[SOLFERINO] (Battle of)]. - Lot 5

[SOLFERINO] (Battle of)]. L.A.S. "votre affectionné Petit" from a young officer to his father, Colonel Répécaud. Volta, June 27, 1859. 8 pp. in-8. This very long letter from a young engineer officer, of the 4th Corps, recounts in detail the battle of Solferino, which took place three days earlier....We had a terrible day in which the 4th Corps played one of the most important roles. Since the battle of Magenta, the Allied army had had virtually no sight of the Austrians (...). It was well known that the enemy was still on the right bank of this river, but it was far from expected that most of the army would be there. Official documents (...) show that we held our ground and repulsed 150,000 Austrians. (...) Marshal de Mac-Mahon, who was on our left towards Solferino, encountered the enemy at the same time as us, at around 4 o'clock. Two cavalry divisions temporarily under the command of Gal Niel were a little behind between Gal Niel and Marshal de Mac-Mahon (...). The battle (...) lasted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. without interruption and in scorching heat. Throughout this time, the enemy made considerable efforts (...) to cut our army in two. Fresh troops were constantly arriving on the enemy's side, while our battalions, reduced by fire and fatigue, were barely able to hold their ground...He goes on to describe the various troop movements before and during the general assault, and in particular General Niel's difficulties and Marshal Canrobert's late but decisive assistance. General Niel (1802-1869), who commanded the 4th Corps at Solferino, was rewarded for his decisive action during the battle by being elevated to the rank of Marshal of France by Napoleon III. A rare testimonial, this letter is all the more precious in that its author shows remarkable hindsight, as the following sentence, which concludes the account, clearly shows: ...this account of the battle of June 24, which I believe will be called the battle of Solferino, written with the current of the pen by one of the actors who saw only part of the action, is certainly very incomplete; it will, however, I hope, have the merit of interesting you...