The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-11-28
The English BOmbarilment of IA.
gOSima.

several OF the English Journals have
Numbered denunciations against General
Gilmore for his "barbarity' in throwing
a few Greek-fire shells into Charleston, af-
ter prosecuting regular siege of the city
for at least five months. With reference
to these pious ebulitions of humanity, the
New York EUening Post has the following
to s,V about the recent English lombard
ment of the city of Kagosima, Japan:
"Kagosima contains about one hundred
and eighty thousand inhabitants, accord
ing to European accounts, which is about
the size of Boston, and three times that OF
Charleston; but as the oriental cities are
found to be usually more crowded than
our estimates allow, its population may
and.
Now, admitting the propriety of punish
ing these Daimois and their vessels for
their wanton aggressions upon the rights
Of Notwithstanding the utility of Civ
ing them lesson by burning their ships
of war and demolishing their forts, what
shall we say of the actual conduct of the
British officers? They continued to shell
the city, swarming with men, women and
children, after the forts had been destroy
ed, when all resistance had ceased; after
the greater part of it was in flames and
there was no succor for the people; and
they did not desist until every building in
the place, with few exceptions, was level
ed to the ground.
Of this horrible and bloody vengeance,
thus coolly sums up the work he had done,
in an official dispatch: ...
"The injury inflicted upon the posses
sions and property of the PrinceSof Satsu-
ma, during the operations above described,
may be briefly summed up as follows, viz:
the disabling of many guns, explosions OF
magazines, and other serious damage to
the principal Bate ies the destruction by
fire of the three steamers and and fvelarge
junks before mentioned, the phote Of the
torn of Kogosima and palace cfthe Prince,
together nth the large arsenal and gun fac
iory and adjacent storehOoscs, added to
which may be noticed the injury to many
Of the junks lying in the inner harbor,
caused by explosion of shells which may
have passed over the batteries. The con-
fiagration thus continued with undated
ardor up to the time of the departure OF
the squadron, forty-eight hours suisse
quently to the first attack"
The fire, reports an eyewitness, was
over mile in extent and OF unknown
depth. All Saturday night august l5th)
the factories 'foundries,' 'iunks,' all that
creates the wealth and the prosperity OF
! IN
ly; but still the Smelling went on. On Sun
day the town was on fire, and on Monday,
at . o'clock in the afternoon, the ships, at
the distance Of fourteen miles, could still
see the huge volumes Of smoke rolling up
from the confagration."
The mind refuses to imagine the awful
scene within that devoted town during the
two days in which its innocent and igno'
rant people were exposed to the shell OF
powerful fleet, even while their WOODEN
houses and paper walls were cracking IN
the flames. We say innocent and ignorant
people, because they had nothing to &c
with the oftenses, real or imaginary, OF
| their Prince; they had no voice In the
question of peace and war; they were MOI
enemies either in form or substance; they
were not even rebels, as every man III
Charleston is; and of all that agonlzine
hive of shrieking women and screaming
children, and of men as helpless as thell
wives and babes, not dozen, perhaps
knew why they were thus surrounded py
flames and consumed. They per1sneo
| like the beasts which the savage. In MS
wanton ferocity, drives into corral or oen
and then sets it fire
An act of more unmitigated atrocity
one which more fills the heart with unutter.
able feelings of horror and disgust, cannon
be conceived; and yet the writers OF Lon
don who shreak over the sutferlngs OF 70
land. and profess to see nothing IN Genera
| Rnfler,s administration at New orleans
hut brutal violence, are as silent as tht
crave in regard to these doings OF thel
| countrymen,