Even the soberest writers have not resisted making some reference to the magnificent scene of to-morrow’s battle.  On one side, the mountain bulwarks rising tier on tier, gorgeous with the trancendent beauty of colour and light of the Italian summer; on the other, the vine-clad hillocks which fall gently away from the blue lake of Garda till they are lost in the

............harvest shining plain
Where the peasant heaps his grain
In the garner of his foe.

The 24th of June was to decide how much longer the Lombard peasant should labour to fill a stranger’s treasury.

The calculations of the Austrians were founded on the slowness which had hitherto characterised Napoleon’s movements.  Hess thought that two days might be safely allowed for the Austrian advance, and that the enemy would remain passive on the west bank of the river Chiese, waiting to be attacked on the 25th.  If the operation could have been performed in one day, and it is thought that it could, there would have been more prospect of success.  But even then, the original plan of attacking the allies west of the Chiese could not have been carried out, as on the 23rd the whole allied army moved forward, the French occupying Castiglione and Lonato, and the Sardinians Rezzato and Desenzano, on the lake of Garda.  It is not clear how far the allies believed in the Austrian advance; that they had warning of it from several quarters is certain.  For instance, a gentleman living at Desenzano heard from the country people, who, for marketing or other purposes, constantly go to and fro between that place and Peschiera, that the Austrians had ordered a quantity of country carts and transport waggons to be in readiness on the 23rd, and he hastened with the intelligence to the Piedmontese General Delia Rocca, who, in a fine spirit of red-tapism, pooh-poohed the information.  The French encountered several Austrian patrols in the course of the day, but they were inclined to think that the Austrians were only executing a reconnaissance.  On the whole, it seems that the conflict came as a surprise to both sides.

The Emperor of Austria, after accompanying the advance for a short distance, returned with Hess to Valleggio for the night.  Napoleon slept at Montechiaro.  The Austrian forces bivouacked on the little hills between Solferino and Cavriana.  They rested well, still confident that no fighting would be done next day.  At two in the morning, the French began to move in the direction of Solferino, and the Sardinians in that of Peschiera.  There is a legend, that in the grey mists of dawn an advance party of French cavalry espied a huge and gaunt hussar standing by the roadside.  For a moment the figure was lost sight of, but it reappeared, and after running across the road in front of the French, it turned and dealt the officer who led the party so tremendous a blow that he fell off his horse.  Then the adventurous Austrian fled, followed by a volley from the French troopers; the sound vibrating through the dawn stillness gave the call to arms to the contrasted hosts.  The battle of Solferino had begun.