Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1859-05-25
An ITALIAN VIEW OF THE ITALIAN



Ii is not easy even for those who bsye for the
last three months given all their attention To
the subject 10 calculate the chances of the
Forthcoming struggle. Till the French take
the field in sufficient numbers il is yery clear
that Piedmont must limit herself to a strictly
defensive warfare The Austrian army In
Loulbardy Is calculated at 30 900 eombatsnts.
that Of Sardinia will only be on a par with If
when the Emperor Napoleon las sent down the
lJO OOO men promised. a il H. said, to Cayour
sHdiBIa has taken great pains to avoid col
lisi"n on the TicinO. She had Concentrated
her forces nj Cassle. Alessandria. Tortons snd
all along the Ligurian Apenniues; and will
0ter no resistance 10 the invader north of the
PO a. far as the Dora Battea at Cbiyasso absn.
dOnlng tthus the defence of Noyara and Yer
eeliI- lt Is doubtful, however, whether the
AuSlrisns will avail themselves even of this
momentsry advantage; but what is quite sure
Is, that long before the French have mustered
IN Sufnclent strength to give the Aust ians ba,-
tie On the plains of Nercel!i and Nnyara these
lstter will have to fall back on their own terri
tory. IA their hsnk would be exposed to tack of
the PiedmOntcse from Alessa ria and CassIe
All campaigns of this nature from those
OF Louis MI: and Francis I. of France To
those of the first Napoleon, almost invariably
begun by an lnroad into the centre Of Lom-
bardy, ard an attempt 20 occupy Milan Such
a plan Of campaign will, however. in nil
probability, be modified in the present in
stance. owing TO variety of reasons but
especially to the strong position taken by
Austria at Payis with a view to cover the
Lombard capital. An occupation of Milan
however rapid and successful. would have no
important military result. long as the vast
Austrians armament can find a safe shelter he
hind the walls of Payia. Mantua Peschiete
Verona, Piacenza, and Ferrara all of which
places have lately been raised to the imDort
anee Of fOrtresses Of the first order. more
m nd rat 8, a..
Sardinians will be an advance into the terrific
~ OF Parma large force collected either at
Parma Or Reggia would enable them either 10
achieve the investment OF PiacenEa or to
threaten Mantua, Verona, and Ferrara 1t is
not likely the Austrians will show any great
anxiety to sally forth from those strongboids TO
give battle; nor is il probable that tn ;ir enc
mics Will lose their time in the siege of pIaces
which modern art has rendered all but i'm
p-egiable- 30 FAR as mere military maneuyres
are concerned, the war is likely enough TO turn
ont drawn game between the two immense
fJrres, "a the Austrian army will, to a certain
extent, he placed In n position inaccessible 10
its sdverSsries and it will at the same time he
too much divided into different garrisons. and
Compelled To be on its guard on too MANY dis
tant points, 10 be able to strike any decisive
blows. a war. pursued under sucl cireum-
stances. must needs leave ample scope for the
work cf diplomacy: and il is extremely likely
have been in their efforts TO prevent m ont
break of hOstilities. will lose no opportunity
which may oder, either to put an end to the
war, or Ut least TO hem in its rayages and
limit t" the narrOwest possible sphere
There Is no doubt in my mind that it will re-
quire little short Of n miraculous effort To wrest
from the AuStrlans the LOmbardO- Venetian
Kingdom by mere force of arms. France and
Piedmont united are not, speaking in n mill
tary sense. more than match for Austria
alone. and were they to obtain too great and
sudden advantage over Austria they iufaIIibIy
would have To measure their forces against the
whole might of Prussia Gnd Germany To
what extent Prussis and Germany may be Kent
IN cheek by the attitude of l. u 'sia. and how far
hHsirl2 herself may be paraIyzed by discon-
tent. or even anHihilsted bv DISCRIMINATION in
her Hungarian and other eastern pro, inees il
u Dot easy 10 determine. The strength of her
military position depends 0n the certainty of
her Political situation. Were her HuDonriaD
b1tta'iHHs at Verona and Mantua to pIay false
the "ar might be ut end before even the expi-
raiIOh Il those three days allowed Sardinia ta
diy"st the IenHa ultimatum. But supposiur
heF own troops as well as her Transalpime peo-
pie to be staanch, there is no doubt but Austria
must reckon on the most cOrdisl hatred of her
ItalIHn SutJsets, and must look out for the rise
0t all the rest of the Italian peninsula AGAINST
hor We have seen already volunteers flock
lug =" Piedmoni, IN the mere hope of n national
war. to the number of twenty to ive-snd- twenty
th"u-ani, submitting Ia hsrdships. braving
dangers, aud exposing themselves to all the
l''SSlb:e consequences uf n disappointment of
'h-t hope. But who can foTsee what the move
ment IN italy will be when the first roar of the
cannon turns the hope into certainty when
Austria falls back from AncOna and BOLOGNA.
when the fiery cross freely runs from town to
town, and the French and Sardinians enable
and even invite the Italian youth to arm and
Ter n fhn ron 9f fhasr ID L
state Of things it will behoove Austria and her
"lileS, II she have any, to guard well against
any untoward siip-against any disaster how
ever partial and temporary. for the example
aud the instigatiOns of the PiedmoDtese snd
the encouragement of the French will embol-
den the LombardO- Nenetians to fall upon their
masters whenever chance offers. and the
ground viii soon be too hot under the feet of
the Austrians even within the walls of their
Impregnsble strOngholds
81 VI. Conneau. the private medical attend
ant of the EluUeTOr. attends him fo tho