I think it right to mention this, for it proves that, the day after the
bloody affair of the 24th, the Italian army had still a regiment of
cavalry operating at Villafranca, a village which lay at a distance of
fifteen kilometres from the Italian frontier. A report, which is much
accredited here, explains how the Italian army did not derive the
advantages it might have derived from the action of the 24th. It appears
that the orders issued from the Italian headquarters during the previous
night, and especially the verbal instructions given by Lamarmora and
Pettiti to the staff officers of the different army corps, were either
forgotten or misunderstood by those officers. Those sent to Durando, the
commander of the first corps, seem to have been as follows: That he
should have marched in the direction of Castelnuovo, without, however,
taking part in the action. Durando, it is generally stated, had strictly
adhered to the orders sent from the headquarters, but it seems that
General Cerale understood them too literally.
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