Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1917-09-28

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Piedmont meet, that some years ago
learned German with particular in
; terest in heraldry paused at some
length before a weather-beaten crest
embossed In a quaint old-fashioned
doorway, and observed to those in his
company:
Remarkable most remarkable.
The composition of this coat of arms
points to a line of fate running in the
same family from father to son, and
to tremendous achievements to crown
the family tree. I wouldn't care to be
pitted against the star of that fam
ily."
And he marched himself off, growl-
ing:
Remarkable, most remarkable p
But 1t never occurred to him to ask the
name of the family who had once gone
through the deserted gateway, nor, at
the time, did his reflection strike his
Italian host as anything but a freak
of "kultur.s
Time has proved that the German
was right for once. The star and the
+ oak tree and what not that had struck
his fancy so are the crest of the Ca
dorna, who come from poor but I'M
sullied provincial nobility, with two
chief ideals running in the family:
Faith in God and devotion to Italy.
The present General Cadorna's grand
father was minister to King Carlo AL
berto, who led the movement for Ital-
ian independence, granted the constitu-
ton to his kingdom (then restricted to
Piedmont and Sardinia), abdicated in
favor of his son when he thought that
such course of action would help the
formation of new Italy, and died an
exile at Oporto. General Cadorna's ia
Their, Gen. Count Raffaele Cadorna, led
IN 1866 the Italian advance on the
Isonzo, which was cut short by diplo-
matte Interference and the subsequent
granting TO Austria of the Italian lands
beyond that same Isonzo and the Adri-
attic; an unjust and therefore unwise
move which ultimately resulted in the
war of today.
The Zine of fate running in the fam
fly from father to son" is evident now,
when Gen. Count Luigi Cadorna takes
up the reshaping of history left I'M
finished by his father, as all Italy of
today takes up the strand of fate Ill
twined and distorted by the unfortun-
ate events Of 1866.
Luigi C3dorna himself was born in
Pallanza on September f. 1850, and
he was barely IS years old when he
entered the military academy, gradu-
ating therefrom as a full-fedged lieu
tenant in 1870, and receiving his cap
tains commission in 1875 in an artil-
lery regiment. Opportunity for expert
ence In infantry work was afforded
him by his appointment as major in
the Sixty-second infantry regiment in
1888; but since 1892, when he got his
colonelcy. he has been identified with
the Bersaglieri, the "wideawakes" of
the Italian army.
All these years were spent by him
In active study of general military
problems, as we'll as of Italy's partic-
ular characteristics in the military
line To this day his essay on the |
Franco German war Of 1870 and his |
pamphlet about tactics and the proper |
use of infantry in legitir late warfare |
are consulted by the experts to advan-
tage, as are his studies on the italian |
boundary lands. These he knows to |
perfection, so that he hardly ever |
needs TO resort to charts and maps for
his plans; he has it all mapped out in
his head, and the facility with which |
he draws from his memory the names
and positions of intricate passes, val
leys, mule paths and roads is nothing
short of marvellous.
When he took command of the Tenth
regiment of the Bersaglieri, he started
to work on 1t after his own mind, and
brought it out in the grand maneuvers
Of 1895 in splendid form, practicing,
In fact, on the adversary forces that
same type of outfianking and sur
rounding move that works so capitally
on the Carso today. Again, In 1911,
Che had attained his generalship then
since some years., he led in the
"grandes maneuvers," the Blue party
against the Red, with all the strategic
odds against his party, and astonished
all experts by the working out of q
capital plan first; and when this fell
on unforeseen circumstances,
by the promptness with which he sized
up the new situation and turned it
once more TO his advantage.
But nothing then seemed to point
out the magnificent heights to which
he was called. In fact, the breaking
out of the European war in 1914 still {
e. ~. :
command of an army in case of war
And the italian chief of staff was Gen ]
eral Polio, who, by the way, was
blessed with an Austrian wife. His !
timely death was a good turn of fate
for Italy, for the king appointed Cen {
eral Cadorna to his place.
General Cadorna, it may be frankly {
stated now, found the Italian army in {
desperate conditions of I'M {
In ~ ho IN L.,