The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1859-07-06
The Field of Magenta,

v" 1"'"'""y 'ds'. MY pen Us not ade,
quate TO describe the heartrendng scene
which surrounds me. Trees thrown down
by the dreadful effect Of artillery heaps
OF dead bodies, human limbs scattered
about, carriages broken, farm houses
burnt, crops trampled, vineyards devas
tated, houses pIunGered-such is the de
plorable sight which has met nv ewes
since my arrival in this towu. Town,
however, Magenta is no more. The small
inn whence am now writing these lines
bears marks Of the tremendous struggle,
for it WAS thrice taken and retaken dur
ing the action. No, piece of furniture
is to be found not even chair to 81,
upon. Some OF the details sent you ON
Sunday were not quite correct. The field
guns captured 10y our troops were no,
twenty, uut four. | Was led into an er-
ror by man who shovel me some OH
er guns which were captured at Paleslro
and B"rgo Ne:crl!i.
The battle Of Magenta was not begun
10y our troops, but by the Austrians, who,
although in full retreat towards Pavia.
were ordered to change their front and
attack our advanced guard, which had
crossed the 1icino at Butfaora. One bat
lalIion of the Zouaves and two conpap
les of the same regiment, together with
two regiments Of Grenadiers. all beour
ing TO the Imperial Guard, were sudden.
~ attacked by $4,000 Austrians under
the orders Of General Zphel Our rah
liant allies had three batteries with them
but only two field pieces were brought to
play upon the advancing columns Of the
enemy. fou must not forget that the
| county which lies between this village
and Abblate GraSso is intersected bv
numheress canals, which supply the WA.
ter 10 the rice fields Of the district. All
these fields had been Of course inundated
for agricultural purposes, so the guns Of
our advanced guard could not be placed
except on the main road. which by the
10y, IL very narrow. and by which the
Ausrr'ans were advancing. The right
wing Of the FrerclI advanced guard thus
attacked, WAS formed by the above lien
toned troops. Five other companies Of
Z'uaves OF the Imperial Guard were
marching on the left. This heroic col.
umn, which gnIIantIy disputed the ad.
vance OF Iobel's corps ddrmee for FIVE
long hours, scarcely numbered 4 600
men. The rolling Of muske,r~, ~ poun-
ding of field guns, the crash Of steel
have been told by an actor Of the bloody
/ drama-were deaferiug. The Austriaus
advanced, halted, advanced again, re
celved and returned close and deadly
lire but the bayonet is the queen Of wea
pons-Magenta proved il. The brave
band ot our allies were vainlv clinginp TO
their guns. After two hours Of fearful
struggle three Of them were captured bv
the enemy. II was then that brave. kind
! hearted Gen. Cliar fell dead from his
horse. The colonel Of the lst Zouaves
soon followed. A minute later the lieu
tenant colonel aud twelve officers Of the
same regiment we've no more. The bat
taIlion-if YOU can designate by such a
work the 500 lett-was now fighting for
lie 1t was surrounded by division OF
the enemy-ihere WAS uo help visible
| But Les ZDnaveS eont les Iouaves," SAID
my informant, who has the honor to be.
long to This famous corps. The five com.
! panics on the left, seeing the peril Of their
comrades, rushed with such impetuosrtv
against the enemy's division that the 800
were LETT alone. aud all the force Of Cro-
atIans and Buhemians WAS brought to
bear against the new comerS This last
| hand TO hand fight lasted .wo hours
/ Tie dlSproportion Of numbers was, how
ever, too great-the French were exhaus
ted with tighting-but at las, came the
| help.
About IL o'clock, the reinforcements
appeared on their Ieit-a joyful sight TO
our struggling regiments The three field
guns already captured by the enemy were
soon re'captured At the point Of the bay
onet. ZobeIs corps darmee VAS easily
routed 10y the Imperial legions and ob.
Iiged to retire. The action then became
general and lasted three hours longer, ill
the bold assault Of Mcmahon decided the
victory. The effect of this gallant Gen
erals move VAS that Of cutting the Au,.
TRAN army into two bodies. Threatened
on all sides forced 10 his position me.
naced with being surrounded, Gen. Gyu
liza gave orders TO retreat. Routed as
they were, they now ran peII nell, some
towards Rosate, Vernate and PaVia. Gov
erIng their hasty and disorde'ed retreat
by bodies Of horse, and by tremendous
lire OF artillery, the AustriAns tell back
upon their enlrenched lines IN immense
/ confusion. The battle Of Magenta had
been won. Gen. GyuIis had brought in.
to action 10000 men; he left nearly
10000 Of them wounded and dead on
:he battle field, 1000 were taken prison
rrs, two flags, 1000 knapsacks, 10000
nuskets, and four guns have fallen into
our bands. Besides these difficulties,
GyuIia knows that Marshal Bsrsguay
d'HliIers il marching fast towards the
Adda, and that be may succeed in inter
cepting the main road, which from Cod
| ogno leads to Cremono.
After the battle Of Magenta had been
won, Victor Emanuel slept on the field,
and hext morning received the deputstion
] Of gha snan cnnn.H ,F h,ian "a hi.h a.. ,,n q,