The Sun.
London, England, 1808-10-04 00:00:00

r t .

"General AUGEREAU ordered his artillery to
ad-
vance, .and,a brisk cannonade. took place on both
sides, which tasted forseveral hours.
,At eleven in
the morning I summoned General PEOVERA to sur-
render; but a violent 'disCharge of artillery obliged
• '
me to repair to the, right: The. negotiation with.
ALIGEktEM7 lasted several hours; but the terns
which PROVERA asked being unreasonable, and the
night approaching,. AUGEREAU formed_Js division
into four columns, and led them against the, castle.
AIre4dy.TOUBERT, who was at the head ()lone, had'
penetrated the enemy's entrenchineinS, when he
was strut:l(l)y a ball; he,was supposed to be killed.
BEVEL,, who led the second column, was killed ;
QUERIN,;, who commanded ;the third, was killed.
The night, which was fast approaching, made me
apprehensive that the enemy would endeav'our to
cut his way, sword. in hand, I therefore Ordered all

-the battalions. to joilr," .
It is .evident even from this-e'xtraft, that all the
advantage, all the glory of the affair. of Mille'siniO,
,re-;ts entirely with 4ovkiaA ; since it appears, from
•BUONAPARTZS own dispatches, that this General
'withstood for one whole day the'attack' of forces
infinitely superior to his own, that he 'returned 'a.
brisk cannonade by a
.most aetive fire, which lasted
for several hours ; that, summoned to surrender, he
would not hear of it ; that he 'reje6ed every capitu-
lation of which he was not permitted to. diC.late the
,terms.; that when AUGEREAU assaulted the ruins
with his numerous division; in four solurrins, PRO-
VERA defeated them all, killing two French Gene-'.
rats, .and dangerously wounded a third*; and that at
the conclusion of the day, no impression being
made upon hint, he maintained'to imposing an at-
titude, -that it was feared he would attempt to cut
his war-through the surrounding troops: What,
now, are weto think of a numerous army, detained
duting a whole day by so inconsiderable an obstacle,
at the foot of an old ruined castle ?

Aud, inc Led, BUONAPARTE, well aware that
. some disgrace would attach to him for the long re-
sistance which he experienced. from an Officer with
so vcry trifling a force at his command, anxiously
labours to have it. believed that he. had to triumph
`over nUtnerous enemies ! To effeal this, he gives
.us ~to understand that an Austro-Sardinian- anny.
1.1.1%,e'S in sight. But this army i 3 entirely of his. own
creation ; for none such ever appeared at Millesirno.
wishes to have it thought that it was the army of
!'General Cow, who was at the head of the Sardi-
nian troops, and of eight thousilnd. Austrian auxilia-
res; but he does not venture to say it, because that

* This was Jo JEER -..:, who was aestined49.reiiover, and
ii by a noble hand. He was killed in.theA the of the Bo-
cit etc, the French were totally defeated by the great
w A t.,a o W—a man whom tIIJ perfidy of the 'Austrian ca.
hinet, and the jealousy of. the Austrian Generals,, basely sa7
i'rlficed,- when France lay at his feet, and the,tranquillity of
Europe was on the point of being ;secured. It is little con-
,,,lation to suffering humanityto know that Austria has since
pored her guilt in tears of blood. With respect to Jo U.
lIXRT, he was every way superior to BUONAPARTE
tary talents and not much btloW him in cruelty, in rapa-
city, in hypocrisy anal the most"tdiJu.s tyranny. At the m 0...
meat of his fall, he had been seleled by some Of the Direc-
tory, v. ho saw all autliorltY escarting.from their.feeble grasp,
to fill the place of First C'orso I. Had he survived, the bru-
tai Corsican, who now overawes the Continent, would have
lacen shot as a deserter, or suffered to rot in a dungeon as a
coward, a poisoner, aid act asiassin I .

General was then engaged in keeping in check the
army of observation under General SzaHurEa.
I-le'iS' deCeimined, ho,.VeNier, at all .events, to be
attacked by the euirnies:_. regiments. Observe his
expressionsr-iff My-left„;wing blocked up General
PROVERA. A number of the enemies' regiments,
among others, tnat of BELJOYOSO, endeavoured' to
,
force my centre; 'General INIESNARD repelled Meth
with great spirit."
These enemies' regiments which endeavoured to
force BUONAPARTE'S centre, are ab4Olotely like the
Austro-Sardinian army, a pure.invention of his own
No enemies' regiments attacked. him but that of
'.Beljoyoso. And what was that ? Precisely the one
which PROVERA' commanded ! and why does BuoNA-
PARTE name only this regiment ? Because, with the
exception of a few companies of Sardinian militia,
all the men that PROVERA had with him-were of the
regiment of Beljoyoso ! And how' could this regi-
ment endeavour to force his centre ? Because PRO-
VERA did really make a sortie with a view of cutting
his way through the French ; but, wiatout success.
If this regiment had been accompanied by other
troops, BUONAPARTE could not be ignorant of their
name ; and he,-who always enters into such details,
would not have failed to specify the corps, and those
who commanded theta. Enough of this : to have
a just idea of the affair of Millesimo, let .us now
have recourse to fa6ts, every one of which I can
authenticate.

Cosseria is an old 'castle belonging to the King of
SARDINIA : it is situated, not on the top of a moun-
tain, as BUONAPARTE says, to exaggerate the difficul-
ties which he had to overcome, but •9n a rising
ground not far from Carcare, in that part which is
called the Streights of -Montferrat., This castle is
advantageotisly- placed- for defending the road which
leads from'Millcsimo toteveiand Mondovi, and it had
been strengthened with some tolerable en trencbments.
It
_was here that PROVE RA had taken up his position,
with his 1500 men: Bi/ONAPARTE arrived the day
after; and instantly summoned him to surrender:—
PROVERA was not a man to be intimidated—he
replied, that honour and fidelity towards his Sove7
reign imposed on him the strongest obligatiOn to
defend himself- to the last extremity.
When he made this spirited reply; he had still
some hope of receiving succours from the Count
DE Cow, who-• commanded the army in the ser-
vice of the King of SARDIN'IA,,. 01 ihith his Omall
• . -
detachment formed a part. Cow, --however, was
unable to.assist because just as he was
about to detach some of his forees,.he learned 'that
Cosseria, was closely hemmed in on all sides' by
the French'; -and 2dly, because he was obliged to
keep his lade army together las mach as possible,
to hold General•SEltnutha in- check, who was post-
ed in.the Valley Of Per.eil, along the TAisTAito' , and
,who had already
.m:lde.some hostile Movement's.
Though disappointed of • succours, PROVF.RA .Was

not wanting to With the few trobps which
he had with him, he displayed a courage and intre-
pidity truly wonderful. During two whole days, he
sustained and repulsed the reiterated assaults which
BUONAPARTE made with a degree of fury on the old
castle of Cosseria.

• In these two days the loss of the French was
'enormous. BUONAPARTE has the prudence,to pre-
serve a discreet silence on the subject. He avows
only that two of his four Generals were killed at the
head of their respenive columns, and that a third
was dangerasly wounded. How many Officers of
inferior rank must have falln! and what a butchery
of the common men ! But it is too well known that
BUONAPARTE, ever since :he took up the trade of
war, has always eounted the lives of his soldiers for
nothing.

PROVERA was at length obliged toyield.
NAFARTE speaks of this surrender as if there had been.
no capitulation.; there was one, however, and 'a
most honourable One.foi this brave General, who ob-
tained every thing that he demanded;. BUONAPARTE
discovered, after two days, that a longer, resistance on
the part of so gallant a. man, would fatigue his army,
and, perhaps, discourage ir. Besides, he was igno-
rant, that PROVERA only asked to capitulate, because
his amuuition of every kind was totally exhausted.
The Articles were literally these
" r. General PROVERA and all his Offiders shall keep

their arms.

" z. The Garrison shall march out of Cpsseria With drums
heating, and Ault not lay down their arms till tiTey arrive at
the feet of the entrenchments which they have defended.
" 3. General PROVERA, and all the Officers under his
command, shall be at liberty to retire, with their arms and
baggage, to the territories of. their Sovereign. They shall
.only be rcquirccltO give their parole not to a6l against the
French till they are exchanged."
After this indispufable.statement of fans, is it not
'evident that Pnovgaa, and not BUONAPARTE, was
the hero of Minesitno ? and that so honourable a
capitulation, after so noble a defence, is fully equiva-
lent to a •Iklory ?

It is distressing to add, that so distinguished, an
Officer was not advanced in his military carer• as 'he

deserved, .to be.. He died about. four years since at
'Venice, in the bosom of his fatrfily. . •

(To be eoniinueV.)