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

A NOCTURNAL MARCH.
WHAT a night
! No
moon, no stars, pitch darkness. There
never was such utter gloom seen before. Though
it was
only the first of October, a fresh autumn breeze was blowing,
which whipped sharply across the face, under the clothes, and
shrivelled the skin. It was about nine o'clock in the evening ;
the regiment had folded the tents and was drawn up across the
field, their arms at their feet, awaiting the orders for departure.
The soldiers, just awakened from a short and uncomfortable
sleep, all stood there, doubled up, bent over, shivering, with a
bitter, discontented expression of face, their hands in their
pockets, the muskets leaning against their arms ;
and instead
of the usual chatting, so lively and gay, nothing was to be
heard but an occasional subdued and listless whisper. The
darkness was so great that, in looking at the camp
from the
road, nothing was to be seen but the long line of lanterns hung
from the end of the muskets, each one of which lighted up
three or four sleepy faces.
Over there, in the corner of the field,
beyond the extreme flank of the regiment, many little lights were
to be seen moving about in a small space, and these served to
illumine dimly a confused bustle of people (differently dressed)
around certain carts and boxes the baggage
of the sutler.
Here and there through the field a few little flames still gleamed;
they were the last sparks of the fire which the soldiers had
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