The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-31 00:00:00

L AT EST

FOREiGN NEWS.

THE W.R.
ANOTHER TURKISH VICTORY.

The following despatch is dated Vienna, last
night:—" At 10 o'clock on the morning of the 23rd
the Russians attacked the Turkish entrenched camp
near Giurgevo, hut were totally defeated, with the
loss of 2,000 men and 5,000 prisoners. On the
25th 200 waggons loaded with wounded men arrived
at Bucharest." _ _ _

Thirty thousand Turks, it is said, had crossed
he Danube at Oltenitza.

PASSAGE OF THE DANUBE BY THE
ANGLO-FRENCH TROOPS—POSITION OF
THE BELLIGERENTS.
Advices from Turnu-Severin of the 27th inst.
state that the Anglo-French troops crossed the
Danube on the 24th at Turtukai.
The position of the armies is as follows :
The vanguard of the allied troops is at Oresti.
The Ottomans have advanced from Giurgevo to
Podima.
The Russian rearguard is retreating, fighting,
upon Kalogereni.
The Russians have concentrated 300,000 men on
the Dniester, in Volhynia and Podolia.
The head quarters are at Mohilew.
The Austrian Correspondent, under date of
Bucharest, 26th inst., says that General Budberg
had held a council of war at Frateschti, to consult
upon a retreat.
A Russian corps at Slatina and Rimnik forms
the rearguard against the Ottomans from Lesser
Wallachia.

THE DANUBE.
The Lloyds of Vienna of the 25th has the fol-
lowing
" According to a telegraphic despatch from Bucharest
of the 21st, new indications exist of the retreat of the
Russians ; they are in fact retiring on Fockshan and
Kalugereni. The Turks have 60,000 men at Giurgevo,
and are fortifying themselves in that town and the envi-
rons. On the other hand, it is stated in a letter from
Bucharest of the 197 h, that nothing is known as to the
affairs which have taken place at Giurgevo, all commu-
nications between Bucharest and Giurgevo being inter-
rupted. Troops, artillery, and pontoon trains were
being constantly sent from Bucharest to Giurgevo.
Prince Gortschakoff and his head quarters were on the
19th at Bucharest, and nothing warranted the belief that
they were to leave. It is said that all the rumours that
have been current as to removal of the head-quarters to
Kobonitza are without foundation. The mad from Her-

manstadt has not arrived ; so that we have only news
via Widdin, and it comes down to the 21st. Up to that
date nothing important had occurred. It was, however,
said that-the Turkish troops posted near Oltenitza and
Sinnitza, had begun to march on Bucharest on the 20th and
21st. It was said also that Omer Pacha was to advance
on the 22d, with the centre of the Turkish army, which
occupies Giurgevo. Since the 6th Omer Pacha has been
almost constantly at Rustchuk. A letter from Widdin
of the 19th states that the Turkish troops near Turin'
and Sinnitza made on the 16th a grand reconnaissance
towards the north ; they went as far as Russowede with-
out meeting the enemy, anti returned the day after to
their positions. In a
_letter from Orsova of the 19th
it is stated that on the 11th the Wallachian troops in
the pay of Russia made a reconnaissance in the two dis-
tricts of Krajowa ; they passed the Aluta unexpectedly,
penetrated into the villages where there were no Turkish
troops, and carried off the Turkish functionaries prison-
ers. Letters direct from Silistria contradict the state-
ment that has been made that it is to M. Graeht, a
Prussian officer, that the honour of the defence of Silis-
tria is due ; it was an English captain (Butler by name)
who there kept the Russians in check for six weeks. A
great many families who, in consequence of the promises
of the Russians, quitted their country after the raising
of the siege, are now wandering about in the most pro-
found misery, and without a home "
Accounts from the Lower Danube, of the 21st,
in the Presse of Vienna, say :
"The stifling heat which has prevailed for the last

few days has proved a fresh enemy to the Russians,
who have had an increased number of sick, indepen-
dently of their wounded. Attacks of apoplexy have
already carried off a number of Russians during their
continual marches and counter-marches, and a great
number have fallen victims to the fevers which pre-
vail during extreme heats in the lower part of the
Danube. The number of sick among the Russians
amounts to 32 per cent., while among the Turks it is only
15 per cent. French and English officers are constantly
arriving at Rustchuk from Schumla, and to-morrow Prince
Napoleon, whose division will be the first to enter the
Wallachian territory, Is expected at the Turkish head-
quarters. A. certain importance appears to be attached
to this fact, and Marshal St. Arnaud, after the last
council of war held at Varna, arranzed that it should be
so. The other divisions will rapidly follow, and the main
body of the auxiliary troops will shortly be on the
Danube. The auxiliary troops and the Turkish army
will shortly pass the river, and force the Russians to a
battle at Giurgevo. Everything tends to prove that it
is intended ti act seriuusly against Bucharest, and that
the last order given by the Emperor Nicholas, to drive
back the Turks to the other side of the Danube, mite
que mute, will have no more effect than a similar order
which he gave to take Silistria."
The Times correspondent writes from Rustchuk,
July 19.—Since the passage of the Danube (July

7th) the Tux its have occupied themselves in
strengthening their position on the north side, and
the Russians make no attempts to interrupt their
proceedings. The latter are encamped on the brow
of a small hill six miles distant on the Bucharest
road. They have thrown up some redoubts, which
look as if it will require either a battle or the ap-
pearance of a considerably superior force to make
them turn out. I anticipate that they will remain
where they are until their spies inform them that
we have 15,000 or 20,000 men ready to advance
on the north side, and then decamp in the night.
The Russian videttes remained in Giurgevo up to
the night of the Bth. They had destroyed the
bridges across a creek, which separates it from
where the Turks landed, and were thus quite safe
although within musket shot. On the 9th I ac-
companied Hassein Pasha, General Cannon, and
their staff in a trip across the Danube to examine
our position. Giurgevo is quite empty, with the
exception of the Austrian Consul and about 50
inhabitants. The remainder had heard of the
atrocities committed by the Bashi•Bazouks when
they crossed the Danube at Nicopolis, and fear-
ing that the vanguard of the Turkish force ou this
occasion might be composed of the same troops,
they retired into villages 8 or 10 miles distant,
whence the Russians will not allow them to return
as we might obtain information of what their move-
ments are. Giurgevo is much smaller but more
civilised than Rustchuk ; the streets are wider, and
the houses neat and comfortable by comparison.
There is, moreover,
a café, almost the only house
open, to which we soon found our way, not having
been in such a place since leaving Constantinople,
except a wretched hole at Shumla, undeserving of
the name. This was a very comfortable house, in a
pleasant situation, with a good verandah. The
master, a Greek, received us hat in hand at the
door, and expressed as much delight at seeing us
there as he had expressed sorrow on the previous
evening, when the captain of the Russian vidette
took his last dinner. The townspeople I spoke to
said that the Russians paid fairly for all they took
in the shape of provisions or forage, but forced the
peasants to labour a great deal, and seized
all the carts and beasts of burden for the
purpose of transporting their stores. They left
all the Wallachian vessels belonging to the town
unhurt, but on the night of their departure
t
burnt three sloops sailing under An„..i_iiar
colours. The landlord of the cafe informed us that
paid
him Russian officers were good customers and
him regularly, in proof whereof he produced a
quantity of gold coin, bearing the image of the
Emperor Nicholas. But I am inclined to think
this assertion was made to insure our supporting
the credit of our nation by doing likewise, for he
subsequently confessed to me that Captain Stronge-
noff and others had been too much occupied with
fighting at the last to find time for liquidating their,
accounts, but he intended sending_ them a " duu'
at Bucharest. However, the_ Russians had not
cleared out all the cellar, and plenty of iced Cham-
pagne was produced. An old Pasha positively re-
fused to partake of it until we assured him it was
only Francez soo (French water), and moreover was
not red wine, the colour especially forbidden by Ma-
hornet. Once tasted, the liquor carried with it its own
recommendation, and was drained to the last drop.
Glass after glass followed, though it is fair to add
that his loyalty increased in proportion as his alle-
giance to the Prophet waxed faint, and he did more
justice than any of us to the healths of the Sul-
tan, Queen Victoria, and the Emperor Napoleon.
We returned to Rustchuk without any unwar-
rantable intrusion from the Russian camp, al-
though a quarter of an hour might have brought
their Cossacks upon us without any one to give the
alarm. On the 10th made a similar excursion,
and found the debris of a Russian repast not yet
cleared away. Next day the Turks occupied
Ginrgevo in force, which prevents any chance of a
mishap occurring on this hitherto neutral ground.
The position opposite Rustchuk occupied by the
Turks is a very strong one. It is an island of about
three miles long and half a mile broad, formed by
a small creek, ;Inch is only fordable at some diffi-
cult and marshy ground to the left. Omer Pasha
and his staff arrived on the 12th, accompanied by
General Prim and his army of aides-de-camp, and
several French officers. His arrival, however, did
not occasion so much interest as that of 3U English
sailors under Lieut. Glyn and Prince Leiningen,
R.N., and the same number of sappers under
Captain Page, R.N., who came here on the
11th for the purpose of assisting in the con-
struction of a bridge. They performed the journey
from Varna on horseback, and this novel if cruise"