The Camden weekly journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1853-1861, 1855-06-19

in presence of such menace ak resistance WouIa
cease. After succeeding though not wthouta
good deal Of difficulty in placing hlmselSln COM
munication with the defenders OF the cavern,
Col. PeIissier threw out the threat by
Marshal Bugeaud. The zArsbs. laughed at it,
and one Of theFrencll flags of>truce was even
killed BY theu.
A commencement of the project was made,
in the idea TINT therindifferenee only arose from
the certainty which they entertained that the
threat would rot he put in execution. Heaps OF
dry woud aud straw were thrown from the tops
of the kantara in trout Of the caves. The ka-,
byles removed them, according as they we're
flung down, but the fire Of the French having
driven them back iuto the caves, these com6us-
tibles after while made vast heap, to. which
j, now only ren,aiued to apply the tre No
sigrs of surrender on the part of the Arabs
having been made, fire was at length thrown on
the pile. As if it did not wish to associate IT.
self with the horrors of this human butchery, 1t
long refused'to communicate itself to the COM
bustitle masses piled by the French at the en-.
trance of the caverns A few Arabs escaped,
and went to short distance to obtain water.
Il was expected that Others would follow them,
and that the whole body would then submit
This was a vail,-hope Just as the sun began
to Quit its zenlh, breeze arose, which blew d.
rectly in the direction Of the entrances to the
Dnar. The smoke began to whirl and curl IN
I the air, the flames burst forth and were drawn
BY the current into the caverns Many thought
that the Arabs had fed by some secret issue,
or a, least that they had found retreat where
tb ctnfo nf
uncertainty lasted all night
At daybreak a company, composed p&tly OF
arti lAry aud partly Of engineers, received orders
to penetrate into the caves. A melancholy 81:
lence, broken by distant means, prevailed there.
At the eitrance, the animals, whose heads had
been covered over to prevent them from seeing
or making II noise, lay reduced to cnders. Then
were beheld fearful groups which death had
seized upon Here a mother had been suffoca.
ted Just as she was defending her child against
the fury of bull, whose horns she still held,
and whom the fire had stiAed at the same time.
To add to the horror Of the scene, the naked
corp>es poured forth their blood by the mouth,
and bv their attitudes attested the dreadful
character of the death struggle. Here, two
spo,lses, or two lovers were locked in each 9TH
er's arms. New born children lay amongst the
chests and the prvvisorN, and in other places
were concealed in the garments, of the mothers
In fne scattered in every direction were to be
seen nutated MASSES Of human flesh, trampled
under foot during the struggle of the night, and
! forming altogether a Sort Of human ragout.
When all these horrors were related to the
,, Colonel be- did not sceln 10 believe them. He
se,t his staff to assure themselves of the iact.-
Ii was still more appalling when the caverns
w>re emptird Of the corpses and booty which
they contained. There were more than six
hundred dead bodi.s in them. The greatest
Consideration lervaded the column; 1t Is saul
however, that the, soldiers were not ashamed to
profit by tile <poil> Of the martyrs Of Darll.el'
Frrschch We atsch no credit to the state
mcn.. However this may be, Col. PelisSier has
had fixed upon him hy this deed a terrible name.
IL is Certain that in giving orders TO smoke the
caverns he WAS far from expecting such fearful
result.
With an incredible degree of heroism, the
Governor General took upon him. in the face of
outraged public opinion, the responsibility of the
command.
It should be added, that aboat year after
the occurrence above related, Colonel Pessier
signalized himself at Mostaganem by another
feat of the same description, by cutting Oft the
stream which supplied with water another tribe,
who had taken refuge in some of the mountain
caves. In tie same year, as reward for these
meritorious services, he was made general and
commandant of the division of Mostaganem. In
the autumn of 1853 we find him beSieging
Laghouat, in the Sahara Of the province Of Al
giers, which he stormed December p with some
loss. =. The flags taken at Laghouat by Gen.
Pelissier were deposited on the 30th OF Dec,
1852, at the invalidos. The General has been
several times Governor General dd interim Of
Algeria. He.is from fifty to fifty-four years OF
age, of a. harsh, violent and energetic character,
and is generally detestcd by the army. Such is
the new chief whom LOUIS Napoleon has selec-
ted for the important and responsible post lately
held BY General Canrobert. The choiceis, per
haps,s a good ole under the circumstances
GENERAL cANRoBERr THE OLD COMMANDER IN.
CHIEF .=--
Francois Canrubcrt was bornyin 1903, in the
deparln n,ent Of Lot, some leagues from the villa.
ge where Murat first saw The light. He entered
tie school Saint Cyrin the month Of November
1925, aud obtained the highest:honors in that
establishment! In 1928 he was appointed to
the sub;lieutenancy ofthe 47th regiment Of the
line, and was made lieutenant in 1882: In 1885
he embarked for rics,.and arrived in the prov
ince Of Oran, and iii a short time accompanied
the expedition to Muscara, where be first distin-
guished himself. By the part he took at the
capture Of Tlemcen, the expeditions to ehelif
and Nina, resictualing of,neInceh, the battles
of Sidi, Yacoub, Tafna Sikkak, Canrobert gained.