The Sun.
London, England, 1848-11-15 00:00:00

444 -

AUSTRIA.

A letter from Vienna, of the 7th, in the Indepen-
-1 dance of Brussels, says :—" I have just arrived here,
and immediately set out to judge for myself what
damage bad been done to the city by the late attack.
Prince Windischgrats fired on the city some hun-
dreds of congreve rockets and some bombs, destined
most 'probably to cause more alarm than injury to
the inhabitants. If this cannonade does not merit
the name of a bombardment, it still has com-
mitted a considerable share of damage, and does
not say much for the justness of aim of the
Austrian artillery, for the greatest number of the
projectiles have fallen just where they ought not to
have done—on the Imperial palace, the Church of the
Augustines, &c. In the latter, however, I rejoice to
tell you, the monument in honour of Maria Christina,
one of the chefs-d'oeuvre of Canova, is untouched. Of
the palace of Count Kolowrat only the four walls re-
main ; that of the Prince Saxe-Cobourg-Cohary, which
is not as yet entirely finished, suffered also. The Fau-
bourg of the Leopoldstadt presents a still more deso-
late appearance, and has, in particular, suffered from
the presence of the Croatian troops. A score of
houses are nothing but a heap of ruins, having been
burnt down, not by the projectiles, but by the
assailants, who committed dreadful atrocities. Several
streets were delivered up to them to pillage, as an
inducement to them to persevere when they were
giving way before the resistance of the defenders of
the barricades. The streets still remain unpaved, and
heaps of stones by the side show where the barri-
cades had been erected. I have myself seen the
Croatians bivouacking in the public squares, and I can
affirm that it is impossible to imagine a more squalid
and repulsive set of men—looking alike stupid and
brutal. These, however, I am told, are regiments
levied in haste from amongst the peasantry ; the re-
gular Croatian regiments, an Austrian dicer informs
me, are magnificent troops. Unfortunately, it was not
these latter who entered Vienna, and that explains the
excesses which have been committed. However, the city
has resumed its activity. A decree of Prince Windisch-
gratz has authorised the free entry of provisions, and
the peasants are bringing in their stores in abundance.
A part of the besieging troops have quitted the capital
and are concentrating themselves on the Hungarian
frontier, about twenty leagues from Vienna, and about
the same distance from 011mutz, in presence of a
Magyar army, from whom they are separated by the
little river the March. All the stations of the
railway from Prague to Vienna are guarded
militarily. All last night immense trains
were transporting artillery and ammunition to
Gcedingen where the Austrian quarter-general is
placed. Other trains were taking troops from Prague,
Brunn, and other localities of Bohemia and Moravia,
so that in fact the public service was in a measure
interrupted. The accounts vary as to the actual
force of the Hungarian army. A spy who has come
in has declared that the army under the orders of
Kossuth amounts to 40,000 men. At all events, the
field of battle is no longer at Vienna, but on the
banks of the March. Yesterday the advance posts
had some firing at each other."