The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-25 00:00:00

" The separate reports," says the Moniteur,
"addressed by the generals commanding the dif-
ferent corps dames to the Emperor, after the
battle of Magenta, have just been received by the
Minister of War. Although the general bulletin
of the battle, which has been already published,
made known to the public the most important
facts of that great military event, these reports will
be read with lively interest. They moreover give,
as to the part taken by each in that victory, in-
teresting details into which 'the general report
could not enter." The following is the report of
the general-in-chief of the Imperial Guard :
" Bridge of San Martino, sth.
"Sire—According to the orders of your Majesty,
the 2d brigade of the Grenadiers; of the Guard,
under the command of General Wimpffen, left Tre-
cate at eight o'clock in the morning of the.4th to
occupy the tete-de-pont of San Martino, which
was found to hive been evacuated by the Austrians.
The latter, in -effecting their retreat on the. evening
before, had attempted to blow up the hridgeiover
the Ticino, but the operation was not successfully
performed ; although two of the arches were
seriouely damaged, the bridge, by means of some
repairs, was made practicable for • infantry and
etieti for artillery. The grenadiers crossed the
bridge- and advanod ,',-;;;.*- reconnoitre the opposite:
bank, on whichi the enemy did not show themselves'
in, any great force..
" At ten, o'clock in the morning, the brigade of
General Cler, two squadrons of Chasseurs of the
Guard, under the orders of General Cashaignolles,
three batteries of foot and two 'of horse artillery,
left Trecate for the tete-de-pont of San Martino,
where they arrived at half-past eleven.

" At that moment, some cannon shots and mus-
kptry were exchanged between the Austrians and
'two battalions of General Wimpffen, supported by
sdctiou'of We foot artillery. The Austrian skir,
mishers and some pieces of cannon, which they had
placed in position, were driven back beyond the
bridge of the Naviglio (canal). - About one o'clock

in the afternoon I ordered an end to be put to this
combat, which was without object, and there was
no longer any firing, except a few straggling shots
exchanged between the grenadiers, who, were near
the bridge of San Martino and the enemy's skir-
mishers, who had reoccupied their former position
inlront of the bridge of the Naviglio.

"At half-past one your Majesty heard the can-
nonade which had commenced towards the right of
the enemy's,pesition, and concluded from that cir-
_ euthatance that the, corps d'armee of . General Mac-
Mahon and the division of Voltigeuri of the Guard,
tinder the -biderS of 'General Camou, had executed
their turning movement.
"To have allowed 'that, corps d'armee to con-
tend alone-with the whole of the enemy's forces
might have rendered more difficult, or even uncle-
'cisive, the result of the well combined attack of
General, de MacMahon. In order, therefore, to di-
vide 'the eilemy'S attention. and forces, your Ma-
"jesty, being aware of the approaching arrival ofthe.
'respective corps of General Niel and of Marshal
Canrobert, ordered the division of Grenadiers of the
Guard, something. under ‘5..,6)06- grong,.to attack tho
enemy's position in front., 7
' "Thatyosltion formed a vast semi circle of small
Ifs right, supported by the Village of BUffalora,
ics'eentre at Magenta; and it left at Rebecco. The
whole line was covered by a wide and deep canal,
knoivn by the' mine of the Naviglio Grande, run-
ning. between two steep embankments, and only
passable on 4he three bridges opposite the above-
named villages. In front of and behind the, bridge
df Magenta' were four largelouses bUilt of granite
(the buildings of the station and the custoni-heM3e)
the houses, which•were—O-Cenpied by the enemy, del
'fended-the approach to the canal, and prevented its
being paised. . -
" The ground to the right and left, of the main
road leading from the- bridge of San Murtino to
that of Magenta was interesected by ditches filled

with water and by inundated rice fields, which ren-

dered the march of infantry very difficult, except

along the main road. On the left, a narrow road:
led to the bridge of Buffalora ; on the right, the

railivay led to 'that of Rebecco. In order to carry
this formidable p3sition, I caused the 'village

of Buffalora, on the left, to be attacked by

;he 2d Grenadiers, under the command of Colonel

d'Alton, and, I sent along the railway, on the

right, the 3d Grenadiers, under Colonel Metman.
The regiment of Zouaves were massed in a hollow
of the ground near the main road, where they were
screened from the enemy's fire. The road itself,
above the Zouaves, was occupied by two pieces of
artillery, which returned with advantage the fire

of the enemy's guns.
" On the right, the 3d Grenadiers, under Gen.
Wimpffen; forced from the enemy a redoubt which
covered the bridge of Rebecco, drove them beyond
the canal; and, thanks to the vigour of this regi-
ment, all the efforts made by the Austrians to retake

that important post were victoriously repulsed.
during the rest of the day. When this post was

carried, Lieut.-Colonel de Tryon, with one battalion
of the 3d Grenadiers, bore rapidly to the left, and

attacked the first two hOuses which covered the

approach to the bridge of Magenta ; after a sharp

fire of musketry he succeeded in taken them, but

his troop was too weak to debouch from the bridge,
which was vigorously defended by very superior
forces. Then, the Zouaves, commanded by Colonel.
Guignard, and directed by General Cler, supported
the attack of the 3d Grenadiers, forced the passage
of the bridge, took possession of the house to the

right, but had still to fight some time before they

could 'take the house on the left, from which a
destructive fire was kept up. At last, after half an
hour's obstinate, conflict, the post was carried by

main strength, and no further obstacle existed to
the free passage of the bridge.
Perhaps it might have been prudent to stop
after this success, and to be content with holding

possession of this sort of tete-de-pont until the ar-
tival of the two corps d'arraee of General Neil and
Marshal Canrobert ; and that measure was the
more necessary that General de MacMahon had
Suspended his attack; but, under the impulse of
their habitual impetuosity, our troops, though
scarcely three battalions strong, left the post
which they had taken, and bore down on Ma-
genta, the centre of the enemy's position. They
soon found themselves in presence of superior
forces ; and some columns of the enemy, covered
by sharpshooters, came and threatened their right
and left. At that moment, General Cassaignolles,
at the head of 110 chasseurs of the Guard, charged
several times with remarkable energy on the left;
and, notwithstanding the difficulty of the ground,
which was covered with trees and vines, he suc-
ceeded In sabreing the enemy's sharpshooters and
arresting the offensive advance of their columns.

' But the enemy favoured by the nature of the
ground, which was scarcely practicable for cavalry,
soon resumed, their offensive march, and the weak
detachment of chasseurs of the Guard retired
between the two houses forming the tete-de-pont
of Magenta, where it was soon rejoined by the ar-
Illery,and infantry, which had attacked the centre
of the enemy's position. The two farms, right and
left of the bridge, were strongly occupied by the 3d
Grenadiers and the Zoua.ves; and, the cavalry was
sent back over the bridge.
" It was now four o'clock in the afternoon, and
the enemy thought them:selves victorious.
• It was important for the success of the day to
retain the debouche of the bridge over the Naviglio,
se as to permit the corps d'artnce of Gen. Niel and
Ailarsbal Canrobert_to assail the enemy as soon' as

came up., Your Majesty accordingly gave
orders ,to defend the post with the utmost energy
uptil the reinforcements should arrive. Your
11t4esty's orders were executed
; the Zouaves, the
Grenadiers .of the, 2rl
--Pgimeilti and also those of

2 A'N ..~