The Sun.
London, England, 1812-09-09 00:00:00

iIISLLETIN OF THE GRAND A"E010.,
tl. SmolMskoi Aug.
.!-Sinolensko may he considered as one of tW:
'finest cities of Russia. Had it not been for (lir
cumstances of the war, which, has carried thitbi
tha fife, and consumed immense magazines
colonial merchandize, and goods of all kinds, tl'
city would have been grand resource fOr the
Even in its present state it may be
the greatest utility in a military point of view/
There are still lairi;e houses reinaining, which 0
fer fine places for the establishment at hospitali•
The province -of S:noleasko is very fine 04
fertile, and furnished. with. great resources of
subsistence and forage. I:he Russians intended
according to the events of "the•war, to raise 3
militia of peasant slaves, whom they have arnica.
with bad pikes. They, had alifeacly united alyont
fiooo of them at this place; it was an object l
raillery and derision even to the Russian Arinii
itself. They had already stated, as the order 01
day,: that Smolensk° was to be the grave of th
French, 'and that, altbOugh it had been deitnei.
cmi 'neient to evacuate Poland, yet it was nee&
sary to give battle at Smolensko; to prevent_thl
barrier 41Russia from falling into 'our hands. ,
The Cathedral of Smoiensko is one of the rno
celebrated Grecian Clitirchew.in all Russia. The.
EpiSeopal-Palace forms a hind of toy ii by itself..
• Thelfeat is excessive, the thermometer having
risen to 26 degrees. The weather is much hotter
here than, in Italy.

arniv.

ATTLE OF POTOSSK.-

After the battle of Drissa, the Dnke ofßeggi°o
knowino- that the enemy's General, Wittgenstenli
liad been reinforced by twelve third battalion',
from the garrison of Dunabourg, and willing tQ
draw him to an engagement near the defile belof,
I)gtolsk, caused the second and sixth corps to b 5
ranged in,order of battle below Votolsk. General
Wittgenstein followed him,- attacked him on tilt
16th and 17th, and was vigorously repulsecl. The
Bavarian division of De Wrede, of the 6th corps,
has distinguished itself. At the moment wbell
the Duke of Reggio was making his dispositions-
to profit by the victory, and to close the eueilli
in the defile, lie was struck on the shoulder by
13iscayan. His wound, which is of a serioils sta-
ture; obliged him: to cause himself to- be trans-
ported to Wilna., but it -did not appear that lie
made himself in any wise unquiet concerning tile
consequences. The General Gonvian St. Cyr 1139
taken the command of the 211 and 6th corps. ,11
the 17th in the evening the enemy retired thronV
the defile. General erdier %VHS wounded ; Ge",
neral Maison ,has been recognized as General °;
Division, and has su-cceeded'him in the corn-van,
of his division. • Our loss is- estimated at 10°'
Men killed and wounded. The. loss of the ,S-11'"
ia~is is triple to ours ; We have taken 500 nszil
from them.
On- the 18th, at four o'clock in tire aft-el-noel
General Gouvian St. Cyr, counmzndinE; .2d
6th Corps, opened on the enemy, by eausin',7:',•
right wing to be atta'cked by the B:avt,..rian V-4
tion of Count Vir Count--de rede. the battle mt.,:lit'eto
the whole length of the line, andtlie eneutv
thrown into complete ',pet, and-puritrett
leagues, as long as day light permitted. Twenty
pieces of--cannon, and 1000 prisOners haye r
mained in the -power of the French Army. -114
Bavarian General Deroy was- wounded. •

._BATT4.4- OS V. 4 I, E. 24 T ts;.• A .
. On the I.9th, at break of day, the bridge bell
finished, the Marshal Duke of Elchingen
over to the right bank of the Borvsthene, I'l,l
.pursued- the enemy. At one league from t:ir
town,. he rencontred the: last column of ti
.e
enemy's rear-guard. It was.- a division of 4
or six. thousand men stationed on fire heigbtiti
He caused them to be attacked with the baVirled
by the 4th •regiment of infantry of the line; Oct
by the 72d ditto. The pcisitiOn was erried; e
our bayonets covered the field of-battle with `lca,
r
Three or' four hundred 'prisonerS fell into 011
hands. The flying,enemy retired on the 2.11 e"'
lumn which was posted on tire heights of \r"IT10.:
tina. The first position was carried by the lu
of the line, and towards four o'clock in the -Lftd.eir,,
noon the musketry fire was kept up against,,Ltia
enemy's rear-guard, which presented about 15,"
Men. The Duke of Abrantes had passed- the ,
rystheae, at two o'clock to the right. of
lensko, and .he found himself close
npofl
rear of the enemy he might therefore, by mar,ett"
,
ing with a division, intercept the great roaa
rd
MOseoW,
.and render the retreat of the rear
diffictilt. But meantime the,other columns ofit;'e.
stieiny's army which remained to he foreezi, oi
nig informed of the success: and 'of the rapiditY cc
the first:attack, returned back the same way th
came. Four divisions then advanced to su t,
Pr,
their rear-guard, and among others the Oici°_,,
of grenadiers, which, until:now, 'had not- 0 114
forward ; 5000 or 6000 cavalry formed their rig ?ti
-whilst. their left was covered by woods fined `slib,
tirailleurs . It As as of the greatest consequenceto
enemy to keep this position- as hAng as possibl'4l:
being a very fine one, and apparently
.irapre-gn"
On our.part, we attached no less iinportance`,
In order to accelerate his retreat, and save
`
tike carriages filled:With wounded and other atl,
o.es, the evacuation of it was protected bY, t
rear-guard. This. Was what
_gave rise to the 0,
7. tie 'of-Valentina-, one of site finest feats of aria'
our military histOry. ," •
At siyi.o'doek the evening 'the divisions
Gudin, which had been sent forward to suPP„I.
the third corps, from the moment we .row
great succours the enemy had sent to his
guard, pushed forward a column on the centr.e,c '
the enemy's position, .was supported bytbe divis2l,
of -General Ledrio, and after an banes con„,
forced the pcisition. General Count Gudia
ari
ing with his.division,, was, at the commenceri(
of the action, struck •4 a bullet, which • cart's
off his thigh—he died glorionslV. This I°'''„,o
sensibly felt. General Gudin wt. s one of the
distinguilhed officers in the army ; he ragl
timable for his moral qualities as much as for,,,
bravery and intrepidity. General Gerard has to
the command of the division. We reckon th"l ate
enemy have had eight Generals kilted or wou'
oalle of their Generals is taken prisoner,