The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-06 00:00:00

News from Buenos Ayres gives the details of the
great fight on the 11th Dec., at Villetta. On the
sth the Allies crossed the left bank of the Paraguay
and commenced acir advance on Villeta, but
early on th;; morning of the 6th they were attacked
by the Paraguayans. According to a Brazilian ac-
count, " The Paraguayan infantry charged. our
lines with that headlong and desperate valour for
which they have ever been distinguished ; on, like a
living wave, they came cheering wildly; and literally
sprang on the Brazilian line. These latter were
prepared, however. Foot to foot, and breast to
breast, the issue was decided ; again and again,
with headlong bravery, their officers, with waving
swords, leading them on, they charged ; bayonet
and butt end renewed their deadly work, but the
result was ever the same. - -At last, after three
three hours' desperate. .fighting. they retired, fol-
lowed for some distance, hewn and ridden down
by the Rio Grande cavalry." Marshal Caxias
had one horse killed under him and another
wounded. General Machado was killed; Augollo
dangerously wounded, besides six Brazilian colo-
nels and about 60 officers placed hors de com-
bat. Lopez retired within his fortifications,
but next day came out and had another sharp
fight. On the 9th Caxias ordered a gene-
ral advance on Villeta, when a battle toak
place, in which the Brazilians lost 600 men ; and on
the 12th the Marshal pushed to a place called Ivahy,
where the Paraguayans had made a stand. The
Brazilian cavalry charged, took the pass with the
guns, completing, the capture of Villeta, and clearing
the road to Angostura. A telegram from Marshal
Caxias says that 10 pieces of artillery and 500 priso-
ners had been captured by the Allies. Other accounts
state the Paraguayans lost 6,000 killed and wounded.
After resting ten days to recruit and equip for fur-
ther action, the three Brazilian Army Corps moved
to the attack of Lomas Valentines, nine miles from
Villeta, were some 7,000 Paraguayans were posted
with 50 cannon. The Brazilians numbered about
18,000 men. The fighting commenced on the 21st
of December, and continued till the 24th, when
Lopez was summoned to surrender, but he refused,
stating his determination to fight to the last. On
the 27th the chief redoubt was carried, when Lopez
retired into a wood, where hestill held out, as did An-
gostur a,to the latest date, but theßrazilians state they
have captured even his luggage. Theßrazilians were
repulsed three times, but on the fourth attack they
succeeded with frightful loss, taking, according to
their own account, 45 cannon. The Argentine troops
at Palmas rendered no assistance. General Gelly y
Obes has resigned, and the Argentine Government
has appointed General Emilio Mitre to the com-
mand-in-Chief of the Argentine forces. It is
thought at Buenos Ayres that the mission of Senor
Hector Varella, Prime Minister of the Argentine
Confederation is to offer peace to Lopez, even at
the risk of a breach with Brazil, and the signifi-
cance of this is that it followed the fall of
Villeta. It is, ' however, announced that pub-
lic opinion in Paraguay has undergone a change
as indicated by the fact that several families have
sought refuge in the Brazilian camp, and the wives
and daughters of wounded prisoners have proceeded
there to nurse them. The American squadron
has returned, Gen. 51‘Mation's mission having been
successfully executed. The proceedings of Mr.
Washburn still furnish a fertile subject for dis-
cussion to the Buenos Ayres press. A history of
his mission is given, which we will perhaps next

week condense for the information of our readers,
as the charges arc explicit, and ought to be re-

butted by the ex-Minister.

We see by the Atue-

ricau papers that that gentleman had a conversa-
tion with a correspondent, of which this is the sum-