The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-25 00:00:00

:MBER.

THE INSURRECTION IN POLAND.

A letter from Cracow of the 19th inst. gives an
account of the attack on the town of Miechow by
the insurgents, and their defeat. The Russian gar-
rison of Miechow consisted of 800 men, and the in-
surgent chief Kurowski determined to attack them
with his corps, consisting of 1,500 riflemen, cavalry,
and pikemen. The attack was made without any
order from the superior revolutionary authority,
and therefore Kurowski alone is responsible for
the consequences. He attacked the town on three
different points. The first column, composed of
cavalry, preceded by riflemen, advanced and
entered, notwithstanding a murderous fire from the
Russians, who were barricaded in the houses. The
insurgents arrived at the great square without
oeing ab e to answer the Russian fire except with
their revolvers. In the meantime another column,
composed of riflemen and pikemen, attacked a
church occupied by the Russians. The church
and churchyard were taken by assault, but the
affair cost the Poles a number of men. They never-
theless continued their course through the streets,
exposed to a volley of musketry, and they likewise
arrived at the great square, cheering and declaring
to their chief that they had rather die than aban-
don the ground they had conquered. They next
attacked, but ineffectually, another church and a,
convent in which the Russians had barricaded them-
selves. At eight o'clock in the morning Kurowski
gave the signal to retreat, just at the moment when
the column composed of cavalry and pikemen
arrived. This handful of men commenced a fresh
attack on the Russians, but after having lost some
men they were likewise forced to retreat. The insur-
gents lost in this affair about 100 killed and
wounded, and several of the latter finding that their
comrades had retreated, committed suicide. The
Russian loss was rather less—it is calculated at SO
killed and wounded. Daring the struggle some
houses caught fire, but no great injury had been
done up to the time of the insurgents' retreat. The
Russians, however, would not suffer the inhabitants
to extinguish the fire, and the town continued to
burn during the whole of the 17th and 18th. Nei-
ther would the Russian commander suffer the in-
habitants to bury the dead for three days. When
the insurgents retreated the Russians pillaged the
town and then murdered several of the inhabitants
in their houses, and among them the mayor, beloved
and respected by everybody, a Russian functionary,
and the public accountant. After the battle of Mk-
chow a number of the insurgents principally Gall •
oians, crossed the Austrian frontier and arrived at
Cracow. Those who had retained their arms were
disarmed by the Austrian authorities. A great
number of wounded arrived on the 18th and 19th at
Cracow, and were placed in the public hospitals.
The unfortunate Polish conscripts have been de-
spatched by railway from Warsaw to the interior
of Russia.

The Prase has the subjoined summary of affairs
in Poland:—

" On comparing the intelligence received from different
sources, it is easy to form a distinct idea of the situation
and to estimate the extent of the insurrectional movement.
The Poles are divided into numerous bands, each of which
has its centre of operations. The government of Radom is
enclosed between two insurrectional bodies, commanded by
Kurowski. The first of them occupies the south-eastern dis-
trict ; the south is guarded by flying detachments, which
connect the east with the west, and keep open communica-
tions with the second corps, strongly posted in the west,
and protected by extensive forests. Here appeared the first
detachments of the corps under Langiewicz, encamped on
the frontier of the department, watching the isolated
movements of the Russians and preventing their concentra-
tion. In this government the Russian troops occupy the
towns of Miechow, Kielce, Kautkie, Czenstochawa, Radom,
and Sandomir. The centre of Kurowski's corps is at Dom-
brows. Statements, which we consider exaggerated, repre-
sent this corps to be 6,000 strong. Its lines extend to
Olkusz and Ojow, and threaten the railway from Cracow to
Warsaw. As for Langiewicz, he threatens the high road
from Cracow w Warsaw, via Radom. In the government
of Lublin, the high road from Lublin to Lemberg is
threatened by the corps of Frankowski, some of whose de-
tachments are in communication with other bands extending
into Volhynia. Lastly, in Voihynia itself there is a band
under the command of Neczaj, a Cossack by birth. To
this general sketch we may add that Lithuania and the go-
vernment of Augustow are overrun with bands whose num-
ber and movementsare altogether unknown. Forests, lakes,
rivers, marshes, render repression impossible. These
bands extend to the very gates of Warsaw in the forests
lying between Siesnewice and Psolimon. Some German
journals speak of numerous desertions from the Russian
army in Lithuania."