The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1859-07-22
FROM TIE London Times. of Jsne, eth:
BATTLE OF SnIFEpJNo

ohAALE Of SULfEHINO.
The tremendous battle which rngcd fsnm
from sunrise TO sunset of Friday hind berb louL.
ed Tor. an'i lis r'sGlt is net n surr,r!se The
position OF the contendiny srniics rendered tn.
occurrence "f great enyngeu.rift n certain Sc
qnehcr IT, the last news. and there was a silent
~Npecthtinh prevalent among all classrs n SEM
timPnf which, a'i!i"u9liit IT, WAS seldom spoken
amounted a|niust To n couvicti ion tina, the event
must he what the event has been. The Ger.
,a1ntY with which lu A,>trinns had been f,rcrd
nnck made us reflect even while we admired.
we had already rccugn sed in thc comparative.
" small affairs "f Mont clriio Pul.slru and
Magenta. the kncll "f that Austrian svst.n,
which Sak ln, ttnr- us as n ymt,-rn to Eu-
:oIc OF "hat highly tlisciI,lined army ouvh,
to be and whirh WINS ntdu""d as nm ,xamr,.
OF new. 'ast ard irres.tihIe a !nrre n great
military monarchy could pr"duce in the fiell
Hhe Adstf"n army. wh"u it arrived on the
'.at*fh t'snk "I h- M'ncm, Refreshing from all
points, gaining the inci,sure Of its Eprtr-sr.s
ana coming within ihc corporation of its re.
serve, ennn,t .r "s,iu'ate.! at less than l5O QUO
fn-n. The Ftr,.ci, Increased hya continuous
stfcn'r "f '-''nforcen"uts rapidly pushed up to
the Aret. was p,"l.ai,ly not inferior in num-
herH In The course "i l.. r.tr.nt and the per
e"''. They had approached encl, other, until the
!"tSntr> hnrin" iasecd the Chiese nnd the
r't'r'"G ioIcc hnri''" psssed the Mincio. only
the !a't"r river separated them. It wns thoaeht
throughout Europe TIM. The tustr,ans had
tit.''r rii''S"n battle ground, and the Continent
tai Huth"rit' ) best taught in the s!raicrins of
the seat %! war had c"nidcntly predicted that
the line -oi the Minciu WAS the anlor,,tcl .uot
"f the d"ci>it" battle. The An+triais. hnw"v.
er win that fatal weakness Of purpose which
s'ems /" actnntc them in r.ii their military
movements. and which cnr>,.s them tn vascl-
late 'etw"en l'rrrip ipi,ancv and ,imi,litv on
in"rs''aE iiiGit rrlrared their Steps, re crossed
the M'ucio i" four enurino,,s divisions doubled
o"cN n.'"' their !'nrsners. and IA the Austrian
account et"'rs. came np"n superior body
ni ths q -nIy a.. the Chsa. II this he true,
nothing coui -: more suicidal in st ra,,,-v that
Nr M !h'vrr.r fore" to cruss a great river in
"'lcr I" scrh ont superior cnciay. and to EN-
gage htn Ti;n that river in the rear This in
equality m i"rc-. however WAS prnhahly only
nhmen'ary, ami t!:is superior farce of the en..-
my. which turned "ut I" hc the main holy Of
the French army. was quickly confront.
c.! l'v The whole fnrre of the Aust rims in Lp!n-
','rhy. with the Emperor Francis Joseph a,
she'r h""d. Tive hattie hogan mt in til. morn.
lnr, hut at 10 o'clock, allowing thus six hours
Tor concentration. the collision of the two en-.
ere armies took rlnce. The left wing seems
I" have commenced the attack and to have nd.
vanced nearly as far a> Cl,icsc. thus. rs the Aus
trinn account rather insinuntes than asserts
forcing hack the French right,
IT. Id claimed, also, that the Austrian right
wing had an car sucres against the Sar.linian.
who were NOV tie CIuunrl Nearest to Brescin
ani i'cS:'iiern. Bnt unfortunately for the AUS
trims. II !,nn;'"" :I hat Will. their two wings
were thus ri"lnrons i!s-ir GEM re was b, ,ok-n
The French Emp. r:r directed hi. .ariy cffnrts
against this pnrt of the -u-rnv's line. and the
Austrlats gently say. THE order "f our centre
could not b" restored" From that moment
the hn,tle seems to lave been lost It was n
matter OF course thai hen th. center was
or"ken. powerful IS should be directed
against the wig whc.. had pressed hardest
upon the French, anl wns still successful
against the i"rce opposed to it..
1t was in ac""ri..;rc with all military cxperi-
enc" that, under this pressure, the loses shoulJ
I've extraordinary heavy. that the main body
should advance, and that the ar.nv whose cen.
tre hal been broken an.i wing. driven back.
should retreat. The retrext began late in the
evening. Ih" Anstrinrs left behind them. in
Killed. wounded nnh prisoners, some 50 Oiiu
men. according +" The first French account.
witch WE mus: of course receive with a GER
tain amount Of margin, aud which the last
statement in the M"niteur undertakes in tn.
item of prisoners: hut We accept it. ful the
moment IN the absence Of any counter state
n""ts "m the Austrian side. They recrnssei
the M,rcio. which they had 81 unacrouutahlv
passed upon this disastrous errand. and Napn
icon Ill. slept in the room which hnd been oc.
cnp"d i'y his brother Emperor on the murning
of the battle.
1t is much too early to attempt criticism mp
"n the tactics which have prod Ac..l ,h,s great
defeat, or t." Speculate upon III. consequences
IT must produce. Some great fac s. however.
there are. which lie upon the surface. and ar.
seen even in tac medium Of ti.-se teIegrarhic
dispatches. The Au-trians have most cnudidly
admitted tE-ir defeat. lIis.ory scarcely re-
cords IL hnHr,in in which disaster wns more
explicitly avoweh. 1t liz said that they Are
prepared t" Resume the c"ntcst on the other
side OF the Mnrio and tn be again defeated
with the same k'"ii'l bravery ard unteaciable
awkwar'iness which they have manifested in
all their previous operations. Among the ma
ny F'ec"- Of good fortune which fall to the
French Emperor, it j, not the l-,a tn have tn
deal with -'I:h an enemy as this-brnve, dis.
cIP!'r'eI and crrditnblu to heat, but go slow Of
counsel and ch,"r:able "f purpose that sim
g,e intelligent '"',:'l commanding and army
OF even only equal courage AMI discipline can
count every battle victory, and every cam
Paign conquest.