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History of Sardinia

About This Item

  • Title: History of Sardinia
  • Date: 23 June 1859
  • Creator(s): Walt Whitman
  • Whitman Archive ID: per.01401
  • Source: Brooklyn Daily Times, 23 June 1859: 2. Our transcription is based on a digital image of a microfilm scan of the original issue. Microfilm of original issue held at Pennsylvania State University Libraries. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the journalism, see our statement of editorial policy.
  • Editorial note: This piece is unsigned, as was the case for most of Whitman's journalism. However, this editorial is part of a series of texts that deal with a coherent theme that has been identified by the Whitman Archive journalism team as likely authored by Whitman. This decision is based on a combination of historical and (auto)biographical accounts, similarity to contemporary Whitman writings, a history of scholarly attribution, extant clippings retained by Whitman, computational stylometric analysis, and, in some cases, manuscript evidence in Whitman’s hand.
  • Contributors to digital file: Kaylen Michaelis Cassandra Jannel Simms Stefan Schöberlein Karie Cobb
  • Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "History of Sardinia." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 17 July 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: per.01401.xml (TEI)
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HISTORY OF SARDINIA.—

We commence on our outside page to-day, and shall conclude in three numbers, a brief history of the wars which the French and Austrian have heretofore waged on their present battle ground, in the Sardinian dominions.1 It will be seen from this that in all contests between these two great powers, the samller power of Sardinia has been the greatest sufferer; that whether France or Austria won, Piedmont was ravaged and devastated. Hitherto the result of the present war has been according to the same precedent—it is Piedmont which has been plundered, whose wealth and property has been confiscated by the invading Austrians, and whose plains have already been again soaked in blood. It remains to be seen whether Napoleon is generous and disinterested enough to avoid the example of his predecessors on the French throne, and act an honest and unselfish part towards his ally, should victory finally perch on his banners. If not, Piedmont will have little cause to congratulate herself in having called her powerful neighbor of France to defend her against her scarcely less powerful enemy of Austria.

Notes:

1. The Franco-Austrian War of 1859, also known as the Second Italian War of Independence, consisted of conflicts provoked by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia and their alliance with France against their common enemy: Austria. [back]

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