Glasgow Courier. — 1860-10-04 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

THE CAPIIAN REVERSE.  The following is an extract of a letter from Mr Edwin James, relating to the fight at Capua : "Santa Maria, Sept. 21.—The repulse sustained by Garibaldi's troops on Wednesday may, and probably will, be retrieved by future successes; but it was a reverse, and a serious one—not so much from the fact that rave troops were compelled to retire before the murderous fire of the Nrifolitan artillery but as proving a total want of orgisnisation and disci:. pline among a considerable portion of his army, and their incapability to contend against disciplined troops. The truth should be told in England, and Garibaldi is the last man who would wish it to be concealed. His consummate skill as a guerilla chief, his undaunted personal courage, the celerity of his strategetical movements, equaling those of Napoleon in his first Italian campaign, have been proved; but when he hesitates not to proclaim his intention to meet the legions of Austria in the field, all who desire his success in the noble enterprise he has undertaken must wish that he should know the material of which a portion of his army is composed, and whether he can rely upon them in such battlefields as Solferino or Magenta. That Gen. Breslau was deficient in military skill; that he allowed that which was intended as a mere feigned attack upon Capua to become an actual attack upon such a fortress without any artillery at his command; that be exposed young troops to a cruel and murderous fire for hours, against which many of them stood firmly, and courageously; that he ought and probably will have to answer for these defaults before a courtmartial may be true. But the fearful panic which spread through the troops at the sight of Neapolitan Hussars issuing from Capua, covering artillery, and approaching the gate of Santa Maria, and which spread like a 'fire in the prairie' to other regiments, who had not even seen the cavalry—the wild flight led by officers, who seized the carriages intended for .the wounded and galloped wildly through the streets of Santa Maria, along the high road to Caserta ! soldiers who left the road instead of forming to resist the attack, and ran across fields and through vineyards !—these scenes, which I uitnessed, conyinc,ed me of a want of discipline, organisation, and of courage, which will demand the earnest attention of the great chief in the remodelling the large number of soldier& who have voluntarily joined hih-stan.  dard. Capua may capitulate or nray fall: the prestige of his name, • Unmusical to Volscian ears,' may do. it has done, much; Gaeta may surrender, the King may fly, and probably Will, but the moral effect upon an army i produced by the events of Wednesday last is not n a moment removed. Garibaldi was far from the scene. He had gone with his staff_ to the west of Capita, along the ridge of mountains which command a panoramic view of the city and surrounding country. General Eber, with about 2,000 men, had followed him. General Turr, with a considerable force, was, as we cordd hear from the heavy firing quarter, engaged about six miles off, on thesouth-west side of the city, in endeavouring to force the river Volturno, and the whole made with Out plan, order, or 4 any kind. I forma a regi-3 fire under the walls of an old in command told me that he could get none. A shell was bursting on the other side The men were willing _ was helping tdthe best f the hos., the men who