Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-04-02

y - r..
the naine Of nv felOw-citizens OF the hfst
district ! thank you for the compliment PAID
them. They stand above the dictGtion or
chques and party leaders, and vote honestly
and fesrlessly, as their 0iDa judgements may
advise. II loyalty to the South is the eondi-
tion of your regard for them, they via never
4 forfeit Ii, FOR cone what may we are determin-
/ ed to follow her fortune through gloom or
glory, and to defend cor bones and our rights
Z against foreign or domestic invasion.
! Truly your friend, D. l. SPAIN.
THE BOmRARDmENT OF GAETA.
4 A nay IN TrF CRY AFFHR ITS FALL-THE TER-
RIBLK EFFECrS Or WAR.
A correspondent OF the London Times, who
visited Gasta after its eapitulation, gives the
following vivid picture Of the riddlsd city:
There is now. and thsrs has been for the last
81. Hlys, stream OF people coming back 70
ma - deserted and sadly daaridated
,,i,- many 5 in Gseta and the Borgo. The
- but not destitute OF interest.
-. "HAKfAefhe class below the middle,
/, J, age last mOnth ~ are to the spot where
.n9.srror ,S,- s5t5,.77 s5t7A hns all Who have The
novrer to do,t. remove al tlieifgoods and chat
/ tells for a short yilleEgiatura, o. eounsFy sea
SON. Imagine, then, t6e homes OF q least zen
I housaHd-families turned inside onti eQd az
moving in ons-line and IN one direction, sosded
on carts, mules, asses, meas ard Women'e
bseks-rooI and straw mstlresses, chairs,
boxes. bandboxes, pots snd pans, household
! and kitchen furniture Of every description
1 su-srming In one confused mass along the road.
gaw man, an old man, closing procession
Of half dozen lusty fellows, in all likelihood
his sons or grsndsons, all Of them laden with
the insides OF their gutted cottage, all Of them
Z trusted with the conveyance Of objects or the
= AZ ~ rinfm IN
rear with a huge crucihx, wrapped in white
linen cloth, and 50 heavy as almost TO break
the bearers bent back undsr its burden. The
/ new Anchises had taken the oHsshold gods
with him in ais flight be had no faith In their
ability to protect themselves, let alone the
4 dwelling which burnt incense or lit farthing
lamps in their honor.
Alasl FOR the shady side Of war These
poor wretches had heard that the siege was at
an end they laid bold OF what each Of them
I held dearest and are an eager for their return
t-homsl But where is their home? A man
stopped US on the road day before yesterday,
and addressed the staff-ofieer in my company,
/ with when be had struck up something like a
speaking scQuslnt8ncs, With a dolefnl look
that said as plainly as possible, "Whst shall
I do?s "Wsli, how is it, Feiiee ?' said my
I CO mpanion. "Did you fnd much damage done
4 at home % 'Nothing 20 was the pithy an
|
! better luck than many Of your neighbors, I'll
I warrant" "Nothing I said,' retorted the
poor stricken hind, gosdsd out Of bis spiritless
! CONSERVATION by nv friensis misconception OF
] his meaning; al tell you / found nelhing my
house and home are nowhersp ~ Hundreds Of
/ human dwellings will be found equally ami
hilsted, many more rendered utterly inhabita-
I bic within the town, and 10 trifing number
! also fallen or falling in the BOrgo. Ten thou
L. ~ Hrrk knrF CO. ~
] and other sums to no very high amount have
I been subscribed by private charity with
view to relieve the most urgent wants OF these
I sufferers bot a million Of francs would be
! little more than a drop Of water in the sea.
I Luckily these are { light-minded people, ae-
cusEomed to build their huts on the ruins Of the
: novels the earthquake scatters about their
I ears. To escape from calamity is for them
/ to forgive it.
I arrived there in time to witness the en-
trance OF the returning population, bat 1 was
/ too late to witness the exodus OF the scarcely
/ less wrstched garrison. The night was BY no
means less hesrt-rending, but, 1 an told, far
more disgusting. The Neapolitan soldiers
I dragged along with them Bwsrms Of women
and children, as they were not only freely al
I lowed 70 marry and burden themselves with
families, but even to retain such membranes
IN the middle Of all The straits and horrors OF
/ the siege, notwithstanding the means and op
Z portunitiss, and even orders, given them OF re-
l moving the non-comhAtants 20 place Of safe
/ tv and comparative comfort. TIE adhesive
I ness Of these southern Italians, their instinct
Of family Affections feeling almost more an
I imal in them than human--is, however, one Of
the most smisbs features in their character,
I and NAV be turned to the best purposes, though
it is to be regretted, in this instance, that it
should have been INDUCED to the sad detTi-
meat Of the objects themselves Of this unreas-
] sonable attachment Men and women, grown
up persons and infants, all bore the traces less
Of the unavoidable distress Of the siege than
of their swn incorrigibly filthy habits; and OF
the brutal neglect, OF the criminal mismanage-
ment to which they bad been subjected. The
place vas amply provisioned to the last; but
the bread was Of the worst description, the
meat was suffered to rot, the Classmates were
sinks Of indescribsbls foulness; nothing could
exceed the disorder, the filth Of the crowded
hospitals, whatever may be said Of the sol
diers and there is, indeed, evidence that they
stood to their guns or that they returned to
them, even after the most destructive FIRE, CT
the NEST appalling explosion-whatever may
Be thought Of the soldiers, nothing can excuse
the ineapaeity, the laziness, the inhumanity,
Of the cficers. Between the latter and their
men there seems to be no link Of understand
{ itg or sympathy.
While the mass Of ths common prisoners
+ ilsd of, hsggard, starved, sicklT, drunken,
/ broken down, the epsuletted dandiss strutted
out, sleek, serene and unconcernsd with the
4 same cool h0nchGlgBce, the same vsin-giorious
sU agger, the same Triumphant look I Wit
messed among their fellows when 1000 or TO-
I 600 men used TO lay down their arms to one
/ fourth OF fifth their ngfnber Of und sciplined
Garibaldians or even unaTmed CalsbrIsns, and
/ still put bold countenance upon their losing
gams-as il the most dastsrdly dereliction Of
duty, and the most utter loss Of honor, were
! for them matter for a signal triumph. Truly,
neither Asia nor Africa ever exhibited a more
I melancholy spectacle than this ignominiOus
dissolution OF the Nsapolitsn army. l have
seen it melting away like rotten snow from
the opening scene to this last desousnsf Of this
] ingiorious campaign; 80 many years and 50
/ large a treasure TO forge and 10 temper, should
I have proved but 30 worthless a broken reed in
the hands Of those who put their trust in it..
went Yesterday for
the last tize to take long and minute survey
Of the battered place. ! had hitherto found
pleasure rather in viewing ba a'teries, roads,
trenches and parallels, than 10 contemplating
the havoc and desoistien which were the re-
suit Of those ingenious contrivanees. I went
over the grounds with all diligence, neVerths-
less. Ge.a is not Gibraltar, the bill Is not so
steep, the rock not so firm, the batteries not
/ 90 cunningiY screened from vieW-abovs all
things, the Isthmus is no 20 long, the point Of
attack not so far removed, yet there is enough
! IN the insulated ground, in the eramped up
town, In the sandy isthmus, in the general
look Of one place to remind one Of the ap-
pearsnos Of the other.
No part Of the whole mass OF town, fortress,
and bill has entirely escaped the ravsges Of the
artillery which thuneeted at it from The land
side Where the cannon ball did not bit point
I blank, there the bonbshsil fell with dire effect
The besiegers reckon they fred, during the
whole siege, about fifty six thousand shots ;
thirteen thousand in one day alone, the Poi Of
January It Is hardly an exsggeratioa to say
that you may almsst tell he effect Of each pro-
ieetile: you almost cone 10 the conclusion that
not one Of them has been hurled in vain. The
siege Of Gseta, is, believe, the first instance
in which rifsd cannon has been applied on
large scale TO the battering Of walls and bas-
tionI.
The Pisdnontese, as / told you, had reared
eighty OF these new war engines on their bat
teries, and no man who has not seen Il can be-
Iisve the havoc they have caused. / already
described to yoa the condition Of that part Of
, the town I bad ALREADY visited-that narrow
slip stretching from the town gate to the royal
nalac- The houses in this part NAV be said
70 be either altogether blown away or struck
uD all OK a heap; the batteries lining the sea,
. before these houses, and even, in some in
stances, the c~-''pents under them, are a mass
/ OF crumblp -dlns. The royal palace, and
The hlghe. and lower town before It, are stii
standing but there is hardly building. lofty
or lowly, whether jutting out or shrinking
back, that may be said to be unseathed. ! san
several villsinous holes through the roof Of To,
Catholic church, and laore than one Of its win.
dows smashed out Of all shape. As / ascend
ed the bill, the road, the ground, the fencing
walls, the whole mass, nearly up to the sun.
nit, was. here and there, Dlowed Up, leveleC
p )vn, torn ssundsr, destroyed, with violene'
exceeding all ] could imagine az the effect o.
3 mere human contrivsnae. Tie whale hill, az
. 10 the foot OF Rowlandis tower, was stTeWI
. with uFojectiles. Tie round tower was bit il
D more than one spot, and although small bat
3 terv Of four rifed cannon, reared By the Nea
:, politsns on the hill-cTest, had not suffered, ye
there was 10 evidence that no inch Of gToun'
within the peninsula Of Gaeta might be con
sidered as safe from the ensmy's fire. wakes
half way down the bill to the Qleen's battery
and there / mar say one out of four Of thsH
. were dismountsi !, and the parapets were every
. rrhere grievOuslV damaged but / proceeded &