Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1874-05-29
Correspondence o. the " orli
End Gi ths Siege OF Bilbao.


BILBAO, May 3.-serrane ana Goa
cha together have at last accomplished
what Serrano alone and Moriones alone
failed to dos and here we are in Bilbao
the siege raised, and the river opened
for navigation, while the Carlists, who
retreated in perfect good order from
the petitions which they had held sc
long but Ehictl they gould hold lie
longer, are still SO near IS that shots
are exchanged every day between thai,
outposts and ours. Their main force
is at Durango or near there. We are
not goingto follow them up at present.
Our victory was not won for nothing
We lost in all our engagements much
more i.eayily than did the enemy. The
men want RESI-, and ,o-- 2 while we
shall do little bat fortify ourselves
here and at Baimaseda and prepare for
the next advance. Their failure at
Bilbao was no doubt severe blow to
the Carlists, but they are by no means
prepared to give mp their game vet.
For ali that o..e .,an see the war may
be protracted for rla2y .,pontks to
come
The history of the operations which
have resulted in the relief of Bilbao is
very interesting, but it can be told in a
: few 1soraS. Gerrano and Concha were
strong enough to dl-ide taeir forces
so IS to make an attack at once upon
the front and on the flank of the Car
list positions. Concha, in fact, turned
these positions and threatened the
, Carl t rear; and under these circum-
staIcac there vas nothing left for the
Carllsts blt d :etreat CQrcha and
Serrano were indebted for Their cue
cess in these operations almost wholly
to their Krupp guns. The great range
of these guns enabled them to keep
their men out of danger until the
Car,ie2tt positions, one by one, were
made unte..aoio.
The operations began .a ,44e =: tt of
April, and on the I'd of May (yester-
day. Marshal Concha entered the long
beleagured city in triumph. The 2Sth,
the Goth, the Both, and the 1st were
spent in Ein2st incessant fighting.
The positions las&iled ~ Marshal
Concha were taken onn' ry one:
while from those assailed by Marshal
SerranO the Carlists fell back slowly,
but without much resistance. When
once their rear had been turned it was
useless for them to fight in front, and
at daylight On the I'd the last detach-
ment OF CarilstS was Withdrawn across
the river, burning the bridge OF boats
which carried them over, and march
ing Oft to join their eos,raaes who had
already proceeded in the direction of
Durango.
Entering the city yesterday after
noon, spent some hours in making
an ex4Iiipat ION of the damage done
during the siege 4nq IL talking with
the inhabitants. The damage is OK
tensisa. but by no means irreparable,
The llice eooiI probably have held
out two weeks longer, Sc far as food
va, concerned. There was no meat
but hcrsehesh, and this was selling at
50 cents per pound. At this rate none
but tho rich could buy it. The bread
had long been 81 q Eery bad quality.
There was no longer apy wheaten
fonf. The bread, such as it was, was
made OF sour Indian corn-meal, oats
and very unwholesome. rhe deaths
among the children and adults of the
poorer classes had been very numer-
ous. Daring the siege $500 shells
and round shot were fred into the
IO"ll, DuJ Llle WuO1c HUMBER CT Elltel
and wounded among the garrison and
the people was 190-an average of
thirty four shell and round shot to one
person. The streets Of Bilbao are
narrow and the houses are six, seven
and eight stories high. Nearly all the
houses have suffered some damage by
the hombarament. The Hotel Brig
ada, which frorte the principal piazza,
is torn to pieces Inside, although the
walls are but little injured. Some
shells passed through the walls and
exploded in the rooms. blowing them
INTO ruins. The Antonio Hotel roceiv-
ed more than twenty shells. Some of
'he houses. were protected by sand bags;
;hese escaped serious injury. Some of
he churches have been greatly in;ur-
ID. The fortificatioas are almost in
act. The lives of many OF The iphab-
tants, 40 doubt, were saved by the
practice which they had of spending
heir days in long railway tunnel
unning under the city, and returning
o their houses to sleep at night, when
he bosnbardment was not going on.