<;I:I:M.\N ITALIAN \v*AR. 



369 



.ildi Iiail. in tlio 



about 



>r live l-ri- 



rsaglieri ; ulto- 



'III). It \\;i- to 



: Cijildini I-v in- 

 ni part of the Tyrol Tlio 

 I I'roiuIdroLako 

 .or, from 1 1 10 re to tlio val- 

 i Kivcr, and tVoiu thoro through 

 line detachments were 

 north of this lino fur purposes of ob- 

 and dot'oiico. The AiKtrians liad 

 ! ail tho passes of tills moun- 

 Tho chief fortifications were 

 11 tho valleys of the Chiese 

 and tho castle of Doblino, east 

 en the main road to Trent. 

 :talf a German mile from the Italian fron- 

 a the road from the Chieso to Riva (on 

 :irda Lake), were Fort Ampola and Fort 

 . !MMI>. After crossing the frontier on 

 ;th and 14th of July, Garibaldi established 

 his headquarters at Storo. On the 19th he 

 raptured Kurt Ampola. On the 20th his troops 

 Lad eii'-rau'cmcnts with a superior force of the 

 ions at tho chapel of Locca, at Bececca, 

 and Santa Lucia. The Volunteers lost 500 

 ! and wounded, and a considerable number 

 of prisoners (about 1,000, according to Austrian 

 nans, however, derived no 

 ial advantage from the lighting, and had 

 hack to their former position. All tho 

 engagements were of httlo account. In 

 : a corner of Lombardy the Austrians 

 far as Bormio, without gaining, 

 :iiy lasting advantage. Of tho Garda 

 a small Austrian fleet kept during all this 

 :ndisputed control, as tho Italian Govern- 

 ment had altogether forgotten to make any 

 a for the possession of this lake, which 

 would have been ot the greatest importance for 

 tho conquest of Southern Tyrol. At the time 

 when the truce was declared, tho troops of Gari- 

 baldi had advanced nowhere more than two 



ii miles from the frontier. 

 The loft wing of Cialdini's army, consisting 

 of the division of General Medici, which was 

 to invade Southeastern Tyrol, numbered about 

 10,000 men when it reached Bassano (July 21). 

 The AiMrians had no more than 700 men at 

 tho village of Primolano on tho frontier, who, 

 a'haiH-iii-,' columns of Medici, fell 

 back toward Grigno. Having been reinforced 

 and now numbering about 2,000 men, the Aus- 

 trians tried to arro.-t the Italians on July i2-".d, 

 -ro di Val Sugana, but they were defeated 

 and pursued by tho whole division of Medici to 

 . which place they had likewise to 

 Airing the night. Tho last engagement 



m t ho . "it h at Vigolo, a village e 

 of the lake of Caldonazza, and about a German 

 tnilo from tho railroad leading from Trent to 

 .1. Then the proclamation of tho truce 

 put an end to hostilities. 

 The Italian tleot had remained inactive much 

 VOL. TI. 24 A 



rnmcnt and publ'c opinion 



:od. At h-ngth, \\ hen Cial'lini advanced 



into Y :. :ia, lV:-an<) had to yield to the pres- 



rought upon him. The first task as- 

 to him was the capture of the island of Lissa, 

 ;> tho Au-trian province of Dalma- 

 tia. J.ia lies about twenty miles south of the 

 seaport town of Spalato. Between it and tho 

 continent are the islands of Lcsina, Brazza, and 

 Solta. By a submarine telegraph it is connected 

 with Lcsina and Spalato. Tho Austrians kept 

 upon the islands stores of coal, provisions, am- 

 munition, and other war material. The two 

 chief ports of the islands, S. Giorgio and Co- 

 misa. were strongly fortified. The Italian fleet 

 left Ancona July 10th, consisting at that tune 

 of 28 vessels, namely: 11 iron-clads, 4 screw 

 frigates, 1 screw corvette, 2 wheel corvettes, 4 

 avisos, 4 gunboats, 1 hospital vessel, and 1 store- 

 ship. One aviso was sent to tho promontory of 

 Gargano, there to await several vessels which 

 were expected from Tarento and Brindisi, es- 

 pecially tho ram Affondatore, and to direct 

 them to Lissa. On the 17th, in the evening, 

 the fleet was rejoined by the chief of Persano's 

 staff, who had visited Lissa in disguise on board 

 a merchant vessel, for the purpose of obtaining 

 trustworthy information of the enemy's works 

 and the best places of landing. The attack 

 upon Lissa began on the 18th. Counter-admiral 

 Vacca bombarded the fortifications of the port 

 of Comisa, and Vice-admiral Albini attempted 

 to effect a landing at Porto Manego, but both 

 soon saw that their efforts would be unsuccess- 

 ful. Persano with the bulk of the ironclads 

 had attacked the chief fort of San Giorgio and 

 silenced the Austrian forts on the entrance of 

 the port, save one battery. On the 19th, in tho 

 afternoon, tho attack upon S. Giorgio was re- 

 newed, and an attempt made to effect a landing 

 at Porto Carobert ; but the operations were 

 again unsuccessful. On the 20th, the Austrian 

 fleet, under command of the Counter-admiral 

 Tegethoff, arrived from Fasana for the purpose 

 of raising the investment of Lissa. The Aus- 

 trian fleet was divided into three divisions ; the 

 first consisting of seven iron-clads, under com- 

 mand of Tegethoff; the second, containing seven 

 heavy wooden vessels, under command of Com- 

 modore Petz ; the third, containing seven light 

 wooden vessels. Inclusive of four avisos, tho 

 Austrian fleet numbered 25 vessels and 500 

 guns. Persano, in the mean while, had received 

 reinforcements, and his fleet consisted of 34 ves- 

 sels. Although he had reason to expect the ar- 

 rival of tho Austrian fleet on the 20th, Per- 

 sano ordered a new attempt at landing to be 

 made on the morning of this day by tho wooden 

 licet, under command of Albini, at Porto Caro- 

 bert, and again dispatched two iron-clads for 

 the bombardment of the port of Coraisa. 

 Thus, when the approach of the iron-clads was 

 signalled, only ten iron-clads out of the fleet of 

 thirty-four vessels were ready for battle. They 

 were formed into three groups : one, containing 

 the Maria Pia, Varese, and Re di Portogallc 



