BLENHEIM, BATTLE OF.--Fought between the English and confederates, commanded by the Duke of Marlborough, and the French and Bavarians, under Marshal Tallard and the Elector of Bavaria, whom the Duke totally defeated, with the loss of 27,000 men, in killed, and 13,000 prisoners--Tallard being among the number of the latter; the Electorate of Bavaria became a prize of the conquerors. The nation testified its gratitude to the Duke of Marlborough by the gifts of the honour of Woodstock and hundred of Wotton, and erected for him one of the finest seats in the kingdom, known as the domain and house of Blenheim. This great battle was fought on the 2nd of August, 1704. BOIS-LE-DUC, BATTLE OF.--Between the British and the French Republican army, in which the former were defeated, September 14th, 1794. Captured by the French, October 6th, following, and surrendered to the Prussian army under Bulow, 1814. BOLOGNA.--Taken by the French in 1796; by the Austrians in 1799; again by the French, after Marengo, in 1800; and restored to the Pope, in 1815. BOMBS.--Invented at Venlo in 1495; came into general use in 1634. The Shrapnel shell is a bomb filled with balls and a lighted fuse to make it explode before it reaches the enemy. A thirteen inch bomb-shell weighs 198 lbs. BOMBARDMENT OF SEBASTOPOL.--_First Attempt._--“At half-past six o’clock, on the morning of 17th October, a gun from the English batteries boomed ominously upon the ears of the Russians in Sebastopol. It was the signal for the commencement of the bombardment. It had been announced, on the previous evening, that the morrow was to initiate the combat; and already groups of expectant gazers thronged every spot which promised to afford a view of the warlike spectacle. For a moment after the signal-gun had despatched its messenger of death, a breathless expectation held the spectators in suspense; and then, from the whole line of attack, from the Quarantine on the far left to the Inkerman battery on the extreme right, a sheet of fire belched forth, and a volley of shot and shell was hurled upon the town. By this time the Russian gunners were at their post, and bravely responded to the challenge. As far as the eye could reach, a dense volume of smoke hung suspended in the air; and when it lifted, another and yet another streak of flame poured from the black earthworks, and lit up the white churches and houses of the town. The earth literally shook with the concussion of the mighty conflict. Distinct amid the roar, a sharp whizzing sound, swelling as it approached into a crashing rush, like a railway train at inexpressible speed, was heard, and a heavy blow upon the solid earthworks told where had fallen the ball of the renowned Lancaster gun. In a couple of hours it was evident that the Round Tower, the most formidable of the Russian works, was seriously damaged. But little impression, however, appeared to have been made on the mass of the enemy’s works.