The Sun.
London, England, 1861-12-03 00:00:00

ITALY.

A communication from home has the following :
" The following is an account of the last affair of
Isoletta. The brigands crossed the Liri at Fontana,
and though they were seen by four national guards,
the latter, instead of giving an alarm, secreted
themselves in a hut. The brigands were, conse-
quently, able to reach Isoletta without striking a
blow. The sentinel on duty there was a Neapoli-
tan soldier, and though he was attacked by several
of the brigands there, he defended himself bravely;
he shot down one of them, and wounded, with his
bayonet, some others, but he was at last killed him-
self. Before he expired he embraced a little flag
which he had in his sentry box, and cried Long
liveltaly !' Another sentinel and three other
soldiers, were murdered before the fort of Isoletta.
A sergeant, named Colelli, of Brescia, was in the
fort with twelve men ; but as the building was not
completed, and as the windows being open, afforded
easy ingress to the assailants, he and his men took
to flight by a back door, and crossed the bridge
over the Liri under the fire of the brigands. When
he was out of reach he had only six men, one hav-
ing been murdered, another, who was wounded,
having fallen into the Liri and been drowned,
and the four others having been taken by the
brigands and shot by order of their chief.
This chief was not Chiavone, who did not take part
in the affair, but a young man, about thirty years
old, with fair hair, and of high stature, who was
dressed in black, and wore a Calabrian hat, and was
called the Major. It was afterwards ascertained
that ho was a Belgian, the Marquis de Trafignies.
He had by his side a notorious assassin named
Mattel. After Isoletta the brigands ascended the
mountains, and attacked San Giovanni Incarico.
There were in that place only forty infantry soldiers,
under the orders of Captain Tecchio, and they fell
back towards Pico. Before they had gone far they
met a company of the 43d Reg. hastening to the
place and returned with them •to San Giovanni;
the total force was 120 men. Although the bri-
gands had only been half an hour in the village,
they had burned down several of the principal
houses. They had, it was stated, intended to
destroy another, but had consented to spare it on
the intercession of one of their band, an ex-Bour-
bonian lancer, who when in garrison in the village
had been well treated by the owners of it. The
brigands afterwards proceeded to pillage other
houses, but on hearing the trumpet of the Italians
they cried out Fly ! Fly !' and ran off as fast as
they could. M. de Trafignies, who had com-
manded the pillage, and had threatened with a
revolver of six barrels the woman who prayed that
their houses might be spared, was, on the arrival
of the Italians, in the house of one Santoro, where
with great fury ho was breaking everything within
his reach. He did not hear the Italian trumpet,
and was captured. He was taken before Major
Savini, who had arrived with reinforcements: and
by his order, being tried by a Court Martial formed
of the officers present, was condemned to death.
Half an hour was allowed him to arrange his affairs,
and confess to a priest ; but he could not at first
believe that he was to be shot. He refused to
address a letter to his family, as he was recom-
mended to do, but he wrote in the pocket book
of Captain Teccio, am Alfred de Trafignies, of
Namur, cousin of the Marchesa Montalto, am-
bassadress of Italy in Belgium.' On searching
him some papers relative to Chiavone's band, a
letter from his sister, the portrait of a lady, and
a lock of hair were found. When the time
allowed him had expired he was placed against
a wall. He turned round to speak to an officer
who was near, but at the same moment the
command ' Fire ! ' was given, and a ball struck
him in the head, causing him to fall dead. The
deceased was the nephew of Marshal St. Arnaud,
and of M. de Merode. He had left Itome in a
carriage, and ordered it to wait for him at
Veroli."

Mr. and Mrs. Tollemache have been entertaining
a succession of visitors during the last fortnight at Peek-
fort= Castle, Cheshire.