After the memorable battle of Grochow, fought on the 25th of February, before the walls of Warsaw, a day on which we had defeated a force three times superior to our own, the prince Radziwil made the passage of the Vistula to Warsaw and the left bank. The objects which he had in view in that movement we have already detailed. Two battalions of infantry, with thirty-six pieces of artillery, were left to defend the fortifications of Praga, on the right bank of the Vistula opposite to and separated by a bridge from Warsaw, and which were in the form of a horn-work, supported on each wing by the river. The army was disposed in the following manner upon the left bank. The cavalry were posted in positions a few miles above and below Warsaw. The infantry and the artillery were either concentrated in Warsaw, or were encamped near the city. Upon receiving the resignation of prince Radziwil, the national government proceeded to the choice of his successor, and on the 27th of February, 1831, elected, by an unanimous voice, to the chief command of all the national forces, the hero of Dobre, general John Skrzynecki, a man of the most devoted patriotism, of great decision of character, and uncommon military talent. He was, above all, eminently possessed of that rapidity of _coup d'oeil_, that capacity of seizing conjunctures, which enabled him, in the midst of the most complicated movements, to perceive, and instantly to profit by, every advantage which offered itself. This general was, in the time of the Russian government, and at the commencement of our revolution, colonel of the 8th regiment of infantry of the line, a regiment by which he was regarded with an almost filial attachment. On the enrollment of new forces, after the revolution had taken place, he was made general of brigade. In the month of January, before the commencement of the campaign, he was advanced to the rank of general of a division, and the command of the 3d division of infantry was confided to him, at the head of which division, as the reader already knows, he gained laurels in several brilliant actions. On the 27th, at mid-day, proclamation was made of the abdication of the prince Radzivil, and the appointment of general Skrzynecki, as commander in chief of the army. The nation to whom the great merit of this officer was already so well known, received this annunciation with the greatest satisfaction. No dissentient voice was heard. Even the oldest generals in the service warmly applauded the choice. General Skrzynecki, on receiving the chief command, addressed to the army, on the 28th of February, the following proclamation:--