han so ignominious an attempt at hedging would have been the
acknowledgment to all the world of the noble crime of patriotism. But,
as Massimo d'Azeglio once observed, Charles Albert had the incurable
defect of thinking himself cunning. It was, moreover, only too true
that, although in these diplomatic communications the King allowed the
case against him to be stated with glaring exaggeration, yet they
contained an element of fact. He _was_ afraid of revolution at home;
he _was_ afraid of a Lombard republic; these were not the only, nor
were they the strongest, motives which drove him into the war, but
they were motives which, associated with deeper causes, contributed
to the disasters of the future.

The Piedmontese force was composed of two _corps d'armee,_ the first
under General Bava and the second under General Sonnaz: each amounted
to 24,000 men. The reserves, under the Duke of Savoy, numbered 12,000.
Radetsky, at first (after strengthening the garrisons in the
fortresses), could not put into the field more than 40,000 men. As has
been stated, the King assumed the supreme command, which led to a
constant wavering between the original plan of General Bava, a capable
officer, and the criticisms and suggestions of the staff. The greatest
mistake of all, that of never bringing into the field at once more
than about half the army, was not without connection with the supposed
necessity, based on political reasons, of garrisoning places in the
rear which might have been safely left to the care of their national
guards.

Besides the royal army, there were in the field 17,000 Romans, 3000
Modenese and Parmese, and 6000 Tuscans. There were also several
companies of Lombard volunteers, Free Corps, as they were called,
which might have been increased to almost any extent had they not been
discouraged by the King, who was believed to look coldly on all these
extraneous allies, either from doubt of their efficiency, or from the
wish to keep the whole glory of the campaign for his Piedmontese army.

The first engagements were on the line of the Mincio. On the 8th of
April the Sardinians carried the bridge of Goito after a fight of four
hours. The burning of the village of Castelnuovo on the 12th, as a
punishment for its having received Manara's band of volunteers,
excited great exasperation; many of the unfortunate villagers perished
in the flames, and this and other incidents of the same kind did much
towards awakening a mor