The Lansing state Republican. [volume] (Lansing, Mich.) 1855-1874, 1859-06-14
The Hattie Of M0nfehellO.
A correspondent of the London Daily Nel0s,
gives, the following account of the battle:

gives. the following account of the battle: Ii
TURIN. Nav 81, 1859.
The first victory has been won-may il be
good omen for the allied armies. This morning, q
as was returning from otisi. cleaned some {
important details which am happy 10 say, ena-
BILE me To give YOU a fair, il not complete,
description of the battle which was fought
Yesterday, and which viii he recorded in the
annals of the present struggle a the battle of
Nor tebello.
You will no. have forgotten, that from the
time of the Gallo and Punic wars down TO the
last great European conflict, Mcntebeilo and
CaSteggio have been important military posi-
tons This last mentioned place was besieged
bv Hannibal, who did not really conquer If, but
bought it from Publius Darius. 4 remarkable
memorial of the Carthaginian General still exists
"A spring OF very pure water, called by i'm.
memorial tradition The fontana fAnnibale."
Ii was near Castegeio, that, on the 9Th oil
June. 500. the great battle between the French |
and Auslrians was fought. This battle, 50 won
dcriullv described 10y Theirs, is usually called
the battle of Moutebele, from the village where
the French army finally routed the corpse de
reserre of the enemy. Fifty years ago the for
tune of the dav was there decided 10y Victor,
Yesterday il was decided 10y the bold assault of
Gen. Beuret. who paid with his life the victory
obtained by the Forey division, bridage OF
which he commanded. and by the Sandman cav
alrv under the orders of Col de SonnaZ.
| At IL o'clock Yesterday, $4,000 Austrians un
der the orders of Gen. Zobcl, were seen 10 move
| toward the PiedmonteSe positions OF Montchci-
10. which were occupied by son Sandman horse
men supported 10y two batteries The Aus
TRANS were marching in echelons, their right
wing bent in the direction of Eranduzzo, their
left flank, supported by large artillery on
Casona, while their columns ~ attach at the
center advanced, bv PiaZs'e, towards our lines
OF Monticello.
A soon as Gen. Forcy was reused by roll
after roll OF musketry on the Left and by the
sharp report of Austrian and Piedmontese guns,
he marched with the second brigade of division
in the direction of Montebello to support the
piedmontese cavalry, which 10y this time had al
ready advanced to meet the enemy.
The battle of Montebello scarcely admits Of
deScription Ii was a series of dreadful deeds
of daring hand-tohand fights, of sanguinary
encounters, of desperate charges and assaults
The shells and bullets of the Austrians burst
80 thickly among our troops that our center,
ALREADY engaged, was obliged To fall back on
the right of our lines retiring from M0ntebelo,
protected by rayine filed with hrush-wood,
which descended toward the main road Ia Nog
hera. A. Gen. Beuret led on his men Ia sup
port our centre, il was observed that a body of
"
behind the French division of our right. A
+ lcfdv vollcv was poured into them, and, pro.
tccted bv the fire. both Picdmontese and French
came out from the rayuc aud went boldly Ia
meet the enemy. The effect of the new French
guns carving their bullets Ia a distance Of more
than two English miles, was So great, that the
centre of the Austfians was obliged to tall
back on its reserve, aud Monteb.o was again
occupied by our men. Hy this time the 3rd
and 18th brigades of General Forcy's division
had reached the scene of action. This distin-
guished officer had left IN support Of n small
Land of the national cuard-who. by the hy,
fought bravely--hiS first brigade, sending an
ORDERLY officer of his stall To Marshal paraguay
dIIillierS asking support if need be. Having
thus given his orders he came on with his Iou-
ayes at the pas de chdrgc. One battalion Of
Chasseurs dOrleans rushed by, 1.-THE light of
battle Oh their faces" Ii was accompanied 10y
two battallions of the line, commanded 10y Du-
chef and I.acrcttce. The shock was terrible
Lacretelle fell dead from his horse, Major Du-
chief fell dead after him; our men still advanced
Il Ia fagonette. An Austrian Colonel and 300
Croats we're made pri. oncrS AsSaed in front
by the French broken by the impctuostv of
the charge coming from the Sandman Mon
! fcrrsto hight horsemcn, led by the brave Col.
Morei; attacked on the right by the 2d brig
. .,le and hy our artillery all along the line the
-,uatii.iii- a. rctre after struggle of six
hours.
+ At O'Clock p m they were driven pellmell
down the bill toward Stradela on one side, and
toward CaSatisma on the other leaving mounds
OF dead behind them. We had won the day
The Austrisns were therefore unable to hold
their positions, though they were Il, 900 strong,
With a powerful artillery, thus outnumbering US
10y 5000 men. Forneys division numbered
scarcely 5000 lighting men. and was supported
by 800 Sandman horses. You must not forget
that this brave cavalry, led by young Col De
Sonnaz, sustained for an hour the first shock of
the enemy, thus giving time to the French to
come up.
The last charge made by the Sardinams was
fatal 10 Col. Moreli, who fen morialy wounded
from his horse. Besides this loss, we have TO
deporc 200 dead and 900 wounded Among
the last the names of Colonies Griot, Less Barre,
De Bellefonds, Dusmeuil, and Major Ferussal all
French superior officers, are 10 be noticed. Cen
Forey and the Sandman cavalry colonel De Son.
naz, behaved nObly. IL is impossible TO ascer-
tain the loss sustained toy the cnemv because
the official report has not arrived in Turin
According to the accounts of my informant
| the AuStrians have lost 900 men, dead aud
WOUNDED, to lay the least. IL has been noticed
that their men couli not stand the impetnosity
of Zouaycs' aud Chasseurs' bayouets and 81
Sardinian's swords. A soon as they were a.
saulted ly the deadly weapons they were always
driven pell-mcll from their positions, aud the
village Of Nontch,lo thus taken and retaken
thrice dining the action. | make 10 pretentiOn
whatever To send you a correct description of
the battle As | have already said, this bril-
| aa: exploit admits OF no description: il j. only
4 sketch that present To your readers.
surrey uf the ioni". Iioughfon GaL- AID
| Wac iinae State Road.
Our readers viii find the following article,
which We copy from the Detroit T5iJ.,,,c, of
June Sth, contains valuable information
Our fellow. citizen, Mr.. II. II. LEROY, appointed
! by the tIuVcrnOg one of the commissioners for