Yesterday’s news of Magyar victories* has been followed today by
an Austrian assurance of victory. The Osterreichischer Correspondent
reports from Olmitz:

“The following telegraphic dispatch has just reached Olmütz: Field Marshal

Prince Windischgratz defeated the insurgents at Kapolna on February 26 and 27. The
enemy fled in two directions. An entire battalion was taken prisoner.”

The commentary to this report may be found in the following
lines, which have also been corroborated from other quarters:
“In Vienna the news of the imperial victory was known on March 2 only as a

stock exchange rumour: the letters which arrived by the post from Pest on that day were not
released.”

It can be seen that the news of the imperial victory bears all the
marks of a Windischgratz triumph: the letters which are supposed to
confirm it are withheld by the post-office in Vienna. This is the first time
that the Vienna Government has had to resort to such methods. The
victory must have been a brilliant one indeed!

Still no news from Transylvania about the battle on the 15th
between Bem and Puchner. The latest reports stop at the 14th but
indicate that a Magyar victory is likely the following day. An issue of
the Lithographierte Correspondenz from Vienna writes:

“At last we again have received letters direct from Hermannstadt up to the 14th,
they are however anything but reassuring.

‘“‘Lieutenant-Field Marshal Puchner is evidently still not strong enough to take the
offensive against the fanatical bands of the Szeklers? and the hordes of Bem. There

seems to be some reluctance, for political reasons, to employ Russian aid to the extent
that the sorry state of the Grand Duchy demands. The commercial letters from

Hermannstadt and Kronstadt sound very miserable. From Temesvar it was reported
to Hermannstadt that the Serbs have refused to come to the aid of Transylvania.This is also
evident from the irresolute movements of generals Rukavina, Glaser and To-
dorovich.”

The Austrians have suffered a fresh defeat at the hands of
Kossuth, not on the battlefield but at the shopkeepers’ counters and
the portable stands of the Jewish pedlars. Kossuth saw that the
imperial authorities were compelled to redeem his one- and two-
gulden notes and immediately arranged the production of 15- and
30-kreutzer notes.’° Windischgratz, outraged at this high treason
against the royal imperial exchequer, has now issued the following
proclamation?:

“The rebels, who have fled to Debreczin, tireless in confusing even further the
already severely disrupted conditions of the country, have, in addition to the bank-
notes already issued without right or authority, produced 30- and 15-kreutzer notes
which are already beginning to circulate. These notes are mainly coming into the
hands of the poorer classes of artisans and country people who, almost entirely lacking
a livelihood, are already hard-pressed, and should be particularly preserved from
harm. For the time being, therefore, and until an order is issued concerning the
Hungarian banknotes as well, I declare these completely illegal notes for 30 and 15
kreutzers null and void, and prohibit their acceptance both at public cash-offices
and in private exchange.”

As if Herr Windischgratz could prevent the circulation of the
Magyar banknotes as long as Austria is unable to issue any ready
money and especially small coins!

According to Austrian reports, Gorgey, whom the Constitutionelles
Blatt aus Béhmen calls a man “with no talent for generalship” (!!),° is
said to have resigned the command. We need not point out how
absurd such rumours are. In the meantime we present the following
report from the Austrian Lloyd on the latest operations of this skilful
partisan in the Zips‘:

“Until the 18th of last month Lieutenant-Field Marshal Ramberg, who com-
manded the two brigades of royal imperial troops under General Gétz and Prince
Jablonowsky in the Zips areas, was continuously engaged in skirmishes with Gorgey’s
insurgent forces. [...] For Gérgey had sent his baggage trains with a small escort from
Kaschau, an area from which royal imperial troops had withdrawn, to the Theiss in
the direction of Debreczin, and in order to protect this transport he used all his forces
to halt the troops pursuing him, and therefore retained scarcely two squadrons
of hussars in Kaschau. After his rearguard had been forced back from Wallendorf

to Margitfalva—when the royal imperial fusiliers captured five cannon (!)—he
concentrated his main strength on this road, which, forming a narrow defile in the
valley of the River Hernad, severely impeded the advance of the royal imperial troops.
On the road to Eperies the smaller corps of Hungarians withdrew hastily, fearing to be
cut off on the mountain road by the former garrison of Kaschau. [...] The infantry of
the Hungarians is generally appalling, not only because it is neither trained nor dis-
ciplined—for these shortcomings would be to some extent compensated for in battle
by the physical agility peculiar to the Magyars and their proven scorn for death—but chiefly
because their officers are incompetent and cowardly, collected from all corners of the world,
and inspire no confidence in their men. [...] On the other hand, the hussars, whose
officers, although mostly promoted NCOs, are ignorant, but at least courageous men,
retain their inherent bravery; here in the mountains they could not often be used, but
they frequently dismounted from their horses to cover the cannon and encourage the
others; on outpost duty they are reckless in their daring and cause the royal imperial
troops a good deal of trouble. [...]

“The engagements between the insurgents and the royal imperial troops were
limited in this area to skirmishes and artillery salvoes; as the battalions drew nearer the
insurgents retired; on the 19th, they assembled in Kaschau and then tried to reach the
Theiss by forced marches in order either to effect a meeting with Dembinski or to flee
to Debreczin. (!) [...]

“The town of Kaschau was illuminated to greet the insurgents, and received
Gérgey with a torchlight parade, thus saving itself from a levy such as was imposed on
Eperies. Now the evil guests have fled, and on the 19th of last month Eperies was
re-occupied by the royal imperial troops; and Kaschau, the day before yesterday.? In
the village of Petrovian between Eperies and Kaschau, where the peasants had
captured several hussars and taken them over the mountains to the royal imperial
troops, the rebels had the local magistrate and a juryman shot as a punishment. We,
the Zipsers, got off with a black eye; only the towns and villages on the Kaschau moun-
tain road incurred severe damage during the various skirmishes. The earlier-men-
tioned attack by the imperial Major Kiesewetter was made on the town of Neudorf to
punish it for its treachery, and it is now occupied by four companies of the Slovak
Landsturm under Stir, which naturally cannot be compared with the pleasantness of
an occupation by the imperial troops. We are all however disturbed by the presence
of a rebel force under the insurgent Colonel Aulich in Lublau, which by all
appearances intends to operate in the rear of the imperial army, for men are
claiming to have seen hussars first in one place, then in another; meanwhile, to our
consolation, General Vogl has advanced from Galicia with 4,000 men via Bartfeld, and
he will probably drive these hordes out of the border mountains before long (?).”

As a counterpart of this we present the following report from
Agram of the Constitutionelles Blatt aus Bohmen on the South-Slav
complications:

““Agram, February 25. In its latest issue, the Napredak [Hanpeaak] discusses the
causes of the state of siege which was imposed on Karlowitz; it endorses the view that
the activities of the Central Committee" gave rise to this military measure. The
Napredak excuses the Patriarch” by whose order the state of war was proclaimed in
Karlowitz; the above newspaper further reports that at present the Patriarch is ruling

alone, while the Odbor (Central Committee) has relinquished its duties and refrains
from intervening publicly in the administration of the voivodeship. The differences
between Rajachich and Stratimirovich are— judging by this newspaper—by no means
eliminated yet. This is also averred by a member of the Serb constitutional commission
recently arrived here, who hardly described things in the Voivodina as being at their
best. From the information supplied by this member I am able to report the following
to you on the situation there. The majority of the people is for Stratimirovich, only Syrmien
and the Peterwardein borders “ are opposed to him, there Radosavljevich, who was
elected regimental commander and confirmed by the Patriarch, has totally paralysed
the efforts of Stratimirovich. The Patriarch is reported to have been appointed civil
governor, and—which sounds rather strange—also military head of the voivodeship.
It has been confirmed that Rajachich has been having repeated conflicts with the
commanding officer at Temesvar, with whom he used always to be on friendly terms. The
latter is said to be working with all his energy to bring the Banat border under his
control, and to restore the old military authority there. In fact several senior officers have
apparently banded together whose endeavours are aimed solely at everywhere placing
obstacles in the path of the Serbs. Rukavina and Todorovich are said to be at the head of
this anti-Serb coterie. The latter is said to have lost the sympathies of all through his
gruff, offensive conduct and his exaggeratedly ‘black-and-yellow’* sentiments; his
intolerance of everything that does not carry the royal imperial port d’epée apparently
goes so far that he intended to grant the Serb national officers only corporals’
pay.— The Serb constitutional commission recently commenced its work; the first
result of its deliberations is an electoral law for the Voivodina, the draft of which is
already completed.”

The “united monarchy” (Gesamtmonarchie) still has a number of
strange experiences in store if the pan-Slavist uproar !* that is now
fermenting throughout Slav Austria breaks out some day!