Military life in Italy : sketches - Societa italiana di storia militare

96 MILITARY LIFE.
the fields, falling and rolling down the banks of the ditches ;
in
fact, a confusion, a racket, a tumult that is indescribable ;
it
was,
in fact, an infernal night. Ah ! a retreat is indeed a sad, sad
sight !
" The exertions of the day and, more than all, the violent
emotions which we had experienced in so short a time, had
completely exhausted me. I was dead tired ;
I
caught sight
of an artillery wagon where there was an empty place ;
I took
advantage of the moment when it
stopped, jumped up on to it;
the men made room for me I seated
;
myself, leaned over, and
went to sleep.
When I opened my eyes the day was beginning
to break. We were within a few steps of the bridge of Goito.
It rained ;
I touched my clothes, and they were wet. I looked
up ; the sky was covered by a great dark, massive cloud that
promised rain for the entire day. I looked around through
the fields ;
there were quantities of soldiers walking slowly
along, with their heads lowered and their eyes on the ground.
Many of them had taken the linen of the tents and had put
it over their shoulders like a shawl, to protect themselves
from the water ; many others who had lost their knapsacks
and linen took refuge under that of a comrade, and so they
walked two by two, arm in arm, with their heads completely enveloped
;
others who had lost their caps had put on their
handkerchiefs ;
others who had thrown away their knapsacks
carried their things in a bundle on the end of their bayonets :
and all of them dragged themselves along with the greatest
difficulty, limping and stumbling at every moment. Some
stopped every now and then to lean against a tree or throw
themselves on the ground ;
then rose with difficulty, after a little,
to resume their weary way. I passed over the bridge ;
that