Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-06-24

hS I"'
one Of those incidents which must always be
expected in warfare. The army Of the King
was delayed in crossing the river, and only one
of his divisions was able to follow the corps OF
Gen. Mcmahon at 4 distance. The advance Of
Esn;nasse'S division was also delayed, and, on
ih. other hand, when Marshal CanrObcrt's
.or.s left Noyara to join the Emperor, who had
nrnrcclcd in person to the bridge at Builaloro,
i fund the road 50 encountered that it only ar
r,vcd very late on the banks Of the Ticino.
So matters stood; and the Emperor awaited,
not without anxiety. the signal Of the arrival
Of f;.n M,Nahon'> corps ut Builalora, when,
about two o'clock. he heard 4 heavy in>iIade
and cannonadc in that quarter. lhe "e''e'a'
vas coming NJ.
This was the moment to support him by adj
vancing on Magenta. The Emperor nj once
threw WimpiFcn'> brigade against the formula
bic positions occupied by the .A,strianS III front
of the bridge: Clcr's brigade followed up the
movement. The heights which border the ca.
nal and village Of Buiialora were soon carried
by the impctuosity Of our troops; but they
then found themselves opposed 10 formidable
bodies. whom they could not drive back and
who stopped their advance.
Marshal Canrobert'S column had not yet
came ND. u.,I, III lilC INV isiiits N'N
and c,>ilaae which had announced the arrival
of ten. Mcmahon had completely ceased, Had
the Generals column been lcpml>cd, and wo'lio
the division of the GrcnadlcrS OF the uuard
have TO Sustain alone the whole strength oi the
enemy,
This is the proper place to explain the ma
nu.uyrc %; the .lu>trianS. .
When they learned on the night OF the "a OF
June that the French army had made ,tSeh
master Of the passage of the Ticino al lurbigo'
they rapidly r~ecro>Scd the river at |iSevano
with three of their c,ryS d drH'et. VINO burnt
the bridges behind them. On the morning "i
the Eth they We're opposite the Emperor l2',ooo
>troag. and it was against such 4 di>prop0rtIon.
ate force that the division of the GrerAdlcrS OF
the Guard. with whom was the Emperor, had
TO compete.
At this critical moment Gen. Rcgnaud dc
Saint jean Il Angels displayed immense energy.
As did also the Generals under his orders
I;,neral Of Division Mellinct had two horses
shot under him; Gen. Clcr fell mortally wound
ell: ten. Wimptlcn was wounded in the head;
Commandments Dc>mc and Maudbuy, Of the
Grcnadic:s of the Guard. were killed; the Iou-
avcs lost two hundred men, and the t;renadlcrS
suffered a Joss not less considerable.
Finally. after 4 lon. expectation of four
hours. during which Mellinci'S division Sus-
tanned without ilinch!ng the attacks of the
cncny, pirari'S brigade, led by Marshal Can
robert, arrived on the field Of battle. Shortly
afterwards Ninoy's division joined, Of General
Nicl'S corps. winch the Emperor had sent for.
and finally RenaultS and TrochuS divisions OF
Canrobcr,'s corps.
At the same time General McNIshon's cannon
became again audible in the distance. The
Generals corps. retarded in its advance, and
less numerous than it should have been, had
advanced in two columns on Magenta and
B~u:!a.ora.
The enemy having attempted to cut in be-
tween these two columns, General Mcmahon
ordered his right column to fall back on his
left towards Magenta, AID this explains the
cessation of the firing at the commencement
Of tie action on the Builalora side.
In fac, the .iu>trians, finding themselves
hard pressed on the centre and left, had cracu-
atcl the village OF Buil:lora and had brought
the greater part Of their forces TO bear against
General MciIali0n before Magenta. The 10Th
of the line boldly attacked the farm Of CaScina
Mora on the outskirts of the village. and
which. was defended by two Hungarian regi-
rucntS. Fifteen hundred men Of the enemy
laid down their arms. and the colorS were taken
from the Colonel body. However. Mot
tcrougc'S division found itself hard pressed by
considerable forces, which threatened 10 Scpa.
rate it from E.SpinaSSc's division. General
Mcmahon lad placed in second line the thir-
teen bat,alionS Of the VoltigcurS OF the Guard,
under the command Of the brave General Ga.
mou. who. advancing to the front, sustained the
shock Of the enemy and gave time to Motto
rnugc'> AMI E>pinassc'> divisions vigorously to
resume the offensive.
At this moment Of general attack General
.iu.cr commanding the artillery Of the Second
corps, opened fire with forty sun> on the railway
cllarSScc. which. taking the .Al>trian> in flank
and croSswavS, made fearful havoc.
At Magenta the combat WAS terrible. The
enemy defended the village most obStinatcly.-
Both sides felt that it was the key Of the posi-
ton. Our troops took il house by house, 7
causing immense loss to the .AustrianS. More
than II, 900 men We're put liars dc c"mbIf, and
General Mcmahon took about 1000 prisoners,
including one whole regiment, the Second
Cha>scurS u }iei, commanded by Colonel llau-
ser. But the Generals corps suffered conSidc-
rably 800 men were either killed or wound
cd. In the attack on the village, General Is
pinaSSc and his ofiricr de ordohhahc,. I%.;eutcn-
ant Froidcrond. were both killed. While lead.
ing On their men. Col. Drouhot, of the Sixty
fifth Of the line, and Col. Chabricnc. of the
Second. fell mortally wounded.
On the other side Ninoy'S and Rcnfult'S d.
visions were doing p~rodigics of valor, under
the orders Of Marshal Conrobcrt and General
Mel. Ninoy'S division. which had left Nova
ro in the morning, had scarcely reached Ire.
rate. where it %purpoSed to bivouack. when it
was sent for by the Emperor. 1t advanced at
quick step as far as the bridge Of Magenta,
driving the enemy from the position they &C.
clIpicd, taking about 1000 prisoners; but, en-.
gagged with superior forces, it suffered heavy
lo>S-clcvcn officers were killed and fifty
wounded: GjO reconnaissance officers and
men were placed tiers de romboi. The Eighty
fifth of the line suffered most. Col. Dclort
fell ut the head Of his men. And all the Of
ticcrs were wounded. General Martimprcy re-
ceived 4 bullet wound while leading on his
Marshal Conrobcrt's troops also suffered con-
Sidcrably. Col. tic Scnncyiilc. the chief Of his
stall. was killed at his side. Col. Charlicr, Of
the Nlnclictb. fell mortally wounded by five
bullets. and many officers Of Rcnault's division
were placed liars i, coDibot. while the village
and bridge of Magenta were taken and rctakcn
seven times.
Finally, about h~alfiast eight at night, the
French army remained masters Of the field Of
battle. and the enemy Withdrew, leaving in our
hands four guns, one of which WAS taken by
the GrcnadicrS of the Guard, two flags. and
200 prisoners. The number of .Austrians
placed lars de cqmbat may be estimated at
20.u0o. 10000 mu,kctS and 10000 Sacs
Iknapsacks : We're found on the battlefield.
The Austrian corps which fought against us
are those Of Clam GallaS. Xobcl, Schwartzen-
bcr.. and L.ichstcnstcin Field Marshal Gyulai
commanded in person.
Thus, five days after their departure from
.ilcs>andria. the allied army had given three
c~olnhats, gained a battle, cleared Piedmont Of
the \uStrj1uS and ou,ucl the ,,,ic, of Milan. &