Show I BLOODY BATTLE IN PERU The Government and Revolutionary j Forces Come Together at Canta j I The Revolutionists Capture the Town I rAfter r-After a Fierce Struggle r No Quarter Given Dreadful Scenes of ii i Slaughter in tin Captured Town i i I 1 PANmM September 15 The latest advices from Limn give details of the battle at Canta on the the 15th ult On the morning of that day n detachment of Government troops occupying the town of Canta sixty I miles from Lima in a valley running parallel paral-lel to that of the Eimac was surprised by a division of General Caceres army and after a sharp action of several hours was i forced to fly disorder The government I tropps oparatmg against Cantawero 350men of tho line with one gatlinggun 50 cavalrymen cavalry-men and 50 mounted gen darmes the I whole force being commanded by Colonel Torres Canta had been occupied for several days tho montoueroB or irregular revolutionary forces retiring on the approach I of this detachment On Friday evening news arrived of the approach of a considerable consider-able division of the enemy and upon Col Bustamentes advance it was decided to de fend the town On Saturday at 7 a m the hills inclosing Canta were OCCUPIED US THE ENEMY i Apparently 1500 or 2000 strong and with about 200 cavalry Tho latter were stationed at the outlets of the valley leading toward the coast and interior so that from the first the government forces were effectually corralled cor-ralled Colonel Torres had placed his men in the barracks situated in the principal square of the town having also small outlying out-lying squads behind some of the walls in tho suburbs Caceres artillery four small fieldpieces field-pieces opened fire from the hill at Hnyach nllani at halfpast seven and in a few moments mo-ments the firing became general The enemy descended the hill and ATTEMPTED TO ENTER THE TOWN I But were repeatedly driven back For two hours the positions of the combatants were unaltered the fire being all the time very heavy At midday the defenders of the place began to slacken their fire for their ammunition was rapidly becoming exhausted ex-hausted and for an hour they received without with-out reply the volleys of the attacking party At 2 oclock a desperate attempt was made to drive the rebels from the town which they had then entered at the point of the I bayonet This failed and then their defeat was accomplished The fight was hand to I hand in the streets I I NO QUARTER BEING GIVEN And most dreadful scenes of carnage occurred oc-curred Houses where some of the defeated soldiers had taken refuge were broken open and all found within murdered without dis tinction of age sex or character and then I were burned A few of the most determined of the government cavalrymen headed by I Colonel Poems cut their way through their opponents and made good their escape Colonel Bustameute to whose counsel the defeat was due seeing that ALL WAS LOST Blew his brains out on the field of uction I Colonel Feries escaped early in the fight and the government has named officer offi-cer to command the decHHatedCagaruaric Of 500 or 600 men engagedon the government govern-ment side probably 200 escaped by flying to the mountains or following Col Pachas They are still coming in in parties of two or I three Very few prisoners were taken for I as has been stated no quarter was given The Cacderists were commanded by Colonel I Morales Bermudas and it is stated that Caceres with his staff arrived at Canta the I day after the battle The losses of the revolutionary revo-lutionary forces are not known I From the fact that the Cagamaraic battalion bat-talion was decidedly the finest in the government I gov-ernment service the partisans of Caceres here are JUBILANT OVER HIS SUCCESS The 5000 soldiers in garrison at Lima are not at all affected by the reverse and their officers are confident of their loyalty in case of an attack on the city Energetic precautionary precau-tionary measures are being taken Church towers are occupied at night by strong detachments de-tachments of riflemen and the Prefect has given notice offering a reward of from fifty to one thousand silver soles to any one who may denounce the existence of conspiracies or aid the police in their efforts The government force has been withdrawn from Chosica and is now stationed at Santa Clara 15 miles nearer to Lima Nothing positive is known regarding the whereabouts of Cacerea I H |