The Express.
London, England, 1849-06-15 00:00:00

ITALY.

ROMAN STATES.—The news from these states
is of the 7th inst, from Civita Vecchia. At that date
no decisive news had been received from head-quarters.
It was known that the fighting. was continued, but
without any remarkable change in the position of the
French army.
'The Carney Mercantile of Genoa of the 9th inst.

gists accounts from Home, brought by the Castor,
which are eery unfsvoo, able as regards the operations
of the French army. This journals statement must,
however, be received with caution. It says that the
French tad been defeated is all the recent attacks,

and tint they even making a retrograde move:
—*pea Ctvite Vecchia.
A pnvate letter from Genoa, of the 9th inst., slys:
*The French had only penetrated into Rome os the
side of San Paola. From' the 3rd to the bth• con-
siderable damage had been done by the Romans to
the Villas Pamffii, Corsini, and Borghese, to render
the access of the French to the walls more difficult.

The number of French wounded since the 3rd is
350; the number of dead is not known. The loss of

the Roman is more considerable, by their own con-
fession. A general attack was announced for the Bth
or 9th."
We read in a letter from Rome, of the 4th inst. :
" The British consul, considering the lives of the
French residents in Route as in great peril, has offered
the protection of the British flag, which has been ac-
cepted. This act of courtesy is due from one friendly
power to another."
The following letter from our correspondent will be
found to contain interesting details of the attacks on
the villas outside Rome on the 3cd instant :
ROME, it:Nl 4.
It is amidst the roar of cannon that I sit down to
give you a hasty account of our present situation. In
my last letter, dated 31s: May, you received the terms
of the convention made and signed by the Roman
triumvirate and the French plenipotentiary Lesseps,
and considered as forming the bass of a definitive
puce (if indeed we can say peace, when war has
Inver been declared) between the major and minor
republic. A third party, however, put a stop to such
• flattering hope. General Oudinot wrote to the
triumviri on the 31st, declaring that the convention
signed by M. Leeseps was aye ry differentadairfromtho
sinimatent of the 29th of May, and one to which he
I eould in no way adhere. He was convinced that the
Iplenipotentiary had outstepped the limits of his
power, and, considering the convention as therefore
null, he should resume operations with the French
troops, "but not before Monday, the 4th of June, fol-
lowing."
M. Lesseps, meanwhile, received a letter from his
government, recalling him to Paris immediately.
Previous to his departure, the triumvirate addressed
him a note, complaining of dissensions between him
and the general, and of the serious consequences that
would result from them, and concluding by express-
ing a hope that they might be removed. To this
M. Lesseps replied, that he had a perfect right
to conclude the convention, and that he should set
off instantly to have it ratified by the French govern-1
ment. General Roeelli then applied to General
Oudinot for an armistice of fifteen days, to allow of
an expeditionagainst the Austrians,which the French
commander refused. After such a decided rejectMg
of ell negotiations, no means of settling the dispute
remained but an appeal to arms, and for this last
resource the Roman government made immediately
the most vigorous preparations. Good faith was not,
however, observed by Oudinot with respect to the
day fixed for the attack, for yesterday morn-
ing, between half-past two and three o'clock,
a strong body of French surprised the Roman
outposts at the Villa Pamfili, beyond Porta
St. Pancrazio, surrounding and capturing two com-
panies of the unfortunate battalion of Mehra (the
same that was held in durance vile by them at Civita
Vecchia), who, trusting in the ger eters written de-
claration that hostilities would not be resumed before
the 4th, had not taken sufficient care to prevent an
attack. The remainder of the battalion defended it-
self vigorously in the villa for some time, bat were
finally obliged, by the superior force of the at-
tacking party, to yield the position. About four
o'clock the thundering of artillery aroused the
whole city, and the combat from the walls
and adjacent houses immediately beyond them
became very determined. Garibaldi arrived shortly
after with his legion, and made a desperate attack to
recover the Villa Parophili, now occupied by the
French sharpshooters, who did their utmost to main-
tain the position, and to protect the artillery, which
they were placing behind barricades. The barricades
did not prove a sufficient resistance to the cannon of
the ramparts, and the French were obliged to retire
from them, with considerable loss from discharges of
At half-past seven the principal positions
PPand the gate were retaken by Garibaldi, at
point of the bayonet, and the French were driven
completely out of the Villa Pemphili. Some other
houses. particularly one called Qnattro Venti, however,
still afforded them excellent shelter, and from these a
tremendous fire was kept up for the whole day, as
well as from the vineyards, which concealed the clam-
ours d'Afrique, whose long rifles did great execution
amongst the bold and too daring officers of Garibaldi.
The head of his staff, Colonel da Verb°, one of the
ilnszt oung men I ever beheld, was killed; and Col.
1 zl
who commanded his handful of lancers, un-
derwent the same fate, after having had three horses
shot under him, and being himself already wounded
slightly. Colonel Meters only owed his escape to a
dexterous sword-thrust with whichihe despatched the
IFrench officer who commanded the attacking party
early in the morning. I witnessed the battle
from the barricades and walls of St. Panerario,
amidst a perfect hail-storm of bullets and
'grape shot, and must bear testimony to the bravery of
both parties. The wounded and dying Romans,
borne in at every minute, afforded a striking contrast
to their companions who were rushing out to the con-
flict full of hope and strength, and, whilst shouts of
"Viva la Republica" echoed around them, a faint
and sickly smile, or a feelle waive of the hand,
showed their enthusiasm for the cause. Although
the chief attack was at Porta San Pancrazio, demon-
strations were also made in other directions. The
cannon of the Aventine repulsed those troops
who advanced from the French head:quer-
ters towards Porta Porte, that of the Vatican
walls and the Porta Cavallegeri prevented a move-
meat in that part, and the heavy artillery
of the castle played on the slope of Monte Mario.'
The Pont* Mille is in possession of the French, who
surprised the forty men on picquet yesterday morn-
ing, whelk, as already observed, no attack was ex-
pected, and the defence of the city is consequently li-
mited to the walls. A boat-full of French were sur-
prised by a Roman petrol, and only aced themselves
by swimming to the opposite shore, leaving their arms
sad capotes to the Romans. The cannon of San
Pancras:co played until nine o'clock last night, and all
was then quiet until five o'clock this morning, when
the action was resumed there, and later in other parts,
especially the port San Paolo, where the walls are
weak, and where the chief delta°. is from the Aven-
tine-hill. The great efforts of the French are directed
to the Janiculum-hill, the ponmerion of which would
give them the command of the whole city, but the
cannon of Porto San Paterazio and the sorties of
the Romans prevent them from igniting their heavy
artillery sad effecting a breach. The forces hitherto