A MEMORY OF SOLFERINO - JUNE 24TH 1859 (annotated)

A MEMORY OF SOLFERINO - JUNE 24TH 1859 (1)
One hundred and fifty years ago
Midst the wreck of a grim battlefield,
A beacon of hope for the future
To Henry Dunant was revealed.
Nigh a village that's called Solferino
Perched high on a Lombardy hill (2)
He witnessed a battle long over
Yet its legacy's flowering still.
While knowing that wars are e'er with us
Be they for wrong or for right
His thoughts were for nought but the injured
And how he could lessen their plight.

THE DAWN OF BATTLE
Henry Dunant's "a mere tourist" (3)
Not part of the conflict this day,
It's doubtful that he can imagine
The pivotal role he'll soon play.
A Franco-Sardinian alliance (4)
Led by Napoleon's hand
Runs into their enemy's forces
Sooner than either had planned.
The sun it has not even risen (5)
On this fateful June twenty-forth,
As the Frenchmen march out to do battle
Under a sky that's still swarth. (6)

Their foe is the Austrian army
The Emperor himself at its head; (7)
In total some three hundred thousand (8)
Soon into the furnace they're fed.
The French reach the Austrian outposts
Massed bugles as one sound the charge,
The dust and the smoke intermingle
As artillery pieces discharge. (9)
Cavalry range 'cross the field (10)
Infantry' bayonets thrust,
The brave and the dead are applauded
While those men who quail are cussed . (11)

THE DAWN OF HOPE
By nightfall it is all but over (12)
Forty-two thousand are injured or killed, (13)
The battle itself may be ended
The suffering's yet to be stilled.
In the days and the weeks that will follow
From illness, from wounds and from strain,
A further forty thousand (14)
Will join the tally of pain.
Dunant will work through the horror
Giving such aid as he can, (15)
Amidst all the heartrending misery
He'll come to his hope and his plan.

He envisions a volunteer movement
Sees the good it could surely have done,
Be it nought but the giving of water
To those of the wounded with none;
Be it damage that could have been lessened
If men were brought prompt from the field,
Be it fatalities mayhap avoided
From wounds that could surely be healed;
Be it injured men lying untended
For no longer time than they should,
Be it comforting words to the dying
In a language which they understood;
Be it only improved transportation
The torment of movement to ease;
The Red Cross as we today know it
Is born out of thoughts such as these.

One hundred and fifty years ago
Midst the wreck of a grim battlefield,
A beacon of hope for the future
To Henry Dunant was revealed.

NOTES
(1) Drawn from "A Memory of Solferino" by Henry Dunant (1828-1910), "the father of the Red Cross"
(2) An Italian region in the north of the country
(3) This is Dunant's own description of himself
(4)The kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont was ruled
by King Victor-Emmanuel II (1820-1878) and included parts of northern Italy, Turin being its capital"
(5) The French First and Second Corps began their attack at 3am
(6) 'Swarth' , a derivation of 'swart' meaning 'black'
(7) Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria-Hungary (1830-1916)
(8) The Franco-Sardinians had 150,000 men, the Austrians 170,000
(9)Between them, the two sides had approximately 900 pieces of artillery
(10)The battle line was five leagues (a league is commonly 3 miles)long and the battle raged over a ""stretch of broken country, twelve & a half miles long"".
(11) As the beaten Austrian's retreated, the Emperor threw himself into the path of the fleeing men, calling them cowards
(12) Guidzizzolo, 3.5 miles south of Solferino, finally fell at 10pm
(13) Including 3 Field- Marshalls, 9 Generals and 1566 officers
(14) Either dead or hospitalised
(15) Amongst other things he: gave the injured water; bathed wounds; comforted those beyond hope ("I spoke to him and he listened. He allowed himself to be soothed, comforted and consoled, to die at last with the straightforward simplicity of a child."); organised women to aid the wounded; arranged relief ""where it seemed to be most lacking""; purchased provisions (""camomile, mallows, elder-flower, oranges, lemons, sugar, shirts, sponges, linen bandages, pins, cigars & tobacco""); noted the addresses of relatives of the dying; handed out tobacco, pipes & cigars in the hospitals; he saved prisoners from mistreatment and translated for injured detainees, making "no distinction between nationalities".

COPY RIGHT D M PAMMENT 2010