clique regarded me as a child and refused to admit me to their
society. However, an unforeseen event led to my being accepted
unanimously.

The army of Italy was at this time in Liguria and spread out on a
front of more than sixty miles in length, the right of which was in
the Gulf of Spezzia, beyond Genoa, and the left at Nice and Var, that
is to say on the frontier of France. We had, therefore, the sea at
our backs, and we faced Piedmont, which was occupied by the Austrian
army, from which we were separated by that branch of the Apennines
which runs from Var to Gavi: a bad position, in which the army ran
the risk of being cut in two, which, in fact, happened some months
later.

My father, having been ordered to concentrate his division at
Savona, a small town, by the sea, ten leagues towards France from
Genoa, set up his headquarters in the bishop's palace. The infantry
was spread out among the market towns and villages of the
neighbourhood to keep watch on the valleys from which emerged the
roads which led to Piedmont. The 1st Hussars, who had come from Nice
to Savona, were encamped on a plain known as the Madona. The
outposts of the enemy were at Dego, four or five leagues from us, on
the forward slopes of the Apennines, whose summits were covered in
snow, whereas Savona and its surroundings enjoyed the mildest of
climates.

Our encampment would have been delightful if the rations had been
more plentiful; but there was at that time no main road from Nice to
Genoa; the sea was covered by English warships, so the army had to
live on what could be brought by detachments of mules along the