New-York daily tribune., 1859-07-09

i's nortberr aDd toe Po for "a southern eouniary.
The four cornersare occupied by PescnieTa, Mantua,
Legnano and Verona. Toe ?. road from Verona 20
hsnius fonns the diagonal of this Qcairilateral We
shall the importance Of this position, situated
a. it il where the TyIolesb Aps and the Po approach
each other, until the Lombard Plan is reduced 10 a
breath Of % niles.
"Au amy advancing .oFard lie Adrist!c canLot
turn this position by the g5t bank of The Po without
running the nix Of having lie line Of operations cut
off, The enemy occupying these four places, all With
in one or az mos. wo days, march Of each ctoer can
al any moment concentrate all bis forces on soy ppot
threatened, and, scLlng his opportunity csn ciusa
scattered army. Add to this tha, the position OF We
rora 3, the foot # the valley Of the Adse secures the
commuDi ,atiOn with the Tyrol, from which, .tough
with some difficulty, army caa receive i,s pruvI-
sions This is the bright eide Of the picture; let us
look at its dark side snd 20 do this must enter in
20 some OF the details with regard each of the four
fortresses.
"Pescl ier. is situated on little island formed by
tie Minco az il hogs out Of Laks Garda. This little
place i. Intended to command iae riga: flank Of the
line Of the river 10 keep open the communication with
the Ike and to protect the system Of dammng, sstab
lsbed to produce sudden and powerful clrent in the
Mneio capable cf sweeping away any bridge of boats
when may be thrown acrOss by the enemy from Pes
chiera 20 Mantue.
"The Notifications OF the plsce. dating from the
time OF the Republic Of Venice, were much improved
by the French, but sui have never presented any
considerable force Of resistance Tle Piedmont.se,
attacking Peschiera IL 1913 With comp .Tatlvey fee
bic forces were only little more than three weeks in
taking IT, Since then the Alsriaas have bud, sever
al detached work. On the left bank OF the river TO pro-
I. CT the place against the commanding fire o! en- eae
nv who should succeed in establishing himself there.
The ground between Peschiera and Mantus. that
IT, the country between the little river Chese and the
Mincio, forms the elebrated high plateau immortal
lied by the marvellous exploits Of Gen. Bonaparte in
the campaign of 1896 It is OF very diicu, socess,
esascially on the side Of the Mncio it presents
rice Of positions of exceeding great strength
The Mincio, whose cuuen, ls very rapid, has broad,
marshy banis in consequence Of frequent inunds,crs.
Il passes to Mantus where Il forms four artificial
lakes al falls into the Po near GOyeruoo, aboat tgo
miles to the south of Mantua. csoal called Fcs-
.o-Nuovo leaving the Nj clio al Msntus, forms with
the Po delta called Ii Serssho of extreme fertility,
which contributes largely 10 the provisioning Of the
place.
"Mantus is on an island in the middle of an sr,ifi
cisl lake formed by the waters Of the ancio. The
dkes or causewsys which traverse this lake divide II
into four parts .he upper, middle and lower lakes on
the northern and eastern sides, and Lake PJoio,
which surrounds the city the southern and western
sides. This last lake deserves the name of msrsn
rather than that of a canal for is vey sh allow, and
exhaes pestilentia missma which deei nate the gar
rison, especially in summer.
"A nayieable canal runs through the whole town
and receives the boats comiog from the Po and enter
ing into the dock by the Porta Catena. The city
proper is shut in by old Notifications Of very rrega-
lar and very vicious form; contsns, in about 2'OO
houses, popuuton Of - 600 inhabitants the streets
are strait aud rather broad; the Piazza d NEgi.e IS
large and very besutifal.
Five gates lead into the town the Poita d Pra-
della on the Cremona road: d Molina toward the
citadel d San Gorsio, toward the fort oi that uame
TO the eastward; di Ceress, and di Portfolio. These
two last gates furnish access TO an intrenched camp
south of the town. with which the whole oireumier-
cree Of the place 20 miles. -Four detached forts sur
round the body OF the place. First, the citadel, with
the fine gste desigred by uho Romano, forms reg
ular pentagon tne gorge of which, closed by ssimPe
wall rests on tie upper lake, here about LOO yards
wide the fcTt unctte OF San Giogo i also on the
left bank Of the Po to the eastward Inese two iJrs
se connected with the body of the place by Fas
or dikes very long ali soaow; tue fort di Piesos,
al the southeastern extremity a, the intrenched camp,
and the fort iii PrsdeIs defend the road 20 Cremons
As we have SEEN the principal strength Of Mar
tus consists no, in the solidtyof It's works but 10 the
difficulty OF approaching il u the midet Of its marsh
es Let Us look however at what is said o i by the
ems ipetr Gen. FOissae Lstour, who in 1873 wS soe
TO defend il against Gen. NIrah only three weeks:
The great irune sons and tie diculJies Of access
give 70 MaItua formidable appearance whiehiI Is
fsr from deserving.
TIE General then scientifically demonstrates thsi
the ior;ifc.ticns Of Nantus have cf the WORKS.
none Of the Dimensions and none Of the essential prop
critics Of fortress, properly called; thai It Is
strong place very bsdy defended some points, and
covered BY sheet Of u ant snd nayigs5e water
lie denies ,hs; the lakes suppy for the lack of srt
in the fcitifcatiors.
In Examining their Importance 10 defense, be shows
that supPOsrg the besieger is master OF the Po oi
Lake Garda IL O! the upper and loser Mncio, The
lake fsvors the stack sri ipjereS the defense. For
in the period Of the melting OF the and the grea;
rams the wster uses 10 the psrspets, and i - easy
for boats or sw Miners 10 lsoi on them.
We shall not dwell upon the fact tbs, Gen. Bons-
paite in L. tok The place withou; regular siege,
and W.. only remark that With our improved aiiile-
~ and with the increased range which has been Civ
,n to our cannon, ought 70 count speedy sue
cess as it VII be possible for 70 bring up or the
Po cur aa,. bottomei gun-bcs;s shesthed With iron
plates. BY bringing them up into the MDcio, We
would penetrate into the heart q the place by TAX
irg the detached parts r Ark res- We shoali soon
reduce them 10 silence.
"Leslano, situated OF tie Aii-e, twenty miles
from YsrUra Ani scs-iy far from MA=ius, : abo-.