Napoleon now prepared a bold flank movement, by leaving the Po for the
Ticino, and to mask this manoeuvre ordered the Sardinians to make an
advance. Thus, while Victor Emmanuel, at the head of his men, flung
himself from Vercelli on Palestro--meriting, by the skill of his
military tactics, the acclamations of a regiment of zouaves whom he
headed as corporal--the French, taking ad vantage of the Alessandria,
Casale, and Novara Railway, made for the bridge of Buffalora over the
Ticino. Only then did Gyulai perceive this clever stratagem which threw
Lombardy open to the allies, and he was consequently obliged to cross
the Ticino to block the enemy's way to Milan.
On June 4th, at Magenta, nearly the whole of the Austrian army engaged
the French forces; the battle, which was most desperate, lasted all day,
and was remarkable for the prodigies of valor performed. The Austrians,
driven back into Magenta itself, maintained, even in that village, such
a stout resistance that they had to be dislodged by house-to-house
fighting.
Pages:
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704