, 1866-07-25

snnE4sus Ut LIE tAouSnt inAL the days battle
q would have to be fought over again before
u they could reach the pleasant plains and reap
70 the benefits held out to their imagination il
benedek's proclamation Issued but few daYs
g ago. The night was chilly aud bivouac llIei
u lined the sides of the road at intervals.
IS Had 1t been an advance instead OF retreat
a We might have enjoyed the picturesque scene.
. Round fires Of fir wood, flaming high above
!. Their heads, stood or sat the brave fellows
who had labored 20 hard and fought SO gal
= themselves by the blaze which lighted up
their bronzed faces to Us red glow as that OF
= the pine stems that lowered over them ;
c others sat resting wounded urn or leg on
5 the bed Of branches plucked for them by their
t more fortunate comrades Others, again, lay
5 about in every attitude Of exhaustion.
, zluw The Greatest Battle of Modern
: I1mea ysnb Vun-
: From the London 4 tmes. JuIY 10tb.1
; The details Of a great battle like that Of
honiggratz or sadown are not quickly learned.
Few have an opportunity ol seeing the gen
e1a1 plan Of attack and defence, and Still
q hwer can understand it. In the magnitude Of
+ tante Of the Interests at stake the late battle
Z nas sodom been surpassed. Nearly quarter
! ~ ~ lon OF men were atrayed on either
Z siue tne. extended over great e1pausa of
ene1S.sed al11',st independent colunands. As
century about fBpss hsye disputed for ns
Waterloo it may be thai n Ills " battie, y, Which @
. in magnitude equals Leipsic a,.s 1ar snrpasses ,
t WaterDo, will tor many q ,ear be the subisct
ofconioversy. But ". are happy in having
at W tG seat q war correspondent who is well
quAlaed to form judSn Sneut on such onera.
! tlas, aud who has produced desc,Intion
+ | .nien, considering the circumstances nnIer
< sllch It was written, IL marvel Of accurate
. observation. It Is not too much to say that we
A learn from his letter more than was known ~
The action by the great majority Of those
VINO look part In It. The public Is, indeed. |
wei! served BY those who narrate these won.
aerinl events Of waT almost before the smoke |
learn so speedily and with such comparative
| accuracy, the general plan OF an engagement, |
! that We are apt to forget how recent these |
adyantases hsVe been, and to understand the |
assistance - Wh1ea the narrative Of q competent |
| Inc very day OF battle, gives, not only to his /
! contemporaries, hut to future historians. The
s1andiathers Of the present generation were |
teII uiheIensly titnated with respect to the
the present century. When Napoleon crushed
the two Empezors at Auste1litz or broke the
power Of Prussia at Jena, there was no such !
clear conception Of what had been done. 4
selerence zee TO The psesa OF the period will con-
firm what most Of rs have heard from our
elders concerning the suspense which prevailed
during the great campaigns A de-
cls1Ve victory was seldom announced
a. - such; ,:l, r.. end accented by al the
people know the number of men engaged. the
ntsposltlons Of the Generals, the conduct Of
the soldlers, and the various details Of the
action. News came struggling homevard
t1aa tdaI a1e campaign was going against the Aus
had 1t that Bonaparte had won anothcr VIC
tory, and that an armfstfce, mud then peace, |
was likely to be the result. But somebody
eo9t-adicted this, tho public was warned not
q PRIOR how impossible 1t YVES that the com :
binat1ons Of the Allies should have failed. | :
At last, after week or ten days' suspense. : :
the worst Intelligence was fully confirmed; !
the matter more Trustworthy than Napoleon's :
bulletins and scraps OF letters from officers
or eoldters which might ind their wny into ! . .
the French pape!a, and then, after a time,
scauent victories of the Allies were very in
adequately understood for q long time. The ,
campign Of 1918 was only known as series OF :
tremend dous battles In and about saxonY, in n
%eSe At
powered ct Leipsic, and compelled to fall !,
back On the Rhine. The telegraph and lie
military correspondent have changed ali this. y
We probably know more Of the battle Of
than the British public knew Of the battle Of :.
Leipsic three months attcrwRZd. The forces :,
engaged, the commanders, the stations OF the
at1teseat s9tps the nature Of the ground, the
o. lne aitaek and the resistance 1t
pondeut with an e1actness which assures us
that We hare the man incidents ofthc battle, r.
Au that he saw he tells. and his military Il
kInoWleuSe enables him to form a correct Al
Judgment OF the operations which were be- -
5ond his own survey. -
And what battle It was as here described y
within q few hours atfcr the Austrla1s Ind - -
Deen swept IRON the field, and while the h,
egionsl There has been nothing like II il os =;
1ar tHne, ana only once In the great war OF =,
ne, ne ftehca Empire has there been such i u
:ontens ano eaen = carnage. The whole \,
n u1s1an tsat aaa AUSTRIAN armies we're engaged
" that thesc t~o military Nonarchie5, fresh NJ
: ron n tae Eepose Of long peace, could place :;
= aue AEia was tnere. Inc delay Of Benedek A.
iaa enabled the two main armies OF the Prus- -
t9s, a19 eaen ore OF them national host In It. in
ell, to combine, and as their Losses had not ~ -.
,onn9ntea ,..t, tne enemy 2U,0O strong. The
lastfAhs ere supposed to have had an equal tb
omoer. q survey Of the deld or battle I til
rnl,na I'm gooa NAP map Will show the extent @ co
souuu over which these immense levin AZ.
! men we're spread. It l., inr a.
sed, wonderful that such extensive m NJ,
pesations should have been begun and on
30 3o0 men ana saT'e M Day. WHERE b. ~ nearly
ut The Irresistible onset Of The Prnssians, S. S.
ID the akiu OF their Generals, decided the oss
attic IN single long summarss day, Tho ".
arTatiye Of Its Incidents given BY our cores ~
ondent does Justice to the obstinacy and ~ "
ourage Of the Austrians, but raises higher ~. ~.
ur estimate Of their opponents. It Is eyi- W W
ent that the Austrfans were very strongly -,
osted, and that 1t was work Of daring sud | ~
adurance to dislodge them. Only Generals o7a
aytng complete confidence In themselves and
lelr froops would have Yentured on such an
1terpIise- Gen. Benedek could hare little
ope OF achlevlnE the objects OF the war by Pr
KING up bis "partly entfenched positlon.h =
le Austri.ns could not By holding their
'ouod n Bohemin either deliver Hanover =
10 Inc Duchtes or make those conquest. OF
fusslan territory which were to enrble them
cede Penetia with grace. But II their de-
sn mad been merely 10 protect their own RlI
rrltoty, they, perhaps, could not have done and
tteF- They had position we'll protected by yes
ops aaa WOOD, and they made q good use Of | MIL
Their artillery appears to have been ex- job
llent. Ihey moved down the advancing ing
.u3ssians, mfllcting on them terrible losses. rou
bile they themselves were almost unlnfared. exc
ON our correspondents account We must
dge the Prussians did not win the daY mere are
,rop, ~ tne possession Of superior arm. WEI we,
etIe 1nn ;Enva tksns ~ tusa augauce rne the
,stria1s ware profrcten 10 th ,,.t,r AaS ~ abo
clr position, and musketry fire was useless cort
ainst them. The capture of the Wood y
owe Sadowa was accomplished by doll
u hard fighting, The Austr}an5
lulu not retire, but waited L