The Sun.
London, England, 1860-10-30 00:00:00

THE SEIGE OF CAPUA.

A letter from St. Angelo, near Capua, dated
the 25th of October, says:—

" The Volturno has at last been crossed. It was
Medici's brigade that had the honour of first touch-
ing the right bank, having crossed in boats yester-
day at 3 a.m.
" Medici, once across, took the road to Monte-
Gerusalemme, and yesterday morning, at 9 o'clock,
we could see the national flag floating from the
summit of the mountain. The brigade of the Pied-
montese General Pernon also struck its camp, and
marched in the direction of Cajazzo, having formed
a junction with the brigade of General Sonaaz,
which was at Maddaloni. This morning, at 2 a.m.,
a brigade having been thrown across the river, the
Garibaldian brigades of Generals Eber and Bixio
followed Medici into the mountains, Thus the
passage of the Volturno has been accomplished
without the Neapolitans attempting to defend it. A
few shells were fired from the ramparts of Capua,
but they fell short and burst on the road between
this village and Santa Maria.
" It appears that the Neapolitan army has been
divided into two corps. The strongest has taken
up a position in the entrenched camp at Sessa ; the
other has been sent to Bojano to guard the defiles
of Piedmont, to oppose the advance of the column
of the Piedmontese General Della Rocca.

" Although we have not heard the cannon for
cvuac a/4.y o, IL is clear tnat the two armies must
soon come into collision—perhaps to-morrow: The
struggle will be obstinate, but the issue cannot be
doubtful. You will see that the Piedmontese will
rout the Neapolitans, and that Garibaldi will give
the coup de grace to the corps d'armee under the
command of General von Medici.

" The following is General Cialdini's report of the
battle at Isernia :

" ' This morning (date omitted), between 7 and
8 o'clock, my most advanced outpost was attacked
on the heights of Macerone by three columns of the
enemy, consisting of from 5,000 to 6,000 men,
namely— 3,000 gendarmes on foot, 1,500 men of the
Ist regiment of the line, 1,200 to 1,500 militia
(urbains), and two pieces of artillery.
" ' General Griffini stood his ground for an hour
and a half with only two battalions of Bersaglieri
and a section of artillery on the heights of
Macerone ; casting a glance on the post-road,
he observed the movements of three hostile
columns; one was advancing direct along the road
to attack his centre, and the two others were taking
the side paths to encircle his position.
"' I advanced on this point with all possible
despatch by a long and tortuous road with the
Regina brigade, throwing out some battalions
right and left, and advancing on the centre ; in
less than half an hour we had completely routed
the enemy, whose courage was far below that of
our men.

" A squadron of Novara Lancers, under Capt;
Montiglio, led by General Griffini in person, and
followed by the 7th Bersaglieri, pursued the fugi-
tives as far as Isernia.

"' We cannot as yet state the number of pri-
soners we have taken. I can only mention that
General Douglas Scott, who commanded those
troops, many superior officers and others, and many
hundred men, are in our hands.

" The whole corps of General Griffini, Montig-
lio's squadron, the 6th and 7th Bersaglieri, and the
Ist battalion of the 9th Regiment of Infantry, be-
haved most admirably; it is they who did every-
thing.
"' I send to Sulmona, accompanied by my aide-
de-camp, Count Borromeo, General Scott, who
willingly consents to it.
" This eveting, when I shall have fuller returns,
I will send a detailed report of this singular com-
bat, attended with so great a result, and in which
we only had a few men wounded.
" The General Commanding the 4th Corps,
" CIALDINI.' "

MESSINA.

NIESSINA, OCT. 22.

Yesterday the vote was taken for the annexation
of this island to Piedmont. Not one single vote
was given against it, for the good reason that no
one received another ticket, but " Si." Our town
was illuminated last night, but it seemed to me
there was very little enthusiasm. It is said that the
commander of the citadel will set up the Sardinian
flag as soon as he is officially informed that Victor
Emmanuel has arrived at Naples. He will not give
up the forts to the National Guard, nor to Gari-
baldi's soldiers, but to the troops of, Victor Em-
manuel, for fear that all the works will be de-
stroyed by the people. The blockade has not been
effected, and the town furnishes flesh provisions
every day to the Royal troops.
An interesting andwelcome piece of intelligence
will be that Garibaldi has granted permission to
the English to build a Protestant church. A re-
quest was made by some of the resident English to
that effect, and a piece of ground was suggested for
purchase; the Dictator, however, in a .most com-
plimentary manner, acceded to the request, and
presented the ground as a gift. Some forms will, I
take for granted, have to be gone through in order
to the confirmation of it, but the thing has been de-
creed by the Dictator.

OCT. 25.
There is a very important decree in the last

night's official paper, which throws the whole of
the funds belonging to lay, pious, and charitable
establishments into the hands of laymen ; you will
remember that in 1856 and 1857, at the same time
that Austria made her unfortunate Concordat with
Rome, a series of rescripts were signed by Ferdi-
nand IL, taking the whole of the vast funds belong-
ing to the charitable establishments of the kingdom
and placing them in the hands of the ecclesiastics.
Their power was thus increased in a surprising
manner. A decree of the Pro-Dictator, therefore,
restores the funds to the administration of laymen,
and orders the ecclesiastics to give in their accounts
of expenditure in the interval. I approve entirely
of this decree; it is an act of justice, for really the
ecclesiastics had no legal right to interfere in the
management of lay funds. Another decree, signed
by Garibaldi, orders that 12,000 ducats be given to
the enlargement of the great Italian college of St.
Adriano, in consideration of the great service ren-
dered to the national cause by the Alvanese.
This was the country of Agesilao Milano and his
friends.