Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1859-06-08
THE WAR IN ITALY.
Particulars of the Battle of Monticello.
FRENCH ACCOUNTS

A
WRENCH ACCOUNTS
The Turin correspondent Of the Deba,s, writing
OIL the 2lst Of May, at In the afternoon, says
Yesterday, while the band was playing in the
public square at Alessandra and the sun shining
brig htly, a division Of 5000 Austrians some
leagues Oh, before Noghera, made an attack on
Casteggio and Montebello. y
\ This position was held by the Sandman cavalry
| regiment of Montferrat, belonging TO the division
of Lieut. General Sonhaz- Marshal Paraguay
d'Hilliers being apprised Of the fact gave orders
! for Forey's division to move up the front The
| movement OF these soldiers called TO mind the
| way they advanced at lnkermann and Traktr
| Being rFsolutely confronted, the Austrians sus-
| tanned the charge braveiy, but the bayonet over
| came their resistance. Repulscd with enormous
| loss after six hours fighting, they abandon,
Montebello and 2OO prisoners, one Of whom is
| colonel.
This first serious affair gives In some sort type
of what the war will be. The victory will reuiain
| with us. as il has done but many brave fellows
| will pay for ii with tLeir lives The list of our
| losses will tell you how hot the affair was aud
| how the ground was disputed; 5tp men Were left
dead upon the spot or wounded; lying near, I ,2,O
| or ,5Hm Austrians. Tue Sandman cavalry TO sue
| cor whom We hurried up, lost their colonel Mo
| relli, who was mOrtally wounded. A French gen
eral, Beuret signaized by his death this first of
| series Of victories; and CommaBdant Duchet fell
| by his side, never to rise again. Among the
| wounded we have live oficers-Colonels de Les
| part, de BellefOnds, COnscil Dumesnil, Command
| ers Lacretelle and de Ferussac The Montferrat
cavalry regiment that held the positions attac ked
| by the Austrans, was not more than 6l1 strong
These brave soldiers gave time for Forcy's divis-
Ion to come up, When 5000 Frrnchmen fell upon
| l5.UO Aust tans. The combat WAS terrible. the
hand to hand fS htng furious; at last the Austrans
were fain 10 give way abandoning MontebelIo
| But the heights OF Castrggio are still in their
hands, the haines seen yesterday in that direction
| lead us to suppose that The town is on fire
| IL Is TO the presence of the Emperor Francis
Joseph, respecting which there can be no longer a
| doubt that We owe, IS have said before this
offensive movement The Emperor of Austria is
| accompanied by the General Baron Won Hess, tn :
best military mind in the empire.
On learning that the hei 9htS of Casteggio which
overlook and command the two roads to Pacenza
| and Pavia, Were not occupied, Redetski's old
companion in arms declared that they must bc
seized at any price. The master hand is at work,
| anu II Is no longer Count Gyulai that commands.
The following account is given by the CORE
| spondent of the Steele:
| The army corps of 10 900 Austrians had advanced
| from Stradella, a small town on the edge of the
| Piedmontese frontier, and had proceeded towards
| CasteggiO and MOntebello. which Were held by
Sandman cavalry. CasteggiO is town Of 3.LGO
| Inhabitants near the mountain brook COppa. which
runs into the Po This town is close 10 ontebello
where, on the 9th Of June, Is,O, few days before
| the battle OF MarengO, an engagement had taken
| place and the AuStrtans being defeated by Lannes
| and Victor. The Sandman cavalry, commanded
| 10y the dashing Colonel DE SonnaZ sustained Wig
| OrOusly the encounter OF the enemy. But as the
| number of the Austrians continued increasing il
received orders to beat retreat and so it retired
| in good order, dsputing every inch of ground, so
IS 10 give time TO the french, who had just been
| apprised, TO come up.
Marshal paraguay dIiilliers stationed at Vog-
| hera, on hearing the booming of the guns ordered
| Forey,s division to march instantly to Casteggio
and Montebello, both of which had been seized
| by the Austrians There desperate combat was
| fought out, which lasted six hours The enemy
had the superiority OF numbers, 5000 against
1900; but our soldiers had their side their own
| impetuosity and the remembrance of MontebellO
The artillery played on both sides for five hours;
the officers wishing to moderate the ardor Of our
| troops had ordered them to make use Of their
| muskets and fire from their ranks At the last
| moment our regiments dashed forward with ter
rble impetuosity, charged with the bayonet over
threw the enemy, and entered MonteDello i'm tr-
| umph.
| ENGLISH ACCOUNT.
| correspondent Of the London News writes as
| follows:
| The battle Of Montebello scarcely admits of de-
| ScHphon IL was series OF dreadful deeds OF
| daring hand to hand fights, of san0uinary encoun-
ters OF desperate charges and assaults. The shells
and bullets of the Austrians burst so among
our troops that our centre, already engaged, was
| obliged To fall back on the right OF our lines,
| retiring from MoGtrbello, protected by ravine
| filled with brushwood which descended towards
| the main road OF Vo"hera
| AS General Beuret led on his men to sunnort orr
centre. il was observed that A body OF the enemy
| had gained the top of hiliy ground behind the
| French division on our right. deadly volley
| WIS poured into them, and. protected by the IRE
| both Pir,lmontcsc and French came ont from ,h,
| ravlne and went boldly 10 meet the enemy. The
effect Of the new French guns, carrying their bul
| lets tn 4 distance OF more than two English miles
WIS SO great that the centre of the AIiStriams was
soon Obliged to fall back on IFS reserve and Monte
| brllo was again occupied 10y orr men. By this
time the third and fourth briYa,rs Of rn F6r..y
division had rcaC he'd tue scene of the "tion This
distlnguishc officer had left in support Of small
| blnd OF the national guard-who by the bye
| fought bravcly-Ls first brigade, sendin" an or
| drrly officer Of his staff to Marshal paraguay
| al hilllCrs, asking support il need he.
| Having thus given his orders lac came on with
| lis IoGaVts at the IGS ne charge. One battalion
| OF Cttsscurs diOrlans rushed nv, the lie ut of
| battle on their faces y 1t was accompaniCd by
two battions Of the line comma nded by Duc hFf
ana Lac reieile. The shock WAS terrible; I.acre-
tyllt fell dead from his horse, Major DucIef fell
dead after him; our men still advanced u la bayp-
| "Su.. An Austrian Colonel and 1tD Croats were
made pr soncrs. Assaulted In front 10y the Frencb:
| broken 10y the impetuuSity OF the charge Il tic
Sdrdlnian MonicTrata light hOrseInen led I,v the
| brave Col. Morcli; attacked oil the rigl,t by tide
second brigade, and by our artillery all along the
line, the Austrians began Ia retire after strIgy
| OF six hours. At o'clock D. m, they W, re- dTiy-
| rn peil nell down the hills towards StradcIla ON
| one side, and towards CasatiSnIa on the other
| leaving mounds Of dead behind them
| We had won the day The Austrians were.
| therefore unable to force our positions. though
ihey Were l1ol strong, with a powerful artillery.
| thus outnumUering us bV & 900 men Forev-s al
| vision numbered scarcely 100 lighting men and
| was supported by 90 Sandman horses You must
| not forget that this brave cavalry led by vounT
ColOhel DE SonfZ, sustained for hour the first
| shock Of the enemy, thus giving time to the
| French to come up.
The last charge made by the Sardinians was
fatal to Col. Morelli, who fell MORALLY wounded
from his horse Besides this loss we have to de-
piore '}D dead and BOO wounded. Amongst the
last the names OF Co.'s Grot les Barre De Belle
fonds, DusIneuil, and Major Fernssai, all French
superior officers are to be noticed
Gen. Forey and the Sandman cavalry colonel
DE SOnnaz. behaved nobly. The village OF Mon
teDello WIS taken and retaken thrice during the
action. ! make no pretensOn whatever to send
you correct description of the battle. AS have
already said. this brilliant exploit admits Of no
description; 1t Is only a sketch that present TO
your readers.
The Second Battle.
The Sandman Government had issued the fol-
lowing bulletins In regard TO Il second battle:
TURIN, May 2l.-TO-dav the extreme left of our
army, under Gen CiaidnI, forced passage over
the Sesa, near Verielli, in an admirable manner
The enemy was put 70 flight, leaving officers and
privates as prisoners, together with arms wagons
and horses in hands.
TURIN, May 22.-GeuPral Cialdini, WISHING 10
take Possession of the end of the bridge Of Vercila