New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-03-04
EU II O Z +.
-, .,,sTpI.y HOLD on ITALY.

N,l,siuo. Mcpteros,e AID Mco5o'i. iuficed 70
~<ro,.r he ulole Of Piedmont tr1 LOnssr5y.
~. s.l.u,x, sIv~esd without rs.,ta1ce aa,il
turrea. The walls Of ysstaa arrested .s,a, sna
tol TIE greatest general sf III age pibe E'h as
10 esssssr this Obstacle. Tee whole see'll
pvt Of tie brst esmrsigo ofTtaly turns upon 40
conquest Of Nsn.ns- Rvoh, Css'ghohe' Afe'"e,
ssa the msseh ttrOsgb the Brenta Vs4eJ' ar q
ssbSr5issfe 10 that grand object Twice VA y 'P''
Goa arrested By Iortreos; the trss instance '"
M..tsa- Dsuzie being the second. hslo'7oD
s.su YER, web that asates vas the key o. lay.
AFTER be once 20; hold gift, be never p'''ea VIII
i s.ss he parted with lis crown ara De '"sy
ever Italy was Beger ,erieu1iy erdsnsered bh
tAep.
Prom The geographical eonfsurst'on Of Itsly, IL
4; dear n At Whichever power car bod the Northern
.ort;en. the Calls CissIpins Of The ROnsos, tha.
na,et rubs in al Italy. The s.sin Of tie 20 has
ever been the battlefield in which the fate. Of TIE
xsipsula were decided. From M,ngDs,o and
Psvis, through Tam, Ar.ole, Riyol, NoSi and
MsrsBso, down 10 Cusiozzs and No7ara, ell the de-
sisiye struggles for mastery in Italy have been
fosfht here. II is quite DAtgrsL. French or Ger
nxn, whoever drives bis oppooent from the val
ly Of the Pc isolstes him from the lJog stretched
peninsula, and isolstes that penin,ula from iEs a.
ms. Reduced toin own resources, this pshinsgla,
he least populated snd least civilized portion Of
Itsiy. is soon subdued Now, 10 this basin Of the
Pc, Nsbtus is the most central position. 1t "a
equiditsnt from both Adristic and Mediterranean,
about 10 miles from either; il thos eiect1sly ssuEs
UP, IL defended by an army in the field, al scce'sto
tAe rsninsp;a. Add 10 this, the immense tactical
advantages Of its positos ia the middle Of lake,
with three bIidge-hesds 70 debouch from, sur
rounded On all sides by groaod intersected BY
yyers, and tending to isolate from each other the
various portions Of abesiegiDg srmy-and no won
der that il should DO traditional saying that who
mods hantus ia master Of Italy.
These few considerations will suffice 70 rb0U
hat it would not be 80 very easy to drive tao
Aostrians out Of Italy, even if they held nothing
but Msntus. What it took the fret captain Of the
age nine months to do, late captain Of the Swiss
artillery will not do under the same time But the
military aspect Of LombsrdJ has changed immensely
since 1896, nay, even since l5ls. The campaign Of
1S4S IL in a manner the reverse Of that Of 1876.
IL 1896 showed what Mantua could do when on the
defensive, Is4s showed what MAntus, Peschiera,
Legssso and Verona together do in offensive
warfare; and snce then, this splendid position,
about the finest in Europe, has been worked out
and prepared in every Ioni0le way, and with
prediction, study, aud an ensemble which do the
highest credit TO the Austrian stsG and engineers
Look at the map. From the Lsgo di Gsrda to
The Pc runs the Mincio, not very considerable
river, forbade in Summer in many places, bat, on
The whole, not unfit for defensive position. The
length Of the line, which must be measured from
Peschiera TO BorgofOIte though this IL beyond the
river, is about thirty miles 80 that an army, placed
in the middle Of IL, can reach either extremity in
ope days march. Thanked on the right (norto) by
the lake and the Tyrolese Alps, and on the left BY
the Po this short line Of thuty miles is the first
defen.lble line which an Austrian army can fad
against an enemy from the west. But this 10 not
ito only merit. Nearly parallel with the lake. the
Nincio and the 20, at distance Of from ten to
thirty miles to the rear, runs the Adige, forming
second and far stronger line OF defense, and ohor
Ing at all times an obstacle which must be over
come by bridges. This double line, as glArce on
The map will ,how, naturally rounds off the rsrol
and the adjoining Austrian Provinces into CON
pact whole; il is, militariy speaking, their nec,s'
sary complement; and upon this is founded the
Austrian political maxim that the line Of the MInciO
10 necessary to the defense OF Germany, and that
the Rhine mus, be defended on the Pc.
This position, naturally strong, has been rem
dered stronger stl by art. The line of the Miucio
10 cut in two by Msntna. This fortress is so ueM
to the mouth of that river, tia. the portion below
IL may be left entirely out of the calculation Tdus
the line IL shortened by some seven or eight mes
more; and its southern extremity strengthened by
q fortress Of the first rank forming brdgeheads on
either aide of the river. The other extremity
where the river leaves the lake, is defended by
small fortress, Peschera. This place is certainly
not very strong, and was taken by the Piedmontese
in ls46; bat it 10 sufic ent to resist an irregular
attach, and can therefore be- held while the Aus
trisns hold the field; while itaows thsm to debouch
on the western eide Of the Mincio.
The lire Of the Adige, up 70 1915, had been neg
eeted. From 1877 to 1902 il formed the boundary
of Austria and Italy; bat since 1915, Austria be-
came possessed Of both banks Of the river. Be
fortress of Legnsgo on the Adige; but behiod
Pesehiers the nearest town, Verona, was not forti
fed. The Austrian., however, were not slow To
End out that, TO make the position really WAIST 1t
ought 70 be, Verona must be fortified And so it
VA, Only, with the usual sloth Of aetcduyian
~ hat in