The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-08-02
air Of Ahanish cabsrlero and xaschss sNsy, Rosaj
men salutirg him with Chassepot compliments.
TITS wARS


rs THIS WAR;
Is there another country calling itself civilized
where the first rudmeDts OF the art OF war are ess
known or more cOntemnedf
Aware Of their presence on his nanks In his 'front.'
and rear Nouvilas permits these weak wasps,
these cowardly gueras to modest him, as though
they were privileged, though he has the power 70
crush them he meets them. For any child must
know that were 200 Carlists posted on height ~
high az the sky q force OF 100 regular soldiers
with artillery, could dislodge them without much
loss This Is one grave fault you win aunt IN .
Spanish Genera-in-ChieE
We now come to another fault In the General-tn-
Chief as well as In the military authorities, and
shall illustrate this. as illustrated the other, Tor
better understanding Of che subject.
Surprising that somewhere In the ROCKY Noun
tains 5000 men marched hither and thither, in
arms against the general government Of the UNI
ted States, and that i've columns OF L. 100 men each.
under i've separate chiefs, acting under the dtrec-
ton of Sherman as General-in- Ohis1 were sent In
pursuit; supposlng that BY long training the
rebel army Of 5000 strong was able to march almost
double the distance that the government columns
were capable Of and shat one day the rebels made
their appearance on the eastern side OF the Rocky
Mountains. and ON the next day on the other side.
would you deem It wisdom on the part of Sherman
to have his columns 30 small so few in numbersi u
1t wise send an attacking column OF only 170O men
against 5000 men, equally armed and strongly
posted on an almost imprcgnabe heghtf Is 1t rea-
s0nable to expect that when 5000 well armed men
are, say, posted tho summit OF one OF the LOFTY
peaks Of Colorado, that 1,700 men can storm
that height and take IT. Such things may have
been done; but is 1t reasonable to expect that Is
may DO done always Is 1t not more likely when
the column, urged on by impatient onhcers, has
cltp nod tha cknan 4 a h
lessly upward, that the 5000 well armed, wet
breathed men should dash down the slopes and.
with one rush, sweep the entire column to destruc
tlonP >
or the silly. absurd error Of supposing that 1700
Spanish soldiers can take any height defended by
5000 Cerlists General Eouyilss is guilty. apd the
military authorities and people Of Madrid are W6n-
derng how 1t is possible that the Carlsts are stB
untaken. presume that they will never know
the true cause until they read this letter and per
NIT themselves to be informed candldiy, and with
the best Intentions that LOO men, even though
they be brave loyal Spanish soldiers, are not pow
erful enough to drive 5000 Carists from height.
and that 1t wisdom to increase the force OF an
attacking column nom l. TOO men to $500 men.
In my last letter described to you the battle OF
Ydavi or Ychaso. The Carlists, 5000 strong after
having attempted to pass by position defended
by Portilla and his 1,700 men, and getting thor
oughly whipped, losing nearly 400 effective men,,
were reinforced by Lissaraga's and Radika'9
bands then, after making fent in the direction Of
Penacerrada and eluding the column Of Nouvilas,
they struck across sierra Andia, the Barranca and
Sierra Urbasa and came to Lecumberri Castahou
and his column OF 1.7Oo men gaining, news Of his
ubiquitous adversary, CALAMITY pursued. The Car
lists, knowing Castanons zeal and ardor, coolIy
chose their ground on q high wooded terraces
which was separated from lower but
denuded terrace by nullah or gully
a hundred feet or so Deep which ran from one
mountain to the other, with deep bend In the shape
of horseshoe On the outer side Of this horseshoe,
favored by woods and brush, lay the 5000 Carstss
commanded by Elio cool and confident. Three
Carlist battaions were pushed from under cover tn
decoy Castafcn who no sooner saw them than hoa
dashed at them, covering that fatal, naked terrace
with his brave troops. The sequel I have already
given you. The two ends OF the horseshoe endeav-
ored to close in and the centre Of the Carls line.
over-confident and bold broke cover dashed down
the gully ana across, and came up breasting the
slope Of the terrace at charge bayonet, under the,
noses Of the astonished troops. Had the Carliste
been more skilfu, less confident, more patient,
less bold, Castahon's column had surely
been annhilated. AS 1t was, however, tho.
two ends Of the horseshoe line we're
not permitted to unto in the rear OF
fed panc-stricken from the reld and It's AlfonsisI
officers having hurried away without permission,
orders to alarm the other columns and the,
country at large, it behooved Castahon to seek his
safety by
A TIMELY RETREAT
to the village Of Ychaso from the friendly shelter,
OF which he saw the discounted Carlsts steal away
to escape the vengeance Of rapidly advancing
Nouvilas.
told supposing he had had $500 men instead OF
/, 1901 How different the results He would have
been victorious; he would have driven the enemy
from his position he would have chased Eio from
Ychaso to Lecumberr and have scattered tho
Carlists like chat before strong wind. That q
calamity was spared the Republic by an accidene
may be correctly inferred by your readers; but how
often may this occur, how often can fate and kind
fortune summon such happy accidents to save the
Republic from calamity and disgrace
Another grIevous fault must be laid to General
Nouvilas; although confess 1t is looked at BY mo
from journalistic stand point vet military critics.
will agree with me that 1t may be regarded as q
serious fault from military view WELL
informed you in my last letter that Nouviaar
column together with Elias Rey's column arrived
at Lecumberri the day after the battle with
Casta6on. BY noon Of the next day there was not
soldier In the three columns NOuvilas, Castaf0n
and Elias Rey but knew the truth concerning the
battle. We all had seen the battle field, had
counted the dead on both sides, had reckoned the
wounded, informed ourselves OF the number OF
prisoners taken by the Carlists: all this withoue
official aid.
We all knew that what had taken place might
truthfuly be set down as
VICTORY TO THE GOVERNMENT.
Iappend In tabular form perhaps what you may
consider as interesting
Government. Carlisle.
Wounded .................... 70 ON
Prisoners ~
Total. .142 100