I have heard it said by critics of Italy that the retreat from Caporetto
showed the lack of courage of the Italian soldier. To gauge the courage
of an army a single disaster is as unjust as it is unintelligent. Was
the rout of the Federal forces at Bull Run a criterion of their behavior
in the succeeding years of the Civil War? Was the surrender at Sedan a
true indication of the fighting ability of the French soldier? Every
nation has had its disasters and has had to live them down. Italy did
this when, on the banks of Piave, she turned her greatest disaster into
her most glorious triumph.

Because it was my privilege to be with the Italian army in the field
during various periods of the war, and because I know at first-hand
whereof I speak, I regret and resent the disparagement of the Italian
soldier which has been so freely indulged in since the Armistice. It may
be, of course, that you do not fully realize the magnitude of Italy's
sacrifices and achievements. Did you know, for example, that Italy held
a front longer than the British, Belgian, French and American fronts put
together? Did you know that out of a population of 37 millions she put
into the field an army of 5 million men, whereas France and her
colonies, with nearly double the population, was never able to raise
more than 5,064,000, a considerable proportion of which were black and
brown men? Did you know that in forty-one months of war Italy lost
541,000 in dead and 953,000 in wounded, and that, unlike France and
England, her armies were composed wholly of white men? Did you know
that, in spite of all that has been said about the Allies giving her
assistance, Italy at all times had more troops on the Western front than
the Allies had on the Italian? Did you know that she called up the
class of 1919 two years before their time, a measure which even France,
hard-pressed as she was, did not feel justified in taking? (I have
mentioned this before, but it will bear repetition.) Have you stopped to