The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1852-02-16

The Siege Of Venice ~ IN Austriaa Arny.
frcm "A.strfa In 1S4S and 1849, = 6y ~. III.
Sifrs, late Charge FAfnires OF The II.
States ct the Court of piemna.
Towards the end Of July, the incessar NJ roar
of cannon which for thirty DAYS and mig hts.
witnout infermission. had continued 10 sound
and resonnd upon the ear oi the Venetana. he.
gan now, from some cause unknown 70 them
gradually to subside. By some, this cessa,;or
Of hosti!Ifies on the part Of the Austrians. wns
ascribed TO the preparation necessnrv fnr
new and more terrible mode of attack. And
what added force TO this conjecture. was ,be
intelligence which had reached them thai Mar.
shall Radetzky was then at Mestre, busily en-.
gagged in inspecting oil the works, and super.
Intending the construction Of strong howitzer
batteries at st. Ginliano and other important
positions, which had hitherto remained unoc.
cupied.
Othersvery naturally supposed that the ene-
| niy finding il useless expenditure of powder
| and shot, had abandoned the idea Of taking the
| city by storm, and were resolved to await un-
til starvation should accomplish what their
army could not effect. And as the city began
now to experience the first effects Of famine.
this seemed for the moment the more probable
conclusion.
The crowds around the bakers shops were
already SO dense that several persons had been
pressed to death. Meat and wine were almost
completely exhausted, and bread of. the worst
| quality exceedingly scene. Notwithstanding
these severe demands upon their patriotism and
courage, public opinion in Venice on the SUBJ
Ject OF resistance was still unchanged-the
people seemed still resolved ITO hold ont to
the iast," while the activity at the arsenas
ana al aii the ports appeared to Indicate that
some great enterprise was to be undertaken be-
lore the hnal catastrophe arrived. For some
un,e previously, rumor had been circulated
IN Venice, that on the first of August the Aus
trans intended TO commence anoIher and more
aw,ul assault upon the city than any that had
hstneHo Deen witnessed; but there were few
of its pleasure-loving inhabitants who listened
with credulity TO this whisper of fancy, and
even they, dreamed not of anything more dis
countered.
But when the silence which reigned over
tue waters OF the lagunes, had been for many
guys unoroken by single hostile gun, on
SUNDAY The 3lst of July, at midnight, when
,he;.I o .4~sr classes were quietly reposing in
'helr beds, and the higher and gayer circles, as
was was their custom, promenading the illuminated
aHza OF st. Mark, or seated under its ex-
osAoea balconies, carelessly slipping their coffee
or pehng their cigars, no sooner had the bel!
IN the tower of ST. Mark tolled the hour OF
t"elve, and announced the fact that the FIRST oi
august had appeared, than they found them
selves in the midst Of shower Of red hot shot,
more terrible than the eruption of Vesuvius
and Pompeii, and covering at once nearly three.
fourths of the city. In moment all Venice
was aliie. The streets were crowded with
the residents of the invaded section-men
women, and children all hurying toward the
Castille and the public gardens, where the pro.
Jectilves did not reach, and running as il were
The gauntlet through those narrow ways, annie
the shot and rubbish, broken chimneys, ant
severed cornices, that were at every step rat
Ting down about their heads. Yet not com
plant was uttered. not tear shed. The peo
pie OF the exposed districts suartered them
selves upon the occupants of the other sec
lions with as much colnposure as if they hat
been members of one family, nothing wa
heard but lmprecations upon an enemy, who
avoiding the breasts of soldiers ready and will
ing TO receive them, attempted to force a CO
pItutaiiOn upon the town by routing the womeI
and children from their beds, in hope, through
their screams and tears, to accomplish tina
which their personal valor had been unable I,
effect.
The torrent Of ball which continued to fal
necessarily, night and day, had no other resul
than to destroy property and demolish tb,
most beautiful works of archits cture and sculp
ture. On the Grand Canal nearly every
palace was perforated, and some, particu ularly
those OF M0cenigo, which Lord Byron occu
pied, Balbi, Persico, sc, boas, of having re
ceived as many as thirty or forty balls each
A number OF the churches, viz the Frari, the
Scalzi, San Giovannie Paoli, &C., with thei
splendid marble and statuary, suffered severe
y.
The means by which the Austrians succeed
i ed at length III throwing their projectiles into
the city, point which they had endeavored il
| yai for l.sb,
ing San Giuliano, pieces of eighty pounds and
| Paixhan's guns Of the heaviest calibre, and
firing with muzzles raised to considerable ele.
vation; the balls then in descending the parbolic
| curve, would descend and fall within the CITY
| whereas, discharged on level, or aimed di-
rectly at the object, as had previously been
done, in distance of five or six miles, the
balls invariably fell short of their destination,
and sank without effect, beneath the water.
On the lst Of August, the day upon which
this aw full bombardment commenced, two thou
| sand Veneiians made sally from Brondolo,
and after capturing few hundred oxen re.
tired. During the evening the tidings of that
expedition reached Venice, and while the po-
pulation Of that gay capital were quietly seat
ed in the magnificent Fenice under the shower
of red-hot shot-for the theatre was in the in
vaded district-enjoying, as composedly as
though nothing had happened, the performance
of "William Tell," the enthusiasm which The
narrative Of this slight success created was
dispensed with, and the occasion converted
into national festival.
Day after day, increasingly, the cannonad-
ing continues, at many points the bombs set
fire to the buildings, but these are soon ex-
tinguished without much injury, and as the
balls seldom if ever penetrated further than
the roof aud one story, the population are un-
concerned. Provisions became hourly more
scarce, the supply can last but two weeks
longer, and yet the people very quietly say,
"we will hold out until we have nothing more
to eat, and then the Croats may come and
do what they please"
| To add to the horrors of their situation, the
1 cholera broke out among the Inhabitants in It's
most dreadful and malignant form. its ravages,
doubtless, increased, by the scanty and un-
wholesome food upon which they had been
for some time compelled TO subsst; and yet,