08:22 Sep 11, 2010 

A question with a source term that inspires so many discussion posts and different answers from dyed-in-the-wool translators surely deserves to be classified as pro, IMHO.

03:15 Sep 11, 2010 

agree with Phil: it's an "organizing" or "perspective-giving" proprio (ad hoc terminology): "as for them" -- or Oliver's translation.

20:26 Sep 10, 2010 

Well, I'm still not totally sure what "proprio" means. I don't think it goes with "presso", and battles are generally named after the nearest location, so it would be "at Pultutsk". "Presso" may serve no purpose in the sentence at all. Both answerers were right about "they too", but their syntax was wrong. I think the answer should be "they too suffered a heavy defeat, at Pultusk"

19:53 Sep 10, 2010 

if the question isn't parsed correctly it just adds to the confusion. I don't know about Spanish, but in French anch'esse would be 'eux aussi'. Not complicated at all

18:58 Sep 10, 2010 

...the battle of Pultusk did take place right at the edge of town, and a few of its structures were on the battlefield.

17:53 Sep 10, 2010 

I agree, Jim. And am I right in thinking that "proprio presso" means not "very close to" but 'at"?

16:08 Sep 10, 2010 

do you group the words like this? Easier to understand in their natural grouping, like this:

destinate a subire anch'esse (backward-looking pronoun)

proprio presso Pultusk

una...sconfitta