Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-07-15
THE BATTLE OF so1FER1Eo.
INTERESTING DESCRIPTIONS.
from the New York Times correspondents
rvou rur r,TTLE.TIELD OF S~OLFERIN0.

CASTiGlIONE, Italy, fTluhy iIsi'' june IL
| came from Brcscia carly this morning, anu
arrived Just in time to witness the last hall o.
what | have very little doubt viii turn "n! !"
haze been the greatest battle the moiern worid
mas seen. lou will get the Official summary
oc il. result ~ telegraph before this letter
reaches Won, and will be prepared, therefore,
for this statement Of It's magnitude. cannot
describe it with any precision a> yet. Tor II has
lasted all da". aud extended over a circnit Of
not less than fifteen miles the noise Of the
c,nnonadc, and even Of the musketry, is still
in my ears. and none Of those engaged in It.
,ycept the wounded. have returned 10 give uS
any distinc; and connected report. Bat not
les thar 400 . men have been engaged in Ii.
and of these not less than. 3o,vo"-dead or dts
ablcl-lic, on this bright, starry night. upon
the bloody field.
The battle commenced nj Il little before five
o'c,o X in the morning-not far from sunrise.
.Ius, hack Of CaSt;giione rises a high range Of
h;lis--wiich projects Il mile or whereabouts lni"
IA. Main and then breaks oil towards the left
into q wide cXpanse of smaller hills, and 30
into the rolling Sariacc which makes that por-
ZION OF tie plain. The .tu>trians had taken
o~o,ition upon these hll>-plan,ing cannon up
ON those nearest 10 C~a>iiglionc, which they
could a~pproch, IS the French army Was in iu!!
G,rcc in and around that little yIilagc-and had
stationed their immense army al over the sur
rounding plain. ~ nearly As we can now
learn. the Emperor Francis Joseph had collect
ed hcvc not less than 2jJ,u0I troops. ard com
mandcd them in person. HIS evident pur-
pose was 20 make a stand here, and risk the
fortunes OF the war upon iic hazards oi the
dav. Napoleon promptly accepted the clial-
lcu.c. and commenced the attack a. soon Is II
was lish; this morning, by placing cannon up
on ti,c hills stiii nearer ta,;!gllonc than
, those held hv the .AnS;rian>, and opening
fir, upon them oh the height beyond
lie took his own stand upon the high
ct Of the>c-;l steep, >iiarp-backed r;'ige,
which commands Il magnificent "icw oi The en-
; tire circuit OF the plain. and from that point di-
r.r.ci IN. tntirc movements OF lis army ,iurin"
the carly portion of the day.
The French very soon drove tie crciny ont
, or the posts they held nearest 10 ihc town, and
followed them into the small villages OF the
! nlalu bcioy. TIE first of these WAS Soilcrino.
! where they had Il sharp and protractc'' engage
mcn,. The .AaS,rianS disputed every inch OF
the ground, and fought here, as they dd
throughout the day. with thcu;:no>t desperation.
y lpN were lli.CC ll!siSS tilhN'l wa w 'N ''
before they would stay ou,. Tho people OF The
Village. morcoycr, tool. part against the French
mon WHOM they fired ron their windows
and the French were compelled in scii.Gcicnc'
90 brrn the town. When they found ii lmi"S
slhle to hold their ground any longer they lei
back. slowly and steadily. until thc.% reached
the village Of Volta, which. aS yoH VIII sec BY
the map. lies directly South East from ta>
t%i.!ionc. and is only about = mile the rive
Winr;c from which, however. il i srparatrdh!
a rance oi hills.
Iron these hills, in the rear Of the town
and overlooking it completely on the south am
>o,,.h.ast sides. the .iu>iriarlS had planted vcr,
formidable batteries; and when arrived upol
Tho, field and went at once to the height whcr
the E,mpcror had stood at the opening OF tn
cncaccment, hut which he had LETT an hour he
fore to follow his victorious troop%, these bat
,cric> were blazing away upon the French vii
we're stationed on The plain below. was to
far off tn observe with amy accuracy the sue
ca,Slyc steps of the action. hut could distinct
IL see the troops stationed upon the broad plan
and moyin. up in MASSES towards the mont
where the artillery was posted. rs Their service
wr"c Y~cuiirol. Iiut Is soon aS they rctchc
this poin; they were speedily cnvcInpcd IN III
smoke of the cannon, and disappeared iron
observation. But tie general result was 500
made evident by the Siackcning OF the -lu,
TRAN fire. and by the falling back OF thcl
smoke and Il corresponding advance on III
mart or that which rose from :llc French artI
icry The cannonading AZ that point lasted 10
oy.r an hour, but in precisely what d'rcctio
tho austrian, Ictrcatcd, it WAS not possible
from the ~posi,ion | occupied, 10 see. VA
,Go;d IN change il, moreover, because. %altiioue
micht easily have gone '!crc Directly an
rlosrIv upcn the field. could not have io'ln
any cminencc upon the plain from which
could have had 81 sweeping and complete
wow Par, of the Austrian force probab,
crossed the Mincio river. which flows Southwar
from the lower end of Lake Garda. and cinI
ties into the Pc.
BIT the battle continued 10 rage all over tn
region northwest Of - line connecting IN
,~"r-- I" c.la,r -. ,r.
quarters Of I'M hour and after each >~licccS>iv
engagement of this kind, the result became az
norcnt in the retreat of the AuSirians and tn
advance of the French forces. During alI IN
early rart Of the lay. the sky had been clca
and the weather hot. Blu clouds began 4
rather at about room, and nj , O'Clock. whil
the cannonadc was ut its height. 4 tremcndol
thunderstorm rolled up from the northwest
the wind came first, sweeping !r"rl me parchc'
streets an enormous cloud oi dust. and wa
soon followed by a heavy fall Of rain, accom-
panied bv vivid lightning and rapid explosions
or rafting thundcr. The storm lasted iO
about an hour. and the cannonaGing, 30 far a
we could distinguish, was suspended. They
the rain ceased. the clouds hlcw away, the SUI
shone out a.ain. and the sir was cooled ant
perfectly delightful.
Thouci, the cannon may have ceased Tor
time to take part in it, the fight had meantime
gone on and when again resumed my pos
of Decentralization which the storm had cX
PEELED mc-thc cannonading commenced quite
on the extreme left Of the entire field, and OF
! the vcry borders Of the lake southeast from
Casticlisnc. and west OF PcSchicra. Tie Pied
montcsc troops. under the King, who commands
them in person, had been posted there, and RI.
ccivcd the .tuStrianS H. they came around
From about ! O'Clock until after nigh;-iail, an
inccSSant and most terrible combat was here
kent up. The batteries of the two armies were
apparently about half 4 mile apart, and 1T the
outset they were beth served with nearly equal
and effective vicor: but the .iuStrIanS gradual
Is Slackencd their fire, and several times took
! M new positions. while the Sardlnlan> poured
4 rapid and uninterrupted shower oi balls
| upon them. SIiSpcndins only for Il icw minutes
at 4 time, and then renewing it again with re-
doubled fury. The wind had now gone down,
the air was still, and the sound of ml>kctry--
as well as of the cannon-waS distinctly heard.
The former was continuous. sharp AID iEccS-
SAINT. sounding like the constant and irregular
pattcring Of hail upon 4 roof, while the latter
was occasionally suspended; but while it last
ell. was overwhelmingly grand and terrible.
Over the Sandman park rose a dense white
cloud Of smoke, directly upwards. It's sides
perfectly upright and well defined. and spread
ing outward both ways at the top like an cnor-
nous shcaf Of wheat. The sun was making a
glorious setting in the west, and as his Eight
gradually departed, the vivid flashes at each