The Sun.
London, England, 1849-03-28 00:00:00

RUSSIA.

The Commander• in-Chief of the army in the Cau-
casus has made an expedition, which lasted from
January 30 to February 20, to clear a passage in the
forests on the slope of the Tschetna.
This expedition was quite successful, and the Rus-
sians had the advantage of the mountaineers in all the
engagements which took place.

All the other parts of the Caucasus were perfectly
quiet at the end of February.

ITALY.

The news from the seat of war is derived entirely
from the correspondents of the Paris papers, as the
Piedmontese journals contain little in addition to the
meagre accounts which we yesterday quoted from the
Piedmontese Gazette. There appears to be little doubt
but that CHARLES ALBERT and his generals have been
completely out-manauvred by RADETzscr, and have
been defeated, partially on the 22d, completely on
the 23d. We have no details of the battle of the
23d, except those which we have already given in our
French correspondence, as the substance of the tele-
graphic dispatch, received yesterday, by the French
Government.

With regard to the battle of the 22d, we find the
following particulars in the Journal de Debuts:—
" The Austrians passed the Tesino on the 20th, be-
tween Vigevano and Pavia, some hours after the King
Charles Albert had crossed the same river six leagues
higher up, at Buffalora, upon the Novarra road to Milan.
The enemy (the Austrians) then extended his line to the
Lomelliva, a district on the banks of the lower Tesino.
The same evening he occupied the Piedmontese village
of Garlasco, with 3,000 men, followed on the next morn-
ing by an Austrian division of cavalry ; at the same
time the Austrians made the false attack already spoken
of on the bridge of boats at Mezzanacorti. These ac-
counts brought the King and Chrzonowski to the
theatro of events. The head-quarters were re-
moved back from Buffalora and Trecata, upon
Vigevano, on the 2 1 st, at one o'clock in the
afternoon, and the King went two leagues forward
to the village of Sforzcsca, in the direction of Garlasco;
but the Austrian army continuing to advance, there took
place on the same day :the 21st), the two serious en-
gagements of Vigevano and Mortara, mentioned in the
dispatch of Ratezzl, the Piedmontese Minister of the In-
terior. Here stops the news which may be considered
certain. The pretended telegraphic dispatch, which
places Radetzky within four leagues of Turin, is evi-
dently premature; for, let us examine dates and dis-
tances, supposing it to be true that Radetzky reached
the neighbourhood of Verceil the 22d, coming from
Mortara; or that, leaving Verceil aside, he may have
passed the Tesino lower down, to march on Turin
by Villanova, and by the read parallel- to the
Po. From Sesia to Turin the distance is twenty-
four leagues ; so that, allowing for the mode in
which an army encumbered with baggage must
march, he could not have reached Cheavasso, on the
Po, within four miles of Turin, before the 25th, and that
could not be known in Paris on the 26th. However,
the fact must be admitted that Turin is seriously com•
promised. The veteran, in taking the determination to
carry the war into Piedmont, has not less than 70,000
men and 120 pieces of cannon with him. He seems to
have comprehended that bad ho remained on the defen-
sive, and allowed Charles Albert to occupy a good por-
tion of Lombard, where he would have found resources
of all kinds, he would have allowed his enemy not only
to profit by such advantages, but have had to encounter
a universal insurrection throughout the Lombardo-
Venetian kingdom. How, it will be asked, had such an
invasion been effected in presence of 120,000 men?
Alas! the Piedmontese army has allowed itself to be cut
in two upon the Tesino, in 1849, as it was cut on the
Mincio in 1848, because it allowed its line to be too
extended.

" The army was disposed with the sole view of a
march in advance of several roads at once, by the Lake
Maggiore to gain the country north of Aliland, and by
Magenta to march direct on Milan; and by the road of
Plaisance and that of Parma and Modena to advance
into the region south of the Po. From Voghera, Stra-
della, and Castel-san-Giovanni, when the right wing was
on the road from Plaisance to Novarra, the pivot of the
left wing then was a distance of not less than twenty
leagues, and the two wings were furthermore separated
by that part of the Po which traverses Piedmont. In
fine, the extreme left under General Solaroli being
posted at Ardua on the lake Maggiore, and the extreme
right, under La Marmora, occupying Sarzana, on the
Tuscan frontier, it results that the Sardinian army oc-
cupied a line of 120 leagues."
A correspondent of the iConatillitionned explains
how the surprise was effected :
" On the 19th a Lombard division, commanded by
General Ramorino, whose head-quarters were at Vige-
vano, bad orders to watch the Tesino and to defend the
passage in case the Austrians should attempt to cress.
On the 20th, at 5 o'clock in the morning, a corps of 5,000
Austrians appeared before Vigevano. A battalion of
600 Lombard Tirailleurs, commanded by Lucien Ma-
nors, and composed of the elite of those young Lombard
youths who fought so well in 1848, with a second line of
reserve, kept the enemy in check for five long hours.
Each time the enemy tried to cross, Major Manora,
massing his battalions, repelled the attempt. Towards
10 o'clock the Austrian corps, now swelled by degrees
to 20,000 men, resumed the offensive, and crossed the
river. Major Manors, surprised at the isolation in
which he had been left by his chef de division, fell back
upon Vigevano, upon another Piedmontese corps—but
what was General Ramorino doing all the time? It ap-
pears that his movements were so little in accordance
with his orders, that he has been put under arrest and
will be called before a court-martial."

It should not be forgotten that the ignorance, or
something worse, of General RAMoRINo contributed
to the fall of /Parsaw, in the Polish war of in.
dependence.
Pavia is in possession 'of the Piedmontese.

The Tuscan journals announce the arrival of
CICERONACCIIIO at Florence on the 20th. The Pro-
visional Government of the Tuscan Republic has
ordered a Polish legion of 200 men to be organized.
The Duke of MODENA is at Brescello. The Aus-
trian garrison remains in the Citadel of Modena.'
The following are extracts from the Piedmontese
journals.

The Nazione of Turin of the 23d says—
" Whilst we write, ten .as, we are told of the arrival
of an estaffette from the camp, announcing that the
divisions of the Duke of Genoa (Piedmont and Pinerolo),
and those of General Boa (Acqui and Casale.), have fallen
upon the enemy, defeated him, and made a great many
prisoners. This intelligence is also conveyed to us by
a letter we have just received by extraordinary means
from Vercelli, dated this day, in which it is said that a
rumour is current in that town that the Austrians have
been beaten on two points."
The following official account" of the hostilities in
Piedmont appears in tho Gazetta Piemontese of
the 23d :
"From a letter of the Commander-in• Chief, dated
sty rchiy (22d), aid froth oih,r of the Iveal
authorities, we receive the following intelligence. The
Austrians entered our territory on two points, Gravel-
, long itud Zerbele, Oa the 216 t, at 4 raa, they began

to attack the second division of our army, which had
taken up position on the road of Garlasco, before La
Sporzesca, where the head-quarters were, and on the
road of Gambolo, with a vanguard stationed us far as
Borgo San Siro. The first attack took place upon the
position of La Sporzesca, and was renewed several times
for more than four hours. Our troops, seconded by
the second regiment of the brigade of Savoy sustained
all these attacks with valour. About four P.M. the enemy
attacked the same division on the road to Gambolo; here
the first regiment of Savoy alone, with eight pieces of
artillery, resisted every attack, without losing an inch
of grcund, for more than an hour ; meantime the bri-
gade of Savona and the fourth division arrived, and the
enemy was repulsed. In all these engagements, such
of our troops as took part in them behaved in a most
praiseworthy manner. About six P.m. the Austrians
attacked two other divisions—namely, the first, and the
reserve division, which occupied the position from Ves-
polate and Novara to Mortara. Although the enemy did
not begin this attack with great force, our troops re-
tired after a short engagement, which was only main-
tained by the division of reserve, the first division not
having taken part in it as it ought to have done. The
enemy afterwards entered Mortara, without any
material damage being suffercd by that town.
Yesterday (22d) there was no engagement. The head
quarters were transferred to Trecate and thence to
Novara, where the King is. The Princes are at
the head of their divisions. The Commander•in-
Chief has concentrated all the forces near the
head-quarters on the right flank of the enemy's army.
Some soldiers shamefully dispersed, and they it
principally was who spread alarm in the towns of Ver-
celli, Casale, and other places in the vicinity. Govern-
ment has given all necessary orders to proceed against
them with the greatest severity, and send them back to
their corps. The local authorities all did their duty,
and showed the greatest energy and activity.
" The Minister of the Interior, " RATAZZI."
A telegraphic dispatch received from Alessandria,
on the 22d, at Turin, states that RADETZKY was still
at 3 P.M. on the 21st at Pavia, with his staff and 5,000
men. At that time a large body of Austrians had en-
tered Lomellina. The artillery of the enemy, com-
prising that remaining at Pavia, consisted of 54 pieces.