Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1859-10-22
SHOuntaiu Democrat.
LETTER FROM WILD FRESHMAN
IDLEvILLE, Oct II, 1869.


ed to face the storm from which ne, with true
Monarchical selRshness, fed. Still, though
surrounded by gathering foes, though forgot
ten by their Monarch and deserted by their
county, the little army we'll maintained the
hereditary character Of the French for spirit
and valor. Spain, from first to last, was the
soul Of the coalition against Charles but Spain
was peculiarly interested. Ferdinand Of Ara.
gOn had legitimate claim TO the Neapolitan
crown himself Then the late Sovereigns Of
Naples were relatives Of his, being descended
from an illegtimate branch Of the House Of
Ara9on. And besides all this, Ferdinand's
bwn kingdom of Sicily was too contiguous 10
Naples for him easily to permit an asccndency
of French power in that part of Italy No
wonder then that Charles found in Ferdinand
n willy and . persevering foe. And indeed
the superficial French Monarch was no match
for the polite and astutc husband of Isabella
Of CASTLE, ifamong European Monarchs Of the
time his equal could be found at all. Soon A.
Ter the league Of Venice had been entered into,
Ferdinand Of Aragon dispatched small army
hinder the command Of Gonsalyo de Cordova
10 aid in driving the French from Italy. On
Gonsalvo's arrival he found the French Mon
arch had retreated across the Alps; and that
The young King Ferdinand OF Naples, having
CTOSSeu ONcT HOuI CICIII, HAu tHhCU tub uelu
10 make another effort to secure his kingdom.
Gonsalvo Immediately entered into plan Of
operations with Ferdinand, and BY conjunc.
ton Of forces opened the campaign. The first
battle fought was at Seminara, in lower Ca
labria, where the allies were defeated, the Ne
npoltans having fled without striking q blow
Mi,intcrpreting q manO'uver-a fcint retreat
~ the Spanish Cavalry-for defeat, they were
seized with panic and fed to man. The
Spaniards, however, under UonSalvo, main
their fine reputation, yet all their cE
forts were unavailing TO retrieve the fortunes Of
the day. Had the French General D'AubiS.
nv, been able to follow up this blow; the cam
Vaign would have beer short and decisive
But being in feeble health, he was unable to
pursue. Ferdinand made good his escape
back again TO Sicily, and Gonsalvo made good
his retreat to Reggie. We soon find Ferdi.
nand again in the field operating this time
against Charles Viceroy the Duke Of Mont.
pensicr, whom he drove out Of Naples and
finally cornered in Atclla- In the mean
time Gonsalvo, by series Of splendid move.
ments, had taken the Calabrias from the
French, with the exception Of a small corner
where DAugbigny still maintained himself
From this he was called to cid the King OF
Naples in his blockade Of Montpcnsier aud his
army, in Atella, where, by his vigor and mill
tAry skill, he caused the French commander
10 capituAte in very short time. 6Onsaivo
now turned his attention to Calabria again,
where D'Aubigny still maintained himself
The Italians, fascinated with his genius and
AucccSS, hEked to him from all quarters; and
DAugbIgny was compelled 10 follow the
course Of M0ntpcnsier and make the best terms
he could with the cOnqueror for himself and
'!cOwcrs.
And this was the end on his part, ofCharlcs
VII, pretensions to the kingdom Of Naples
Two years before this and Italy vas PROSTATE
Slnler the feet OF the French nOw the French
were kicked out Of every village. Of the
50,0O0 warriors that len France with Charles
mt their bead, the sixth Of them scarcely ever
returned. Over 10000 fell victims to war,
pcstience end famine, in furthering the weak,
wicked and incompetent ambition Of tickle
Monarch.
All thesc rcr Mses do not seem 10 have cured
the French OrFrench Generals Of their passion
for Italian ecngIeNS. For on the death Of
Charles TIII, Louis XII assembled the throne
and asSwmed the NiueS II Duke Of Milan and
King q Naples; and Immediately prepared to
make good the assumption Italy, again di.
'vided, made smooth the footing for the Gauls.
That most PrOAigate FOntiG Alexander VI,
.cOuntenancOd the scheme 50 did Venice like.
wise
Louis, having Murdered ms forces, they
'cnH sed through the mountGn passes Of Savoy
ara descended IKE q torrent on the fair plains
ofLOmbwdy, a0d coDqNcScdfh entire Dutchy
lin fortnight; then he commeAcod laying his
plans for The conQsest q Naples But again
the old fears Of the Spanish Monarch returned.
4'erdnaad beheld WilhNHsaEinssS the progress
'of Louis NaPlesin the POesessiOa40f ~ pow
'crful N0narch would compromise the safety
'of his OwN Sovereignty over Sicily. There
were several ways Of prevailing such Q cen
sumwAiOn. LIE ch0sothe neAnest and baSesG
lie had preGcnS;cnS Ito Naples himself
Therefore he wOuld not snppOrt the protein
Sims Of the present King. hOstiletO his eva.
No wonder be commenced the war single
handed against .IO1is for its Sovereignty p
There rsmSiAed one Other way, which would
!alOMe prcSentTitEelf to the mind Of . rObbsr or
q highwayman, and that wa to divide the
aingdOM botWeen ,thsm. Louis Of .FFaace
ANdlFerdinaRd Of AragOa, did.this, altogether
in cla0ae 1syS-bUt Erederie, who held his
right TO the CrOwa Il Naples through four
MOnarch&
But as might easily have been lOretOld, trey
soon disputed among Themselves Franco
Cb1UsS1 ubUTO ub1h ulCI uIOlcty1 OuU OpAits0 ny
Gh;s GiaSe, waS not in the hum0r To allow it
A resort to arms Was Ahe.cbnGe4uence. The
French being prepared for The war, compelled
the SpaOiardS to 0acatefhc disputed tcTTitOSy.
Gonsalvo, who WAS again q. the head Of the
:SpaniardR, retrcated TO the fortress Of Dar!eta,
where the French threw Away the game by .
want Of energy, foresight and decision. 1SAid
tho EreAch, mesn the General, for the off,
GERS and soldiers were ell q commander eOold
wish for This was the 6rst act Of one Of the
e,most interesting campaigns on record. Vhe
old generous aud mAgnaninOus feeling Of
chivslry had not quite died out; dastards had
not yet learned 40 sneGr at the sentiment An
the nobility and pride Of character &hat ever
distinguished the Spaniard, reached their ze-
NTH It this period. And the honor Of French
gentlemen. in all sgea 70 prOyerhiAl; bat at
this time the ArdOr and poetry Of Medieval
was somewhat sublimsAod and refined by the
Awakenedin6nehccs Of more modern times. It
was the age Of Bayard; aid the knight
."sans oeur OF cans T.prOeAe." Was one e the
army Of Italy.
While the French beciged the Spaniards
in Bsrleta, they OGten mutualyengaged in ex.
ercises Of chvalfy. One Of these meetings
took PlaAO Between eleven Spanish and Is
many French Knights in consequence a some
slurs OF the latter on the Cavalry Of the for
mer. On the appointed day the champions
appeared In the 6eld; armed at all points
Bayard vas aWoOg the French knights. The
fight lasted from ten In the morning un<il sun.