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
domestic life, not to be paraded at reviews, but to be sent against the
enemy. There are hundreds of these in the regular army-in the cavalry
especially, and the Aosta Lancers and the regiment of Guides are half
composed of them. If you listen to them, there ou