St. Mary's beacon., 1862-05-29
THE BATTLE OF ARCOLA.
BY JOHN G. c. ABBOTT.


ssiging the fortress Of Mantua, in Italy.
The garrison. under Wurmser, were re-
dueed to the last extremity. They had
killed and salted down their horses, and
even that Coarse fare was nearly exhaust
cd. An immense Austrian army. under
Alvinzi. had been assembled, few
leagues north Of Trent, to march to the
relief Of the beleaguered fortress. Just
before IalviHxi commenced his march, he
sent peasant across the country. to c,n-
v.y tidinss Of his approach to Wurmser.
The Intelligence was written in microsco-
pic characters upon very thin paper. and
iuclosed in ball of wax mot much larger
than u pea. The courier was intercept
ted. and was seen to swallow the ball.
The stomach was compelled to surrender
it. aud thus Napoleon b-camc acquainted
with the plans Of Alvinsi.
Leaving 10000 men to continue tn
blockade. be marched with 200 10 Ver-
one. about twenty mil-s n":r!,, upon the
kdigc. to arrest the advance Of the foe
-1hsp whole valley af tho Adigs WAS now
erswled With the strong battalion of the
Austriaps, descending in apparently over
p''weriug numbers. Forty thousand were
s"on cncaMpsd. almost surrounding the
feeble band beneath the French caglcs
Espoleop watched. with intenscxt anxiety,
fr some point where be might strike
blow. The peril was SO great that the
s"idiers from the hospitals. many "f then,
e'naciase with suffering and with unhcaled
wounds FASTENED to the ranks. Wishing
to attack the foe by surprise. and before
their whole force had been collected, Ma
p'leon. before the dark aud stormy morn
ing. led out 5000 men to hurl them
selves upon 10000.
A cod rain was falling. drenching the
soldiers and aooding the ground. 1t was
nm awful hour. in which to march to the
encounter of mutilation and death. The
foe had but to maintain his ground,
while the French. a. assailants, had to
drag their artillery sinking to the axcls
in mud. AS the light Of the ,tormy day
rose upon the struggling armies. the
rain changed to SNOW. All the day l"ng
the battle ragged with uu,ni,igated fury.
Night came. and neither party claimed
the victory. The exhausted soldiers slept
upon their arms. upon the blood stained
know.
A dreadful night of suffering ensued.
The field Of battle had extended over many
,.ilcs. and all night long the noans of the
wounded blended with the wall ofthe tenn.
pest. Austrian rrinforccmeuts from the
north were srowdins down so rapidly up
on the scene of conflict. that in the morn
ing Napoleon found it necessary to retire
within tho walls Of Verona. The soldiers,
for the FIRST time. on retreat, were silent
and detected. Another night came. The
saorm had passed away. and tho moon
rose brilliant over the frozen earth. Sud-
denly the order Was given for every SOL
der to DO on the march. The western
gates Of the city, looking towards Franco,
we're thrown open. and the retreat COM
,nenced The profoundsst silence reigued
throughout the ranks. But to the sur
prise Of all. even Of the generals. Napol-
con turned from the ruad which led to
France. and followed down the banks of
the Adige. eastsrly towards the banks Of
tho Adriatic. where the foe could appar-
emily easily pursue and overpowcr him.
After rapid march Of about fourteen
miles. just .t midnight. they crossed the
Adige to the eastern shore, where they
found themselves in the rear Of tho Aus
trims. and in an immense morass, many
miles in extent. travcrscd by several
eauseways. Both generals and soldiers
instantly perceived the plan Of their
leader. On these causcways only the
heads columns could meet. and indivi.,u-
al endurance and valor, not numbers.
would gain the victory. Depression was
exchanged for citation. and shouts Of ioy
rang ahng the lines. It was midnight.
aud the French soldiers. now but l3, 900
in number. beheld the camp6res of 40
GOD Of their foes blazing before them.
Yet every man felt confident Of victory.
Upon sort Of dry land. 10 the centre
Of these morasscs. was the village of Ar
cola. II could only be approachcd by