The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-25 00:00:00

THE DANUBE.

The following account of the combats at Citale
is given by the Wanderer :

" The tremendous efforts of the Russians to eject the
Turks from the neighbourhood of Kalafat have failed,
after a series of bloody battles fought during five sue'
cessive days. Six weeks' preparation, a great concentra-
tion of troops, an accumulation of all kinds of, warlike
stores at Radovan, and continual reconnoitering have
all been in vain. Not only have the Russians not sue'
ceeded in investing the Turkish fortifications, but by re-
treating yesterday evening to Radovan, they have given
up the positions which they had at Crucea, and to the
right of that place. The Turks now move on the out'
side of their fortifications within three or four hours (eight
or ten English miles) of Radovan, just as they did tw°
months since.

" My description 'of the battle of the 7th closed with
the retreat of the Russians from Citale in an oblique
direction towards Radovan. As the Russians then?:
selves have avoided all mention of this retreat,
have taken great pains to glean information on the
subject, and things happened thus. After the bloody
battle with the Wallachian borderers, near Salceu,
at the end of December, in which the village was
reduced to ashes, the women, children, and old people
emigrated to Roumelia. The men capable of bearing arms
united with the borderers of Citale and other places to
the neighbourhood, and formed a battalion 900 or 1,000
strong. For some time the people on the two banks el
the river have been in uninterrupted communication, 5117
it appears that the Turks at length resolved to make e'
Citale a kind of bulwark, which would complete the
fortifications around Kalafat. The Russians were aware
of this intention, and hence arose the sanguinary conflict.
During the night, between the 6th and 7th, the Turk
managed to get behind (to the west of) Citale, where
they united with some other Turks who had come
up, and across the river in boats. To, the east of Sala
fat, and on the field of battle, there had only remained
about 3,000 Turks, and the above-mentioned Wallachia°
battalion, which, thirsting for revenge, on the Russians
for burning down Salcea, and other acts of the Woe,
description, had desired to be placed in the very front
of the battle. The request was granted, and on the Ph;
this battalion, a Turkish one, • 1,000 horse, and ab''
supported by the artillery, sustained the attack of the
Russians for a whole hour. At the end of the,'
time, the Turks posted behind Citale, who were abet!"
6,000 strong, appeared in two detachments, and made
a vigorous attack on the flanks of the Russian corps'
After half an hour's hard fighting, the Russians weft
repulsed with great loss, and retired with all speed 5
Radovan, as Ismail Pacha, with troops from Kalafat, lignj
making a move in that direction. The reinforcement
3,00 men, which the Turkish commander had sent
about four in the evening of the 6th from Fontana Si;
nului to Gunia, took up its original position after t,O
battle. As this movement led to the report that Pi
Turks had retired from Citale to Kalafat, we in Kos
jova were unable to understand why the Russia;
had retreated in such hot haste on the 7th. It is no,,e
evident that when Ismail Pacha recalled a part of
.tl7,
troops from Gunia, he reinforced those loft by sendt!i;
fresh men across the Danube behind thztt place. Sel
Pacha commanded on the 6th and 7th. Ismail 1-'3°„-
'a
observed how things were going on from Gunia
Muglavit. On this day (the 7th), after "
the retreat of
Russian, only outpost skirmishes took place.
"On the Bth, the battle was renewed near Cl7::t
—about two English miles to the north-west of t,-,g
place—but soon took the direction of the road lesui,
from Radovan to Kalafat. At mid-day the bat
became as violent as that of the 6th, but in
„„t i•
afternoon and evening it grew far hotter, and terms,
nated decidedly to the disadvantage of the RuseL% e r
On the Bth there were 15,000 men engaged on e" f
side. The Russians have lost several guns, butr,,
cannot positively say how many, as the reports v!eir
Wo now learn the Russians only got back three of tri
guns on the first day, the Turks having managed to h',?
the other three. ieso
" On the 9th the conflict was continued, but was
~,ro
obstinate than those of the 6th and Bth. It aPP:iist
that the battle of the 10th was nearly as serious as
of the Bth. On both these dates the best Russian treejj
fought hand to hand with the enemy, and this h of
duty they had to perform several times in the course
each day.
"In a hurried 'te.

- note, written yesterday in pe" lap
read— ' Half-past 11, —lt is reported beyond the Rus'oit
line-of-battle, that Omer Pacha has appeared to the t° e,
b.:hind Ciorin, in the neighbourhood of the line-of-ba, op
Two Russian battalions, deceived by a feigned retreab,
the part of the Turks, got between three masked oi4
teries, which thinned their ranks fearfully. Nethieed
to be heard but the thunder of the cannon. The tared,
of battle is so great that nothing can be distingois
Both parties are completely exhausted.' a on
The news of Omar Pacha's having appeare,,
the field of battle I cannot confirm, neither ap
able to give particulars of the engagements w ifle
took place on the 9th and 10th. It strikesdible
that the foregoing note, which is from a ere 0,1
eye-witness, may refer to the Bth, as the date
it
become almost illegible before it reached me the
is, however, certain, that hostilities ceased if1„064
afternoon of the 10th with the result meritivelr
in the note. On all the days mentioned the l the
flict was for the most part between the cavalry and bat
artillery. The infantry played a subordinate part'
when the hostile battalions met they almost l'-ifo•
diately took to the bayonet and fought man to 111,0$
After such a 'furious and desperate struggle it is 03
natural that the loss on both sides is enormous/tbatf
I cannot better express myself than by saying,ovil
during the five days' engagement, four times as 'pete"
lives were lost as at Oltenitza. No one at all exrdhic'
that the Russians would be defeated on a field "dig,
was so advantageous for the operations of their soPie
cavalry, for you must know that during the wh°ol3B
the five days the oblong described in my letter eopot
Bth formed the battle. The spot is known, on lec
of its extensive plans, as the Campu,' or fielu'forri
cepting during the short affair on the 7th, the,„so e
were equal. The Russian bulletins arc as like t"-sarl'i;
the Turks are as one drop of water to another. whic,
party just doubles the other's forces, but the figure till
I have given are worthy of all credit. In their ars,
the Turks were more powerful than the Russiaoopor'
I give the number of killed according to the rioo/
now before me, I must multiply the number voti
given in the writer's letter a the Bth---by 4at o 0
but I will still hope, for humanity's sake, thatioo:
mistaken. But few prisoners were made, as dent oPI
preferred to captivity. An eye witness wrote t
aujott
on the Bth :—I
saw a group of Turkish irreeroe6'
about 25 in number, surrounded and disa;jeatl::
As_ the men still resisted, some were put to be r
and others thrown violently to the ground. BI
prostrate, the unfortunate wretches made use 0
..efor,
short weapons, and so sent some of their couclu' ,ojea
into the next world. The transport of the W°
takes no end, and there is no more, room for tho;oir
creatures in Krajova and the two neighbouricea s
o
vents. Many are sent on to Slatina, but m3ll taf
lying in the neighbouring villas. Hundreds 0 die
wounded on the 6th, 7th, and Bth, have alrearbori the
No words can describe the anxiety disPlarrif Vl5O
inhabitants of Krajova during the battle. 1101 ir
were tranquillising proclamations issued by the to theca
authorities ; the more wealthy fled to Slatina °,l* terrig,,,'
estates in the north, and those who- remained ,oilcng
each other with the cry of The Turks are ;15rrarots
The gipsies, who are very active in spreadinnyg:reo 4.%),
news, are frequently heard to say, Vine 2 -iier"o
adduce libertar (the Turk comes and brings U0i,05 tbo,
The gipsies were emancipated in 1848, and.s for time the word libertae had always been in their fer 10.
Hostilities are now suspended, and will be
_sGoetac
next three days at least—that is, until Prince
koff comes."

FRANCE. v At
On Monday evening a splendid ball virss odea -a
the Palace of the Tuileries, which was ett°l3„perieA
theall
th notabilities in Paris. The ball was-0-.40°5
Mrath.ehiEmperor, who danced with el°
e, the Empress being vis-d-visl
Cowleyl as her partner. Among.the guest's' (!esell
the most noticed, in consequence of the P'
statefact
of political affairs, was M. de Kisseleffi r 0
long
is of little consequence in itself, °tati,ei
long as M. de Kisseleff remains the repreeel3l,oo`
of Russia, in Paris, he will of course show:Js pry
at all the Court fetes; but the mere fact et
sience undoubtedly assisted in' the reaction ° gool
ourse ; and the speculators, to increase itlasice°
effect, added that the Russian ambassador