Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1859-07-22

article of the London Times oil the 4th' inc
following
s.To-day the battle of Solferino takes i,s
Mace in history in the shape IN when III WI,
he known for evermore. 1t was great ano
sausuinary battle, fercely contested oy ar
w 400 900 men, from sunrise to sunset Vi q
summer day; and it was battle III "nlcn
the Austrians were defeated, but not DrOAen'
nv an enemy inferior in numbers but super
ior in intelligence and arms WINE .,'o
mind of Europe is yet ezcited py .no
details of this mighty carnage, ana Is grow"
ing familiar with the events OF the Oat'ie' IL
is time for us TO point the moral OF TIE cav
astrophe. Why did the Austrian iose
this great battle Why have they lost
every battle that has been fought IN this war
II is not that they are less brave than the
French. In this very engagement, ACCORDING
IN the official accounts of each army, the
Austrians killed and wounded Il, 600 French
men. with loss to themselves Of but 9O00
| killed and wounded. There could have been
| no f1iehtwhen the numbers stand thus at the
end of the day. Nor are the Austrlans M:
rior as marksmen. Their rifemen hit ~
French officers, whereof 40 were shot dead,
while the French succeeded in killing ana
woundng only 230 Of the Austrian othcers-
! Tlev certainly are not inferl.r to the French
| in diseipline. Their RS in.rtis IS magnlh-
cent. and they retreat invariably WITH d n1id
| steady front to the foe " by Is 1t, then,
| that thew who lose so valIantly can never
win , Because, unfortunately Tor them,
present knowledge is present power, ana
| tfhair knowledge IS not of the present, out oil
| the mast. They are a stagnatlng resPecI1-
| hiIitv. They are governed and directed by
| old rules. old men, and old routine IH0J
have an enemy who does not care 's'1" A,S
| f,'r ontia,,itv and is not above taking the
/ most irregular methods 10 WIN a Victory,
! The Emperor Of Austria makes up ms Inlhd
to do a remarkably fine piece OF LOUIS s1ua'-
ore strategy He executes an elaborate
piece OF old fashioned deception, crossing the
| Mincio with his whole force, ana then re-
| crossing it with his two hundred thcusahI
men, and fixing the contemplated surprise ol
the enemy at O'Clock in the morning
| The Emperor Of the French, representing
| the juvenile ire Ular school, IN { most
ungentlemanlike manner refuses 70 DC sur
| Urised Having recourse TO neW-IangIeu
| eApedient which no trustworthy veteran
who can count his seventy years would con
descend to use, he sends a man up in a bal
| loon: and at the expense Of few yards OF
|
| exact position OF all those masses which are
drawn up so scientifically out Of his sight
with the intention of surprising him at the
comfortable. leisurely hour of y. VI. Ihe
man of his time-the clever, active, shreWd,
nothing. contemning adventurer Of the nine
tenth century, by dint of this small contrl-
vance, becomes master of the position. lie
knows what Is going TO happen and where
his enemy is, and how many he Is; and
while the heavy, seli-c0mplacent Austrian Is
chuckling at the formal surprise that Is 70
come off AT i. NJ, he attacks at dayore,ik,
chooses his own time and point OF attack,
and remains master of the field. 50 again,
the Austrian, coming by yeey respectable
means, in no respect sullled by any InYen-
| tivenes or breach of precedent, into posses
sion of fine body Of sharpshOoters, dealt
| tremendous disaster against the French. The
| French opposed artificial to the Austrian
natural advantage, but not SO as 70 equallze
the two armies in the rifle. There was an
other point. however, in which the two ma
tious we're equal. The Austrian mountain
GERS do not use cannon IN their sunday
games. Here France went ahead and Austria
marched an pas. The consequences have
been obvious en- ugh. The battle OF >olterlno
has been won by the superiority Of the French
artillery. The shells from the French rlhed
cannon fell at distances whence the old guns
could not reply. Every reader can work out
the result The enemy's artillery was 81
fenced before it could come within effective
distance. Mans thews and flesh are to-day
as they were Il thousand years agJ, but
machinery Is not thus immutabie. Mere
pluck, and courage, and standing still IN
50 uares and coming forward IN lines. is Of
no use II there IS al engine two miles II
which viii NOW down ! ur lines and reap q
death harvest in your Squares before you can
reach your living enemy. All That Is LETT IL
such d case for u gentl nun Of the old school
Is to die with dignity and constancy ,seurnlng,
- he should So please, with his last breath
the toe 1nn t -e1ks victory by such plebeian
and irregular means.
we take, from the letter Of the London
Times correspondent in the allied camp,
written the morning alter the battle, the
GLOWING extracts.
Aft the taxing Of SOi'erino the engage
ment assumed r-..iIy the shape ola battle,
where tactics came into play. The taxing
OF the village VS. more que to bravery than
to science. BI.tl-s have often been cUmpar
ed to a game ut chess; we'll, | never was 50
struck by the truth Of tuis comparison as
Yesterday during the advance from SOlterino
to Cavriana-hJw one body after another
WAS moved forward and the enemy forced
back by degrees. II was il this hight that
the immense superiority of the new French
rhed cannon showed. itself. The lightneSs
OF the pieces Is such that they could be
brought up hills so steep that even infantry
had no small difficulty in scaling them. Still
the range of them and their precision are
almost Incredible You could see their shells
bursting among the guns and infantry OF the
enemy, while the shells fired from his guns
at the highest elevation were falling short OF
bursting in the air.
The result of the day is, driving the Aus
trians from the position which they had
themselves chosen and fortified IN every way,
50 as to make it almost impregnable. 1t was
the strongest proof of superiority which
could be gwen. From the extent of the posi-
ton, and the force in which they appeared,
in all they must have been very nearly 200,-
600 men strong, and. if the prisoners are to
be credited, they brought up all their reserves
from Mantua by railway during the battle.
These 200 ,OO0 were in one Of the most fOrmid-
able positions that can be conceived, had the
ground carefully prepared for defense, and
were driven by about l4G, 900 or 10000
men from this position, leaving Is guns,
besides a number of ammunition wagons.
and several thousand prisoners. If the defeat
did not become much greater it was from the
AuStrians thinking of a timely retreat. As
soon as SOlterinO was lost, it was evidently
losing battle that they were fighting They
were thinking all the time of their retreat.
and held the ground only sufficiently not TO
expose themselves.
SOMEWHAT LUDIcRoUs.-The bravery of the
I ZOuaves is unidentified hut 1bera arc storiaS