,lrt tho end. We may now cease from tho
expression of moral and political opinions
Whether Napoleon III. be an ambitious and sub.
tie rotcrtatc. or whether he DO tho champion of
suffering humanity, is matter ct llttlo impor.
tnnce. Whether Austria did isht in sending an
uHimntm 10 Sardinia. whether it was her duty to
wait unil Lord Malmcsburv had made some fresh
prap"ston, md Franco and Rns+a had intrrroscd
another series of quihhles and delays, nre now
matters which wemny rs well trgci. They are
Of ~ lit tc Importance ns the controversy respect
ns til" breach ot the peace "i Amhens. The
great ln which Europe has to consider is. that
France has commenced u war with the aynwed
purpose of tearing up the treaties ct 1878; aud
that n treaty, ar convention. or understanding, ~
in existence between the Western aud Eastern
despolsms Tor the coercion. perhaps tho spnliat"n
ot Germany, and the rcscttlcm"nt Of the Cont
nnnf. Every step on the march Of events must
have die dcrpe.t interest for country like ours,
whirl is the common oljcct or envy and dislike to
the powers that new assume H. remodel the map
of Earopc, Austrin will have To bear the first
shock Of the conflict. France and SnrdniHutc in
lens, take up attitude Of hostility such Aus.
fria observed towards her in the Eastern war
Perhaps indeed. Alexander may so far yield to
the instances 1T his more yindicivc cous"lors ms
to throw away his influence in Germany by nm ac-
tnal invasion VI the Austrian states. To meet
these dangers. Austriu for the first two months Mt
least must trust To herself alone. The Ministers
Of Francis Joseph have. we should think, i"rcseen
and calculated on this necessity. In fact. Count
Boul has said rs much in one ol his notes, md tho
immense preparations the high tone and the
rapid action # the Nicnnesc Cabinet Indicate that
in tho opinion Of it's ruler, Austrn is able to car
ry successful struggle with French and
picdmontc-c armies in Italy. 1t now remains
10 be seen how ar these hopes are well founded,
4 week will determine the nature of the Gang
ragn-whether Austria will maintain the oflcn-
siye contcnt herself with protecting her ltalinn
possessions: whether Generals Hess and Gyului
will march ON Turin aud besicsc Allessnn,ra,
or fall back on the system Of Lombard fortresscs,
which it has been the work of forty years to CON
struct. Two courses open to the Austrian
government. The one is t, do no more than enter
the Picdmontese territory, and thus commit
formal act If war, for the purpose of bringing
matters to crisis. and forcing France and frances
allies to declare themselves This step would not
preclhdc the general plan of tho cnmnnign from
being defensive, the invasion being political and
not IA military movement. The other plan is likely
and an army with proyocations. 1t is Of
course to r'css on with every available battalion
to Turin; to drstroy, if possible. the Sar1inian
army before the French can come up, to crush tho
latter as tirv descend weary and disordered from
the passc, Of the Alps; in fine to carry out snch
campaign as the great Napoleon would have done
if he had l2o,O0D men in line, and his encmy's
capital had been only so miles away.
Whether this bold policy wi be adopted is
moro than We can pretend tosay. The Ausrinns
have shown such contradictory qualities in their
military history that we have means of Judging
how they will act on the present occasion. They
may exhibit the slowncss and pedantrv Of 1896 ur
the energy Of 1919. Another week may them
patrnling rurin.or giving orders for the abandon,
ment of Milan A lew days since they might
have struck heavy blow; but by the Wednesday
before Faster it known Tint the uHimafum
was Ia be presented. and within twenty y-iour hours
the French began to move. Then came the three
days of grace, and consequently the French gain
ed nearly II week To the disadvantage Of their OPP
ponents Yet even now bold General might do
a great deal before sufficient body of French
troops could to the assistance Of the allies.
Between the Austrian frontier and Turin the
country is plain there ARE no obstacles To M
enem,'s march, pnd Victor Emanro, would be un-
der the cruel necessity of abandoning his capitol
or fighting desperate battle with inferior forces
against one of the most completely equipped ar
mics on the Continent. In the event, however, of
such determined tactics, il is probable that the
Sardnians will sacrifice everything to the para
mount necessity Of saving their army. They
would, no doubt, fall back on Alessnndra. and
from this base await the assistance Of the French
troops, who are being rapidly transported to Gc-
nna. We may presume that by this time some
10000 Sardnians are concentrated ut Alessandria,
and that the rest OF the army are retreating before
the Austrians cndcavorng much as possible to
avoid collision. The question Of greatest impor-
tance however. is the movement of the French ar
mics: and here mnst pay n tribute to the ma
ton so lately our ally. Frenchmen may not be
superior to Germans, they certainly not equal
to EngliShmcn in strength endurance, and those
qualities which Courage being supposed equal)
are likely to decide the fate of battles. But in
the great military quality of promptness they are
without equal. The manner in which tho
French troops have been despatched to the Alps
since Good Friday is model for the study of our
offcers The very act Of entering a railway car
riage and disposng of his knapsack and his mus
ket, has been taught the soldier part of his
drill. We may be sure that nothing that energy, |
science and skill can accomplish for the speedy
Of French armies at Turin and Ge-
noa will be neglected. But the difficulties in the
way of the Emperor Napoleons troops are not
few The season is backward Mont Cents IL |
covered with snow The vast army of the French
has been pushed forward without preparation, the |
is deficient, the country they enter J
is poor there is very little Of last years corn to
be had, and this years will not be fit for the har
vest for three months at the least. In this case