Hannibal's Passage of the Alps. Hannibal determined to carry the war into Italy. To do this, he had to fight his way through Spain and cross the Alps, which were regarded as an impassable barrier between Italy and the North. In this he succeeded, although he lost one half of his troops and almost all the beasts of burden in the passage. This is justly regarded as one of the greatest military feats in history. In modern times Napoleon accomplished it, but both he and his historians have accounted it one of the best proofs of his genius, that he, in the nineteenth century, should be able to do what Hannibal had accomplished in the third century B. C. Hannibal crossed the Alps probably by way of what is now known as the Little St. Bernard Pass. The Gauls on the Italian side of the Alps welcomed him as their deliverer, and he was soon in the plains of northern Italy.-Colby, 1899