The Columbia Democrat. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1837-1850, 1842-07-30
HORRORS OF WAR

, "0 suheIiHSS and endurance af iis ;nb,h
'an's' may In few centuries hence h
, considered more kin TO romance. ,ban =
, "s'"s 70 actual reality. Inspired by IN
.aeTss "nich mad attended two preyjou
, ia'0 'ie 0eronians took the cross an,
'"oie 'ila' lhey would resist in The ,,,er
most whlle woman forgot her fears. an,
emulaied In daring, while she exceeded :,
'na'oh' , mat sex which herelofor,
hau oeeh told was born TO her weak
ness . Aueep religious feeling was mpgle,
'aii mnn "a'Ieo' deadly and unmitigable, an,
"niie .he Desiegers ridlcued thai devo,ior
with Drought woman 10 the breach .nc
evHs oDnnueu 'he care OF the beleagured city lc
IeAPeriehce,'hat 10 the enthusiasm of supe,
s"'ious people once reused, no sacrifice is
W. s'ea'' no suiitrings pas, endurance.
ne conduct of the seige was entrusted
In lhe commencement 10 Generals Pe;nn
aoa 'ordiet. afterwards 10 Gonvian ST.
'jyr' and finally, to Marshal Auperoau
Ai' ana perseverance marked the conduct
OF me misunderstanding and contenpt
OF munger, sickness and suffering, charac.
'erized the eXeriions OF the besieged. When
the castle oil Monjure was literally hean
OF RUNS tho remnant Of the garrison enter.
ed into The town. and carrying provisions
0ut loaded with genades and c.r,r,does
Famine came on, disease frisbIullv il.
creased; but it was death even to mama ~,
word, oapl'ulaion.' Three practicable
ofeaches we're open, and each wide enough
LOT Az men TO mount abreast. Thev wer,
repeatedly assaulted, and on one occasio,
loor times In two hours. The French
fought hand 10 hand with the Snan;srds.
and such was the ferocily displayed. ,ba,
impatient oil the time required for relosdnn
their muskels, the defendants cauob, rs
stones from The breach, and brained tbeir
enemies with these reader weanonsJ A
partial supply thrown into the ci,v bv
@%sre Gesfrr RosssIrish, Where The magaz,nes
had been provided for the use of the
beleagured fortress, was seized by a
French division under General Pine, the
town burnt and the provisions carried off
or destroyed.
FAMINE was now awfully felt, and in
consequence disease became more extend.
ed and more malignant. The situation of
the inhabitants was hopeless, for the ingen.
uily and wearness of the besiegors prevent
ed the possibility of succors being intro
duced 'The Spnnlards now died in such
numbers chiefly of dysentery, that the
dally deaths, were never less than thirty
five, and sometimes amounted to seventy;
and the way TO the burial place was never
vacant Augeread straightened the blockade
and that the garrison might neither follow
the example of O'Donnel, nor receive any
supplies however small, he drew his lines,
stretched cords with bells along the inter
spaces, ,and kept watch dogs at all The posts,
The sufl'erings already endured by the
inhabitants almost exceeds belief, and the
official report delivered TO Alvarez the
governor, by Samaniego, who was at the
head of the medical staff, and has lef. a
written record Of the seige told.a frghtful
tale of the horrors which relgned over that
brave and devoted city. There did not
remain single building in Corona which
had not been injured by the bombardment
not house was habitable: the people slept
in cellars, and vaults, and holes amid the
ruins, and ithad not unfrequently happen
ed that the wounded were killed in the
hospitals. The streets we're broken up,
so that the rain water and the sewers
stagnated there; and thpe esiienlal vapors
which arose were rendered more noxious
by the dead bodies which lay rotting amid
The runs. The seige had now endured
seven months. the very dogs before hun
ger consumed them, had caused to follow
after kind; they did not even fawn upon
their masters; the almost inoessant thunder
of artillery seemed to MAKE them sensi
bic of the state of the city, and the unna
tural atmosphere affected them as well as
human; it even affected vegetation; In the
garden within the walls the fruits wthered.
and scarcely any vegetable could be rails
ed.
Within the last three weeks above five
hundred of the garrison had died in the
hospitals; dysenlary was raging and
spreading; the sick were lying upon the
ground, without beds, almost without food,
and there was scarcely fuel 10 dress the
little wheat that remained, and the few
horses which yet unconsumed; In ihs
wretched state, the skeleton of what had
been a garrison sailed, were successful for
moment, butin turn were, repulsed and
driven back; This was a dying effort;
unable even 10 inter the dead-one hundred
bodies lying over the ground; naked, coffin
&. less, and pu,rsscent and the. governor un