Miscellaneous Prose | Page 9

by Lamarmora
from Verona, in which Archduke Albert accepted the challenge. Victor
Emmanuel, whom I saw at Bologna yesterday, arrived at Cremona in
the morning at two o'clock, but by this time his Majesty's headquarters
must have removed more towards the front, in the direction of the
Oglio. I should not be at all surprised were the Italian headquarters to

be established by to-morrow either at Piubega or Gazzoldo, if not
actually at Goito, a village, as you know, which marks the
Italian-Austrian frontier on the Mincio. The whole of the first, second,
and third Italian corps d'armee are by this time concentrated within that
comparatively narrow space which lies between the position of
Castiglione, Delle Stiviere, Lorrato, and Desenzano, on the Lake of
Garda, and Solferino on one side; Piubega, Gazzoldo, Sacca, Goito, and
Castellucchio on the other. Are these three corps d'armee to attack
when they hear the roar of Cialdini's artillery on the right bank of the
Po? Are they destined to force the passage of the Mincio either at Goito
or at Borghetto? or are they destined to invest Verona, storm Peschiera,
and lay siege to Mantua? This is more than I can tell you, for, I repeat it,
the intentions of the Italian leaders are enveloped in a veil which
nobody--the Austrians included--has as yet been able to penetrate. One
thing, however, is certain, and it is this, that as the clock of Victor
Emmanuel marks the last minute of the seventy-second hour fixed by
the declaration delivered at Le Grazie on Wednesday by Colonel
Bariola to the Austrian major, the fair land where Virgil was born and
Tasso was imprisoned will be enveloped by a thick cloud of the smoke
of hundreds and hundreds of cannon. Let us hope that God will be in
favour of right and justice, which, in this imminent and fierce struggle,
is undoubtedly on the Italian side.

CREMONA, June 30, 1866.
The telegraph will have already informed you of the concentration of
the Italian army, whose headquarters have since Tuesday been removed
from Redondesco to Piadena, the king having chosen the adjacent villa
of Cigognolo for his residence. The concentrating movements of the
royal army began on the morning of the 27th, i.e., three days after the
bloody fait d'armes of the 24th, which, narrated and commented on in
different manners according to the interests and passions of the
narrators, still remains for many people a mystery. At the end of this
letter you will see that I quote a short phrase with which an Austrian
major, now prisoner of war, portrayed the results of the fierce struggle
fought beyond the Mincio. This officer is one of the few survivors of a
regiment of Austrian volunteers, uhlans, two squadrons of which he
himself commanded. The declaration made by this officer was

thoroughly explicit, and conveys the exact idea of the valour displayed
by the Italians in that terrible fight. Those who incline to overrate the
advantages obtained by the Austrians on Sunday last must not forget
that if Lamarmora had thought proper to persist in holding the positions
of Valeggio, Volta, and Goito, the Austrians could not have prevented
him. It seems the Austrian general-in-chief shared this opinion, for,
after his army had carried with terrible sacrifices the positions of Monte
Vento and Custozza, it did not appear, nor indeed did the Austrians
then give any signs, that they intended to adopt a more active system of
warfare. It is the business of a commander to see that after a victory the
fruit of it should not be lost, and for this reason the enemy is pursued
and molested, and time is not left him for reorganization. Nothing of
this happened after the 24th--nothing has been done by the Austrians to
secure such results. The frontier which separates the two dominions is
now the same as it was on the eve of the declaration of war. At Goito,
at Monzambano, and in the other villages of the extreme frontier, the
Italian authorities are still discharging their duties. Nothing is changed
in those places, were we to except that now and then an Austrian
cavalry party suddenly makes its appearance, with the only object of
watching the movements of the Italian army. One of these parties,
formed by four squadrons of the Wurtemberg hussar regiment, having
advanced at six o'clock this morning on the right bank of the Mincio,
met the fourth squadron of the Italian lancers of Foggia and were
beaten back, and compelled to retire in disorder towards Goito and
Rivolta. In this unequal encounter the Italian lancers distinguished
themselves very much, made some Austrian hussars prisoners, and
killed a few more, amongst whom was an officer. The same state of
thing, prevails at Rivottella, a small village on