The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1852-07-09

ce;ved. at one time, the idea OF Allowing u'0
80. ,;ah, ofthe enemy TO penetrate between
~. 1.s, and the river, and then TO fall upon
:, .;,h III the reserve which he had collected
;. a., re.r of the centre. The whole OF II must,
in that event, have been entirely captured out
he was fearful to trust his troops, vast pro-
,,r,;oo of which were raw, and were, more.
over composed Of many differen. nations. Had
he been in command ofsuch an army as that
of his three preceding campaigns, he would
not have hesita,ed. As it was, he resolved 10
put stop to the further advance of this wing
Of the enemy's army. He collected, for grand
assault upon the centre, the whole Of the ariil
lery Of the guard, GO pieces in all, the Bavar'-
an artillery, 25 pieces, and Is pieces from sew
eral other corps, and ordered them 20 advance
at full gallop. The entire battery, OF loo PEE
ces, was placed under the COMMAND OF "en'
Drouot, the first artillery officer In Europe
At the same time, he ordered up McDoha'u
with half the army of Italy, the fusIliers ana
mounted grenadiers of the guard ana SIX reg
ments of curassiers, belonging to the oiVis
ions Of General Nansouty. He ordered Mas
sepa with three of his divisions, TO wheel to
the right, and advance towards the Danube
to the aid of Gen. Boudet, commanding
fourth, This change of front, in the midst Of
a battle, the most difficult OF all man9euvres,
and one which can only be executed by veteran
troops, was made in spite OF murdesous fire
from the enemy upon his TANKS, by the heroic
Massena, who was supported on the exposed
flank. by Lasalle and Marulaz with their cav
airy. In the meantime, the hundred guns de-
signed for the Austrian centre, came up at q
gallon. They were Immediately ranged IN
line. and commenced the most tremendous fire
that had ever been known. The Austrian line,
as we have seen, presented an angle at this
noint. ON both sides of which this terrible bat>
terry poured their shot, dismounting all the
enemy's guns, and creating infinite confusion.
At this moment Napoleon ordered Mcdonald
to advance with the army of Italy, and to
breek the centre at the point of the bayonet.-
That great officer instantly advanced, in double
quick time, carrying everything before him,
bat leaving the ground strewed with the dead
Of his own corps. His daring charge extorted
expressions of admiration from Napoleon, who
had pl ICED eight hattalions fthe guard in his
rear to support him. Prince John, of Lichten-
stein, charged Mcdonald with the Austrian
cuirassiers, but the latter, forming his troops
10 square, received the enemy as he came on,
and strewed the earth with his dead. Nothing
could resist his imPetuosity, and the Austrian
IL,
time that its right retreated Lefore Ma=sena.
On the extreme left, in the meantime, the
victory remained undecided, but Napoleon,
who had givenfull instructions to Davout, had
no fears for the result. Neusiedel formed
the key of the enemy S position on the left, for
if that were once taken, the whole plateau
from Neusedel to Wagram would easily be
carried. Prince Rosenberg defended the posi-
ton around Neusiedel with great obstinacy,
for he knew that if it were carried, the army
could not form junction with Prince John,
and would be driven into Bohemia, leaving all
the rest the Austrian Monarchy at the mercy
of the French. Attacked, however, insfront,
flank and rear, he was compelled to give way,
| and the French passed the square tower in the
pursuit. AS soon as Napoleon saw this, he
closed the glass through which he had been
| looking, and said, "the battle is won )" for he
knew that the centre and right were already
in retreat, and that after the defeat of the ene-
my's extreme left, they had left only that por-
ton of that wing which lay between the posi-
ton lately occupied by that extreme left, and
| Il g III ~
dnot to advance to the attack of Wagram.-
| The order was instantly obeyed. Wagram
| was carried, as was Baumersdorf to its lefr,
and the left of Oudinot found itself in commu-
ncation on the heights, with the right of Davou.
| Thus the enemy was every where beaten, and
every where retreating in The utmost disorder.
The battle had terminated at o'clock in the
evening, and as it had begun at 4 in the morn
ing, it had lasted IL hours.
While his troops were every where pursuing
the enemy, Napoleon, who had dismounted
and was reposing a few moments under the
shade formed by a pyramid of drums, was sud
denly reused by cries of terror from the rear
Prince John had at last made his appearance,
and had created panic among the vivanderes
and straggiers in the rear. The panic was
soon subsidized, when it was seen that the
Prince had retreated without attempting any
thing. Napoleon had, ready to meet this
emergency, 10000 fresh troops, who had not
fired shot. If the Archduke had come up, he
would, doubtless, have been captured.
The bulletin the day, stated that the bat
tie of Wagram had deprived the Austrians of
$4,000 warriors, nor do we see any reason
for doubling that their loss was at least thus
great. The French lost $4,000 men. The
victory was not so decisive as jena or Fried
land; but Napoleon had overcome the grand
| obstacle, the Danube. He had afterwards
beaten the enemy, land forced him into Bohemia,
thereby cutting him off from all his resources.
lie could now bring all his own to bear, and
thus destroy him at leisure so that, in fact,