The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1866-06-17
The Army and Navy of Italy.


Previous to the war of 1859, italy
had no voice in the councils OF nations
foreign tourists called it the land of the
dead, or the cradle of the fine arts, OF
poetry and Of harmony there was nc
national armF and no navy; Italian
soldiers and sailors, except those oi
Sardinia, were the servants OF Austria,
and were used as mercenary instru'
ments. The battles of San Martino,
Solferino, Calatafmi, and Castelfidardo,
and the union of Central an d Southern
Italy, changed. it into powerful king
dom, and from that epoch she dates
her real existence as a nation, and one
of the great military powers of Ku-
rope ~ aa
The task OF harmonizing the inte-
rests of the va:ious provinces, of remoV-
ing local prejUdices, and consolidating
heterogeneous elements into a strong
military and naval force, was difficult
one; yet by the aid of liberal institu-
tions, end with the help of free press,
and experienced officers, the govern
ment succeeded.
In the reorganization of the army
and navy, the use of different dialects
was forbidden; illiterate soldiers and
sailors were taught the elementary
branches of education; the example of
the veterans of the Italian and Crime
an wars inspired the new recruits with
martial and national spirit. In 1859
the army of Sardinis numbered in the
plains of Lombardy scarcely sixty
thousand men; to-day Italy opposes to
Austria six hundred thousand soldiers
and volunteers, besides one hundred
and ninety thousand which will form
the reserve, snd national guard of
nearly million of men, partly organ
lied already, and ready to do garrison
duty or to take the field. An army of
four hundred and fifty thousand men,
divided into five corps, is eneamped
along the rivers Po and Mincio, in or
der to protect that line of defence, and
to act on the offensive Another corps
of sixty thousand men is encamped in
Romagna, in Umbria and in the Mar
ches, ready to be embarked at Ancona
to make landing on some point of
the Adriatic coast The whole army is
animated with the most patriotic and
martial spirit.
The navy of Italy, like the army has
been organized during the past FIVE
years. In 1860, neither the Sandman
nor Neapolitan navies had any vessels
of the improved class. The far-sight-
ed CaVour left at the beginning of the
new political ora, that Italy could new
er become great nation without q
powerful navy and an early effort was
made to improve the service Immense
works were erected at Spezzia, where
great naval arsenal and navy yard were
constructed, and similar improvements
were made at Leghorn, Genoa, Castel-
lamare, Gaets, Taranto and Ancona.
Many powerful iron-clad vessels were
also built, with all the improvements
of naval engineering in Italy, in New
York, in England and in France; and
the Re d'Italih one of the splendid
frigares constructed by Mr.. Webb, of
this city, is now the flagship of Admi-
raj Perssno.
The naval force of Italy is composed
Of l6 iron-ela1 frigates, carrying 4l6
guns; iron-clad gun-boats, with 40
guns; and many wooden steam vessels
constituting a navy of los vessels, car.
ry l, ass gkns. Th5 personnel OF this force
is composed of Is admirals, 6SS officers,
and ii, 1913 sailors; besides two regi-
ments of marines, with 1913 officers and
5,6SS soldiers
Many of the officers of the Italian
navy previous to IS4S belonged to the
Austrian navy, but being Venetians,
they abandoned the Austrian service
to take part in the defence of Venice
Austria, Notwithstanding many efforts
and sacrifices of money, has not sue
ceeded in building navy equal to that
of Italy. Her sea-coast population be-
ing too rebellious to be relied upon, she
has been compelled to recruit the
crews of her ships with landsmen.