The Sun.
London, England, 1860-10-02 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 2, 1860.

pOYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT
Lu INSTITUTION.—The Committee of this Institution
earnestly APPEAL to the public for PECUNIARY ASSIST-
ANCE to aid them to meet the present heavy demands on
the limited funds of the Society. It has now 106 lifeboats,
some of which have saved this year 120 persons from a watery
grave.

THOMAS BARING, Chairman.
THOMAS CHAPMAN, Deputy-Chairman.
.4, John-street, Adelphi, W.C., Sept., 1860.
Bankers—Messrs. Willis and Co. ; Coutts and Co. ; Henke
and Co. ; and at the Institution.

GARIBALDTS POSITION.
(From Correspondent of the Times.)
CASERTA, SEPT. 23.
I had scarcely sent off my letter yesterday in order
to catch the French mail at Naples when the official
news arrived that our troops had retired after a smart
engagement from Cajazzo. Rumour, the precursor
of good and bad news, had, indeed, brought the
shadow of it a thousand-fold increased the night of
the day before yesterday; but it was not till yester-
day forenoon that the news arrived officially.
You will remember that the object of the demon-
stration along the Volturno on the 19th was to throw
a small body of men across the river in order to see
what forces the enemy had in that direction, how
the people were disposed, and how far the national
forces in the province of the Molise and the Abruzzi
were inclined to co-operate. It was a kind of for-
lorn hope, like that which crossed over first into
Calabria. Three hundred •men; under Col. Csudafy,
went towards Piedimonte, and about the same
number towards Cajazzo. Their orders were to
observe, advance, and retire in case they were
attacked by superior forces.
The detachment under Col. Csudafy, which was
the first to cross, went on the road from Madaloni to
Campobasso, and turned off to cross one of the feeders
of the Volturno at Amorosi. Thence it went on to
Paglianello, and crossing the Volturno, threw itself
into the mountains of Cajazzo. The information
gathered showed that there were above 2,000 men
in that place with four guns, which of course put
any coup de main on Cajazzo out of the question.
The commander of the detachment decided therefore
to recross the Volturno higher up, and go to Piedi-
monte, with which communications had been main-
tained for some time, and which was known to he
well-disposed. Its position at the foot of the Matese
mountains made it especially adapted to form a kind
of centre for the popular movement in those moun-
tains and in the contiguous province of Molise. It
was on receipt of this news that it was determined
to send the other detachment of 300 riflemen under
the orders of Maio? Catabene towards Cajazzo.
The first detachment, strengthened by what could
be got together of tho National Guards, was to co-
operate with it in the movement against Cajazzo,
while the demonstration in front was to assist. As
I wrote to you, the Neapolitan force retired from
Cajazzo at the approach of the detachment of Cata-
bene, but the co-operation of the other detachment
could not take place. It advanced, indeed, as far as
Baja, but found itself there opposed by a consider-
able force which had been sent after it. The de-
tachment returned, therefore, to Piedimonte, where
it was still, according to the last accounts.
The two battalions of Chasseurs which had re-
tired the day before at the news of the arrival of a
force of ours, having been informed of the small
number which had come, determined to retake the
position which they had given up. The outposts
had scarcely been placed, and the rest of the bat-
talion retired to cook, when the two battalions
showed. The outposts fired, and as soon as the
firing was heard the troops inside, without waiting
to be formed, rushed out and occupied a height to

the right of the left of the village which commanded
the road on which the Neapolitans advanced, This
checked them on that side, but it was soon observed
that their second battalion made a movement to
the right, so as to outflank the position occupied
by the defenders, and this obliged the latter to fall
back and occupy the houses of the suburb of the
town, which consists of 10 or 12 houses. There the
firing was kept up for about an hour, at the end of
which the battalion, with its officers at the head,
made a charge with so much effect that the Neapo-
litans retired, leaving some wounded and prisoners
in the hands of the battalion.

The army not being yet in a state after the long
and fatiguing marches from the South to take an
energetic offensive, and the object of seeing the
state of things and occupying the enemy's attention
having been obtained, it was time to think of with-
drawing the little force from Cajazzo, where it was

in the " air." This was so much the more neces-
eary as information had arrived that the enemy
was making great preparations to retake Cajazzo.
In order to facilitate the retreat of this small force

two battalions of the regiment Vachieri (division
Medici) were sent off on the 20th by the same
road to Nuzzo, where they arrived on the
same evening. By these two weak battalions the
force at Cajazzo was increased to about 950 men,
all infantry. The position of Cajazzo is important ;
threatening as it does the enemy's position, and
being, besides, situated on the outskirts of the
Monte Grande, it affords considerable means of re•
sistance. An aide-de-camp was therefore de-
spatched from Caserta on the evening of the 20th,
carrying the order not to give up the place unless
attacked by very superior forces. He arrived on
the morning of the following day. A council of war
was held, and the resolution taken to confine the
defence to the place itself, to throw up barricades
at the entrance, and wait thus for the attack.
This seemed imminent, for from early in the
morning the enemy was massing his troops close
to the border of one of the Royal preserves called
Fagianeria di Larzano. Column after column ar-
rived, swelling his forces every moment, most of
them coming up by the Capua road, near the vil-
lage of Piana ; they formed close to a little river
which comes down from the mountain range at the
extremity of which Cajazzo lies.
This mountain range lies due east and west, and
runs almost in a straight line as far as Cajazzo,
where it forms a kind of plateau, on which the town
lies. On the other side of it a little spur runs out
ending in an isolated conical hill, the Mesurinola.
The road leads up in a gentle rise on the side of the
mountain on which the town is situated. About a
quarter of a mile from the town are two convents,
that of the Capuchins to the left of the road, and
the Zoccoti to the right, above the road, so as to
command not only this latter, but the town itself.
These two buildings, but above all the latter, would
have been the real points of defence had a defence
at any price been the object, but the enemy
showed in so great numbers that the holding of the
place was out of the question from the first moment,
and it was of importance to provide for the retreat.
The first column which advanced was alone between
5,000 and 6,000 men, while two other columns not
far less showed behind.
At noon they put themselves in march, and came
up with eight guns. Having no cannon, and the
plan being to confine the defence to the town, very
little could be done to check the enemy's advance
until he was quite close to the town. The outposts
which were at a little distance from the town could
alone molest him, but even these only slightly, for
they had orders to withdraw into the place. The
enemy having arrived within reach placed two of
his guns so as to strike the barricade at the en-
trance of the main street and at the same time to
sweep the street behind; his other guns were em-
ployed to shell the town.
For more than five hours did the fight last for the
barricade of the main street, and for those to the
right and left of it. On came fresh battalion after
fresh battalion, to which on our side nothing but
the fatigued few hundred men could be opposed.
Twice they penetrated into the town and twice they
were driven out at the point of the bayonet. But
the long fight had produced its effect on men and
ammunition ; both were well nigh exhausted. Still
they held out in spite of theburning houses, which
had been pet on fire by the shells of tie enemy.

Their fire slackened, and this was taken advantage
of by the enemy to penetrate a third time. This
roused once more the energy of the Cacciatori and
a brilliant attack at the point of the bayonet drove
him back a third time and so precipitately that he
left a number of his men behind, who throwing
themselves into the next houses offered a desperate
resistance. At this occasion one of the officers of
the riflemen of Catabene, Captain Camnacoli, was
attacked by two soldiers of the enemy, he cut down
one with his sabre, but would have fallen a victim
to the other had not a soldier of the regiment Va-
chieri, named Batelli, jumped forward and
bayonetted the other soldier.
_ _

But this was the last effort, and it was time to
retire. Above 200 men were dead or wounded and
not a cartridge remained. The order to retreat was
given and effected in the best possible order,
through the woods down to the river. Two com.
panies had been sent forward to receive them and
protect their final retreat.
Of course the Neapolitans will chant victory, and
well they may, for it is the first advantage they have
gained since Garibaldi has set his foot in Southern
Italy. In the meantime we may console ourselves
for the loss of Cajazzo, which by the by we never
intended to keep, by considering that the Caccia-
tori, who maintained for five hours a fight against
a tenfold enemy well provided with artillery, have
not degenerated. It is just this, too great confi-
dence in their superiority, which engendered the
idea that a few hundred men could resist an army;
such a defeat is better than many a victory.

Last night there was a great concentration of the
enemy's troops all along the river line, consequently
all the troops collected within the rayon of Caserta
and Santa Maria were on foot at three in the morn-
ing. But when in the morning the patrols were
sent out, and a reconnaissance was pushed forward,
nothing was found except the detachments told off
for the protection of the batteries on the other side
of the water.

In the meantime a battery, designed by Gari-
baldi himself on the last spur.of the /lonte Irfata,
above St. Angelo, is completed, and only waiting
for the guns. Its position is such that it commands
all the three batteries which the Neapolitans have
constructed to protect the Scafa di Formicola, and
to sweep the road which leads to it, without being
exposed to anything except, perhaps, a large bomb-
shell from Capua. It will not be armed until the
actual offensive operations begin,
Towards noon Garibaldi, who had, as is his wont
to do, gone up the heights above Caserta, came down
to this place, where several of those who had dis-
tinguished themselves in the fight of Cajazzo were
presented to him. There was first Captain Cam-
nacoli, who commanded one of the companies of the
battalion Catabene, in which were 40 youths, the
Speranzini of Modena, between 16 and 17, who had
been committed to his care last year when Garibaldi
commanded in Central Italy. These youths, 40 in
number, had been drilled since and embodied in the
battalion of Catabene. How they fought you may
judge from the circumstance that out of 40, seven
have returned, two sergeants, three corporals, and
two men, and these two men were yesterday pre-
sented to Garibaldi, who took them by the hand,
and told them with a voice full of emotion, " I am
happy to shake hands with two such brave Italians,
the worthy companions of my Cacciatori of Varese
and Calatafimi, the race of whom is not extinct."
While at Caserta the plans for future operations
were bespoken. You will have invariably found
that the more a man does the more is expected fro*
him. Let him do wonders, and if he does not con-

tinue to supply one every day people think them-
selves injured by him. Thus, I dare say, elsewhere
as here, there will be found many who having wit-
nessed Garibaldi's wonderful march on Naples will
think themselves deceived not to see him already at

least on the frontier of the Papal States, without
thinking that an army which has rnn a race of 300
and more miles in little more than 20 days needs a
little breathing time before it can continue it ; that

limbs, however nimble, cannot realize the problem
of a perpetuum mobile; that night bivouacs in a
heavy dew do not improve summer clothing, and
that no indestructible shoes have as yet been in-
vented.

It will be therefore necessary to have a little pa-
tience, and that so much the more as the political
situation contributes to make a pause in the opera-
tions desirable. The entry of the Piedmontese army
into the Papal States has totally altered the cir-
cumstances. While Piedmont remained in her pas-
sive attitude it was indispensable that Garibaldi,
left to himself, should have the free disposition of
all the resources of the countries he has conquered,
so as to be able to employ them in the struggle
against Lamoriciere's army. By giving up a part
of these resources he only rendered his task doubly
difficult. Now that this task is taken off his hands,
mad Piedmont has taken an active part in the strug-

gle, not only by sending her army into the Ro-
magna, but likewise by garrisoning Naples, nothing
remains but to come to an understanding. In spite
of the rather unfair behaviour of the Ministry at
Turin, this will be soon effected. The negotiators
go backwards and forwards, and all may be arranged
sooner than most people think. _

SEPT. 25.

Nothing new along the line. Now and then a
few shots are exchanged with the patrols which
come out of Capua, but otherwise each party keeps
on the defensi'e and observes the other. On
Sunday last, two of the Royal Princes, the Counts
of Trani and Bari, were at Capua, and since then
the King is said to have come likewise. The
enemy is in no great number along the river line,
but has his reserves behind; if he attacks he will
meet with a warm reception.

sure what the feel and what they have achieved by
unity. Falsehood is the base weapon of vile
cowardice. Belief without investigation is the
wont of idiots."