The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-02-21

,he bes;eeers. and those defeHces were, from
tina moment, in their power. But Saragossa
itself that huge system Of fortresses. was YET
untouched. To win II, it was necessary TO
carry every house, and every room in each
house by storm. Art mad done all j, could,
both ia the attack and the defence, and al II
fate designed TO show that science was no long
er of any avail, the engineer who hac raised
the defences of Saragossa, la young Spanish
officer named San Genis,l and he who had
planned the attack, 1acoste, French oihce'
Of the same age, were both killed on tna' gay
Marshal Lannes bebeld the naked strength Oh
the heroic city, with feelings akin to appreheh'
sion. The veil being rent, he had dis''he'
view of a number of lofty galowses erected I'D
the streets, and swinging from each were se'e-
raj wretched victims, who, IN moments u ~
spair. had dared TO hint that resistance i''us'
necessarily be of no avail. Unwilling ~
.o,n,er ,he fury of men SO we'll prePafeo' 81
ohs,;,s,s and so capable of resor'ing 10 INC
,,s, desnerste expeuients, he resolved u SUN
mon the garrison once more. MS C~;.,,Ia
ram "Santa Engracia. Jan. 2s'h' NaP''''
,;on. Signed Lannes." "9aragoss'' 'o"""''
ooh Gueua ALA cuchlllo," t"ar 10 Tue
knife ~ was the memorable reply VI a'a'oA'
r..;I,irc m ,isk more than was absolutely
a.assa,v especial!y as his troops already be-
Gan to murmur, Lannes resolved TO trust as
c. .s nossible, 10 the slow, but certain, FRO
cess of sapping and mining.
E,oo, this lime, description OF warfare, TO
which there is Do parallel in history, began In
the streets Of Saragossa. The opular pas
sions were reused to the highest pitch by rage,
fanaticism and jealousy, and every person who
became in the slightest degree suspected OF a
desire 10 capilulate, was Instantly sacrificed to
the popular vengeance. A breach having been
effected in the walls of the great churches OF
San Augustin and Santa Monaco on the I'd oil
February, the French carried them, after des
perate struggle, al the point of the bayonet
and endeavored u penetrate into the Cosso.-
Instantly the whole quarter became the scene
of q combat, unexamped for the Jury with
which il was sustained. The scene of this
unparalleled fight was not restricted TO sla.
gle building. In every street, in every house,
in every room, it ragged with murderous fury.
On both Sides as the original combatants tell,
their places were supplied by crowds of their
friends who hurried TO the spot. The dead
and the dying lay in ghastly piles, almost to
the height of the survivors heads, and these
latter, stimulated to flenzy by the ferceness OF
their hatred, climbed, without hesitation,
over the heaps of carcasses, to encounter eacn
other in mortal combat. In this situation the
fearful strife was continued for hours together,
no quarter being given, and the cry for mercy,
if il was ever raised, being drowned in the iu-
rous shouts ofthe combatants. lnsensibte 10
all around them, as were, of old, the two con-
quake, that buried whole cities, DESTROYED
whole districts, changed the courses of the
largest rivers, and leTelled the loftes> noun
tains with the clods of the valley, without its
having been felt by single man of either, the
combatants, the dying, the dead, and the
blu idings in which these frightful scenes were
enacted. were frequently blown into the air
by the explosion ofmDes which had been dug
beneath them. Even Of these explosions The
besieged took advantage, for as each house
fell, it left the besiegers exposed to the shot o.
their garksmen stationed in those which were
nearest 10 it, until the engineers, by reducing
the charge of powder, contrived TO destroy the
interior of the houses, without throwing down
the walls, and sheltering themselves in the
ruins, pushed on their mines and assaults. Still!
the numerous churches were in the hands oil
the Spaniards, and each one of these was q
fortress, which ii was necessary to carry by a
separate assault. The most murderous war
fare took place continually within their sacred
precincts. The parties fought from aisle
to aisle, from pew TO pew, from chamber to
chamber, after the buildings had been unroof
ed by the shells of the besiegers, and carried
on the deadly conflict around the very
nltars, while the shot from the besIegers' guns
were perforating the walls, and the shells from
their mortars, falling through the open space,
were exploding in the midst of the conbatants,
spreading ruin and death around. without pro.
ducng the slightest effect upon their frenzied
passions, or in the least degree shaking their
bloody determination. Not the regular sol.
diers alone, but the peasants, the africans, the
mere hants, all classes, even the very women,
Tough with the most desperate resolution.
This murderous warfare continued for three
weeks, without the slightest intermission, and
had excited the liyeliest discomfort among the
French soldiers, when famine and pestiIence
came to their aid. For forty-two days the
shower Of shells and shot which had rained
upon the devoted city, had known no inter.
mission. Day had been changed into night,
and night had usuIped the incidents of the
day. During the former, deep cloud of smoke
hung over the city, aud shut out the light of
the sun. During The latter, the air was one
uninterrupted blaze, from the flash of the ar,
tilIery, the glare of the falling shells, and the
light Of the burning buildings. All the inha.
bitants who were not actually combating.
were obliged 10 take refuge, from the inces-
SAINT shower of missiles, in the cellars. The
close confinement of so great multitude. the
bad air, the scanty food, the depression Of
mind, conseq Ient upon their desperate condi-
ton, al united to produce an epidemic far