The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-07 00:00:00

THE SIEGE OF GAETA.

We take the following from a letter in the Con-
stitutionnel, dated on board the frigate Garibaldi,
Mola di•Gaeta, 28th January :
" I take advantage of a few moments on shore
at Mola to send you some details respecting the
siege. On the night of the 21st, about 10 o'clock,
an experiment was made with the electric light
from General Cialdini's residence to throw light
upon Gaeta, so as to enable the artillerymen to
point their guns with precision. On the 22d,
at 8 a.m., while 4,000 men were working at
the parallels, the fortress opened a terrible fire
with 200 guns at once. Our camp immediately
replied to it, and the squadron at the same time
received orders to manoeuvre. At 9 a.m. the
Admiral gave the signal for departure, and
ordered the commander of the Garibaldi to lead the
attack. At 10 a.m. the Garibaldi was in full way
on the fortress. At 11 she opened fire against the
levant batteries (di ponente) with a view to silence
them, and at the same time to throw shells into the
fortress. In this she succeeded. The other vessels
of the squadron soon joined in the attack. At 5
o'clock in the afternoon the Admiral ordered the
firing to cease, to give rest to the crews. During the
night all the vessels remained in front of Gaeta;
the gunboats alone continued the attack. On the
23d the Admiral, after expressing his thanks to the
Commander of the Garibaldi, left for Mola, only
leaving the Garibaldi, a steam frigate, and two
gunboats to cruise before Gaeta. In the space of
six hours our frigate sent 971 projectiles. Five
shells from the fortress struck us, but did little
damage. The steam frigate Costituzione had two
men killed and three wounded. One of the gunboats
suffered a similar loss. The frigate Maria Adelaide
lost one of the band and had three men wounded.

" In the camp the explosion of a powder maga-
zine caused the death of a captain and 22 men. The
steamer Etna, which Francis 11. brought with him
when he left Naples, was sunk in the port with 30
men on board, who all perished. The attack caused
considerable damage to the fortress. It is suspected
that great discouragement prevails in the garrison,
as 132 men deserted during the night of the 29d.
On the 24th we continued cruising off the fortress,
while the attack was continued on the laud side.
During the day one of the gunboats stopped a

schooner, whose master declared there were two
schooners at Terracina laden with provisions for
Gaeta. On the 25th a large Spanish frigate was
signalled. Our frigate immediately stopped her
advance. The commander asked permission to enter
Gaeta, on the plea that he had despatches to hand to
the Spanish and Austrian Ambassadors. General
Cialdini and Admiral Persano requested him to
withdraw, which he did before the law of blockade.
In the night we again opened fire from the sea, but
only with the gunboats.

" On the 26th, at 8,30 a.m., ono of the gunboats
stopped a schooner, laden with grain, on her way
to Gaeta. At the same time the frigate Costituzione
prevented a French vessel from entering the port.
The French captain was ignorant of the blockade,
and immediately withdrew, accompanied for some
distance by the frigate. On the 27th we signalled
a French ship, and immediately joined her. The
captain was the bearer of despatches. Our com-
mander having courteously asked him to see the
Admiral, the French captain immediately proceeded
to Mola, escorted by a gunboat. The firing con-
tinues, but is slack. We are transformed into
pirates. The blockade is very strict. We are to
have a grand attack in a few days."