American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1866-08-29
Naval Action of Lissa.

Austrian sauadrons IN the Adriatic:
"Admiral Togethoff, the same who in
May II, 1864, had to retire before the
brave little squadron Of the Dapes in the
action off leigoland, was ON board the
armor plated frigate Archiduke Maximil-
ian; lying off the port of Pola, when
signal from sloop which had been sent
out to cruise denoted some movement of
Importance. There were then under
steam only two wooden ships of the line,
the Kaiser, three decker, aud two deck
er, and an iron plated frigate. With
this moderate force the Admiral put to
sea, and was joined soon after by several
armored gunbcats. When in sight of
Cara he received intelligence that the
Italian fleet, comprising 23 vessels, most
of them iron-plated were about to attack
Lissa. Three other vessels, of which
two had belonged to the fleet of the
Austrian Lloyd's but had been recently
converted into vessels of war, and an ar
rmored corvette joined the Admirals squa-
lron This force, of which the three
decker Kaiser formed the center, took up
its station at some distance from LISA
the guns of which town had on the pre-:
vious evening crippled an Italian armor-
cd frigate. Upon the squadron coming
into sight the firing both on sea and land
became appalling. Four Italian armor-
ell vessels, two frigates, and two corvettes
borne down under full steam upon the
Austrian three-deeker. The action be
came furious, the three decker, eavel-
oped in smoke, appeared like some mon
strous animal Standing at lay against a
pack of hounds. Her gunner5, nearly
all Dalmatiars, and who were not under
fire for the first time, replied to the broad,
sides of their antagonists by fire less
rapid, but better aimed The Admiral.
seeing the danger in which that ship was
placed, went to its aid and directed his
own vessel at full speed upon one of the
large Italian frigates. This frigate al
ready damaged at the water line, was
stove in little above the deck, A great
cry was hcard,a loud camor, an immense
gulf seemed TO open amid the waves,
and then wide-spreading circles were
seen upon the surface of the water,which
had again became smooth. The frigate
had been swallowed up. Its engulfment
was, hewever, marked by glorious epi-
sode A half battalion of Bersaglieri
who were on board, climbed up into the
tops, and while holding on by the ropes,
shouldered their rifles as on parade
ground, and sent fnal voley upon the
deck of the Archduke Maximilian. This
parting farewell produced terrible effects
20 Killed and CD wounded falling
around the Admiral. who seemed to be
invulnerable Scarcely had this event
been concluded, when a fearful explosion
was heard. A shower of iron and wood
en- fragments, nipgIe with portions of
human bodies, fell upon the decks of the
vessels, and an immense wall of water
appeared to rise up near the Kaiser
The Austrian \ Admiral then found that a
hollow shot from one of the guns of the
three decker had caused the explosion of
a second Italian frigate Thus two YES
sells were destroyed, two crews lost, be-
81 lie tther ser Gus damages to the feet
On board the Austrian ships the killed
were numerous, among them being one of
the most distinguished officers of the
AUSTRIAN marine, the Irishlnan, Captain
Eric o Kiln, (sic) Trieste has been il
Illuminated; Spilatro Zara, and Ragusa,
which have furnished the fleet with ma
ny Of its combata1ts. have been decked
out with flags This battle will have
great moral effect, for it is no mystery
that in all the towns just mentioned there
exists party which is seeking to pro.
mote annexation to Italy"
The PatTc also contains the following
letter from Milan, dated July %.
'The feet has at last shaken off its inn
mobility. After quitting the waters of
Ancoua, it proceeded toward the island
of LISA, which 1t bombarded. The Aus
trian feet. although inferior in number,
offered battle to the italian squadron
The information already received is very
confused, but from dispatches recently
arrived we gather some interesting facts.
It appears that on board the Austrian
ships were embarked number of Ty-
rolese sharpshooters, whose fire inflicted
much damage to the Italians. Two of
| tlc itdIldu NCsSCIS are lOSi UuJ Que, Tue
Palestro although the official account
is silent upon the point-was captured
by the enemy and was blown up by its
crew rather than haul down its flag.
Beside the two vessels lost three were
entirely hors de combat The action of
its results was indecisive, but the retire
ment of the Austrians gave an appear
ancc of victory to the Italians. One re-
suit of the action, however, was to de-
monstrate the superiority Of the French
iron plating over that Of other coun-
tries. The Italian squadron com
prised several vessels built and plated in
France, not one Of which suffered. not.
withstanding the terrible fire of the Aus.
trians. On the contrary, all the vessels
constructed in England are in deplora-
BILE condition, and have their armor- -pIa-
ting pierced. The Re d'Italia, which
sunk almost at stroke, was n vessel Of
very large dimensions, quite new, and en-
tirely constructed in English yards"
The Johnsonites prop sc to have
Southern speakers canvass the Nor
| thern States, There would be no