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Postcard of a color painting of General Luigi Cadorna, chief of staff of the Italian Army
Reverse:
Generale Luigi Cadorna
Postmarked October 10, 1916

General Luigi Cadorna, chief of staff of the Italian Army

Image text

Reverse:

Postmarked October 10, 1916

Generale Luigi Cadorna

Other views: Larger, Back

Monday, May 14, 1917

". . . The feeling at the [Italian] Supreme Command was that Capello had made 'very slight progress' at a heavy price: 5,000 or 6,000 dead and wounded in three days. Cadorna was rattled. He had not expected such fierce resistance. Accusations were flung around, and heads rolled. In keeping with his original plan, Cadorna was minded to halt operations on the middle Isonzo and bolster the Third Army with mobile batteries. Capello promised that if he could keep the 200 medium and heavy guns, he would capture Vodice and Monte Santo. Cadorna let himself be talked around. As soon as Monte Santo had fallen, the guns would be sent to the Third Army."

Quotation Context

Italian commander in chief Luigi Cadorna had launched his Tenth Battle of the Isonzo on May 12, 1917, and by the 14th it looked to be another failure. Italian deserters had alerted the Austro-Hungarians to the impending attack. With their Russian front quiet after the February Revolution, the Austrians had transferred reinforcements to the west. The defenders held the peaks, and the Italians were attacking, as they had since the beginning of the war, an enemy above them, oftentimes well entrenched. General Luigi Capello's men took Vodice, and captured, then lost, Monte Santo.

Source

The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1919 by Mark Thompson, page 252, copyright © 2008 Mark Thompson, publisher: Basic Books, publication date: 2009

Tags

Luigi Cadorna, Cadorna, Tenth Battle of the Isonzo, Tenth Isonzo, Isonzo, 1917-05-14, 1917, May