Rensselaer Gazette, Volume 3, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 July 1859 — The Battle of Solferino. [ARTICLE]

The Battle of Solferino.

“Malakoff,” the Italian correspondent of the New York Times, w-io is at the seat ol war, writes thus about the . attle <>f Solfer“This great battle, which will rende Solferino and the 25th of June memorable in history, lasted from five o’clock in the morning unti 1 nine in the evening— 1 total ot sixteen hours—and it may be that the pursuit is not yet suspended. It was a battle in which French skill in the art of war vnee more proved superior to that of Austria, her ancient enemy, and it would seem that she ought now to be willing to make peace. “We are unable to arrive even at wn approximation of the casualties ol the day. All the offi- ers who might have been able to furnish us correct information continued in the pursuit of th- - enemy, and We were obliged to rel upon what we saw with our own eyes and could ob! .in trom the wounded themselves. From their d ta \ <* eel warranted in saying that the F r>ch must have had 25,000 men. hors de comb d A<• certainly saw ourseiv. s 10,000 .v m:i ed nr 11 1 come frrom the field on c .-.. mun s | and litters. Tne procession .- co" rounded : was continuous during twelve t,ours th it j ,we remained .spectator ot th-- scene, and now, 1 in the morning hour, the stream is pouring i on seeking a resting place in the churches l oi the surround.ng vilhiges and hamlets toi ward Brescia, all of which have been seized by the surgeons for hospital purposes. It is ■ a blessing, indeed, that on such occasions as I this the country should be so well supplied with large and elegant churches, for they form admirable hospitals, and serve as a resting place ior wounded men, who might, oth- . erw ise die on thear carts on the h gir.vav for , . r c* « want, ol slielter. ■ hospital and churches of Castiglione i tlt'e reserved for the wounded officers and tinmen on whom capital operations are to be periormed, especially for the amputated. The medh’.al officers expressed surprise at tie disproportion of men who were brought from the fi-id with wounds of the arms and legs, and in effect we observe ! this sing’ikiri ity among the wounded. Bui then n musi i be recollected Hut ii. is only w-m t.l.s •• circuintere ice tiiat ar - m.f l..<ia!, >'■' ; ■ ■ those in the dies ami i.„ : g ig . .... r in tin in the i; : • . ' m-. 'i. ii irr-:-w muds to 1 ;ok . ci', Were tne lace. Two zi . »ves oi the i <.O i-eg: inent had the wage ui.der jaw carried ;iv- ... . aiid yet th se brave icllows walked by .mu the carlso. t heir comrades more danger aisiy wounded than th . nisi-lv-.-s. ' S .i-.ie li.xi! ■ in. : 1 1 eyes clos d from blows with the butts of the muskets, otjiers had their cheeks or mouths banging in lambeaux from sword cuts, others the cheeks swoolen to enormous dimensions from bails that had pierced their faces tbr uigh and through. ; ‘-T.,c Cent Gardes had established their i ambulance in the house at. which we had pla- ! ced -mr carriage for sale keeping during the b <ttie. Several of these men were wound -d i<*-ar the Emperor, and the surgeon to tu c ru e as-ured me that, the Eu.peror had a i>aU on the ' >p > his shoulder, under the e >..u,ette. S v- ru! ol the < ffi.-ers el His M lesty’s e/ri/ major were also a ound< d, .11 from ail I cun icurn. he casualties among the officers on the French side were numerous. •‘lf anything were wanting to prove that the French were the most admirable soldiers in the word, as well on the field ot battle as when wounded, it was surely manifested on this memorable day. With the exception jof a few m-n who were dying as they were 'jolting along the streets in the carts, am' ' rom whom escape*’ the involuntary gro ! 01 the dying hour, not a word ot Com:i.a:-iH, I was ut'ered; and I saw officers and u--it, ■ ■whom the blood was oozing from gh-s; ly ; wounds, calmly smoking their pipes as they ’ passed along on their way in search rd ->n ambulance and a surgeon. Altogether it wis a fear ui sight, and excited the pity ot (he most hard-hearted. "The women who had remain cl in th* town of Castiglione sh"d tears app.in nl iy at the utter hopelessness of rende ass,si.inei ■- sueb number o> hr;.v- ■ -utfer;ng men. 1 •■■■ • • >. .1,- o ’ra 11 I open, and every* li-.ne w te-u-y >• -mi in I alleviating thin' p. ins r , ■. -t part j they asked but > v > f r, r t;i ' loss of blood creates the- mJ atigues o the day must have In e. •'•'.irtiie length of the battle nd ttie of ground to fight over. Many ol tu ■ iers were naked to the waist, their co;- o.iving been trn to pieces in the itayim and hand to hand fights, and their skirts torn up to staunch their blood. All were covered w ith dust and hud their clothes more or less torn, both officers and men, and presented, even in th s a isence o< blood stained clothes, the m-ist pitiable appearance. But all who were not suffering had stamped upon their countenances that quiet, d -termined look, which soldiers acquire in battle, and which is called in the French army the ‘professional air.’ “The air of resignation, a- d the quiet, respect ul manner of these brave fellows, rendered the scene more torching, more sympathetic. A noisy, bravado air would have seriously detracted from the sympathy and the horror of the scene. But all this, as the wounded men said, was nothing to tne field ot battle, only on the field ol nattle they thought neither ot t'-eir own wounds n.>r o> tne mass of their dead comrades, over whose bodies they were obliged to manti. 1 have he-’rd no estimate ol the nui/;m i ;<i <ie dead •We •,w but 30bU tu> rrian pris ner ordu-ti ill !! tiutiy ■>.-> ■' *'k. n -g . nt- d,.y n J t-c».r ; a' ’ <j. i. aw n. vrowd ■> oUU. ■ u ’m r“> 400. nd m ny smaller squads. Tne Austrian .vouimed were piled into carts sonieiini s indiscrimin-

ately with the French. The largest gang I saw was brought in by the Turcos. They were obliged to stop on acc >unt of the cro w ding at the point where I stood, ami I thus had an occasion to take a good look at them. A considerable proportion of these were Lombards, a fact which a large and s >vage looking Turco of the escor’ evidently did not know, for he explained to us, in ridiculing them, that they fired but once and then laid down their guns. ? Poor fellows! Tnev were n > doubt glad to remain on their own soil, even as prisoners; and one only wonders at the blind eg< tism of the Austrian rulerin placing reliance upon men.who have n*> love tor them, and who are compelled to fight against their brethren and their own firesides. "The Hungarians also were in considerable numbers, and some of these were large and magnificent physical men. But they ; were nor qu < k enough, nor p »wer'ul enough i fqr our Turcos and Z >uaves, who, whilrendering justice to the good-will and obsti nacy with which they fought, merely talked of their inferiority as a matter of course, ami ol their own success as equally a sun- ’ th'ing. The Austrian uni arm, while convenient to the wearer, is most, ungainly and unsoldier- like in app ‘ trance, consisting ol a dust--1 colored co»t, dirty green pintaloons, -.nd . Cio ilmos: invisible rom its size aid color ; The officers we sa w were exceedingly hatidi some, gentlemanly-looking men, and were distinguished more particularly from thmen by a bright, gulden sta- on the front of 'a dark-gfeen ap. The officers walked in i the middle of the gangs of prisoners, and. ( although they remained silent, they did not look dow cast or humiliated. The rn u ich itted with siiJi of as could 1 talk German or Italian. 1 “!n and about Castigli me thern were 20, ■ 000 soldiers in charge ol the enormous tram |o- the army, while in the rear of the town there remained a reserve of 20.000 nu n. t< ■ support the army in case of disas er. Ald to this 10,000 or lu,o‘'o wounded men in Castiglione, and several hundred thotis. nd men scattered over the plain in conflict and <b-ud on the ground, and you have a scene I encompassed in a space of eight miles’ di--1 ameter, such, perhaps, us this land ol great, battle scenes never saw before. From the i high peaked biuff from which we w tehed the list hours 01 the baitl -, all this sci-ik-i could be tak -n in md comprehended at one i glance. It was a great bittie, and stir, ly I ought to decid- , once fi r ill, the vis. sup' riI ority o French over Austrian arms.” The Liverpool Courier of June 19. in speaking of- the great tbumler storm on the afternoon of the day of battle, says: “At four o’clock in the bright summ-ri in >rniiiii o Friday last, nearly 350,0'J0 men -.toon mi God’s green earth to begin the work ; of F >r .seventeen . h >urs the mu.toude s-.vayc to iitii- tro in mortal strifi ; mo-, here, now th re, the surge *>i battle - ui>-<| until' night closed in around the re.l itmgebh. As i; heli itself had broken : : >.-e . the p oils o! tnun ,‘-r from tne ctlou.is .vii .<;h s.-:i ■■! ti.e ~k,- > < ird evening - -nr .ii : > r m ar'i ■ ' . ml the gl.ir i:;g iij" fl .sin I'. in • tnu nv with the fires 01 tin- cum -n i-’ c tire i' you-sel’ The giginm. Au>s on •••n - side, th.- hills •' : Vu?4 on tiie .>.tu -r, t;... r ~-r i'liies,.- running 011 1 o tile gre .t ,> 1.. ill • ■ M o' u n i ndi >t narrow place 3jU.O(JO m n domg death's i business with all the murder u’s mip ments |oi modern warfare. Our boasted < tviliz.ti.m ‘comes to this —rivers dyed with human bh> >d; stacks oi c >rpses piled upon the pl..in; Sh 'ii's of triumph and groans o! despair: men mutilated tor Ike; misery, mourning ami d. no.ation. Verily, the old prophesy comes tru*‘. and the 'birth oi Freedom takes pin t m a bath o, blood.’ ”