New Orleans daily crescent., 1859-06-30
Incidents of the War,
A recent letter from Florence says:

recent letter from Florence says:
The camp at the Cascine presents scene of un
speakable variety, froc and fun at the time of the
promenade towards evening. Imagine a green field
with eight or ten Thousand men, ard five or six hun
dred horses, encamped with tents, arms and accou
trements, and all the appurtenances of life, in the
open air the men cooking, bivouacking, dining,
sleeping drilling, playing-engaged, in short, in all
pursuits that duty imposes, or free will whim and
pleasure suggests. Imagine, | say, this camp, in all
this show and dishabille, invaded by fifty or sixty
thousand men, women and children, from the high
dressed court lady in her chariot dispensing smiles
and cigars to the berators OF Italy, to the tattered
mendcant and vagabond, hobbing after the smoking
soldier with hope to come in for the stump of the
cigars aforesaid
The French had portioned out the ground amongst
| them. Each regiment had its own camp, each camp
its line of tents, each line of tents its long row of
taisceaur OF muskets or rifles, and to each row of
rifles muskets certain number of sentres to pro-
tect the privacy of their quarters and keep back the
Florentnes-proverbally the most curious people on
earth Talk of keeping back the Florentines, in.
deed The poor sentries had no sinecure it. The
people peeped in at ten thousand chnks, crannies
and corners the tide threatened here, it swayed
there-t broke in here and there at every point the
crowd peeped in under the tents round the bivouac
fires, in the very pans and pots where the victuas
were cooking The soldiers showed unconquerable
good humor. Some of the chasseurs were determined
the people had come in to see something that they
| would get up show for the people.
A game of blind mans buff is proposed. Three or
four of the soldiers are bindfoded and armed with
ropes end-a formidable lash. Several of their COM
rades and by degrees the boldest amongst the popu
lace, step forward to PINCH and snub, and prick and
by all manner of contrivances tease and worry them
They blind and helpless, devoted victims, butts
for the malice Of the multitude. Ah, but they have
the lash Beware of the lash Every hit of the
formidable lash raises a shout from the admiring
multitude. These are our pastmes in Florence every
afternoon. This is camp life.
letter from Casale, in the Saiut Public of IynRs
says: met in the PlbzH SayeYUh6d on his shoulder,
the soldier stroking, the sparrow chirrupping. You
breed birds, my brave tellow?a said |. The man
smiled, and answered, This is an orphan from Mon.
tebello The day of the fight, on leaving the village,
we chased the Austrians the fields. Bullets
whised among the trees like hail. and the bird, quite
young, being terrified, fell from its nest my arm.
thrust it into my shako which had been pierced
through by two balls, and thought of it until
on retiring felt something scratch my head and then
sad my little prisoner, and to the surprise and
great amusement of my comrades produced him. l
have kept him snce and now we love each other
dearly-do we not, Montebello.n And as he spoke he
held out his finger to the bird, which hoped on it
without hestation.'
men OF all classes are placing property and money at
the disposal OF the government to help in defrayng
the expenses, ETC., of the army. Many absurd anec
dotes are told of the volunteers. young officer was
sitting in cafe when private passing by called him
out, and began scolding him. The officer listened
respectfully, and soon after went in again to his
friends "Why.;' said they, do you allow COM
mon soldier to speak to you in that manner "."Oh"
replied he, that's my father. When the war broke
out was ordered to the frontier, and having no one
else to care for he volunteered into my regiment of
course he was obliged to enter the ranks and having
passed through the military schools, already an
officer.