LATE MAIL NEWS.

West Coast Times, Issue 316, 27 September 1866, Page 1 (Supplement)

LATE MAIL NEWS.

(Unpublished telegrams from the European correspondents of Messrs Greville and Company.) ' A mail has reached England with news to the 19 th July, from which the following items are given : — New Yokk, July 19. . Notwithstau/liug the veto of President Johnson, - the bill in reference to

the bureau for the enfranchised negroes, known as the Freedman's Buteau Bill, n had been adopted- on the 18th by both .the Chambers. ' ,

President Johnson had signed the bill fixing the internal revenue duties. The measure was to come into operation in September.' The export duty on cotton is definitely fixed at three cents per lb. ' , - 'Stephens, the head centre of the Fenians, has been arrested fbr debt* London, July 27. No further disturbance's have taken

place in London; the agitation, is a'p-, *> peased. It has been determined that no meeting in Hyde Park will take njace on Monday. In tlie House of Connmns, in answer to a question, Lord Staflley stated that the Grand Duke of Baden had undertaken to arrange the conditions of an armistice between the Prussians and the army, of the German Confederation. - .

Lord Naas (Irish Secretary) stated in his place in Parliament that the Government regretted much the necessity they were under to ask Parliament to' prolong the suspension of the Habeas' Corpus Act in Ireland. *• Berlin, July 26, Evening. The " Gazette " of Northern Germany< notices the pacific tenor of the Vienna papers, and adds that the Emperor is surrounded by only a small coterie, of which Mr Beust js the soul ; and that this coterie- seems s to prevent the Emperor from giving his consent to the preliminaries of peace. However, the efforts of the coterie will most probably prove unsuccessful. The" Spener Gazette," of Berlin, ha's been informed, upon the best authority, that most of the minor German Sovereigns who have been deposed by Prussia are now at Vienna, with the view of

forming' a congress, h.ivmg for its principal object the protection of their several interests. It is stated from Frankfort that the Commandant Roder and the Civil Commissary De Diest have published, under date 26th July, a notification that the Senate, the citizens' Representative Council, and the Legislative Body are dissolved. The> ex-senators are to continue to administer the affairs of the city, as communal authority, under the direction of Prussian administration. They will have to obey the latter, and . not do anything contrary to. the interest of Prussia. All the, municipal and police authorities are subjected to the same control. General Roder undertakes the administration of the city of Frankfort, Mr De Diest having been called away to administer another district. * ' Vienna. July 25. The Commander of the Tyrol writes as follows •— " To-day~ the enemy have -attacked our right wing with superior, forces. A most severe and desperate engagement ensued near Vaborda. _The enemy were put to flight, and had to abandon the field and beat a hasty retreat towards Vigolo, after losing one df their colors, fifty prisoners, eighty men killed, and a great number wounded. In consequence of this engagement, the right wing wns compelled to take her" position towards Peygine. To avoid uselessly shedding blood, Lieutenant- „ General Medice sent in a notification of the suspension of hostilities." . Brescia. July 25. n > The day before yesterday the volunteers advanced towards Lombard o. They took possession of Comego. and ' the - port of Chiese,' without resistance. ■ y , On the same day an engagement, the result of which is as yet unknown, took place near Barmio, between a body of national, guards, under the orders of Sinciardi, and some Austrian troops. Florence, July 26. All the official correspondence which lias come to hand from Garibaldi formally contradicts the Austrian despatch announcing an alleged victory on the , 21st by the Austrians, near Ledro, in the valley of Giudicaria. In his despatches, Garibaldi asserts that he has gained a complete victory. Our losses amount to about 300 men. The Garibaldians are pursuing the Austrians. Letters from Vienna state positively A that the Austrians are despoiling the archives and public- libraries" Berlin, July 27. A despatch from Munich states that Herr von der Pfordten persists in his programme^ and. declares that Bavaria will not enter into any confederation, of which only 1 one great power shall be - part. » - Munich, July 27. An engagement has taken place near Wurtzburg. It ended in the defeat of - the Bavarians, who sustained great losses, especially in officers. The head- ,- , quarters of -the Bavarian army were at that date at Rottendorf. . Malta, July 30. ■ In consequence of the existence of cholera in England, vessels from* English ports are to be subjected $o a quar- . antine of fifteen days.

the! battle of sadowa.

(PROM THE TIMES, JULY 11.) , Sadowa was another .Waterloo in its strategy, if not' in its influence upon the fate of an empire. The invading army of Bohemia strcched far and wide over ' a slightly undulating country, and jrom. the centre of its line a high road led directly to the head-quarters of the enemy. Along the load Prince Frederick Charles advanced with his main army, while ' auxiliary forces to thi> right and left attempted to ttfrn the" Austrian flanks. Sadowa was his Hougoumont. The brunt of the battle fell upon those who attempted on the one side to take and on the other to keep this position. This peaceful, little village on 'the river Bistritz was eight days since the scene of an 'encounter which, for minglecl fierceness and duration,' cannot be matched by any battle $inee the pnd of the great war. On that Tuesday morning, July, 3, its wooden cottages stood among orchards thick with the fruit of summer, apparently in perfect security. Before night came the cottages were mere charred wood and dying embers, the orchard trees' were flayed and scarred and broken, and the Bistritz itself ran a discolored stream, bearing its tale to. those who could not see the ruins of Sadowa. The Bistritz at Sadowa runs from about N.N.E. to S.S.W.', and nearly parallel on its east side in the course of the Upper Elbe between. Josephstadt and Koniggratz. On the morning of the 3rd Prince Frederick Charles was at Milowitz, on the right bank of the Bistritz, and little more than six miles from Sadowa. At Neubidschau, ten 'miles on the night, was General von

Bittenfeld, with the Eighth Division, and about the sameHistancaon the, left, stretching from Miletin, on the Bistritz, further tq^ the east, on its left bank, was the Crown -Prin.ee, with the' army of Silesia. Between- these extreme wings lay the Prussian forces." parallel to the Bistritzj 250,000 strong, under the immediate control £>f the Prussian King. The Austrian fqree was 'believed by the Prussians to be nearly equal to their own, andfthoi^gh it was known to be strongly posted along the left bank of the Bistritz, Prince Frederick Charles determined on taking the high road which leads from Milowitz across the stream at Sadowa towards Koniggratz, so as to fall upon its centre, orders being sent to the Crown Prince and General von Bittenfeld to attempt to turn the enemy. Five miles brought the main army a little after o'clock to Dub, whence the road descends for a mile and a quai'ter to the bridge of Sadowa. It was from the crest of the hill at Dub that our cor-

respondent with the Prussian army looked jlownyon that Tuesday morning upon what was to be before's unset the scene of a most sanguinary "conflict. At Sadowa, on his right, a mile further clown the stream, was Dohilnitz, and still a mile beyond, Mokrowens, and between the two, but standing back from the' stream, the scfyloss of Dohalicha: on his left, some two miles up the river, was the village of Benatek. Jill along tht! opposite bank were thick Svoods covering the side of the valley, and on the crest, a mile and a half above Sadowa,. stood the church spire of Lipa, close beside which lies Chlurn, or Klum. The Austrian forces were pasted along the left .bank, under cover of, the woods, and it is evident that as" long' as they could keep such a position they were able to neutralise in a great measure the terrible advantage of the needle gun. The. firing began at about halfpast seven o'clock, but about a quarter before eight the Prussians had brought up their field batteries, and the struggle commenced. The Austrian guns seemed to appear, says our correspondent, as if by magic, on every point of their position. From every village along the course of the stream, from Benatek down to Mokrowens, came flashes of fire and whizzing shells among the Prussian artillery, dismounting guns, killing men and horses, and splintering carriages in all directions. .Shells were even thrown up the slope towards Dub, one of ,vhich bursting among a squadron of "Uhlans killed four men close beside the King. For two hours the cannonade continued with terrible vigor on each side, the Austrian artillery officers' not only having the better position, but also knowing theii ground : .but towards ten the Austrian batteries on the Prussian right, at Dohilnitz, Doh.ali.cha, and Mokrowens, were forced to r,etire a little up the hill, and it was resolved to carry the village alotog' the stream. Benatek, meanwhile, caught fire on the left, the Prussian Seventh Division made a dash upon it, and after desperate hand-tp-hand fighting in the midst of the flames secured the -position. A simultaneous attack was made on Sadowa, Dohilnitz, and Mokrowens, and the slaughter on' both sides was for an hour tremendous ; the Prussians were, able to fire more quickly, but* they were obliged to fire pretty much at random, while the Austrian Jag-ers did terrible execution 13 on their assailants.. The Prussians almost paved their way with dead ruid wounded, and when to help their infantry they turned their artillery on to the villages, and Mokrowens and Dohilnitz both caught fire, still the Austrians did not*yield. Our correspondent with the Austrian army, from his.stationtower _ at Koniggratz, saw the villages burst into flame one after another, but the unbroken line of the Austrian forces maintaining its ground in the centre, and apparently advancing on its left, still gave promise of victory to their arms. At length, about eleven, the Prussians having secured the villages ou the river, attempted to seize the opposite slopes, and it was. then the 27 th

Regiment entered the woods above Benatek, 3000 strong, with ninety officers, to come out of them with only 300 or 400 rank and file and two pflicers vilive and un wounded. The Prussian x ar tiller y was to the far side of the Bistritz, and began to play upon the new position which tlie Austrians had taken up on the slope, but for nearly four hours they failed- to pr k!iu'i> an impression. The Austrian aH/Uery made fatal practice, the needle-gun did not tell, and repeated charges of infantry served to carry forwards the front a few hundred yards up the slope, only to be repelled again. « The position was most critical. The, Prussian right wing had been advancing at an early period of the morning against Nechanitz, but it had since become stationary,' and the observers from the . Koniggratz watch, tower distinctly saw the, Saxons, who formed the left, repulsing their assailants. , Prince Frederick Charles, in command of the centre, was, like Napoleon at Waterloo, earnestly praying that the Crown Prince — his Grouchy — might appear, to turn the enemy's right, The result of the battle was so doubtful that the cavalry was formed to cover a retreat' should it be found necessary, and General von, j Rhetz was sent off to look after the army of Silesia. At three he returned, with the welcome intelligence that $he Crown Prince was pressing the Austrian right ; at half-past three the columns of the Crown Prince » were seen moving along the crest over Benatek against' Lipa, and at the same hour" it became evident to the' Austrian commanders "and to the Koniggratz observers tha£ the battle was lost; , It was, in "fact, a question whether the army of Silesia might not cut . off the Austrian forces from their base, and prevent the retreat to Koniggratz and thence to Pardubitz. Our correspondents" with the Austrian' army appear, indeed, to think that the battle might yet have been saved. The Austrian cavalry — perhaps the finest in the world — had scarcely been engaged, and had a Murat been present to have* led' it against the advancing columns of the Crown Prince, the battle might have been won. The opportunity, if it existed, was lost ; the whole army fell back along the high road to Koniggratz, and the struggle into that citadel across the pontoon bridges which had been thrown over the Elbe, was to some extent a reproduction ©f the horrors of the retreat from Leipsic.

What effect a rout so complete may have upon the Austrian empire we do not here discuss. The military lessons of the battle are sufficient for our consideration at present, and a little reflection will show that the battle of Sadowa did not 1 disprove the supremacy attributed to the needle-gun. In that part of the field where the 'advantage of the 1 needle gun was neutralised by the disposition of the Austrian forces among the woods on the left bank of the Bistritz, the result was doubtful, if, indeed, the victory did not lie, with the Austrians. The fate of the contest was determined by the arrival of the Silesian army, 4 moving in comparatively open country ; and it seems but reasonable to attribute the facility with- which the Crown Prince turned the Austrian right to the possession of the weapon which had before proved so potent. The defect of strategy for which General Benedek is blamed, in not having covered Lipa and Chlum, was probably rather a defect of means. The army of Silesia was a new force coming into the field, and as the Prussians were estimated in their own camp at 250,000, while the Austrian forces, excluding the baggageguard at Koniggratz, ore estimated "at 190,000, it is evident that General Benedek was, independently of the disadvantage in small arms, in imminent danger of being overpowered. The Austrian artillery,' on the other hand, is confessed to have been exceedingly effective, and to haveMone great execution. The success of the Austrians ou the banks of the Bistritz is another proof of their bad strategy in not resisting the Prussian armies in the passes from. Saxony and Silesia, for the disaster which' has since folio ,ved disaster, shows that it was .only where natural advantages countervailed the advantage of a breech-loading rifle that any equality of force between the combatants was "possible.