| Show ff THE HE BATTLE OF SOLFERINO correspondence of NY N T times I 1 castiglione ITALY friday night june I 1 came cama from brescia early this morning and arrived just in lime to witness the he last half of what I 1 have very little doubt will turn out lo 10 have been the greatest battle the modern world has bas seen you will get gel the tire official summary of its results by telegraph before this letter reaches you and will be prepared therefore for this statement of its magnitude I 1 cannot describe it with any precision as yet for i it has lasted all day and extended over a circuit of not less than fifteen miles the noise of the cannonade ard even of the mu musketry dietry moreover is still in my ears and none notie of those thoe engaged in it except the wounded have returned to give us as any distinct and connected report but not less than men have bave been engaged in it and of these not less than dead or disabled lie on this bright starry night upon the bloody field the battle comme commenced aced at a little before five in the morning not far from sunrise just back of ca castiglone Castig hone rises a high range of hills which projects a mile or thereabouts into the plain and arid then breaks off towards the left in into a wide expanse of smaller hills and so into the rolling surface which makes that portion of the plain the austrians Aust rians had taken position upon these hills planting cannon upon those nearest to which they could approach as the french army was in full fuli f uli all force in and around that little village and had bad stationed their immense army all over the surrounding plain As nearly as we can call learn the tha emperor francis joseph had collected not less than troops and commanded them in in person his evident purpose was to make a stand here and risk the fortunes of the war upon the hazards of the day napoleoan Napo leoa leoj promptly accepted the challenge and commenced the attack as soon as it wa was light this morning by placing cannon upon the tha hills still nearer to castiglione than those hose held by the austrians Aust rians and opening fire upon them on the heights beyond he took his own stand upon the highest of these a steep sharp backed ridge which commands a magnificent view ol 01 the entire circuit of the plain and from that point directed the entire movements of hs his army array during the early portion of the day the french very soon drove the enemy out of the posts they held nearest to the town and followed them into the small villages of the plain below the first of these was solferino Sol ferin 0 where they had a sharp and protracted engagement the austrians Aust rians disputed every inch of the ground and fought cereas they did throughout the day I 1 with the thet utmost desperation they were three times driven out of the town before they would stay out the people of the village moreover took part against fhe ite he french upon whom whoa they fired niom flom their thein their windows and the french were we re compel compello lq in self defence to burn the town alieu they found it impossible to hold their thor ground auy nui any longer th they eyell teil fell back slowly and steadily until they reached the village of volta which as you will see by the map lies directly southeast from rom castiglione and aud is edly only rily about a mile mlle from the liver mincio from which however it is ly a range of hills hiis upon these nills dills in in the rear of the town and overlooking it completely on ore the south and southeast sides the austrians Aust rians had planted very formidable batteries wd when I 1 arrived upon the field alid and went at once to the height beight where the emperor had stood at the opening of the tile engagement eliga gement but which lie tad pad lad iad left an are bour hour before to follow his hh victorious troops ahse batteries were blazing away upon apon the french who were stationed on ore the plain below I 1 was too far for off to observe with any accuracy the successive s eps of he the action but I 1 could distinctly see sec tha troops stationed upon tile the broad plain and trl tri tying up in masses toward the front where the artil artillery lerv wa was 11 posted BS be thit thir se rices were rf quiren but a as soon as they reached this tilis point they if tiey ey were 4 ere speedily enveloped in ibe the I 1 lie lle moke smoke of the ca carlnon cannon aud and di disappeared appeared from observation B bit st the gene al result was soon matle made evident by the slackening of the austrian fire arid and by the ailing jailing back tf their smoke and a corresponding advance on the part of at that wl wilch ich rose from the fench artillery the g at that point lasted for over ai ark hour but in precisely what direction the austrians Aust Alist rians retreated it was not possible from the position I 1 occupied to see I 1 aas kas vi xai ai afraid to change it moreover because although I 1 easily have gone more directly and arid closely upon the field I 1 could not bavy hav s found any eminence eminence upon the plain from which I 1 could have had so sweeping and complete a view pirt of the austrian force probably crossed thi the the milicio river which flows southward from the lower end of lake garda and empties into the po bit but the battie battle continued to rage all over the region of a line connecting the towns of caligione Cati catl ca gione solferino and arid volta at onel one point after another a sharp cannoned ing won would arise arld and continue for half or three quarters of an hour and aad after each successive engagement of this ibis kind ibe tire result became apparent in the retreat reid rein at of the austrians Aust rians and the advance of the french forces during all the early part of the day the sky had been clear and the weather hot but clouds began to gather about noon and a at 5 while the cannonade was at its is height beight a tremendous thunderstorm rolled up from the northwest north weRt the be wind came first sweeping from the tile parched streets an enor j cloud of dust and was soon followed by a heavy fall of rain accompanied by vivid lightning and arid rapid ravid ions of rattling thunder the storm lasted for about mi tire hour bour and the g BO so far as we could distinguish was waa si suspended sp ended then the rain ceased the clouds j blew bl ew away the sun shone shoie out again and the tire air was cooled and perfectly delightful though the cannon may have ceased for a time to take part in it the fight had meantime eone gone on and when I 1 again resumed my post of observation from which the tile storm had expelled me tha the cannonading canno commenced quite on the extreme left of the entire field and on the very borders of he the lake north east from castiglione and west of peschiera the Piedmont ese ebe troops under the king who commands them in person had been posted there ald and received the Aust austrians rians as they came around from about seven until after nightfall night fall fal an incessant and most terrible combat was here kept up the batteries batt balt eles esies of the two armies were apparently about half hall a mile apart and at the outset out et they were both served with nearly neaily equal and effective vigor but the Alsi rians gradually slackened their ire fire and several times took up new positions while the sardinians idris ians poured a rapid and uninterrupted shower of balls upon them suspending only for a few minutes at a lime and then renewing it again with redoubled fury fary the wind had bad now gone down the he air was still and the sound of musketry as well as of or the cannon was distinctly heard the former was cont conf continuous lanous sharp ard incessant sounding sou riding like the constant and irregular pattering of hail halt upon a roof w while hile hiie the tile latter was occasionally suspended but while it lasted was overwhelmingly grand and terrible over the sardinian park rose a dense while cloud of smoke directly upwards its sides perfectly upright and well defined and spreading out both ways at the top like an enormous sheaf of w wheat heat beat the sun was making a glorious setting in the west and as his light gradually departed the vivid flashes at each discharge of the cannon gleamed through the smoke like sharp lightning through the breast of or an enormous cloud sometimes only on ly a single flash would be seen then two or three at once and sometimes half a dozen would burst forth in inglan succession it was beginning to be dark when I 1 turned to descend the hill bill and all the way down I 1 s still t ill ili heard beard the roar of the cannon and the clattering of the guns of the infantry but bat the tire austrians Aust rians were clearl clearly y falling back and could scarcely have failed to gustaw sustain a I 1 otal total rout it is possible they may be in condition to make one more struggle in the morning but judging from my own observation it certainly cert ainaly is not probable they have sustained au an overwhelming wh elming defeat and it seems to me not unlikely that the file emperor may now be induced lad iad by the representations of tile the neutral powers to accept the tilo peace which Napo napoleon eon will be very likely to tender him just before nightfall a tremendous cannoned ing was distinctly visible in the direction of mantua and it was supposed by one or two french officers that prince napoleon was assaulting that fortress as part of the general plan of the ibe days operations while the emperor was engaging the enemy in the open field but I 1 see no reagon reason to j suppose that this is true as prince napoleon cou con could s id have reached mantua by b y this time as lie he wast wash wha waa in n florence only a week a ago g I 1 have thus given you a very general 0 outline u of this great baltie baitie as it came under my own observation ser valion vailon I 1 have mentioned no names of subordinate ordin ate ale officers because I 1 have hava had bad no opportunity to learn the specific part which individuals took in the edga eoga engagement gement all bat that hat I 1 must leave for subsequent quent lettey letter or refer you for it to tha the official reports which we here shall not see for three or four days after they are published in pari parl 0 0 the town tonight to night as might be expected is simply a camp the dreels streets sr eels which are narrow are crammed with artillery artill ery fry and provision wagons trying almost in vain to make their way through the town bivouac fires light up up the orchards and fields all around the village iwo two streams of troops pour out on the two roads leading to the field of battle extending as far as the th eye can reach setlers but sut lars lers fruit peddlers ped lers and arid L mall small dealers of every kind circulate among the soldiers who crowd the streets st an immense train of artillery are brought to a stand in the street while fry try trying ing to make their way through tho the th town to their heir place of encampment and thousands of french infantry despairing of reaching their tents have seated themselves upon the narrow sidewalks and with the house walls for a back and their haversacks haver sacks for pillows they have addressed themselves in that position to the labor of obtaining a nights rest it is a striking scene most certainly and ha the most wonderful part of it is the perfect order and good behavior of the troops I 1 have not seen teen during daring the whole day a ingle single bir bin instance of disorder or of even rudeness in word or deed from any soldier not one have I 1 seen in the slightest degree d gree intoxicated not one gila have I 1 seen shouting or singing not a rough or rude ra mark remark have I 1 seen or url uri heard beard addressed to any one nor have I 1 failed in a single instances instance whenever I 1 have applied to a soldier fr gr information or addressed him on any subject whatever to receive a courteous reply and the most polite endeavor to aid my wishes nor have I 1 heard beard a single cheer over oer the victory or a single syllable of exultation ul over the he prisoners as ay hey bey come in the most respectful silence has in every case been preserved expressions of sympathy with wilh the wounded were constant and prompt attention so far as possible p OI 01 i ble bie was always given to their wants private avate property in the town so far faras fares as I 1 can see has been treat treated d with perfect respect in selecting sele cling fields for the camp those which will be injured by it least seem uniformly to be chosen bakers shops and groceries with cheese bacon sausages ac freely exposed are open and I 1 have repeatedly seen soldiers bargaining for supplies at their windows but I 1 have heard he ard of no instance arld and seen no indication of the slightest interference with private property yet there is no great r gor or discipline forced enforced eln eif for tile the soldiers seem to be quite quile at their ease antl anil wander about town very much at their own discretion but they lock upon war es as a business as something to be done like everything else with as little fuss and excitement as possible so they look upon a battle and the tile operations atten attending ding aing it the care of the wounded the reception rec eplion eption of prisoners ac as merely pait part of the regular routine just like cleanie cleaning their muskets or boiling their soup over oler their bivouac fires the SIoni Manit leur eur pub publishes lishes the following details of the battle of solferino received it states slates from flom cavriana cavriani under date of the yesterday was by one of those battles which if they do not terminate a war enables us at least to anticipate its conclusion the emperor of austria commanded in person per torl tori be toe has now seen with aith ith what a nation he be has engaged in hostilities the austrians Aust rians in their previous retreats ret rel still contemplated a renewal of the attack their last decided retreat behind the mincio was intended to inspire us with an excess of confidence corfi dence to leave ibave a wide space open to 0 o the rapidity ft our movements and thus to expose our out columns placed at a distance diu riu tance lance from each other by their order of march to 0 o a sudden attack which might ight have weakened by isolating them but fort fortunately un the emperor had bad not departed from that extreme discretion governs even his bis courage the f urther further the allied army advanced the more our columns strengthened each other by being brought closer teg leg together ellier during the night of ide ine we found that the tire Aust austrians rians were sing eing the mincio and advancing to meet us its A battle was wag imminent the whole army of the enemy retracing its steps was prepared to oppose our forta foria forward ard movement solferino san cassiano Sas siano cavriani Ca all formidable positions were occupied by the austrians Aust rians who supported by a strong force of artillery artiller crowned ali all the he heights as tar fur as its verita to their left in the plain between volta guidizzolo Guid izzolo ard medole numerous columns of infantry mixed with artillery and cavalry were advancing lo 10 turn our right between solferino and peschiera the enemy had also a considerable force intended to oppose the troops of he tire king of sardinia marching from Dise Disen zano towards the two armies occupied these respective positions when at 5 in the morning the corps marshal paraguay Bar aguay commenced the engagement before Solf solferino edno the heights and the village were taken and occupied after an ob sinate engagement daring dining this action the ad d corps al M arshal MMa hons hohs which wi wib wms a on the right of the in the plain was extended towards its own right in order to unite with tl ti e force un Nil who was the emperor had bad taken |
