The National Register. — London, England, 1809-06-11 00:00:00

:37s is pit ly obscure, and studiously concise, seem to brio been as I( flow The agent garde of the French army, commanded 1)) BONAPARTE in person, and with alibis best Generals, eros the Danube on the night of the 20th, and on the 21st established themselves in a position. On the same day the Austrian army attacked them in their position, and a ge neral battle took place. The battle lasted all the day, and according to the French Bulletin, in the evening the French remained masters of the field. The battle, however, is ac knowledged to have been very severe, and two French Ge nerals are mentioned as having been killed at the head of their troops. In this twntier, accortihy; to the French Bulletin, passed th; day of the 21st, the French retaining- their position, and the Austrians retaining- theirs. On the followin;, miming, intelligence is said to have been suddenly brought to Bovse.tnxv, that the Brit4ze over the Danube was bro ken down, and that h't front and rear, with all his re nt-lining ammunition were separated. This cl'..v-orerv. '' :11:n tinfors..-en event, this shocking accident," threw :he French into confusion. The enemy soon perceived it, arkil inimedi•ttely commenced a most tremendous at lacl; wi:h two hundred cannon. In this attack, according to the 'French Bulletin, the enemy failetl,--and the result that [he French a2;aiti or the 22d remained masters of . the field. 'rite Ins: on this day is stated to have been very cousitlerahle intlced..--lhe Bulletin acknorded;fes 11.000 killed and 2000 womided. We have no doubt frotn number nf Generals, slated to have hecn killed and wound el, anion whom ir, Marshal I. %sip: es, that the real 1053 of Freurh exceeds five times this a!mount. On the 23f1 rather as it It mild seem on the night of the 22d, the, FiTnclt army took up a rasitiun, that is to say, retreated t , ) an Island of the Danube, sertrated only by a small stream from the left (tank. In his retreat he was confes se d. It played upon by .10,00 pieces of cantle:land 40,000 muskets, tit:lt from a sepa..:ttion from his own ammunition he could 1 - .)t reply. The slaughter upon this occasion muse have h-en inost pro,li;4inis, whilst the Austrians in com parative security could have sta.-rc..-tl nothing. Such is the French narrative of this affair, from which the inference is direct and oc;:e3sary,—that " fioin the fortunate breaking down of the bridges, and the consequent 1/Cii:HatiOil of the rsoNT ,fad REAR of bis 'army, together with 'ais aminunition, the .Austrians have obinned ;A mos ! advanta4e, and executed a slaughter and havee in the zuost probably crippled it hoer nay future important operations. ;e see m r,-.:740 . 1 to question any or the French state ni.!nts, except where they evllentty diminish or dis,“Lise. The accaleut of the bridge is natural, and mentioned in na tural term:. There is here one mall) question upon which all reason ing must be fo:indtd—What has been the decree of the Fi - ench loss? ['or as to the fact of their compnrz:tive su periority of loss, it is elta'Aihed beyond ail possibility of doubt by the aiAlowledgments of Ch. shocking acci deA," and of the trench army being &aye,' upon by 200 pieces of cannon, aud 19,009 muskets, to which it could not reply. The fict, therefore, of the 64 defeat of tip. Trenc,)," (no twitter how cilected, wht2ther fortunately or otherwise) being established, the inaia question is, what hns the etz - :...e of their loss ? ~TUN t If. The French Bulletin acknowledg,s most expressly and directly to a very serious loss, and in the incidental mention of the Generals killed and wounded, necessarily implies that the loss has been still greater than is acknowledged. Int accorditig to the Bulletin there is one circumstance of importance ; the French are still in po.ssession of an island on the left bank, separated only by a small stream from the bsnk, and the French arc unmolested. It would seem, therefore, from this, indeed it almost necessarily follows, that though the French had suflerA very materially, still that they were not wholly overthrown ; that. they Ns ere still strong enough to maintain their position, am) to repel the Austrians. We think it necessary to obsor% e this, that the public may not build too much even upon this most undoubted and most considerable victory. It will he a most advantageous circumstance if the French shall so have suf. "red as to humble the excessive pride of NAPOLEON, and to Bieck him in that career of conquest which menaces to Jlerthrow every k iugdom in Europe.—lt will be a most unhoped for advantage, if this success of the Austrians 41 10nld animate the Patriots in Spam, and produce its expected effects on the German Confederates.--The hest ort of success is the effect which it has upon the minds of teen.----The wisest of us are but too touch the slaves or ..(mtutte. The Austrian cause has long stood in need of I , onesevcess to re-animate the almost extinguished hopes lifthe soldiers and peasantry. If the current superstitious that BONAPARTE: is invincible, could once he re moved, we should have no apprehension of ultimate success. In another part of our Paper will be found the Austrian an!;din in full, giving a detailed account of the most portant Victory which the Austrians have obtained in the whole course ot . the wau. If their we7e any pre% ions doubt of the actual eNient of this video', it must ItOW The Austrian Bulletin is as cic-zr a narrative as the French, ' Indeed it is almost extraordinary that the two accounts should so nearly resemble each other. The cause of this resemblance must be sought in the nature of the victory : it was so important, and attended with such substantial consequences, that the victorious party had no motive for exaggeration, and the vanquished had it not in their power to disguise their loss. The success on the one side was coma ple'e, and the loss on the other side too visible for con cealment. The French, therefore, were compelled to ac :snow ledge ; and the Austrians, in the plenitude of their actual sneces , i, had no room for invention, It will be scea in the A ustrian account, that the narrative inhslantially the same with that contained in. the French Bulletin. Both accounts represent the French as having crossed the Da• nuke without molestation on the 19th ai n l 20. h, and luo. .ng marched to the attack of the Austrians on the morn 111'rb of the 2 1 st. Both a ccoun t s concur in Ma ~ l in that Ile • !ImpecorNAPointox endeavoured to penetrate the A ustrian centre in the attack of that and it may he interm i t, from both accounts, that he most completely tailed in this eifort. If he bad penetrated the centre, the Austrians %you'd net have been able to make head against him on the following day. This is an important fact, and a most im portant inference, On the other hand, however, it must 1 )l confessed that the Austrian account, in this part of the narrative, has likewise some air of exageration. If the French were driven up into a corner of the Danube, he could not have renewed the battle in the manner described THE NATIONAL REGISTER.