The Express.
London, England, 1866-07-19 00:00:00

EVENING, JULY 19, 1866.

LATEST IN TELLIG EN C:

THE WAR.
There can be little doubt that we are on the eve
of one of those grand struggles which may be well
slowed under the " decisive battles of the world."
The negotiations for a suspension of arms hav-
ing, it appears, failed, some 250,000 Prussians,
flushed with victory, are bearing down upon
Vienna, north, east, and west, while at least
as. many Austrians are ready to meet them. Some
accounts pat the Austrian forces now ,encamped
about Vienna at the high figure of 400,000 men.
It appears indeed that the mass of the Austrian
army of the North has succeeded in reaching the
capital—a corps d'arm4e having been left to occupy
Olmutz—while the best portion of the army of the
south must have reached it by this time. It will
at all events be no exaggeration to say that at
least half a million will be arrayed against each
other—the one party "fighting for empire, the other
for independence." The empire which is played
for is that of Germany ; the independence at stake
is that of the very existence of the Austrian mo-
narchy. To either party the loss of the great
battle will be momentous—to Austria, utter ruin ;
to Prussia, in all probability, a disastrous rout, if
pot the destruction of her fine army, for with the
garrisons of Ohnutz, Koniggrats, Josephstadt, and
Teresienstadt in their rear and flank, the position
of a defeated and retreating army would be
perilous in the extreme. The King and Pr:nces of
the House of Hohenzollern on one side, the
Emperor and the Archdukes of the House of
Hapsburg on the other ; the stake played for the
political and military d;rection of 50,000,000 of
Germans ; an old rivalry and a splended prize—
who can doubt that, under such circumstances, the
proximate battle will be fought with an obstinacy
of which history can afford but few paral-
lels 1 Florisdorf, where the entrenched camp of the
Austrians is placed, is the first station on the
northern line of railway from Vienna, and about
five miles from the capital. The Prussian army
corps seem to be advancing towards the Danube in
the direction of Krems to the west and Korneburg,
which is directly facing Vienna, on the north. At
both points the Danube forms an elbow which
renders it favourable for throwing bridges
across. Another corps, simultaneously with those
corps, will probably cross the River March
on the east, strike the railway which connects
Vienna with Preaburg, the ancient capital of Hun-
gary, and either fall upon that city or attempt
the passage of the Danube at some point
between Vienna and Presburg. Should Vienna fall
there is still a retreat open to the Austrians to
Hungary by the Raab Railway, but, the battle in
the Marchfeld lost, it would be vain for Austria to
continue the struggle any further. A few days at
most, and the world will know the result of the great
contest in anticipation of which it is panting with
expectation.
In Venetia the Italians cannot find an enemy in
the field, and therefore the King has assumed pos-
session of the province—less the fortresses; and
has already taken the initiative for its organization
as a portion of the Italian territory.
In South-Western Germany the Prussians have
already left the Maine behind them, and if success-
ful before Vienna they will be masters of Germany
from the line of the Danube to the Baltic.

LETTERS FROM THE HEADQUARTERS,
The Times correspondent with the Prussian army;
writing from Hohenmauth on July 9, says that the
intelligence of the refusal of the Italian govern-
ment to accept the cession of Venetia as a condition
of peace has been welcome news the Prussian army.
There is a greatambition amongst the lattertomarch
to Vienna, and the idea is general that Vienna is
the objective point of the campaign. Tho Austrian
proposal for an armistice of eight weeks was out of
the question, as it would have allowed them to be
re-united, re-organised, and armed with better
weapons. The King did not even grant an inter-
view to the Austrian general, but directed
General von Moltke, the chief of the headquarters
staff, to write a courteous letter to him stating
that his Majesty was unable to enter into any
negotiations with such propositions as a basis.
A letter from the Austrian headquarters at
Olmutz, July 12, speaks of the energy and spirit
which characterise the present movements of
Benedek, who is now, however, only second
in command. He was at that date sending
away vast portions of his army to the new
Commander-in-Chief, Archduke Albrecht, at
Vienna, and he will soon be left with only a
garrison and a covering army of operation at
Olmutz, ready to drop on the Prussian flank and
rear, and especially adapted for such a task.
General Krismanics and Count Clam-Gallas have
been released from arrest, but the former chief of
the staff still remains in military confinement. The
whole of the staff is to be reorganised. The con-
' elusion to which so many people in England have
come that the war is over is certainly very hasty
and ill-founded, so far as Austria is concerned.
The " seven days' war " .is • pretty antithetical
phrase, but it is nothing more. The resources of the
State in men are not sapped ; and although the army
has lost much of its confidence it has not lost any of its
courage. Already the vanguard of the army of Italy—the
advance of some 60,000 of the flower of the Austrian
army, all Germans and Hungarians—hem reached
Salzburg ; and Benedek has sent down day after day
reinforcements to the army which now lies around
Vienna till it represents a great force, the outposts of
which extend far in front of the city, and are engaged in

resisting the advance of the enemy. The soldiers of the
northern army, reinforced by the 60,000 veterans, present
an imposing front, and the effect produced by the needle-
gun is actually waning before the analysis of its
influence. It appears to wound and not to kill ;
that is, in other words, the projectile is so small
that the injury it inflicts is not at all equal to that
done by the Austrian bullet, unless it penetrates the brain,
heart, or some vital place. It skims by a bone without
breaking it, and thousands of men—literally thousand, of
men put hors de combat are now going about almost fit for
service. The number of wounded is out of all proportion
to the number killed, and in that respect the weapon is
almost superior, or inferior, to old Brown Bess, with
which the usual: ratio of the former to the latter was
five to one. The rifle made it three to one. In
some encounters the Austrians have bad six
wounded to every one man killed. No doubt it
is very embarrassing to a general to have hospitals
full of wounded, and it is weakening to an army
to have its ranks thinned by wounds as well as by men
falling out to take the wounded to the rear ; but those who
recover from slight wounds are mostly full of fight, and
come back anxious to meet the enemy. It is better to have
long trains of wounded men who ani only lost for the time
than graves full of men who are lost for ever. The three
army corps marching on Vienna from the south will also
give 20,000 soldiers, not quite so good as the veterans who
conquered at Custozza, and the army in front of the city
and in the field is now, and for the first time, numerically
greater than the Prussian grand army, if It be reduced,
es we suppose it to be, by the necessity of its position in
keeping open its communications sad in occupying the
places which have fallen into its hands.

(szurigli Tzutawn.)
ITALY.

FLORENCE, JULY 18.
The rum has signed at Ferrara a decree for the
reorganisation of the Venetian provinces.

' ...

The Italian fleet has )eft Ancona.
On being apprised of the occupation of Borgo-
forte Prince Carignan° telegraphed his congratu-
lations to the Duke of Mignano and the forces
under his command.

ARRIVAL OF PRINCE NAPOLEON AT
FERRARA. _ _

FERRARA, JuLT 19.

Prince Napoleon has arrived here•
Prince Amadena has taken the command of a
brigade of grenadiers, instead of s cavalry brigade.

RUSSIA:.
ST. PETSESSURG. JULY 19.
Great preparationtsre being made at Cronatadt
for a grand receptions to Captain Fox, the bearer
of an address from the United states Congress to
the Emperor of Russia, congratulating his Majesty
on his escape from the recent attempt at assassina-
tion.
A special reception committee has been formed.