The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-19 00:00:00

THE DANUBE.

VIENNA, TUESDAY MORNING.
An Austrian paper has the following telegraphic
despatch :

The important frontier town of Fokshan, in
Wallachia which had just been fortified, has been
destroyed by fire.
All the Russian stores, provisions, arms,
clothing, ammunition, and all the military host
pitals, have fallen a prey to the flames.
The Russians occupy Kostendje.
A communication from Orsorva, of the 16th,
states that on the 14th the Russians, occupied
Turnu Severin. On the 15th the Cossacks crossed
the Danube at New Orsova, a Turkish fortress on
one of the Danubian islands, and occupied Wart-
sierova. The Turks bombarded the place. Ac-
cording to these accounts it is not clear whether
a regular passage of the Danube is intended at that
spot. It is also affirmed that all the Russian
ports in the Black Sea are declared in a state
of blockade. A part of the fleets' has anchored
before Odessa.
A Berlin journal of the 14th states that the
Russian ambassador had received despatches from
the Lower Danube' and that, as he had not al-
lowed their contents to transpire, it was assumed
that they were not favourable to the cause of the
Czar.

Accounts from Bucharest, down to the 9th,
say ;—A great part of the corps of Luders isbeing
marched towards the coast of the Black Sea, which
is being fortified. The greatest calm prevails to-
wards Trajan's Wall. The excursions of the Rus-
sians have not been renewed since the 2d. Forts
are being built near the mouth of the St. George.
Between the KUifendjee and the lake of Ranisin a
camp of 20,000 men is to be formed. Omer Pacha
received on the Ist a reinforcement of 3,000 men,
and 30 guns AA ere sent from Constantinople. The
letters from Orsowa of the Bth do not say a word
of the entrance of the Russians into Servia. It is
true, however, that the advanced posts of the
Russians have occupied for the last three weeks all
the line of the Danube along the Servian frontier.
The Vienna Presse gives some particulars of a
sharp battle which took place on the 4th inst., at
Giditsch, near Kalafat, and which ended in the de-
feat of the Russians. Achmet Pacha, the comman-
dant of Kalafat, thinking the opportunity for at-
tacking the Russians too favourable to be missed,
marched out upon them with a strong force, and
attacked them in their position at Giditsch. The
struggle was long and bloody, but was at length de-
cided in favour of the Ottomans by a brilliant charge
of the Turkish cavalry under Iskender Bey (Count
Kinsky), at 4 p.m., on which, after great exertion,
the Russians were driven from the place with im-
mense loss. The captors at once occupied the vil-
lage in force, and have since thrown into it a strong
garrison from Widdin.

The following is extracted from a Jassy letter of
the 3d instant
" General Salla, who had been charged to orga-
nise a Greco-Sclavonian legion, arrived here on the
30th to complete the formation of it. On the 2d
he assembled the volunteers to the number of about
120 at the Greek convent of the Three Saints. After
the religious service, which was celebrated with.
great pomp, General Saila passed them in review.
Their chief, the Monk Constandinos, made himself
remarkable by the richness of his costume, embroi-
dered in gold ; the soldiers wore a white cross at-
tached to their fez caps. The legion, which left
on the 3d to join the head-quarters of Prince Gort-
schakoff, is composed of Greeks or of Bulgarians ;
as to the Moldavians who had inscribed themselves
in great numbers, their names were all struck out
by order of General Salle. Since the theatre of
war has been removed to the _right bank of the Da-
nube, it is almost impossible to receive at Jassy any
precise details of the operations of the two armies.
Private letters, however, which have arrived from
Galatz, announce that the Russian army, which
was completely in the midst of marshes, was in a
very critical position, and that the regiment of
Hulans of the Grand Duke Constantine had been

surrounded in a swamp,andcornielled to lay down
their arms. There is evidently some truth in this
rumour, for if the Russians had gained the slightest
advantage they would not fail to have had T e Delon
sung, and to publish pompous bulletins, but they
now. observe the most complete silence."
The following is from a letter, dated Shumla,
April 2 :—On the 27th ult. the number of Russians
then across the Danube was estimated at 15,000
men ; they hive since succeeded in bringing over
about 30,000 more, making altogether a total of
45,000 or 50,000 men, as near as can be ascertained.
The Russians have already advanced to Babadagh,
and hold all the country of the DQlsrudsha go far