OALE, NEAR TREVISO, July 17, 1866.

From Lusia I followed General Medici's division to Motta, where I left
it, not without regret, however, as better companions could not easily be
found, so kind were the officers and jovial the men. They are now
encamped around Padua, and will to-morrow march on Treviso, where the
Italian Light Horse have already arrived, if I judge so from their having
left Noale on the 15th. From the right I hear that the advanced posts
have proceeded as far as Mira on the Brenta, twenty kilometres from
Venice itself, and that the first army corps is to concentrate opposite
Chioggia. This corps has marched from Ferrara straight on to Rovigo,
which the forward movement of the fourth, or Cialdini's corps d'armee,
had left empty of soldiers. General Pianell has still charge of it, and
Major-General Cadalini, formerly at the head of the Siena brigade,
replaces him in the command of his former division. General Pianell has
under him the gallant Prince Amadeus, who has entirely recovered from his
chest wound, and of whom the brigade of Lombardian grenadiers is as proud
as ever. They could not wish for a more skilled commander, a better
superior officer, and a more valiant soldier. Thus the troops who fought
on the 24th June are kept in the second line, while the still fresh
divisions under Cialdini march first, as fast as they can. This, however,
is of no avail. The Italian outposts on the Piave have not yet crossed
it, for the reason that they must keep distances with their regiments,
but will do so as soon as these get nearer to the river. If it was not
that this is always done in regular warfare, they could beat the country
beyond the Piave for a good many miles without even seeing the shadow of
an Austrian. To the simple private, who does not know of diplomatic
imbroglios and of political considerations, this sudden retreat means an
almost as sudden retracing of steps, because he remembers that this
manoeuvre preceded both the attacks on Solferino and on Custozza by the
Austrians. To the officer, however, it means nothing else than a fixed
desire not to face the Italian army any more, and so it is to him a
source of disappointment and despondency. He cannot bear to think that
another battle is improbable, and may be excused if he is not in the best
of humour when on this subject. This is the case not only with the
officers but with the volunteers, who have left their homes and the
comfort of their domes