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SKOBELEFF SOON AFTER GEOK-TEPE. 
 
SKOBBLEFF 
 
 AND 
 
 THE SLAVONIC CAUSE 
 
 BT 
 
 0. K 
 
 HONORA-RY member of the benevolent SLAVONIC SOCIETY 
 AUTHOR OF ' RUSSIA AND ENGLAND 
 
 LONDON 
 LONGMANS, GEEEN, AND CO. 
 
 1883 
 
 All rights reserved 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Skobeleff's biography has not yet been written, and 
 the materials upon which I found this poor tribute to 
 the memory of our Slavonic hero are very incomplete. 
 I cannot pretend to have produced more than a short 
 sketch, and a most imperfect one, of the brief but 
 glorious career of him who has already become a 
 legendary hero of the Slavs. 
 
 The cause for which SkobelefF fought in Bulgaria 
 was a very precious one to me as to thousands of 
 Russians. On my present visit to England I was 
 happy to see that the generous sympathy expressed 
 in this country at the moment of SkobelefF's death 
 still existed, and that many of my English friends 
 were still anxious to learn ' something more ' of him. 
 That is precisely what I venture to offer. 
 
 Even that humble task I have undertaken with 
 much diffidence. Written under the pressure of 
 many troubles, far away from those whose ample 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 knowledge of Skobeleff and his work could guide my 
 pen and my reminiscences, I am painfully impressed 
 with the shortcomings of this book. But, with all its 
 imperfections, I venture to trust that it will enable 
 Englishmen to realise something of the character of 
 my famous countryman, as well as of the cause 
 to the service of which he dedicated his life, and 
 without which he could never have been entirely our 
 own Skobeleff. 
 
 0. K. 
 
 London : December, 1882. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 SKOBELEFF AS SOLDIER. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. BIETH AND EDUCATION . . . . .3 
 
 II. IN CENTEAL ASIA 10 
 
 III. THE CROSSING OF THE DANUBE 33 
 
 IV. PLEVNA 43 
 
 V. IN CAMP AND IN FIELD . . . . . .110 
 
 VI. THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS 148 
 
 VII. IN SOUTHEBN BULGARIA 176 
 
 VIII. GEOK TEPi ......... 194 
 
 PART II. 
 
 SKOBELEFF IN POLITICS. 
 
 I. THE SLAVONIC CAUSE 223 
 
 II. THE ST. PETERSBURG SPEECH ... 253 
 
 III. SKOBELEFF IN PARIS 
 
 IV. RUSSIA AND GERMANY . . . . 
 
 V. RUSSIA AND AUSTRIA ... . . 
 
 VI. RUSSIA AND ENGLAND 
 
 VII. SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM 
 
 VIII. DEATH ..... • 
 
 263 
 285 
 299 
 320 
 338 
 379 
 
via CONTENTS. 
 
 APPENDICES. 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 skobeleff's orders of the day 393 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 BARON FREDERICKS ON RUSSIAN INSTITUTIONS AND RUSSIAN 
 
 NIHILISTS . . . 401 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 LETTER FROM WIDDIN ON THE BURIAL OF THE REMAINS OF 
 
 NICHOLAS KIR^EFF ....... 407 
 
 POETRAIT. 
 
 SKOBELEFF SOON AFTER GEOK TEP^ . . . Frontispiece 
 
PAET I. 
 
 SKOBELEFP AS SOLDIEE. 
 
 1. BIRTH AND EDUCATION. 
 
 2. IN CENTRAL ASIA. 
 
 3. CROSSING OF THE DANUBE. 
 
 4. PLEVNA. 
 
 5. IN CAMP AND IN FIELD. 
 
 6. PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 7. IN SOUTHERN BULGARIA, 
 
 8. GEOK TEPE. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 BIRTH AND EDUCATION. 
 
 Skobeleff born 1843— Pronunciation of Skobeleff— The Skobeleff 
 family — His parents- — Russian women — Home-training — His first 
 tutor — Sent to a Paris pension — M. Girarde — At St. Petersburg 
 University — Joins the army^In Poland — Dano-German war — 
 Central Asia. 
 
 Michael Dmitrievitch Skobelefe^ was born at St. 
 Petersburg on September ^f, 1843. His grandfather, 
 as he used frequently to remind his troops, had been 
 a private soldier, and won his rank as general by his 
 own sword. His great-grandfather, Nikita, was a 
 sergeant in the army at the close of last century. 
 Beyond his great-grandfather Skobeleflf did not trace 
 his pedigree. ' Family never made men great,' was 
 his democratic remark ; but the soldierly instinct 
 which he inherited from his ancestors contributed not 
 a little to the success of his career. His grandfather, 
 Ivan, did not win his promotion easily. He was 
 
 ^ Skobeleff's name is accented on the first syllable. In the ma- 
 jority of Russian three-syllabic names the accent falls on the second : 
 Romdnoff, Souvdroff, Derjavine, Pojdrsky, Aksakoff, Lobdnoif, &c.; 
 but some have the accent upon the third syllable, as Chomiakdff, 
 GortchakdfF, &c., and others on the first, as Skdbeleif, Kdusheleff, &c. 
 
 Tl 2 
 
4 BIRTH AND EDUCATION. 
 
 covered with horrible scars, and he left at least one 
 limb on the field of battle. Ivan Skobeleff was a 
 general of infantry, and at one time governor of the 
 fortress of St. Petersburg. He was more than a 
 general ; he was also a dramatic author, and in his 
 day, his plays, specially written for military audi- 
 ences, were very popular in the army. 
 
 Skobeleff 's love for poetry, like his genius for 
 war, was hereditary. 
 
 Ivan Skobeleff had two daughters and eight sons. 
 Most of his children died in infancy. One of the 
 daughters married the aide-de-camp of the Emperor, 
 Colonel Opotchinine, grandson of the celebrated 
 Prince Koutousoff- Smolensky. His seventh son, 
 Dmitry, became a cavalry lieutenant-general, dis- 
 tinguished himself in the campaign against the Turks 
 in Asia Minor, and received the Order of St. George 
 of the fourth class. 
 
 Dmitry Skobeleff mari'ied the beautiful and grace- 
 ful Miss PoltavtsefF. They had one son and three 
 daughters. The eldest married Prince Bel6sselsky- 
 Belosersky ; the second, M. Scheremeteff ; and the 
 third, the Prince Eugene Romanoffsky, son of the 
 Grand Duchess Mary and the Prince of Leuchten- 
 berg, and first cousin of the Emperor. 
 
 Dmitry Skobeleff was a Russian of the Russians. 
 Stern, severe, respectful to old traditions, but kind- 
 hearted and passionately attached to his brilliant 
 son. There existed between them to the last hour the 
 most perfect sympathy and affection. But I think 
 
HOaiE TRAINING : HIS GEKMAN TUTOK. 5 
 
 tlie moulding influence of his life was that of his 
 mother. 
 
 I hope I may be pardoned for confessing that it 
 often struck me that the Russian women have quali- 
 ties which are less frequent in women of many other 
 countries. They are more idealistic and self-sacri- 
 j&cing, more real and less conventional. There are 
 exceptions, of course ; besides I am, probably, very 
 partial. But the number of superior women who 
 impress me, as I used to be impressed by the intel- 
 ligence of George Eliot, is, I think, greater in Russia 
 than in many other parts of the world. 
 
 I did not know Madame SkobelefF intimately 
 enough to speak of all her qualities from personal 
 observation. She chiefly lived at St. Petersburg, I 
 at Moscow ; but the latter events of her life proved 
 of what she was capable. She was very fond of her 
 children, and from her Skobeleff learned to love 
 poetry, of which he was passionately fond. His 
 favourite modern poets were Byron and Schiller. It 
 was under the superintendence of his mother that 
 he learnt to love to read, but his first tutor was a 
 German. 
 
 This good man was a severe martinet, who flogged 
 his pupil for the least fault. Skobeleff^, who, from 
 his youngest days, was of an mdependent, passionate, 
 and extremely active temperament, was irritated at 
 this treatment, and a bitter feud grew up between 
 the tutor and the boy. Skobeleff" played no end of 
 tricks upon his master, and the latter retaliated in 
 
6 BIRTH AND EDUCATION. 
 
 liis own way. Matters came to a crisis when the 
 young Michael was twelve years old. He had 
 ridden off one day to pay a visit to a little girl of 
 his own age, to whom in boyish fashion he was 
 paying his court, when the hated tutor appeared 
 and slapped the face of his truant scholar in the 
 very presence of his lady-love. The poor boy, 
 blinded with passion, struck out at him with all his 
 might. 
 
 After that fracas the father saw that it Avas of 
 no use persisting with the German tutor, who, 
 with all his cruelty, could not reduce the child to 
 order. 
 
 He dismissed the German, and sent his son to a 
 boarding school in Paris, kept by M. Desire Girard^. 
 The change for young SkobelefF was indescribable. 
 He found sympathy in place of brutality, kindness 
 for cruelty, and constant incentives to diligence in 
 place of the savage blows of his German pedagogue. 
 M. Girarde soon won the love and confidence of his 
 pupil. The turbulent young Russian became the 
 most devoted and assiduous of scholars, and a lifelono- 
 affection grew up between them which was onty ter- 
 minated by the death of the younger. Even to the 
 last Skobelefi", the hero of a hundred combats, and the 
 idol of the Slavonic world, never ceased to speak wdth 
 the reverence and humility of a pupil of his old 
 teacher. Girarde followed him to St. Petersbu.rp: 
 and has remained attached to the family ever since 
 He was with him in Bulgaria during the war, and 
 
AT THE UNIVERSITY: IN POLAND. 7 
 
 followed him to Paris on the famous visit which 
 created so much excitement in Europe.^ 
 
 Girarde used to say that, if Skobeleff had not 
 become a soldier, he would have been a scholar, so 
 devoted was he to learning, and so remarkable his 
 mastery over books and languages. Girarde taught 
 Skobeleff to make a religion of duty. It was a good 
 lesson, and one which he never forgot. 
 
 His parents, wishing him to finish his education 
 in Eussia, brought him to St. Petersburg. The 
 St. Petersburg University was in 1861 infected with 
 foolish and subversive ideas. The students fancied 
 it would be much better to arrange political demon- 
 strations than to study their lessons. Skobeleff was 
 too well trained and too intelligent not to see the 
 folly of all these disorders, and never lost his own 
 ground. He remained from the first to the last true 
 to his duty, to his Tzar, and his country. But the 
 disorders continuing, the Government was forced to 
 close the University, and Skobeleff's university 
 studies were cut short before their time. 
 
 He then entered the army as first ensign in a 
 horse regiment of the Guards. In 1863 he was made 
 an officer, and went off with this regiment to Poland, 
 where an insurrection was breaking out. He was 
 
 ' Mr. Rose, writing in the Fortnightly Bemew, Oct. 1882, on the 
 'Russian Bayard,' speaks thus of Girarde : — 'I had frequent oppor- 
 tunities of meeting with this excellent man. Possessing little of the 
 sprightliness of his race, he was reserved, shy, and unobtrusive in the 
 presence of strangers, but en famille frank and animated in conver- 
 sation, which displayed, though not pedantically, his profound learning 
 and varied reading ' (p. 406). 
 
8 BIRTH AND EDUCATION. 
 
 stationed with the hussars at Grodno, and had his 
 first experience of actual fighting in the affair of 
 Mekhoff. At Mekhoff, and throughout the whole of 
 the campaign, Skobeleff, although only twenty years 
 old, displayed such remarkable courage and ability as 
 to win high praise from his commander. He received 
 a sword of honour for the gallantry which he dis- 
 played at the successful action in the forest of Rad- 
 kovitz, when the band of Shemiote was dispersed. 
 He remained in Poland till the insurrection was at 
 an end, and then, there being nothing more to do, 
 he returned to St. Petersburg and entered the 
 staff academy, where he distinguished himself by his 
 vmcommon abilities. 
 
 In 1864 he had his first experience of regular 
 warfare us a spectator, when he followed the course 
 of the Dano- German campaign, and witnessed the 
 first success of the needle-gun. He then returned t(5 
 St. Petersburg, finished his course, and afterwards 
 went on active service in Central Asia. 
 
 Skobeleff was drawn to Central Asia, not only by 
 the opportunity which it afi"orded for an adventure 
 and of distinction, but because, unlike many military 
 authorities, he thoroughly believed that the art of 
 war could nowhere be so well learnt as in active war- 
 fare, even against insignificant foes. 
 
 ' The first essential,' he used to say, ' to a general 
 or to any officer, is the habit of being accustomed to 
 danger* and the responsibility of command under fire.' 
 These habits, he held, were acquired in irregular war 
 
CENTRAL ASIAN WARFARE. 9 
 
 in Central Asia, in Algeria, in Afghanistan. Having 
 once acquired them, a general has secured one great 
 secret of success in regular war, and which more than 
 counterbalances the danger that his previous ex- 
 perience will encourage him to take undue liberties 
 with his foes. 
 
10 IN CENTRAL ASIA, 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 IN CENTRAL ASIA. 
 
 Central Asia as a school of arms — Skobelefl' in Samarkand in 1869 — At 
 Krasnovodsk — The march on Khiva — His first wound — First to 
 enter Khiva — A reconnaissance in the desert — Mission to Khokand 
 — The Khan and his treasure carts — The battle of Makhram — An- 
 nexation of Namangan — Revolt of Abdurrahman — Capture of An- 
 dijan — A night attack on his pursuers — Khokand in revolt — Second 
 capture of Andijan — Annexation of Khokand — Governor of Fer- 
 ghana — His career in Central Asia — Slandered and vindicated. 
 
 What India is to England and Algeria to France, 
 Central Asia is to us — a school of arms, a training 
 ground for soldiers, where a handful of AVesterns 
 hold sway amidst millions of Asiatics. These vast 
 regions conquered for civilisation by European arms 
 of precision, secured from anarchy by European 
 habits of administration, offer an irresistible attrac- 
 tion to ambitious and restless youth. 
 
 To Turkestan, therefore, Skobeleff" hastened as 
 soon as he had completed those military studies of 
 which he was destined to make such excellent use in 
 later years. He had learned the art of war theoreti- 
 cally in the Academy of St. Petersburg. He went to 
 complete his studies by practical experience in the 
 rough apprenticeship of Central Asian warfare. 
 
SAMARKAND AND KRASNOVODSK. 11 
 
 It was in the year 1869, when he was twenty- 
 six years of age, that he began his military career in 
 Asia, under General Abramoff, a gallant and active 
 officer who raised himself from the position of a sub- 
 captain to that of Governor of Samarkand, where he 
 greatly distinguished himself by his bravery, energy, 
 and justice. It was a good school for the young 
 Skobeleff to serve under such a commander, and he 
 learned his first lessons of Oriental war in Abramoff' s 
 expedition on the borders of Bokhara. 
 
 Soon afterwards he was removed from General 
 Abramoff's command and attached to the troops under 
 the command of Colonel StoMtoff, at Krasnovodsk. 
 Colonel StoletofF is the officer whose visit to Shere 
 Ali in 1878 had such disastrous consequences, both 
 for the Afghans and for the .English. 
 
 StoletofF placed him in command of a detachment 
 of cavalry, and entrusted him with several important 
 reconnaissances. 
 
 He was not long in developing those extraor- 
 dinary faculties of observation which served him so 
 well in his after life. Nothing escaped his vigilant 
 eye. He discovered wells, before unknown, in sandy 
 steppes ; he mapped out new caravan routes ; he 
 sketched valuable plans, and made many geographical 
 discoveries in the then unknown regions between the 
 Caspian and the Aral. 
 
 After doing good service at Krasnovodsk, he 
 returned to St. Petersburg, and was attached to the 
 staff of the Guards. His promotion was rapid : in 
 
12 IN CENTRAL ASIA. 
 
 1872 being named aide-de-camp to the chief of the 
 staff of the 22nd division of infantry with the rank of 
 captain. Some months afterwards he was appointed 
 to the command of a battalion in the Stavropol regi- 
 ment by order of the commander of the army in the 
 Caucasus. 
 
 When SkobelefF returned to Central Asia, he found 
 everything being put in train for the Khivan expedi- 
 tion. Four columns were to converge from different 
 points upon the robber Khanate. General Verevkine 
 commanded the column which started for Orenburg, 
 General Lomakine led a third column for Mangishlak 
 on the Caspian, while the fourth, under Colonel 
 MarkosofF, started from Tchikishlar. 
 
 The expedition set off in March, 1873. Alto- 
 gether we put 14,000 men into the jfield, of whom 
 3,500 were Cossacks, with fifty-four guns, not includ- 
 ing some ten or twelve mitrailleuses, rocket tubes and 
 mortars, and nearly 20,000 camels. Colonel Marko- 
 soff's column started on March ^f , and recoUed from 
 the waterless steppe on May ^ at Ivrasnovodsk, 
 without camels or provisions, with every man ill. 
 
 The northern column, to which SkobelefF was 
 attached, was more fortunate. Its formation was 
 an afterthought. General Kaufmann at first was op- 
 posed to the advance from Orenburg or the Caspian, 
 but he yielded, and on ^^^ the order was given 
 to the army of the Caucasus to prepare a detachment 
 for an advance on Khiva from Mangishlak, on the 
 Caspian. 
 
THE KHIVAN EXPEDITION. 13 
 
 The order was joyfully received, and on April 
 ^ Colonel Lomakine had a small, but compact, 
 body of men ready to start. It consisted of 2,000 
 men, with six guns. Skobeleff, now a lieutenant- 
 colonel, marched at the head of the vanguard, leading 
 the way across a desert hitherto unknown to our 
 soldiers. The heat was intense. The thermometer 
 stood sometimes at 149 degrees Fahrenheit, and the 
 Kirghiz, believing it impossible for Europeans to 
 traverse a region which at that period of the year 
 even desert-born nomads found insupportable, oflfered 
 no serious opposition to our troops. 
 
 In twenty-nine days Colonel Lomakine's column 
 had marched 400 miles of desert, for the most part 
 unexplored. The last seven days they had made 
 forced marches, but they effected their junction with 
 General Yerevkine at Kungrad in good time and 
 excellent spirits. 
 
 It was in this march across the steppe that 
 Skobeleff received his first wound. Riding as usual 
 in advance of the column, he galloped with a dozen 
 Cossacks up to an encampment of the Kirghiz 
 Tartars. He was received with a volley of musket 
 balls. Nothing daunted, young Skobeleflf, followed by 
 his twelve brave followers, charged the Kirghiz. 
 
 There were 100 of them, with 180 camels and a 
 large store of provisions. After a desperate struggle, 
 they fled across the steppe, but not before they had 
 inflicted six slight wounds with spears and sabres 
 upon Skobeleff. Fortunately the wounds, although 
 
li IN CENTRAL ASIA. 
 
 numerous, Avere not severe, and the next day he was 
 on horseback heading the advance of his column 
 across the plain. 
 
 After reachmg Kungrad, Colonel Lomakine's 
 troops were joined to the Orenburg column under 
 General Yerevkine. The united forces, numbering 
 5,000 men, with 10,000 camels, left Kungrad on ^^47' 
 and marched on Khiva. They had, on their way, 
 repeated encounters with Khivan troops, in all of 
 which Skobeleff displayed his usual gallantry. On 
 ^^* they arrived in the neighbourhood of the north- 
 ern gate of the capital of the Khanate, and there they 
 halted, waiting for General Kaufmann. 
 
 After two days General Verevkine determined 
 to attack. The town was bombarded on j^^' and 
 the bombardment was continued the next day. 
 SkobeleiF was then ordered to storm the north 
 gate. He had only two companies under his orders, 
 but he fulfilled his mission with such skill and 
 audacity that he succeeded in forcing his way in the 
 city. He was the first within the walls. He cleared 
 the streets with rockets, penetrated to the palace, 
 and carried off three cannon to his camp. General 
 Kaufmann then entered from the south, and was 
 acclaimed as conqueror of Khiva. The honour of 
 this campaign was, however, shared by the northern 
 columns, and in these columns no one distinguished 
 himself so much as Lieutenant- Colonel Skobeleff 
 who was then only in his thirtieth year. 
 
 Before any troops withdrew from the Khanate for 
 
MISSION TO KHOKAND. 15 
 
 however strange it may appear to those who con- 
 stantly accuse us of breaking our word in annexing 
 Khiva, there is not one Russian soldier in Khiva to 
 this hour — Skobeleff volunteered to go on the first 
 of those madcap expeditions of his which made 
 him so famous. 
 
 Colonel Markosoff's expedition had failed to 
 penetrate the desert between Tchikishlar and Khiva. 
 SkobeleiF undertook to make a reconnaissance of the 
 region over which Colonel Markosoff's column had 
 found it impossible to advance. General Kaufmann 
 gave him permission, and on August ^, he started 
 from Zmukshir, and attended only by three Turkoman 
 guides he penetrated the steppes as far as Ortakuya. 
 Seven days afterwards he returned to Khiva, having 
 ridden 378 miles across a hostile country, without 
 escort, never knowing where he would find water for 
 himself or his horse. This exploit made a great sensa- 
 tion, and, in recognition of his bravery and darmg, 
 he was appointed aide-de-camp to the Emperor, and 
 decorated with a St. George's cross of the 4th class, 
 the first decoration, and perhaps the most prized, of 
 the twenty-nine which were borne behind his bier on 
 that day of sorrow when all Moscow followed Russia's 
 hero to his last resting-place. 
 
 In the following years SkobeleiF was in Turkestan, 
 and trouble being anticipated in Kashgar, an embassy 
 was sent to Khokand to secure the passage of our 
 troops through the Khanate. The envoy, M. Vein- 
 berg, was accompanied by Colonel Skobeleff and 
 
16 IN CENTRAL ASIA. 
 
 twenty Cossacks as escort. The special mission with 
 which Skobeleff was charged was the exploration of 
 the pass of Terek Davan, leading from Khokand to 
 Kashgar. 
 
 Our mission arrived at Khokand on July ^f, 
 1875, just as the rebellion of Abdurrahman Afto- 
 batcha was breaking out against Khudayar Khan, the 
 cruel and worthless ruler of Khokand. During the 
 few days that the Veinberg- Skobeleff mission re- 
 mained at Khokand, Skobeleff found an opportunity 
 of making a very thorough examination of the city 
 and its defences. This task was accomplished under 
 great difficulties. The population was very excited. 
 Every day fresh bands went off to join Abdur- 
 rahman. A holy war was on the point of being 
 proclaimed. But, cool, collected, and indifferent as 
 he ever was to danger, Skobeleff completed a de- 
 tailed plan not only of Khokand and all its forti- 
 fications, but of all the country for seven miles 
 round. Hardly had the work been accomplished, 
 when the country rose in rebellion, and the Khan 
 determined to fly. 
 
 When Skobeleff was in Khokand, he read in the 
 gardens of the Khan the account of the destruction of 
 the British army when in the defiles leading from 
 Cabul in 1842. At any moment that might be his 
 fate. The Kirghiz of the Khokand were not less 
 hostile than the Cabulees. Eussia, perhaps, even 
 more than England — in Mr. Gladstone's fine phrase 
 ■ — ever carries aloft the torch of civilisation amid 
 
MISSION TO KHOKAND. 17 
 
 barrels of gunpowder, and at Khokand in that year 
 tlie gunpowder was lying loose on every side. 
 
 SkobelefF was early initiated in the danger of 
 government in the Khanate. A very few days after his 
 first arrival in Khokand, he had to fly with the Khan, 
 and Skobeleff often amused his friends around the 
 camp-fires in Bulgaria by telling the story of their 
 escape. It was a Central Asian version of the old 
 story of the peasant whose sledge was pursued by 
 the wolves. 
 
 The Khan set out from Khokand with a military 
 escort of a small army which revolted piecemeal 
 as it marched along, and announced its desertion by 
 salvos of musket balls. The Russian mission was 
 attended by fifty Cossacks, but for whom neither the 
 Khan nor his ambassadors would ever have reached 
 the frontier. The difficulty of escape was enormously 
 increased by the presence of the harem of the fugitive, 
 and a cortege of no fewer than eighty carts of silver 
 and other treasure. The revolted army, after fra- 
 ternising with the insurgents, set off in pursuit of its 
 sovereign. Skobeleff and his fifty Cossacks with 
 difficulty held the thousands of pursuers at bay. 
 They were being driven in by numbers, when a 
 happy thought occurred to the Khan. He ordered a 
 waggon of silver to be unyoked, and the contents 
 dropped in the road of the insurgents. It had the 
 desired effect. As soon as the Kirghiz saw the 
 money, they stopped to pick it up, and fought with 
 each other for the spoil. In the meantime the Khan 
 
18 IN CENTRAL ASIA. 
 
 was hurrying northwards as fast as lie could drag liis 
 treasure. Once more his subjects were on his trail. 
 Again was the same expedient resorted to, and with 
 equal success. Before they reached the frontier no 
 fewer than sixty carts had been sacrificed in suc- 
 cession. When at last the Khan had reached Russian 
 territory, he had only twenty cartloads left. With 
 these, however, he was by no means badly off, and 
 he has contrived to live very comfortably at Oren- 
 burg on the wreck of his fortune. But for the ready 
 wit of the Khan, it is quite possible that Skobeleff's 
 career would have closed almost before it had begun ; 
 as it was, however, he escaped safely, and was able 
 to make good use of his experience in the subsequent 
 campaign. 
 
 The situation was then not unlike that which 
 threatened Englishmen during the mutiny of the 
 Sepoys. All Turkestan threatened to rise. Our 
 envoys had narrowly escaped from a violent death. 
 Khokand was in open insurrection. In Tashkend 
 every Russian went armed. The clerks in the go- 
 vernment oflBLces wrote with loaded muskets on their 
 desks. A holy war was near at hand, and all the 
 fanaticism of Asia was in danger of being let loose 
 upon us. 
 
 The rather cold but no less impartial authority 
 of M. Schuyler maintains that all this terrible crisis 
 was brought upon us almost entirely by England's 
 meddling two years before. The natives would have 
 welcomed the annexation of the provinces as a means 
 
THE REVOLT OP THE KHOKANDEES. 19 
 
 of relieving them from their detested Khan. ' General 
 Kolpakovsky,' says M. Schuyler, ' saw this, and tele- 
 graphed to St. Petersburg for permission to intervene. 
 But the diplomatic storm with regard to that occupa- 
 tion of Khiva was then in full blast, and permission 
 was refused.' ^ The result was a gradual increase 
 of bitterness against the Khan, and indirectly against 
 Russia because she did not interfere with the Khan. 
 Thus we had a war with all its horrors to wage 
 because English diplomacy would be meddling with 
 what it had no moi'e business to concern itself than 
 Russia had to interfere in the annexation of the 
 Punjab. Yet Russians cherish no ill-will to England, 
 while Englishmen pursue Rixssia with all manner of 
 absurd and unjust suspicions. It is as true of 
 nations as of individuals that it is only the injured 
 who forgive ; they never pardon who have done the 
 wrong. 
 
 The insurrection, however, broke out. Khokand 
 was besieged, and Andijan and Hodjent. 
 
 General Kaufmann took the field with 4,500 men, 
 of whom 1,500 were cavalry under the command 
 of Colonel Skobeleff. The expedition started on 
 ^"g"^*^ ^'' for Makhram, where the Khokandians were 
 
 September 1 ^ 
 
 massed in force. After two days of marching our 
 little army encamped at Karatchkum, and next day 
 the battle was delivered which decided the destiny of 
 Khokand. 
 
 It is very strange, but it is on Skobeleff's own 
 
 ' Turkestan, vol. ii. p. 279.. 
 c 2 
 
20 IN CENTRAL ASIA. 
 
 word we have it, tliat our success at Makhram was 
 largely due to the success which England obtained at 
 the battle of Ferozeshah. 
 
 Skobeleif was an omnivorous reader, and he 
 naturally read all the books bearing upon English 
 warfai'e with the natives of India. He had a very 
 retentive memory, and as he never campaigned with- 
 out his books, he was constantly able to bring the 
 experience of other wars to bear upon the work in 
 hand. How the battle of Ferozeshah helped to win 
 the battle of Makhram I must let Mr. Marvin tell in 
 General SkobelefF's own words. After describing his 
 interview with Skobeleflf in 1882, in St. Petersburg, 
 Mr. Marvin says ^ : — 
 
 ' Do you know the battle of Makhram ? ' asked Sko- 
 belefF. ' That was a splejidid battle and redounds to the 
 glory of Kaufmann, whom I admire very much. Poor 
 fellow ! his career is finished. Do you know that our 
 operations at Makhram were suggested by Sir Hugh 
 Gough's battle at Ferozeshah? Shall I bore you, Mr. 
 Marvin, if I describe it on paper ? It is a most interest- 
 ing thing. If you will have patience you will see what a 
 great battle this Makhram was.' 
 
 While I was expressing my interest in the matter, 
 Skobeleff was placing a pad of foolscap before him, and 
 selecting a number of pencils from a series of thirty or 
 forty, of various coloured leads, lying neatly on the table, 
 all sharpened and ready for use. Drawing his chair close 
 up to mine, he bent his head over the paper, and beo-an 
 sketching the features of the ground at Makhram with 
 wonderful rapidity. Although a mere sketch, he made a 
 
 ' Tlic PMsdan Advance towards Ivdia, by C. Marvin, pp. 107-110. 
 
THE BATTLE OF MAKER AM. 21 
 
 scale at the outset, and used tlie various coloui-ed leads to 
 indicate clearly the positions of the troops and the fea- 
 tures of the ground. There was no slurring of details at 
 all; the names of the localities were inserted, and the 
 numbers of the forces noted at the side. When it was 
 complete, it was more finished than many of the sketches 
 that have been published in the recent military works on 
 our war in Afghanistan. While drawing the sketch, he 
 described the battle-field with great spirit and minute- 
 ness ; he was never at a loss for a word, he stated his facts 
 one after another without displacing their order, and never 
 needed to explain his explanations. 
 
 Briefly, the battle of Makhram was as follows : — The 
 fort occupied a position on the banks of the Syr Daria 
 sufficiently close to a chain of mountains for the Kho- 
 kandese to attempt to bar the Russian advance up the 
 valley by running out a trench towards them, armed with 
 sixty-eight cannon, all pointed towards the invaders, and 
 by continuing the line of defence to the foot of the hills 
 themselves, by stationing in the intervening ground a huge 
 mass of cavalry. At the back of the fort, the settlement 
 of Makhram, with its numerous gardens, was held by 
 infantry; the fort itself was armed with guns, and the 
 hills flanking the position were crowded with skirmishers. 
 On the opposite side of the river the position was ren- 
 dered unapproachable by swamps. On coming in sight of 
 this barricade, held by 60,000 Khokandese, General Kauf- 
 mann reconnoitred the position with his staff. Although 
 he had only a mere handful of troops, he decided to make 
 an attack the next day, to prevent the enemy overrunning 
 the country. Skobeleff may as well relate, in his own 
 words, what followed : — ' Having surveyed the position, 
 he turned to his staff and said : " Who knows anything 
 about the battle of Ferozeshah ? " I had read all about 
 it, but waited for the other officers to reply. No one 
 knowing anything about it, I described the battle.' Here 
 
22 IN CENTRAL ASIA. 
 
 he drew a rough sketch of the Panjab and said : ' As you 
 know, Mr. Marvin, Sir Hugh Gough, the father of the 
 General in Afghanistan during the late war, pitched his 
 camp alongside the enemy's at Ferozeshah, without re- 
 connoitring the ground, and when they fired into it, he 
 fought at once and lost several thousand men. The next 
 day he reconnoitred the position, and found a hill on the 
 back that enfiladed it. Marching thither, he infiicted a 
 crushing defeat on the enemy with a loss only of eighteen 
 men.' Turning again to the plan of Makhram, he said : 
 ' There was a hill on the fiank to the rear of the Kho- 
 kandese position which corresponded with that at Feroze- 
 shah. It is now called the Peak of Kaufmann. The 
 next day we marched straight in that direction, keeping 
 all the way upon elevated ground alongside the mountains, 
 until the enemy's position was outflanked. Then we 
 changed front ; turned our back to the hills and our faces 
 to Makhram, and, marching straight towards it, swept the 
 enemy right into the river. The river was quite black 
 with heads. Twenty thousand Khokandese perished. We 
 lost only eighteen men. I commanded the cavalry that 
 day. The account of Ferozeshah I read originally in 
 French, but more recently in Malleson's " History of 
 Afghanistan." Makhram was a splendid laurel for Kauf- 
 
 ' This was a favourite story of Skobeleff s. He told it to Mr. Rose 
 amongst others, whose version differs slightly from that of Mr. Marvin's. 
 It is as follows : — 
 
 ' One morning he related an incident which illustrates the extent 
 of his reading, and the advantages of accurate historical information to 
 a soldier. In the war in Turkestan he was on the staff of General 
 Kaufmann, and when the Russian expeditionary force swept down on 
 Makhram it found opposed to it an overwhelming native army, num- 
 bering by more than ten to one that of the invaders, and occupying a 
 strong position. This position he proceeded to illustrate by a rough 
 diagram drawn on the table with the charred ends of the matches with 
 which we had been lighting our cigarettes. The right flank of the 
 enemy, he showed, was protected by the walled city of Makhram, its 
 
THE BATTLE OP MAKHRAM. 23 
 
 The battle of Makhram was one of the most 
 decisive which we ever waged in. Asia. Our loss 
 was trivial, our gains enormous. We captured 39 
 pieces of artillery, 1,500 muskets, and more than 
 fifty standards. The Khokandian army was crushed 
 at a blow. Our expedition marched on the capital. ' 
 Skobeleff's maps were of excellent service. Khokand 
 was occupied without firing a shot. After remaining 
 a week at Khokand, General Kaufmann marched 
 against Abdurrahman, who, with 5,000 men, was 
 offering a show of resistance. When he reached 
 Marghilan the town submitted, and Skobeleff was 
 despatched at night with a flying column of Cos- 
 sacks, a rocket train, and two companies of infantry, 
 conveyed in carts to follow up the traces of the 
 
 front was what seemed a wide grassy plain, while the left rested on a 
 low range of stony hills. Skobeleff, in surveying the position, was 
 struck with its similarity to that described in the record of, I think, 
 one of the Napier's Indian campaigns, though unfortunately I neglected 
 to note down at the time the names of the book, author, and city re- 
 ferred to. Skobeleff at once communicated to General Kaufmann his 
 impression, and the latter General sententiously asked him, "And 
 what did Napier do ? " Whereupon Skobeleff gave an outline of the 
 Anglo-Indian action : how at first the British troops delivered their 
 attack in front and found themselves floundering in the grassy plain, 
 which proved to be a treacherous swamp ; how the British general had 
 to retire for the night ; how next morning he executed a flank move- 
 ment and surprised, demoralised, and hopelessly crushed the huge 
 native army, and captured both it and the city. At the close of 
 Skobeleff's recital, General Kaufmann quietly rejoined, "And that ia 
 exactly what we will do, except fall into the mistake of attacking in 
 front, and to-night." With the concurrence of his chief, Skobelefi' or- 
 ganised his celebrated plan for the movement with his cavalry, and in 
 combination with General Kaufmann's attack on the left front of the 
 enemy, they repeated Napier's plot, completely routed the immense 
 native army, and occupied Makhram.' — Rose, Fortnightly Eevieiij, 
 p. 414. 1882. 
 
24 IN CENTRAL ASIA. 
 
 retreating Abdurrahman. This dashing pursuit of the 
 enemy completed what Makhram had begun. On 
 September -^^ ^^ came upon the rear of the flying 
 foe, and a slight engagement ensued, remarkable from 
 the fact, as M. Schuyler says, that the opposing 
 forces fought almost unseen, owing to the dense clouds 
 of dust. But even against the invisible Skobeleff 
 was invincible, and the enemy fled, leaving forty of 
 their number ho7^s de combat. Skobelefl" pushed on 
 to Ush. The city surrendered, and after a few hours' 
 rest he pressed after Abdurrahman as far as Karasu. 
 He then returned to Marghilan, after levying a 
 heavy contribution in food and horses upon Ush. 
 His rapid pursuit of the insurgents prevented any 
 hope of rallying. All the other towns sent in their 
 submission when they heard of the fate of Ush, and 
 at the beginning of October General Kaufmann was 
 able to retire from the Khanate with a treaty pro- 
 mising a war indemnity of three million roubles and 
 the cession of Namangan, the strip of Khokand 
 lying north of the Syr Daria. 
 
 Our troops had hardly crossed the Syr Daria 
 when news came that our explorers had been badly 
 treated at Andijan, and that Abdurrahman was once 
 more at the head of a hostile force. General Troitsky 
 was at once despatched to reduce him to submission. 
 The Khokandians at Andijan were estimated at 
 60,000 strong. They were attacked, defeated, and 
 Andijan taken by storm. It was then decided that 
 the troops should be withdrawn. It was in the retreat 
 
THE RETREAT FROM ANDIJAN. 2o 
 
 from Andijan that Skobeleff distinguished himself by- 
 one of the most famous among his many famous adven- 
 tures. For three days the Khokandians had dogged 
 their retreat ; the whole force under Troitsky and 
 Skobeleff did not exceed 1,200 men. The enemy, 
 elated by the retreat of the captors of Andijan, 
 pressed them hard. From morning to night their 
 firing was incessant. On the third day, when our 
 little column was but half way home, the situation 
 was critical. Our ammunition had run short. The 
 Cossacks had only three rounds left. The infantry 
 only fifteen. It was necessary to do something to 
 beat off the enemy, and a night attack was resolved 
 iipon. The Khokandians, some 6,000 strong, were 
 encamped in the middle of a plain. Skobeleff, with 
 his usual audacity, insisted on heading the attack in 
 person. He refused, however, to take with him more 
 than 150 Cossacks. Like Gideon, when he led his 
 300 against the Midianites, Skobeleff divided his 
 little company into three bands, and stole silently 
 through the darkness, past the enemy's outposts, into 
 the camp. Skobeleff then gave the signal for attack 
 by firing his pistol. In a moment, he and all his 
 men charged, shouting and firing, into the heart of 
 the camp. A scene of wild and maddening confusion 
 followed ; the Khokandians awoke, to discover, to 
 their horror, the enemy in their midst. ' The effect,' 
 says Mr. MacGahan, ' was tremendous. For a quar- 
 ter of an hour the plain resounded with shrieks and 
 yells, shots and the trampling of horses, shouts 
 
2G IN CENTRAL ASIA. 
 
 and groans, and all the uproar of battle. Then all 
 was silence. SkobeleiF assembled his Cossacks, and 
 when morning came he found that the whole army 
 of the enemy had disappeared, leaving on the field 
 about 40 dead, 37 standards, 2,000 turbans, 2,000 or 
 3,000 muskets and sabres, all their camp material 
 and baggage. But what was his astonishment to 
 discover on calling the roll, that he had not lost a 
 man either killed or wounded ! ' 
 
 The annals of war record no more brilliant sur- 
 prise, but SkobeleiF's father in 1854 achieved almost 
 as distinguished a success when, with 800 men, he 
 attacked and completely routed 5,000 Turks. 
 
 The blow dealt to the Kirghiz had been severe, 
 but as it was followed by our retirement, they 
 imagined they were victorious. The evil conse- 
 quences of this mistake were not long in making 
 themselves felt. 
 
 Our troops re-entered Namangan on October -f'-^. 
 SkobeleiF, who had been the hero of the campaign, 
 was created major-general in the suite of the Em- 
 peror, and placed in command of the newly-annexed 
 district. It was his first independent post. The 
 troops were placed in winter quarters, and Skobelefl^ 
 v«'as ordered to remain strictly on the defensive. The 
 country was very unsettled. Most of the natives of 
 the province ceded to Russia were hostile. Khokand 
 was honeycombed with disaffection. The Khan, 
 who had made the treaty with Kaufmann, fled for 
 his life to our camp. Skobeleff at first contented 
 
IN COMMAND OF NAMANGAN. 27 
 
 himself with defensive operations within Namangan. 
 He defeated the former Bey, who had taken the field ; 
 but, when he was garrisoning a fortified post eight 
 miles distant, the inhabitants of Namangan, assisted 
 by friends from outside, rose against the Eussian troops 
 and besieged them in the citadel — exactly as the 
 Cabulees besieged the English General Roberts in 
 the Sherpur cantonments. Skobeleif, however, was 
 not far distant. He fought his way back to the city, 
 bombarded it with sixteen guns, and relieved the gar- 
 rison. But the situation remained menacing in the 
 extreme. 20,000 men gathered near the frontier at 
 Balyktchi. Skobeleff fell upon them, dispersed them, 
 and captured Balyktchi. None of these lessons, 
 however, induced the Khokandians to believe that 
 their only safety was to acquiesce in the new settle- 
 ment. 
 
 Skobeleff, who saw that the Khanate could never 
 be quieted by standing on the defensive in its borders, 
 determined to strike a blow at the heart of his enemy. 
 He had only a mere handful of men. The whole 
 force under Skobeleff's command was 2,800 men, 
 9 companies of infantry, 7^ sotnias^ of Cossacks, and 
 12 guns. 
 
 Thirty thousand Kirghiz, armed to the teeth and 
 strong in the conviction that they were fighting a 
 holy war against a foe whom they had previously 
 defeated, were holding a strong fortified position at 
 Andijan. But Skobeleff had already taught his 
 
 ' A ' sotnia ' means a hundred. 
 
28 IN CENTRAL ASIA. 
 
 troops to think nothing of the numbers of their foes. 
 Young as he was — it was only his second year in 
 Turkestan, for after the expedition to Khiva he had 
 spent a year in close observation of the Carlist war 
 in Northern Spain — he had succeeded in arousing 
 that enthusiasm and devotion which were to be dis- 
 played on a much greater scale in Bulgaria. 
 
 A little incident is still recorded of the way in 
 which he insisted upon plunging into an icy river at 
 two o'clock on a December morning, at the head of 
 a dozen of his men, in order to drag out a cannon 
 which was sinking beneath the stream. It was a 
 wild night, the wind was high, the sky was dark, the 
 water was breast high ; but he insisted on sharing with 
 the men the bitterest of their hardships. 
 
 Such a general they were ready to follow any- 
 where. 
 
 With Skobeleff at their head winters mattered as 
 little as the intensest heats. The stronger the enemy 
 the greater the glory of victory. 
 
 At the head of his small but intrepid band 
 Skobeleff crossed the frontier, destroyed the Kip- 
 tchak settlement at Paita, and marched on Andijan. 
 The citadel was surrounded by a strong wall 
 fifteen feet high and seven feet thick, occupied by 
 30,000 men.^ He left Namangan on ?22555?lH5, and 
 
 ' o January 6 ' 
 
 reached Andijan on January ^-^. Instead of attack- 
 ing at once, with that prudence which in him was as 
 remarkable as his intrepidity, he spent four or five 
 
 ^ Turkestan, vol. ii. p. 299. 
 
TPIE CONQUEST OF KIIOKAND. 29 
 
 days in making the most careful reconnaissances. 
 Day after day he employed himself and his staff in 
 ascertaining all the information which could be 
 gathered as to the best way of approach, and the 
 comparative strength of the various gates. These 
 perpetual reconnaissances dismayed the besieged, like 
 the people of Jericho before the walls fell down. They 
 could not understand the incessant activity of a foe 
 who nevertheless delivered no attack. On one occa- 
 sion, Skobeleff, attended by his staff and his escort, 
 rode boldly right into the entrance of the town. The 
 garrison, surprised and awed by his audacity, fled 
 behind the walls of the citadel, while Skobeleff, un- 
 disturbed by their fire, made his observations as to the 
 strength of their position. At length, when all his 
 information was complete, he fixed January ^-^ for 
 the assault. As his troops advanced to the assault, 
 the scene was stirring. Behind the walls the whole 
 space seemed to be covered with the white turbans of 
 the defenders. The roll of their drums mingled with 
 the shriller chorus of their trumpets, and the fierce 
 cries with which the Uzbeks excited themselves for 
 the last struggle with the infidel. Skobeleff had less 
 than 3,000 men. Twice he had summoned the city to 
 surrender, and twice they had refused, and the last time 
 they slew his messenger. The hour had now come 
 when they were to learn to repent of their obstinacy. 
 Skobeleff stormed the village of Iskylik and then 
 bombarded Andijan. After firing 500 rounds, he 
 launched two storming columns against the town. In 
 
30 IN CENTRAL ASIA. 
 
 a few hours they forced their way with a trifling loss 
 into the heart of Andijan, which in the course of the 
 next day they completely subdued. 
 
 Leaving a garrison in the city, Skobeleff took a 
 small detachment and started in pursuit of Abdur- 
 rahman. 
 
 On January 30 he overtook the enemy at Assake, 
 and inflicted upon him a severe defeat. So unrelent- 
 ing was his pursuit of the enemy that when at last 
 Abdurrahman, after three months' alternate fights and 
 flights, surrendered to his conqueror, his first words 
 are said to have been ' Before we begin to talk, let me 
 sleep, for I have not had a night's rest nor a sound 
 sleep for a whole month.' 
 
 Civil war was then raging in the city of Khokand, 
 and to restore order Skobeleff occupied the city. 
 
 As there was no native Government capable of 
 holding its own, the Khanate was annexed. It be- 
 came the province of Ferghana, and Skobelefi', whose 
 skill had contributed so greatly to the conquest was 
 named its first governor. 
 
 From a military point of view, I am told that 
 Skobeleflf's campaign in Khokand was chiefly re- 
 markable for his aptitude in adapting his operations 
 to local circumstances and for his great attention to 
 all the details of the campaign. The organisation 
 of the division of tirailleurs which always accom- 
 panied the cavalry, the readiness with which he con- 
 verted his cavalry into infantry, the careful prevision 
 for all the wants of his men, the preparations for the 
 
GOVERNOR OF FERGHANA. 31 
 
 marcli, the acquisition of all kinds of rapid modes of 
 
 communication, and, above all, the care and the skill 
 
 with which he planned the assaults upon Andijan, 
 
 and the genius with which he enabled every man 
 
 under his command to form an idea of the plan of the 
 
 battle in which he was to take part, marked him out 
 
 in the eyes of all who followed those things as an 
 
 officer destined to rise high in the service of his 
 
 country. In this campaign of 1875-6, in his capacity 
 
 as chief of cavalry or mihtary commander of the 
 
 province of Ferghana, Skobeleff took part in fourteen 
 
 combats — some, no doubt, trivial enough, but others 
 
 sufficiently serious to decide the fate of a province. 
 
 When he left Central Asia he had received the cross of 
 
 St. George of the third class, a sword of gold, and a 
 
 sword of gold enriched with diamonds, and he had 
 
 established a reputation as one of the ablest and most 
 
 dashing commanders in our army. 
 
 Skobeleff 's brilliant victories created enemies. 
 Every great man has his enemies ! Envy is the 
 shadow of success. He was a major-general deco- 
 rated with the cross of St. George, and governor 
 of a province as large as Ireland, and he was not 
 thirty-three. It was unprecedented, and all the more 
 unprecedented because it was notorious that he had 
 gained every step by merit. Worse even than the 
 offence of his youth and his success was the campaign 
 which he began against the fraudulent contractors of 
 the supply department. As is not unfrequently the 
 case, he found it more difficult to contend against 
 
32 IN CENTRAL ASIA. 
 
 those who ought to have been his allies than against 
 a declared foe. The bullets of the Turks were much 
 less fatal to our soldiers in Bulgaria than the short- 
 comings of the contractors, chiefly Jews — but not 
 only Jews — who pUlaged the treasury and starved 
 the soldier at one and the same time. 
 
 Reckless as ever in the discharge of duty, Skobe- 
 leff set to work against corruption and incompetency 
 with the same vigour that he had shown in attack- 
 ing Abdurrahman and the Kirghiz. Many were 
 alarmed. To stand on the defensive against such a 
 man as Skobeleff was merely to court destruction. 
 They determined to carry the war into their enemy's 
 camp. They sent lie after lie to St. Petersburg 
 concerning Skobeleff 's administration. So persistent 
 were they, that at last the late Emperor sent his 
 aide-de-camp to report on their complaints. But Sko- 
 belefi" preferred another and more effective line. On 
 hearing a part of the monstrous stories forged against 
 his honour, he telegraphed to General Kaufmann 
 for leave, and started for St. Petersburg, taking 
 all the accounts with him, all the documents and 
 proofs. He had no difficulty in proving to the entire 
 satisfaction of the Government that his enemies had 
 infamously slandered him. After all possible investi- 
 gations and verifications, he received a certificate from 
 the Treasury that his accounts were clear and correct 
 in every particular. In the meantime, events were 
 stirring in Europe which made Skobeleff's return to 
 Central Asia impossible. 
 
33 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE CROSSING OF THE DANUBE. 
 
 The War of 1877 — Skobeleff joins the army of Bulgaria — Father and 
 son at Giurgevo — The passage at Simnitza — Under fire — Drago- 
 miroflP s report — Swimming the Danube on horseback — Occupa- 
 tion of Sliipka — Mr. Forbes on Skobeleff before Plevna. 
 
 To DESCRIBE tHe part played by Skobeleff in the war 
 in Bulgaria one should either be a soldier or a poet. 
 I am neither. I have no qualification for writing this 
 and the following chapters. To tell the story of the 
 hero in that great epic in the age-long struggle of 
 the Slavs for liberty and independence demands 
 much abler pens than mine ; nor can I even attempt 
 to supply, save by translations and extracts from 
 the descriptions of English and American eye-wit- 
 nesses, any account of the military aspect of his great 
 career. 
 
 Inadequate as I am, I venture, nevertheless, to 
 string together their narratives in this and the succeed- 
 ing chapters, in the hope that they may serve, how- 
 ever imperfectly, to give Englishmen some conception 
 of the genius and character of the young hero who 
 might have become the Souvoroff of the nineteenth 
 century. 
 
 D 
 
34 THE CROSSING OF THE DANUBE. 
 
 It in no way falls withm my duty to describe the 
 general operations of the campaign, excepting in so 
 far as SkobelefF was engaged in them. 
 
 The history of that war has still to be written by 
 soldiers for soldiers. It is not for me to intrude in 
 matters in which I am of necessity profoundly igno- 
 rant. My object is to enable my readers to realise 
 Skobeleflf — not to describe the campaign in which he 
 was the foremost figure. 
 
 There is even less necessity for me to dwell on 
 the origin of the war. To SkobelefF, as to all of us, 
 the campaign in Bulgaria was at once a crusade and 
 a war of liberation. ' No more generous or holy cru- 
 sade was ever undertaken on the part of a strong 
 race to befriend a weak one. So all true Russians 
 believe.' Such was the testimony of the American 
 Lieutenant Greene ; and his testimony is true. Russia 
 could not help doing what she did. It was at once 
 her instinct and her duty and her religion. For the 
 sake of their oppressed brethren Russians do not 
 mind dying. It is part of our life, of our very soul. 
 We did not go to war with the Turks as the English 
 went to war with Arabi, with Shere Ali, and with 
 Cetewayo. Skobeleff was like Sir Philip Sidney. 
 His soldiers were more like the Ironsides or the 
 Crusaders. 
 
 Skobeleff came to Russia from Khokand, when the 
 soul of Russia was deeply moved by the events in 
 the Balkan. The atrocities in Bulgaria, the disasters 
 of the Serbian war, the heroism of our volunteers 
 
FATHER AND SON IN ROUMANIA. 35 
 
 under General Tchernayeff, whicli aroused Russia, 
 did not fail to toucli the heart of the young soldier, 
 who, even in the remotest districts of Central Asia, 
 had kept himself au courant with all that was going 
 on in the Western world. 
 
 When at last, after all the endless vacillations of 
 a feeble and hesitating diplomacy had been exhausted 
 and the Emperor had declared war, Skobeleff has- 
 tened to join the army at KishenefF. Although a 
 major-general, with the most brilliant record of any 
 of his brother-officers, he was only allowed to accom- 
 pany the army en disponihilite, as a supernumerary 
 attached to the Grand Duke Nicholas's staff. 
 
 When the war began there were two Skobeleffs, 
 the father Dmitry and the son Michael. Long before 
 it ended, to all the world there was only one Skobeleff, 
 for the fame of the son completely eclipsed the by 
 no means inconsiderable achievements of the father. 
 Father and son were devoted to each other, and in 
 the earlier stages of the campaign they were almost 
 always together. Skobeleff senior was in command 
 of the famous Cossacks of the Caucasus, whose rapid 
 march on BraUa enabled us to command the Danube 
 and secure our communications from the Turkish 
 attacks. At the beginning of June a small army corps 
 was formed to hold the banks of the Danube about 
 Giurgevo, near where the crossing was to be made, 
 and this army corps was placed under the command 
 of Skobeleff senior, with whom Skobeleff junior was 
 associated as chief of staff. They lodged in a small 
 
 D 2 
 
36 THE CROSSING OF THE DANUBE. 
 
 house in front of the boulevard of Giurgevo. The 
 Turks were kept continually on the qui vive hj the 
 Skobeleflfs and their Cossacks. The father was always 
 reprimanding his son for the recklessness with which 
 he exposed himself to the fire of the gunners at 
 Rustchuk, who fired at his white uniform when- 
 ever it showed, as it often did, against the bushes at 
 the Roumanian shore. Michael SkobelefF was in the 
 highest of spirits, full of fun and practical jokes, 
 and delighted with the companionship of the young 
 and joyous officers by whom he was surrounded. At 
 Giurgevo, opposite Rustchuk, he had occupied an old 
 earthwork without artillery, and filled the embrasures 
 with formidable-looking cannon — made of straw. 
 The resemblance was sufficiently good to deceive both 
 the Turks and the English correspondents on the 
 other side of the Danube, by whom the Russians were 
 reported to have heavy siege guns in position three 
 weeks before the real guns came down from Galatz. 
 Skobelefi" spent much of his time in making recon- 
 naissances of the opposite shore ; but, although con- 
 stantly shot at by the Turkish sharpshooters, he 
 escaped unhurt. 
 
 On one occasion, about the middle of June, 
 Skobeleff" crossed the river in a steam launch and 
 landed on the Turkish bank. He did this out of no 
 foolish bravado, but because he was told off to lay 
 a sunken hedge of torpedoes across the Danube at 
 Parapou, a village about ten miles west of Giurgevo. 
 It was necessary to prevent the Turkish monitors at 
 
THE PASSAGE AT SIMMTZA. 'it 
 
 Rustcliuk getting up the river as far as the intended 
 crossing place at Simnitza. The work was carried 
 out in broad daylight, but it only cost one officer 
 killed and seven men wounded. At last, after long 
 waiting, the waters of the Danube fell, and on 
 Jime If, 1877, our army forced the passage of the 
 Danube. Michael SkobelefF determined to take part 
 in it as a volunteer ; his position as a simple aide- 
 de-camp to General DragomirofF, a general only 
 slightly his senior in rank, who had never before 
 been in battle, was indeed a very humble one ; but 
 he preferred it, as it enabled him to do some 
 real work. Major-General Yoltchine, with the first 
 detachment of troops, embarked at midnight, and 
 landed about two o'clock in the morning on the 
 Turkish bank of the river. The Turks had about 
 10,000 men in their camps near Sistova. The 
 Russian force consisted of 15,000 men, divided into 
 six detachments of 2,500 men each. They were 
 rowed across in pontoon boats holding from 15 to 
 40 men each. SkobelefF embarked with Dragomiroff 
 and his staff. An eye-witness who was present with 
 him in the boat thus describes the scene : — 
 
 Hardly liad we left the Roumanian sliore, tlian the 
 bullets began to whiz around us, dropping on all sides into 
 the water; but none struck the boat. We crossed the 
 river without mishap, and drew near to the little creet 
 of Tekir Dere, where Major-General Toltchine had already 
 landed, and was maintaining a fierce combat with the 
 Turks. Dragomiroff, who had watched everything that 
 passed as well as he could through the dense smoke and 
 
38 THE CROSSING OF THE DANUBE. 
 
 the morning mist, seemed very uneasy. Everything 
 seemed so frightfully confused. From time to time he 
 muttered some comments on the fight. Skobeleff stood 
 by his side, silently watching the combat. Dragomiroff 
 chafed impatiently under the suspense. Suddenly he 
 heard the voice of Skobeleff. 
 
 ' I congratulate you,' he said. 
 
 ' For what ? ' cried the startled General, looking at 
 the radiant face of his companion. 
 
 'For the victory,' replied Skobeleff. 'Your brave 
 fellows have the best of it.' 
 
 'Where do you see that?' asked the General, puzzled 
 more and more. 
 
 ' Where? On the faces of the soldiers. Look at them. 
 Watch them as they charge the enemy. It is pleasure to 
 see them,' 
 
 Dragomiroff ceased to trouble himself about the gene- 
 ral outlook of the scene. Dominated by the influence of 
 Skobeleff, he grasped the mystery which until then he 
 had not known — how to read victory written in the face 
 of Russian soldiers. 
 
 They landed at five — three hours after Toltchine, and 
 Dragomiroff at once took command. By nine o'clock 
 the passage was secured. The fourth brigade of Rifle- 
 men and the 14th Division occupied the heights above 
 Tekir Dere. The firing continued on the right flank. 
 
 ' Is it not time to stop ? ' then asked Skobeleff. 
 
 'It is indeed,' replied Dragomiroff; 'but I have no 
 one to send.' 
 
 ' May I go ? ' asked Skobeleff. 
 
 ' I shall be only too delighted,' replied Dragomiroff ; 
 and Skobeleff set off on his dangerous mission. It was 
 his first reckless act south of the Danube. As he had 
 only landed four hours before, he had not lost much time. 
 On the left our riflemen were firing from some vineyard, 
 on the right the Turks obstinately held the heights. 
 
THE FIRST VICTORY. 39 
 
 Skobeleff, ' tall, erect, the image of a young 
 English squire,' as Mr. Forbes described him, dressed 
 in his white overcoat, walked with tranquillity into 
 the heart of the combat. When he reached the rifle- 
 men he spoke first to one, then to another, delivering 
 the words of Dragomiroff, and thus continuing, 
 with steady step and perfect coolness, he walked the 
 whole length of the line of fire, until he had de- 
 livered the word of command to the whole of the 
 troops engaged. 
 
 In his official report Dragomiroff declared that 
 he could not sufficiently praise the courage, the 
 cleverness, the self-sacrifice of Skobeleff. From that 
 moment the clouds which had overshadowed our 
 young hero at St. Petersburg disappeared. He gained 
 the confidence of the Commander-in-Chief, the Grand 
 Duke Nicholas, and afterwards his progress was 
 rapid. The passage of the Danube cost 300 men 
 killed and nearly 500 wounded and missing. Before 
 night 25,000 troops were quartered at Sistova, and 
 the great obstacle to the Russian advance was over- 
 come. 
 
 Everyone has heard of Skobeleff's crossing the 
 Danube on horseback when the river was still swollen 
 with the floods, and it is usually mentioned to illus- 
 trate his recklessness. But it was not done out of 
 bravado. It was an experiment made by Skobeleff 
 in order to test whether it was practicable to bring 
 the Cossacks across in that fashion. Mr. Rose de- 
 scribes the incident as follows : — 
 
40 THE CROSSING OF THE DANUBE. 
 
 Young Skobeleff suggested that the cavalry should 
 swim across, and he offered to demonstrate the practi- 
 cability of his scheme. No sooner said than done. He 
 mounted his white charger, wound his way down the 
 scarped clay cliffs at Simnitza, across the small bridge 
 which spanned a creek to the island of Ada, and then, 
 entering the river, the gallant horse, guided by Skobeleff's 
 skilful hands, made for the further shore. The bold 
 experiment was watched with breathless interest from the 
 high ground on the Eoumanian bank, and no moi'e moved 
 spectator of the daring enterprise stood there than the 
 grey-haired father. With his binocular he eagerly 
 followed the progress of his son and his gallant charger 
 through the swift current. Then his arms began to 
 shake, and his hands refused to hold the glasses to his 
 eyes. He who had headed eight hundred troopers in a 
 fierce onslaught upon five thousand Turks was unnerved 
 at the sight of so venturesome a deed. Prince Tzerteleff, 
 who was by his side, noting the slow course of his com- 
 rade in his unequal struggle with the moving waters, in 
 response to the earnest appeals of the old general, reported 
 every circumstance of the exciting adventure. By-and-by 
 emotion broke the voice of the father as he exclaimed, 
 ever and anon, ' Oh, my brave boy ! Is he drowned yet ? ' 
 And when young Skobeleff touched the little shelving 
 bay below Sistova in safety, a ringing cheer was given by 
 the Eussian soldiery who had witnessed the rash feat ; 
 and the group which surrounded the grey-haired warrior 
 echoed his ' Thank God ! ' as much for his sake as for 
 the success of an undertaking almost unparalleled in its 
 temerity. ' 
 
 The experiment, although successful as far as 
 Skobeleff was concerned, was too hazardous to be re- 
 
 ' Fortnightly Review, October 1882. 
 
OCCUPATION OF THE SHIPKA FORTS. 41 
 
 peated on a large scale. The Cossacks all crossed by 
 the bridge. 
 
 Skobeleff was then placed in command of a 
 brigade of Cossacks of the Caucasus, the ' finest irre- 
 gular cavalry in the world,' as he used to declare, and 
 with them he was engaged in reconnaissance duty for 
 the next four weeks. 
 
 The chief incident in which he took part was the 
 capture of the fort St. Nicholas on the Shipka Pass. 
 He was sent there after General Gourko and Prince 
 Mirsky had twice attacked the position unsuccessfully. 
 Early on the morning of July -/g he took nine com- 
 panies of the 36th regiment with four guns, and ad- 
 vanced fi'om the north in the same route as that taken 
 unsuccessfully by Gourko the previous day. He 
 found that the Turks had abandoned all their po- 
 sitions, leaving behind them all then- material and 
 the mutilated bodies of their tortured prisoners. 
 
 He had done none of the fighting, but by singular 
 good luck the most important position occupied by 
 us in Bulgaria fell into his hands. 
 
 Before turning to that great siege which made 
 Skobeleff the hero of the war, let us give here a pen 
 and ink picture, sketched by an English correspon- 
 dent who bore no love either to Skobeleff or his 
 country. 
 
 In the dead of the night [(of July -|-|), wrote Mr. 
 Forbes to the ' Daily ISTews '] , that extraordinary fellow, 
 General Skobeleff the younger, turned up in Prince 
 Shahofskoy's headquarters. He is the stormy petrel of 
 
42 TOE CKOSSING OF THE DANUBE. 
 
 the Eussian army. If I were riding along a road in a 
 given direction in expectation of seeing a fight, and if I 
 chanced to meet young Skoheleff riding in the opposite 
 direction, without any inquiry or any hesitation, I should 
 wheel my horse and ride in SkobelefF's tracks in the full 
 assurance that I was doing the best thing for myself and 
 your readers. He is in the thick of everything. In the 
 grey dawn of the morning of the crossing, I shook hands 
 with him on the edge of the bank of the Danube, after the 
 bayonet charge in which he had taken part. His face 
 was black with powder, and he, general as he is, carried 
 a soldier's rifle with the bayonet fixed. He was in the 
 fighting at the Shipka, and led the first column which 
 traversed that pass. There seemed some prospect of 
 quietude for some days on the other side of the Balkans, 
 and the Plevna expedition offered a prospect of fighting. 
 SkobelefP is unattached, and can run from flower to 
 flower, from one fighting ground to another. , , . He is 
 a right good fellow, and a staunch comrade. He came to 
 us from Baron Kriidner's headquarters with instructions 
 that he should take the temporary command of Colonel 
 Toutolmine's brigade of Circassian Cossacks, and execute 
 a reconnaissance in the direction of Loffccha. He rode off 
 in the darkness, and came back last night, after having 
 ridden fifty miles, with the tidings that Loftcha was held 
 by five battalions of Turkish infantry, and its rayon in- 
 fested by Circassians and Bashi Bazouks. 
 
 Such was Skobeleff before Plevna. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PLEVNA. 
 
 The first battle of Plevna — The second battle — SkobelefPs first attack 
 — ^Reconnaissance before Loftcha — A nocturnal adventure — The 
 battle of Loftcha — Victory — The third battle of Plevna — The 
 attack on the Green HiUs — Mr. MacGahan's account — Lieutenant 
 Greene's narrative — A Russian report — Plevna invested — Capture 
 of Turkish redoubt — Skobeleff in the trenches — Belief in his in- 
 vulnerability — Osman Pasha's last sortie — Surrender of Plevna — 
 Skobeleff and Osman Pasha — A famous siege. 
 
 Ah ! this is a paiuful chapter to write. We ourselves 
 were not altogether free of blame for our reverses, 
 which makes it only the worse for our feelings. Here 
 are the facts. 
 
 Skobeleff had no part in the first reverse at 
 Plevna. When Lieut.-General Schilder-Schuldner, 
 with 6,500 men and forty-six guns, scattered over 
 a distance of seventeen mUes, stumbled blindly upon 
 Osman Pasha with 40,000 of the flower of the 
 Ottoman army at Plevna, Skobeleff was doing duty 
 at Tirnova. In the fight of July ^, when our 
 poor soldiers were aimlessly hurled against an enemy 
 four times their own strength, without even sufficient 
 ammunition to last till night, there was no redeeming 
 feature save the bravery of our troops. 2,800 were 
 
44 PLEVNA. 
 
 killed and wounded — sacrificed without gaining a 
 single advantage. When SkobeleiF was in the field 
 the battle was never without at least one bright side, 
 even although it was but the silver lining of the dark 
 clouds of defeat. 
 
 Startled by this severe reverse, troops were con- 
 centrated around Plevna. Prince Schahofsky was 
 ordered back from Osman Bazar, at the foot of the 
 Balkans, and Skobeleff was summoned from Tirnova 
 to take temporary command of the Cossack brigade 
 in Prince Schahofsky's force. 
 
 Arriving at headquarters on the night of July 
 ■|f , Skobeleff was at once ordered southward to recon- 
 noitre the Turkish position at Loftcha — a place where 
 he was destined afterwards to achieve his first great 
 military success in Bulgaria. He found it occupied 
 in force by the Turks, and here turned to take part 
 next morning in the first great attack upon Plevna, 
 which was ordered for July |-f . 
 
 Krudner had to attack from the right, Schahofsky 
 from the left. Skobeleff was stationed on the 
 extreme left of Schahofsky, near Krishin, to prevent 
 the arrival of reinforcements from Loftcha. 
 
 We had only 32,000 men, 186 guns, and three 
 bi-igades of cavalry to attack a strongly entrenched 
 force of at least 40,000 men. Krudner, with the 
 right wmg, was unable to make any impression on 
 the Turkish position at Grivitza. Twice with 
 desperate valour our soldiers charged up to the 
 redoubt, but both times they were swept back by 
 
THE SECOND BATTLE. 4o 
 
 the withering fire of the Turks. Prince Schahofsky, 
 who attacked from Eadischevo, captured two re- 
 doubts on the opposite ridge. The Turks, strongly 
 reinforced, pressed Schahofsky back, after a desperate 
 struggle. Our ammunition ran short, and all hope 
 of success died. Schahofsky' s attack had failed as 
 completely as Kriidner's, and, with shattered ranks 
 and heavy hearts, our brave soldiers retreated in the 
 darkness, closely followed by the enemy, without 
 even being able to bring off their -wounded. In these 
 two assaults, so bravely delivered, and so severely 
 repulsed, Skobeleff had no part. He operated inde- 
 pendently with the Caucasian brigade on the extreme 
 left of Schahofsky. 
 
 The official report of the action speaks of Sko- 
 beleff's brigade in high commendation. Here is a 
 summary of what it says : At five o'clock in the 
 morning of that fatal day, he advanced with twelve 
 sotnias of Cossacks, one battalion of infantry, and 
 twelve small guns from Bogot, to Krishin, a village 
 lying about a mile south-east of Plevna. Leaving 
 there eight sotnias of Cossacks and eight guns — I am 
 now quoting from the official report — in a very advan- 
 tageous position, from which it was possible to 
 observe and repulse the enemy coming from Plevna 
 and Loffccha, he himself advanced with two sotnias of 
 Kuban Cossacks and four pieces of artillery within 
 700 yards of the faubourgs of Plevna. From that 
 point he observed 20,000 Turkish infantry, massed 
 in reserve between the heights of Grivitza and the 
 
46 PLEVNA. 
 
 town. When Prince Schahofsky opened fire, General 
 Skobeleff did likewise with his four pieces. The 
 enemy immediately replied with six guns, and after- 
 wards increasing rapidly his artillery fire, threw 
 forward all his infantry protected in front by a thick 
 screen of skirmishers, and in the flank by a screen of 
 cavalry. 
 
 Met by such a resolute attack. General Skobeleff 
 drew back his advanced guard to the principal 
 position, Krishin, taking at the same time measures 
 to cover his rear and flank, and to ensure his com- 
 munications with the other troops. Afterwards 
 leaving at Krishin three sotnias and twelve guns, he 
 proceeded with the rest of his feeble detachment to 
 attack the enemy, in order to prevent him from 
 getting possession of the height which commands 
 the country south of Plevna. Master of that height, 
 the enemy could have fallen upon Prince Schahofsky's 
 flank. Notwithstanding a murderous fire and most 
 obstinate resistance on the part of the Turks, the 
 height was occupied. The Turks did not, however, 
 allow the little band to retain an undisputed posses- 
 sion. From 10 a.m. till 4 P.M.—Schahofsky's and 
 Kritdner's attack only began at half past two o'clock 
 in the afternoon — Skobeleff" held the height. The 
 struggle was very fierce, and more than once the 
 bayonet was used. At four o'clock, having learnt 
 that Schahofsky had assumed the offensive and that 
 the enemy did not appear on the side of Loftcha, 
 Skobeleff" made a vigorous advance, and almost 
 
SKOBELEFFS FIRST ATTACK. -17 
 
 reached the faubourgs of the town. But there he 
 received a cross fire from fresh troops, and a shower 
 of grapeshot, and was compelled to retire to the 
 battery, which contiuued to keep up an unequal 
 contest with the enemy's artUlery. At ten o'clock in 
 the evening he received from Prince Schahofsky the 
 order to retreat to Bogot and Pehschat. Thus the 
 feeble column of the extreme left fought during twelve 
 hours against an enemy eight times its numbers. 
 In attracting the attention of considerable forces, it 
 powerfully assisted the troops of Prince Schahofsky, 
 and saved them from a dangerous flank attack. 
 
 Lieutenant Grreene, who gives a more detailed 
 account of Skobeleff's operations, says that his force, 
 ' though smaller in. numbers, was handled with such 
 skill as to establish beyond doubt the military genius 
 of this brilliant young commander.' The height 
 which was contested between him and the Turks was 
 the second of the famous Green Hills destined soon 
 afterwards to be for ever associated with his name. 
 He attacked the Turks with two companies, two 
 dismounted sotnias, and four guns. When his men 
 were beginning to yield before the 4,000 Turks who 
 opposed them, he sent in three companies he had kept 
 in reserve, and kept up the fight till dark. Then, 
 when the sun sank behind the horizon, and darkness 
 came down over the bloody field, he drew off the 
 remnant of his shattered force. Every wounded man 
 — and 50 per cent, of his soldiers were killed or 
 wounded — was brought off in safety, and sotnias of 
 
48 PLEVNA. 
 
 Cossacks kejDt guard in the rear, as the little force 
 marched back singing in the night, says an ob- 
 server, the wild melodies which they had brought 
 with them from the distant Caucasus. The loss had 
 been heavy, but he had saved Prince Schahofsky 
 from destruction and achieved the only success of 
 that disastrous day. 
 
 Russia lost in that ' second battle of Plevna ' 
 more than 7,000 men, out of a total force of 30,000. 
 Neither Schahofsky nor Kriidner had been able to 
 bring off their wounded. That was done by Skobe- 
 leff alone, and it was in recognition of this that he 
 was summoned to the headquarters of Gorny Studen 
 after the fight to receive the personal thanks of the 
 Emperor. 
 
 Only after the second battle of Plevna was it 
 deemed necessary for Russia to put forth her whole 
 strength. The Guards were ordered to Bulgaria, and, 
 awaiting their arrival, the Russian armies in the 
 Balkans and on the Lom stood on the defensive 
 against the attacks of the Turks. Skobeleff was 
 ordered to Selvi with the Caucasian brigade of 
 Cossacks, and there received in addition one regiment 
 and part of another from the newly- arrived Fourth 
 Corps. In order to restore the spirits of the men, 
 disheartened as they were by the reverses of Plevna, 
 and also in order to ascertain the real strength of 
 the Turks at Loftcha, he determined to make a recon- 
 naissance against the Turkish position. He was ac- 
 companied by Mr. MacGahan, who sent a graphic 
 
A RECONNAISSANCE BEFORE LOFTCHA. 49 
 
 account of the affair to the ' Daily News,' from which 
 I take the liberty of reproducing it as a faithful 
 description of the way in which Skobeleff did his 
 work. Mr. MacGahan, writing from the headquarters 
 near Loftcha on -i^, says :— 
 
 General Skobeleff pushed a strong reconnaissance to- 
 day against Loftcha. Leaving the Grand Duke's head- 
 quarters three days ago, he took five battalions of infantry, 
 his own brigade of cavalry, and two batteries of horse 
 artillery, and came out on the Selvi road half way 
 between Loftcha. His right wing, composed entirely of 
 cavalry, advanced and occupied several villages encircling 
 Loftcha, from the Plevna road to the Selvi road. He 
 then advanced his artillery on the Selvi road to the 
 heights, a mile distant from Loftcha, overlooking the 
 town, opened fire with sixteen pieces of artillery, and 
 pushed forward his infantry. 
 
 It was evident from the moment the heights were 
 reached that the reconnaissance could not be turned into 
 an attack. Prom fifteen to twenty thousand troops could 
 be seen camped in and about the town, while the low hills 
 immediately surrounding the town were strongly en- 
 trenched. There is a strong redoubt on a low hill over- 
 looking the Plevna road, while a high, steep hill on the 
 Selvi side is coyered with trenches. There were twelve guns 
 in position and a considerable number in reserve visible. 
 
 General Skobeleff nevertheless resolved to feel the 
 enemy, and the hiUs soon resounded with the roar of 
 artillery and the noise of shells. The Turks replied at 
 once, and for a time there was a lively artillery fire. 
 
 General Skobeleff pushed forward his infantry, and 
 my attention was soon directed to his side by a heavy 
 fusillade. From where his guns were placed in the road 
 leads down a narrow hollow, whose sides were covered 
 
 E 
 
50 PLEVNA. 
 
 with woods, down to the foot of the steep hill which was 
 occupied by the Turks in intrenchments. The infantry 
 went down partly under cover of the woods, but not 
 unperceived by the Turks, who poiared a heavy fire into 
 the woods. The Russians pushed forward, however, and 
 in much less time than I could have thought, had reached 
 the foot of the hill. They announced their arrival with a 
 shout, and to my surprise, knowing no attack was in- 
 tended, I saw them begin to dodge up the hill two or 
 three at a time under cover of the bushes and little 
 hollows with which such hills are usually covered. It 
 began to look like a real attack. The Turkish fire grew 
 heavier and heavier, until it was one continuous roll, far 
 more terrible than the heaviest artillery fire, because a 
 hundred times more destructive. 
 
 It was evident from this fire that the Turks were 
 three times as numerous as the Russians. An assault 
 under such circumstances would be madness, and I was 
 beginning to wonder if Skobeleff could really be madman 
 enough to attempt it. Suddenly I saw a small party of 
 horsemen dashing down the road within full view of the 
 Turks, and within easy range of their fire, and perceived 
 in a moment Skobeleff. He was mounted on a white 
 horse, and wore a white coat, offering a splendid target 
 for sharpshooters. As I afterwards learned, he, like 
 myself, began to perceive that the attack was growing 
 far too serious, in spite of his orders, and was now going 
 forward to stop it. The soldiers were, it seems, deter- 
 mined on an assault, and the officers maintained, when 
 reproached by Skobeleff, that they could not restrain 
 them. I saw Skobeleff stop apparently to give an order, 
 then saw him dismount, get on another horse, while the 
 white Arabian was led back. He had received a bullet. 
 His escort, which had been composed of six Cossacks, 
 was now reduced to three, the others having been more 
 or less seriously wounded, one mortally. 
 
A EEOONNAISSANOE BEFOKE LOFTCHA. 51 
 
 The fire was still raging along the Turkish intrench- 
 ments, and the Russians were still pushing forward. 
 Skobeleff, mounting another horse, a sorrel this time, 
 again galloped forward. 
 
 He reached the foot of the hill evidently shouting and 
 gesticulating, while his trumpeter sounded the retreat, 
 apparently with effect, for the skirmishers began to with- 
 draw. Then I saw him go down, horse and man together, 
 and I said to myself, 'He has got it this time.' He had 
 had two horses killed under him at Plevna. If it is the 
 horse only, it makes the fourth within ten days. It is 
 impossible for him to go on in this way long without 
 getting killed. He is fairly under the Turkish intrench- 
 ments, and within easy range of the Turkish fire, which 
 is growing stronger and stronger. They are evidently 
 getting reinforcements from the other side, where they 
 are only threatened with cavalry. The roar is continuous, 
 and rolls up and down the hollow like one continuous 
 crash of thunder, only broken by the heavier booming of 
 the artillery. The bullets must be falling about there like 
 hail. It will be a miracle if Skobeleff comes out of it alive. 
 
 Here a cloud of dust and smoke gathered for a moment, 
 and was swept away by the wind two or three minutes 
 later. I then saw Skobeleff again on another horse, 
 fresh as ever, coming back up the road at a trot. He had 
 not received a scratch. The reconnaissance was now 
 over. The troops retired as they came through the wood 
 under the Turkish fire, which was not here very effective. 
 The whole loss was five killed and twenty wounded ou 
 this side — rather heavy for a mere reconnaissance. Had 
 the troops not been stopped in time, they would simply 
 have been annihilated, as several battalions and regiments 
 were at Plevna. 
 
 Skobeleff retired about two miles, camped, and made 
 his report. 
 
 B 2 
 
o2 PLEVNA. 
 
 While Skobeleff was fighting, his topographers 
 were sketching, and when his last soldier was out of 
 danger, he had secured an excellent map of the 
 Turkish position. He found also that the Turks 
 had 25 guns and 15,000 regular soldiers. Their 
 position was fortified by a redoubt and some batteries 
 on both banks of the river Osma, but it was com- 
 manded by a ridge running across the Selvi road, 
 about four miles east of the village . Skobeleff with- 
 drew his forces and fell back on Kakrina, to await 
 reinforcements. 
 
 He spent the interval in making frequent recon- 
 naissances and in superintending, with his usual care, 
 every arrangement for the benefit of his men. On 
 one of these reconnaissances he was accompanied by 
 General Grant, not the ex -President, but an American 
 who was acting as Correspondent of the ' Times.' 
 After attempting in vain to draw the Turks into a 
 skirmish, Skobeleff and his friends returned to the 
 cavalry camp on the Osma, and took a carriage to 
 Poradim. On their way there the following incident 
 occurred, Avhich General Grant shall describe : 
 
 It was nearly (Jark when we started for Poradim, 
 about fifteen miles distant. After accomplishino- about 
 two-thirds of the distance we became aware that we had 
 ]ost the way. It was now dark, and we had only two 
 Cossack cavalrymen as an escort, while in some places 
 the lines were less than two miles apart, and, therefore, 
 easily passed in the night. By reference to the north star 
 we found that we were travelling directly towards Plevna, 
 a line at right angles to the proper course, and no road 
 
A NOCTURNAL ADVENTURE. 53 
 
 leading to tlie northwards could be found. We turned 
 round several times until we lost the road we had come 
 on (there are no fences, and newly-made waggon tracks 
 lead in all directions over the open fields). Suddenly we 
 came upon a line of fires, only a short distance ahead ; 
 they sti etched away in a direction different from our own 
 camps. I had been out the night before, as previously 
 narrated, and had seen all the camp fires of the centre 
 about Poradim. Here was a dilemma : if those fixes were 
 Turkish, we must be already inside their picket lines. 
 Skobeleff seemed most annoyed by the idea that ' Punch ' 
 would have a cartoon of a Russian General riding into 
 the Turkish army in his carriage, and by the fact that he 
 had no revolver, and as, therefore, he could not fight until 
 the Turks killed him, he might be taken prisoner in this 
 uncomfortable way, like a rat in a trap. We were dis- 
 cussing the idea of passing the night in Plevna (if not 
 massacred), and the Cossacks had their carbines at the 
 'ready.' Finally, we came to a halt, as we were dan- 
 gerously near the fires, if they were those of the enemy. 
 Again we turned back, and the sensation was becoming 
 most decidedly disagreeable. We had not proceeded far 
 when we were suddenly stopped. Looking ahead, I could 
 see a clump of horses in the road. We listened, and the 
 seconds seemed slow in passing while we waited for a 
 voice to ascertain whether the accents were Moslem or 
 Muscovite. Never did the Eussian language seem so 
 melodious in my ear as it did when the escort exchanged 
 greetings with the drivers of several carts loaded with 
 barley which had barred our passage. 
 
 In this way, varied by occasional excursions to 
 the Trojan Pass, sometimes by an attack from the 
 Turks, the month of August passed. On August ^ 
 he concentrated his detachment on the left flank of 
 
,54 PLEVNA. 
 
 the army of the west in face of Loftcha. It was a 
 movement of extreme temerity. It was a circuitous 
 advance in the face of the enemy, over the roughest 
 ground, across a river with a formidable Turkish force 
 on the right flank. The artillery was dragged with 
 the utmost ditiiculty over steep, sloping hills, crossed 
 only by winding footpaths ; the heat was excessive, 
 and the difficulty of movement so great, that two 
 days were occupied in the march. The Cossacks of 
 the Caucasus, acting as an advanced guard, covered 
 the movement of the main body, and on the evening of 
 the ^|- Skobeleff had the satisfaction of seeing his 
 division encamped near the village of Sebria, on the 
 high road between Loftcha and Selvi. 
 
 Loftcha, although twelve miles from the most 
 advanced Turkish position at Plevna, covered the 
 extreme right flank of Osman Pasha. It was held 
 by Adil Pasha with 15,000 men, and was strongly 
 defended by earthworks thrown up along the east of 
 the ridge above the river Osma. Behind the town, 
 on a hill to the west, stood a redoubt and several lines 
 of trenches ; the ground was rugged and broken, 
 difficult to storm, but easy to defend. Prince 
 Im^r^tinsky, to whom the command of the attacking 
 force was entrusted, had 20,000 men and 80 guns, 
 without counting the Cossacks. 
 
 SkobeleflF, who commanded the left wing, made a 
 night march on ^^^^^^1°^ from Kakrina to the foot of 
 the ridge east of Loftcha. Arriving at two o'clock 
 in the morning, he drove in the Turkish outposts from 
 
THE BATTLE OF LOFTCHA. 55 
 
 the north of the Loftcharoad, and spent the few hours 
 of darkness in entrenching his position and construct- 
 ing epaulements for twenty-four guns. 
 
 As soon as day dawned SkobelefF, who had been 
 marching, fighting, or digging since the previous 
 sunset, opened fire on the Turkish position on the 
 ridge to the south of the high road. After an artil- 
 lery fire had been kept up for several hours, he 
 drove the Turks out of the southern ridge, occupied 
 it, and spent the night of September 2 in entrenching 
 his new position and in constructing epaulements for 
 thirty-two guns. As the result of this consecutive 
 work kept up for a day and two nights without a 
 moment's intermission, Prince Im^retinsky found on 
 his arrival with the main body of the troops that 
 Skobeleff had seized the positions commanding the 
 Turkish batteries and that everything was ready for 
 attack. 
 
 SkobelefF usually began the attack at five o'clock 
 in the morning, and at that hour, ^^^3, fifty- six 
 guns began to play upon the Turkish lines at Loftcha. 
 General Dobrovolsky soon afterwards joined in with 
 twelve guns from south of Pressiaka. The Turks 
 attempted to crush General Dobrovolsky early in the 
 morning, but their offensive movement was smartly 
 punished, and they were driven back across the 
 Osma. 
 
 It was on the left between where Skobeleff was 
 commanding that the decisive struggle took place. 
 The artillery fire was kept up till two o'clock in 
 
56 PLEVNA. 
 
 the afternoon, when the Turkish guns having been 
 silenced, the order was given for an attack in force. 
 
 Our troops were advancing rapidly when they came 
 suddenly to the edge of a perpendicular ravine, which 
 intervened between them and the Turkish earthworks ; 
 they stopped in some confusion ; several fell wounded 
 into the stream at the bottom of the ravine and were 
 drowned. In a few minutes, however, a path was 
 found down the side of the cleft in the hill. Down 
 this some rolled, others slid, and plunging up to their 
 middle, they crossed the water and clambered up 
 the precipitous hill. It was difficult and dangerous. 
 Men stepped on each other's shoulders or struggled 
 up with the aid of poles under a murderous- fire from 
 the Turks above. At last a few hundreds gained the 
 summit. The fire of the enemy slackened ; with 
 a rousing hurrah our troops flung themselves upon 
 the intrenchments. The Turks turned and fled. 
 The whole of the first line east of the Osma was 
 carried by three o'clock. Skobeleff brought up his 
 artillery into the deserted Turkish positions and 
 pursued the fugitives, through the town, to their 
 second and last line of defence. 
 
 Once more the artillery fire reopened, and after 
 two hours' cannonading the order was again given to 
 advance. Skobeleff again led the way, supported on 
 his right by the first brigade of the Second Division 
 under Dobrovolsky and the Rifle Brigade still further 
 to the right. The fighting was very fierce, and the 
 contest was still in doubt when some groups of 
 
STOEMING OF LOFTCHA. 57 
 
 mounted men were seen leaving the redoubt. ' They 
 are withdrawing their cannon,' cried he to his soldiers, 
 and an indescribable rapture of victory shone on 
 every face. The artillery retreated along the western 
 road, but there was no abatement in the infantry fire 
 from the redoubt. Confident of victory, our officers 
 and men rallied for the final assault. The Turks 
 within the redoubt kept up an incessant and deadly 
 tire. The parapet was 24 feet high, the ditch was wide, 
 and for some time the defenders beat off our attack ; 
 hut some hundred men having collected in a sheltered 
 spot unseen by the Turks, an attack was made at the 
 side of the redoubt. While they were repelling this, 
 the storming party, headed by a colonel who carried 
 nothing but a cane in his hand, climbed up the wall 
 and plunged into the redoubt. The Turks, seeing all 
 was lost, tried to fly. As they rushed down the long 
 and narrow traverse, which ran the whole length of 
 the redoubt, the exit got blocked by an ammunition 
 cart. The Turks, caught as in a trap, sold their lives 
 as dearly as they could ; but in five minutes all was 
 over, and a horrible pile of dead and dying men 
 choked the gorge of the redoubt. The bodies were 
 heaped six feet high — Russians and Turks were 
 intermixed, and so sudden and so resistless was the 
 slaughter, that no fewer than 103 Turks, either un- 
 hurt or only slightly wounded, were extricated from 
 the gory pile. Loftcha was won. 
 
 The Cossacks pressed the flying Turks for miles 
 across the country. Three thousand are said t o have 
 
58 PLEVNA. 
 
 been killed in the pursuit. Adil Pasha's army ceased to 
 exist. Osman Pasha's strongest support was destroyed, 
 our communications with the Balkans were secured, 
 and the first decisive victory since the capture of 
 Shipka restored confidence to our army. Our losses 
 were 1,500 killed and wounded. Next day Osman 
 sent a strong column from Plevna to reinforce Loftcha. 
 It came too late. Skobelefi" went out to meet the 
 Turks, but after some skirmishing they withdrew. 
 
 From that day the fate of Plevna was only a 
 matter of time. The victory was brilliant and com- 
 plete, and it can be imagined how popular became the 
 name of SkobelefF in Russia when, after dreary news 
 of repeated reverses, we read the Grrand Duke's tele- 
 gram announcing the capture of Loftcha, which con- 
 cluded with the brief but emphatic declaration, 
 ' General Skobelefli^, junior, was the hero of the day.' 
 
 The great attack on Plevna was now pending, and 
 after one day's rest, SkobelefF and Im^r^tinsky 
 brought their troops to Bogot. On g^^g^J^ they 
 took up their positions before Plevna. The next day, 
 when SkobelefF made a reconnaissance, he found that 
 Osman had encircled the town with a ring of 18 
 redoubts and batteries. The cannonade had already 
 begun. It was continued five days before the general 
 assault. 
 
 But SkobelefF was already engaged in an attack 
 upon the Turkish position the very next day. He 
 was posted on the left with the advance guard of 
 Prince Imeretinsky's division, with Brestovetz behind 
 
RENEWED ATTACK ON PLEVNA. 59 
 
 him, and the Turkish position on the Green Hills 
 south of Plevna immediately in front. On the after- 
 noon of the 8th he captured, after severe fighting, the 
 three Green Hills in succession, and by five o'clock 
 had come within 1,500 yards of Plevna. The Turks, 
 being reinforced, drove him back to the second hiU^, 
 and after he was informed that the general attack 
 intended for the 9th had been postponed, he withdrew 
 to the first hill, where he entrenched himself He 
 lost in that day's fighting 900 men. The next day 
 the Turks made two attacks upon SkobelefF's posi- 
 tion, and were driven back. The struggle for the first 
 hill was witnessed by Mr. MacGahan. Here is his 
 description : — 
 
 Skobeleff was on the ridge before me, and I was about 
 starting to join him, when the sudden din and uproar of 
 battle, like a thunder-clap, held me spell-bound with 
 admiration. The crest of this ridge suddenly began to 
 vomit flame and smoke. Above this ridge, far higher up, 
 were balls of flames that flashed and disappeared, each 
 leaving a small round fleece of white smoke. The Turkish 
 shrapnel exploding over the heads of the Enssians was 
 deafening ; and the heavy booming of the distant siege 
 guns slowly pounding away at short regular intervals, as 
 though keeping time, produced a sublime effect. The 
 Turks were in their turn attacking the Russians from the 
 other side, and the Russians had evidently reserved their 
 fire until the Turks were very near, which accounted for 
 the sudden furious outburst, ' That Skobeleff,' said the 
 officer near me, ' how he is giving it to them ! ' and three 
 or four Cossacks watching with intense excitement depic- 
 ted on their faces, expressed their satisfaction, convinced 
 
60 PLEVNA. 
 
 that he was there in the middle of the fight, with that 
 charmed life of his, ordering and directing. 
 
 In a few minutes the fire began to slacken, and two or 
 three minutes later a loud shout swept along the ridge 
 before us, followed by prolonged cheering. The Turks 
 were evidently beaten back. Then the fire ceased, but 
 shouting continued, going farther and farther away. Sko- 
 beleff was evidently going at the flying Turks with the 
 bayonet. Now the fighting is over for the present, but 
 the big guns are still pounding away on our right. 
 
 All that fighting was preliminary to the general 
 assault, which took place on g^^^^- 
 
 On the night of the 9th, SkobelefF, who until 
 then had been acting under Imeretinsky, was given 
 independent command of the first division of his 
 troops, whilst Imeretinsky, with the second division, 
 was to support SkobelefF in the attack and to protect 
 his left flank. On the morning of the 10th, SkobelefF 
 occupied the second hill with little difficulty, the 
 troops throwing up earthworks, using their bayonets 
 and soup dishes as spades. There they remained 
 until the fatal morrow, when the last great assault 
 was to take place. 
 
 I cannot attempt to tell the story of that tragic 
 day. I have not the heart to try. All that I can do 
 is to reproduce here three accounts, one English, a 
 second American, and the third Russian, written by 
 eye-witnesses of SkobelefF's terrible struggle. 
 
 Here are a few introductory data. The Russian 
 plan of attack was chiefly directed against three 
 points : the Grivitza redoubt to be attacked by 25,000 
 
THE THIRD BATTLE OF PLEVNA. 61 
 
 Roumanians and Russians in four columns. No. 10 
 redoubt, the south-east of Plevna, in front of the 
 Radischevo ridge, to be attacked by Generals KriloiF 
 and SchitnikofF with 27,000 men ; and the redoubt 
 on the Loftcha road on the Green Hills to be attacked 
 by SkobeleiF with 18,000 men. Altogether, 60,000 
 troops were sent against the redoubts, of whom 7,633 
 were kUled outright, and 10,948 wounded. The 
 Grivitza redoubt was captured, the attack on No. 10 
 redoubt faUed from the first. Mr. MacGahan's de- 
 scription of what he witnessed on the Green Hills 
 that day is as vivid as trustworthy. ' Most of what 
 I relate,' he says, ' I saw with my own eyes, and part 
 I have learned from Skobeleflf himself and the officers 
 who took part in the combat.' Here is his account 
 of the battle : — 
 
 Early in the morning Skobeleff had occupied tlie third 
 knoll without difficulty, but up to the moment of the second 
 repulse of Kriloff, Skobeleff had not yet made his assault. 
 He had well prepared the ground, however. At four 
 o'clock he had brought down twenty pieces of artillery to 
 the spur of the ridge overlooking Plevna. Not more than 
 a thousand yards distant from the redoubt I saw an im- 
 mense volume of smoke rising, and heard a terrible thunder 
 which was not more than five or six hundred yards away on 
 my left. It was evident that Skobeleff, risking his artillery 
 in this advanced position, was determined to make a 
 desperate effort to capture the redoubt in front of him. 
 
 The distance from the Russian positions to the redoubt 
 is probably something over a quarter of a mile, up a smooth 
 even slope, where there is not cover for a rabbit. The 
 glacis is a quarter of a mile, or perhaps a little more, in 
 
Q'-J PLEVNA. 
 
 extent. The loss of an assaulting column rushing up over 
 this glacis under the fire of the Turks would be something 
 terrible. The redoubt Skobeleff was attacking was a 
 double redoubt in the bend of the Loftcha road down near 
 Plevna. He had advanced his troops down the slope of 
 the mountain to within easy range.' As the Turks imme- 
 diately opened fire upon him from the redoubt, he returned 
 the fire with steadiness and precision, putting his men 
 under cover as much as possible, his cannon pouring a 
 steady stream of shell and canister into the redoubt as 
 well. In fact he worked his cannon so much that several 
 pieces have been spoiled. He had evidently determined 
 to risk everything to capture this redoubt, and if Plevna 
 were not taken it would not be his fault. For three hours 
 he kept up this fire, and just after Kriloff's second repiilse, 
 the Turkish fire having somewhat relaxed, dominated by 
 the Russian, he thought the moment had come for making 
 the assault. 
 
 He had four regiments of the line, and four battalions 
 of sharpshooters. Still keeping up his murderous fire, he 
 formed under its cover two regiments in the little hollow 
 at the foot of the low hill on which was built the redoubt, 
 together with two battalions of sharpshooters, not more 
 than twelve hundred yards from the scarp. Then placing 
 himself in the best position for watching the result, he 
 ceased fire and ordered the advance. He ordered the 
 assaulting party not to fire, and they rushed forward with 
 their guns on their shoulders, with music playing and 
 banners flying, and disappeared in the fog and smoke. 
 Skobelefi" is the only general who places himself near 
 enough to feel the pulse of a battle. The advancing 
 
 1 Lieutenant Greene says : ' They went down the slope of the 
 third knoll in two lines of company columns, preceded by a strong 
 line of skirmishers, and with all the bands playmg, cleared the Turks 
 out of their rifle-pits at one foot of the slope, crossed the little stream 
 and began ascending the hill.' 
 
THE ATTACK ON THE GREEN HILLS. 63 
 
 column was indistinctly seen, a dark mass in the fog and 
 smoke. Feeling, as it were, every throb of the battle, he 
 saw this line begin to waver and hesitate. Upon the 
 instant he hurled forward a rival regiment to support, and 
 again watched the result. This new force carried the 
 mass farther on with its momentum, but the Turkish 
 redoubt flamed and smoked, and poured forth such a 
 torrent of bullets that the line was again shaken. Sko- 
 beleff stood in this shower of balls unhurt. All his escort 
 were killed or wounded, even to the little Kirghiz,' who 
 received a bullet in the shoulder. Again he saw the line 
 hesitate and waver, and he flung his fourth and last regi- 
 ment, the Libauskj', on the glacis. Again this new wave 
 carried the preceding ones forward, until they were almost 
 on the scarp ; but that deadly shower of bullets poured 
 upon them; men dropped by hundreds, and the result 
 still remained doubtful. The line once more wavered and 
 hesitated. Not a moment was to be lost, if the redoubt 
 was to be carried. 
 
 ' This little Kirghiz followed SkobelefF from Khokand ; in his 
 dress of purple silk, and in constant attendance on Skobeleff, he was one 
 of the most conspicuous figures in the Russian camp. Mr. MacGahan 
 gives another picture of the Kirghiz follower, after the reconnaissance 
 at Loftcha, in which Skobeleff's white Arab was shot under him. ' I 
 found him,' says Mr. MacGahan, on returning from the fight, ' sitting 
 on the ground crying over Skobeleff's horse, which he had also brought 
 from Khokand — a splendid animal that did eighty miles the other day 
 without feeling it apparently, while a fine English mare Skobeleff had 
 was completely knocked up, and had to be killed. The Kirghiz, 
 although himself slightly wounded, had brought the horse back from 
 under fire, and finding there was no hope of saving him, killed him, 
 skinned him, cut ofi' his hoofs, came into camp, sat down, and had a 
 good cry without paying the slightest attention to his wound. He had 
 been utterly indifierent when other horses were killed ; but this one, 
 he said, was his countryman and brother— the only thing he had to 
 remind him of his far-away home. I saw tears rolling down the poor 
 fellow's cheeks in a stream. He got two bullets through his clothes, 
 one of which made a flesh wound in his arm. He likewise had two 
 horses shot under him at Plevna.' 
 
Gi PLEVNA. 
 
 SkobelefF had now only two battalions of sharpshooters 
 left, the best in his detachments. Putting himself at the 
 head of these, he dashed forward on horseback. He 
 picked up the stragglers ; he reached the wavering, fluc- 
 tuating mass, and gave it the inspiration of his own 
 courage and instruction. He picked the whole mass up 
 and carried it forward with a rush and a cheer. The 
 whole redoubt was a mass of flame and smoke, from which 
 screams, shouts, and cries of agony and defiance arose, 
 with the deep-mouthed bellowing of the cannon, and above 
 all the steady, awful crash of that deadly rifle-fire. Sko- 
 beleff's sword was cut in two in the middle. Then a 
 moment later, when just on the point of leaping the ditch, 
 horse and man rolled together to the ground, the horse 
 dead or wounded, the rider untouched. Skobeleff sprang 
 to his feet with a shout, then with a formidable, savage 
 yell the whole mass of men streamed over the ditch, over 
 the scarp and counter-scarp, over the parapet, and swept 
 into the redoubt like a hurricane. Their bayonets made 
 short work of the Turks still remaining. Then a joyous 
 cheer told that the redoubt was captured, and that at 
 last one of the defences of Plevna was in the hands of the 
 Russians. 
 
 Having seen as much as I ha.ve seen of the Turkish 
 infantry fire from behind trenches and walls, I thought it 
 was beyond flesh and blood to break it, — a belief which 
 had been strengthened by Krilofl's repulse, which I had 
 just witnessed. Skobelefi" proved the contrary; but at 
 what a sacrifice ! In that short rush of a few hundred 
 yards, three thousand men had been left on the hill-side, 
 on the glacis, the scarp, and the ditch — one-fourth of his 
 whole force. I believe that SkobelefF looks upon such 
 attacks upon such positions as almost criminal, and dis- 
 approved highly the whole plan of attack on Plevna ; but 
 he believes that if an attack is to be made, it can only be 
 done in this manner, and that, although the loss of men 
 
THE STRUGGLE FOR THE GREEN HILLS. 65 
 
 may be great, it is better that the loss should be incurred 
 and the victory won, than half the loss with a certainty of 
 defeat. Skobeleff seems to be the only one among the 
 Russian generals who has studied the American war with 
 profit. He knows it by heart, and it will be seen by those 
 who have studied the great civil war, that in this assault 
 Skobeleff followed the plan of the American generals on 
 both sides when attempting to carry such positions, to 
 follow up the assaulting column with fresh troops without 
 waiting for the first column to be repulsed. If the posi- 
 tion proves too strong for the first column, then rein- 
 forcements are at hand before they have time to break 
 and run. 
 
 Skobeleff had the redoubt. The question now was how 
 to hold it.^ It was dominated by the redoubt of Krishin 
 on the left already spoken of. It was exposed at the 
 Plevna side to the fire of the sharpshooters, and to the 
 Turkish forces in the wood bordering on the Sophia road, 
 and open to the fire of the entrenched camp. There was 
 a cross fire coming from three different points. 
 
 At daylight next morning the Turks opened fire from 
 all sides. The distance from the redoubt at Krishin had 
 of course been accurately measured, and the guns dropped 
 shells into the redoubt with the utmost precision on the 
 exposed sides. The back of the redoubt was a solid rock 
 on which it was impossible to erect a parapet. All the 
 earth had been used for the construction of the parapets 
 
 ' The middle redoubt, which the Russians had taken, as well as the 
 eastern one, which was still in the hands of the Turks, were properly 
 speaking not redoubts at all, since they were only built up on three 
 sides ; the front side of each was simply an increased height to the 
 strong line of trench connecting the two, and extending to the west (left) 
 of the middle one ; the other two sides were properly mere traverses to 
 this line ; and the fourth side — the rear— was wholly open and exposed 
 to the fire from the trench of the camp, only 600 yards off. The ground 
 was hard and rocky, and there were no spades at hand for digging.' 
 Greene's Campaign in Bulgaria, p. 250. 
 
66 PLEATSTA. 
 
 on the other side. It was evident that the position was 
 untenable unless the entrenched camp on the other side of 
 the Plevna and the Krishin redoubt could be taken. 
 Skobeleff renewed his demand for reinforcements made 
 the evening before. Although his losses had been great, 
 the spirit of his troops was so good that with another 
 regiment he was willing to undertake to capture the 
 redoubt and the entrenched camp, or he would undertake 
 to hold the positions until something could be attempted 
 in some other quarter. Could one or two more positions 
 be carried during Wednesday, say the Krishin redoubt, 
 and one entrenched camp on the same ridge as the Gri- 
 vitza redoubt, the fall of Plevna might be considered 
 certain. At sunrise the Turks began an attack upon the 
 captured redoubt, and the storm of battle again raged with 
 fury here, while all was quiet everywhere else. The despe- 
 rate attack of the Turks was repulsed. Another attack 
 was made and another repulse, and this continued all day 
 long, until the Turks had attacked and been beaten five 
 successive times. 
 
 The Russian losses were becoming fearful. General 
 Skobeleff had lost, he thinks, 2,000 men in attacking the 
 redoubt. By the afternoon he had lost 3,000 more in 
 holding it, while his battalions shrivelled up and shrank 
 away as if by magic. One battalion of sharpshooters had 
 been reduced to 160 men. A company which had been 
 150 was now forty. An immense proportion of officers 
 were killed, or wounded only. Only one commander of a 
 regiment is alive ; scarcely a head of a battalion is left. 
 Two officers of the staff are killed, one of whom was 
 Verestchagine, brother of the great artist. Another 
 brother was wounded. General Dobrovolsky, commander 
 of sharpshooters, was killed. One officer was blown to 
 pieces by the explosion of a caisson. Colonel Kura- 
 patkin, chief of the staff, standing beside this officer, had 
 
THE GREEN HILLS ABANDONED. 67 
 
 his liair singed and suffered a severe contusion. Only 
 General Skobeleff himself remained untouched. He seems 
 to bear a charmed life. He visited the redoubt three or 
 four times during the day, encouraging the soldiers, 
 telling them help would soon arrive ; Plevna would soon 
 be taken ; victory would soon crown their efforts ; telling 
 them it was the final decisive blow struck for their coun- 
 try ; for the honour and glory of the Russian arms ; and 
 they always replied with the same cheery shouts, while 
 their numbers were dwindling away by hundreds. He 
 again and again sent for reinforcements, and again and 
 again informed the Commander-in-Chief that the position 
 was untenable. The afternoon wore away and no rein- 
 forcements came. . . . 
 
 General Levitzky, as I have been informed, formally 
 refused reinforcements, either because he thought the 
 position, in spite of General Skobeleff's representations, 
 was tenable, or because he had no reinforcements to give. 
 General Kriloff, on his own responsibility, sent the rem- 
 nant of a regiment which had attacked the redoubt, 
 which I saw rush forward and then back through the 
 Indian cornfield. Of the 2,500 there were barely 1,000 
 left, so it was utterly incapable of going into action that 
 day, and even this regiment arrived too late. General 
 Skobeleff had left the redoubt at four o'clock to go to his 
 tent on a woody hUl opposite. He had lieen there scarcely 
 an hour when he was informed that the Turks were again 
 attacking the right flank on the Loftcha road immediately 
 above Plevna. He galloped forward to see, and was met 
 by an orderly with the news that the Turks were also 
 attacking the redoubt a sixth time. He dashed forward 
 towards the redoubt in hopes of reaching it in time, but 
 was met by a stream of his own men flying back. They 
 were exhausted by forty-eight hours' incessant fighting, 
 and were worn out, hungry, and dying of thirst and 
 
68 PLEVNA. 
 
 fatigue. Owing to the inactivity of the Eussians during 
 the day, the Turks had been able to collect an overwhelm- 
 ing force which had made one last desperate effort and had 
 succeeded in driving Skobeleff's force ont. One bastion 
 was held till the last by a young ofBcer, whose name I 
 regret I have forgotten, with a handful of men. They 
 refused to fly, and were slaughtered to the last man. 
 
 It was just after this that I met General Skobeleff, the 
 first time that day. He was in a fearful state of excite- 
 ment and fury. His uniform was covered with mud and 
 filth ; his sword broken ; his cross of St. George twisted 
 round on his shoulder ; his face black with powder and 
 smoke; his eyes haggard and blood-shot, and his voice 
 quite gone. He spoke in a hoarse whisper. I never before 
 saw such a picture of battle as he presented. I saw him 
 again in his tent at night. He was quite calm and col- 
 lected. He said, ' I have done my best ; I could do no 
 more. My detachment is half destroyed ; my regiments 
 do not exist ; I have no ofliicers left ; they sent me no 
 reinforcements, and I have lost three guns.' They were 
 three of the four guns which he placed in the redoubt 
 upon taking it, only one of which his retreating troops 
 had been able to carry off. ' Why did they refuse you 
 reinforcements ? ' I asked. ' Who was to blame ? ' 'I 
 blame nobody,' he replied. ' It is the will of God.' 
 
 Mr. MacGahan's account contains no description 
 of the capture of the eastern redoubt, but Lieut. 
 Greene describes it as follows. I begin his narrative 
 at the critical point of the attack on the middle 
 redoubt. He says : — 
 
 The arrival of the 7th regiment gave new courage to 
 the men already so hotly engaged, and they made a 
 renewed effort to advance up the slope, but found it im- 
 possible, and again they lay down and open fire. But it 
 
LIEUTENANT GREENE'S NARRATIVE. 69 
 
 was evident that they could not long remain in such a 
 position, only 200 yards from the redoubts ; the Turks 
 behind trenches and the Eussians in the open and ex- 
 posed not only to the infantry fire in front, but to artillery 
 fire on both flanks — on the left from the Krishin redoubt 
 and on the right from the redoubts of the ' middle group,' 
 The critical moment had therefore arrived, and Skobeleff 
 sent forward the rest of his troops, viz. the 6th regiment 
 and the two remaining rifle battalions ; and he himself, 
 leaving the second knoll, whence he had been directing 
 the attack, rode forward rapidly, caught up the two rifle 
 battalions, and went forward with them. He was well 
 known to his men as being the only general of&cer who 
 always rode a white horse, and wore a white coat in 
 battle, and there is no doubt that his personal presence 
 encouraged the men : he had the good luck not to be hit, 
 though nearly all his staff fell, and he entered (on foot, his 
 horse being killed) the redoubt with his men. As these 
 reinforcements came forward there was a tremendous 
 enthusiasm and " hurrah ' among the men ; one more final 
 effort was made to get up the slope ; the Turks were 
 driven out of the trenches in front of the redoubt, then 
 for a few minutes, just as at redoubt No. 10, the affair 
 hung in the balance, but here it succeeded : the Turks 
 began to weaken, a portion of the Eussians entered the 
 trenches between the two redoubts, then turned to the 
 left, and finally, at half -past four, the middle redoubt was 
 in the hands of the Eussians. The Turks, still firing, 
 retreated to a camp surrounded by a light trench, about 
 600 yards in rear of the line of redoubts. 
 
 The Eussians had lost 3,000 men in the assault, which 
 lasted little less than an hour. 
 
 But the fight did not now in the least abate. The 
 middle redoubt, which the Eussians had taken, as well as 
 the eastern one, which was still in the hands of the Turks, 
 
70 PLEVNA. 
 
 were, properly speaking, not redoubts at all, since they 
 were only built up on three sides : the front side of each 
 was simply an increased height to the strong line of trench 
 connecting the two and extending to the west (left) of the 
 middle one ; the other two sides were properly mere 
 traverses to this line : and the fourth side — the rear — 
 was wholly open and exposed to the fire from the trench 
 of the camp only 600 yards off. The ground was hard 
 and rocky, and there were no spades at hand for digging. 
 While the Turks, therefore, kept up an incessant fire from 
 this camp and from the eastern redoubt, which was still 
 in their possession, a force of one or two battalions sortied 
 from the redoubt (No. 13 of plan) on the left of the Rus- 
 sians, and advanced to the attack of the left flank. See- 
 ing this, Colonel Kurapatkin, Chief of the Staff to Sko- 
 beleff, and the only one of his staff not killed or wounded, 
 took about 300 men and went forward to meet these Turks 
 in the open. A desperate fight at short range took place, 
 in which the Russians lost the greater part of this little 
 force, but drove the Turks back to their redoubt (No. 13). 
 Just at this time some of the artillery which remained in 
 front of Brestovetz increased their fire upon the Krishin 
 redoubt from the other side, and a portion of the Cossacks 
 on the left flank dismounted and advanced on foot against 
 the same redoubt. This created a diversion upon the 
 Russian left flank, and relieved them for a time from 
 further attacks in that quarter. Meanwhile a small force 
 of a few hundred volunteers came out of the middle 
 redoubt, and made an efi'ort to get into the eastern one, 
 but they all, or nearly all, perished. Then Colonel Shesta- 
 koff, of Imeretinsky's staff, came across the valley from 
 the third knoll to the line of redoubts with three com- 
 panies of the 6th regiment and portions of the other 
 regiments which had been left in reserve, and, picking 
 up on the way the stragglers and scattered detachments 
 
THE EASTERN REDOUBT. 71 
 
 in the valley, made a force of about 1,000 or 1,200 men, 
 ■with which he made a desperate effort against the front 
 of the eastern redoubt at the same time that a fresh lot of 
 volunteers sortied from the middle redoubt against its 
 left flank. The attack succeeded, and at 5.30 p.m. the 
 eastern redoubt was also in the hands of the Russians. 
 Soon afterwards darkness set in, and the fight slackened 
 down to desultory picket-firing, with an occasional shell 
 from the Krishin redoubt. 
 
 Skobeleff's position was precarious. He occupied, with 
 the 6th, 7th, 61st, and 62nd regiments and the Rifle 
 Brigade, the line of trench and redoubt shown on this 
 plan just south-west of the town. In his front, at 600 
 yards, was the entrenched camp of the Turks ; on his 
 left flank, at 800 yards, was redoubt No. 13 ; and on his 
 left rear, at 2,300 yards, was the Krishin redoubt (ISTo. 
 14). On his right flank was the middle group of redoubts, 
 and on his right rear was redoubt No. 10, where the 
 Russians had been repulsed during the afternoon. He was 
 entered like a wedge into the midst of the Turkish lines, 
 and on three sides of him were strong works against 
 which either no attack had been made at all or the attack 
 had failed. In his rear, at about 1,800 yards, were still the 
 24 9-pounders, supported by two battalions of the 8th 
 and two very weak battalions of the 5th regiment, which 
 had lost 700 men in the affair of September 8. The 
 other battalion of the 8th was at Brestovetz, and that 
 of the 5th regiment was keeping up the connection be- 
 tween the two portions of his command. If the Turks in 
 the Krishin redoubt were strong enough to come down 
 iipon his rear, there was a good chance that his whole 
 force would be lost. He sent word to Zotoff explaining 
 his position, and saying that it was untenable unless he 
 were strongly reinforced, at the same time that other rein- 
 forcements were sent against the Krishin redoubt : saying 
 
72 PLEVNA. 
 
 also that he would hold on as long as he could, and asking 
 for further instructions. 
 
 Not only was his position most critical, but his men 
 were exhausted and their ammunition was running very 
 short. Skobeleff was indefatigable. He himself posted 
 the battalion of the 8th regiment between the two posi- 
 tions, with one company facing east across the little valley 
 between the redoubt line and the third knoll, another 
 company facing west towards the Krishin redoubt, and 
 the other three companies in the centre. Some Cossacks 
 who arrived during the night, he employed to bring up 
 cartridges, and himself personally visited the left flank 
 of the redoubt line, and set the men to work with their 
 bayonets, soup dishes, and whatever thej- had, in throwing 
 up a sort of traverse or trench against the fire from the 
 redoubt No. 13. Twice during the night he was attacked, 
 once from Krishin and once from the valley on the side 
 of Plevna. The troops making the latter attack were in 
 the darkness mistaken for Russians, supposing that they 
 might be a portion of the IV. Corps coming to their 
 aid from that direction. The Turks thus got within 100 
 yards of the Russians before it was discovered ; the latter 
 fell back upon the three remaining companies of the 
 battalion (8th regiment), and then fired by volleys on the 
 Turks, and thus drove them back. This was about mid- 
 night. About the same time arrived an aide-de-camp 
 (Colonel Orloff) of the Grand Duke, who had been riding 
 since six o'clock in the darkness and absence of roads (it 
 was nearly fifteen miles round through the Russian lines 
 from the Grand Duke's head-quarters to Skobeleff's posi- 
 tion) ; the critical condition of affairs was explained to 
 him, and he returned to head-quarters. A little before 
 daybreak Skobeleff brought four 9-pounders forward and 
 established them in the middle redoubt to open fire 
 against No. 13. 
 
 The morning of September 12 dawned bright and 
 
NO BEINFORCEMENTS. 73 
 
 clear, after forty liours of continuous rain and fog. At 
 six o'clock the Turks opened fire with their artillery from 
 the redoubts surrounding Skobeleff' s position, and with 
 musketry from the camp in his front ; and not long after 
 appeared a strong column of infantry from the direction 
 of the Krishin redoubt, which advanced to within 300 
 yards of the Russian position before it was arrested by 
 their fire; it then fell back to redoubt No. 13. At eight 
 o'clock they made their second attack in the same direc- 
 tion, but with no better success. Skobeleff had mean- 
 while brought up eight 4-pounders to the third knoll, 
 which did good service with shrapnel against the advanc- 
 ing Turks. At 10.80 a.m. they made a third desperate 
 assault, still upon the left flank of the Russian position ; 
 it was repulsed, but now the men in that part of the line, 
 worn out and discouraged with thirty hours' continuous 
 firing, began to drop out one by one and make their way 
 to the rear. Seeing this, Skobeleff, who was on the third 
 knoll, rode over and expostulated, threatened, ordered, and 
 encouraged the men, and got them back into the redoubt 
 again. 
 
 Meanwhile Skobeleff had received two orders from 
 Zotoff, the first about 7 a.m., and the second at 10.30 a.m. 
 They were as follows : — 
 
 '1. To General Priuce Imeretinsky : By direction of 
 the Commander-in-Chief, I give you and General Sko- 
 beleff the order to fortify yourselves in the position which 
 you have taken to-day, and to hold out to the last ex- 
 tremity. We can seiad you no reinforcements, for we have 
 
 none. 
 
 ' (Signed) Zotoff, Lieutenant-General.' 
 
 '2. To General Skobeleff: By order of the Commander- 
 in-Chief, if you cannot hold the positions which you have 
 taken, then you must retreat slowly — but, if such a thing 
 
74 PLEVNA. 
 
 is possible, not before evening — to Tutchenitza, covering 
 your retreat by the eavab-y of General Leontieff. Send a 
 copy of this order — which otherwise keep secret — ^to 
 General Prince Imeretinsky. The Grivitza redoubt is in 
 our hands, but in spite of this the attack cannot be con- 
 tinued ; but the retreat must be slowly begun : 8.30 a.m. 
 ' (Signed) Zotofp, Lieutenant-General.' 
 
 This latter order was brought by the same Colonel 
 OrlofF who had visited Skobeleff during the night, and 
 thence returned to the Grand Duke and Zotoff to explain 
 the condition of things in SkobeleiF's front. 
 
 SkobelefF did what he could to obey these orders — to 
 hold on till evening ; but from the very first his case was 
 hopeless. He always kept hoping, in spite of Zotofif's first 
 order, that a portion of the IV. Corps would be sent to 
 help him, or at least that the attack would recommence on 
 some other part of the line, and thus relieve the pressure 
 on him. But this did not happen. There was hardly a 
 shot fired from any other part of the line throughout this 
 day. Zotoff and Levitzky were at the Grand Duke's head- 
 quarters all the morning, over on the hills east of Grivitza, 
 about six and a-half miles in a straight line from SkobeleiF's 
 position, watching the fight with their glasses, but unable, 
 of course, at that distance to make anything out of it. 
 The distance over the route which messengers had to take 
 through the Russian lines was about twelve miles. As to 
 the question of reinforcements, the Roumanians and the 
 1st brigade, 5th division, were fully occupied in holding 
 the Grivitza redoubt : from the Grivitza village to the 
 Tutchenitza creek the line was held by five regiments of 
 the IX. Corps and six regiments of the IV. Corps, and of 
 these eleven regiments, five had not been engaged the 
 previous day at all, viz. the 121st, 122nd, 119th, 120th, 
 and 20th. Whether two or three of these regiments 
 might not safely have been sent to Skobeleff — as there 
 
A DESPERATE POSITION. lO 
 
 was no intention of attacking in any other part of the 
 line^ — is of course a matter about which opinions will 
 differ. The fact was, however, that at the Russian head- 
 quarters it had been determined not to continue the attack 
 (on the ground that their force was not strong enough) 
 and the Chief of the Staff had no realisation of what a 
 desperate position Skobeleff was in. Hence the orders 
 cited above. 
 
 Skobeleff's position, however, was most desperate. As 
 the morning wore'on and there was no sign of a renewal of 
 the attack on the other parts of the line, Osman beganto mass 
 a strong force in Plevna to drive Skobeleff out. Whether 
 these troops were drawn from the reserve camp in the valley 
 between the town and the river, or from the Bukovaposition, 
 or from the middle redoubts, is not known; but it is certain 
 that Osman reinforced the troops in front of Skobeleff to 
 the extent of not less than 12,000 men. Part of them went 
 over the hill and round into the Krishin redoubt, and 
 thence against Skobeleff's left flank, and part of them 
 came out of the town and followed up the Tutchenitza 
 brook for about three-quarters of a mile, and then climb- 
 ing up its bank, endeavoured to get possession of the 
 third knoll from the rear, and thus cut off Skobeleff's 
 retreat. This latter movement began to make itself 
 apparent at about 1 p.m., and to meet it Skobeleff brought 
 up the two battalions of the 6th regiment, which up till 
 now had remained with the batteries on the second knoll. 
 Meanwhile, of the four guns which he had placed in the 
 middle redoubt, two had been dismounted and the other 
 two had lost all their horses and gunners ; to replace 
 these guns Skobeleff sent three of the eight guns which 
 he had kept on the third knoll ; they had been in the 
 redoubt but a short time before they were dismounted, 
 and about this time a caisson, which had been brought 
 under the shelter of the side of the redoubt for protection. 
 
76 PLEVNA. 
 
 was, nevertheless, found by a shell from the Krishin 
 redoubt, and exploded in the midst of the men, not only 
 creating a fearful loss, but carrying dismay to those who 
 were not hurt. Skobeleff again rushed forward in person 
 to the redoubt, and endeavoured to reassure his men ; and 
 he was barely in time, for a few minutes later, between 
 2 and 2.30 p.m., the Turks from the direction of the Krishin 
 redoubt and from No. 13, reinforced by fresh troops, made 
 their fourth assault. The Russians let them approach to 
 within 400 yards, and then opened on them with well- 
 aimed volley firing, and with deadly effect. The Turkish 
 line halted, and sought shelter, and returned the fire ; 
 but every time they endeavoured to move forward they 
 met with such terrible losses, that they finally gave it up 
 and returned to No. 13. 
 
 As Skobeleff was returning from the redoubt to the 
 third knoll, he learned that the 118th regiment was 
 arriving; it had been sent to him as reinforcement by 
 General Kriloff, commanding IV. Corps, on his own respon- 
 sibility, on a.ccount of the heavy firing which he had heard 
 so long on Skobeleff's front. The regiment numbered 
 1,300 men. At 4,30 p.m. the Turks, greatly reinforced in 
 numbers, began their fifth assault from the direction of 
 Krishin, and simultaneously from the camp. They kept 
 advancing in spite of the murderous fire of the Russians, 
 and as they neared the redoubt, the majority of the latter, 
 worn out with thirty-six hours' continuous fighting with 
 no appreciable result, began to make off to the rear in 
 small groups ; the little band of 200 or more brave men 
 who remained behind under Major Gortaloff were cut 
 down to the last man in a fierce hand-to-hand fight. 
 
 The middle redoubt was thus lost, but still the men 
 in the eastern redoubt and a part of the trenches between 
 the two remained in their places and kept up the fight. 
 To prevent their being massacred, Skobeleff hastily sent 
 
KETREAT. 77 
 
 them an order to fall back to the third knoll ; and in 
 order that this might be possible, he himself took the 
 118th regiment (which had recently arrived as just stated) 
 and led them to the assault of the line between the two 
 redoubts. Under cover of this they returned (what was 
 left of them) to the third knoll. The retreat was then 
 continued under the protection of the twenty-four guns 
 and two battalions (8th regiment) on the second knoll. 
 Except those who fell in the last affair in front of the 
 redoubts, nearly all the wounded were carried off; the 
 dead were left upon the field. 
 
 Skobeleff retreated to the 'first knoll' and remained 
 there all night and all of the 13th. The Turks were too 
 much used up to follow or attack him. At night of 
 the 13th he returned to Bogot. His losses were 160 
 ofBcers and over 8,000 men. About 18,000 men had been 
 engaged. 
 
 That is tlie American account of the third battle 
 of Plevna, to which I only need to add that Mr. Mac 
 Gahan subsequently states that, in a conversation 
 which he had with Skobeleff before the assault began, 
 he had declared that the plan of a general assault was 
 a mistake, and a terrible mistake it proved. 
 
 Here is the Russian description of the events of 
 the fatal day. 
 
 On the evening of -^f? the clouds obscured the 
 horizon and dissolved in heavy rain. At midnight 
 all the troops received the dispositions sigTied by 
 General Zotoff. They were as follows : — 
 
 To-morrow, |^|?, will take place the general attack 
 on the fortified camp of Plevna. 
 
 1 . At daybreak all the batteries will open a heavy fire 
 
78 PLEVNA. 
 
 against all the enemy's entrencliments, and continue it 
 until nine o'clock, and then stop at the same time every- 
 where. Resume firing at eleven and keep up till one. 
 Afterwards cease firing till half-past two. At half-past 
 two resume the bombardment from all guns, excepting 
 those which would interfere with the assault. 
 2. At three will begin the attack. 
 
 The Roumanians and Baron Kriidner were to attack 
 Grivitza, General Kriloif commanded the centre, and 
 General SkobelefF the left wing ; while the cavalry, 
 under General LeontiefF and General LachkarofF, 
 were to operate against any Turkish troops which 
 might show themselves to the left banii of the Vid. 
 
 The object of the assailants was to determine 
 the key of the enemy's position, and to strike so 
 as to sever their line of operations and to weaken 
 their resistance. We tliought that the Grivitza re- 
 doubt was the vital point in Osman's defence. It 
 was the largest and the highest, and against it we 
 sent sixty-four battalions, while Skobeleff was given 
 twenty-two battalions to attack the Green Hills. 
 When the battle was over it was found that the key 
 of the position was in front of SkobelefF, and that the 
 Grivitza redoubt only represented the extreme front 
 of the enemy's line. 
 
 The morning of g^J° began with a fine rain, 
 which grew heavier as the hour of assault drew near. 
 At nine o'clock, seeing that the reserves on the left 
 flank were moving, we began to reply with shell. 
 
 On the other side of the deep isolated ravine 
 
THE THIRD BATTLE OF PLEVNA. 79 
 
 of Tutchenitza, SkobeleiF had pitched his tent in a 
 valley between two hillocks, and immediately in front 
 of the Loftcha road. 
 
 Skobeleff knew that if he began to attack at three 
 he should fail to take the redoubts. It was necessary 
 to begin soon, he said, and without waiting for three 
 o'clock he started the first battalions towards the Green 
 Hills. 
 
 The Turks began by firing at intervals a few 
 rounds. SkobelefF's took up a position among the 
 vines ; but the Turkish fire increasing in volume 
 in proportion as the vanguard advanced, it became 
 necessary to fall back towards the tents in the 
 valley. 
 
 At three o'clock the general attack began. It 
 was impossible for anyone to see all that was going 
 on. They noticed that with Kriloff things did not 
 go well ; only on the two wings was there any suc- 
 cess. The rain increased towards evening The 
 night came : the bombardment died away. Kriloff 
 had been beaten back with enormous loss. On the 
 right the Grivitza redoubt had been captured, and on 
 the left Skobeleff had chased the Turks out of two 
 redoubts which defended the town of Plevna. 
 
 Before the battle began, Skobeleff, followed by his 
 aides-de-camp, rode through the ranks of his detach- 
 ment. 
 
 ' Good day, my friends,' cried the General as he 
 rode up smiling to the front of the regiment. 
 
 The troops returned his greeting with pleasure. 
 
80 PLEVNA. 
 
 ' I am very happy, my friends, to serve with you.' 
 ' We will do all we can. Excellency.' 
 ' Are you not brave fellows, then ? ' he asked, 
 smiling. 
 
 ' We will do all we can. Excellency.' 
 ' And it will be necessary to do it, my friends. 
 You know well that all Russia is watching us. But 
 I know you — what you are worth. . . . We shall 
 meet under fire,' and then, with a friendly nod, Sko- 
 beleiF would ride off from the regiment. These simple 
 words of his sank deep into the heart of every soldier. 
 He did not trust them in vain. 
 
 Skobeleff led into battle against the Turkish re- 
 doubts, the regiments Vladimiri, the Suzdal, the 9th 
 and 10th Tirailleurs. In the second line he placed 
 the 1st and 12th battalions of Tirailleurs, and his 
 infantry regiments. The Turkish redoubts were 
 placed thus : one great redoubt rose at the summit 
 of a gently sloping hill ; half-a-mile to the right of 
 this redoubt stood another smaller redoubt, and a 
 mile and a- half further was the principal fortified 
 camp. To the left of the central redoubt was another, 
 also at a mile and a-half distance, which took the 
 assailants in the rear as soon as they seized the 
 central fort. 
 
 Before reaching the latter redoubt, our brave 
 troops had to cross about a mile of country, entirely 
 without cover, under the terrible fire from the Turks. 
 On they went cheering, with flags flying, bands play- 
 ing, and drums beating, as they marched. Skobeleff 
 
HOLDING THE GEEEN HILLS. 81 
 
 rode at their head on his white horse, and was one of 
 the first to enter the redoubt. The Turks fled, but 
 from the other redoubts they opened a deadly fire 
 upon our troops. The redoubt was open to the rear, 
 and every shell was dropped into our midst. The 
 Turks had the range exactly ; not a shot was wasted. 
 Our soldiers found shelter as best they could in the 
 redoubt, and then an attack was made on the neigh- 
 bouring redoubt on the right. The first assault was 
 beaten back, but at night they chased the Turks out 
 of the second redoubt. The Turks attempted to 
 retake it during the night, but they were driven back 
 at the point of the bayonet. Next day the Turks 
 attacked on both flanks. Twice our outnumbered 
 garrisons were on the point of giving way, when 
 Skobeleff appeared as if suddenly rising out of the 
 ground, reanimated his men by his presence, and 
 drove back the Turks. We had held them. for twenty- 
 four hours — under a deadly cross fire — counting upon 
 the success of the general attack. But our hopes 
 vanished. Our troops dwindled, not by the hour, 
 but by the minute. Five Turkish attacks, the most 
 persistent and desperate, had been repelled ; the re- 
 doubts were literally drenched with Eussian blood ; 
 but in the end SkobelefF's force failed him, and he 
 was compelled to give way. 
 
 The failure of their five attacks did not dismay 
 the Turks. Although the fire ceased along all the 
 rest of the line, it never stopped for one minute on 
 the left flank. There was a moment very propitious 
 
 G 
 
82 PLEVNA. 
 
 for us to attack the last redoubt on the right, but 
 attack was out of the question ; it was more than we 
 could do to hold our own. Towards four o'clock in 
 the afternoon, after the fifth attack had been driven 
 back, the Turks were so weakened that, if SkobelefF 
 had only received a few fresh troops, he could have 
 captured the third redoubt ; and, the position on the 
 left flank being thus secured, the affair of Plevna 
 would have been brilliantly concluded. Skobeleff 
 thrice demanded reinforcements : but none were sent, 
 and the ojDportunity passed. 
 
 The Turkish general, profiting by the general 
 lull, brought together all his reserves, and launched 
 them against Skobeleff's position. The Turkish 
 column fell upon the small redoubt on the right, and 
 of the handful of heroes who had defended it from 
 the first, some were shot, others bayonetted. Only 
 a few contrived to escape to the larger redoubt. 
 That shared the same fate. The Turks, in over- 
 whelming numbers, crushed all resistance. The 
 remnant of Skobeleff's detachment in the redoubt 
 was bayonetted, and Skobeleff brought back two 
 companies alone of all the troops with which, but 
 twenty-four hours before, he had captured the three 
 redoubts. 
 
 The Turks were victorious. They had regained 
 their redoubts, and their impregnable line once more 
 confronted our positions. At seven o'clock Skobeleff 
 fell back, according to orders, on Bogot, and the 
 great assault had finally failed. But, if Skobeleff had 
 
THE INVESTMENT OF PLEVNA. 83 
 
 only received the reinforcements which he had vainly 
 demanded, Plevna would that day have fallen into 
 our hands. 
 
 After the repulse of g^^"^^^^^^^^"^ our forces remained 
 almost inactive. 
 
 On September ^§ General KrUofF, at Teliche, 
 allowed the Turks to reinforce Plevna with 12,000 
 men and 2,000 wagons of munitions of war ; on 
 September 23 Chefkct rciuforced Osman from Orkhanie. 
 
 October 6 
 
 The day before this misfortune General Todtleben 
 was appointed to the command of the army of the 
 West, and the siege of Plevna was begun. Had the 
 Sebastopol hero, so well appreciated and so brilUantly 
 described by Mr. Kinglake, been appointed some few 
 months sooner, our Plevna disaster would probably 
 never have taken place. We had about 250 guns 
 in position : 20 24-pounders and 230 9-pounders. 
 The Turks had only 80 field guns. From his base 
 at Orkhanie Chef ket kept pouring supplies into Plevna 
 by the Sophia road ; for, strange though it appears, 
 Osman's communications with Sophia were never cut 
 until October ^, when the Guard, which had just 
 arrived from Kussia, defeated, at severe sacrifice of 
 precious lives, the Turks at Gorni Doubniak. Around 
 Plevna nothing but trench-making and occasional 
 firing went on, except at Grivitza, where the Rou- 
 manians, on October -j-V made two unsuccessful at- 
 tempts to take the second Grivitza redoubt. The 
 investment of Plevna was not completed until 
 October 21 -^iien Genera] Gourko occupied Dolni Doub- 
 
 November 2' ■•• 
 
84 PLEVNA. 
 
 niak and threw a ring of steel around the Turkish 
 fortress. 
 
 Skobeleff soon after recommenced active opera- 
 tions. On October 27 his troops, having gradually 
 worked their way up to the Green Hill by trenches, 
 captured the famous position by a sudden night 
 assault. His division before the assault numbered 
 11,000 men. The Turks, taking advantage of his 
 repulse on ,^'"'""*"„ when he was ordered to fall back 
 
 1 September 12' 
 
 beyond the Loftcha road to Tutchenitza, constructed 
 four other redoubts, so that, instead of three between 
 him and Plevna, there were seven, or six, if we deduct 
 that captured on November 8. The soldiers around 
 Plevna now numbered 120,000, and the line of invest- 
 ment was forty-six miles long. Osman's line extended 
 twenty-four miles. 
 
 The following is Mr. MacGahan's account of the 
 successful surprise of the Turkish redoubt and the 
 heavy fighting which followed for the next ten 
 days : — 
 
 The Brestovetz redoubt is just opposite tlie Turtish 
 EIrishin redoubt, from which it is distant about 1,300 
 yards. But this Brestovetz redoubt forms a kind of angle 
 projecting into the Turkish lines, and is somewhat ex- 
 posed and dangerous. It became necessary to strengthen 
 the Eussian line. This could be done by seizing the smal 1 
 wooded hiU immediately in front of the right wing between 
 the Loftcha road and the parallel ravine. 
 
 It was most unfortunate for the Russians that these 
 positions were ever abandoned, for they are about as high 
 as the Krishin redoubt ; they completely command Plevna, 
 
CAPTUKE OF A TURKISH EEDOUBT. 85 
 
 and the two redoubts captured by Skobeleff in the last 
 affair, and fortified, would have rendered the Eussian 
 positions here much stronger than they can now be made. 
 The Turks have now constructed a strong redoubt on the 
 summit of the hill between the Krishin redoubt and the 
 Loftcha road, the very spot where Skobeleff planted two 
 batteries during the last affair. It was not the hill with 
 the redoubt which Skobeleff resolved to capture, but one 
 between the Loftcha road and the ravine. It was de- 
 fended by trenches, and held by about fourteen tabors, 
 perhaps 7,00Q men, though Todtleben believed there were 
 a great many more, as the position was most important. 
 The combined movement was arranged with General 
 Gourko, who was to open fire all along the line, and like- 
 wise advance and occupy the position in front of him 
 towards the bridge over the Vid, in order to shorten his 
 line likewise. The weather was so foggy one could not 
 see more than fifty feet. 
 
 The attack was fixed for five o'clock. By that time it 
 was so dark that nothing could be seen more than five 
 feet off. Skobeleff reviewed his troops that were destined 
 for the attack — the battalion of sharpshooters. He then 
 got down from his horse, went about among the men, talked 
 to them, told them, especially the under-ofiicers, jusb what 
 they were to do, and finished by informing them he would 
 lead the assault in person. This regiment, I may remark, 
 was one which attacked and carried the same heights 
 during the last affair of Plevna on the second day of the 
 bombardment. The regiment, having taken these heights, 
 slipped out of the hands of its ofScers, and pursued the 
 Turks to the foot of the glacis of the redoubt afterwards 
 captured by Skobeleff, with the result that two-thirds of 
 the regiment were destroyed. The regiment is now full 
 again with reserves that have come up. It was the recol- 
 lection of this event that decided Skobeleff to lead the 
 
86 PLEVNA. 
 
 attack himself. It was important that the men should be 
 stopped at the right moment and at the right place, and 
 that the intrenchments which he intended to throw up 
 should be properly laid, as a little mistake easily made 
 might end disastrously. It was not, therefore, mere 
 bravado which made him decide to lead the assault 
 himself. 
 
 At half -past four he mounted his horse, put himself at 
 the head of his troops, and disappeared in the fog. At 
 five o'clock the fog began to turn dark, showing the ap- 
 proach of night. The Turks most have thought there 
 would be little call for farther vigilance that day. On the 
 approach of darkness the roar of eighty guns was heard 
 that vomited splashes of flame upon the murky fog, and 
 then were silent. Then came the scream of eighty shells 
 seeking their destination in the obscurity. Then there 
 was the crash of the infantry fire along the whole line, 
 except on the point of the attack, for it was Skobeleff's 
 design to use the fog for cover and take the Turks by 
 surprise. The infantry fire rolled along in front of Bres- 
 tovetz, where I had taken my station, and soon the bullets 
 began singing overhead, telling that the Turks were 
 replying ; but we could hear as yet little firing on the 
 right wing, where the attack was to take place. Finally, 
 after about a quarter of an hour, there were two or three 
 volleys in this direction, followed by a Russian shout, and 
 we knew the position was carried. 
 
 As it turned out, the Turks were surprised, and did 
 not discover the approach of the Russians until they were 
 within one hundred yards. By the time they had seized 
 their arms and fired two rounds, the Russians were on 
 them with the bayonet, and it was all over. In a moment 
 those who did not fly were bayoneted. The attack was 
 led by two companies of sharpshooters, followed closely by 
 the 9th Battalion and the Vladimirsky regiment. Every 
 
SKOBELEFF'S SUCCESS. 87 
 
 man was provided witli a shovel, and immediately began 
 making trenches, as indicated by Skobeleff. In a very 
 few minutes they were under cover from a heavy but ill- 
 directed fire poured into them from the next hill, not 
 distant more than 250 yards. Skobeleff stayed until about 
 ten o'clock, when he thought the men had made the place 
 secure, and returned to Brestovetz to supper. He had 
 scarcely washed when the fire broke out again with fury 
 on the right flank. Skobeleff mounted again, disap- 
 peared in the darkness and fog, and did not return till 
 this morning. He found the Turks making a despe- 
 rate attempt to recapture the position, and arrived on 
 the ground in the nick of time, as some confusion had 
 ensued, for the reserves, who lost their way in the fog, 
 coming in the wrong direction, got fired into from their 
 own side. There was also a report that Skobeleff was 
 killed, which discouraged the troops. He arrived in the 
 middle of the Turkish assault, one fellow having leaped 
 into the trench with the cry of ' Allah ! ' where he was 
 bayoneted. The attack was repulsed, but the Turks made 
 a second and third one, and each time were driven back 
 with ease. The Russian loss was comparatively small, 
 only 250 killed and wounded, among whom were two or 
 three officers. 
 
 The new position of General Skobeleff not only brings 
 him nearer to the Turks, but shortens the line of invest- 
 ment materially. There is a certain green hill to the 
 north of the line, thinly wooded, and not over five hundred 
 paces from the battery on the Loftcha road ; on the slope 
 of this hill has been stationed the advanced picquets of 
 the Turks, who have made it at times decidedly uncom- 
 fortable for passers between the battery and this village, 
 and have sent a multitude of compliments in this direc- 
 tion. General Skobeleff has been meditating for some 
 days the capture of this territory, and it was decided to 
 
88 PLEVNA. 
 
 attempt tlie advance on November 9, in conjunction with 
 a forward movement of General G-ourko on the left. 
 
 At three o'clock the ragged red and yellow flag was 
 taken from its place by the side of the door of the low 
 mud hovel occupied by General Skobeleff, and the staff 
 assembled to inspect the troops and to accompany the 
 General, who was to conduct the attack in person. It was 
 a most picturesque and romantic cavalcade that filed out 
 of the yard and followed the young leader out to certain 
 danger and possible death. General Skobeleff, alike heed- 
 less of cold and damp and whizzing missiles, was the only 
 one who was not bundled up in overcoat and capuchin. 
 He led the way through the narrow alleys of the village, 
 mounted on a white horse — the soldiers look for the white 
 horse as much as for their beloved commander — confident, 
 cheerful, inspiriting to look upon. Behind him a motley 
 retinue; Circassians with long surtout and silver-mounted 
 harness and weapons ; blond youths already scarred and 
 covered with decorations, correspondents in civil dress, 
 Cossacks half hidden in their grey coats and hoods, and in 
 the middle of the group a picturesque Circassian on a white 
 horse, bearing the tattered banner, quite like an old cru- 
 sader, with his quaint arms and curioxis dress. The flag, 
 too, is quite mediaeval in appearance, and completed the 
 illusion to perfection. It is a square silk banner, fastened 
 to a Cossack's lance, and has on the one side the white 
 cross of St. George, and on the other the letters M.C. 
 (Michael Skobeleff), and the date 1875, in yellow on a red 
 ground. The tattered silk was carried through the Kbo- 
 kand campaign, and has fiuttered in all the bard fights 
 which have made the young General so famous. We went 
 on losing our way a dozen times, and at last reached the 
 spot where tbe troops were massed near an encampment 
 of straw huts, all drawn up in order, with arms in hands, 
 and with spades to intrench the ground they were about 
 
SKOBELEFF BEFORE THE BATTLE. 89 
 
 to take ; stretcher-bearers in a group at the rear, a sug- 
 gestive but unpleasant sight; a battery of mitrailleuses 
 bundled up like so many human beings to keep out the 
 damp, and in front of the troops, the little body of picked 
 men, each with his shovel, his rations, and plenty of 
 ammunition, who were to make the first rush across, use 
 the bayonet, and then throw it aside for the spade, and 
 endeavour to cover in time to resist the attack of the 
 returning Turks. 
 
 It was a dramatic and intensely impressive scene, these 
 square masses of earnest men, every one with his eyes 
 fixed on the face of the General, who passed before them 
 all with the customary greeting, which was answered 
 with a will like one voice from the battalion, in turn. 
 Against the background of grey mists which had now 
 settled down so thick that objects were not visible the 
 length of a company front, came out the forms of men and 
 horses in exaggerated relief and made wonderfully pic- 
 turesque the groups and masses of expectant soldiers. 
 General Skobeleff dismounted and told the men just what 
 he expected of them — that they were not to storm the 
 works of Plevna, but only to run forward and take the 
 piece of ground they knew perfectly well in front of the 
 road, and to hold it until they had works thrown up. He 
 cautioned them, as many were young soldiers sent out 
 from the reserves to fill the great gaps in the ranks, not 
 to advance too far, but to mind exactly what the officers 
 told them. He would be with them himself, and would 
 direct the movements personally. Surely a finer lot of 
 men never went into a fight; young, healthy, devoted, 
 and confident, every face wore an expression that was a 
 proof of courage and earnestness and even religious zeal. 
 As we stood there the darkness rapidly increased, and it 
 was nearly five o'clock as the troops moved forward at 
 quick pace in front of the General and staff. As the men 
 
90 PLEViXA. 
 
 passed they all received encouraging words, and they went 
 by smiling at the good-natured chaff from the General, 
 who called to them by name, remarked on their new boots, 
 which he said were like those of a Spanish don, and told 
 the musicians they would play a waltz in the new redoubts 
 on the morrow. 
 
 The perfect confidence of the soldiers, inspired by the 
 presence of the man whom they regard as a protector, 
 infallible leader, and beloved friend at the same time, 
 made the success of the undertaking assured. The hot 
 breath of sixteen field-pieces scorched our faces as the 
 opening salvo shook the heavy air, then came a cheer on 
 the right, just down in the hollow, and the singing of 
 bullets filled the air over our heads. The musketry 
 rattled and roared in the hollow, and off on the green hill 
 on the right, and sounded like the surging of a storm. 
 The fog began to condense and gather on the ground, and 
 the cold increased, and still the battle roared, and rose and 
 fell, ceased and began again. At last it was evident from 
 the firing that the position was taken, and we retired to 
 the village. At a quarter-past ten it broke out again, and 
 the same fiendish noise and rattle went on as before, and 
 the bullets and shells kept singing about our ears for a 
 long half-hour, aiad all was silent, with an occasional 
 cannon report, until daybreak, when we were awakened 
 by a new peal of artillery, and had the same continuous 
 rattle of bullets among the twigs. Then we learned the 
 details of the occupation of the ridge. . . . 
 
 I have given the notes of one day at Skobeleff's camp 
 and head- quarters. This is the treat he generally gives 
 his visitors. The General himself is asleep on a stretcher 
 in the trenches, and will not come up again until the 
 occupation of the ridge is a settled fact, and there is no 
 more danger of the Turks retaking it. It is no wonder 
 that the soldiers of such a general fight well. 
 
LIFE IN THE TRENCHES. 91 
 
 Writing on November -^, Mr. MacGalian says : 
 
 Tlie position here remains unchanged. Since the seizure 
 of the Green Hill by Skobeleff, no important movement 
 has been undertaken by the Russians. The Turks have 
 made three attacks upon Skobeleff's position on three 
 successive nights, but were each time repulsed with heavy 
 loss. The defence of this new position is most successful 
 and brilliant, and the position itself is of more importance 
 than I was at first disposed to acknowledge. Skobeleff 
 remains night after night in the trenches, and has suc- 
 ceeded in pushing his lines up to within one hundred 
 yards of the Turks. They are indeed so close to each 
 other that scarcely a night passes without heavy firing. 
 Fire is opened all along the line upon the slightest 
 alarm. 
 
 The Turks attacked on the lOth, 11th, 15th, 
 and 19th of JSTovember (new style), but were always 
 driven back. Skobeleff drove his trenches within 
 150 yards of the Turkish lines, and there he used to 
 spend days and nights, encouraging his men, watch- 
 ing the enemy and pressing ever closer on Plevna. 
 
 His life in the trenches is described at some length 
 by M. Nemirovitch Dantchenko, extracts from whose 
 reminiscences I venture to translate. 
 
 ' Skobeleff,' says M. Dantchenko, ' was a constant 
 puzzle to me. Is it possible, I used to ask myself, 
 that in that iron heart there was no room for fear, 
 dread, and the sadness which seizes everyone before 
 going into battle ? I once asked him the question 
 point blank. "It is difficult to feel at one's ease, 
 certainly," he replied ; " never believe anyone who 
 
92 PLEVNA. 
 
 tells you the contrary; but," lie continued, "it is 
 not a time now to discuss, to criticise, to despair. 
 You have said that men of talent ought to take care 
 of themselves. It is better to die ; and we would 
 gladly die if thereby we brought no shame upon 
 Russia and held high the banner of our country. It 
 is good to die for one's country. There is no better 
 death." 
 
 ' While he spoke, we were confronted by a platoon 
 of volunteers, under Lieutenant Tarashenko. They 
 asked that they might be the first to assault the 
 Turkish position. I glanced at the figures of these 
 determined fellows. There was nothing remarkable 
 about them. They were simply ordinary grey-coated 
 soldiers, some smiling naively, all confident. Sko- 
 beleff caressed one, talked to another. There was no 
 oration, no rhetoric. He chatted as a man with men. 
 " Remember, my friends," he said, " to-day we are not 
 going to take Plevna ; we are only going to turn the 
 Turks out of their trenches, and to occupy them our- 
 selves ; but, understand, once that you are in the 
 trenches, you will stop there." " We will do our best." 
 " And, look you, remember that it is not a question 
 of courage, but of obedience. When your chief says 
 ' halt,' stop where you are standing, no matter how 
 you may be tempted to pursue the enemy. As for 
 the Turks, there is no reason to fear them." " We 
 don't fear them, Excellency." " All right. Do you 
 remember how we fought at Loftcha ? " " We do 
 indeed, Excellency," they answered without hesita- 
 
SKOBELEFF AMONG THE SOLDIERS. 93 
 
 tion. " You remember liow we chased them? " " They 
 ran altogether," said a soldier, smiling. " You were 
 there with me then ? " said Skobeleff ; " you are pro- 
 bably one of the veterans ? " "I took three redoubts 
 also with your Excellency before Plevna." Skobeleff 
 sighed. "Ah! well, my friends, you see the affair 
 is not difficult ; we have captured this hill once 
 before. It has already belonged to us." " And we 
 will take it again. Excellency," they reply ; and 
 Skobeleff passes on to hold a similar conversation 
 with every battalion. Skobeleff came up to us 
 and began talking. Sir Henry Havelock was there 
 with his curious gutta-percha hat, Mr. MacGahan, 
 and others. "Do you know," said he, "I am 
 rather afraid about the young soldiers. It is a very 
 risky affair. In a night attack during fog, even 
 veterans might lose themselves. I will not remain 
 with the reserve as I intended. I must lead them 
 myself. Ah ! if I only had my Turkestanis. You 
 remember Makhram and Andijan," he said to Kura- 
 patkin. The two comrades in Central Asian war- 
 fare gazed for a moment in silence into the stormy past. 
 Then Skobeleff continued, " Do you remember how 
 they derided my Turkestanis at the beginning of 
 the campaign ? They declared that they could 
 not even trust me with a battalion, and they de- 
 spised my officers, who, nevertheless, were the 
 first to die. Where are they now ? Some lie at 
 Eski Saghra ; others in the Balkans ; most of them 
 are dead." 
 
94 PLEVNA. 
 
 ' Skobeleff was right. When the war broke out 
 the term Tashkentian was a word of reproach. But 
 when the campaign progressed, and things began to 
 be looked into, it was found that the Tashkentians 
 were the best men in the army. It was they who 
 created the Bulgarian Militia, and converted it into a 
 compact body ; it is they who have furnished the 
 best chiefs of detachments, the best chiefs of staff, 
 the best fighting officers. 
 
 ' Skobeleff halted before the regiment. He took 
 off his cap and crossed himself. As if a breath 
 passed through the air, officers and men all made the 
 sigTi of the cross, and each one silently offered up a 
 prayer, and communed for a moment with himself ; 
 for who knew whether as they fell they would be 
 able to cast a last upward glance to heaven? All 
 uncovered ; and even foreigners shared the solemn 
 feeling of that moment — when, we know not why, 
 there returns to our minds the memories of a distant 
 past, the home of our childhood, our loved ones. It 
 is but for an instant. 
 
 ' " To your ranks ! " At that word the long line 
 of tirailleurs spread out like a fan, and the advance 
 began. 
 
 ' On their countenances there is neither sadness 
 nor preoccupation. The eyes of some officers gleam 
 with enthusiasm as they repeat their orders. Skobeleff 
 is already well in front ; we see his handsome figure 
 in advance of the line. The line pushes on quietly, 
 the figure of the General fades away in the distance. 
 
SUSPENSE. 95 
 
 The tirailleurs are but black specks hardly visible in 
 the misty twilight. Night is coming on. 
 
 ' Thank God the Turks do not notice our advance ! 
 " I begin to believe that the affair will be settled 
 without great loss," murmurs a voice near me ; but 
 at that moment the sharp crack of a Turkish rifle 
 rings through the air. The sentinel has given the 
 alarm. Another shot follows and then another. The 
 heart almost ceases to beat. Our men do not answer. 
 The Turks do not yet realise their danger. They 
 fire occasionally, but their dropping shots gave no 
 alarm. Our fellows should now be near enough to 
 attack. The suspense is painful. 
 
 ' " Follow me, my fi-iends ! " suddenly sounds out 
 of the fog, and in a moment the hurrahs of the as- 
 sailants mingle with the roll of the Turkish drums 
 and the fusillade of the first Turkish trenches. We 
 can see nothing, but soon the balls come pouring 
 thick and fast over our heads. 
 
 ' The tirailleurs had done their work. They 
 cleared the Turks out of several entrenchments, 
 which they could hardly distmguish in the thick fog 
 of that autumnal night. Then from all our batteries 
 on the left flank our artillery opened on the Turkish 
 position ; the night air is alive with shells and the 
 flame of cannon. 
 
 ' The enemy flies. We can hear the tramp of 
 flying men as they run through tne maize fields. 
 Where was Skobeleff" ? At his accustomed place. 
 He led the volunteers into the trenches, and spring- 
 
96 PLEVNA. 
 
 ing upon the breastwork stood round the powder 
 smoke in the midst of the hottest fire from both 
 sides, reanimating the courage of his men, and en- 
 couraging them to complete their task. When the 
 fire lulled the Turks fled. Skobelefl" strolled along the 
 line chatting with his men, noting the construction of 
 the work done by the reserves, and strengthening the 
 weak points in his position. " Listen, my friends ! " 
 he exclaimed to the troops on the right ; " the enemy 
 is about to attack us again immediately. I shall be on 
 the left flank. Hold your ground, my brave fellows ! 
 Die in your place rather than jT.eld the position to • 
 the enemy." 
 
 ' " Yes, Excellency. Do not disquiet yourself." 
 
 " ' We are with ManefFsky," cried the soldiers. 
 Skobeleff grasped the hand of ManefFsky and went off^. 
 
 ' There ensued a moment of stillness, and Skobeleff 
 hastened to Brestovetz to send a report of the opera- 
 tions to the Commander-in-Chief. Hardly had he 
 written the words when the firing recommenced. 
 Skobeleff seized the first horse he could find, and 
 rode back beneath a shower of shot and shell to 
 the newly-captured positions. 
 
 'As they were beginning to climb up the steep 
 slope of the Green Hill, they came upon a troop re- 
 treating in disorder. " Good day, my brave fellows," 
 said Skobelefl^. The soldiers instinctively fell into 
 line. " What! " cried Skobelefi". " Are you running 
 away ? Dress. Follow me. March ! " 
 
 ' Sending Kurapatkin to the trench to announce 
 
NIGHT IN THE TRENCHES. 97 
 
 his immediate return, Skobeleff timself led the troop 
 back to its work. Like a simple company officer, 
 the General led the soldiers under fire, distributed 
 their places, and after giving strict orders to the 
 officers, he returned to the advanced trenches. 
 
 ' Morning dawned grey and foggy. All night the 
 men had had no rest. The moment the fight ceased, 
 digging began. 
 
 On the trenches of his foremost outpost line, only 
 
 150 yards distant from the trenches of the enemy, 
 
 they dug out a square shallow pit for the General, 
 
 ' in which Skobelefi", Kurapatkin, and Melnitzky 
 
 snatched a little sleep on the straw. 
 
 ' The day passed, night again came on, and as 
 the light faded fi-om the sky, the vigilance of the offi- 
 cers increased. Orders were given to the sentinels to 
 keep a strict look-out. The sous-officiers were or- 
 dered to remain awake in order to keep the sentinels 
 perpetually under inspection. 
 
 ' Skobeleff went round the trenches several times, 
 urging the sentries to be vigilant, and commanding 
 them, whatever they did, not to fire. 
 
 ' " When you see the Turks," he said, "do not fire ; 
 but call out at once, ' The Turks are coming ; make 
 ready!' The nearer they come the better it will 
 be ; keep the muzzle of your gun low down ; and 
 when the order is given to fire you will not hit the 
 crows up in the sky, but will fire directly on the 
 enemy. Let no one fire a shot without orders. As 
 
98 PLEVNA. 
 
 soon as the Turks leap upon the breastwork receive 
 them at the point of the bayonet. It will not be the 
 first time we have beaten them, my friends." 
 
 ' It became darker and darker. The Turks fired 
 less frequently. It seemed as if they also were 
 wearied. I heard some officers muttering in their 
 sleep. " Stand firm! " murmured one ; and then all 
 was silence. I was alone as if in the kingdom of 
 the dead. The fires went out. You could not even 
 hear the rustle of a dry leaf. The sentries gazed 
 more and more steadily into the darkness. It seemed 
 as if something fell on the breastwork, then once 
 more all was still. But then again there is a sound. 
 It was the tread of stealthy footsteps. The sentry 
 excitedly turns the muzzle of his rifle on the place 
 where he heard the sound, and gazes with strainino- 
 eyes and throbbing heart into the fog. 
 
 ' " Do not fire," whispers some one behind the 
 breastwork ; "I am one of yours. I bring news 
 from the front. Do not fire. Wake the General. The 
 Turks are going to make a sortie ; they are drawn 
 up in line." 
 
 ' Then behind me I heard the cry, " To arms! " 
 I turned. It was Skobeleff already at the breast- 
 work. " To arms, friends ! Up to the front ! " 
 
 ' Skobeleff had heard the whispering in his sleep, 
 and roused himself in time to hear the last words 
 of the scout announcing the coming of the Turks. 
 
 ' " I knew they would attack to-day," said he. 
 " Friends, see now that you act as brave men. Let 
 
A TUEKISH ATTACK.' 99 
 
 the enemy approach quite close ; do not fire a shot 
 without an order. Officers, to your places ! " 
 
 ' " We shall beat them," he said to Kurapatkin, 
 " but for half an hour thev will sfive us some trouble." 
 
 ' As the Turks advanced, they opened fire and 
 continued firing. Judging by the flame jets of the 
 rifle, theu' front was at least a verst in length. The 
 Turks advanced not in skirmishing order, but in a 
 dense mass. Thousands of bullets whistled overhead. 
 
 ' " Don't let them get cool," said Skobelefli". " Fire 
 along the whole line." 
 
 ' Then our mitrailleuses began to speak. Our 
 batteries at Bi-estovetz opened fire. The Turks 
 replied from Krishin. One Turkish shell burst in 
 the middle of their own men. 
 
 ' " Again a volley," cried SkobelefF. 
 
 ' It seemed as if the ground reeled beneath our feet. 
 The Turks to-day were extraordinarily tenacious. 
 Death was in their ranks, but they kept on ad- 
 vancing. The situation was becoming serious, Sko- 
 belefi* mounted the breastwork and directed the 
 defence of the breach. The opposuig fires blazed 
 like an aureole around him, and then everything was 
 hidden in dense smoke. The air was thick with 
 bullets, which splashed along the breastwork. The 
 attack was directed against both sides simultaneously. 
 Through the incessant roll of the rifles you could 
 hear the cries of the officers. Then a kind of chaos 
 seemed to come over everything, my head reeled, and 
 I could no longer take count of anything. 
 
 H 2 
 
1 00 PLEVNA. 
 
 ' " God be praised ! " says some one near me, " tliey 
 have been driven back." 
 
 ' " Stop firing ; enough ! " cries some one in the 
 darkness. . . . "Why enough ?" cried SkobelefF, " the 
 Turks fire as they fly. Fire into their backs." Some 
 more volleys were fired, and then all was still, but for 
 the groaning of the wounded on the breastwork and 
 the animated conversation of the soldiers. 
 
 ' During the night, the opposing trenches blazed 
 away at each other, without exactly knowing why, 
 for half an hour ; then the Turkish outposts, climb- 
 ing trees, began firing over our breastwork into the 
 trenches. Their balls buried themselves in the earth- 
 work all round the sleeping soldiers, 
 
 ' SkobelefF determined to place the scouts himself. 
 Leaping over the breastwork he disappeared out of 
 sight. The next half-hour was one of extreme 
 anxiety. A stray bullet might strike him, and there 
 would end at once that brilliant career and all hope 
 of holding the position. Our men ceased firing. He 
 should not fall by a Russian bullet. 
 
 ' " God keep him safe ! " cried a soldier. 
 
 '"None can harm him," said another. "God 
 watches over him, and he will come back safe and 
 sound." 
 
 ' " He is enchanted," said another, " nothing can 
 harm him." 
 
 ' " At Khiva, he was nine days and nine nights 
 under a Khivan spell. During all that time he neither 
 ate nor drank, the incantations never ceased, and at 
 
SKOBELEFF'S INVULNERABILITY. 101 
 
 the end he became proof against bullets. A ball can 
 pass through hira without hurting' him in the least." ^ 
 So ran the talk in the trenches when Sl^obelefF was 
 away. 
 
 ' This time he returned safely and our anxiety was 
 at an end.' 
 
 So passed November. In December, at last, thanks 
 chieflj'^ to General Todtleben's skill and perseverance, 
 Plevna fell. SkobelefF had no share in the fighting 
 in the last struggle, when Osman tried to cut his 
 way through the enemy's lines. His part in the 
 affair is described by Mr. MacGahan, who Avas by 
 his side during the whole of that eventful day. 
 Here is his description of what happened, written on 
 Slemb'rM ^^^ night of the day on which Plevna fell :— 
 
 On Sunday night occurred the first snowstorm of the 
 season. It was quite dark, and the lights of Brestovetz 
 were barely discernible through the gloom when I found 
 my way through the storm and the obscurity to Uzendol, 
 Skobeleff's headquarters. Here I found everybody keenly 
 ou the alert. A spy had just come in with the news that 
 Osman had issued three days' rations to the troops, one 
 hundred and fifty cartridges, a new pair of sandals to 
 each man, and that, to all appearances, the concentration 
 would begin at once. At ten o'clock another spy came in, 
 who reported that Osman was concentrating near the 
 bridge over the Vid. A few minutes later there was 
 a telegram stating that from the other side a great many 
 
 1 The belief in Skobele£F's invulnerability was very general, but it 
 was usually ascribed not to Khivan witchcraft, but to the direct inter- 
 position of the saints. Wounded men declared in hospital that they 
 had been struck by bullets or shells which, before reaching them, had 
 passed through the body of their General. 
 
102 PLEVNA. 
 
 lights were seen moving about in Plevna, an unusual 
 thing. Evidently there was some movement on foot, and 
 the spies were right. The night wore slowly away. The 
 snowstorm ceased, and was followed by dark clouds scud- 
 ding swiftly across the sky, with now and then a blast of 
 sleet. At three o'clock another spy brought news that 
 the men of Skobeleff's command had a position on the side 
 of the Green Hill, and that the Krishin redoubts were 
 being abandoned. He was. very sure, he said, that all 
 the positions along our side would shortly be abandoned. 
 Would he go along and lead the way into the Krishin 
 redoubts at the risk of being bayoneted if his words 
 should iTot prove true ? Yes, he would, and orders were 
 given by Skobeleff for the troops to begin to move 
 cautiously forward, and feel their way with care. This 
 was done, and the positions were taken. At last now it was 
 certain that the Turks were moving, and that the final 
 decisive moment had come. Skobeleff ordered the cap- 
 tured positions to be instantly placed in a state of defence, 
 in case the Turks, repulsed and not yet ready to surrender, 
 should attempt to recapture them. The grey light of 
 morning came. It was cloudy, and threatened more 
 snow. Suddenly there was the booming of thirty or forty 
 guns speaking almost together, followed instantly by that 
 steady, crashing roll we have learned to know so well. 
 The battle had begun. We mounted our horses and rode 
 towards the battle. It was in the direction of the bridge 
 over the Yid, on the Sophia road, and half an hour's ride 
 brought us in sight of the conflict. 
 
 A terrible and sublime spectacle presented itself to our 
 view. Osman Pasha had during the night abandoned all 
 his positions from Grivitza to the Green Hill, and concen- 
 trated the greater part of his army across the Vid, over 
 which lie passed on two bridges, one the old, and the 
 other the new one lately constructed. He took part of 
 his artillery, some three batteries, and a train of about 
 
OSMAN PASHA'S LAST SORTIE. 103 
 
 fire or six hundred carriages drawn by bullocks. He 
 succeeded in getting his army, the artillery, and part of 
 the train over by daybreak. The attack was directed 
 against the positions held by the Grenadiers, north of the 
 Sophia road, whose lines extended from the road to a point 
 opposite Opanes, where they were joined by the Rou- 
 manian curving line through Susurla. The Turks advanced 
 as far as they could under cover of their waggons, while 
 the Russians poured in a terrible fire on them from their 
 Berdan. breechloaders, scarcely less destructive than the 
 Peabody^, and opened on the advancing line with shell and 
 shrapnel. The Turks then dashed forward with a shout 
 upon the line of trenches held by the Sibirsky or Siberian 
 Regiment, swept over them like a tornado, poured into 
 the battery, bayoneted the artillerymen, ofiicers and men, 
 who, with desperate heroism, stood to their pieces to 
 nearly a man, and seized the whole battery. The Sibir- 
 sky Regiment had been overthrown and nearly anni- 
 hilated. The Turks had broken the first circle that held 
 them in. Had they gone on they would have found two 
 more ; but they did not have time to go on. The Russians 
 rallied almost immediately. 
 
 General Strukoff, of the Emperor's staff, brought up 
 the first brigade of Grenadiers, who, led by their general, 
 flung themselves on the Turks with fury. A hand-to-hand 
 fight ensued, man to man, bayonet to bayonet, which is 
 said to have lasted several minutes, for the Turks clung to 
 the captured guns with dogged obstinacy, and nearly all 
 of them were killed. The others began a retreat which, 
 under the murderous fire sent after them, instantly 
 became a flight. The majority made for the deep banks 
 of the Vid, where they found ample shelter from the 
 Russian shells and bullets. They formed here behind the 
 banks, and instantly began to return the Russian fire. 
 It was now about half -past eight, and the Turkish sortie 
 was virtually repulsed, but for four hours the storm of 
 
104 PLEVNA. 
 
 lead swept on, as iOO guns sent forth flame and smoke 
 and iron. 
 
 About twelve o'clock tlie firing' began to diminish, on 
 both sides, as if by mutual agreement. Then it stopped 
 entirely. The firing had not ceased more than half an 
 hour when a white flag was seen waving from the road 
 leading around the cliffs beyond the bridge. Plevna had 
 fallen, and Osman Pasha was going to surrender. 
 
 A long, loud shout went up from the Russian army 
 when the white flag was seen, and its significance was 
 understood. 
 
 A moment later, a Turkish ofiicer was seen riding over 
 the bridge with a white flag in his hand. He was an 
 officer of inferior rank, and General Ganetsky, Com- 
 mander of the Grenadiers, sent him back to send an officer 
 with the rank of pasha to negotiate the terms of capitula- 
 tion. Then thirty or forty of us, headed by General 
 Skobeleff, who had been this morning placed on the 
 Soxahia road, rode down the road towards the bridge, within 
 point blank range of the Turkish rifles, if the Turkish 
 soldiers grouped in masses on the road behind the bridge 
 on the cliffs overlooking the Vid had chosen to open on us. 
 About fifty yards from the bridge, and seventy-five from 
 some masses of Turks on the other side, we halted. General 
 Skobeleff and two or three other officers waved white hand- 
 kerchiefs. This signal of amity was answered by the 
 waving of a piece of white muslin, about two yards square, 
 attached to a flag-staff. Then two horsemen came forward, 
 each carrying a white flag. They rode across the bridge 
 and approached us. There was a moment's conversation 
 with Skobeleff's mterpreter, and then it was announced that 
 Osman himself was coming out, and the two horsemen 
 galloped back. 
 
 ' Osman himself coming out ! ' exclaimed all of us with 
 surprise. 
 
 ' At any rate we will give hiin a respectful reception,' 
 
SKOBELEFF AND OSMAN PASPIA. 105 
 
 exclaimed one Eussian officer, in" tlie spirit of true 
 chivalry. 
 
 ' He has saved the honour of his country,' said General 
 Skobeleff. ' I will proQer him my hand and tell him so.' 
 
 All were unanimous in his praise, and the butcheries 
 of Eussian wounded committed by the Turkish army of 
 Plevna were forgotten. 
 
 Two horsemen then were seen approaching with a 
 white flag, the bearer of which was apparently merely a 
 common soldier. The other horseman was not Osman 
 Pasha, but Tefik Bey, his chief of staff. Tefik Bey rode up. 
 He halted for a moment and was silent. He then spoke 
 in French with good accent, but slowly, as if choosing his 
 words. 
 
 He said 'Osman Pasha' — then stopped fully ten 
 seconds before he proceeded — ' is wounded.' 
 
 ' Not severely, we all hope ? ' exclaimed General 
 Skobeleff. 
 
 ' I do not know,' was the answer, with a pause of a 
 second between every word. Then there was a pause, 
 which became embarrassing. The Turk showed no hurry 
 to speak. Finally, General Skobeleff stammered out, ' Is 
 there anybody you would like to see? — [pause] — With 
 
 whom did you wish to speak ? — Is there anything ? — 
 
 [pause] — What the devil is the matter with the man? 
 Why don't he speak ? ' blurted out the General, in English, 
 turning to me. Tefik Bey remained impassive. 
 
 ' General Ganetsky is in command here. He will be 
 here presently, in case you should like to speak to him,' 
 General Skobeleff finally observed. Tefik Bey simply 
 nodded. 
 
 ' Osman Ghazi has made a most brilliant and glorious 
 defence,' said an officer. ' We esteem highly his soldierly 
 character.' 
 
 The Turk gazed steadily before him, and gave no sign 
 that he had heard. 
 
106 PLEVNA. 
 
 ' We look upon him as a very great general,' said 
 another. No answer. The Turk's eyes were bent in the 
 direction of Sophia, as though looking for Mehemet Ali 
 Pasha. There was evidently no use trying to converse 
 with this obstinately silent man, and they gave it up. 
 Fortunately, General StrukofiF, of the Emperor's staff, 
 soon arrived, with powers to treat. He asked Tefik if 
 he had authority from Osmau Pasha to negotiate. It 
 appeared not. I did not catch all that was said ; but the 
 final result was that Tefik bowed to us and galloped away 
 back across the bridge. 
 
 We waited awhile longer. Then we thread our way 
 cautiously over the bridge, through broken carriages and 
 dead bodies of horses and cattle, and find ourselves among 
 the Turks. 
 
 The terms of capitulation were easily arranged. The 
 surrender is unconditional. Osman consented at once. 
 He could do nothing else. In order to attempt a sortie, 
 he had to abandon all the positions in which he had 
 defied the Russians so long, and to concentrate his army 
 down on the Vid. These positions once lost were lost for 
 ever, because the Russians occupied them almost as soon 
 as he left them. 
 
 We turned back over the bridge, and Osman Pasha 
 got into a carriage and drove to Plevna. The Grand 
 Duke Nicholas, with his staff, arrived a few minutes after- 
 wards, and passed the troops in review. Then we pass 
 again slowly across the bridge. 
 
 The scene had now changed. No more armed Turks 
 were to be seen. The interview with Osman Pasha had 
 taken place about two o'clock. It was now three, and the 
 Turks had all laid down their arms. 
 
 We rode slowly on towards Plevna. 
 
 There was another halt in our slow onward progress, 
 and the cry was heard, ' Osman.' I pushed forward to find 
 that it was indeed Osman Pasha, who, having heard that 
 
FALL or PLEVNA. 107 
 
 the Grand Duke was coming in tliis direction, liad turned 
 back in his carriage to meet him. The Grand Duke rode 
 up to the carriage, and, for some seconds, the two chiefs 
 gazed into each other's faces without the utterance of a 
 word. Then the Grand Duke stretched out his hand, and 
 shook the hand of Osman Pasha heartily and said : — 
 
 ' I compliment you on your defence of Plevna. It is 
 one of the most splendid military feats in history.' Osman 
 Pasha smiled sadly, rose painfully to his feet in spite of 
 his wound, said something which I could not hear, and 
 then re-seated himself. The Russian officers all cried, 
 ' Bravo ! ' ' Bravo ! ' repeatedly, and all saluted respect- 
 fully. There was not one among them who did not gaze 
 on the Hero of Plevna with the greatest admiration and 
 sympathy. 
 
 ' It is a grand figure,' exclaimed Colonel Gaillard, the 
 Prench military attache. ' I was almost afraid of seeing 
 him, lest my expectation should be disappointed, but he 
 more than fulfils my ideal.' 
 
 ' It is the face of a great military chieftain,' said 
 yoimg Skobeleff. ' I am glad to have seen him. Osman 
 Ghazi he is, and Osman the Victorious he will remain, in 
 spite of his surrender.' 
 
 When SkobelefF was introduced to Osman Pasha 
 by the Grand Duke, the inscrutable countenance of 
 the Turk relaxed, and he heartily grasped the hand 
 of the heroic conqueror of the Green Hills. 
 
 Osman remarked afterwards that one day Skobeleff 
 would be Commander-in-Chief of the whole Russian 
 army. 
 
 On the evening of the surrender of Plevna, 
 Skobeleff invited Tefik Bey to dine with him at 
 his headquarters at Usendol. 
 
108 ' PLE\'NA. 
 
 Mr. MacGahan says : — 
 
 A warm fire burning gaily in General Skobeleff's mud 
 liut, a glass of vodka, and some hot soup at once thawed 
 out our benumbed hands and feet, and we were soon 
 enjoying a hot dinner, with the appetites of men who had 
 been in the saddle since daylight, with not a morsel to eat. 
 Tefik Bey seemed much dex^ressed and downcast. He 
 spoke little, a,nd was at first almost as taciturn as he had 
 been on the bridge. He brightened up, however, as the 
 meal progressed, drank a glass of red wine, a glass of 
 sherry, and a couple of glasses of champagne, when 
 General Skobeleif proposed the health of Osman Ghazi, 
 and drank to the brave defenders of Plevna. A merry 
 smile broke over his face when Skobeleff' asked him who 
 had commanded the Turks on the Green Hill, and I think it 
 must have occurred to him now for the first time that his 
 entertainer was Skobeleff, the indefatigable, restless, dar- 
 ing spirit with whom he had exchanged so many hard 
 blows on the Loftcha road and Green Hill. Nobody had 
 mentioned Skobeleff's name in his presence, nor had 
 Skobeleff told him who he was, but the fact that we had 
 come out of the Loftcha road, together with Skobeleff's 
 question about the Green Hill, was quite enough to 
 enlighten him. So he said, with a smile, 'Ah, it is you 
 who gave such tough work on the Green Hill all this 
 time. You are General Skobeleff? ' Skobeleff laughed, 
 and said, ' Yes.' ' That was a very good attack of yovirs 
 that evening in the fog and darkness. Very well done. 
 But you did not get it all.' ' No,' said Skobeleff, ' I 
 did not want it all.' And they both laughed. But, after 
 this momentary fit of sunshine, Tefik Bey soon again 
 i-elapsed into melancholy and gloom. We had hardly 
 swallowed our coffee when Skobeleff, taking pity on him, 
 turned us all out, gave up his bed to Tefik, had another 
 hastily made up for Colonel Gaillard, and then retired 
 
A FAMOUS SIEGE. 109 
 
 and passed tlie night in a hut of one of his officers ; and 
 so ended this eventful day on our side of Plevna. 
 
 So ended tlie famous siege of Plevna. It began 
 on July -2%, and ended on ^3^°^^^ , having lasted 142 
 days. The Turks lost 30,000 men during the siege, 
 and when they surrendered we made 44,000 prisoners. 
 A great sigh of relief went up from every Russian 
 heart. Plevna had fallen at last, chiefly thanks to 
 Todtleben. But when we talked of Plevna in Russia, 
 somehow or other the name of SkobelefF was always 
 on the tongue. Todtleben was in command, and the 
 greatest victory belonged to him, but Plevna was also 
 SkobelefF's glory. 
 
110 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 IN CAMP AND IN PTELD. 
 
 English testimonies — The superlative of eulogy — Mr. Forbes — Sko- 
 beleff's genius — Personal traits — SkobelefF as a linguist — Mr. 
 Marvin's testimony — Lieutenant Greene's estimate of Skobeleff — 
 An ideal commander — His relations with his officers — ' A stupen- 
 dous military genius ' — Skobeleff's preference for young soldiers — 
 His estimate of the Sepoys — Mr. Boyle's story — Verestchagine 
 on Skobeleff's 'superstition' — Mr. Rose on 'the Bussian Bayard' 
 His iron discipline — Care for his men — Popularity among the 
 soldiers — Generosity — A practical joke — Skobeleff- worship — 
 Punishes cruelty — The peasant's cow — Capacity for work and for 
 sleep — Teaching by example — His life in the trenches — His 
 legendary bravery. 
 
 It was tlie singular good fortune of Skobeleff to have 
 been accompanied througliout bis great campaign in 
 the Balkans by English and American correspon- 
 dents, who have left on record what they saw of that 
 most remarkable soldier. To describe hira in camp 
 and in the field, I need only collect some of the 
 testimonies which have appeared in the English 
 press. ' By all means,' wrote me my brother the 
 other day, ' give as many English testimonies as 
 possible. The more, the better. They cannot then 
 say that Skobeleff only owes his renown to partial 
 judges.' This task is a pleasant one. In all the 
 contributions to the English press I cannot find one 
 disrespectful, one disparaging remark. Not one. 
 
ENGLISIi TESTIMONY. Ill 
 
 This, in itself, is no sliglit tribute to our hero, and 
 surely it also is creditable to the generosity of 
 England. If ever there was a time when English 
 newspapers — some English newspapers, at least- 
 were in a mood to find everything wrong with 
 everything and everybody in Russia, it was when 
 Skobeleff was at the height of his glory. 
 
 There were representatives of all kinds of papers 
 ia Bulgaria, many of them violently prejudiced 
 against Russia and ardent advocates of an Anglo- 
 Russian war. Yet, not even these Russophobists 
 had a word to say against Skobeleff, although for 
 Russia and Russia's cause they might only have 
 unkind words. Of course, Skobeleff, as every other 
 Russian, would have much preferred being attacked 
 and calumniated himself rather than see that sys- 
 tematic hatred for a country which certainly was 
 dearer to him than his Ufe. But that was not a 
 matter of choice. If all the other prejudices could 
 not be overcome, one was — it is, perhaps, a good 
 beginning. . . . Perhaps ! 
 
 Mr. Forbes, for instance, is not exactly a gentle 
 soul, subject to the enthusiastic impulses of a school- 
 boy, nor can he be reproached with partiality for 
 Russians ; but when the news of Skobeleff's death 
 reached this rough and hostile witness in far Aus- 
 tralia, he declared : ' It was impossible to know 
 Skobeleff, to have him smile on you, and not to love 
 him.' There was another correspondent, Mr. Boyle, 
 of the ' Standard,' who was, I cannot imagine why. 
 
112 IN CAMP AND IN FIELD. 
 
 expelled from tlie Russian camp, and wlio after his 
 expulsion wrote a book whicli did not overflow 
 with honey for Russian generals ; but in his 
 ' Diary of an Expelled Correspondent ' he speaks of 
 Skobeleff with almost as much enthusiasm as if he 
 had been a Russian. But so it was always. English 
 officers like Colonel Brackenbury, distinguished 
 Anglo-Indians like Sir Henry Havelock, American 
 officers like General Grant and Lieutenant Greene, 
 all agree in praise of Skobeleff. 
 
 There is one very curious trait about English- 
 men. Whenever they wish to exhaust the language 
 of compliment and outdo all the superlatives of praise 
 which they have bestowed upon a. foreigner, they 
 say ' he might be taken for an Englishman.' I like 
 that complacency. There is something so simple, 
 so charming, in the confident assumption that an 
 Englishman is the finest work of God, and that to 
 be like an Englishman is the utmost that poor 
 foreigners can aspire to. The correspondents unani- 
 mously agree that Skobeleff might anywhere have 
 been mistaken for an Englishman. ' He looked to 
 me,' said Mr. Forbes, ' like an English country 
 gentleman of the best type.' ' He would pass any- 
 where,' said Mr. Boyle, ' for a brilliant officer of the 
 English service.' 
 
 Higher praise, of course, is impossible from 
 Englishmen. 
 
 But I have not heard of anyone in the English 
 service for whom the army and the nation feel 
 
MR. FOKBES. J 13 
 
 anything of the almost idolatrous regard with which 
 Skobeleff was regarded in Russia. England has 
 brave generals and heroic soldiers, no doubt. 
 
 to 
 
 as 
 
 have other nations ; but Skobeleff stands alone. To 
 repeat a phrase used by an English lady, who had 
 just been reading Sir Henry Havelock's description 
 of Skobeleff in the field, ' He recalled the ages of 
 heroism and romance.' There was something about 
 him that reminded you at once of the Paladin and 
 the Crusader, as well as of the heroic warriors of 
 classical antiquity. He not only commanded admira- 
 tion, he fascinated the imagination, he enchained the 
 heart. ' It was impossible not to love him,' has been 
 said not by Mr. Forbes alone. 
 
 Of the personal appearance of Skobeleff many 
 descriptions have been given, but, like his portraits, 
 they leave him undescribed. 
 
 Speaking of his first meeting with Skobeleff, Mr. 
 
 Forbes wrote : — 
 
 I ttought then, as I have never ceased to think, that 
 I never looked on a finer man. Six feet high, straight as 
 a pine ; the head carried high with a gallant debonnaire 
 fearlessness ; square across the shoulders, deepened chest, 
 slender of waist, clean ; of frank, graceful, supple figure, 
 set off to perfection by the white frockcoat with decora- 
 tions and gold lace on it, Skobeleff, with his high frank 
 bearing, looked a genial king of men. ' As I write, I see 
 before me that lofty forehead, shaded with the chestnut 
 curls, the clear, frank, manly blue eyes, that met yours so 
 
 ' Melbourne Aj'giis, July 10, 1882, Mr. Rose uses the same ezpres- 
 sion. ' One felt instinctively that he was face to face with a king 
 among men.' 
 
 I 
 
114 IN CAMP AxND IN FIELD. 
 
 staunchly, the long, straight decisive nose — the kind of 
 nose Napoleon said he looked for among his officers when 
 he wanted to find a general — the beautiful mouth, with 
 its wonderful mobility of expression, the well-turned com- 
 pact chin with the deep dimple in the centre. At this 
 time he wore only whiskers and moustache, later in the 
 campaign a silky chestnut beard grew over his broad 
 chest, — he looked to me like an English country gentleman 
 of the best type. 
 
 Almost all wlio have attempted to describe 
 Skobeleff noticed the nicety, the elegance of his 
 dress. ' His hands were shaped like those of a 
 cavalier in Vandyke's portraits.' 
 
 Skobeleff was sensitively sympathetic in his 
 intercourse with others. His smile was full of 
 raillery, and there was what Mr. Boyle calls ' a 
 reckless frankness in his speech,' but he shrank 
 instinctively from wounding anyone. He was 
 transparency itself, but for the sake of others he 
 put a curb upon his tongue. 
 
 Perhaps what attached casual acquaintances and 
 strangers as much as anything else, was his bound- 
 less flow of high spirits and the universality of the 
 interest which he took in everything, from the 
 loftiest idealism down to the gossip of the theatres 
 and the clubs. Of this Mr. Forbes gives a very 
 good idea when he says : — 
 
 It seemed to me that this young man had been every- 
 where, seen everything, and read everything. He was 
 familiar with episodes of my own professional career. He 
 had carried a flying reconnaissance from Khokand, over 
 
GENIUS OF SKOBELEFF. 115 
 
 tlie Pamir steppes, round Lake Uolona, unto the banks of 
 tte Hindoo Koosh. He quoted Balzac and Hamley's 
 ' Operations of War ' ; he had no belief in the first favourite 
 for the then approaching Derby. He thought Madame 
 Chaumont very chic, and he imparted the information 
 that the upper parts of the Oxus were dangerous because 
 of quicksands. We dined together, and after dinner went 
 to the music saloon, where Skobeleff, to his own pianoforte 
 accompaniment, sang songs in French, German, Russian, 
 Kirghiz, Italian, English, and wound up with ' Auld Lang 
 Syne ' in admirable vernacular. He impressed me with 
 the belief that he was out of sight the most muscular 
 thinker of any Russian I had met, and that altogether 
 he was a Muscovite, or rather, indeed, a cosmopolitan 
 ' Admirable Crichton.' 
 
 A Correspondent of the ' New York Tribune,' 
 who seems to liave known him well, writing of him 
 after his death, describes one of his characteristics 
 which some people overlooked, viz. a love of order 
 and method which strangely conflicts with the im- 
 pression prevailing in some quarters that he was 
 nothing but an impetuous hot-head : — 
 
 Skobeleff had a strong mental digestion for science and 
 literature. If he had not been a soldier, he would have 
 probably been a gi-eat geographical explorer and historian. 
 There were few more able strategists. It was a great 
 error to think he was a mere dare-devil warrior, like the 
 theatrical Murat. The lamented general was no less a 
 man of study than of action, and extremely methodic. 
 Apple-pie order reigned in his lodgings. He travelled 
 about with a small library of books of instruction, refer- 
 ence and amusement, or rather, recreative entertainment. 
 It contained neatly-bound diamond editions of the British, 
 
 1 2 
 
116 IN CAMP AND IN FIELD. 
 
 German and French classic authors, the mai-gins of which 
 were covered with annotations written in small, distinct 
 characters. When he bought a standard work unbound 
 he had several blank pages added between the chapters in 
 the binding for critical and otlier observations that might 
 suggest themselves. 
 
 One day in Paris I was about to take notes at his 
 dictation. He handed me some English copybook paper, 
 and a varied assortment of pencils, neatly cut, and steel 
 and quill pens to choose from. ' That paper,' he said, 'I 
 bought in Spain of a stationer who wanted to get out of 
 the way of the Carlists. It was with me in Central Asia. 
 I hate waste as much as any skinflint ; as if I were living 
 on board a war ship. I am particular about my pens. 
 For military work I like a hard and finely pointed one, that 
 lets down the ink sparingly ; for reports I take a freer one ; 
 and for writing letters into which my heart overflows I 
 prefer the goose-quill. There is no better medium with 
 which to express the feelings and sensations. People call 
 me headlong. So I am, but not in the sense they imagine. 
 I have never in my life butted against a stone wall. In 
 daring much I have nearly always succeeded.' 
 
 These little details are not so trivial as perhaps 
 they may appear to some. Nothing is trivial, not 
 even a shoe-lace, if it enables one to realise more 
 vividly the character of a man. 
 
 Skobeleff had learned English in childhood from 
 an English nurse, and his familiarity with the lan- 
 guage was a constant source of astonishment to 
 Englishmen.^ 
 
 ■ Skobeleif was a remarkable linguist. Mr. Rose says : ' Skobeleff 
 spoke English without the slightest foreign accent. French, German, 
 and Italian he read, but did not love Greek. He spoke modern Greek. 
 He was well versed in the classical works of England, France, and Ger- 
 
MR. MARVIN. 117 
 
 His high spirits were well under control. His 
 vitality, though vigorous, was never rude, and his 
 suavity, urbanity, and high-bred courtesy gave au 
 additional brilliancy to his conversation. 
 
 Of course when a man is so universally praised, 
 it is natural that some may have been disappointed 
 when they met him, and that was Mr. Marvin's 
 expectation when he went to St. Petersburg to see 
 Skobeleff, with whom, as the latter told me shortly 
 afterwards at Moscow, ' he had held very interestino- 
 conversations.' But Mr. Marvin was agreeably dis- 
 appointed. He says : — 
 
 As a rule, I have found that important personages are 
 best regarded at a distance, through the medium of por- 
 traits and biographies. Skobeleff is the only great per- 
 sonage I have met who has become enhanced in my esti- 
 mation by personal acquaintance, and I have never come 
 in contact with any man who has left so charming an 
 impression upon me. An interview with Skobeleff would 
 have revived the extinct fires of Carlyle's hero-worship ; 
 as for Thackeray, I think, if he had known Skobeleff, he 
 would have made him his ideal of a perfect gentleman.' 
 
 many, and his favourite authors seemed Horace — whom he was never 
 tired of citing — Schiller in German, and Byron in English, though lie 
 was quite apt in quotations from Shakespeare. The other languages 
 which he spoke were Wallach, Bulgarian, Serb, Kirghiz, and I believe 
 one or two other Central Asian dialects. In peculiarly military mat- 
 ters he had read a great deal ; and while his head-quarters were at 
 Slivno during the Russian occupation of Bulgaria following the war, 
 the walls of his private office were surrounded with bookcases filled 
 with volumes all bearing on the art of war. He did most of his read- 
 ing early in the morning, before receiving the members of his stafi. 
 A large proportion of his collection, I noticed, were in English and 
 French, many of the former being records of British Indian cam- 
 paigns, with at least half a dozen on the great American civil war.' 
 ^ The Russian Advance, p. 97. 
 
118 IN CAMP AND IN FIELD. 
 
 The most detailed account of Skobeleff, alike in 
 camp and in the field, which I have seen in English, 
 is Lieutenant Greene's beautiful description in his 
 ' Sketches of Army Life in Russia,' from which I 
 take the liberty of making a lengthy extract : — 
 
 The third attack on Plevna was faulty in principle, and 
 with the force which SkoheleiFhad, was doomed to failure 
 from the beginning — but this was no fault of his ; he simply 
 obeyed his orders, and did his utmost to accomplish the 
 impossible. And, although nearly fifty per cent, of his 
 command perished under him, yet from that day his name 
 was spoken of among the soldiers of the entire army, in 
 words of fables, as a man whose bravery could not be 
 described. I have heard them speak of him as a general 
 under whom they would rather fight and die, than fight 
 and live under another ; for with him they knew they 
 could never come to disgrace, but were sure they would 
 achieve the fame of military heroes, whether they gained 
 or lost the day, whether they lived or were killed. 
 
 On the following day Skobeleff was made Lieutenant- 
 General, being then not quite thirty-three years old, and 
 was appointed to the command of the Sixteenth Division, 
 which command he retained, in addition, at times, to the 
 command of other divisions, till the close of the war. He 
 then set to work to make that the most famous division 
 in the army, and he succeeded. It is commonly spoken of 
 to-day as 'the famous Sixteenth Division.' He won the 
 unalterable affection of the men by his ceaseless care for 
 their wants. They were the best-clothed and the best-fed 
 troops in the army : they were never short of ammuni- 
 tion ; they were never needlessly moved or exposed. If 
 he was without public funds, he never hesitated to advance, 
 or give outright, whatever private funds he had, if it 
 could in any way contribute to their comfort. At Con- 
 
LIEUTENANT GREENE. 119 
 
 stantinople, for instance, wlien there was considerable 
 delay in transporting the sick to Eussia, Skobeleff ad- 
 vanced over 15,000 roubles out of his own pocket, and 
 succeeded in chartering an English steamer then in port, 
 and obtained permission to ship tlie sick of his own 
 division in it to Odessa. They thus reached home several 
 weeks in advance of their regular turn. When his friends 
 expressed their admiration at his generosity, he replied, 
 ' I owe everything in the world to these men, and the least 
 I can do is to spend a few thousand roubles to help them 
 in their sickness.' He passed his whole time in the midst 
 of his men, tasting their food, inspecting their arms, 
 learning their every want with his own eyes, and suppl}^- 
 ing it with orders based on his own knowledge. He was 
 always with them in their most exposed positions, and 
 when he was slightly wounded he refused to go to the rear ; 
 but had a cot brought up and placed in the trenches, and 
 remained on it there until he was able to mount his horse 
 again. At the instant of going into a fight he called as 
 many officers as possible about him, to explain the exact 
 purpose and object of it, and the manner in which this 
 object was to be gained ; and then he always made a. 
 short speech to his men, telling them what he expected 
 them to do, and that he felt sure they would do it. In a 
 word, he made himself and his division one — he represent- 
 ing the brains and they the body, and the heart being in 
 common. He succeeded so thoroughly in accomplishing 
 this union, that his men responded to his thoughts as 
 readily as the muscles obey the will. I have listened 
 in wonder at the enthusiastic admiration with which they 
 spoke of him and the no less enthusiastic way in which 
 they obeyed him, and I doubt if a more thoroughly ideal 
 relation between a general and his men has existed since 
 the days of Cromwell. 
 
 In return for his care of his men he demanded of 
 them, first of all, unhesitating, unflinching, unquestioning 
 
120 IN CAMP AND IN FIELD. 
 
 obedience to his orders. If he ordered a maii*to do any- 
 thing, where immediate death was as certain as the sun 
 in heayen, he expected to be iftstantly obeyed without so 
 much as even a look of question or surprise. Himself a 
 man of wide reading, speaking- many languages, and hav- 
 ing travelled in many lands, he gathered about him, in 
 his personal staff, as rough and uncultured a lot of men 
 as I ever saw in officers' uniform ; but they answered his 
 purpose to carry orders, and, as he said, if he ordered one 
 of them to ride his horse against the muzzle of a dis- 
 charging cannon, he would do it instantly. One morning 
 that I was with him on a reconnaissance we came to a 
 small brook. An officer of his staff, with whom he had 
 had some cause of dissatisfaction just before, rode forward 
 to try its depth. While he was cautiously feeling its 
 depth, another officer — a Cossack — rode toward it, and, as 
 his horse drew back, plied both spurs and the whip with 
 all his force ; the horse sprang forward into the middle of 
 the little stream, and as it was very deep, though very 
 narrow, both horse and rider disappeared under the water. 
 ' There,' cried Skobeleflf to the other, ' that's the way 
 I want my officers to do things.' 
 
 The first officer, greatly nettled, then put spurs to his 
 horse, and, though Skobeleff, seeing his purpose, yelled at 
 him to stop, in an instant he and his horse disappeared 
 Tinder the water. Both men were then dragged out, 
 dripping from their cold bath. Everyone laughed, and 
 Skobeleff was in the best of humour. 
 
 'Now go home and dry your clothes. You're both 
 fine fellows.' ' But,' turning to the first one, ' after this 
 never hesitate in what you have to do.' 
 
 On another occasion Skobeleff heard one of his colonels, 
 just as he was going into action, trying to make a speech to 
 his men, but hesitating, and stammering, and breaking down 
 in it. He relieved him instantly. ' If at such a moment,' 
 he said, ' a man can't find a few simple words to tell his 
 
SKOBELEFF AND HIS OFFICERS. 121 
 
 men what lie expects them to do, then he don't know it 
 himself. At that moment a man can't lie ; his heart will 
 speak if he have a heart for fight ; and if he can't find 
 words, it is either because he is a coward, or because he 
 has no notion in his head of what he is going to do.' 
 
 Again, he punished his men without mercy for the 
 slightest depredation on unarmed inhabitants or their 
 property. 
 
 These little episodes read queerly ; they seem to be 
 almost like the doings and talk of a madman ; but it was 
 madness with a direct method — the pleasantry which is 
 merely another name for intense concentration of thought 
 and energy in a single purpose. 
 
 Of new officers he required that they should know their 
 own business ; not that they should be cultured, should 
 present a fine appearance, should be gentlemanly in their 
 speech. He demanded none of these things, but that 
 they should combine unflinching bravery and obedience, 
 with a thorough knowledge of the way to handle the 
 number of men each commanded, so as to obtain the 
 greatest results with them. If they answered these re- 
 quirements there was nothing he would not do for them ; 
 he continually praised them, he secured them rewards and 
 promotions, be shared with them whatever he had. If 
 they failed in these qualities, he pursued them relentlessly, 
 abused them in unmeasured terms, and sought the first 
 opportunity to get them out of his division. 
 
 His personal bravery was not only of the most reck- 
 less character, but at times it seemed to partake of the 
 merest bravado, in which only extraordinary luck pre- 
 vented him from reaping in death the well-earned reward 
 of his foolishness. He always wore a white coat, a white 
 hat, and rode a white horse in battle, simply because other 
 generals usually avoided these target marks. He was 
 perpetually riding at breakneck speed the same fence or 
 ditch, leaving half his staff sprawling in it. He never 
 
122 IN CAMP AND IN FIELD. 
 
 lost an opportunity of displaying courage. He went into 
 battle in his cleanest uniform and fresh underclothing, 
 covered with perfume, and wearing a diamond-hilted 
 sword, in order, as he said, that he might die with his 
 best clothes on.^ For a long time he wore with evident 
 afPectation a coat in which he had been wounded, and 
 which had a conspicuous patch on the shoulder. Tet all 
 this was not mere bravado and nonsense, but was the 
 result of thought and almost cold-blooded calculation. It 
 was intended to impress his men, and it did so. They 
 firmly believed he could not be hit. Whenever they saw 
 a white horse, coat, and cap among them, they knew that 
 was SbobelefiP, and seeing he was there they felt sure that 
 everything was going well. At the beginning of the war 
 he made up his mind firmly that he would never come out 
 of it alive. After reading over the telegram announcing 
 the armistice, one of the first things he said was, 'Well, 
 perhaps, I won't get killed after all.' With this idea firmly 
 fixed in his mind, that his death was only a question of a 
 few weeks or months, his one thought was how to best 
 use his life so as to make an impression on his men, and 
 gain such a control over them that they would follow 
 him anywhere. In everything that he did he tried to 
 eliminate the idea of danger from their minds, and to 
 make the most dangerous exploit appear as an ordinary 
 everyday affair. His bandsmen were kept up to their full 
 strength, and their musical instruments as carefully in- 
 spected as the men's arms ; when they went into battle, it 
 was with colours flying and the bands in their parade 
 positions, with orders to play til] they had not a gasp of 
 breath in their bodies. At the battle of Shenova, he 
 moved over the snowy ground in this order and got over 
 
 ^ According to M. Ntoirovitch Dantchenko, he used to don the 
 best of his clothes on going to a battle. ' We must all be prepared for 
 death, and go to meet it dressed as we are when going to take the 
 Holy Communion.' 
 
AN AMERICAN ESTIMATE. 123 
 
 thirty per cent, of his musicians killed and wounded. But 
 this device of giving to a bloody assault the air of a cus- 
 tomary afternoon parade, helped not a little to encourage 
 the men to do their usual part in it. 
 
 All these little affectations were merely superficially 
 calculated and employed for their effect on his men ; but 
 behind and below all this, forming the solid structure on 
 which these airy trifles rested, was his stupendous mili- 
 tary genius. I use these words advisedly, and firmly 
 believe that, should he live twenty years more, he will be 
 commander-in-chief in the next war about the Eastern 
 Question, and history will then speak of him as one of 
 the five great soldiers of this century, side by side with 
 Napoleon, Wellington, Grant, and Moltke. 
 
 Napoleon defined the requisite qualities of a great gen- 
 eral to be, first, greatness of character or moral courage, 
 which produces resolution ; second, coolness or physical 
 courage, which masters danger ; third, a well-grounded 
 knowledge of the guiding principles of his profession ; and 
 fourth, and above all, the capacity to see things as they are, 
 and not to make pictures in his mind. Although all these 
 men have differed widely in their personal character, and in 
 the bent of their minds, yet they have all possessed these 
 qualities in an eminent degree, and Skobeleff possesses them 
 all no less eminently. . . . He already belongs to history, 
 though he has lived but thirty-five years; he has commanded 
 twenty thousand men in battle, he has received the sur- 
 render of an entire army of nearly forty thousand, he has 
 led more assaults than any living man but Grant, and in 
 not one of them has he failed to carry the line he assaulted, 
 though in one case he was subsequently overwhelmed with 
 numbers and driven out. 
 
 Such was the estimate of an American observer 
 writing two years before Skobeleff died. It may 
 seem high, but it is no higher than that of an 
 
124 IN CAMP AND IN FIELD. 
 
 Englisli soldier and war correspondent who declared 
 SkobelefF to be tlie very incarnation of the genius of 
 war, and who once predicted that, if ever Europe 
 were to be overwhelmed by an invasion from the 
 East, as she was eighty years ago invaded from the 
 West, SkobelefF would prove himself to be in no 
 degree inferior to Napoleon.^ 
 
 ^ Mr. Marvin, in the course of the ' interesting conversation ' before 
 alluded to, elicited from Skobeleff some criticisms of the English 
 army, which perhaps may not be ■without interest to some English 
 readers. * Skobeleff said that he had followed the whole of our opera- 
 tions in Afghanistan.' ' For General Roberts,' he continued, ' I have 
 a great admiration. He seems to me to possess all the qualities of a 
 great general. His was a splendid march from Cabul to Candahar. 
 I think more highly of him than I do of Sir Garnet Wolseley, but there 
 is this to be said of all your generals — they have only fought against 
 Asiatic and savage foes. They have not commanded an army against 
 a European enemy, and we cannot tell, therefore, what they are really 
 made of.' On my describing the controversy between Roberts and 
 Wolseley in regard to the Long and Short Service Systems he said : 
 ' I myself prefer young soldiers to Inght with. We take our soldiers at 
 twenty-one, and I think two years or three at the outside is quite 
 suihcient to iit them for war. ' It is noteworthy that Skobeleff likes to 
 surround himself with young officers. The recent brilliant campaign 
 against the Turcomans was essentially a war conducted by young men. 
 There was hardly a grey head in the force. 
 
 Mentioning Sir Garnet Wolseley's objections to the Tunnel, he 
 said : ' If I were an Englishman, I do not think I should like to see 
 the tunnel constructed. The possibility of 2,000 or 3,000 of the enemy 
 treacherously seizing the English end deserves to be seriously con- 
 sidered.' He went on to say, in regard to the English army, that he 
 thought we ought to have comjjulsory conscription in our country. I 
 pointed out the impossibility of carrying this into effect, and observed 
 that we had a vast reserve of military power in India, which a Go- 
 vernment like Russia would know better how to make use of than our 
 own. 'I do not think much of the native army in India,' he replied. 
 ' We have also a vast native reserve — Tartars, Circassians, and so 
 forth — but we do not draw upon them beyond a certain point. 
 Asiatics cannot be trusted against European troops.' I referred to the 
 Indian troops brought to Malta during the Turkish War, and said it 
 would have been interesting to have seen how they would have com- 
 
MR. BOYLE. 125 
 
 Mr. Boyle, in his ' Diary of an Expelled Corre- 
 spondent,' gives some details which I have not met 
 with elsewhere, and which are worth quoting : — 
 
 A more recent history I may mention — one that is 
 told around camp fires, and contributes to raise still higher 
 the pedestal upon which Skobeleff already stands in the 
 soldier's simple view. In one of the forays or. recon- 
 naissances, or what you please to call them, around Plevna, 
 his Cossacks suffered much from thirst. They breasted 
 a high ridge — I know it well — and saw below them a 
 delicious spring, stone-faced and cisterned, as are all 
 springs near the highway in that Turkish land, which 
 they tell us is so brutal and so far behind the age. The 
 General cried for water, but his Cossacks pointed out how 
 thick the Turkish bullets were pitting the slope below, 
 and how they pattered round the spring. Skobeleff leapt 
 down and slowly talking over his shoulder with the trusty 
 captain who has followed him for love from Turkestan — his 
 name I am sorry to forget at this moment — very slowly 
 he walked to the cistern, took a long drink, and then 
 another, washed his face and hands, shouting to his 
 officers how sweet and cool was the water. I know this 
 sounds like fanfaronade, though of the best sort ; yet I 
 think that, if everything could be told that bears npon the 
 subject, even such acts would be recognised as neither 
 injudicious nor uncalled for at present. However that 
 be, the story goes on to tell that SkobelefP's Cossacks were 
 mad to see their idol thus run into danger which they 
 seemed to shirk. They clambered out of their forked 
 saddles as swiftly as men can disengage themselves from 
 
 ported themselves in the presence of a European army. ' It would 
 have been interesting,' he repUed, ' but you did not use them, and we 
 therefore do not know what they would have done. The best cri- 
 terion of the quality of the native troops of India is the fact that India 
 should allow itself to be dominated by only 60,000 European soldiers.' 
 
126 IN CAMP AND IN FIELD. 
 
 such a clumsy apparatus, and pressed forward. In the 
 tones of real anger, which are perfectly recognised by the 
 followers of this good-humoured General, Skobeleff ordered 
 them back, and put under arrest — not a nominal punish- 
 ment — those who had ventured to risk their lives a few 
 feet in the direction which he had traversed. 
 
 This is the camp story ; another is told in the ' upper 
 circles.' I could not myself doubt which represents the 
 truth. The General's knowledge of English speech, and 
 liking of things English — saving our policy alone — liave 
 brought him into close relationship with correspondents 
 here. We know him well, and I regard him as the one 
 soldier whom Russia has visibly at command. ' 
 
 Our famous painter, Verestcliagine, gives some 
 traits of Skobeleff in a letter which tlie English cor- 
 respondents appear to have missed : — 
 
 As a man Skobeleff, although sympathetic, was too 
 capricious, but he was brave. As a soldier Skobeleff was 
 beyond comparison. I do not speak of his valour, which 
 was surprising, extraordinary, but of his military sagacity, 
 which is so much more valuable. He was not merely a 
 swordsman as many pretend. He was also widely read. 
 He knew the military history of all nations by heart. 
 Very often in the middle of a battle, on march, or in the 
 bivouac, he would say to me, ' Do you remember what 
 such and such a captain said on such a battle ? ' As I 
 was not so well versed in the annals of war I was much 
 embarrassed, and had to reply, ' Do leave me alone ; I 
 don't know.' 
 
 His reports on the actual condition of the Russian 
 soldiers and officers, reports which did not please every- 
 body, are full of good sense and of just observations. 
 The number of his writings, such as observations, narra- 
 
 1 Diary of an Expelled Correspondent, Boyle, pp. 321, 322. 
 
SUPERSTITIOUS ? 127 
 
 lives of campaigns, is very great, and for a Russian 
 ofiicer almost unprecedented. Our oflicers love better to 
 fight than to write. 
 
 To me Skobeleff appeared the incarnation of military 
 genius. One of my friends called him the god of war. 
 This may appear to you exaggerated, but not to those 
 who, like me, have seen him prepare for and command in 
 battle, address the soldiers, inspire with his spirit, and 
 superintend the provisioning of his troops and the supply 
 of all their wants, even to the greased cloths with which, 
 in severe frost, they enwrapped their feet. 
 
 Skobeleff was superstitious. ' Once we made an ex- 
 change of flags. He had given me his famous old 
 banner, torn and pierced in twenty battles. I had made 
 him a new and very beautiful one of Chinese and 
 Indian stuffs ; but he often demanded the old flag, which 
 I refused to give up. When before Geok Tepe, he 
 ascribed every little reverse to the ill-luck which my 
 banner brought him, and every failure led to a fresh 
 demand for his old flag. Not imtil he had taken Geok 
 Tepe and ended the campaign was he a little moi'e satis- 
 fied with my banner. 
 
 Contrary to what has been said, he wept easily ; not 
 only at the death of his father and mother, but at that of 
 the Emperor he shed many tears. 
 
 In one word, to sum up my impression of my departed 
 
 ' Mr. Rose was of a different opinion, and it is probable that 
 Skobeleffs ' superstition ' was confined to the banner. Mr. Rose says : 
 ' Nothing could be further from the truth than the allegation that so 
 robust-minded a man was superstitious, taking that word either in its 
 grosser or its more spiritual acceptation. But, like every other gener- 
 ous or high-minded man, he regarded the superstitions of a simple and 
 ignorant people more with compassion than with contempt, and on 
 more than one occasion, touching on this very subject, he expressed 
 to me the hope that superstitious observances, which he wisely in- 
 sisted degraded both individuals and nations, would by-and-by be 
 eradicated by the spread of education. 
 
128 IN CAMP AND IN .FIELD. 
 
 friend, if I were not sure of the rapid forgetfulness of 
 man, I would be the first to raise a subscription for a 
 monument ' to the memory of the bravest Russian soldier.' 
 
 The war correspondence of 1877-8> both English 
 and Russian, teems with anecdotes [illustrating his 
 care for his men, his indifference to danger, and his 
 attention to every detail of a soldier's life. After 
 his death, two of these correspondents recorded their 
 recollections of Skobeleff. Mr. W. K. Rose wrote in 
 the ' Fortnightly Review ' in London, and Mr. Forbes 
 in the ' Melbourne Argus ' in Australia, and both, 
 although at the opposite end of the world, agreed 
 entirely about his military genius. Mr. Rose, after 
 saying that it would be impertinence on his part to 
 speak of what has already been said by the highest 
 military critics in Europe, gives the following details, 
 which are very interesting : — 
 
 Like all great commanders, Skobeleff inspired in the 
 officers and men iinder him the warmest attachment and 
 devotion. To use an old phrase, ' they would go through 
 fire and water for him.' Skobeleff was naturally the 
 object of much jealous irritation on the part of the older 
 generals in the service of the Czar. I remember him re- 
 ferring to this unpleasant state of matters, and stating 
 that with him honours brought additional labour and 
 greater weight of cares, and enforced the most unwearied 
 vigilance against the slightest mistake. 
 
 With the officers of his own command he was frank and 
 friendly, but he never lost his dignity or proper reserve 
 even in moments when his natural geniality led him to 
 unbend. His keen glance took in all the details of an 
 action, and he never failed to note, commend, and reward 
 
MR. ROSE ON ' THE RUSSIAN BAYARD.' 129 
 
 any display of gallantry. The fall of a comrade, however 
 humble, he sincerely mourned. 
 
 It has been well said that Skobeleff had. ' an almost 
 magic power of identifying himself on occasions with the 
 humblest of his men.' It was a proud day for a private 
 to be selected for even the slightest notice by the general, 
 and, maj'hap, to have his ears gently pulled — a favourite 
 and peculiarly caressing habit of Skobeleff 's when he was 
 in good humour. In a campaign he shared the privations 
 and the food of the meanest soldier in the ranks, he 
 shirked no hardship which his men were compelled to 
 bear : if they were in want, no luxury was spread on his 
 board. On their part, the men admired his intrepidity 
 and his brilliant dash. Under such a nature even the 
 faint-hearted became brave warriors. When, after a three 
 days' struggle with the snows, the ravines, the precipices 
 of the pass of Hemedli, during which guns, waggons, 
 tents, even much ammunition, had to be abandoned — 
 Skobeleff 's tired column emerged on the valley of Tundja 
 and came face to face with Vessel Pasha's army, which 
 had just victoriously driven back Eadetzky's and Mirsky's 
 columns — General Skobeleff rode along the line, inform- 
 ing his men that there was no retreat : all that was left 
 to them was death, glory, or — after a pause — shame. 
 ' Death or glory ! ' was the cry, with loud huzzas for their 
 loved and devoted leader, and right nobly did they vindi- 
 cate their choice. Many instances of his consummate 
 courage and coolness in danger are already well known to 
 readers in Western Europe. Let me add one or two. 
 On the day before the assault on the Green Hill redoubt 
 at Plevna, I was with him on a vine-covered ridge which 
 commanded a view of the Turkish position. Skobeleff 
 was making preparations for the assault. He had from 
 personal inspection made a plan of the surrounding 
 ground, and was, quite in view of the enemy, making a 
 series of sketches of the exact points and the ground 
 
 K 
 
130 IN CAMP AND IN FIELD. 
 
 leading to tliem whicli were to be the objects of attack by 
 eacb of his battalions. The Turks opened fire; at first 
 the shells were short, then they flew overhead, but 
 suddenly two shrieked unpleasantly near. One burst 
 within a few yards of where Skobeleff was sittiug on a 
 camp stool, drawing, and he and his paper were covered 
 with the friable soil of the vineyard. Without a word or 
 a wince, he simply shook the soil off the paper and finished 
 the preparation of his plans, ordering his staff, when he 
 observed that the fire continued exact, to find cover under 
 a sloping bank some twenty yards off. At the battle of 
 Shenova — and I refer to this engagement frequently be- 
 cause the details of it are almost wholly unknown in Eng- 
 land — Skobeleff, mounted on his white charger, went out 
 alone to reconnoitre the Turkish position. Of course he was 
 the mark for a pretty hot fusillade from both inf a.ntry and 
 artillery. Suddenly a shell appeared to strike the ground 
 right beneath his charger and exploded. Thousands 
 thought his temerity had at last brought the death he 
 seemed to court. But when the smoke cleared away the 
 white charger was observed plunging gallantly onward, 
 and his rider, unharmed, soon afterwards rejoined his own 
 troops. Skobeleff told me that when the shell exploded 
 he was almost suffocated with the sulphurous smoke, and 
 that for a moment he actually believed his hour was 
 come. The plunging of his horse, as it were, awoke him 
 from the shock, and he was able to finish his survey 
 unnerved. It would be wearisome to multiply instances 
 of his escapes or of his daring. 
 
 As a disciplinarian he was firm and strict. No point 
 was too minute to be overlooked. Skobeleff 's vedettes 
 were never caught napping. His knowledge of the detail 
 of military duty was universal — even to sounding all the 
 bugle calls. An illustration of the discipline of his corps 
 occurs to me. I had been talking with him of military 
 breech-loaders and discussing the merits of various 
 
SKOBELEFF AS A DISCIPLINARIAN. 131 
 
 systems. Taking a ' Berdan,' with which, the troops 
 were latterly armed, from a soldier, he undid the breecli 
 and lock and explained the mechanism with the precision 
 of a gunsmith. Returning the rifle to the soldier, he 
 turned, and walking up to a sentry a few paces distant, 
 he said, 'Let me see your rifle' — extending his hand as 
 he spoke. The man saluted and replied, 'I cannot, your 
 Excellency.' ' But I want to see if it is clean,' persisted 
 the General. ' I cannot, your Excellency,' again said the 
 sentry, as firm as a rock. Skobeleif smiled, pulled his 
 ears, and walked on. I asked an explanation, whereupon 
 he said that a rule of war with him was that no sentry on 
 duty was on any account to give up possession of his arms 
 — not even to the Tzar himself. ' But, said I, ' suppose 
 the sentry had given up his rifle when you were seem- 
 ingly so serious in asking it. What then ? ' ' He would 
 have been shot,' quietly replied the General, ' for dis- 
 obedience to orders in time of war.' ' 
 
 That is a grim little trait of the discipline which 
 he maintains in all his campaigns. 
 
 Mr. Forbes's testimony, although not so detailed, 
 is no less effective. ' Skobeleff,' he says, ' told him 
 that he wore white in battle that " my fellows can 
 see where I am and know, therefore, whither to 
 follow." ' It was but the nineteenth century I'epro- 
 ducing the white plume of Henri Quatre at the battle 
 of Ivry. Speaking of his generalship, Mr. Forbes 
 says : — 
 
 Skobeleff, the evening before the successful assault, 
 promulgated detailed instructions to the officers, with 
 some words of soldierly advice to the men. The ' scheme 
 of attack ' has become a standard in all the war schools in 
 
 1 Fortnightly Review, Oct. 1882. 
 K 2 
 
132 IN OAMP AKD IN FIELD. 
 
 Europe as a model of tactical conception, of lucid clearness, 
 of careful prevision for any and every contingency. I am 
 content to stand by it alone in my contention that 
 SkobelefP is to be ranked as one of the greatest generals 
 of modern times. He alone was a practical sanitarian.' 
 He kept his camps clean, he made his men wash them- 
 selves, he gave them exercise, he saw to the baking of 
 bread for them, and bought them vegetables out of his 
 own pocket, and abohshed nostalgia by instituting amuse- 
 ments. . . . Skobeleff was the most brilliant man I ever 
 knew, and incomparably the finest fighting-man. 
 
 Skobeleff was the soldier's hero. His fame has 
 already become legendary in our army, and not in 
 our army only, but wherever Slavs are found. To 
 understand the love, the adoration with which the 
 soldiers speak of Skobeleflf, it is only necessary to 
 listen to the stories which they tell round their camp 
 fires of their young and idolized hero. In their 
 eyes he was more than mortal. One of his soldiers, 
 coming unexpectedly on the crowd which blocked 
 the street opposite the cliapelle ardente where Skobeleff 
 lay dead, on asking ' Why this crowd ? ' received 
 answer, ' Skobeleff is dead ! ' ' Nonsense,' replied 
 the simple veteran. ' Skobeleff is not dead. He 
 
 ^ Here is Sir Henry Havelock's account of Skobeleff's care for his 
 men. At Brestovetz, before Plevna, his division, the 16th, up to its 
 full number, is all ensconced in excellent huts, a mile and a half 
 further back, prepared for any cold, and with a fireplace and chimney 
 to every hut. His is the only Russian camp I ever saw that is clean 
 in the English sense of the word. All others are pigstyes or worse, 
 polluting the streams and breeding disease regardless of consequences. 
 His is clean. Being a rich man, Skobeleif keeps open table, and all 
 his Brigadiers and Colonels sit down with him twice daily, quite 
 unlike Gourko, of whom it is said that ' he never dines,' but takes tea 
 occasionally, writing and working all the rest of the day. 
 
HIS POPULARITY. 133 
 
 would not consent to die. It is impossible.' And so 
 lie unconcernedly went his way, confident that his 
 beloved Greneral was still alive. 
 
 ' Ah ! he knew the soul of every soldier, as if he 
 were himself a private,' was the common remark of 
 the men who had fought under him in so many 
 battles and camped with him on so many fields. ' He 
 was so simple, so unassuming ; he was indeed one of 
 ourselves.' He used to eat with them with the com- 
 mon spoon out of the camp-kettles, and no one was 
 ever more careful to see that the camp-kettle was 
 in its place. It was not only the superb military 
 genius which they admired, but his sympathy, his 
 affection, his homely brotherliness. There was no 
 pride in him : with the poorest he was as friendly as 
 with the most powerful. 
 
 'Well, are you going to be a general ? ' he would 
 say familiarly to a private whom he met on his round. 
 ' Never, Excellency,' would be the reply. ' What, 
 never? That is a bad sign. My old grandfather 
 was a peasant like you. Yet he became a general, 
 and so may you if you are brave.' All had their 
 chance ; at least, as much chance as his grandfather, 
 one of the heroes of 1812. 
 
 SkobeleiF's generosity was lavish. He gave away 
 every penny of his pay to his men. He repeatedly 
 provided for their wants out of his own purse. No 
 father could be more careful of his children than 
 Skobeleff was of his soldiers. He was careful to 
 spare their feelings, and if by chance he ofifended, 
 
134 IN CAHIP AND IN FIELD. 
 
 liis reparation was prompt. When in Constantinople 
 after tile war, he met a Russian prisoner in a Turkish 
 uniform. ' What a shame ! ' he cried impulsively ; 
 ' how can you wear an enemy's uniform ? it is too 
 bad!' 
 
 No sooner had the words escaped him than he 
 reflected and exclaimed, ' I am vexed with myself. 
 Perhaps the poor wretch had nothing to put on his 
 back. MacGahan, lend me some money ; we have 
 only twenty pounds — that is so little ; you go at once 
 and find him, and give him some money.' 
 
 MacGahan got some fifty pounds. ' Now go,' said 
 SkobelefF ; ' there are three Russian prisoners at the 
 Seraskeriate ; find them and apologise — apologise for 
 me heartily. Say how sorry I am. I should have 
 gone myself, but I cannot go to the Seraskeriate.' 
 
 When I returned, after having fulfilled my mis- 
 sion, I found Skobeleff" impatient and fidgetty. 
 ' Well, well, how is he ? Has he accepted your help ? 
 What a disgrace to leave our prisoners so long with the 
 enemy ! Write me an ofiicial paper about what you 
 saw and found. Though, of course, I cannot approve.' 
 
 ' Approve what? ' 
 
 ' Why, of course I cannot approve of an officer 
 who allowed himself to be made a prisoner.' 
 
 ' But what could he do? ' 
 
 ' What so many Russians did on the Shipka ; a 
 revolver has six shots ; five to the enemy, the sixth 
 to oneself. What is the life of one man ? The prin- 
 ciple is the great point.' 
 
HIS GENEROSITY. 135 
 
 Somebody wanted to warn Skobeleff — ' One of 
 your oflScers is spreading scandalous lies about you. 
 I may give you his name ? ' Skobeleff seized his 
 interlocutor by the hand. ' No, no, not a word, man. 
 My officers fought like heroes. I love them. One 
 word of mine was sufficient for their going willingly 
 to death.' 
 
 When the interview was over and the guest left 
 the room, Skobeleff called his servant. ' Have you 
 well remarked that face? ' asked he. 
 
 ' Yes, General.' 
 
 ' If so, for this man henceforth I am never at home, 
 never ! Do not forget my order ! ' 
 
 Skobeleff was not a saint, and he was too young 
 and too witty not to be fond of jokes. A beautiful 
 young Bucharest lady, very eccentric and foolish, 
 having heard no end of stories of Skobeleff' s heroic 
 deeds and his extraordinary fascinations, sent him 
 a very enthusiastic letter, announcing at the same 
 time her intention to visit him the next day. 
 The letter, hardly read, was thrown to the fire 
 and the whole thing forgotten. At the appointed 
 time, Skobeleff was deep in conversation with an old, 
 decrepid General, who was rather tiresome and 
 wordy. A servant brought in a card ; it was the 
 eccentric Roumanian. ' Dear General ! Do help me ! 
 I am in great trouble ! ' exclaimed Skobeleff. 
 
 ' What can I do? ' 
 
 ' There is a lady — I dare say a very nice one ; but 
 I am really too busy. Go and receive her ; tell her 
 
136 IN CAMP AND IN FIELD. 
 
 you are Skobeleff, and are anxious to know what you 
 can do for her ! ' 
 
 The old veteran went and soon returned with an 
 angry face. ' I do not know what she wanted. She 
 stared at me, exclaimed, " What! you are the young 
 hero?" burst out laughing and rushed away. She 
 must be mad.' 
 
 Soon after that the Roumanian lady met one of 
 SkobelefF's aides-de-camp. ' Do you know that 
 Russians have a very funny notion of youth?' said 
 she, wondering. 
 
 ' And why do you say so ? ' he asked. 
 
 ' Well, I saw your young General Skobeleff. 
 What a monkey, what a horrid monkey ! ' 
 
 But Skobeleff, although full of fun, was also full 
 of generosity to all who needed his help. 
 
 Soon after the taking of Plevna he was walking 
 in Bucharest, and saw an officer looking veiy pale 
 and half- starving. ' What regiment are you in ? ' 
 asked he. ' Have you dined ? ' 
 
 ' Well, I tried to get a dinner, but prices are tre- 
 mendously high at Bucharest ; I am trying to find 
 something more in accordance with my pocket.' 
 
 ' Come with me ; be my guest,' interrupted the 
 commander. The dinner was over, and the poor 
 officer went home. On his table he found an enve- 
 lope containing ten pounds and a note from Skobe- 
 leff. ' You forgot your money on my table. You 
 should not do so again ! ' 
 
 An eye-witness relates a scene which deeply im- 
 
DEVOTION OP HIS SOLDIERS. 137 
 
 pressed him. Skobeleff went to visit a transport of 
 soldiers badly wounded. One of the moribunds 
 recognised him. ' Oh,' said he, ' there is our own 
 one, our Skobeleff.' The others heard the name. 
 ' Hurrah, hurrah ! ' they tried to cry out ; so weak and 
 wavering were their voices it reminded one of death 
 more than of life. One of the wounded soldiers who 
 had to be operated on had both legs and an arm to 
 be amputated. Chloroform was offered. He refused. 
 'Why do you object? ' exclaimed the doctor. 'I 
 cannot,' replied the man ; ' rather let me smoke a pipe 
 during the operation. I cannot take any chloroform, 
 I tell you. I am a " Skobelevets — " ' belonging to 
 Skobeleff' s division. 
 
 Another case : they bring in an officer. ' I am 
 dying,' said he ; ' no use concealing it from me,' said 
 he. ' Where is Skobeleff? I want to see him, if 
 possible.' They sent for Skobeleff, who was about a 
 mile off. 'I am here,' said the General, as he has- 
 tened to his side. ' What can I do for you? ' 
 
 ' Just shake my hand, General, before I leave this 
 world. I want nothing more. Thank you so much 
 for coming.' He fell dead as he uttered the last 
 word. 
 
 His example even in small details was followed 
 by his men. When a reconnaissance was ordered, one 
 of the soldiers began putting on his new uniform. 
 ' Why is this ? ' he was asked ; ' you will spoil your 
 uniform.' 
 
 ' I must ; Skobeleff says that on going to meet 
 
138 IN CAMP AND IN FIELD. 
 
 one's death one has to be dressed as when going 
 to take the holy communion. Skobeleff himself is 
 smartly dressed when he goes to a battle.' 
 
 Though insisting on the strictest discipline and 
 obedience, Skobeleff was not a formalist, and no 
 believer in red-tape. In the trenches soldiers were 
 allowed to sit even in the presence of their commander. 
 A soldier must have as much rest as possible ; he 
 must economise his strength. Had he to jump up 
 at every appearance of his chief, the latter would be 
 obliged to avoid going to his trenches. 
 
 After one of the attacks — the Turks already quite 
 defeated — the Russians by mistake were continuing 
 to shoot. ' What are you doing? ' cried Skobeleff, 
 with a voice of thunder. ' Are you mad? Are you 
 Turks ? Are you blind ? The enemy is taking away 
 his wounded and his dead, and you are firing at 
 him ! Stop immediately ! ' 
 
 The Turks called Skobeleff ' the just one.' 
 
 He once summoned all his officers. ' Gentlemen,' 
 said he, ' I insist upon one important fact which you 
 ought to keep always in mind. I cannot tolerate 
 cruelty or injustice amongst my troops. We must 
 pay for every trifle we take, and not plunder shops 
 and villages, as brigands. If you or anybody does 
 any harm to any chUd or woman, such an infamy as 
 that shall be punished, mercilessly punished. Keep 
 that well in mind, I tell you.' 
 
 He never treated his soldiers as machines. ' It is 
 not enough,' he used to say, ' for soldiers to be brave ; 
 
'THE JUST ONE.' 139 
 
 they must also be intelligent.' And he constantly 
 tried, with very great success, to make every infantry- 
 man in his division understand all the details of the 
 battle in which he took part. 
 
 There was a dangerous skirmish once at night, a 
 very dark night indeed it was. The troops could not 
 see their chief, but they heard his commanding voice. 
 They needed no better guidance. 
 
 When any young fellow in another division dis- 
 tinguished himself, SkobeleiF used to give himself 
 no rest till he had secured his transfer to his own 
 division. To be chosen by SkobeleiF, to be a Sko- 
 belevets, was an honour indeed. Another thing that 
 endeared him to his troops was the gaiety of his 
 heart, joined with deepest sympathy, which sometimes, 
 as we have seen, even found expression in tears. Sko- 
 beleff never was other than gay with his men, although 
 sometimes when alone, the injustice and stupid 
 hatred of some of the Petersburgers nearly drove him 
 mad. He soon got over that, and his spirits used to 
 rise with danger, until he never seemed so much 
 himself as when he was leading a charge upon the 
 enemy's batteries. As he once said when asked why 
 he dressed for a battle as if for a ball, ' Is not every 
 battle a ball for a soldier ? ' 
 
 There was something fascinating about the way in 
 which this splendidly gifted man absolutely ignored 
 himself and lived only for his country and for his 
 brethren. Why should not men be proud to die for 
 
140 IN CAMP AND IN FIELD. 
 
 him who seemed only to covet the privilege of dying 
 for them ? He only prized his life in order that he 
 might give it away for Russia and the Slavs. Who 
 would not be glad to follow such a chief ? And his 
 troops followed him with an absolute devotion. His 
 presence was enough to induce them to confront any 
 number of foes. It was sufficient if SkobeleiF was 
 there. Once, in the Tekke campaign, a fierce skir- 
 mish took place in the night. It was so dark the 
 troops could not see the white coat of their General, 
 but they heard his voice through the black night, and 
 it was enough. With him, even though unseen, they 
 could not be defeated. 
 
 And now, after giving so many English, Scotch, 
 and American testimonies, let me add a few details 
 from a Russian author, M. N^mirovitch Dantchenko. 
 who gives some charming specimens of his ways and 
 manners with his soldiere. 
 
 The General, though he was the chief, at the same 
 time was the beloved comrade of all. 
 
 Once, M. Dantchenko says, when the heat was 
 intolerable, Skobelefli" was driving in an open carriage 
 He saw a soldier hardly able to move a step, per- 
 fectly exhausted. He cried, ' Well, poor fellow ! il 
 is hard to walk.' 
 
 ' Yes, your Excellency,' he replied. 
 
 ' I daresay you think it rather unjust that { 
 general, lighter and better dressed than you, shoulc 
 be driving, and you should have to trot. Is ii 
 not so ? ' 
 
THE COMRADE OF AIX. 141 
 
 The soldier, not knowing what to answer, was 
 sHent. 
 
 ' Well, come, sit down with me and drive.' 
 The soldier, thinking the General was joking, 
 hesitated. 
 
 ' I tell you, sit down.' 
 
 The soldier looks amazed and delighted, and takes 
 his place. 
 
 ' Are you well ? ' continues Skobeleff. 
 ' Admirably, your Excellency.' 
 ' Well, earn your general's epaulettes, then, as 
 my grandfather did — he also was at first a private 
 — and you will drive in your own carriage as I 
 do.' 
 
 On another day, at Giurgevo, Skobeleff meets a 
 soldier crying. ' What a shame ! ' he exclaimed. 
 ' What is the matter ? Why are you weeping like 
 a woman? ' 
 
 The soldier tried as well as he could to look brave 
 and self-controlled. 
 
 ' What is the matter, I ask ? Speak to me with- 
 out fear.' 
 
 It turned out the poor fellow had just received a 
 letter from home. The cow was dead ; arrears had 
 to be paid ; the harvest was bad. There was no 
 help. . . . 
 
 ' You should begin by telling me what has 
 happened,' said Skobeleff, ' and not go on weeping. 
 Can you read and write? ' 
 ' Yes, Excellency.' 
 
142 IN CAMP AND IN FIELD. 
 
 ' Here are fifty roubles ; send that home, and 
 bring me the receipt from the post-office.' 
 
 The sum was more than sufficient, and made the 
 soldier very happy. 
 
 Skobeleff was kindness itself. He never touched 
 a farthing of his pay. It all went for good deeds. 
 The numbers of applications of every sort he got 
 daily was enormous. 
 
 Skobeleff's physical powers were very great. 
 
 ' When do you sleep ? ' somebody asked him. 
 
 ' Oh, I can easily pass three days and three nights 
 without shutting my eyes, as I can also sleep unin- 
 terruptedly for twenty-four hours.' 
 
 He never trusted any report or description of 
 the positions, and always at daybreak was studying 
 everything himself, with his own eyes. Riding full 
 speed, sometimes fifty versts, he would immediately 
 resume his other work, reading and receiving official 
 reports, making annotations, and giving orders. He 
 would go to the kitchen, taste the soldiers' food, 
 and then begin to read again. It was curious to see 
 how he never failed getting books, and always serious 
 works, newly-published. He used to discuss their 
 contents with his friend General Kurapatkin or 
 others, showing on these occasions the profusion of 
 such an arsenal of facts, such a knowledge, that he 
 looked like a military professor in his pulpit. 
 
 ' Skobeleff is quite one of us,' declared the troops. 
 ' He is a thorough Russian, he knows and loves us. 
 
HIS MODE OF LIFE. 143 
 
 He is a regular eagle, flyiiig in the air,' added some, 
 admiringly. 
 
 ' You must explain to the soldiers,' he used to 
 tell his officers, ' what you want them to do. A 
 soldier who realises his duty is worth a thousancJ 
 times more than a man who is marching with closed 
 eyes.' 
 
 Skobeleff liked to be himself always in the most 
 dangerous place, though he did all he could to spare 
 others. Once he went to the front, and turning 
 round perceived a group of his officers. ' Why are 
 you here? ' he cried ; ' you are not necessary.' 
 
 ' We will not let you die alone,' answered they. 
 
 He u^nderstood their stratagem, smiled, and re- 
 turned to another spot. But he yielded thus very 
 seldom. ' A general who is a coward ought not to 
 be tolerated.' 
 
 ' My dear fellow,' he once said to a diplomatist, 
 ' you have the right to be a coward. A young, un- 
 experienced officer may understand fear ; but a chief, 
 a commander, has no right to think of his precious 
 life.' 
 
 M. Nemirovitch Dantchenko's sketch of Skobeleff, 
 although somewhat flippant, abounds with anecdotes 
 of the General's influence over his men. Sometimes, 
 although very rarely, he had to use threats. Once 
 a wood-cutting party, assailed by a murderous fire 
 from the Turks, fell back upon the trenches. ' What 
 are you coming here for ? ' he asked. ' We are leaving 
 our work,' they replied. ' Have you finished it ? ' 
 
144 IN CAMP AND IN- FIELD. 
 
 ' No, the Turks are firing ; it is impossible ; their 
 numbers are incalculable ; ' and, in a panic, the men 
 jumped down into the trenches. ' You are frightened ! ' 
 cried Skobeleff, in tones of thunder. ' Your comrades 
 are working, and you are frightened. Form in 
 rank ! ' 
 
 They obeyed. 
 
 ' March back to your work, and that at once. If 
 not, God be witness if I do not make you go through 
 your drill before the Turkish trenches. You know 
 me. It is enough.' 
 
 They resumed their work without hesitation. It 
 was seldom that they needed such exhortation. His 
 horses sometimes refused to go further ; his men 
 never. Their devotion for him was boundless. As 
 he never spared himself, neither would they. Their 
 greatest ambition was to be like him. His example 
 was ever before them. At the beginning of the cam- 
 paign, when he had swum his horse across the 
 Danube, he said, ' I never propose to do anything 
 without first doing it myself as an example. What one 
 man can do, can be done by hundreds and thousands 
 of others.' 
 
 A striking illustration of his method of teaching 
 by example is told by Doukonin, Chief of Staff 
 of the Fourth Corps. ' The cavalry having fallen 
 much behind the infantry in efifectiveness, Skobeleff 
 undertook to bring the former into better condition. 
 After having put them through manoeuvres on land, 
 he ordered them to swim a river. He explained how 
 
TEAOHING BY EXAMPLE. 145 
 
 the operation should be effected. Then he selected the 
 worst and most obstinate horse, in the troop to show 
 them how it should be done. Undressing, he mounted 
 the horse and forced it into the water. The animal 
 yielding to the stream landed on the same side further 
 down the river. He plunged in again and then 
 again. The regiment left on the river bank shuddered 
 as they saw then- general persisting- in compelling the 
 unwilling horse to take the direction he had indicated 
 at first. The persistence of the man overcame the 
 obstinacy of the horse, and it at last swam across the 
 stream and landed its wilful rider on the other side.' 
 Skobeleff then re-entered the river and swam back 
 to the place of starting. ' Now, my brave fellows,' • 
 said he, ' follow the example of your commander.' In 
 a moment the whole regiment, officers and men, 
 plunged in the stream, each anxious to prove himself 
 more bold and more skilful than his comrade. 
 
 Skobeleff was far more careful of others than he 
 was of himself.^ When in the trenches before Plevna, 
 
 ^ Prince L^on Schahofsky, in his vivid and brilliant book, Tvlo 
 Campaigns beyond the Balkans, gives the following illustration of this 
 in a description of a meeting between General Gourko and General 
 Skobeleff. 
 
 Having fixed an interview at the Mirkovitch redoubt, in order to 
 decide together upon the elevation of new fortifications, near Plevna, 
 they both came in the redoubt with their numerous suite of officers 
 and chiefs of their different regiments. The redoubt was some 800 or 
 1,000 sagfenes distant from the Turkish forces. Turkish shells reached 
 it so easily, that almost every shot hit the mark. The Turks seemed 
 quite sure of their safety, and some of them were calmly working, 
 others walking or riding on their fortifications. Gourko seemed vexed 
 at that apparent sons-gene, and drew Skobeleff's attention to it ; then, 
 turning himself to the chief of the battery ; ' Send them some bullets,' 
 
146 IN CAMP AND IN FIELD. 
 
 liis staff one day discussed liow they could prevent 
 him from so recklessly exposing himself. The only 
 expedient they could devise was that they should 
 accompany him whenever he went outside the breast- 
 work into the enemy's fire. Immediately afterwards 
 Skobeleff stood upon the breastwork against which 
 the Turks were firing heavily. In a moment all his 
 staff got up beside him. ' What are you doing here, 
 gentlemen? ' he asked. ' Are you coming to court 
 the enemy's balls? ' One of the ofiicers saluted him 
 gravely and replied, ' We have the honour to belong- 
 to the staff of your Excellency.' Skobeleff saw the 
 trick. He burst out laughing, and finding they per- 
 sisted, he returned to the trench. 
 
 His life in the trenches was spent among the sol- 
 diers. He slept on a stretcher in the straw, beneath 
 an awning of thatch which was often pierced by Tur- 
 kish bullets. In the bitter cold nights he used to 
 make a little fire in a frying-pan to keep him warm. 
 He slept very little. In the trenches, as in the 
 drawing-rooms of fine ladies, or at the dinner-table 
 
 he cried, hardly interrupting his debates with Skobeleff. All the 
 Turks suddenly disappeared, then some few of them came back. 
 ' Some more bullets,' again ordered Gourko, and resumed his con- 
 versation. Again the Turks disappear, and this time they remained 
 below for a longer period of time. After which a, light smoke ia 
 beginning to be seen from their side. ' Lie down all of you,' cried the 
 Russian canonnier de service. Everybody immediately obeyed, except 
 Skobeleff and Gourko, who remained standing and talking. A Turkish 
 shell, howling and whistling in the air, fell near one of the officers 
 without bursting. Another cry of 'Lie down!' is heard, another 
 Turkish shell traverses the air ; the two generals, both looking calm, 
 continue their conversation. A third Turkish shell followed the 
 second, and also feU unburst. 
 
'■•■^■'mmsicitjam^- 
 
 HIS LIFE IN THE TRENCHES. 147 
 
 of boon companions, lie was continually drawing- 
 maps and plans, jotting down ideas and suggestions. 
 When the Turks were not troublesome, he spent the 
 time in reading and writing. He was never idle. 
 ' We have no time for rest,' he used to say. ' Russia 
 cannot wait. We shall find rest in our graves.' 
 
 He carried the same spirit into the campaign 
 against the Tekkes. A doctor who accompanied the 
 expedition and who recently published some reminis- 
 cences of SkobelefF in the Euss, says : ' I once ven- 
 tured to give advice to Skobeleff, urging him not to 
 expose his life so recklessly. " Doctor," answered 
 he, " if I am wounded I am in your hands, and you 
 have to order. Till then pray give me no lessons." 
 The intonation of the voice gave me to understand 
 that my rdle of voluntary mentor had to cease once 
 for all.' 
 
 ' Soldiers when they perceived their chief ia the 
 trenches rendered him military honours. "Don't do 
 that," said he, " don't bow to me when I pass, and 
 also never bow to the enemies' bullets." All that is 
 related about Skobeleff's legendary bravery, all that 
 seems hyperbolical, is only strictly true.' ^ 
 
 ^ For some of Skobeleff's orders of the day, see Appendix A. 
 
 E 2 
 
148 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 After the fall of Plevna — The position of the Turks— Gourko crosses 
 the Balkans — SkobelefT's advance — Camp kettles and boots — The 
 position at Shipka — Across the Balkans by a sheep track — The plan 
 of the attack — Ascending the hills — The descent— Turkish resist- 
 ance — Sviatopolk-Mirsky's attack — Occupation of Imetlf — The 
 battle of Shenova — Surrender of Vessel Pasha — Capture of the 
 army of the Shipka — Advance on Adrianople — Occupation of the 
 Tchataldja lines — The armistice — The English fleet in the 
 Bosphorus — Advance to San Stefano — End of the war. 
 
 When Plevna surrendered there still remained 
 175,000 Turkisti soldiers in tlie Balkan Peninsula. 
 Of these, more than one-half were in the quadri- 
 lateral. Against them some general is said to have 
 proposed to lead our armies. But a bolder policy 
 found favour at headquarters. Instead of a war of 
 sieges, it was decided to march at once across the 
 Balkans. It was a very adventurous undertaking. 
 Bulgaria in December is no Paradise. The broad 
 Danube behmd us ; the snowclad Balkans in front. 
 The roads were terrible. Northern Bulgaria was 
 stripped of food and forage. But Skobeleff and 
 Gourko insisted upon an immediate advance, and 
 the Grand Duke approved. General Gourko, with 
 65,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry, and 280 guns, was 
 ordered to cross by the Arab Konak Pass, and then 
 
THE POSITION OF THE TURKS. 149 
 
 to advance by Philippopolis on Adrianople. Radetzky, 
 with SkobelefF and Mirsky, with 56,000 infantry, 
 2,000 horse, and 252 guns, had to cross by the 
 Shipka, and also make for Adrianople. 
 
 Stileiman Pasha, who was then commanding the 
 Turkish army south of the Balkans, distributed 
 35,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry, and 114 guns in 
 various positions opposite Gourko. Yessel Pasha, 
 with 36,000 men and 93 guns, held the southern end 
 of the Shipka Pass, the northern end of which never 
 passed out of the hands of the Russians since Sko- 
 beleflf made his way into the abandoned position in 
 July. 
 
 As it is not my duty to tell the story of the 
 campaign,^ I may briefly dismiss the heroic exploits 
 of Gourko' s column, as they may by themselves form 
 a brilliant separate epopee. 
 
 ' Beginning with the fall of Plevna on December 10, and ended with 
 the conclusion of the armistice of Adrianople on January 31. In 
 these fifty-one days the Kuasian armies had marched over 400 miles ; had 
 crossed a lofty range of mountains, where the snow was from three to 
 ten feet thick and the temperature as low as 10° Fahr. ; had fought 
 three series of battles, lasting from two to four days each, resulting 
 in the complete capture of nearly 40,000 men and the dispersion of 
 another army of over 50,000 ; had captured 213 guns, and small-arms, 
 baggage tents, and supplies of all kinds, including cartridges and 
 rations by the millions ; and, finally, had been able to dictate such 
 terms of peace to the conquered as to remove them permanently from 
 the list of independent militaiy nations : and this the Russians had 
 accomplished with the loss of less than 20,000 men, of whom about 
 half fell in battle and the other half succumbed to the rigour of the 
 season and the climate. The natural diflficulties of the winter cam- 
 paign were overcome by the extraordinary patieuce and physical 
 endurance of the men, and by the untiring energy of their com- 
 manders, Gourko and Skobeleif. — Greene's Russian Army and its 
 Campaign in Turkey, 1877-78, pp. 367-374. 
 
150 THE PASSAGE OE THE BALKANS. 
 
 Gourko reached Orkhanie on December ^ from 
 Plevna. Two days later tlie advance began. On tbe 
 ~ his column was safely across the mountain. On 
 °j^"Syf Grourko occupied Sophia, having lost in ac- 
 tion 1,000 men in eleven days, not including 53 men 
 who were frozen to death, and 810 who were utterly 
 disabled by frost in General Dandeville's column, 
 which had to retire upon Etropol. Gourko advanced 
 on ^^ff from Sophia. 
 
 Nme days later he occupied PhilippojDolis, after 
 having destroyed a strong and well-provided Turkish 
 army and captured 114 guns, together with an im- 
 mense store of provision and munitions of war. His 
 total loss was only 1,250 men. 
 
 Harder fighting, but even more signal success, 
 attended the Radetzky column, which advanced 
 through the Shipka Pass. That story, however, 
 must be told with more details. 
 
 The following account of the passage of the 
 Balkans by Skobeleff is taken from the narrative of 
 M. Imchenetzky, who was himself an eye-witness of 
 that remarkable feat of arms : — 
 
 Plevna, tlie fatal Pleyna, still detained the Russian 
 army, but a full month before its fall Skobeleff had estab- 
 lished sources of supply, of food and forage, for the whole 
 ICth Division, at Gabrova, Tirnova, Selvi, and in other 
 places. Even then he was preoccupied with the thought 
 of crossing the Balkans. Yet after Plevna fell we re- 
 mained inactive for two whole weeks. Plevna had wearied 
 us during the siege, but it was now more insupportable 
 than ever. Impatient to advance, we were doomed to 
 
GOUEKO'S MAECH SOUTHWARD. 151 
 
 complete idleness ; and, as day after day passed, we began 
 to lose all hope.' 
 
 The only consolation we had was the assurance 
 Skobeleff used to give us that we should soon be off 
 again. ' Take care of your horses, gentlemen,' he used 
 to say, ' you will soon have need of them for a long and 
 difficult march. Buy all the horses the Turkish officers 
 have for sale. You will want to buy soon, and you will 
 find none.' Soon afterwards he told us that we were to 
 march on Shipka. 
 
 It was not till December ^, 1877, that we started. 
 The march from Plevna was by no means easy. The snow 
 had fallen heavily, but sledging was not yet established ; 
 and the road over heaps of frozen earth was terrible, espe- 
 cially for the baggage wagons and the artillery. It took 
 us two stages to reach Loftcha, a distance of thirty versts 
 (twenty miles). The third stage — to Selvi — was twenty-five 
 versts. We could not take all our artillery ; two cannon 
 in every battery were left at Plevna. Not only was a bat- 
 tery reduced from eight to six pieces, but each cannon, 
 even the small four-pounders, needed eight horses instead 
 of six. The forage and the mass of the baggage of 
 infantry was transported upon sledges dragged by oxen 
 and mules. The reserve baggage, and part of that of 
 the artillery, which could not by any possibility cross the 
 Balkans, were left at Plevna ; and only rejoined the army 
 six months later, long after peace had been signed. 
 
 The detachment was divided into two echelons. The 
 weather was propitious. The frost was steady, without 
 wind or thaw. The detachment before crossing the Bal- 
 kans had always been lodged day and night, and had 
 never bivouacked. The camp kettles were always de- 
 spatched with great care in advance to the place where 
 
 ' The delay was caused, first by the necessity of waiting for rein- 
 forcements, and secondly by a severe snowstorm and the horrible state 
 of the roads. 
 
152 THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 the troops were to sleep, and when the men arrived their 
 food was ready cooked. Skobeleif always tasted it, and 
 recorded whether it was good or bad. The order of the 
 day next morning praised the good cooks, and piUoried 
 the careless. 
 
 After the detachment had defiled past him, Skobeleff 
 severely reprimanded all who remained behind, insisting 
 .that they should always advance with perfect regnlaritj'. 
 It was necessary to be very strict about this. A soldier 
 when left behind takes to plundering, and often is frozen 
 to death. 
 
 When the detachment began the march, it defiled 
 before its beloved chief singing gaily as it marched by. 
 He was accustomed to greet them with great geniality, 
 recalling the battles in which they had taken part, and 
 talking sometimes of the soldier's position, and sometimes 
 of subjects far removed from the scenes of the campaign. 
 The privates, instead of being, as usually is the case, awk- 
 ward in the presence of their chief, were put perfectly at 
 their ease, and showed themselTes at their best whenever 
 they had the kind and hearty greeting of Skobeleff. It 
 is needless to add that he treated the of&cers with the 
 greatest humanity as comrades. But why say more ? 
 Ask any ofiicer who has ever been in direct communica- 
 tion with Skobeleff, and he will speak with enthusiasm 
 of that man, the charm of whose sympathetic manner 
 was irresistible to all who surrounded him. What was 
 not less remarkable was the popularity which Skobeleff 
 enjoyed among the Bulgarians. They crowded around 
 him, and testified warmly their affection for him and for 
 his troops. 
 
 Skobeleff never forgot the saying of Marshal de Saxe, 
 that the strength of an army lay in its feet. He was 
 most rigorous in seeing that there were no damaged boots 
 in his division. He spared no efforts to secure new boots 
 for his men, and it fared ill with the soldier and with his 
 
CAMP-KETTLES AND BOOTS. 153 
 
 officer if the boots were not well and regularly greased. 
 Every man received a pair of warm stockings. Skobeleff 
 insisted strongly on the excessive importance of clean 
 feet ; and he nsed to recall the fact that when the French 
 before Sebastopol were so badly off for fuel as to have to 
 dig the vine roots out of the ground, the officers kept 
 part of that scanty allowance for heating water in which 
 the soldiers could wash their feet. 
 
 On arriving at Selvi on December if, we remained 
 there a week. (Gourko had already begun the passage 
 of the Balkans near Sophia.) During this period Skobeleff 
 repaired to Shipta,' where he received instructions from 
 Eadetzky as to the advance southward. Eadetzky added 
 some regiments of Bulgarian Militia to Skobeleflf's com- 
 mand, and ordered him to cross the Balkans by the track 
 of Imetli.^ 
 
 ^ Radetzky commanded the troops with which he had held Mount 
 St. Nicholas, since it was seized by Skobeleff in the early days of the 
 war. The Turks occupied the village of Shipka, to the south of Mount 
 St. Nicholas. The cold at Shipka that winter was so intense that 
 Radetzky had no fewer than 6,000 men hors-de-combat by frostbite and 
 exposure on December if. 
 
 " Lieut. Greene writes thus of Radetzky's plan of campaign : — ' The 
 arrival of General Skobeleff with the 16th and 30th divisions and the 
 3rd and 4th rifle brigades at Gabrova, in the first days of January, 
 placed a force of 74 battalions, or about 56,000 infantry, besides artil- 
 lery and cavalry, at Radetzky's disposition ; but of these troops, the 
 24th division had to be sent to Gabrova to refit, and was for the 
 moment practically hors-de-combat. The rest of his troops, however, 
 were in good order. Radetzky's plan for forcing the jjassage was to 
 divide his troops into three columns, one of which, under his own 
 orders, was to remain in the works at the summit of the pass, while 
 the other two were to pass on either flank, cross the mountain, and attack 
 the pass from the rear (south) simultaneously with the attack from the 
 north. Radetzky's detachment consisted of the 14th infantry division 
 and the 35th regiment of the 9th division. The column of the right, 
 under Skobeleff', consisted of the 16th division, the 3rd rifle brigade 
 (3 battalions), 7 Bulgarian battalions, the 9th Don Cossacks, 6 moun- 
 tain guns, and 6 4-pounders, — in all, 22 battalions, 6 squadrons, and 
 12 guns. It was to pass over the trail which leads from the village 
 
154 THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 It was no easy matter. The snow lay in some places 
 ten feet deep. The track — for it was a mere track among 
 the hills — was not a road which even in summer-time the 
 natives of the hills cared to traverse. Only when there 
 was great urgency would a Bulgarian peasant, even in 
 summer, drive his ass along the mountain track over 
 which Skobeleff had to force an army in the depth of 
 winter. The artillery officers protested that it was im- 
 possible. At last Lieut.-Colonel Kurapatkin, command- 
 ing the 4th Battery of the 16th Brigade of Artillery, a 
 young man of thirty years, who had done good service 
 in Turkestan, volunteered- to take six of his four-pounders. 
 All the rest were left behind, with the exception of a 
 mountain battery of eight guns. 
 
 On December -~|^ we sent our cannon back to Selvi, 
 and started for Gabrova, which we reached in safety. 
 From there Skobeleff again went to Shipka, where he 
 secured a prize, in the shape of 300 pairs of boots, from 
 the chief of a tirailleur battalion. Skobeleff was very 
 uneasy about the march. His letter to Kurapatkin of 
 December 21 gjiowcd a minutc attention to every detail — 
 
 January 2 '^ 
 
 of Zelenodrevo to the top of the mountains (only about two miles and 
 a half from the left flank of the Turks on the Bald Mountain), and 
 thence descends to the village of Imetli in the Tundja Valley ; here 
 the detachment was to turn to the left and attack the works defending 
 the vUlage of Shipka. The column of the left, under Prince Mirsky, 
 consisted of the 33rd, 34th, and 36th regiments of the 9th division, 
 the 30th division, the 4th rifle brigade, 1 Bulgarian battalion, the 
 23rd Don Cossack regiment, 6 mountain guns, 8 4-pounders, and 8 
 9-pounders, — in all, 26 battalions, C squadrons, and 22 guns. It was 
 to leave the village of Travna, and follow the trail over the Selky hill, 
 debouching in the Tundja Valley, at the village of Gusevo, then turn to 
 the right, and, joining hands with Skobeleff, attack the works de- 
 fending the village of Shipka. The movement was fixed to begin 
 on the morning of the 5th of January, and it was calculated that the 
 columns would arrive in the valley on the evening of the 7th, and 
 attack on the morning of the 8th.' — Greene's R^lssian Army in Turkey, 
 pp. 349-350. 
 
THE TKACK OF IMETLI. 155 
 
 forage, cartridges, the distribution of troops, the preser- 
 vation of the shells from damp, nothing was forgotten. 
 The sappers were then sent on in advance into the moun- 
 tains to clear a path through the snow. 
 
 The chief strategic difficulty in tlie way of successfully 
 executing the operation was the distance which separated 
 the columns. It was impossible to keep open communica- 
 tions between three divisions operating from Shipka in 
 the centre, Kazanlyk, and Imetli. Everything depended 
 upon the simultaneous attack of Mirsky, Skobeleff, and 
 Eadetzky; but beyond a calculation as to the distance 
 to be traversed, there was no guide to the commanders, 
 and distance was but only one factor in the problem. A 
 shorter road often takes more time to travel than a longer ; 
 and this Skobeleff found to his cost. His detachment 
 consisted of the following troops : — The 16th division of 
 infantry, the 9th, 11th, and 12th battalions of Tirail- 
 leurs, two companies of the 4th battalion of Sappers, 
 seven cohorts of the Bulgarian Militia, the 4th battery of 
 the 16th Brigade of Artillery (six guns), the 2nd moun- 
 tain battery (eight guns), the 9th Cossack regiment of 
 Naguibine, one sotnia of Kersloff's Cossacks of the Ural. 
 Towards the end of the march they sent three regiments 
 of the 1st Cavalry Division, Cossacks, Dragoons, and 
 Lancers. ISTeither battalions nor squadrons were up to 
 their normal strength. The sotnia of the Naguibine Cos- 
 sacks only numbered forty men, and their horses were 
 little better than skeletons. 
 
 The first echelon of the main body marched southward 
 on the Shipka road on 552!55!L?i. After marching eight 
 
 ■*■ January 6 a o 
 
 miles they turned to the right near the Devil bridge 
 along the bed of a stream. The line of march was very 
 serpentine, and they had repeatedly to cross and recross 
 the bed of the stream. The weather was good, a slight 
 frost and no wind. After marching along the stream for 
 five or six miles, the road turned to the left, at a village 
 
156 THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 named Topliche. There they halted, pitched their camp- 
 kettles, and boiled their rations. It was almost the last 
 warm meal they had until they crossed the Balkans ; it 
 was impossible to carry the camp-kettles any further. 
 
 During the night a welcome reinforcement arrived in 
 the shape of a transport of medicines, warm clothes, &c., 
 come from the Countess Adlerberg. Each regiment re- 
 ceived twelve bottles of brandy and nine of wine. 
 
 Skobelefif, with his chief of staff, installed himself at 
 Topliche, from whence began the dolorous road to Imetli, 
 a mere mountain track in summer, in winter not even 
 that. Little by little the Bulgarian Militia began to 
 come in. The night was dark. Immediately before us 
 stood a dense forest ; between the trees the snow lay soft 
 and deep. They were compelled to march in single file. 
 It was terrible work getting the mountain battery over the 
 ground. The guns were light, weighing six pouds, about 
 two English hundredweight, but the feeble half-starved 
 horses could with the utmost difficulty drag them through 
 the snow. The soldiers had to help them at every step. 
 The difficulties with the mountain battery foreshadowed 
 no good to Kurapatkin's six-pounders, which were more 
 than three times as heavy. If a single false step was 
 made, the horse and his driver plunged overhead in the 
 snow. 
 
 Skobeleff determined to stop after marching seven 
 miles. The troops were exhausted. At six o'clock only 
 a few regiments had arrived, including the sappers, tirail- 
 leurs, and the mountain battery. The snow was cleared 
 off the ground, and fires were kindled, and the soldiers 
 with their little frying-pans set about cooking their 
 rations. The only water was melted snow, which had a 
 detestable taste. At seven o'clock the scene was striking 
 in the extreme. All the fires were burning brightly, and 
 the glowing flames lit up the depths of the forest. The 
 soldiers grouped round the camp fires were full of life and 
 
ASCENDING THE MOUNTAINS. 157 
 
 gaiety. Skobeleff, Kurapatkin, Verestchagine, and some 
 others sat around a bonfire and enjoyed their supper. The 
 horses alone seemed miserable. Those only of the moun- 
 tain battery received hay ; the others were perforce con- 
 tent with the twigs of trees. 
 
 Skobeleff formed a detachment under the command of 
 Colonel Laskoffsky, composed of twenty Cossacks, two 
 companies of engineers, and one battalion of the regiment 
 of Kazan. Two Bulgarian guides led the way. The 
 vanguard toiled slowly up the heights. The culminating 
 point of the ascent was reached near the Kardam Mount, 
 a perfectly regular cone, which it passes on the right 
 by a steep and narrow ledge, which wound round the 
 hill. On the right of the ledge towered the rock, on the 
 left was a precipice of incalculable depth. The day before 
 the sun had shone warmly, and the snow had melted. In 
 the night it froze, forming a crust of ice over the snow, on 
 which it was very difficult to walk. We advanced very 
 slowly after we had passed the crown of the Balkans. 
 The descent was almost as difficult as the ascent. We 
 laboured on, however, and at seven o'clock in the morning 
 came upon a declivity not more than 100 fathoms deep, 
 but excessively steep, the angle not being less than 45 
 degrees. We hoped that at the bottom of this slope we 
 should find the village of Imetli. Volunteers were called 
 for, and they slid down the slope. An hour and a half 
 passed, and it became evident that we were not yet at 
 Imetli. The vanguard therefore scrambled, half sliding, 
 down the hill, catching a distant glimpse of the valley of 
 the Tundja between the mountains, and began their 
 march onward. The track wormed its way amid great 
 stones and rocks, on the edge of a great ravine thickly 
 strewn with boulders, at the bottom of which the Tundja 
 made its way to Imetli at the foot of the hills. 
 
 Far below, so far below that their horsemen appeared 
 no larger than grasshoppers, we could see the fortified 
 
158 THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 position of tlie Turks, between Shenova and Shipka. An 
 indescribable confusion was visible in the camp as they 
 caught sight of our troops. Two pieces of artillery were 
 sent out to oppose our advance, and presently the first 
 sharp sound of rifle-shots rang through the ravine. 
 
 The Turks attempted to surround us, and very soon 
 their bullets were whistling overhead along the whole line. 
 Their fire on our right and in front did not matter much, 
 for we were sheltered by rocks ; but on the left they had 
 us at a great disadvantage. Lying themselves hidden 
 behind boulders in the ravine, we could not hit them, 
 whereas we were without cover. They approached within 
 two to three hundred yards, and the number of casualties 
 became formidable. All round us were heard the groans 
 of the wounded. The fire of the Turks was not returned. 
 Cartridges were dearer than life. The contest might last 
 all day, and not a shot could be wasted. The Turks were 
 continually reinforced. Their fire became hotter as they 
 drew closer. Our ranks were thinning fast. The Turkish 
 bullets, ricochetting among the rocks, wounded those 
 whose cover seemed the safest. There was no sign of 
 succour. Our little band began to lose heart. From break 
 of day till one o'clock in the afternoon we had kept the 
 road. The Circassians were mounting the ravine behind 
 us. In a short time we should be completely cut off. 
 
 ' I was sent,' says Imchenetzky, ' with a couple of 
 Cossacks as escort, to inform Skobeleff of our desperate 
 position. The scene was terrible. The Circassians were 
 gaining ground every minute. Our wounded, pale and 
 despairing, were writhing on every side, their groaning 
 mingling horribly with the hiss of the bullets. It was 
 two o'clock, and still there was no sign of succour. 
 Another hour, and it might be too late, and the Turks 
 would be able to fortify and hold against Skobeleff and 
 all his troops the position we had seized. 
 
 ' With unspeakable joy I saw, even when almost de- 
 
THE VANGUAED IN DANGER. 159 
 
 spairing, the appearance of the head of one column. The 
 Kazantzi, and part of the regiment of Ouglitch, fell upon the 
 Circassians, who were on the point of occupying the road, 
 and drove them back. Our vanguard was saved. At the 
 foot of the steep declivity down which we had to slide I 
 found the ofiScer in command of the Ouglitch regiment. 
 While I was describing the position Skobeleff himself 
 arrived. All the others were on foot. He alone was 
 riding, although the foot soldiers were falling under the 
 enemies' fire. Providence shielded the solitary horseman.' 
 
 Skobeleff at once threw upon the heights on the right 
 flank a platoon and a half of Cossacks, under Doukmassofi". 
 The Cossacks threw themselves with ardour upon the 
 Turks. They pushed their way without firing through a 
 hailstorm of bullets until they were close to their foes. 
 Then they poured in a volley at such short range that the 
 Turks turned and fled towards the village of Imetli. The 
 affair ended at four o'clock. 
 
 Before night set in Skobeleff ordered that great fires 
 should be kindled upon the surrounding heights to de- 
 ceive the enemy as to the numbers of our detachment. 
 As soon as the regiments of Kazan and Ouglitch were all 
 got together, Skobeleff ordered them to advance upon 
 Imetli. They marched in silence in the darkness of night. 
 Skobeleff himself accompanied them. The Turks had fled. 
 Imetli was evacuated, and immediately occupied by our 
 troops. 
 
 At daybreak the mountain battery, the Tirailleurs, and 
 the Bulsrarian Militia began the descent. On December 27 ^j^g 
 
 o ° January 8 
 
 Kazan and Ouglitch regiments occupied the valley, driv- 
 ing out a few insignificant Turkish bands. Our moun- 
 tain guns fired a few rounds to advertise their presence. 
 Skobeleff, who was very anxious about his weakness in 
 cavalry, sent at once for the 9th Cossack regiment, 
 which at 11 o'clock began at once to skirmish with the 
 Turkish cavalry. The tournament looked well from the 
 
160 THE PASSAGE OF TPIB BALKANS. 
 
 mountain; but, althougli the Turks outnumbered tlie 
 (Jossacks by two to one, they never came to close quarters, 
 though many were hit on both sides with rifle-balls. 
 
 Far away in the east we could distinguish the roll of 
 musketry, and the cries of men in deadly combat. 
 
 ^ It is Sviatopolk-Mirsky,' said SkobelefiF. ' How an- 
 noying it is that we can do nothing to help him ! ' ' 
 
 ' The following is Lieut. Greene's narrative of the fighting which 
 Skobeleff heard in the east, which, as it also mentions some details as 
 to Skobeleflfs march not given by Imohenetzky, I give at some length : 
 ' On the morning of the 8th, the day calculated for the attack, 
 Eadetzky watched eagerly on Mount St. Nicholas for the appearance 
 of the other two columns in the valley. About 10 a.m. Mirsky's 
 troops were seen coming out of the mountains near Gusevo ; and de- 
 ploying about noon, they moved forward to the attack in the direction 
 of the Shipka village. Skobeleflfs troops were not in sight, but a 
 cannonade was heard in the mountains in his direction, where he was, 
 in fact, stiU fighting with the Turks in the position half way down the 
 slope. About noon also arrived a messenger from SkobelefiF, explain- 
 ing the difficulties that he had met. Radetzky sent word back to him 
 to concentrate his column in the valley and attack Shipka from the 
 rear on the morning of the 9th, and, if possible, to open communica- 
 tions with Mirsky and attack in conjunction with him. He also in- 
 formed Skobeleff, that the 1st cavalry division had been sent over his 
 trail to assist him. Mirsky, meanwhile, heard the cannonade ofif on 
 his left, but saw no Russian troops. Finally the cannonade died 
 away, and still no troops were in sight. He was evidently in a bad 
 position to attack alone, with his left flank out in the air ; but, during 
 the previous night, he had received a precise order from Radetzky to 
 attack on this morning. He therefore moved forward with the 4th 
 rifle brigade deployed as skirmishers, supported by the little mountain 
 battery and the 33rd regiment. In his second line were the 34th, 
 36th, and 117th regiments. The 120th remained with the baggage at 
 Gusevo, and the 118th and 119th, which had occupied Maglis on 
 his left flank the previous night, were ordered to move forward to 
 Kazanlyk. 
 
 ' After a short but hot fight, his troops carried the villages of 
 Janina and Haskioi, but beyond Haskioi was a small range of hills 
 stretching across the road, covered with several tiers of rifle pits. 
 Here Mirsky's troops were brought to a, halt by a very hot fire, and, 
 the colonel of the 33rd regiment being severely wounded about this 
 time, the line began to waver. 
 
. SVIATOPOLK-JimSKY'S POSITION. 161 
 
 The troops which had heen in bivouac began to descend 
 into the valley. By night most of the detachment had 
 arrived, including the mountain battery, Kurapatkin's 
 cannon, which subsequently had to be left behind ; the 
 regiment of Sousdal, the Lancers, and a few infantry were 
 still in the hills. 
 
 It was impossible to attack that day. Our troops 
 were still scattered. Our position was not fortified, we 
 had no point d'appui, a.nd Radetzky's orders were precise 
 — that no attack was to be made till the whole of the de- 
 tachment had been got together. 
 
 ' The 36th regiment wag then sent forward to the support of the 
 33rd, which held the right of the line, and the 34th to the support of 
 the rifle brigade, on its left. One battalion of the 1 17th was sent off 
 in the direction of Kazanlyk to guard the left flank,' and only the 
 other two battalions of the regiment remained in reserve. The little 
 mountain battery advanced to within about 700 yards of the Turkish 
 position, and sent a lucky shot which exploded one of the Turkish 
 caissons. The Russians then moved forward with a rush, in spite of 
 the fire of the Turks, and carried the line of the trenches, capturing 
 3 guns and about 100 prisoners. 
 
 ' They thus came in front of the last line of defence of the Turks, 
 a series of redoubts on the hills just south of Shipka village; but 
 darkness was coming on, the troops were tired out, and their ammu- 
 nition was almost exhausted. It was impossible to try to carry these 
 redoubts that night. The Turks, however, pressed to the attack, and 
 rushed forward upon the Russians with considerable impetuosity, but 
 were driven back by the deliberate volley-firing of the latter. 
 
 ' Although Mirsky was informed early in the evening that the 
 118th and 119th regiments had entered Kazanlyk without finding any 
 enemy, yet his position was anything but comfortable. His left flank 
 was in the air, at his back was a high range of mountains, over which 
 it would be almost impossible to retreat, and in his front, only 200 
 yards off, was the enemy, in a position which he felt he could not 
 carry. He sent a report to Radetzky explaining his critical situation, 
 stating that he had fought all day with superior numbers, had sus- 
 tained very great losses, was nearly at the end of his ammunition, and, 
 unless he could be reinforced, he must begin to retreat. Radetzky 
 sent word back to him to hold on for another twenty-four hours ; that 
 Skobeleff would come to his relief on his left flank ; and that he, 
 Radetzky, would try to operate a diversion by attacking the Turks in 
 front the next morning.' 
 
 M 
 
162 THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 That night around Imotli bonfires were blazing, as if 
 we had an army of 100,000 men. Two bands of music 
 were ordered to play. The Turks hurled a few shells into 
 our camp. We answer by firing a salvo into Shenova. 
 The tableau was splendid. 
 
 The troops were ordered to rest. The Cossack patrols 
 kept the fires blazing, while most of the men went to sleep 
 in Imetli. Before the village Skobeleff met them, praised 
 them for their fortitude, and explained to them briefly 
 what should be done in case of a night attack by the 
 Turks. In Imetli we found an enormous store of forage 
 and provisions, very welcome to our horses and our men. 
 
 Weary and worn with the excessive fatigues of the 
 march across the hills, the men slept as if they could 
 never awaken. The night was tranquil. It was the lull 
 before the storm. Only in one house sleepless eyes kept 
 watch through the night, where SkobelefiF and his chief 
 of staff, Count Keller, drew up the plan of attack for the 
 morrow's battle. The dispositions for attack were drawn 
 up with difficulty. They had hardly any ink, and had no 
 clerk. The following is an extract from the plan then 
 drawn up : — 
 
 ' The object of the battle is the capture of the fortified 
 camp of Shenova. 
 
 ' The advance will be made by the escarpments of the 
 right flank. 
 
 ' I shall be found near the vanguard at the beginning 
 of the battle ; later I shall be near the general reserve. 
 
 ' The wounded will be taken to Imetli. 
 
 ' The positions which will be held by the infantry will 
 be indicated on the spot by Count Keller. 
 
 ' The Bulgarian Militia and the engineers will defend 
 the village of Imetli from an attack coming from Kalofer. 
 ' (Signed) General- Lieutenant Skobblefp.' 
 
 It was indispensable to take Shenova before attacking 
 
THE PLAN OF ATTACK. 163 
 
 Shipka, otherwise he would have exposed his flank to the 
 enemy's attack. Shenova was the strategic key of the 
 position. If the enemy were cleared out of it, he could 
 extend his hand to Sviatopolk-Mirsky, and unite for the 
 final attack on the Turkish position. 
 
 It was at nine o'clock on the morning' of J?SH!H5£I^ that 
 
 ^ January lu 
 
 the famous battle of Shenova began.' 
 
 ^ M. Imchenetzky only describes the fight which he saw. Here is 
 Lieut. Greene's narrative of the fighting on the day of Shenova, under 
 Eadetzky and Sviatopolk-Mirsky ; — 
 
 ' On the lOtli of January, unfortunately, there was a tempest of 
 wind, filling the air with blinding snow and a dense fog of particles of 
 frozen mist. Radetzky could see nothing of what was going on in the 
 valley, but through the fog came the sounds of heavy artillery and 
 infantry fire, indicating that the Turks had begun to attack Mirsky. 
 Radetzky at once made his preparations for attack, in the hope of 
 relieving the pressure on Mirsky. He sent forward the 55th and 56th 
 regiments, and part of the 35th, along the high road and on its right, 
 against the Turkish trenches in front of Mount St. Nicholas. The 
 ground was extremely unfavourable for attack, and in the dense fog 
 it was impossible to see what was going on at a distance of ten yards 
 away. Still these troops, between noon and 2 p.m., carried the first 
 two lines of Turkish trenches in open assault, but with enormous 
 losses — over 1,700 men. Having gained these positions, the troops 
 remained there, unable to advance, until news arrived from Skobeleff 
 during the afternoon announcing the surrender of the whole Turkish 
 army. 
 
 ' Meanwhile, in the vaUey, the fog was not so dense. The Turks 
 had early in the morning opened an attack on Mirsky's right flank, 
 but had not made any impression upon it. They then made an attack 
 upon his left flank without any better success. Mirsky then riposted 
 with his left and carried a second Turkish redoubt (capturing two guns 
 in it), and also the village of Shipka. This cut off this portion of the 
 Turks from the Kazanlyk road, but they still held a line of redoubts 
 behind Shipka village. While Mirsky's troops were halted in front 
 of this and a lull had succeeded in the battle ia their front, they heard 
 loud cheering off on their left at the village of Shenova. It was the 
 attack of Skobelefi's troops, the most brilliant assault of the whole 
 war, deciding the day and the fate of the entire Turkish army at 
 Shipka.' 
 
 The Turkish army which thus surrendered numbered 41 bat- 
 talions, containing 36,000 men in all, of whom about 6,000 were sick 
 
 M 3 
 
164 THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 The Turks, like the excellent engineers that they 
 were, had carefully fortified their position. They had 
 strengthened their earthworks, and mounted them with 
 artillery of long range, 
 
 Skobeleff's first care had been to attempt to open 
 communications with Sviatopolk-Mirsky. With that end 
 
 and wounded, and with it were captur.ed 93 guns (including 12 mortars) 
 and 10 flags, but the Russian losses were not slight, being as follows : — 
 
 Officers Men 
 
 Killed .... 19 1,103 
 
 Wounded .... 116 4,246 
 
 Total .... 135 5,349 
 
 Of tliis loss, 1,700 men were in Radetzky's, 1,500 in Skobeleff's, and 
 2,100 in Mirsky's detachment. Only 37 battalions, or about 25,000 
 men, had been brought under fire ; so that the proportion of losses 
 was about 22 per cent. 
 
 The capture of this Shipka army surpasses in boldness and 
 brilliancy the advance of Gourko over the Balkans at Arab Konak. 
 Although Radetzky's attack in front caused him terrible losses and 
 apparently gained no result, yet without this it is possible that the 
 Turks might have withdrawn from the mountains under cover of the 
 fog, and, concentrating about Shipka village, have broken through 
 between Mirsky and Skobeleff, and escaped to the south ; and, 
 although Mirsky may be blamed for opening his attack before he had 
 established communication with Skobeleff, according to the plan of 
 battle, yet it is possible that, had he remained idle at Gusevo during 
 the 8th, the Turks might have discovered him, and begun to retreat. 
 Finally, Skobeleff^s energetic attack, as soon as he had got all his men 
 together in the valley, was one of the most splendid assaults ever made, 
 and renders more than doubtful the conclusion which has been hastily 
 drawn from this war (from Plevna particularly) that successful assaults 
 of earthworks defended by modern breechloaders are impossible. 
 
 The Turks seem to have relied, here as at Arab Konak, upon their 
 conviction that the intense cold, the deep snow, and the impassable 
 nature of the mountains, except over the road which they held, would 
 render any such movements on the part of the Russians wholly im- 
 possible. 
 
 One of the remarkable features of this battle is the fact that 
 Mirsky and Skobeleff both had to leave all their artillery behind 
 (except the little mountain guns, which amounted to nothing), and 
 that both of them carried the enemy's works without any preparation 
 of the attack by artillery. 
 
THE BATTLE OF SHENOYA. 165 
 
 in view, and also in order to cut off the retreat of the 
 Turks to the Little Balkans, he sent off all his disposable 
 cavalry to turn the left flank of the Turks. He then 
 selected a position advantageously situated for seeing the 
 progress of the fight. It was the first time since the war 
 began that he had not taken his position in the hottest of 
 the fight. He was surrounded by a few sotnias of Cos- 
 sacks, and the clump of horsemen attracted the fire of 
 the Turks. A shell burst under Skobeleff. He disap- 
 peared in the smoke and upheaved soil. ' He's lost this 
 time ! ' cried everyone ; but to our amazement he was 
 unhurt. 
 
 The combat deepened. The fire on the side of the 
 Turks was really infernal. The companies of the Oug- 
 litchani and Kazantzi, taking advantage of every bit of 
 cover, went forward -in rushes from one shelter to another 
 without firing a shot. The bands went into action play- 
 ing as if on parade. The Bulgarians flung themselves 
 upon their hated foe with less order certainly than the 
 Russians, but with equal courage, and even more fury. 
 The wounded grudged to die before at least slaying one 
 abhorred Turk. 
 
 No Turkish fire, however infernal, could stay the 
 charge of the Russian soldiers. They flung themselves 
 upon the Turkish lines, and cleared them at the point of 
 the bayonet. The Bulgarians gave no quarter. After 
 finishing with the fortifications, they all attacked the 
 town. The Bulgarians attacked on the right, the Ka- 
 zantzi on the left, the Ouglitchani in front. It was 
 difficult to drive the Turks out of Shenova. They fired 
 from every house, they clung to every garden. At last, 
 however, the bayonets convinced them that they could no 
 longer hold the village, and they fled en masse to their 
 principal redoubt. The Kazantzi followed them at the run, 
 firing without ceasing. They hastened to finish the affair 
 and seize the central redoubt. 
 
166 THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 This redoubt, properly speaking, was not a redoubt at 
 all. It was a hillock surrounded by a spiral trench. On 
 the highest point stood the cannon. The whole hill was 
 covered with a multitudinous mass of Turks. The variety 
 of their costumes gave an extraordinarily chequered ap- 
 pearance to the hill. It looked like a kind of fantastic 
 bouquet. Imagine the infernal flames which such a bou- 
 quet could produce when every man of the bouquet fired 
 not less than ten shots a minute. 
 
 ' Hurrah, hurrah ! ' cried the regiment of Ouglitch as 
 it flung itself against the monster ! But behold a thing 
 altogether extraordinary and unexpected. The fire begins 
 to diminish along the whole Turkish line. 
 
 ' The white flag ! the white flag ! they surrender ! ' is 
 the cry in all our ranks. 
 
 It is true. The white flag is floating on the hillock ; 
 and thus, after a fight lasting five hours, from nine in the 
 morning till two in the afternoon, the battle is over and 
 Shenova is ours. 
 
 Skobeleff went .-forward to receive the army which he 
 had captured. He found that he had only taken half the 
 army of Shipka, and that 15,000 more were opposing 
 Eadetzky. 
 
 SkobelefP insisted that Vessel Pasha should send the 
 Pasha who commanded these men the order to surrender. 
 Vessel at first demurred. Skobeleff pointed out that he 
 would at once attack them in rear, while Eadetzky at- 
 tacked in front; and that as resistance was useless, it 
 would be well to prevent a iiseless effusion of blood. 
 Vessel gave way, and sent an officer with Colonel Stoletoff 
 to order his troops to lay down their arms. They obeyed 
 at once ; and Stoletoff set off to announce the glad news 
 to Eadetzky. 
 
 Radetzky's attack had been repulsed. The nature 
 of the locality was such that there was no room to 
 manoeuvi-e. The dead lay piled up in two heaps like 
 
THE SURRENDER OF VESSEL PASHA. 167 
 
 logs of wood. The Eussians were downcast. What then 
 was their astonishment to see a Russian general leaning 
 on some Turks — for StoletofF was exhausted with the toils 
 of the day — suddenly appear in the Turkish lines, and 
 wave his handkerchief as a signal to stop firing ! They 
 ceased, and then an exultant hurrah rang through the 
 hills. The struggle was over, the battle was won ! 
 
 The troops established themselves in the Turkish 
 fortified camp at Shenova, and Skobeleff and his staff in 
 Turkish barracks close by. 
 
 It was evident that the Turks had intended to retreat. 
 Carts, filled with the property of officers, had already 
 taken the road. Their drivers lay dead, and the death- 
 rattle sounded in the throats of the wounded horses. 
 What a mass of corpses lay everywhere ! 
 
 The victor exulted. It was a gigantic success sur- 
 passing all expectation. 32,000 men, 93 cannon, and 6 
 standards were in our hands. We feared to ride over the 
 field, so thickly was it strewn with rifles. Trenches were 
 filled with boxes of cartridges, of the best English manu- 
 facture, and cartridges were scattered everywhere in the 
 mud ; rations had been issued, and everything made ready 
 for flight. 
 
 We seized at Shenova the hospital of the Red Crescent, 
 with seven doctors — one English, one Prussian, two Swiss, 
 and two Greeks. They told us that the Turks never 
 expected any attack from the west. The pass of Imetli 
 thfey regarded as absolutely impracticable. All their 
 attention had been devoted to Radetzky and Sviatopolk- 
 Mirsky. It was only on seeing the blaze of our fires that 
 they had fortified their position on that side. 
 
 The victory of Shenova only cost Skobeleff 1,600 men. 
 
 Yery little is known in England of that great 
 rush across the Balkans. The Russian army, under 
 Gourko, was accompanied by English correspondents, 
 
168 THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 but SkobeleflP fought unattended by his friends. Tbo- 
 most brilliant action of the war has thus been least 
 appreciated. But the victory of Shenova, is one of the 
 brightest laurels any general ever won. 
 
 Little time was wasted after the capture of Vessel 
 Pasha on January ■^^. Orders were issued for an im- 
 mediate advance on Adrianople. General Gourko 
 commanded the right and General Radetzky the left 
 Aving of the Russian army, while Skobeleff took com- 
 mand of the centre. General StroukofF, commanding 
 Skobeleff's advance guard, left Kazanlyk on New 
 Year's day, old style. Skobeleff himself followed 
 two days after, crossing the railway junction of Tyr- 
 nova, and marching directly on Adrianople. The 
 programme was executed to the letter. Tyrnova 
 was seized on June y^g-, after a smart engagement. 
 Skobeleff reached the place on the night of the y%. 
 He had marched his men fifty-five miles in forty- 
 hours. He then started for Hermanli. It was here 
 that occurred one of the saddest incidents of the 
 war. The great train of Turkish fugitives, several 
 miles in length, moving eastward under a strong 
 escort, was almost simultaneously overtaken by the 
 advancing forces of General Gourko, and inter- 
 cepted by the cavalry of Skobeleff. The escort 
 fled, but the peasants fired on the Cossacks. At 
 the moment when Gourko's troops were preparing 
 to attack in the rear, Skobeleff's horse appeared in 
 front. A wild panic seized the fugitives. They left 
 their 20,000 carts in the snow, deserted their children 
 
THE ADVANCE ON ADEIANOPLE. 169 
 
 and their old people, and fled to the mountains. 
 The Bulgarians plundered the deserted encampment, 
 and scenes ensued among the most horrible of the 
 war. Skobeleff resumed his march, and the ghastly 
 camp at Hermanli was left to its fate. The next day, 
 Skobelefi''s advanced guard, under General Stroukoff, 
 occupied Adrianople. The Turkish garrison had 
 evacuated it after blowing up the powder-magazine, 
 and were then in full retreat on Constantinople. The 
 second city in the Empire, girdled with earthworks 
 and intended as a bulwark of Constantinople, fell 
 without a blow. Two days later, ||-, Skobeleff entered 
 Adrianople, having marched 100 miles in four days. 
 
 The rapidity of the advance was not slackened 
 for a moment. Skobeleff assumed the command of the 
 advance guard, and marched off along the line of the 
 railway, to attack the Turkish lines atBuyuk Tchek- 
 medje. His troops left their baggage and artillery 
 to follow by rail, living partly on the country and 
 partly on rations sent after them from Adrianople by 
 the railway. At Tchorlu General Stroukoff, who was 
 stni commanding Skobeleff' s cavalry, overtook the 
 Turkish rearguard, and the last shots fired in the war 
 were exchanged between Skobeleff's Cossacks and 
 the retreating Turks. That was on January ^. On 
 January ^ the armistice was signed at Adrianople 
 and the war was at an end. 
 
 On the way to Adrianople, Skobeleff repeatedly 
 declared that we should enter Constantinople. 'This,' 
 he said, 'is absolutely necessary. Russia expects 
 
170 THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 it. We can only stop at the Bosphorus.' Russian 
 troops did reach the Bosphorus ; but alas! they 
 abstained from going to Constantmople. No one 
 regretted this more than SkobelefF. ' However im- 
 probable it may seem,' says M. Dantchenko, ' I can 
 positively declare the truth, that I saw even Skobeleff 
 sob with patriotic anguish when, in the neighbourhood 
 of Byzantium, he learned that we were not going to 
 enter Constantinople, and were losing thus the result 
 of all our sacrifices.' 
 
 If the war was ended the advance was not. By 
 the terms of the armistice the troops had to garrison 
 the lines of Tchataldja, while the Turks had to go 
 back behind the lines of Buyuk Tchekmedje. They 
 said they would go, but they delayed so long that 
 once it seemed as if Skobeleff would have to eject 
 them by force. The evacuation was completed on 
 FebralTy n > ''^^^ *^® great march southward was over.^ 
 
 It was a memorable march. Victories succeeded 
 each other so rapidly that we ceased to take count of 
 them. Every day brought a new success, and each 
 order and despatch brought more and more promi- 
 nently forward the name of Skobeleff. General 
 Gourko and General Radetzky did admirably, but the 
 hero of the march on Constantinople was again the 
 favourite of the Russian people. It may indeed be said 
 
 ' Lieut. Greene says : — ' In both columns the guns were unlimbered 
 and arranged to be drawn on sledges ; but it was soon found impos- 
 sible to get them up the mountain even in this manner, and they were 
 all left behind, except the little mountain guns, one battery of which 
 was with each column.' — Russian Army in Twlcey, p. 350. 
 
THE LINES OF TCHATALDJA. 171 
 
 that SkobelefF and the Russian soldier shared equally 
 the highest place in the national admiration, and 
 SkobelefF was the very beau ideal of the Russian 
 soldier. None of their leaders did they love as they 
 loved him ; none was so absolutely devoted to their 
 welfare, so enthusiastic in their praise. And after all 
 the Russian private soldier deserves more than I have 
 said of him in my attempt to pay homage to his chief. 
 Well does Lieutenant Greene say in speaking of the 
 winter campaign — 
 
 The great and permanent cause of tlieir success lay 
 in the almost boundless patience and endurance of the 
 Russian soldier. From the time the movement was well 
 under way the men never saw their knapsacks, which re- 
 mained north of the Balkans till some time after the 
 armistice. They marched and fought and slept in snow 
 and ice, and forded rivers with the thermometer at zero. 
 They had no blankets, and the frozen ground precluded 
 all idea of tents ; the half worn-out shelter tents which 
 the men had used during the summer were now cut up to 
 tie around their boots, which were approaching dissolu- 
 tion. Always half of them had to sleep in the open air 
 without shelter. Their clothing at night was the same as 
 in the day, and it differed from that of the summer only 
 in the addition of an overcoat, woollen jacket, and bashlik. 
 Their food was a pound of hard bread, and a pound and 
 a half of tough stringy beef driven along the road ; they 
 were forced to carry six and even eight days' rations on 
 their backs — in addition to which a supply of cartridges in 
 their pockets. There was more than one instance where 
 the men fought, and fought well, not only without break- 
 fast, but without having taken food in twenty-four hours. 
 Yet in the face of these unusual privations and hardships, 
 there was not a single case of insubordination; the men 
 
172 THE PASSAGET OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 ■were usually in good spirits, and the number of stragglers 
 on the march was far less than during the heat of the 
 preceding summer. 
 
 Even when badly led the Russian soldier has 
 never disgraced his country. When led by SkobelefF 
 he was irresistible. 
 
 After the two armies had taken up the positions 
 appointed to them by the armistice, they were again 
 put in motion — this time by Lord Beaconsfield — and 
 again SkobelefF played the most conspicuous part. 
 
 Before the armistice was signed, when it was 
 believed that at any moment the English fleet might 
 enter the Bosphorus, it was decided that, until the 
 war was ended, Russia had no option but to treat 
 every ally of the Turk as her own enemy. Disposi- 
 tions were taken for the occupation of Gallipoli, and 
 the immediate entry of Russian troops into Constan- 
 tinople. The fleet very nearly precipitated a collision. 
 It steamed up to the mouth of the Dardanelles, and 
 was only counter-ordered at the last moment. If it 
 had not been recalled there would have been war. 
 Possibly a knowledge of that fact explains its recall. 
 But even after that narrow escape. Lord Beaconsfield 
 very nearly made war inevitable. 
 
 What a comeidy of errors it seems now we look 
 back upon it all, and see how two great Empires were 
 almost plunged into war by the merest trifles ! The 
 ' Nous sommes dedans ' of Count Schouvaloff", misin- 
 terpreted by journalists to whom French seems like 
 an unknown toiigue, provoked an intervention from 
 
THE ENGLISH FLEET AND THE EUSSIAN ARMY. 173 
 
 whicli war would have been inevitable but for a 
 curious delay which, arose in the transmission of a 
 telegram. As the facts appear to be but imperfectly 
 known in England, I will venture to repeat them, 
 although they will be found at much greater length in 
 a paper written by the body physician of the Grand 
 Duke Nicholas in the Nouvelle Revue} 
 
 When the English fleet anchored at Prince's Island, 
 that is to say, within less than an hour's sail of the Bos- 
 phorus, the Grand Duke telegraphed to St. Petersburg, 
 asking what should he done if the English, who were at 
 the entrance of the Bosphorus, should attempt to enter. 
 This telegram, like all that passed between Adrianople 
 and St. Petersburg, passed through Constantinople, owing 
 to the breakdown of the wires across the Balkans. The 
 day after he had telegraphed he received from the Em- 
 peror a reply, couched as follows : ' I understand neither 
 your questions nor your hesitations, for I have already 
 sent you detailed instructions as to what you should do in 
 case the English enter the Bosphorus.' 
 
 Great was the consternation at headquarters on re- 
 ceipt of this telegram. The detailed instructions to which 
 the Emperor referred had never been received. Mean- 
 while time was progressing. The English were within an 
 hour of the Bosphorus, while the Russian army was three 
 days' march distant. 
 
 Pending the arrival of the Imperial instructions, which 
 although despatched had never arrived, the Grand Duke 
 made all necessary preparations for a forced march on 
 Constantinople, in order that he might close the Bos- 
 phorus. 
 
 After a period of great suspense the famous instruc- 
 tions arrived at last. They had been three or four days 
 
 1 June 15, 1880. 
 
174 THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 en route. Turkish personages absolutely to be depended 
 upon subsequently told us that the telegram had purposely 
 been detained at Constantinople in order to avoid a colli- 
 sion between Russia and England. The Imperial orders 
 were to the effect that while Gallipoli was not to be occu- 
 pied, the entry of the English into the Bosphorus was to 
 be the signal for the immediate occupation of Constanti- 
 nople. While we were wondering whether Prince's Is- 
 lands should be regarded as the Bosphorus, a telegram 
 arrived from Constantinople announcing that the English 
 fleet had withdrawn to Ismid. The cause of this strange 
 manoeuvre, suspected at the time, was confessed frankly 
 afterwards. 
 
 When the Turks deciphered our telegram, and dis- 
 covered that the orders of the Emperor were pi'ecise and 
 categorical for the immediate occupation of Constantinople 
 if the English entered the Bosphorus, they communicated 
 the contents of the despatch to the English ambassador, 
 and begged him to send the fleet away. He intervened, 
 and in order to save the capital from a Russian occupa- 
 tion, he sent the ironclads to Ismid. This being effected, 
 the Turks then transmitted the Imperial telegram to the 
 Grand Duke, as there was no longer any cause for keeping- 
 it back. 
 
 So it was not the heroic advance, but the dis- 
 creet retreat, of the English fleet which ' saved ' Con- 
 stantinople. But the fleet being in the Dardanelles, it 
 was necessary for us to be within the lines of Buyuk 
 Tchekmedje against a renewed surprise or act of bad 
 faith. The Grand Duke therefore told the Turks that 
 he' must occupy San Stefano, and Skobelefi^ was 
 ordered to prepare the 4th Corps for immediate 
 advance. The Turks protested, but gave way, and in 
 February ^\ our head-quarters were installed at San 
 
HOW WAR WITH ENGLAND WAS AVOIDED. 175 
 
 Stefano. Thus what would have been known as the 
 Peace of Adrianople became the Peace of San Stefano, 
 thanks entirely to the interfering of the EngHsh fleet. 
 On ^^'aTc'ifa' ^ ^^^ famous treaty was signed. With 
 the exception of the defence of the Shipka and General 
 Gourko's two passages of the Ball?:ans, there was hardly 
 one successful enterprise undertaken in the whole war 
 in which SkobelefF had not taken a prominent part. 
 He shared the honours of the passage of the Danube 
 at the beginning, and it was he who led the Russian 
 troops from Tchataldja to the walls of Constantinople. 
 It was he who first occupied the forts of the Shipka, 
 who, along with Prince Imeretinsky, won the first 
 victory at Loftcha, and whose valour made heroic 
 the second and third assault on Plevna. In the 
 winter campaign it was Skobelefi^ who captured the 
 army of the Balkans at Shenova — Skobelefii" who 
 occupied Adrianople, and Skobeleflf who pursued the 
 flying Turks to the lines of Tchataldja. Wherever 
 he had held sole command he never sustained a 
 reverse, and wherever he held a subordinate place it 
 was his division which preserved the honour of our 
 arms in the midst of the disasters of the campaign. 
 
 ' To an army which has accomplished what you 
 have, my friends,' said the Grand Duke to the troops 
 at San Stefano. 'nothing is impossible.' That it 
 accomplished so much is partly due to Skobeleff, 
 who inspired every private with a sense of responsi- 
 bility, and set the whole army so brilliant an example 
 of absolute devotion to the service of his country. 
 
176 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 IN SOUTHERN BULGAKIA. 
 
 Expected war with England — Drilling the Bulgarian Militia — Sko- 
 beleff and the Turks — An excursion to Shenova — Bulgarian grati- 
 tude — The battle-field revisited — Impressive service for the dead — 
 The pass of Hemedli — The Turks and the Balkan Passes — Bussia 
 prepared for war — Skobelefif at Slivno. 
 
 Peace was signed, but Russia had to keep her armour 
 on, and prepare for war with England, which Lord 
 Beaconsfield seemed to be meditating. The time was 
 not lost. SkobelefF spoke quite truly when he said : — 
 
 We were quite ready for England in May ; we were as 
 well armed as you were, and we had received new artillery 
 for the army. If there had been an attempt to sever our 
 communications, we had two years' supplies in the coun- 
 try. Austria was watched by 400,000 troops, and I do 
 not think that even if she had joined England we should 
 have been beaten. All depended, however, upon the atti- 
 tude of Germany, whether she would adopt a policy of 
 neutrality — of honest neutrality —or not. 
 
 That was apparently the opinion of the English 
 Government, for on May if Lord Salisbury signed the 
 secret memorandum with which a few days later Mr. 
 Marvin astonished the world.^ 
 
 1 The secret memorandum was the record of a private surrender by 
 Lord Salisbury to Count Schouvaloff of most of the points pressed in 
 the English Circular of April 1, 1878. 
 
DRILLING THE BULGARIAN MILITIA. 177 
 
 After that typhus broke out, and we lost no fewer 
 than 60,000 men in a single month ; but the im- 
 mediate danger of war had passed. Skobeleff was 
 placed in command of the 4th Division of the army 
 of occupation in Southern Bulgaria, and he did not 
 waste his time. From his head-quarters at Slivno 
 he co-operated in what was the practical creation 
 of Eastern Eoumelia, so far as Eastern Roumelia 
 possesses any ability to defend its own independence. 
 Europe drew up the organic statute, no doubt. The 
 Porte appointed Aleko Pasha ; but the foundations of 
 Bulgarian liberty south of the Balkans were laid by 
 Russia, when, by the aid of Skobeleff and others, she 
 organised and drilled the Bulgarian Militia. 
 
 During the eighteen months which he spent 
 south of the Balkans, Skobeleff won the love not 
 merely of the Bulgarians, but, strange though it may 
 seem, of the Turks. 
 
 The excellent Bulgarian paper ' Rabota,' which 
 has recently published a series of reminiscences of 
 Skobeleff, says that ' Ak Pasha ' was a great favourite 
 amongst the Turks. Here is an example of his ways 
 with the vanquished enemy, taken from an October 
 number of the ' Rabota.' The Russian troops were 
 staying at Adrianople. During the Ramadan, when 
 the Turks generally light up their mosques, Skobe- 
 leff having given strict orders to his men to be kind 
 to the Turks, the latter were grateful and seemed 
 pleased to see ' Ak Pasha.' He observed once, how 
 
 N 
 
178 IN SOUTHERN BULGARIA. 
 
 ever, that they looked very gloomy and sorrowful. 
 Faithful to his habit, he investigated thoroughly the 
 cause of their grievance, and learnt that the ' faithful ' 
 Mussulmans were distressed at having no means of 
 lighting up their mosques. Skobeleff used aU his 
 influence with the Russian authorities and got three 
 thousand roubles for ' his Turks.' It is easy to un- 
 derstand their gratitude and dehght. 
 
 This was no isolated instance. In the midst of 
 the great struggle, even when the Turks were muti- 
 lating our dead and torturing our wounded, SkobeleiF 
 was kindness itself to his conquered enemy. ' Take 
 care, my children,' he used to say to his soldiers 
 after the peace was signed ; ' the Turks are now your 
 friends. Be kind to them. There is no greater 
 shame than to attack those who cannot defend them- 
 selves.' 
 
 During the war a young Turkish officer was made 
 prisoner, and his captors began asking him of the 
 position of the enemy. ' Let him alone,' cried Skobe- 
 leff ; ' an officer must not be a spy.' The young Turk, 
 however, offered help to our troops, and when the 
 campaign was over N(§mirovitch asked him ' how he, 
 a Turk, could serve the enemies of his country ? ' 
 ' Because,' replied the young officer with enthusiasm, 
 ' to serve Ak Pasha is an honour to anyone. There 
 are no other generals like him.' 
 
 The Turks used to express their admiration and 
 astonishment at Skobeleff. ' Your Ak Pasha,' they 
 gaid, ' is better than our Osman. Yours visits even 
 
SKOBELEFF AND THE TUKKS. 179 
 
 the Turks his enemy and their churches. Osman 
 never saw us near at hand.' 
 
 ' Ak Pasha,' said an old Ulema, ' could be a good 
 Mussulman. He knows the Koran so well.' Not 
 only did he know it well, but he was very fond of 
 quoting it. 
 
 He always maintained the most friendly relations 
 with the Ulemas. He wished them to come to him. 
 ' We are obliged to obey our conqueror,' they replied. 
 ' But if we give up Adrianople to the Bulgarians, 
 what then? ' he asked. They answered, ' The Rus- 
 sians, not the Bulgarians, have conquered us. But 
 if they are as just as you, we will praise God for his 
 punishment. Life Avith the Russians is easy. Our 
 property, our wives and children are safe — thanks 
 to them.' When he revisited Kazanlyk, the Turkish 
 women sent him a beautiful bouquet. ' What is this 
 for? ' he asked. ' To express their gratitude for the 
 good treatment they have received,' was the reply. 
 ' Quite unnecessary,' exclaimed he ; ' the Russians 
 are not fighting with women.' 
 
 There was such a pleasant picture of the closing 
 scenes of his administration south of the Balkans 
 given by Mr. Rose, more than three years ago, that I 
 venture to give part of it ^ here :— 
 
 ' Will you accompany me in an excursion to Shenova 
 and SMpka? ' said General Skobeleff to me one day in the 
 second week in May. ' We are about to leave the country,' 
 
 ' The full description is in a paper called ' Shenova and Shipka 
 Revisited,' in the Gentleman's Magazine, July 1879, p. 87. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 IN SOUTHERN BULGAKIA. 
 
 continued General Skobeleff, ' and I wish once more to 
 look upon the scenes of our greatest struggles and our 
 bloodiest triumphs.' The invitation so heartily given was 
 as heartily accepted, for I too desired to revisit the Tundja 
 valley. On the following morning I breakfasted with 
 General Skobeleff and Prince TzertelefF. 
 
 It was an hour and a half after midday before a start 
 was effected. The mode of travelling was a caleche drawn 
 by four horses harnessed abreast, and as we rattled over 
 the streets of PhUippopolis and across the new iron girder 
 bridge which spans the Maritza, and which the Russians 
 have built as a parting gift to the capital of Eastern Eou- 
 melia, the General informed me that we should require to 
 go at a very stiff pace, as we had to accomplish a hundred 
 versts ere nightfall. We spun along with astonishing 
 smoothness, the road considered, at a mad gallop. The 
 small but hardy horses of the Ukraine breed never seemed 
 to tire, and maintained the gallop for two hours at a 
 stretch. At a village called Karatoprak we changed 
 horses, and in a few minutes were continuing our on- 
 ward way at the same headlong speed. Following the 
 bed of the Giopsu river, we cut through the Lower Bal- 
 kans, and entered the valley of Karlova. Passing the 
 village of Cukurli, we observed the gymnastic society at 
 their afternoon drill, and while the horses were being 
 changed the General and I walked on a short distance. 
 A turn in the road brought us face to face with the 
 National Guard, as these volunteers now delight to call 
 themselves. They had seen the General, and had marched 
 rapidly round the village so as to salute him as he passed. 
 A iine body of fellows they were, with good-natured ex- 
 pression, intelligent features, and considerable aptitude 
 for drill. Twelve months' experience of absolute freedom 
 from Turkish oppression, and safety for life, honour, and 
 property, have created a wonderful change in the poor 
 
THE BULGARIAN MILITIA. 181 
 
 Bulgarian peasants. Their bearing is totally different from 
 what I remember it two years ago. The cringing obse- 
 quiousness which was their characteristic while the over- 
 bearing Turk was still their master has disappeared, and 
 they carry themselves as men who feel something at any 
 rate of the dignity of manhood. 'Now,' said General 
 Skobeleff, ' I will show you what we have made of these 
 lads in a few months.' Thereupon the hero of a score of 
 battles took command of this village band. At the word 
 they formed line admirably, broke into column, and 
 marched and counter-marched, re-formed line, and fired a 
 volley at 400 yards. We examined the rifles of nearly 
 every man to see that he understood what he was about, 
 and found without exception the ' sights ' properly ad- 
 justed. Then, in obedience to the bugle calls, which the 
 General sung out, skirmishers extended and advanced in 
 front of half the company, which acted as supports. At 
 another rat-ta-ta-ta from the General, the latter also ex- 
 tended as skirmishers, and the whole advanced. Ta-ta-ta 
 tum sang out the General, and down the fellows lay and 
 commenced firing. So went on the drill, and the ma- 
 noeuvres ended in a grand bayonet charge. Before taking 
 our leave of these interesting young volunteers, whose 
 determination it is never to permit a Turkish soldier again 
 to enter their country, General Skobeleff made them a 
 short speech, in which he complimented alike their intel- 
 ligence and their new-born patriotism. 
 
 When fairly in the Karlova valley we skirt the northern 
 slopes of the Lower Balkans, which, for the most part, are 
 covered with oak scrub, with here and there patches of 
 forest. 
 
 The necessity for having a broken spring of the car- 
 riage repaired gave me the opportunity of a closer inspec- 
 tion of the ruins of Kalofer, and of conversing with many 
 of the inhabitants who have returned to their desolated 
 
182 IN SOUTHERN BULGARIA. 
 
 homes. Some of the houses are being rebuilt with money 
 granted by the Eussian administration, but the work of 
 reconstruction progresses slowly. Among the charred 
 remains of the houses human bones are still to be found 
 — indestructible testimony to the truth of the tale heard 
 on every side of the cruelty of the Turkish soldiery. Dur- 
 ing our promenade, melancholy though it was, a bright 
 incident occurred. Half a score of little children, very 
 scantily clad, but with pleasant features and beaming 
 faces, came and offered flowers, testifying alike to the 
 domestic qualities of the Bulgarians and their gratitude 
 to their deliverers. That the Russians are loved by the 
 children no less than by the adults is proof positive that 
 all the tales spread by interested persons of Russian op- 
 pression being greater than that of the Turks are baseless 
 falsehoods. Were the Muscovites the Huns some people 
 would have Western Europe believe, they would not com- 
 mand and retain the love of old and young which is mani- 
 fested on all hands and in every district. This was only 
 a specimen of the stories which we heard at every step. 
 One woman with tears in her eyes said : — ' Thank God 
 that the Christians have remembered that we, too, are 
 Christians ; that we were suffering, and that they have 
 brought us relief. We are very poor, God knows, for our 
 all was stolen from us or destroyed ; but we will work and 
 trust in God and help each other.' This woman had also 
 taken to her home two orphans, and, commenting on the 
 fact. General Skobeleff told her that it was the duty as 
 well as the privilege of the poor to help each other at a 
 time when God sent misfortune upon them. 'True,' re- 
 plied the woman ; ' and we do what we can for each other. 
 We are happy now that we are free and shall never see 
 the Turks again.' 
 
 Time pressed ; and, our carriage having been repaired, 
 we bade the women be of good cheer, while the General 
 
BULGAEIAN GRATITUDE. 183 
 
 comforted the hearts of the children by a free distribution 
 of sugar bought from a primitive store in a half-ruined 
 house, and we took our departure from ill-fated Kalofer. 
 Clearing the mountain retreat, we descended by a steep 
 path to the plain of the Tundja. After fording a stream 
 called the Ak Dere, we leave the great chaussee which 
 leads to Kazanlyk, and strike northwards and eastwards 
 towards the base of the Greater Balkans. At last, in the 
 fast-approaching twilight, we reach the village of Becerii, 
 embosomed among trees and surrounded by rose gardens. 
 The General now stood up in the carriage scanning the 
 country on either side, and consulting a map in his hand. 
 At last the General said, ' I come to Shenova to pray for 
 the dead, and to take my last look at a battle-field which, 
 if it brought us some glory, cost us so much blood. I 
 have not seen it,' he continued, ' since the eventful 28th 
 December, 1877 — five days before Gourko's battles at 
 Philippopolis.' Again he stood up in the carriage, and 
 eagerly scanned the contour of the ground. A few 
 minutes afterwards he raised his cap, and, looking round 
 and upwards, began to recite in his sonorous but musical 
 voice a Russian poem. Turning suddenly to me, the 
 General said, ' Here in this wood I posted nine regiments 
 of Cossacks to cover my right flank ; and there is the 
 plain over which my devoted men, without a single gun, 
 advanced against an enemy which outnumbered them, and 
 which moreover had 120 pieces of artillery.' ' It is with 
 great emotion,' he went on, ' that I look again upon this 
 battle-field. Many thousands of lives were lost there upon 
 my responsibility as a general.' Again he took off his 
 cap, sighed, and in solemn accents recited a Eussian poem 
 by Aksakoff about death, in which the poet pictured the 
 entrance to the tomb as terrible to the imagination at a 
 distance, but that when face to face with it in a holy 
 cause it lost all its terrors and became the entrance to 
 heaven itself. His voice rang with emotion, and his 
 
184 IN SOUTHERN BULGARIA. 
 
 gestures, as he continued to repeat the lines, were charac- 
 terised by a tremulous yet graceful animation, which told 
 of the deep feeling that stirred his heart. ' It was,' he 
 said, ' the bloodiest battle of the war.' With a quick 
 turn of thought, pointing to a spot on our left, he said, 
 ' There, when reconnoitring the enemy's position be- 
 fore the attack, a shell burst literally under my horse, 
 and the smoke coming up almost suffocated me. My 
 steed reared, and I thought for a moment that the end 
 had come ; but God was good — my work was not yet done 
 — and, strange to say, neither my horse nor myself was 
 harmed.' Onwards we went towards a wood. At every 
 step the General pointed out the dispositions which the 
 troops had taken during the progress of the battle. In 
 the darkening night a Cossack met the carriage, and led 
 the way into the wood, where twinkling lights discovered 
 a small encampment. Descending from the carriage at 
 the outskirts of the wood, the General, pointing to several 
 mounds, quoting Byron, said, ' There Slaughter heap'd on 
 high his weltering ranks,' and, for the time throwing 
 aside the melancholy gloom which had sat upon him dur- 
 ing the last hour, he advanced with cheerful stride to 
 General Schnitnikoff and the members of his staff, who 
 had come to the Sheiiova wood to meet him, and had formed 
 the encampment. 
 
 The manner in which General Skobelefif was surrounded 
 by all his officers, young and old, the greetings with which 
 he was received, and the earnest inquiries made as to 
 news, told of two things — the love and admiration with 
 which the young but brilliant soldier is regarded by all. 
 
 Next morning our little camp was early astir, and a 
 universal demand was made for coffee, which was speedily 
 brought by some soldiers. Very soon General Skobeleff 
 came out of his tent, and being joined by the whole staff, 
 we commenced, under his direction, an inspection in 
 detail of the positions. We had only gone a few steps 
 
ON THE FIELD OF SHENOVA. 185 
 
 wlien we came upon a wooden cross erected under the 
 shadow of a group of four spreading beeches. The General 
 at once uncovered, an example which all followed, and 
 stood for a few minutes in silence. Turning away, the 
 General said to me, ' That is the grave of a hero, and on 
 the day of the battle I especially ordered that cross to be 
 planted over his grave so as to mark his last resting- 
 place. He was a mere boy of between fifteen and sixteen, 
 of good family in Russia. During the war, fired by mili- 
 tary ardour, and the righteousness of the cause for which 
 the armies of Holy Eussia were fighting, he escaped from 
 school and home and made his way to the seat of war. 
 Turning up at Plevna, I accepted him as a volunteer, and 
 he fought gallantly and well at the great assault and sub- 
 sequent capture of Osman Pasha's stronghold. At Shenova 
 he led a company of the 32nd regiment, and their duty it 
 was to make the attack on the central redoubt. Carried 
 away by his enthusiasm and utter disregard of danger, 
 the brave boy speedily left his men a considerable way 
 behind, and escaped the shower of bullets only to be 
 bayonetted as he entered the redoubt. His was a brief 
 but heroic life ! ' 
 
 Crossing the stream, we entered the centre redoubt 
 on the little peninsula, and what a sight was presented ! 
 All around the door of the redoubt were scattered broken 
 canisters, fragments of shell, rags of uniforms, as if the 
 battle had only taken place a few days ago. But I was 
 hardly prepared for the ghastly scene within. Several 
 hundred men had been hastily buried here ; but the rain 
 and the snow had beaten aside the loose earth, wolves and 
 dogs had done the rest, and all over the floor of the 
 redoubt was scattered a vast melange of human bones. 
 Vertebrae, arm and leg bones commingled in the strangest 
 fashion with skulls bleached by sun and rain. General 
 Skobeleff said to me, as we gazed on this charnel-house. 
 
186 m SOUTHERN BULGARIA. 
 
 ' And this is glorj^ ! ' ' Yes,' I responded, ' aftei* all, 
 
 General, 
 
 The drying up a single tear has more 
 
 Of honest fame than shedding seas of gore. ' 
 
 ' You are right,' he replied, ' and yet I am nothing but a 
 soldier.' Leaving the redoubt, he called out two small 
 detachments of soldiers representing the infantry and 
 cavalry who had taken part in storming these positions, 
 and desired them to accompany us. ' Every one of these 
 men,' he said to me, 'was wounded in the battle, and 
 they have a right, as representing their comrades, to take 
 a last look of the field where they shed their blood.' Aa 
 we crossed into a large entrenchment, which had offered 
 a stout resistance to the Muscovite assault, and which also 
 bore marks of being the burial-place of many a brave 
 soldier, we encountered a small flock of sheep, the leader's 
 bell tinkling softly in the morning air. ' Is there not,' 
 said General Skobeleff, ' something extremely poetical in 
 the idea of these sheep so peacefully browsing on the 
 grass enriched with human blood?' Onwards we strolled 
 from position to position, stopping every few moments, 
 when the General, with his staff around him, would dis- 
 course on their strength relative to other positions, on the 
 method adopted by him in arranging his attack, and on 
 the reasons why he made such and such dispositions. In 
 fact, the staff throughout the day received on the spot 
 practical demonstrations of the science of war and the 
 value of well-conceived tactics. By-and-by we came out 
 in the open plain, where a monument had been erected 
 commemorative of the battle. It is situated on the ex- 
 treme right of the Eussian position, and consists of a 
 small marble column, surmounted by a cross and sur- 
 rounded by pilasters crowned wibh large cannon-balls. A 
 Eussian priest here donned his robes, lighted his censer, 
 and, with a simple dragoon for a clerk, began a solemn 
 service for the repose of the souls of the dead. Every 
 
SERVICE FOR THE DEAD. 187 
 
 head was uncovered, the party stood in respectful groups 
 around the column with its cross — the General to the 
 right of the priest. The sun shone in unclouded splendour, 
 nature seemed hushed for the moment, nnd the white 
 mists floated hazily around the head of St. Nicholas. I 
 have witnessed the gorgeous ceremonial of Continental 
 Catholic cathedrals, — have taken part in the rich ritual 
 of Anglican churches, — have listened to the sonorous mass 
 in a Greek cathedral, — have worshipped in the simple 
 chapels of Presbyterian Scotland, — but have never been 
 present at a more impressive religious service than that 
 on the battle-field of Shenova. Creeds and forms were 
 forgotten in the solemnity of the act and the earnestness 
 and devotion of the worshippers ; and as the trembling 
 accents of the priest, with the deep but sweet responses 
 of the dragoon-clerk, were borne on the still morning air, 
 one could not but hope that ' all was well ' with the 
 thousands of brave men who had perished in the discharge 
 of their duty as soldiers. As the service progressed, the 
 General wept like a child, and among the small but deeply 
 moved congregation there were few dry eyes, albeit these 
 hardy and sometimes rough warriors are seldom used to 
 the melting mood. One and all advanced and reverently 
 kissed the cross extended to them by the priest, and thus 
 was brought to a close a service touching in its inception 
 and the simple manner in which it was carried out. 
 
 But with a soldier weeping may only endure for a 
 moment, and the General gave the signal ' to horse.' All 
 were speedily mounted, one of Skobeleff's celebrated white 
 chargers being provided for me. The brief emotion of 
 the hour appeared to be dissipated in a smart gallop to 
 the south-west, where we came to the great redoubt 
 stormed by the 61st regiment. We rode to the crest of 
 the tumulus, and surveyed the field with astonishment that 
 such a seemingly impregnable position should be taken 
 by an army inferior in numbers, and without artillery. 
 
188 TN SOUTHEKN BULGARIA. 
 
 Then we turned into the wood, and inspected the masked 
 redoubts and the theatre of the baj'onet fights, where 
 corpses had at the end of the day been piled on each 
 other four and five deep. In shady glades were long 
 lines of trenches, where the brave fellows had found hasty 
 burial, and it was without regret that we left the deeply 
 interesting but melancholy spot. A brief examination 
 having been made of the trenches, by means of which his 
 right flank had been secured in the early part of the day, 
 and which looked as fresh as if only raised a week ago, 
 we rode up to the village of Hemedli, which commanded 
 a front view of the whole battle-field. A halt was called, 
 and the General once more proceeded to deliver a dis- 
 course on the strategy and tactics he had adopted, and 
 the manner in which all such positions should be attacked. 
 An ascent was now made into the pass of Hemedli, in 
 order that we might observe the difficulties which General 
 SkobelefP and his troops had to encounter in their passage 
 of the Balkans in mid- winter. I said to the General, ' How 
 was it possible for infantry, much less for cavalry, to over- 
 come that obstacle ? ' — pointing to the cliff. ' All things 
 are possible to determined men,' replied he. ' The men 
 crept down round by the sides on hands and knees, as we 
 will do presently, and I will show you how we got our 
 cavalry down.' Dismounting from our horses, we tied 
 the reins over their necks, and drove them up the pre- 
 cipitous slope. Sometimes the fore legs doubled under, 
 and back they would roll down the slope till, mayhap, 
 caught by some tree- trunk. It was every man for himself. 
 Scrambling on hands and knees, seeking the shelter of a 
 tree as a horse threatened to roll down upon you, taking 
 breath every few steps, and renewing the laborious ascent, 
 at length a dozen of us gained the summit 'of the cliff, 
 which we had circumvented ; and I must confess that I 
 bowed before the genius and daring of a General who 
 could successfully conduct an expedition through such 
 
THE PASS OF HEMEDLI. 189 
 
 places, and over sucli, to ordinary human judgment, in- 
 surmountable obstacles. Horses and men alike were per- 
 mitted to enjoy half an hour's well-earned rest— the 
 horses in cropping the grass, and the men in discussing 
 the situation. When we had been sufficiently rested, a 
 commencement was made with the descent. First of all, 
 the horses were collected and one by one driven to the 
 side of the cliff, where the ground slopes somewhat. 
 Planting their four feet together, the wise brutes allowed 
 themselves to slide down, guiding themselves with won- 
 derful instinct, and taking advantage of any little shelv- 
 ing places to stop for a minute. Without accident, all 
 reached the bottom of the defile, and began to walk 
 quietly along the track. ' It was thus that twenty 
 squadrons of cavalry were able to accompany me to 
 Shenova,' said General Skobeleff. We made for Kazanlyk 
 at a gallop and reached it at six o'clock. Next day was 
 one of unclouded splendour, and early in the morning a 
 move was made to the meadows west of the town, where 
 a triumphal arch had been erected, around which had 
 congregated the whole people of the district in their 
 picturesque national costume. The raison cVetre of the 
 assembly was the reading of the Proclamation of the 
 Czar of Russia, counselling peaceful behaviour to the 
 Bulgarians. General Obroutcheff, the Imperial Commis- 
 sioner, on his arrival at the spot, was literally bespattered 
 with flowers. After General Obroutcheff had read the 
 Czar's address, he made a short speech on the same lines 
 of peaceful policy ; and then there ensued a mass per- 
 formed by the Bulgarian clergy. Adieus were said, the 
 General continued his way into the Bulgarian principality, 
 and we returned to Kazanlyk. 
 
 Soon afterwards Bulgaria was evacuated and 
 Skobeleff returned home. Eussian influence is no 
 doubt great both in the principality of Bulgaria and in 
 
190 IN SOUTHERN BULGARIA. 
 
 so-called Eastern Eoumelia, but it is not maintained 
 by the presence of an army of occupation, or even by 
 the appointment of Russian residents. But before 
 England can venture to trust to a similar influence in 
 Egypt, let her make for the Egyptian nationality one- 
 fourth, or say even one-tenth, of the sacrifices which 
 Russia has made for the Bulgarians. 
 
 After the war was over, Skobeleff" was placed in 
 command of the army south of the Balkans. His 
 headquarters were at Slivno, and he made it his 
 duty to organise the Bulgarian militia into a formid- 
 able force, which would not have been left alone if 
 the Turks had attempted to occupy once more the 
 Balkan passes. 
 
 That clause of the Berlin Treaty, to secure which 
 Lord Beaconsfield was on the point of declaring war, 
 and even ordered his express train from Berlin, was 
 made a dead letter from the first — thanks largely to 
 Russia and Skobeleff^. This was very simple. The 
 Turks — most interested in the upholding of that 
 famous Berlin verdict — have not fulfilled to this hour 
 its most important clauses ; for instance, those relating 
 to Armenia, Macedonia, Crete, and their other pro- 
 vinces in Europe. If they had insisted on reoccupy- 
 ing Shipka, we should not have made that a casus 
 belli, for that was their treaty right. But half-a- 
 dozen legitimate causes for war were supplied us by 
 the Turks' neglect to execute other clauses of the 
 same treaty, and a declaration of war for the viola- 
 tion of the Berlin arrangement about Armenia and 
 
THE TURKS AND THE BALKAN PASSES. 191 
 
 Macedonia would have left our hands free to help 
 the Bulgarians against the common foe. Mr. Rose 
 was perfectly right when he said : — 
 
 I believe that, had the English Government persisted 
 in 1879 in demanding the literal fulfilment of this part of 
 the treaty, war would have been declared once more by 
 Russia. The whole of the male population of Eastern 
 Roumelia had been organised by General Skobeleff into a 
 well-drilled, fully-equipped militia, and in view of such 
 a contingency as a new war, Skobeleff had prepared the 
 most elaborate plans of the campaign. He himself had 
 ridden over almost every mile of Turkey from Constanti- 
 nople to the Danube, had surveyed every position capable 
 of defence or attack, and a new military map had been 
 constructed. I have no doubt that the plan of the cam- 
 paign is now in the archives of the Russian War Ministry 
 ready for future eventualities. ^ 
 
 Mr. Rose's account of Skobeleff at Slivno, al- 
 though brief, is so suggestive of his relations with 
 the Bulgarians, that I make no apology for quoting 
 it here : — 
 
 Genial good-nature and a remarkable warmth of heart 
 were eminently characteristic of this chivalrous soldier. 
 
 When the 16th Division, of which he then held com- 
 mand, was quartered in and around Slivno, I accompanied 
 him one day in his round of inspection. And here is an 
 exact report of the visit written at the time to a little 
 friend in England. ' General Skobeleff carefully goes over 
 the soldiers' quarters to see that the men are comfortable 
 and that their food is good. He tastes their broth, and 
 millet porridge, and bread and meat, and woe be to the 
 contractor who supplies bad stuff ! When we made our 
 
 1 Fortnightly Review, Oct. 1882, p. 417. 
 
192 IN SOUTHERN BULGARIA. 
 
 unexpected entrance into the yard whicli constituted the 
 kitchen of the regiment, we found a lot of hungry Httle 
 boys and girls whose parents had been killed by the 
 Turks. They were hanging about quietly watching the 
 soldier-cooks with hungry eyes, and hoping that they 
 might come in for a little bit of the dinner. The soldiers, 
 when they saw the General, whom they all love and 
 admire, were not very sure that they were doing what 
 would be approved of in giving a share of their dinner to 
 the poor starving orphans. So they tried to screen them 
 when they drew themselves up to salute the General. 
 General SkobelefF, however, observed the urchins, and at 
 once surmised what they had come into the yard for. 
 And he said to the soldiers, " Do you give some of your 
 dinner to these ragged children?" They saluted, and 
 said, " Yes, your Excellency." " Do they come every day?" 
 again asked the General. " Yes, your Excellency," was the 
 answer of the soldiers. Then the General, quite moved, 
 dropped his angry tone and said, " That is right, my men ; 
 a brave soldier is always a kind comrade ; and a kind man 
 is always a brave soldier. Never forget," he added, " to 
 share your little with the poor and the starving." The 
 soldiers thereupon gave a hurrah, and Skobeleff instructed 
 his aide-de-camp to distribute some money among the 
 little things.' 
 
 Some time before the last recorded incident I was 
 travelling with General Skobeleff from Philippopolis to 
 Kazanlyk, when our carriage broke down at Kalofer. 
 During our enforced stay the General, as was his wont, 
 went in and out among the inhabitants, making kindly 
 inquiries as to their lot in life. A woman who had taken 
 to her home two children, orphaned during the massacre 
 at that place by the retreating Turks on Gourko's first 
 advance across the Balkans, was earnestly commended for 
 her disinterested behaviour by the General, who added 
 
skobeleff's religion. 193 
 
 that ' it was the duty as well as the privilege of the poor 
 to help each other at a time when God sent misfortunes 
 upon them.' I wished to offer a little money to the 
 woman, but the General, speaking in English, forbade it, 
 stating that it might take the edge off the very proper 
 feeling which had manifestly prompted her good action, 
 and blunt the spirit of independence which he was glad to 
 observe was the rule among the peasants of Bulgaria. 
 But the General himself comforted the hearts of a crowd 
 of children who had collected by a free distribution of 
 sugar — the whole stock of which he had purchased from a 
 little store in a half-ruined house. 
 
 Naturally conforming to the orthodox Greek 
 Church, which he thought, with his friend Aksakoff 
 and the majority of Russian Slavophils, peculiarly 
 suited to the genius of the Slav people, he was not 
 theoretically only religious. His lofty conception of 
 duty always endeavoured to take a practical shape, 
 which he discharged as earnestly as the strength of 
 the hour permitted. The motto of his life seemed often 
 to be : ' Fais ce que dois, advienne que pourra.' 
 
194 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 GEOK TEPi. 
 
 Commander of the Fourth Army Corps — The Akhal Oasis — Expedi- 
 tion against the Tekkes — SkobeleflF in command — The advance to 
 Bami — The siege begun — Skobeleff on Asiatic tactics — Parallels 
 opened — Tekke sorties — Skobeleff in the trenches — The mine — 
 The final assault — Pursuit and slaughter of fugitives — Skobeleff 's 
 theory of dealing with Asiatics — Proclamation to the Tekkes — 
 The Akhal Oasis annexed — Skobeleff on the campaign. 
 
 AjTER the war in the Balkans was over, Skobeleff 
 was named Commander of the Fourth Army Corps, 
 and appointed Aide-de-Camp General.^ After he 
 returned from Bulgaria for nearly six months he 
 remained in Russia, but at the end of the year he was 
 again in the field. 
 
 Along the northern frontier of Persia, south of 
 the great sandy desert which stretches northward to 
 the Oxus, stands the long narrow oasis of Akhal. Its 
 entire population is only 1,200,000. Its length from 
 Kizil Arvat to Gyaoors is only about 190 miles ; its 
 breadth is sometimes not more than five miles. But 
 this narrow ribbon of land, studded with only fifty 
 villages, cost Russia more to conquer than the great 
 Khanates of Turkestan. There was none of our 
 
 1 Angust 30 IgiTg 
 September 11' 
 
THE AKHAL TEKKES. 195 
 
 campaigns so long, so costly, so deadly as that which 
 was needed to reduce these borderers to order. The 
 greatest siege of Central Asian history in the nine- 
 teenth century was that which Skobeleflf conducted 
 against Geok Tepe. Our first attempt under General 
 Lomakine failed completely. The defeat was serious. 
 It might have been disastrous, for the reverse severely 
 injured Russian prestige throughout Central Asia. 
 England was believed to have taken means to profit 
 by our misfortune. The Tekkes were led to believe 
 that English troops would be sent to their assist- 
 ance, and pressure was brought to bear upon the 
 Court of Teheran to induce the Shah to place himself 
 in opposition to her Russian neighbour. 
 
 Skobeleff was sent to retrieve the position in the 
 Akhal oasis, while M. ZinoviefF, one of the ablest 
 and most active of our diplomatists, undertook the 
 defence of Russian interests at Teheran. "Working 
 together they achieved a complete success. But it 
 was not easily won. 
 
 The Tekkes, of all the Turkoman tribes, are the 
 most formidable. The brigands of the border, no race 
 exceeds them in cruelty and in courage. The pest ot 
 both Khiva and Persia, they have pillaged impartially 
 both. They were not mere marauders; they were 
 slave-traders. Their raids were made for capturing 
 slaves. No caravan was safe within a long distance 
 of their kibitkas ; every village on the frontier 
 lamented some of its people carried off" to slavery 
 
 2 
 
196 GEOK TEPE. 
 
 and torture by the Tekkes. The Persians in vain 
 attempted to extirpate this nest of hornets. They 
 defied Persia and even inflicted a defeat on Russian 
 troops. But it was intolerable that a horde of man- 
 stealers should seize their prey on the borders of 
 Russia and Persia, and Skobeleff was sent to punish 
 them and reduce them to order. It was rough work. 
 Skobeleff was almost as long about getting it done as 
 the army of the Balkans was in making its way to 
 the lines of Tchataldja. But it was done at last, and 
 done thoroughly. There are no slaves in the Akhal 
 oasis to-day ; nor any slave-dealers to carry on the 
 practice of manstealing. Russia answers for order 
 along the Persian border. It is the latest addition to 
 the police duty of the world which Russia has under- 
 taken for mankind. 
 
 The Tekkes, according to a very interesting com- 
 munication made to the Russian Imperial Geographi- 
 cal Society, although barbarians, are remarkable for 
 the position which they accord their women. With 
 them the woman is the equal of man. She is not the 
 slave of her husband. Her property is her own after 
 marriage as it is before. She can vote in all the 
 national assemblies, and if her husband treats her 
 badly she can demand a divorce. Another curious 
 detail is that the social and political equality of the 
 sexes is accompanied by an almost exact identity of 
 dress. 
 
 When Skobeleff was appointed to command the 
 expedition against the Tekkes at the beginning of 
 
SKOBELEFF IN COMMAND. 197 
 
 1880, some people shook their heads. They imagined 
 that SkobeleflF was too reckless. He soon undeceived 
 them. Nothing could be more cautious, more skilful 
 than his operations. He arrived at Tchikishlar early 
 in May. It was not till the middle of July that 
 he made a reconnaissance up to the walls of Geok 
 Tepe. He began the siege on December y\, 1880, 
 and he did not storm it until January ^, 1881. 
 Everything was throughout most methodically and 
 carefully carried out, and Skobeleff showed a pru- 
 dence and foresight quite as remarkable as the 
 more brilliant qualities by which he is most widely 
 known. 
 
 It is not my intention to give more than the 
 briefest outline of the campaign. The limits of my 
 work forbid it, even if I were competent to describe 
 operations which are only interesting from a military 
 point of view. Neither is it necessary, for the Intelli- 
 gence Department of the War Office has published in 
 English an excellent translation of Skobeleff's own 
 report on the siege of Geok Tep^, and before very long 
 another and more detailed account of the campaign 
 will be written by Mr. Marvin, who, whatever his 
 political prejudices, will not intentionally misrepre- 
 sent the actions of SkobeleflF. 
 
 As in all Central Asian campaigns, the most 
 serious enemy with which we had to contend was not 
 the inhabitants, but the country which they inhabited. 
 Mr. O'Donovan's book on his adventures on his way 
 to Merv gives a lively account of some of the features 
 
198 GEOK TEPE. 
 
 of the region in. which our expedition had to campaign. 
 Transport and commissariat were our great diffi- 
 culties, as they were those of England in Afghanistan. 
 ' To subjugate Akhal,' said Skobeleff to Mr. Marvin, 
 ' we had only 5,000 men, and needed 20,000 camels. 
 To get that transport we had to send to Orenburg, 
 to Khiva, to Bokhara, and to Mangishlak for ani- 
 mals.' When the campaign began, Skobeleff used 
 to tell his officers that the Akhal- Tekke expedition 
 ought to be divided into two parts : the first might be 
 considered as terminated when the troops and the 
 provisions were concentrated at Bami. According 
 to Skobeleff, that first part of the expedition was more 
 difficult than the second, viz. the final blow at Geok 
 Tepe and its capture. Bami is nearly 200 miles from 
 Tchikishlar,'and the work of conveying all the stores 
 from the Caspian to his base at Bami was indeed no 
 child's play. 
 
 Bami was occupied on June ^^, and three weeks 
 were spent in strengthening it against a hostile attack. 
 On •'^^} SkobeleflF started on a reconnaissance for 
 
 July i 
 
 Geok Tepe. 
 
 He took with him 800 men, a few guns, and the 
 musicians. The distance was about 100 versts, or 66 
 miles. In crossing the oasis, the expedition met with 
 almost no obstacles except a few skirmishes with some 
 village inhabitants. At Geok Tepe the Tekkes heard 
 of the approach of the Russians, and a severe resist- 
 ance was prepared. When the Russians came within 
 sight a gun was fired at Geok Tepe as a signal of the 
 
A RECONNAISSANCE. 199' 
 
 enemy's approach. The Russians were now at a dis- 
 tance of four versts from Greok Tep^, and the topo- 
 graphers were busily engaged in taking sketch plans 
 of the land and the fortress. The Tekkes seemed 
 greatly surprised at the small number of the Russian 
 troops, and hastened to take the initiative of the 
 attack. In the meantime, the survey being ter- 
 minated, our detachment began to retreat. The 
 Tekkes almost surrounded the Russians. SkobelefF 
 perceived that there was no order and no shadow of 
 discipline among the Tekke troops ; the Russian guns 
 fired ; the music, without which Skobeleff never 
 made any attack, played continually and produced 
 a superstitious fear upon the assailants. The Rus- 
 sians escaped the danger and reached Bami with very 
 slight loss. Skobeleff thus gained the conviction, 
 which he communicated to his troops, that the Tekkes 
 were not so terrible as they had been described. 
 
 They were, however, much too formidable a foe 
 to be trifled with. Skobeleff set to work to fortify 
 the lines of his communication with the Caspian at 
 Tchikishlar and Krasnovodsk, which for the next 
 four months were exposed to the constant raids of the 
 Tekke horsemen. Even after the siege began, they 
 seized a convoy of 2,000 camels on the road between 
 Kizil Arvat and the Caspian. It was retaken, but the 
 attack cost us the lives of twenty-five soldiers. Early 
 in December, sufficient munitions of war having been 
 stored at Bami, and the transport being ready for 
 further advance, Skobeleff began his march on Geok 
 
200 GEOK TEPE. 
 
 Tep^. On December -f-^ he reached Samur, six miles 
 from Geok Tepe, and made it the new base of his 
 operations against the Tekke stronghold. Next day- 
 he conducted another reconnaissance against Geok 
 Tepe, and there remained throwing up intrenchments 
 and bringing up supplies of food and gunpowder 
 from Bami. The troops were regularly drilled in 
 camp, and they frequently rehearsed the assault and 
 accustomed themselves to the use of dynamite, an 
 explosive which it was intended to use against the 
 fortifications of the enemy. 
 
 An abortive reconnaissance was made on Decem- 
 ber \^, but the next day the attempt was renewed 
 with better results. The heliograph which accom- 
 panied the reconnoitring party was used with signal 
 success to order up reinforcements which saved Sko- 
 beleff from being surrounded and cut off by the Tekkes, 
 who came out in great force. Three days after Colonel 
 Kurapatkin, Skobeleff's chief of staff in the Turkish 
 war, arrived with some Turkestan troops, after a long 
 and difficult march from Petro-Alexandrovsk. 
 
 On December ^f Skobeleff had under his orders 
 3,520 bayonets and 650 sabres. A reconnaissance 
 was made towards the Kishlak of Yanghi Kala, a 
 fort lying to the south of Geok Tepe, commanding 
 the roads to Astrabad and Persia, and occupying a 
 position from which Skobeleff intended to attack 
 Geok Tep^. On December ^-f- Skobeleff issued the 
 following instructions for the officers of the troops on 
 the field : — 
 
SKOBELEFF ON ASIATIC TACTICS. 201 
 
 The circumstances under which we have to fight are 
 peculiar, and a series of hard struggles for localities lie 
 before us. The enemy is brave and skilful in hand-to- 
 hand fighting ; he shoots well and has good armes 
 blanches, but he fights in masses or in small bodies which 
 obey the will of no one leader, and are therefore unable to 
 co-operate towards the attainment of a common end. 
 
 The various peculiarities of the theatre of war and 
 other circumstances compel us to employ few troops, and 
 at the same time to act on the offensive. The recognised 
 European method of fighting is therefore inadmissible 
 with our small forces. In the open field, the enemy's 
 cavalry, which is brave, well-mounted, and skilled in the 
 use of its arms, would be a source of the greatest dan- 
 ger to long, thin fighting lines, and his infantry masses, 
 although badly organised, are composed of brave, strong, 
 and skilful men, and would of course seek to turn the 
 fight to their own advantage by rushing to close quarters. 
 
 The main principle of Asiatic tactics is to preserve 
 close formations. 
 
 In combats, such as we shall shortly have, against an 
 enemy who holds a position covered by gardens, buildings, 
 and walls, previously carefully prepared, we must expect 
 an obstinate defence, and this species of position will be 
 preferred by the enemy ; firstly, because it was against 
 such a one that we failed last year ; and secondly, because 
 it also protects the families and property of the defenders. 
 We shall have to enter on a life-and-death struggle against 
 knives and yatagans. Long, thin lines, in which troops 
 easily get out of hand and separated into small groups 
 which cannot obey the will of their common leader, 
 prevent the latter from opposing strong formations, in 
 which the superior discipline and mobility of our troops 
 tell most, to sudden or unexpected hostile attacks. The 
 observance of the pritjciple of close formations is the 
 secret of- good Asiatic tactics, and will enable us to look 
 
202 GEOK TEPE. 
 
 forward with contidence to the result of a struggle, how- 
 ever superior the enemy be in number. 
 
 We shall defeat the enemy by means of those attri- 
 butes which he does not possess. We shall take advan- 
 tage of our superior discipline and quick-firing arms. We 
 shall conquer by means of close, mobile, and pliable for- 
 mations, by careful, well-aimed volley firing, and by the 
 bayonet, which, in the hands of men who by discipline 
 and the soldier-like feeling have been made into a united 
 body — the column of operations — is always to be feared. 
 
 The attack of the enemy's cavalry is to be met by cor- 
 responding change of front, if necessary, and by volleys at 
 short ranges. I recommend even squares (battalion or 
 other) when circumstances permit. 
 
 Volleys are to be used against an attacking force, 
 cavalry or infantry, when it arrives at 600 paces from 
 our line ; but it must also be remarked that volleys at 
 long ranges on close masses, whether under cover of walls, 
 &c., or in the open, are very effective. In such cases 
 volley fire may be opened at 3,000 paces, the sight being 
 varied, and an aim being taken at the top of the wall or 
 even over it. Such indirect firing at 3,000 paces is, how- 
 ever, only to be carried out by parties of the strength of a 
 company or under : it requires careful control by the com- 
 mander of the party. 
 
 Mitrailleuses are to be used exclusively in close con- 
 nection with infantry or dismounted cavalry, like the 
 former regimental guns ; all other guns are at first to be 
 kept in reserve, so that they may be used in masses where 
 required ; and so good results will be obtained by a few 
 dozen guns working under one man's will. Artillery is 
 only to be brought up from the reserve on my express 
 order, but its taking up position and the choice of the 
 object to be fired at is the business of the commander 
 of the artillery. Souvorofi's well-known saying — ' The 
 artillery follows its own sweet will ' — must constantly 
 
THE USE OF AETILLERY AND CAVALRY. 203 
 
 be kept in mind by artillery commanders and also the 
 commanders of the detachments to which they are at- 
 tached. But all this holds good only till the signal for 
 the attack is given. In this solemn moment the artil- 
 lery must devote itself to closely supporting its comrades 
 without the slightest regard for itself ; it must come up 
 in line with the attacking party, and shatter the enemy 
 by its fire at close ranges, which has always a depressing 
 moral effect on him. All purely technical (artillery) 
 maxims must then be set aside. In the decisive moment 
 the artillery must have a soul, for the gunner is not a mere 
 machine. The artillery must, if necessary, sacrifice itself 
 that the attack may succeed and expose itself as the 
 infantry do in an attack. Its escort provides for its safety, 
 and the shame of losing a gun is not borne by the artillery, 
 but by the other troops. 
 
 The cavalry is to be kept in reserve till circumstances 
 permit of its action in masses, and our cavalry must not 
 let itself be drawn into isolated fights with a numerous 
 enemy possessed of splendid horses, and accustomed from 
 childhood to the use of I'arme hlanche. As long as the 
 enemy's cavalry is unshaken and is not in an unfavourable 
 position, e.g. with an obstacle in rear, in a hollow, &c., 
 our cavalry must not enter on a combat with it. Pursuit 
 of a retreating Turkoman cavalry is useless, as it only 
 breaks up the tactical formations — our one strong point 
 and sheet-anchor. Cavalry must attack in close forma- 
 tion, which even infers no intervals being left between 
 regiments, squadrons, or sotnias. 
 
 In attacks so much importance is not to be attached to 
 the pace as to the keeping knee to knee ; and attacks, only 
 to be made under favourable conditions, must therefore be 
 short, so that the troops may not get out of hand. The 
 shock must be carried out in close order and with decision ; 
 in a word, caution and care must be the fundamental prin- 
 ciples of our cavalry tactics in action. 
 
204 GEOK TEP£. 
 
 On the contrary, attacks against disordered masses of 
 infantry, as all Asiatic militias are, must be made with 
 elan, although dash must be tempered by order and caution, 
 and sufficient reserves must be kept. 
 
 I must refer to the extreme importance of careful per- 
 formance of outpost duty while in camp before Geok Tepe. 
 The commanders of outposts must realise the importance 
 of the roads which lead from our camp to the points 
 where the enemy can assemble for sorties. Each com- 
 mander must study and carefully watch the ground in his 
 front, and take all measures for supporting the parties on 
 each flank; for I repeat that co-operation is the key of 
 victory. Ranges are to be measured. This last point 
 must be carefully attended to, as experience has shown 
 how difficult is the conduct of a fight by night. Any devi- 
 ating from certain lines of fire may lead to firing on 
 friendly troops, and thence to confusion and disaster. I 
 also draw attention to the utility of putting up marks by 
 which the men may recognise the various ranges. Large 
 heaps of wood, which can be kept burning all night, and 
 behind which the picquets or even sentries are placed, are 
 of great use. No large fires must, however, be lighted in 
 camp without permission of the officer commanding, and 
 in the event of an attack all fires in camp must at once 
 be extinguished. 
 
 While by day a combat is decided by carefully utilising 
 the ground and the means at one's disposal; by night 
 everything becomes more complicated, and more energetic 
 action is required. Therefore by night volley firing alone 
 is allowed. Tt must be remembered that distances are 
 judged with diflflculty by night, and soldiers should there- 
 fore be impressed with the necessity of aiming low. 
 
 On P'^""™'^'"" ^" , after a vigorous bombardment, Yanghi 
 
 January id 7 o 
 
 Kala was carried by storm. The siege had now 
 begun in earnest, but the first parallel was not opened 
 
FIRST PARALLEL OPENED. 205 
 
 until dawn on ?i£5H!5^3 ^^ ^ distance of 700 yards from 
 
 January 4 •/ 
 
 tlie south-eastern angle of the mud-walls of Geok 
 Tep^ ; 1,250 workmen were set to work at the 
 trenches, while a demonstration in force was made on 
 the other side of the fortress. The attack, although 
 not intended to divert attention from our works, cost 
 us the life of Major-General Petrushevitch. ' My 
 extremely energetic and brave assistant,' as Skobeleff 
 describes him, under whose command the demonstra- 
 tion took place. It was but poor consolation for such 
 a loss to know that several hundred Tekkes fell in the 
 fight. 
 
 At midnight on ?^2H5!£i* a volley was fired from 
 
 o January 5 t/ 
 
 all the guns at the fortress of Geok Tepe, and after- 
 wards all the bands played the national anthem. 
 Work in the trenches was continued without inter- 
 mission. The troops even when relieved from work 
 and resting in the camp had often to go on forage duty, 
 escort transport trains, to go to the assistance of the 
 troops in the trenches when suddenly atttacked. On 
 the night of ^^^^j the first parallel was completed, 
 and an approach driven forward towards the second 
 parallel, which was opened on the next night. On 
 the night of ^^^' the Tekkes, in overwhelming 
 force, made so sudden and determined an onslaught 
 on the right of our lines that they swept across our 
 second parallel, captured the colours of the 4th bat- 
 talion of the 81st Apsheron regiment, and carried 
 ofi" one mountain gun and two boxes of ammunition. 
 Two staif and three regimental officers were killed ; 
 
206 GEOK TEPE. 
 
 and ninety-one non-commissioned officers and men ; 
 more tlian thirty were wounded. The sortie was very 
 spirited, and was only driven back after very severe 
 fighting. In order to remove the impression it had 
 produced, Colonel Kurapatkin was ordered to take 
 by storm, the very next day, the Grand Duke Kalas, 
 a group of forts only 116 yards in front of the 
 moat of Greok Tep^. After three hours' bombard- 
 ment the storming column issued from the trenches 
 and advanced to the assault of the position with 
 bands playing, drums beating, and colours flying. 
 The Tekkes resisted bravely, but in the end the 
 forts were taken. The newly-captured fortress was 
 at once connected with the parallels, and we were 
 now brought mto very close quarters with the garri- 
 son of defence. On the next night another sortie 
 took place, this time against our left flank. Although 
 we had warning of their approach, the vigour of the 
 onslaught was such that they swept our troops out of 
 No. 3 redoubt, captured a mountain gun and carried 
 it off into Geok Tepe. Our losses were fifty-three 
 killed and ninety-eight wounded. The camp was 
 next day brought nearer to the fortress. Our line 
 was shortened and strengthened. It was also deter- 
 mined to push forward the siege works exclusively 
 from the Grand Duke position to the ditch and the 
 wall of the fortress. The third parallel was begun 
 on the night of "j^^jfj^. The resistance of the Tekkes 
 was so determined that the situation began to look 
 serious. All the cavalry were detailed for duty. 
 
THE RESISTANCE OF THE TEKKES. 207 
 
 ' The state of aflfairs was so serious,' Skobeleff 
 reported, 'that for the protection of the camp and 
 flanks of the siege works it was necessary to violate 
 for the first time the fundamental rule of warfare in 
 Central Asia, not to send small cavalry detachments 
 into the zone of operations of the enemy, especially at 
 night.' On the night of the y\-, an enclosure with 
 earthen walls seventy yards from the wall of the 
 fortress was occupied. On the same night the follow- 
 ing instructions were sent to the commander of the 
 flanks and centre : — 
 
 In case of an attack by the enemy, and in anticipation 
 of it, detacliments are to be posted behind the trendies, 
 aiming as low as possible should the enemy escalade the 
 trench. The best shots and sentries are to line the 
 parapet of the trenches. This, it is of course understood, 
 is' only at night in view of the absence of hostile fire, 
 especially before and after an attack. The troops may 
 sleep, covering themselves with a blanket. 
 
 There was not very much sleep for the besiegers. 
 Firing went on every day. Skobeleff had 69 guns 
 from which he fired 100 to 500 shots into Geok Tep^, 
 and from 10,000 to 70,000 rounds were fired daily 
 by the infantry. Every night there were alarms of 
 sorties, not always unfounded. A determined sortie 
 was made on January y%, but it was driven back 
 before it reached our line. ' Trenches,' said Skobeleff, 
 in this struggle with such very brave opponents had 
 not the same importance that they have in warfare with 
 European armies. By day they served as a covered road 
 of communication, and the troops could meet the enemy 
 
208 GEOK TEPlS. . 
 
 firing and concealed behind the parapet. At night, when 
 the enemy crept up within very close range without firing, 
 the troops behind the parapets of the trenches at the time 
 of a determined attack, would have to fight under very un- 
 favourable conditions at the decisive moment when the 
 enemy was on the crest of the trenches. 
 
 On the night of the -j^th a volunteer went up to 
 the wall and measured the ditch. Our advanced 
 trench had been driven to within 68 yards of the 
 ditch ; the ditch, which was dry, was 4 ft. 8 in. deep 
 and 16 ft. broad. From that day it was made the 
 custom to relieve the troops at night before it was 
 quite dark, so as to enable commanders of companies 
 and troops an opportunity to see how the ground 
 lay, and how these neighbouring detachments were 
 distributed. 
 
 The following description of Skobeleff in his last 
 campaign is taken from the account given by one 
 who was with him at the taking of the Tekke strong- 
 hold :— 
 
 ' Without paying any attention to the misgivings 
 of some, Skobeleff was never absent from his ap- 
 pointed post. Pale and nervous, but sustained by an 
 energy like iron, he worked without relaxation, some- 
 times receiving reports, then drawing up dispositions 
 and plans of attack. At night he either wrote or 
 examined books describing former sieges, searching 
 in history for examples resembling the task he had in 
 hand. He only ate and slept by snatches. Working 
 in this fashion he exacted from everyone the strict 
 discharge of all his duties. 
 
SKOBELEFF IN THE TRENCHES. 209 
 
 Notwithstanding the anguish which he must 
 have sujffered in those bitter moments when the 
 Tekkes swept down hke an avalanche in the night 
 upon our lines, he never showed the least discourage- 
 ment. His troops always saw him wearing the same 
 gay and. smiling countenance which the 16th Division 
 used to see at Plevna and Shenova. 
 
 When the soldiers saw him, they felt a true leader 
 of men was in their midst. The force of his inspira- 
 tion was felt in every trench. Every soldier felt that 
 the eye of his General was upon him. ' Skobeleff is 
 coming!' said the soldiers. ' Good- day, my brave 
 fellows,' rang out that sonorous voice, and an electric 
 flash would leap through the harassed and dust- 
 covered ranks of officers and men, and ringing cheers 
 would salute the General. He went through the 
 ranks, the balls whistling round his tall, upright 
 figure, clad in a white uniform, with the Cross of St. 
 George, and at his word the soldiers were ready to 
 live without resting, and to die without a murmur. 
 
 During the whole of the time of the siege, Skobe- 
 leff was constantly on foot superintending everything, 
 and seeing that his orders were carried out in every 
 detail. Thanks to this unceasing soHcitude, the 
 mine which played so decisive a part in the issue 
 of the siege was got ready in an incredibly short 
 time, at a period when, owing to the difficulty of 
 securing fresh supplies of food or of munitions of 
 war, hours were worth days. Skobeleff was adored 
 by his soldiers, who were devoted to him without 
 
 p 
 
210 GEOK TEP]5. 
 
 reserve. He was as careful of their blood as lie was 
 prodigal of his own, and he always made it a point 
 to explain to them both the object and the develop- 
 ment of the operations which they were to accomplish 
 ■under his orders. 
 
 On the morning of January -^^ a mining shaft was 
 sunk and mining operations commenced. A min- 
 ing gallery was driven with a vaulted roof and with- 
 out boring at the rate of four feet per hour. A 
 column with 82 packhorses attached was despatched to 
 cut reeds for fascines in the gorge of Djermab. Two 
 ventilating shafts were made in the mining gallery 
 and the breaching battery was enlarged. On January 
 •j^ an armistice was offered to the Tekkes during 
 which they could bury their dead. The decomposing 
 bodies around our works filled the air with the worst 
 of odours. They refused our offer and the firing was 
 resumed. A breach was knocked in the wall 23 
 yards broad, but it was quickly repaired by the 
 Tekkes. On January -^^ the ventilating apparatus 
 went wrong in the mine, and the assault, which had 
 been fixed for the next day, was postponed till the 
 ^. Every night rockets were thrown into the for- 
 tress, the garrison of which was beginning to show 
 signs of losing courage. On the ^g- 72 pouds or 1 ton 
 3 cwt. of powder was placed in the mine under the 
 wall of Geok Tepe. 
 
 Next day, January ^f, everything was made 
 ready for the assault. Geok Tep4 was to be attacked 
 on three sides simultaneously. Colonel Haidaroff, on 
 
THE FORTRESS STORMED. 211 
 
 the left, began by attacking and occupying Mill Kala 
 at seven. He then advanced to the eastern front of 
 the walls, and opened fire for three hours. On the right 
 Colonel Kurapatkin was told off to storm the breach 
 that was to be made by springing the mine, while 
 Colonel Kozelkoff in the centre was to storm the 
 breach made by artillery in the extreme southern 
 point of the fortress. In addition to the fire from 
 the heavy batteries, a heavy fire of common shell and 
 shrapnel was kept up on the fortress, to which the 
 enemy replied vigorously. They were also seen 
 throwing earth on to the breach made by artillery in 
 the midst of the fire. At 11.20 a high column of 
 earth and smoke rising from the eastern face of the 
 fortress, a great concussion, and a deafening roar told 
 both besiegers and besieged that the mine had been 
 fired. Large lumps of earth fell like rain on all the 
 advanced troops, half a company of volunteers were 
 nearly buried alive. When the smoke cleared away 
 it was seen that nearly 40 yards — 140 ft. — of the 
 wall had disappeared, and in its place there was a 
 yawning smoking crater, into which, notwithstanding 
 all the defenders on the wall had been blown to 
 pieces, the brave Tekkes had rushed to resist the 
 besiegers. Colonel Kurapatkin's column, or rather 
 the first section of his column under Major Sivinis, 
 flung themselves into the breach. Simultaneously, 
 Colonel Haidarofi", on the other side of the fortress, ad- 
 vanced to the attack, planting scaling-ladders against 
 the walls, while Colonel Kozelkoff's column, between 
 
 p2 
 
212 GEOK TEP]5. 
 
 the other two columns, attempted to storm the breach 
 made by the artillery. The Tekkes met Colonel 
 Kurapatkin's column on the right with a heavy and 
 well-directed fire. Our men pressed on, and a fierce 
 fight with bayonets, lances, and swords ensued. So 
 energetic was the resistance that Colonel Kurapatkin 
 ordered the second party of his column, under Staff 
 Captain Fok, to support Major Sivinis. After a ' fear- 
 ful resistance,' the besiegers succeeded in forcing their 
 way in, and at once began extending to the i-ight and 
 left. On the left they had to efi"ect a junction with 
 Colonel Kozelkoff's column, but at first that column 
 'met with little success. It had rushed into the 
 breach shouting hurrah ! but it was met by thick 
 masses of the enemy, who overwhelmed it with bullets 
 and stones, and finding the breach not easily practi- 
 cable, it lay down at the foot of the breach and com - 
 menced an obstinate engagement with the enemy. A 
 reserve was ordered up, and when it arrived with 
 bands playing, colours flying, and drums beating, 
 the column sprang up and this time successfully 
 stormed the breach. At half-past twelve Colonel 
 Kozelkoff's column formed hands with Colonel Kura- 
 patkin and Lieut.-Colonel Haidaroflf, who had effected 
 an entry with little difficulty, and the fortress was 
 practically in our hands. At four o'clock the enemy 
 began to retreat in two large masses in a northerly 
 direction. They were hotly pursued. ' The pursuit,' 
 says Skobeleff in his official report, ' was continued 
 by the infantry for 6| miles (10 versts), by the 
 
THE PUESUIT OF THE TEKKES. 213 
 
 cavalry for four miles further, when complete dark- 
 ness and the thorough depression of the enemy- 
 caused the pursuit to be abandoned and the troops to 
 return to camp. In this pursuit by the dragoons and 
 the Cossacks, supported by a division of a horse- 
 artillery mountain battery, the killed amounted to 
 8,000 persons.' This number included some women 
 who took a part in the fighting and could not be dis- 
 tinguished by the Kussians. After the capture of 
 the fortress 6,500 bodies were buried outside. When 
 Mr. Marvin was at St. Petersburg he asked Skobeleif 
 about the slaughter. This is his account of the con- 
 versation : — 
 
 ' Do you know Mr. Marvin,' said Skobeleff, ' but you 
 must not publish this, or I shall be called a barbarian by 
 the Peace Society — that I hold it as a principle in Asia 
 that the duration of peace is in direct proportion to the 
 slaughter you inflict upon the enemy. The harder you 
 hit them the longer they wiH be quiet afterwards. We 
 killed nearly 20,000 Turcomans at Geok Tape. The sur- 
 vivors will not soon forget the lesson.' ' I hope you will 
 let me publish this opinion,' I said, ' and for this reason. 
 In your official report of the siege you say that, during 
 the pursuit after the assault, you killed 8,000 of both sexes.' 
 ' That is true. I had them counted. The number was 
 8,000.' 'This statement,' I continued, 'provoked great 
 comment in England, for you admit that your troops killed 
 women as well.' 
 
 Skobeleff replied : ' It is quite true. When the dead 
 were counted, women were found among them. It is my 
 nature to conceal nothing. I therefore wrote, in making 
 the report, of both sexes.' 
 
 ' Were any dishonoured ? ' 
 
214 GEOK TEP]5. 
 
 ' None at all. The troops did not outrage a woman. 
 I must tell you I was deceived by the Persian agent, 
 Zulfagar Khan. He came to me and said that there were 
 many Persian women among the prisoners, and asked to 
 be allowed to take them and send them home. I gave 
 him permission, and gave him money. He thereupon 
 chose the most beautiful women, and sent a number to 
 Meshed, where he sold them into harems. Directly I was 
 told of this, I stopped the permission at once.' 
 
 On my remarking that it was the great defect of our 
 last Afghan war that we entered the country without a 
 policy, and never applied his principle (or Wellington's) 
 of hitting the enemy as hard as possible, he said : ' Those 
 executions at Cabul were a mistake. I would never exe- 
 cute an Asiatic to strike terror into his countrymen, be- 
 cause you are sure to fail. Whatever punishments you 
 resort to, they can never be so terrible as those inflicted 
 by a NasruUah, or any other despotic native ruler ; and to 
 these crueller punishments the natives are so accustomed, 
 that your milder ones produce no effect. Then, worse 
 than this, the execution of a Mussulman by an Infidel 
 provokes hatred. I would sooner the whole country re- 
 volted than execute a man. If you take a place by storm 
 and strike a terrible blow, it is the will of God, they say, 
 and they submit without that hatred which executions 
 provoke. My system is this — to strike hard and Iceep on 
 hitting till resistance is completely over, then at once to 
 form ranks, cease slaughter, and be kind and humane to 
 the prostrate enemy. Immediately submission is made, 
 the troops must be subjected to tbe strictest discipline : 
 not one of the enemy must be touched.' 
 
 Mr. Marvin also mentions that General Grrodekoff 
 says that, although ' many women were killed,' Skobe- 
 leiF gave orders to his troops to spare the women 
 
SUBMISSION. 215 
 
 and the children, and none were killed intention- 
 ally. I cannot, of course, answer for the accuracy 
 of Mr. Marvin's reports, nor am I responsible for 
 Skobeleff's system, which, terrible as it seems, 
 may in the long run be more merciful than its 
 alternative ; but it is evident that when a mountain 
 battery is playing upon a mass of fugitives, and when 
 the cavalry is pursuing in the shades of night a crowd 
 of both sexes, both dressed almost alike, the result 
 could hardly fail to be such as Skobeleflf reports. 
 War is horrible at the best, and the Tekkes, who 
 themselves have been so ruthless in torturing, massa- 
 cring, and enslaving their neighbours for generation 
 after generation, would probably be the last to com- 
 plain that upon them in turn had fallen a frightful 
 retribution. 
 
 In the assault and in the subsequent pursuit the 
 infantry fired 273,804 rounds ; the cavalry 12,510, 
 and the artillery 5,864 ; 224 military rockets were 
 also expended. 
 
 We retook our captured cannon and mountain 
 guns. We only took 1,500 weapons, a proof that 
 the pursuit was as necessary as the capture of the 
 fortress to break the resistance of the Tekkes. 
 
 The system, bloody though it was, seems to have 
 provoked no resentment among the Tekkes. Their 
 chief soon afterwards came in and did homage to the 
 representative of the White Tzar. Our troops advanced 
 almost without a protest through Askabad to Annoo 
 and Gyaoors. Soon after the fall of Geok Tepe 
 
'216 GEOK TEP15. 
 
 Skobeleff was out riding with his escort when he 
 met 700 Tekkes. He asked who they were? They 
 answered, ' Friendly Tekkes.' ' How can I believe 
 your word? ' asked the General. ' Tekkes never lie,' 
 answered they. ' Well,' said SkobeleiF, ' if such is 
 the case, I send my escort home, and will return 
 accompanied by you.' Which he actually did. Nor 
 was his confidence misplaced. General Tchernayeff 
 displayed a similar confidence in Asiatic magnanimity 
 when, on the evening after he captured Tashkend, he 
 rode through the streets and accepted a dish of tea 
 from the hands of a native. 
 
 After the fall of Geok Tep6 the following procla- 
 mation was issued. 
 
 To the Ahhal People. 
 
 I declare to tlie whole Akhal Tekke population that 
 your fortress of Geok Tepe lias been taken by the might 
 of the troops of my Great Sovereign. The defenders have 
 been annihilated, and their families and the families of 
 those who have fled from the fortress are the captives of 
 the victorious troops under my command. I therefore 
 invoke the whole remaining population of Akhal Tekke 
 to place its destiny at the unconditional mercy of the 
 Emperor, in which case I hereby make it known that the 
 lives, families, and property of those who declare sub- 
 mission will be in complete security like those of His 
 Majesty, the White Tzar. 
 
 On the contrary, all those who oppose his victorious 
 troops, and continue to persist in a useless opposition, 
 will be destroyed as are robbers and criminals. 
 
 Adjutant-Gen. SKOBELErp. 
 
 The summons was obeyed. The Tekkes laid 
 
AKHAL ANNEXED. 217 
 
 down their arms. The submission was complete. 
 Our garrison was reduced. SkobelefF returned to St. 
 Petersburg, and almost immediately after his return 
 the Akhal oasis was formally annexed to the Empire. 
 Skobeleff's own account of the matter is brief and 
 simple. He said: — 
 
 I was recalled because the operations were finished, 
 and because the army, having aheady been reduced, the 
 troops were too few to warrant a general of my position 
 retaining the command. It was impossible for us to re- 
 linquish Akhal. The English could retire from Afghan- 
 istan, because there was a King they could leave behind. 
 But there was no form of government among the Turco- 
 mans. "We had, therefore, to impose one of our own. 
 Had we retired, they would have recommenced their raids 
 as soon as the effect of the defeat had worn off. 
 
 One year after the capture of Geok Tep6 a banquet 
 took place at St. Petersburg in honour of the event. 
 At that banquet Skobeleff naturally was present. His 
 speech, which made a great sensation throughout 
 Europe, referred to the campaign in the Akhal oasis 
 in the following terms : — 
 
 If mutual distrust in private affairs is naturally opposed 
 to onr sympathies, it should be remembered, gentlemen, 
 that, on the other hand, an extreme mistrust of everything 
 foreign and capable of disturbing the legal historical ideas 
 of the Fatherland is an obligation of patriotism, because 
 it cannot possibly be admitted that the newly-propounded 
 theory of triumphant and illegal might over physically 
 weaker right is the privilege of some one particular race. 
 It follows, as I imagine, from what I have observed, that 
 patriotic hearts must experience a sensation of great 
 
218 GEOK TEP£. 
 
 delight when the course of events leads into error a 
 sagacious and talented enemy of the Fatherland. This 
 feeling is one of peculiar pleasure -when one finds oneself 
 in the midst of those who, by their labours and gallantry, 
 and with their blood, aided in drawing that enemy into 
 the committing of a mistake. 
 
 Tou all know that our highly talented enemy, Sir 
 Henry Rawlinson, predicted so long ago as in the year 
 1875 that the animosity of the Tekkes of Akhal would 
 involve Eussia for many years in enormous expenditure of 
 men and money, and in a war with Persia; that it would 
 render it obligatory on Eussia to establish a cordon of 
 forts from the mouth of the Attrek, through the entire 
 oasis, and from the Attrek to 3£erv ; and that finally, and 
 to crown all, it would undermine the political power of 
 Eussia in Central Asia. 
 
 It is pleasant, gentlemen, to look back to that precious 
 confine on this auspicious day, and assure ourselves of the 
 fact that, thanks to the Almighty, Sir Henry Eawlinson's 
 prophecy has been in no way justified. We all know the 
 condition of affairs too well for me to enter into details, 
 but I may say that our troublesome Asiatic confine has 
 never enjoyed such perfect tranquillity as it does now. 
 Never since the time of Mahomed Shah's march to Herat, 
 coupled with the memorable services of Count Simonitch, 
 has the influence of the Eussian Minister at Teheran 
 been more predominant. In one word, the spell of the 
 Eussian standard is powerful far away to the East, even 
 to the conquered region ; and this will doubtless be 
 confirmed by the engineers who have just returned from 
 Sarakhs. 
 
 Gentlemen, let me ask to whom is our country indebted 
 for the favourable issue of this great work ? First and 
 foremost let us respectfully give honour to the instrumen- 
 tality of our late Sovereign the Martyr Tzar. Having 
 firmly taken the Akhal Tekke business in hand, the late 
 
SKOBELEFF ON THE CAMPAIGN. 219 
 
 Emperor fully realised the immense importance of a place- 
 d'armes at the gates of Herat and Afghanistan at a 
 given period in history. In the second place the success 
 of the enterprise was in principle insured from the very 
 beginning by the efforts of his Imperial Highness the then 
 Viceroy of the Caucasus, whose heart was ever with the 
 brave troops under his command ; and here I have to 
 express my thanks to all the military authorities in the 
 Caucasus for the assistance which was so largely given me, 
 to our various military departments, and, not least, to our 
 Minister for Foreign Affairs. 
 
 M. Zinovieflf, our Minister at Teheran, not alone fa- 
 cilitated the execution of our task, but what is much 
 more important, he has secured the durability of the 
 results. 
 
 I need not enlarge on the gallantry of our Caucasian 
 troops, with whom our glorious Turkestan forces have 
 fraternised in battle. Our Caucasian standards came to 
 the Akhal field direct from the fields of Asiatic Turkey 
 covered with glory, and the commander of the Akhal 
 expedition was too heavily charged with the fame of 
 Russian arms for his heart to be below the level of the 
 spirit of the troops which he led to Geok Tepe ; and when 
 the heart is in its right place on the field of battle, victory 
 is three-quarters ensured. It is with deep feeling that T 
 call to mind all those who co-operated with me, the brave 
 soldiers and my brilliant staff of officers ; and among those 
 who fell, General Petrushevitch, conspicuous by his sense 
 of duty, modest courage, and learning, and all the other 
 officers who died for the faith, such as Prince Magolof, 
 Count Orlof, Mamatsef, Bulygin, Zubof, Studitski, Yablo- 
 tchkof, Merkhilef, Grek, Ivanof, Kunakofski, Moritz, 
 Nelepof, Turenef. 
 
 Gentlemen, so long as we have in our ranks such 
 officers as those I have named, we may boldly look any 
 enemy in the face, remembering those who fell at Geok 
 
220 GEOK TEPE. 
 
 Tepe, and emulating their deeds when the day of trial by 
 battle should come. 
 
 With these words of Skobeleff's concerning the 
 last of his campaigns, I close this very inadequate 
 account of Skobeleff as a soldier. 
 
PAET II. 
 
 SKOBELEFF IN POLITICS. 
 
 1. THE SLAVONIC CAITSE. 
 
 2. THE ST. PETEESBURG SPEECH. 
 
 3. SKOBELEFF IN PARIS. 
 i. RUSSIA AND GERMANY. 
 
 5. RUSSIA AND AUSTRIA. 
 
 6. RUSSIA AND ENGLAND. 
 
 7. SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM. 
 
 8. DEATH. 
 
223 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE SLAVONIC CAUSE. 
 
 Skobeleff on politics — Panslavism — Pan-Germanism — Skobeleff's de- 
 testation of war — The Slavonic idea — The brotherhood of the Slavs 
 — Slavonic solidarity — M. Louis Leger — Origin of the idea — George 
 Krijanitoh — Philology and politics — Panslavism and Slavophilism 
 — Krijanitch in Russia — Banished to Siberia — His 'policy' — 
 Fascination of the Slav idea — The Slavonic Congress at St. Peters- 
 burg — Count Tolstoy and Count Ignatieff— The Kremlin Declara- 
 tion, 1876 — Slavonic disunion — England and the Slavs — Russian 
 disinterestedness — The San Stefano Treaty — What Russia seeks. 
 
 Skobelefp in politics, like Skobeleff in war, was a 
 great force. ' Ak-Pasha,' as the Turks used to call 
 him — or the ' White General,' as he was designated 
 often by his troops — was more terrible to his enemy 
 ia the Bulgarian campaign than a whole corps 
 d^armee. 
 
 He fought many battles, he made few speeches; 
 but his most brilliant victory produced less impres- 
 sion abroad than the least of speeches he made, or 
 was supposed to have made. A simple conversation, 
 a passing utterance, was reported by greedy news- 
 papers and gravely discussed by foreign statesmen. 
 Europe not only listened, but indulged in endless 
 comments, perverted every word, misrepresented 
 every sentence. It amused Skobeleff ; it amused 
 
224 THE SLAVONIC CAUSE. 
 
 many Russians. Nothing diverts us more than 
 ' frightening the foreigner.' I am not defending this 
 — certainly not, but I am stating a simple fact. Last 
 winter a man occupying an official position, culti- 
 vated and intelligent, and far from young, called 
 upon me in Moscow. We talked of all sorts of things, 
 when they announced an English traveller. I intro- 
 duced my two visitors to each other ; but fancy my 
 surprise when I heard my compatriot say, ' Have you 
 not just arrived from our future possession — India ? ' 
 I thought he had lost his senses. ' But,' continued 
 he, 'perhaps you come from our other possession, 
 Constantinople ? ' I interrupted ; for, although his 
 eyes were laughing, the tone was as solemn as that 
 of a bishop. ' It is much better,' continued he, ' to 
 designate beforehand what we are determined to take.' 
 Then he added, in Russian, ' Pray let me go on ; it 
 is delightful.' I, of course, tried to stop him, know- 
 ing the danger there was in such jokes; but he was 
 determined to have his way. If my English visitor 
 is a literary man, I can well imagine the dreadful .cor- 
 respondence he may write about that meeting ! 
 
 Skobeleff, like my mischievous guest, dearly loved 
 a joke; but, clever and ingenious as he was, he always 
 managed to impress his listeners. His words went 
 deeper than those of many statesmen both in Russia 
 and other countries. Skobeleff was no firebrand ; he 
 spoke not to provoke but to avert a conflagration. 
 He knew, however, that there were limits beyond 
 which oppression would provoke an explosion. 
 
SKOBELEFT ON POLITICS. 225 
 
 Russia wanted, and wants, peace ; she has plenty of 
 work to do at home, but 'peace at any price ' has 
 never been her motto, and never can be, as long as 
 there remains one single Russian in the world. 
 
 Besides, Skobeleff's views as a politician should 
 be distinguished from those which he held as a soldier. 
 
 When considering a military problem Skobeleff 
 was before all things a soldier. Hence, when dis- 
 cussing the situation in 1878, it was as a matter of 
 military strategy he advocated the prolonged occupa- 
 tion of Adrianople ; and it was when weighing the 
 chances of an invasion that he declared the Russian 
 frontier could never be regarded as secure until she 
 held the Bosphorus. From a purely military point 
 of view he may have been right. Russia might be 
 safer from attack if she held the Bosphorus, just as 
 the position of France would be more secure if she 
 held the English end of the Channel tunnel. But 
 these questions are not settled by military experts, 
 and Skobeleff himself, as a politician, would have 
 been the first to acknowledge that certain problems 
 cannot be settled from the standpoint of military 
 science alone. I do not think it is wise to attach 
 any political value to the expositions, however in- 
 genious, of the strategic importance of different 
 positions which Skobeleff published during his event- 
 ful career. His views are important when endorsed 
 by Russia ; and in order to understand the spirit of 
 the whole nation, its real and powerful aspirations, 
 
 Q 
 
226 THE SLAVONIC CAUSE. 
 
 people have to study her cai-efuUy, and this can be 
 done only when the usual preconceived ideas and 
 obstinate prejudices are honestly put aside. The 
 great merit of SkobelefF consisted in his perpetual 
 efforts to identify himself with his country, to serve 
 her highest interests, to keep them alone perpetually 
 in view, and to devote to them alone his whole life. 
 Such an identification is not easUy achieved, and it 
 was only in the last years of his eventful life that 
 he thoroughly realised how impossible it was to be 
 a Russian without at the same time earnestly and 
 thoroughly espousing the Slavonic cause. One with- 
 out the other is shallow and incomplete. One is the 
 necessary, the logical development of the other. 
 
 Slavs sympathise, and ought to sympathise, all 
 over the world. ' Slavophilism ' is only a substitute 
 of that ' circuitous paraphrase.' In other races such 
 a feeling is regarded not only as legitimate but ad- 
 mirable. I wish somebody would be kind enough to 
 explain why it should only be detestable and cri- 
 minal when those who share it use the Cyrillian 
 alphabet and belong to the Slavonic stock. If any 
 race in Europe should be able to understand the feel- 
 ings of Slavs for Slavs, it is the great race which has 
 found in the sentiment of Oerman brotherhood a 
 lever for revolutionising the Continent. Perhaps they 
 understandit too well, and therefore they fear it. But 
 their fears are needless. Panslavism seeks merely 
 the independence of all the Slav races, and is a very 
 different thing from Pan- Germanism, which seeks the 
 
PAN-GERMANISM. 227 
 
 political unity of the German fatherland. This dif- 
 ference should never be forgotten. Yet there is a 
 Pan-Germanism which excites no indignation even 
 amongst those who are directly concerned in it. 
 
 The other day some German residents in Odessa 
 sent Prince Bismarck a present in commemoration of 
 the twentieth anciversary of his appointment as Prime 
 Minister of Prussia. In acknowledging the gift, the 
 Imperial Chancellor used a form of words which, if 
 employed by a Russian minister in a similar position, 
 would have been regarded as an unpardonable offence. 
 Prince Bismarck wrote : ' I rejoice to accept the ex- 
 pression of the recognition of my fellow-countrymen 
 abroad, as a token that the tie of a common devotion 
 to the Emperor and the Fatherland mutually unites 
 all Germans abroad and at home.' Now there are so 
 very many thousands of ' Germans abroad ' in the 
 Russian empire, and, notwithstanding all the delu- 
 sions prevaihng in the West concerning my country, 
 thousands flock across our borders every year, that 
 Russians might take alarm at this frank recognition 
 of a ' common devotion ' on the part of all Germans 
 to the Emperor William and the Fatherland. But, of 
 course, Russians have too much sense to get easily 
 alarmed, and too much honesty to pretend to be 
 alarmed when they are not. Pity our neighbours do 
 not sometimes follow our example in this respect. 
 
 Skobeleff's efforts were all directed in a defensive 
 not an offensive direction. Although a soldier, he 
 never was a mere swordsman. ' Why should we attack 
 
228 THE SLAVONIC CAUSE. 
 
 Germany,' I asked him once, rather impatiently, ' if 
 she is not attacking us ? ' ' If ! ' retorted he — ' all the 
 power of the argument lies in that word " if." I only 
 assure you,' continued he, ' we are not so weak nor 
 so unprepared as some people imagine both at St. 
 Petersburg and abroad. I know our forces, having 
 studied them very accurately. We have nothing to 
 fear ; absolutely nothing.' I shall never forget the 
 expression of Skobeleff's face when he uttered these 
 words. Never ! There was no boasting, no humbug, 
 nothing for the galleries ; but there was such a firm- 
 ness, such a hard and determined look, that I thought 
 I saw before me quite a different man from the one 
 who was talking so mildly, so courteously, just a few 
 seconds before. Skobeleff's face was remarkably at- 
 tractive, not only by its regular features, but by 
 its combination of extreme kindness and extreme 
 energy. His pale grey eyes flashed with ever- 
 varying intensity, reminding me of the gleaming 
 of bright swordblades. There was also a depth 
 in his look, as if his very soul were trying to manifest 
 itself through his eyes. But Skobeleff distinctly and 
 repeatedly said that to him war was only a means to 
 an end, not, as with many soldiers, an end in itself. 
 From Count Moltke's views as to the beneficence of 
 war no one dissented more vehemently than the 
 Slavonic hero whom his countrymen described as 
 ' the poet of the sword.' Not even our great painter, 
 Verestchagine, so aptly called ' the Apostle of Peace,' 
 because his pictures of war are purposely made most 
 
BROTHERHOOD OF THE SLAVS. 229 
 
 disheartening, could detest more the terrible business 
 of warfare. Again and again Skobeleff used to de- 
 clare : ' I hate war ; it is all that is sickening, odious, 
 and atrocious. No more monstrous, no more loath- 
 some, no more terrible crime can be imagined than to 
 make war without absolute necessity. It is only as 
 the last means, the very last argument, that a step 
 like this can be justified. It can only be pardoned 
 when made with a noble and generous end in view, 
 as, for instance, when I defend myself or those who 
 stand near to me by their faith or nationality.' 
 
 Skobelefi" was a man of ideas, and some of them 
 those of a statesman, taking that word not in its 
 narrow sense, as sometimes represented in the chan- 
 celleries of Europe, which rather illustrate the maxim 
 of Oxenstiern — ' With how Httle wisdom the world is 
 governed.' At the same time, he was the very last 
 man in the world to claim for his views any origi- 
 nality. His great merit was, that he was chiefly 
 receptive ; for his utterances represented not the 
 views of an individual, but those of a race. His 
 greatness gave a glimpse of the greatness of the 
 Slavonic idea, which, in other words, means Brother- 
 hood of the Slavs. To some this may seem a craze ; 
 to Slavs it is a simple fact, from which flow other 
 facts equally simple. The Slavs ask to be governed 
 by the Slavs ; that is all. The bed of Procrustes is 
 not a Slavonic institution. The Slav lays down no 
 ; shibboleth as to forms of government. He is con- 
 tented with autocracy in one country ; and consti- 
 
230 THE SLAVOINIC CAUSE. 
 
 tutionalism in another. The forni does not matter. 
 All he asks is to be left alone to develop his own 
 destinies in his own way. Leave the Slavs to the 
 Slavs, each Slavonic people to itself, and the Slavonic 
 ideal will have been realised. 
 
 Its watchword is ' Hands off,' and its formula 
 self-government. 
 
 Unfortunately, millions of Slavs are governed not 
 by Slavs, but by Turks, Hungarians, and Germans. 
 These subjugated Slavs, as long as they are not left 
 to themselves, will naturally look for help from their 
 self- governed, eldest brother. 'Fraternite oblige;' 
 help — at a great cost indeed to the helper — has been 
 often granted. Not long ago the heroic little Monte- 
 negro was the only Slavonic country, except Russia, 
 which had a Slavonic ruler ; to-day, the Kingdom of 
 Serbia and the Principality of Bulgaria are, thanks 
 to Russia, and in spite of Europe, free fi-om the yoke 
 of the oppressor. The history of the Eastern Question 
 for the most part is the narrative of the progressive 
 emancipation of the Slavs. A great deal has been 
 done, much remains yet to be achieved ; but, like one 
 of our Russian rivers, although its progress is slow, 
 not the less will it reach the sea. ' To liberate, not 
 to annex,' has been Russia's grand motto when she 
 fought for the Slavs. She neither wishes to occupy 
 Slavonic lands, as England occupies Cyprus, nor 
 ' administer ' them, as Austria administers Bosnia, 
 nor absorb them, as France has absorbed Tunis. 
 
 Mr. John Aksakoff, who is justly considered as one 
 
THE SOLIDARITY OF THE SLAVS. 231 
 
 of our best leaders, wrote long ago : ' It is not a 
 question of territorial conquest for Russia. It is a 
 question of calling to an independent existence, 
 political and social, all the different Slav groups. 
 The Slavonic countries must belong to the Slavs.' 
 
 This doctrine is neither new nor Russian in its 
 origin. As Russia received through Bulgaria her 
 Evangel and her alphabet, she received the Sla- 
 vonic idea from Croatia. M. Louis Leger's most 
 excellent book, ' Nouvelles Etudes Slaves,' gives a 
 very interesting sketch of the whole question. Any- 
 body who wants to know the Slavonic world ought 
 to study M. Louis Leger's works. He is a trust- 
 worthy and most valuable authority, and, without 
 even attempting to compete with him, I will briefly 
 indicate some few points in M. Leger's work, as 
 I am afraid his book has not been translated into 
 English as yet. 
 
 ' The idea of a moral, intellectual, and political 
 solidarity between all the members of the Slavonic 
 race was born not in the empire of the Tzars, too 
 strong to have need of theories, but in the little 
 peoples of the East, among the Slovenes, the Croats, 
 the Tcheques, menaced without ceasing by their re- 
 doubtable neighbours, the Hungarians, the Turks, 
 and the Germans. The hatred of the oppression, the 
 deep consciousness of a profound humiliation, woke 
 the national conscience among the poets, the philo- 
 sophers, and the philologers. In the midst of the 
 miseries of the present, they found a consolation in 
 
232 THE SLAVONIC CAUSE. 
 
 the memory of tlie former unity of their race, and an 
 encouragement in the hope of reconstituting it in the 
 future.' 
 
 The noblest promoter of the Slavonic ideas was 
 a Croat who lived in the seventeenth century. 
 
 What have the Slavs done for the world? is often 
 scornfully asked. 
 
 They produced Huss, a century before Germany 
 gave birth to Luther ; and they formulated the 
 doctrine of nationality two centuries before Mazzini 
 popularised it in Italy. I take but these examples 
 amongst many others. The precursor of the doc- 
 trine of nationality was George Krijanitch. 
 
 Two very interesting facts deserve to be noted 
 here. The Roman Cathohc Church, which now-a- 
 days is trying to interfere in family ties, and to sepa- 
 rate brethren from each other in more senses than 
 one, in the seventeenth century held quite a different 
 position ; so much so, that George Krijanitch, who 
 went to Russia with his heart full of confidence and 
 love to his Eastern brethren, was a Roman Catholic 
 priest. 
 
 I regret to blame our Government, but truth has 
 to be spoken. Although some of our Emperors, 
 such as Peter the Great, Catherine II., Nicholas I., 
 and Alexander IL, have served the Slavonic cause 
 as true Russians should, other rulers have shown 
 a wonderful short-sightedness and egotism in dealing 
 with the Slavonic cause ; the part of a generous 
 helper or that of a reckless donor did not tempt them . 
 
GEORGE KEIJANITCH. 233 
 
 Like every other government, the Russian some- 
 times shrank from a disinterested, ' foolish ' policy — 
 which is only desired and insisted upon by real ser- 
 vants of the Slavonic idea. Governments often either 
 consider themselves mere money-lenders, only careful 
 of their percentage, or they resemble those parents 
 "who fancy that nothing is so good for their children 
 as a money match, or so terrible as one made for 
 love. The Slavophil party in Russia — up to the last 
 few years — has been calumniated, vilified, described 
 as treacherous to its oath, to its country, and its 
 Emperor, and found anything but support in official 
 St. Petersburg circles. 
 
 Poor Krijanitch, in return for his effusive sym- 
 pathies, met with a sad reception in Russia. His 
 services might have been most useful. Though a 
 Roman Catholic, he was a thorough theologian ; he 
 studied at Vienna and Bologna ; but, not contented 
 with that, he went in 1640 to Rome to study, for 
 polemical purposes, the language and the doctrines of 
 the Greek Church. He discovered the great truth so 
 sneered at by so many shallow observers, that the 
 life of a nationality lay in its language and religion. 
 
 ' Among the lesser nations,' says M. Louis 
 Leger, ' philology and politics are " solidaires." It is 
 the grammarians and the poets who have renewed 
 the face of the Slavonic world.' 
 
 With all respect to the talented inventor of Profes- 
 sor Craniocracs, a great historical fact is not disposed 
 of by a jest. 
 
234 THE SLAVONIC CAUSE. 
 
 Luther's translation of the Bible, perhaps, did 
 more to unify Germany than even the needle-gun. 
 
 Huss was almost as anxious to preserve the 
 purity of the Tch^que language as to rid the Church 
 of abuses, and it is impossible to sever the Slavonic 
 movement from philological studies, the importance 
 of which Krijanitch was the first to discern. Not 
 that the Croatian priest was the first to recognise 
 the fraternity of the Slavonic peoples, the unity of 
 the Slav race. 
 
 The theories of philology but revive the memories 
 of the Slavonic family. One of our earliest his- 
 torians, Nestor, who wrote soon after England was 
 overrun by the Normans, maintained that ' the Slavs 
 were one of the seventy races, sprung from Japhet, 
 who afterwards took diff"erent names,' but whether 
 they called themselves Tcheques, Croats, Serbs, 
 Poles, or Russians, they all belonged to the Slavonic 
 race. A later historian was careful to trace the 
 scattered members of the Slavonic family back to the 
 building of the Tower of Babel. Thrice, at least, 
 before the time of Nestor, Slavonic princes had en- 
 deavoured to unite the Slavonic peoples against their 
 oppressors, and each time the champion of our race 
 arose further to the east. Samo the Wend, who van- 
 quished King Dagobert, assisted for a time the inde- 
 pendence of the Slavs ; but his kingdom did not 
 survive, and the short dream of Slav freedom de- 
 parted with his life. The next was Sviatopolk, of 
 Moravia, the defender of our race. In the tenth 
 
PANSLAVISM AND SLAVOPHILISM. 235 
 
 century Boleslav the Great, of Poland, assumed the 
 title of King of the Slavs, and reigned from the Elbe 
 to the Dnieper, from the Baltic to the Danube. I 
 only mention these few facts in proof that the idea 
 of the unity of the Slavonic races is by no means 
 new.^ 
 
 I will quote another instance : — In an old book 
 about Bosnia, entitled ' Spicilegium observationum 
 historico-geographicarum de Bosniae Regno,'''* Ivarko 
 III., of Bosnia, who succeeded to the throne in 
 1396, had to struggle against the Magyars and the 
 Neapolitan factions in Dalmatia, trusting himself 
 on national, Panslavist support. In accordance with 
 his ' Panslavistic ' policy, he sent a messenger to 
 Vladislav Jagellon, of Poland, appealing for his aid 
 on the ground of the common origin of the Poles and 
 Bosnians. 
 
 ' Panslavism ' is of an old origin, and its ten 
 dency was extei'nal and political ; Panslavists dreamed 
 of a moral, and some among them dreamed also of 
 a political, union amongst all the Slavonic peoples. 
 The Slavophils are also well-wishers of the Slavs, 
 but their first and chief interest is domestic, and 
 aims at restoration of primitive ideas, customs and 
 institutions, the great majority of which were rudely 
 interfered with by Peter the Great. Slavophilism 
 is of modern growth ; in fact, it is some fifty years 
 old altogether. Its best representatives were, the 
 
 ^ Vide Louis Leger, Les Origines d/a Panslavisme, Le Monde Slave, 
 p. 329. Paris, 1873. 
 " Lugd. Bat. 1837, p. 7. 
 
236 THE SLAVONIC CAUSE. 
 
 poet and theologian ChomiakoflP, George Samarine, 
 the three AksakoiFs (one of whom is the editor of 
 the ' Russ ' ) , the brothers Kireefsky, HUferding, and 
 others. They stood all on a high moral level and 
 great intellectual culture. 
 
 But to return to George Krijanitch. 
 
 When England was fighting her King, the 
 Croatian student was compiling, from ancient and 
 modern Greek, a great work, summarising all the 
 differences between the Greek Church and the Roman. 
 The book is lost. The motto survives : ' They shall 
 be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided 
 into two kingdoms, but they shall be one fold and 
 one shepherd.' It was the cry of the devout soul 
 for the spiritual unity of Christendom, but it was 
 also the yearning of a Slav for the reunion of all 
 his brother Slavs; for only in union was there hope 
 of deliverance. Thus from a cloister of a Roman 
 monastery came forth the first articulate expression 
 of what is now troubling all our enemies. But 
 a man with such aspirations could not remain in 
 Italy. He must visit the scattered races of the 
 Slavonic fatherland ; above all, he must make a pil- 
 grimage to the greatest of the Slavonic races. 
 Poland he saw with sorrow destroyed by her 
 anarchy. In visiting Little Russia, he urged the in- 
 habitants to throw in their lot with the Tzar. Alas ! 
 poor Krijanitch ! His fate foreshadowed the difficul- 
 ties the later Slavophils had to encounter. He also 
 thought it his sacred duty to serve fearlessly the 
 
KRIJANITCH IN RUSSIA. 237 
 
 interests of the Tzar, and therefore, though a new- 
 comer, a stranger, he began to denouiice with singu- 
 lar freedom the abuses of the Courts of Russia. 
 Croat though he was, he grasped with the Slavonic 
 instinct the Russian conception of the Tzar. ' The 
 duty and honour of a sovereign is to make his 
 people happy, and to be the father of his subjects,' 
 said he. Unfortunately he went much further, and 
 thought, singularly enough, that he was obliged to 
 lecture everybody he disapproved of for any reason. 
 Now, any foreigner, coming to an unknown — or 
 only superficially known — country, and expressing 
 his frank views upon everything and everj'body, is 
 seldom thanked for his frankness, even in our ultra- 
 liberal times, and even in most liberal parts of the 
 world. I abstain from giving instances, very elo- 
 quent instances indeed, in support of my assertion, 
 as I have to deal yet with Russia of the seventeenth 
 century. So it happened that the poor lecturer 
 was hstened to at first ; then in 1661 — banished to 
 Tobolsk ; a dreary place, no doubt. He was allowed 
 books, money, and free communication by correspond- 
 ence ; but, still, to be exiled for having simply spoken 
 too much was hard and might have disheartened any- 
 body. But Krijanitch, like a true enthusiast, lived 
 more in the future than in the present : he dreamed 
 apocalyptic visions of the coming grandeur and unity 
 of the Slavonic world, and, I daresay, was happy in 
 spite of his exile. How little could he imagine 
 that up to the year 1876 the Slavonic cause would 
 
238 THE SLAVONIC CAUSE. 
 
 hardly be tolerated by the official circles in Russia ; 
 that the era he foresaw would actually only begin 
 with the Emperor Alexander's speech at the Kremlin ! 
 
 For fifteen years he lived and wrote at Tobolsk. 
 His great work on ' Policy ' pleaded the unity of the 
 Slavs, and defined the principles by which a Slav 
 State could become strong, great, and honoured. His 
 watchword to the Slavs was the same as Skobeleff's. 
 ' Rely upon thyself,' said Krijanitch, in addressing 
 the Slav world, ' and beware of foreigners.' ' The 
 more we study the work of Krijanitch,' says M. 
 Leger, ' the more we are astonished to find under the 
 most diverse forms the reveries and the aspirations of 
 the men of his race, which were never really made 
 known until the nineteenth century.' The reason is 
 simple. These reveries, these aspirations, have never 
 been absent from the Slav mind ; but it is only 
 recently that the Slavs have attracted attention 
 beyond their frontiers, save as Slavs, to be crushed 
 and plundered. ' We are plundered by the Germans, 
 the Jews,' wrote Krijanitch, in the seventeenth 
 century, ' the gipsies, the Armenians, and the Greeks. 
 No people under the sun,' exclaims he, ' has been so 
 insulted, so injured, as the Slavs by the Germans.' 
 
 Skobeleff's expression of distrust and hostility to 
 Germans — not to Germany, but to the intruding, 
 aggressive German who endeavours to transform the 
 Slav into a German— has excited some surprise in 
 the ill-informed West. It was even imagined that 
 the General referred solely to Russia's oldest and 
 
SLAVOPHILS AND GERMANS. 239 
 
 firmest ally, the empire whose seat is at Berlin. That 
 is pure fiction. I possess a letter he wrote to me a 
 few weeks before his death, in which he positively 
 repudiates his hatred of Germany. Slavophils are no 
 lunatics. They gladly admit that there are Germans 
 and Germans ; those who identify themselves entirely 
 with the life, the hopes, the joys, and the sorrows of 
 their adopted country deserve to be trusted and 
 treated accordingly. A man is not answerable for 
 what he is born, but for what he has made of himself. 
 Surely no Englishman would be base enough to 
 consider Lord Wolseley as a stranger because he 
 was born in Ireland ! We have now in Moscow one 
 of our principal military chiefs. His name is half 
 German, half Swedish. Todtleben is another instance 
 of Germans being as good Russians as the best. 
 Examples of this kind are numerous. 
 
 Looking in another direction, that of science, we 
 find the same patriotic devotion : one of our best 
 Slavophil scholars — Hilferding — was of half German, 
 half Jewish descent, but his death has been much 
 lamented by his Moscow friends, and his works are 
 studied with love and veneration by every Russian 
 studying the Slavonic history and literature. The 
 only diff^erence lies in the natural obligation which 
 the newcomers generally feel to give obvious proofs 
 of their union, whilst, as for the original natives, 
 their motives are supposed to be what they ought to 
 be, what is sometimes a ' courtesy confidence ' only. 
 
 Krijanitch seems to have been born again in the 
 
240 THE SLAVONIC CAUSE. 
 
 shape of SkobelefF. ' It is for thee, oh great Tzar,' said 
 the banished idealist of Tobolsk, ' to watch over the 
 Slav peoples, and, like a good father, take care of thy 
 dispersed children. Rouse them to be aware of their 
 shameful condition ; give them assistance in throwing 
 off their foreign yoke. Extend to the Slavs of the 
 Balkans that exterior force which they need to regain 
 their feet, and once more to be numbered amongst 
 the nations.' He lamented the fatal discord sown by 
 foreign intrigues between Poland and Russia, countries 
 which could have no greater happiness than in a 
 brotherly concord, and he insisted earnestly upon the 
 importance of literary propaganda. 
 
 Krijanitch spoke in vain. He was before his time, 
 and when in 1676 he was allowed to leave Tobolsk, 
 his career seems to have been closed. ' Regenerated 
 Slavonia,' says M. Louis Leger, ' will one day raise 
 a monument to the man who first understood 
 all the miseries of his race and sought to remedy 
 them.' George Krijanitch did more: he not only 
 sought, but he found. And if ' Slavonia ' is not 
 quite regenerated, and no marble monument erected, 
 still the time is already come to build a monument of 
 gratitude by those who share the views and aspirations 
 of their neglected leader. 
 
 It is beyond my power to give a detailed history 
 of the Slavonic movement during two whole centuries. 
 Besides, there were epochs when that vital movement 
 seemed to shortsighted observers almost extinct. 
 
 It continued, however, though from the first it 
 
A FASCINATING IDEAL. 241 
 
 was primarily literary and pHlological, tlie dream of 
 unity of language never ceasing to fascinate the 
 imagination of our race. For many years its cliief 
 exponents were the Tcheques of Bohemia. It is only 
 in comparatively recent times that my countrymen 
 took the lead in the development of the Slav idea. It 
 has now passed into the political stage, and is a legi- 
 timate and recognised force, animating millions of 
 souls and bringing into close alliance many throbbing 
 hearts. 
 
 Mazzini, who certainly had nothing in common 
 with Slavophils, and whose very name' is disliked in 
 Russia, where he is known only as a Revolutionist, 
 recognised repeatedly the justice of the claims of 
 the Slavonic family, ' covering,' as he said, ' a zone 
 extending from the North Sea to the Adriatic ; ' 
 and before he died he expressed a deep conviction 
 that 'no permanent peace was possible in Europe 
 whUe the Slavonic question remained unsettled ; that 
 is to say, while the legitimate claims of the Slavonic 
 peoples to manage their own affairs remained unre- 
 cognised.' It struck Kossuth, that Slav renegade 
 whose despairing execrations only testify to the 
 vigour and vitality of the movement which he 
 dreads. Poets, philosophers, novelists, prelates, his- 
 torians, have all surrendered themselves to the charm 
 of the great Ideal. Most wonderful of all, it has 
 even thawed occasionally the habitual chill of 
 diplomatists by profession. 
 
 But even a hurried sketch of Panslavism would 
 
 K 
 
242 THE SLAVONIC CAUSE. 
 
 be incomplete without the description of the great 
 Slavonic Congress which was held at Moscow in 
 1867. Seventy-five deputies from the various Slav 
 countries assembled in May, to exchange fraternal 
 greetings and consult as to the welfare of their 
 common race. They were graciously received by the 
 Emperor, the Grand Duke Constantine, the Grand 
 Duchess Helena, and many great personages of the 
 State. The Prince Gortchakoff, our chancellor, re- 
 marked, ' The Russians welcomed you so heartily 
 to their country that there remained nothing for the 
 Government to do.' And, in truth, the Government 
 did nothing. 
 
 A banquet was offered them at St. Petersburg ; 
 speeches delivered by Tchfeques, Croats, Servians, 
 and Russians. The Bohemian leader. Dr. Rieger, 
 welcomed ' the day, at last arrived, when the Slavo- 
 nian races unite for the common welfare. If it were 
 impossible to eifect a political reunion, let us at least 
 strive for the establishment of an intellectual alliance. 
 What we want is harmony, the rest will follow in its 
 train.' M. Polit, a Croat of Agram, expressed, with 
 burning eloquence, the sense of brotherhood which 
 united the emancipated Slavs to their powerful kins- 
 men in Russia. ' In the Servian heart,' he exclaimed, 
 ' love to the Russian is innate. In our very cradles 
 our mothers sing as lullabies songs of Russian mag- 
 nificence. Upon her we have reckoned, even when 
 she had not risen to the height of a great Slavonic 
 power. The creative task of Russia lies not only in 
 
THE SLAVONIC CONGRESS. 243 
 
 Asia, but on what may be called the threshold of her 
 house — the European East. Races must be hence- 
 forth independent. The Slavonian question must be 
 solved by the Slavonians themselves, and chiefly by 
 Russia. Russia is no longer Russia. It is Slavonia ; 
 nay, " Pan- Slavonia." The resources at her disposal 
 are not only material, but moral. Slavonic Russia is 
 no menace to civilisation, but only prepares Europe 
 for witnessing the reunion of the Slavonic family. 
 The first blow in the great struggle must be the 
 cutting through the Eastei*n knot.' 
 
 But the spirit of the gathering was best interpreted 
 by one of our first poets, TutchefF, in a poem, of 
 which this is only a poor translation : 
 
 ' Welcome, twice welcome, oh brothers of the 
 four quarters of the Slavonic world ! The family 
 feast is offered to all. Not as strangers, not as 
 guests are you here. You are at home. In Russia 
 every Slav is at home. More at home often than in 
 his own country, where, alas ! he is often ruled by 
 a foreigner, and where it is a crime to be a Slav. 
 Severed long by envious fate, we have never ceased 
 to be one nation ; the sons of one mother. For this 
 the world cannot pardon us. But as you will never 
 desert Russia, Russia will never desert you. The 
 world dreads the thouglits of all Slavs standing 
 together, and addressing it as one. It has injured 
 and insulted us so long, the memory of our wrongs 
 will never be effaced from our hearts. At the awaking 
 of Slavonic self-consciousness it trembles and dreads 
 
 E 2 
 
2i4: THE SLAVONIC CAUSE. 
 
 tlie judgment of God. The treatment accorded us 
 for centuries has not ceased. Our brethren assem- 
 bled here still bear traces of their ancient wrongs. 
 Unavenged is the field of Kossova and the fatal 
 battle of the White Hill. Belief in Divine justice 
 will never be extinguished in our hearts, whatever 
 may be the sacrifices demanded of us. God lives, and 
 the cry " All hail the Tzar liberator! " will some day 
 be heard far beyond the Russian frontier.' 
 
 Poets, they say, are prophets. Have these words 
 not been already realised in Bulgaria? 
 
 The present Minister of the Interior, Count 
 Tolstoy, was then Minister of Public Instruction. In 
 spite of his official position, he made a very remark- 
 able speech at the Slavonic banquet. He said, ' We 
 have simply come together as Northern, Eastern, 
 Southern, and Western Slavonians. You have been 
 led here by the impulse of your hearts, by the con- 
 sciousness of the brotherly ties binding us together. 
 The ties of the history of a thousand years ; the ties 
 of blood, language, and the Panslavonic idea have 
 asserted their rights. Let us strengthen those ties 
 by the unity of speech and the creation of a common 
 science. The scientific study of the Russian language 
 is impossible without the study of the Slavonic dia- 
 lects, just as the study of Russian history is incom- 
 plete without the insight into the simultaneous 
 development of related nations. The ties between 
 you and us, therefore, are not alone physical, but also 
 moral and spiritual. Is there anybody sceptical 
 
COUNT TOLSTOY AND COUNT IGNATIEFF. 245 
 
 enough to doubt the durability of these ties, to doubt 
 that Providence has a grand future in store for the 
 great Slavonic race? ' 
 
 By one of the curious coincidences of history, 
 General Ignatieff was almost at that very moment 
 giving practical effect at Constantinople to the declara- 
 tions which his future successor was making at St. 
 Petersburg. He had just been raised to the rank of 
 ambassador, and in presenting his new credentials to 
 the Sultan, he reminded Abdul Aziz significantly 
 that the welfare of Turkey depended upon the execu- 
 tion of the benevolent promises which he had made 
 so often, and warned him, that while Russia harboured 
 no selfish desigji, she was so closely bound by a 
 common religion, tradition, and nationality to the Slavs 
 of the Balkans, that she was bound to take a most 
 earnest interest in everything that was really calculated 
 to promote their welfare. The warning fell on deaf 
 ears. Before eleven years had passed. General Ignatiefii' 
 dictated at San Stefano the famous charter of Bul- 
 garian freedom which emancipated the Slavs from the 
 Danube to the iEgean. 
 
 M. Lamansky, one of our best authors, could well 
 boast that the Slavonic idea from a mere phan- 
 tasm had risen to be a solid and substantial fact. It 
 had left the privacy of the scholar's study, and 
 appeared in the church, in the street, in the theatre. 
 It had become a Russian, nay a European question. 
 
 What has happened since then certainly has not 
 lessened its importance. The 10th of November, 
 
246 THE SLAVONIC CAUSE. 
 
 1876, when the Emperor- Liberator declared his re- 
 solve to defend alone the Slavonic cause, marked the 
 advent of a new epoch in the Slavonic world. ' The 
 historical conscience of all Kussia,' said M. Aksakoff, 
 ' spoke from the lips of the Tzar, and his word 
 thundered forth as one having authority. On that 
 memorable day he spoke as the successor of the 
 Orthodox Grand Dukes, as the descendant of Ivan III., 
 who received from the Palseologi the Byzantine arms, 
 and combined them with the arms of Moscow, as the 
 descendant of Peter and Catherine, the crowned 
 protector of ancient traditions. From these words 
 there can be no drawing back. The Emperor's words 
 are a great event in the history of the present time. 
 In the grey joyless twilight which surrounds us, in 
 that chaos of contradictory aspirations and activity, 
 in that lassitude of expectation from which all 
 Russia is labouring, these words shine through the 
 darkness as a star to encourage and guide us. They 
 contain a whole programme of action. These words, 
 and the unanimous, spontaneous, popular expression 
 of fraternal love for the oppressed Slavs, form such 
 historical landmarks, that if we only let ourselves 
 be guided by them, we cannot lose our way, and 
 camiot fail to fulfil our mission, whatever obstacles 
 we may have to encounter. The slumbering East is 
 now awakened, and not only the Slavs of the Balkans, 
 but the whole Slavonic world, awaits its regeneration.' 
 To those who share the popular delusion, that 
 the characteristic of the Slavs, especially of the 
 
SLAVG^^IC DISUNION. 247 
 
 Russian Slav, is despotism, such words may seem 
 ominous. Besides those who know that the inborn, 
 besetting sin of the Slav race is not deference to 
 authority, but a tendency to anarchy, which has been 
 the source of untold disasters to our several tribes, 
 will not wonder at the desire of the philo- Slavs to 
 promote the unity of the Slavonic world. For a 
 thousand years disunion has been our bane. We are 
 now divided among four States. There are several 
 groups of Slav nationalities, each with its own gram- 
 mar, its own idiom ; fortunately they at least are 
 content with only two alphabets. We are again 
 divided between three different religions — the Ortho- 
 dox, the Roman, and the Lutheran. 
 
 It is nearly a thousand years since Sviatopolk, the 
 great Slav sovereign of Moravia, repeated to his son, 
 as he lay on his deathbed, the familiar fable of Jilsop. 
 Presenting him with a bundle of darts, he asked him 
 to break them, to illustrate the importance of concord. 
 The lesson, alas ! was thrown away, and down to the 
 present day we suffer from the result. Only in Russia, 
 thanks to the autocracy, which has been the salvation 
 of our country, have these fatal elements of division 
 been effectively opposed. To unite Slavs, even of a 
 single race, under one head is no easy matter. In 
 Poland the attempt failed. In Russia we only learnt the 
 lesson after terrible trials, the like of which, it is to be 
 hoped, Europe will never see again. But to imagine 
 that Russians dream of establishing a universal empire 
 over all the Slav peoples is to impute to us a degree 
 
248 THE SLAVONIC CAUSE. 
 
 of madness of which, really, we are quite incapable, 
 Slavonic unity in that sense is impossible, even if it 
 were desirable. The unity of the Slavonic world, 
 for which we hope, is such a unity as th-e English- 
 speaking world already enjoys. Nowhere in the 
 whole universe are any populations of English-speak- 
 ing men under laws not of their own making, under 
 rulers not of their own choosino-. ' Blood is thicker 
 than water ' all the world over, as the American 
 admiral said when he attacked the Chinese enemies 
 of England ; but no one on that account dreams of 
 an English conquest of the United States, or an 
 American annexation of England. Such a moral uiiion 
 as the friendship, the alliance of the great nations on 
 each side of the Atlantic, that, and nothing more than 
 that, is all we seek for ourselves. Is it so impossible, 
 so impracticable, so wicked an ideal? But, after all, 
 that, and nothing else, is the great Slavonic idea. 
 
 That the oppressors of the Slavs do not like it is 
 natural enough. But is it regarded with alarm in 
 England ? She sympathises with all the nationalities 
 in Europe ; even in Egypt, she only suppressed a 
 national leader in the name of ' the real national 
 party.' Why are the Slavs regarded as beyond the 
 pale of England's syrapathies ? Not that the Slavs 
 expect anything from Great Britain, or from any 
 foreign race. ' Help yourselves ' was the cry of 
 George Krijanitch, and it was also the watchword of 
 Skobeleff. Russia has, as if carried away by a divine 
 impulse, sometimes also as if against all her ' practical 
 
RUSSIAN DISINTERESTEDNESS. 249 
 
 considerations,' helped the weaker members of the 
 Slav race. The stronger must help themselves. The 
 utmost that we ask from England is that she may 
 leave us alone. At present her influence is felt in 
 Slavonian lands only for evil, except since 1880, 
 in Montenegro. She has redelivered Macedonia to 
 the Turk, and constituted Austria — to use Sir W. 
 Harcourt's own phrase — ■' the gaoler of Slav nation- 
 alities.' These things were done before the Liberals 
 entered ofiice ; but how many Liberals there are who 
 make it a point of honour to repudiate, as if it were a 
 crime, aU suspicion of sympathy with the Slavonic 
 cause ! Even some English ' philanthropists ' — those 
 declared friends of humanity — object to the Slavonic 
 race being treated as the others. Capital specimen of 
 justice and impartiality, indeed ! 
 
 As to the favourite remarks, that ' the Slavonic 
 cause is only a blind behind which lies Russian 
 aggression,' ' To sympathise is to steal,' &c. &c., 
 I hardly need notice them. Have our polite and 
 courteous assailants ever asked themselves what 
 Slavonic land Russia has liberated in order to annex ? 
 Poland was not partitioned in the name of the Slavonic 
 cause. But we have fought for the Serbians. Have 
 we annexed Serbia? For the. Montenegrins. Have 
 we taken a single stone of the Black Mountain ? We 
 poured out our blood in torrents for the Bulgarians, 
 but we refrained from taking an inch of their soil, or 
 a stone of their fortresses. Those who actually wish 
 to learn something, to speak with a semblance of 
 
250 THE SLAVONIC CAUSE. 
 
 knowledge, let them read the San Stefano Treaty ; 
 they will see there what Russia desired to do, and 
 gave up solely thanks to the intervention of Europe. 
 At that time the latest fashion was to talk of 
 ' Europe ' : what it meant in reality was not very 
 clear ; but people never mentioned that cabalistic 
 word without putting on a solemn face. 
 
 Well, I was at Moscow at that time, and the day 
 when the San Stefano Treaty was published there 
 was such a joy, such a delight, that few Russians, 
 I dare say, will ever forget it. 
 
 The articles of that treaty, relating to Bulgaria, 
 embody the policy Russia would like to see adopted 
 in relation to every other Slavonic race under 
 Turkish or Austrian rule. 
 
 What are these articles? 
 
 Art. 6. Bulgaria is constituted an autonomous 
 tributary principality, with a Christian government 
 and a national militia. The definite frontiers will be 
 laid down on the principle of the nationality of the 
 majority of the inhabitants, conformably to the topo- 
 graphical necessities and the practical interests of 
 locomotion for the local populations. 
 
 Art. 7. The Prince of Bulgaria shaU be freely 
 elected by the population and confirmed by the 
 Sublime Porte with the assent of the Powers. Before 
 the election of the Prince, an assembly of Bulgarian 
 Notables shall draw up the organisation of the future 
 administration. In the localities where the popu- 
 lations are mixed, account will be taken of the rights 
 
WHAT KUSSIA ASKS. 251 
 
 and interests of these populations in the elections and 
 in the preparation of the organic law. 
 
 That is all Russia asks. 
 
 All the other stipulations are mere detail, con- 
 sequent on the war which was brought to a close by 
 the treaty. Russia does not want another war. All 
 that the Slavs ask could be granted without war 
 and would be granted to-morrow if their rulers were 
 wise. Free local government ; a prince elected by 
 the population ; a constitution drawn up by their 
 representatives, and the frontiers and the organisation 
 arranged in strict conformity with the nationality and 
 the interests of the mixed populations. What is 
 there in that which constitutes a menace to the peace 
 of Europe, except so far as that peace is based upon 
 the denial of human rights to the Slavs ? 
 
 It is very odd how widely different is the esti- 
 mate of the Slavonic character prevailing among the 
 Slavs, and those who know nothing about them ex- 
 cept the fictions of their neighbours. 
 
 ' We Slavs,' said Palacky, the famous Tcheque 
 historian, in 1848, 'repudiate all domination which 
 rests only on force. We demand equality before the 
 law without conditions, not only for individuals but 
 for all nations. Nature has destined no nation to be 
 the mere servile instrument of the views of its neigh- 
 bours ; all nations have an equal right to advance to 
 the highest stage of human development, nor can they 
 transgress this law with impunity.' 
 
 Once more, and once for all : Russia repudiates 
 
252 THE SLAVONIC CAUSE. 
 
 all desire to annex a single part of Slavonic soU ; she 
 seeks to found no great Panslavonic empire. She 
 helps her weaker brethren, and she is their only 
 helper. This gives her a prestige which would be 
 lost if she were supporting in order to devour. Our 
 strength lies not in annexing or occupying the terri- 
 tory of our kinsmen, but in the conviction which the 
 Montenegrian Vladyka Peter so eloquently expressed 
 to Marshal Marmont in 1807 : ' You detest and 
 calumniate the Russians, and you flatter the other 
 Slav peoples, in order that your Emperor may attain 
 his ends. But we, the Slavs, know nothing of hope 
 or of glory save through our powerful brothers 
 of Russia. If they perish, all the other Slavs will 
 perish, and who is against the Russians is against the 
 Slavs.' 
 
253 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE ST. PETERSBURG SPEECH. 
 
 Wliy Skobeleflf spoke — A warning to Austria — The conscription in 
 Bosnia — The rising in the Herzegovina — Russia and the Crivoscie 
 — What Skobeleff said — Good result of his speech. 
 
 Skobeleff, although particularly gifted with the 
 faculty of expression, seldom spoke in public. Russia 
 is not governed by talkers, and men with us are not 
 made Cabinet Ministers because they can make 
 phrases. We go even further : we, strangely 
 enough, feel a certain mistrust of those who speak too 
 well. With us, 'an embellisher of fine phrases,' 
 un beau parleur, is not a complimentary expression 
 at all. Besides, Russians are rather impatient, and 
 unless you tell them at once what you want, they 
 simply leave you alone with your eloquence. So, 
 whether you like it or not, you have to come to the 
 point. Skobeleff seldom allowed himself to discuss 
 publicly even the political questions in which he 
 was most interested. But at the beginning of 1882 
 he felt that the time had come when it was neces- 
 sary to call attention to the rising clouds on the 
 political horizon. He fancied it was his duty to 
 speak, and he spoie clearly the thoughts which were 
 burning in the Russian heart. 
 
25-i THE ST. PETERSBURG SPEECH. 
 
 I was in England at the time when lie delivered 
 his first speech — his only speech, I may say; for what 
 is called ' his speech at Paris ' was merely an inaccu- 
 rate collection of disjointed remarks, uttered in con- 
 versation without any system or plan. Without any 
 communication with him at that time, without even 
 knowing that he was about to raise so potent a voice 
 in defence of the Slavonic cause, I was endeavouring 
 to explain, as well as I could, to Englishmen, in the 
 pages of the ' Contemporary Review,' the feelings 
 with which Russia regarded the alarming develop- 
 ment of Austrian policy in the Balkan peninsula. 
 My little sketch on the crisis in Serbia appeared 
 almost the same day that General Skobeleff was 
 delivering the speech which shook the ground be- 
 neath the feet of the intriguers of Vienna. Skobeleff 
 was in the capital of his country, I a thousand miles 
 away; but each, without knowing what the other 
 was about, explained and defended the same great 
 principle, which was equally apparent to superior as 
 to commonplace observers. Both expounded the 
 common faith, the master passion of the Slavonic 
 heart. Both sounded a warning note, of which 
 Austi-ia did well to take heed. 
 
 The occasion which led Skobeleff to speak was 
 a banquet given at the anniversary of the taking 
 of Geok Tep^ — of his references to England and the 
 Central Asian question I may speak later. Here I 
 mention only his reference to the Slavonic question. 
 
 Before reproducing the chief passages -of this 
 
THE CONSCRIPTION IN BOSNIA. 255 
 
 memorable speech, it is necessary briefly to recount 
 the state of things in the East. It was loudly as- 
 serted in Austria- Hungary and elsewhere, that the 
 hour had come for the complete realisation of the pro- 
 gramme of ' crushing the head of the Slavonic ser- 
 pent,' to use the eloquent metaphor of a Hungarian 
 ' statesman.' The process began in the occupation of 
 Bosnia and the Herzegovina. Lord Beaconsfield had 
 urged that step in order that the predominance of the 
 Slavonic race might not reappear, as he naturally 
 concluded it must do, if the two provinces were per- 
 mitted to enjoy any kind of local self-government. 
 It had been begun in bloodshed. It was being per- 
 sisted in in despair. Austria, in cynical defiance of 
 the treaty which sanctioned the occupation and 
 administration of the north-west provinces of Turkey, 
 began to enforce the conscription. To levy the 
 blood-tax on a hostile people can hardly be described 
 as either occupation or administration. The Porte 
 protested. Turkish opinion denounced the conscrip- 
 tion as a flagrant violation of treaty-faith, an usur- 
 pation of the essential attributes of sovereignty. 
 
 For once Russians did not differ from their tra- 
 ditional foe. To them, as to every one else in Europe, 
 Austria was exceeding her rights. But they did not 
 interfere. Russia desired peace. When in November 
 the conscription began to be enforced, the Russian 
 Government neither interfered nor even protested. 
 We were busy, as we still are, with our internal re- 
 forms. Russia wanted peace, as she wants, it still j 
 
256 THE ST. PETERSBURG SPEECH. 
 
 and with heavy hearts we stood silent by, whilst 
 the Austrian set about dragooning the Bosnian Slavs 
 into the ranks of the Royal and Imperial army. 
 Nor was this all. Encouraged by our apparent 
 apathy, the Austrian stretched out its hand over 
 Serbia. Prince Milan — he is a kinglet now — was 
 Austrianized. His Cabinet was filled with Austrian 
 sympathisers. The Serbian constitution was put 
 aside ; the Serbian revenue was mortgaged to the 
 swindler Bontoux, an Austrian protege. Worst of 
 all, the Archbishop Michel was deposed, and an 
 attempt was made to create a schism in the Serbian 
 Church. On the Danube Austria was grasping at 
 supremacy. She was extending her influence in 
 Roumania, and the press, both of England and the 
 Continent, was full of letters from well-informed 
 correspondents describing the preparations for the 
 advance on Salonica. 
 
 But all these things were conducted in sUence. 
 Russia's sUence was misunderstood. It was taken for 
 indifference, even for impotence. The Austrian press 
 exulted in our fancied helplessness. Austria was to 
 settle the Eastern question as she pleased : Serbia 
 was to be annexed ; Montenegro occupied ; even 
 Biilgaria was to become the vassal of the Hapsburg. 
 If Russia objected — and in justice even to these 
 defamers, let me say that they admitted Russia could 
 object — Austrian armies would drive her back beyond 
 the Dnieper. The air was full of threats, all of 
 which we bore in complete silence. But when the 
 
RUSSIA AND THE EEVOLT. 257 
 
 brave peasants of the Herzegovina and the Bocche 
 drew the sword against the Austrian oppressor, then 
 indeed the Russian heart was stirred to its depths, 
 and the feelings which throbbed there were bitterly 
 hostile to Austria. 
 
 It is a mistake to suppose that Russia officially, or 
 unofficially, encouraged the rising of the Herzegovina. 
 Even the Ministers of the Hapsburg admitted that 
 the conduct of Russia was most pacific, and that no 
 one was authorised to doubt the loyalty of our 
 Government. The revolt was, as M. Tisza admitted, 
 caused by the attempt to force the conscription. He 
 blamed the party of cosmopolitan revolution for 
 fomenting it, just as Lord Beaconsfield blamed the 
 non-existing ' secret societies ' for making the Serbian 
 war. Indeed, so far were we from being friendly to 
 the rebelhon, that the first impression in Russia was 
 that the insurrection was purposely got up by the 
 Austrian Government in order to afford a colourable 
 pretext for seizing Serbia and Montenegro. But, 
 although we did not assist, we could not avoid 
 sympathising, and our sympathy was all the more 
 intense because we saw that it would be too great a 
 sacrifice to have plunged Europe into a gigantic war 
 to save a handful of peasants from conscription. 
 
 In Herzegovina Austria merely broke a European 
 treaty — the Treaty of Berlin — a precedent which is 
 not likely to be forgotten. But in the Crivoscie she 
 did much worse. The Bocchesi were surrendered to 
 
258 THE ST. PETERSBURG SPEECH. 
 
 Austria by Montenegro in 1814, in obedience to the 
 advice of our Emperor, Alexander I., who, in giving 
 this counsel, guaranteed the inhabitants, in the name 
 of the Emperor of Austria, the full enjoyment of all 
 their ancient rights and privileges. By degrees every 
 one of these rights and privileges was withdrawn, 
 until the exemption from the conscription alone 
 remained. . In 1869 that last relic of their guaranteed 
 freedom was assailed. The attempt was defeated by 
 the Bocchesi, who remained exempt until the begin- 
 ning of this year. When the attempt was renewed, 
 Russia saw with indignation and shame the ruin of a 
 brave race who, at the counsel of a Tzar, had made 
 the mistake of trusting the guarantee of an Austrian 
 Emperor. 
 
 It is easy, I suppose, to imagine the bitterness 
 with which were read the telegrams from Vienna and 
 Cettigne describing the successive changes in that 
 campaign, and to understand something of the uni- 
 versal relief which many Russians felt when Skobeleff 
 broke the oppressive silence, and dared to say, in the 
 hearing of all the world, what was burning in so 
 many hearts. The Herzegovina was being crushed ; 
 Serbia was stupefied. At any moment, we were in- 
 sultingly told, Montenegro might be invaded. Then, 
 while a paralysed diplomacy silently surveyed the 
 crime of the strong, Skobeleff stood up to assert the 
 rights of the weak. Here are some of his burning 
 words, which fell like shells in the enemy's camp, and 
 destroyed in a moment the delusion, not less dan- 
 
WHAT SKOBELEFF SAID. 259 
 
 gerous than absurd, that Russia could not be pro- 
 voked too far : — 
 
 We are in our generation living through a significant 
 period, unexampled in history. Some ages ago brute 
 force governed all international relations ; since then has 
 followed an epoch of treaty obligations, the observance of 
 ■which in form, with their repudiation in the spirit, has 
 been considered as a feat of the greatest statesman- 
 ship. 
 
 In this age it has been our lot to experience the fact 
 that the stronger, to all appearance, of two Powers, has 
 established relations based on blood and iron, and that 
 might governs right. Gentlemen, it is most significant 
 that such an official recognition of illegality, actually 
 committed, had never occurred in earlier history. 
 
 Our iron times impose on our generation great patriotic 
 obligations. It is all the more sad to find in our midst 
 so many unhealthy-minded Utopians forgetting that at 
 such a period as the present the first duty of everyone is 
 to make every sacrifice for the development of the powers 
 of his mother-country. 
 
 If mutual distrust in private affairs is naturally 
 opposed to our sympathies, it should be remembered, 
 gentlemen, that, on the other hand, an extreme mistrust 
 of everything foreign and capable of disturbing the legal 
 historical ideals of the Fatherland, is an obligation of 
 patriotism, because it cannot possibly be admitted that 
 the newly propounded theory of triumphant and illegal 
 might over physically weaker right is the privilege of 
 some one particular race. 
 
 I have one thing more to say to you, gentlemen ; but 
 allow me here to exchange my beaker with wine for a 
 tumbler with water, and I call upon you all to bear 
 
 s 2 
 
260 THE ST. PETEESBURG SPEECH. 
 
 witness that neither I nor any one of us is or can be speak- 
 ing on this occasion under any abnormal influence. 
 
 We live at a time when even Cabinet secrets are 
 badly kept, and what is spoken on this occasion will 
 of a certainty be divulged, so that extra caution would not 
 be amiss. 
 
 The experience of late years has taughb us that when 
 a Russian accidentally remembers (thanks to the history 
 of his race) that he is one of a great and powerful people, 
 and when — the Lord preserve him ! — he happens to remem- 
 ber that the Russian people are a member of the great 
 Slavonic race, some of whose families are now being per- 
 secuted and oppressed, then certain home-bred foreigners 
 raise a cry against him, and say that he is labouring 
 under abnormal bacchanalian influences. That is why, I 
 repeat, I beg leave to put down my beaker with wine, and 
 raise to my lips a glass filled with water. 
 
 It seems strange to me that any individual Russian, 
 or that our society, should display a timidity when we 
 touch on any question near to the Russian heart — a ques- 
 tion legitimately arising from our thousand years of his- 
 torical existence. There are many reasons for this, but I 
 cannot enter into them ; the principal one, however, is that 
 lamentable difference which exists between certain sec- 
 tions of Russian society, between the intellectual classes 
 and the Russian people. Gentlemen, whensoever the 
 Sovereign of the country has called upon the people, that 
 people has risen to the occasion of the historical necessity 
 of the time ; it has not always been so with our intel- 
 lectual classes, and if anyone has ever failed to respond to 
 the Tzar, it has been those intellectual classes. I per- 
 fectly understand this ; cosmopolitan Europeanism is not 
 a source of strength, but an indication of weakness. 
 There can be no strength independent of the nation, and 
 the intellectual classes are a power only when in combina- 
 tion with the people. 
 
RESULT OF THE SPEECH. 261 
 
 On this anniversary of the fall of Geok Tepe it is only 
 our best feelings that are uppermost. Frederick II. used 
 to say that ' Russians not only had to be killed, but they 
 had to be thrown down even after life is extinguished.' 
 My soldier's heart and my experience tell me that I am 
 in an assembly of such people as those referred to by the 
 Marshal. This is why, in the midst of soldiers, I utter 
 words which are to be understood in a military sense, 
 and not as having anything in common with politics of 
 a given time. 
 
 Referring to the struggle for faith and nationality- 
 then going on on the shores of the Adriatic, General 
 Skobeleff concluded with the foUovring v^^ords : — 
 
 I will not express all my meaning, gentlemen. My 
 heart aches. But our faith in the historical mission of 
 Russia is our consolation and our strength. Long live 
 the Emperor ! 
 
 How can I describe the tumult of emotion which 
 this speech called forth in Russia. The few who at every 
 great crisis have played the coward's part, lifted their 
 voices in horror. No calumny was too base for them 
 to heap on the head of the fearless general. ' He was 
 mad; ' ' he has lost his senses ' — I know not what ! 
 But Russia was not deceived by these lies. Russia 
 heard in her hero's words the utterance of her deepest 
 thought. Skobeleff had spoken, and Europe had 
 heard. Austria was warned. It was something 
 already achieved. The diplomatists, as usual, were 
 alarmed. Presently newspapers announced that 
 Skobeleff was going abroad on a lengthened leave 
 of absence. * Banished ! ' ' exiled ! ' exclaimed with 
 
262 THE ST. PETERSBUEG SPEECH. 
 
 delight his enemies, and the enemies of Russia, 
 who, "within a few days were asserting as positively 
 that he had been despatched on a confidential 
 political mission. In reality, Skobeleflf, consulting 
 his own convenience, went to Paris, and there, by a 
 curious accident, a few sentences, dropped in the 
 course of a simple conversation, made so much stir 
 as to cause his St. Petersburg speech to be quite 
 forgotten. But that remains the only political speech 
 Skobeleff ever made. 
 
263 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 SKOBELEFF IN PARIS. 
 
 A soldier's right to speak — Skobeleff's alarm — German menaces — His 
 visit to Paris — Desires to avert war — The conditions of peace — 
 What Skobeleff said — His political ideal — The address of the 
 Serbian students — The scare — A Bulgarian deputation — His recall 
 — Speech at Warsaw — Russia, Prussia, and the Poles — Received 
 by the Emperor — The forgery of the ' France ' — M. Gambetta and 
 Skobeleff. 
 
 I WELL remember talking to SkobeleiF at Moscow a 
 few weeks before his death. ' It amused me greatly,' 
 said he, in his frank and charming way, ' to see what 
 people said about my speech at St. Petersburg. " A 
 soldier," they cried; "and to talk politics! 'Tis 
 monstrous." But they never seem to remember that 
 I was in Russia, where relations between the sovereign 
 and his subjects are quite different from those pre- 
 vailing in constitutional countries. There really 
 exists a paternal feeling between our Emperor and 
 ourselves. Why should we not let him know what 
 we think ; what we suffer from ; what we long for ? 
 You know very well that everything can be said and 
 written when put in a proper shape. I thought it my 
 duty to speak, and I spoke.' 
 
 That was his theoiy, not shared by everybody to 
 be sure ; but in countries where the talking apparatus 
 
26i SKOBELEFF IN PAEIS. 
 
 is not SO higlily developed as in England, where they 
 talk six weeks before deciding whether a debate ought 
 ever to be closed, it is well not to be too pedantic 
 in limiting the right to speak where there is both the 
 ability and the will. Skobeleff had both, and his 
 speech did good. I really think it did. It cleared 
 the air. It reminded the world that Russia existed. 
 It reminded Russians that their historical mission was 
 not forgotten, and it made an end once for all of all 
 schemes for invadina^ Monteneocro. The Crivoscie it 
 could not save.^ But it threw the shadow of the 
 Russian sword across the path of the aggressor and 
 bade him beware. I am not the only one to think 
 that the warning sufficed. 
 
 ' Mr. Arthur Evans writes to the Pall Mall G-azette as follows : — 
 ' The state of Crivosoia is still such as those who like myself knew 
 the determination of its heroic sons, from the first predicted it would 
 be if Austro-Hungarian cannon succeeded in dislodging them from 
 their mountain eyries. "Order" there reigns with a vengeance, for 
 the country is a desert. The results of the Hapsburg attempt to en- 
 force the violation of their oaths, by introducing the conscription in 
 the chartered Bocchesi districts, are thus described by the Pester 
 Lloyd : " The Crivoscians and Ubliani show no inclination to return to 
 their homes. Over 4,000 human beings, young and old, women and 
 children, have been now for the last ten months exiles from their 
 hearths and homes, seeking scanty shelter and subsistence among their 
 kinsmen of the Black Mountain, who themselves have nothing. With 
 the exception of soldiers and a few hundred workmen engaged from a 
 distance to execute the new works of fortification, not a single living 
 soul is to be found in the whole Crivoscian country [the italics are the 
 Pester Lloyd's]. Every village is deserted. From the mighty rock 
 wall of the Pazua, the Bora (the icy nor'-nor'-easter of the Dinaric 
 Alps) sweeps down with all the terrors of the elements on the 
 devastated shells of villages and habitations. Not a shepherd pastures 
 his sheep among the rocks ; not a plough for the last year past has 
 furrowed the fields of the upland plains of Ubli and Dragail, Knezlac 
 and Unirine.'"— Dee. 14, 1882. 
 
SKOBELEFF ALARMED. 2G5 
 
 But along witli this good his speech brought some 
 evil. SkobelefF was no diplomatist. He spoke straight 
 out what his heart was full of, and the result of this 
 was that he provoked a storm of indignation in 
 Germany, which was entirely without warrant. 
 SkobelefF, in turn, took alarm. He believed that 
 Austria backed by Germany meditated an attack 
 upon the western frontier of Russia. A defensive 
 war, . such as broke the power of Napoleon, was by 
 no means to his taste. ' If we are to be attacked,' 
 he said, over and over again, ' let us at least be 
 ready to carry the war into the enemy's country.' 
 Beyond that he never went. Of an aggressive war 
 with Germany he never even dreamt. Of this he 
 assured me several times. Now I cannot conceive 
 why he should say to me things which he did not 
 thinlt. Whatever he told me always bore such a 
 character of complete frankness that I could 
 guarantee his sincerity.^ In Moscow nobody 
 
 ' Skobeleff was singularly truthful. Since writing the above I have 
 come upon the following anecdote of him in an English newspaper. 
 The writer says : — 
 
 ' Skobeleff has had in his life to tell diplomatic falsehoods, but they 
 stuck in his throat and nearly choked him. On one great occasion he 
 boldly told a lie, or rather a bundle of lies. His mendacity was to 
 veil the scheme of a campaign on which tremendous issues depended. 
 When the person whom he was deceiving rose to quit him he insisted 
 on seeing him to his carriage. On his way out, the General stopped 
 short and said, "You look very honest, and you are a person of breed- 
 ing. If you suspected the importance of some questions you have 
 been asking, you would have cut your hand off rather than put them." 
 He then recapitulated them, and added, "All my answers on these 
 points were lies. I can't bear the feeling of lying to you. You may 
 guess the truth from this. I place my secret at your mercy, and am 
 sure you will not give me cause to regret doing so." ' 
 
266 SKOBELEFF IN PARIS. 
 
 shared his alarms ; but I suppose a readiness to take 
 the offensive if attack is threatened is not incompatible 
 with a purely defensive policy. Fortunately, at the 
 present moment we have no ground for picking a 
 quarrel with an old ally and friend like Germany, and 
 Germany has no serious ground for attacking us. 
 
 I must beg the permission, however, to say, in 
 justice to Skobeleff, that the remarks of some of the 
 German newspapers were not much calculated to 
 allay his suspicions of the intentions of the party 
 whose watchword is ' Drang nach Osten.' The press 
 in all the world is doing no end of mischief. One 
 could less expect to find it in that of Germany, 
 because ia no country is the general level of culture 
 and information so high as in the native land of Kant 
 and Hegel ; but, unfortunately, men are not guided 
 only by their faculty • for j udging and weighing the 
 real facts. The press is losing its ground every day 
 more and more, but it has not lost it entirely yet. 
 The ' Voss Gazette,' for instance, declared that 
 ' Germany had an absolute necessity to extend herself 
 on her eastern frontier. The material and intellectual 
 position of the Polish, Lettish, and Lithuanian popula- 
 tions would be considerably ameliorated if they were 
 placed under the rule of Germany. The history of 
 the last ten centuries shows how easily it is to 
 Germanise the Slavonic populations. The Slavonic 
 races of Pomerania, Silesia, and Lusatia, and of the 
 March, are illustrations of this. In order to Ger- 
 manise all Slavs, as well to protect the German 
 
THE DANGER OF WAR. 267 
 
 Empire, the German frontier has to be pushed far 
 eastward.' How far was not stated, but possibly it 
 was on the west of Moscow. Such menaces as these 
 were ringing in the air when Skobeleff crossed 
 Germany and found himself at Paris. 
 
 Everybody goes to Paris. Parisians are neither 
 afraid nor suspicious of foreigners who have a liking 
 for their country. Nobody dreams of asking a new- 
 comer, ' How on earth are you again with us ? What 
 is your object ? ' If anything surprises a Frenchman 
 it is the fact that people are foolish enough to live 
 anywhere except in Paris. Skobeleff's mother used 
 to live there, and he very often visited France. 
 But his previous visits had attracted no attention. 
 This time short- sighted people congratulated each 
 other on the belief that ' they should hear no more of 
 that hot-head Skobeleff.' He was supposed to be 
 under a cloud. Diplomacy had extinguished him. 
 He dared make no more speeches, and so on. But 
 Skobeleff was not so easily snuffed out. He went to 
 Paris dominated by two feelings. The first, sympathy 
 for the Slavs of the Adriatic, and second, a terrible 
 conviction that war was inevitable if Austria persisted 
 in carrying out the programme proclaimed by her 
 journals. 
 
 If Austria invaded Montenegro, Russia would be 
 compelled to intervene. To keep the peace, Austria 
 must be prevented from crossing the frontier. If 
 Austria mediatised Serbia, and annexed the country 
 up to the iEgean, the danger of a colhsion would again 
 
268 SKOBELEfF IN PARIS. 
 
 be very great. But, if common report were true, that 
 is exactly what Austria proposed to do. To prevent 
 war, Austria must be reminded of the limits of the 
 Treaty of Berlin ; and as no one else seemed disposed 
 to bell the cat, Skobeleff determined to do the work 
 hims3.f. 
 
 It may have been presumptuous, but it was not 
 a foolish ambition which prompted him to speak. 
 As a patriot and as a man, he wished to prevent a 
 war which he thought might become inevitable, and 
 if his warnings proved in vain, he wished to see how 
 far the Powers which had signed the Treaty of Berlin 
 could assist Russia in preventing its violation. Let 
 people call it a madcap quixotism, or what they will, 
 I do not defend it. I do not ask anybody to refrain 
 from condemning it. I only ask them to look at it, 
 only for a moment, from Skobeleflf's own standpoint, 
 and not to judge our impulsive hero until the real 
 motive of his expedition is thoroughly understood. 
 
 When Skobeleff came to Paris he saw many 
 Frenchmen. To all he spoke with the utmost un- 
 reserve. With that engaging candour which gave so 
 great a charm to all he said, he told all his visitors 
 exactly what was his position. ' He held no mis- 
 sion,' he said, ' from the Government ; he was merely 
 a Russian who knew a catastrophe impended imme- 
 diately ahead ; if Austria executed the aforesaid pro- 
 gramme, no power on earth in that case could keep 
 Russia from defending the Southern Slavs from Aus- 
 trian aggression. It might be deplored, but the fact 
 
THE CONDITIONS OF PEACE. 269 
 
 could not be ignored. Austria must stop her 
 threatened advance. Peace might be secured, if the 
 Powers assisted in maintaining the treaty they 
 signed.' That, and much more to the same effect, 
 SkobelefF said to all who met him, to friends as to 
 foes. Over and over again he repeated that he had 
 come not to raise a storm, but to avoid it. The 
 means he used were, perhaps, not correct ; but surely 
 the motive was not a bad one ? 
 
 Suppose an Englishman had gone to Paris after 
 the fall of M. Gambetta, and had said exactly what 
 Skobeleflf had said, only with relation to Egypt, in- 
 stead of the Balkan, is it not possible that it might 
 have cleared the air? He could have said quite 
 truly that, unless Arabi desisted from the policy on 
 which he had entered, he would inevitably force 
 England to draw the sword. Arabi might have been 
 warned in time, and England might have been spared 
 the painful duty of supporting her word by drastic 
 measures. 
 
 Of course Skobeleff spoke only as any other Rus- 
 sian could speak ; his official position had nothing to 
 do in the matter. Such at least was his conviction, 
 though many Russian generals would never dare to 
 separate in that way their private character from their 
 official uniform. I saw Skobeleff several times this last 
 spring, and each time he denied having made any 
 speech at all in Paris, in the ordinary sense of the 
 term, and he never uttered the wild and mischievous 
 words put into his mouth by the French press. His 
 
270 SKOBELEFF IN PARIS. 
 
 mistake was that he allowed his French friends to 
 spread the wrong report, which they wanted as a. 
 feeler for their own purposes, and contradicted it 
 only to the ' Daily News ' Correspondent, and to the 
 Correspondent of the ' Kolnische Zeitung.' He not 
 only admitted, but insisted upon the accuracy of these 
 two accounts, and I therefore reproduce their substance 
 as testimony to my own explanation. He said : — 
 ' Europe is in imminent danger of a great war. It is 
 inevitable ; the provisions of the Berlin Treaty are to 
 be trampled under foot by Austria. Russia has no 
 reason to love that treaty. It was a bad treaty, for 
 her and for the Southern Slavs; but it at least secured 
 the latter from being crushed by foreign despots. If 
 not, there wUl be war. It would be a mad war, a 
 war of suicide, you say — perhaps. But there are some 
 circumstances where even suicide is unavoidable. But 
 there is no need for war.' 
 
 ( Skobeleflf often used to say that in war, instead 
 of being made prisoner, it is better to kill oneself on 
 the spot. Such were his views — not mine. I only 
 explain what his theory of suicide meant.) 
 
 ' Peace can be maintained,' continued he, ' if the 
 facts are recognised in time. I wish to remind you of 
 these facts, which the diplomatists, who are always 
 for ignoring the truth until it is too late, have 
 obscured. 
 
 ' I have no hostility to Germany. But why does 
 she not restrain Austria from aggression? If 
 Berlin were to say " Hands oif," the word would 
 
WHAT SKOBELEFF SAID. 271 
 
 be respected at Vienna. The Slavs only wish to 
 remain Slavs. They object to be either Magyarised, 
 Germanised, or Jesuit-ridden. Austria was only 
 authorised to occupy, and to administer, to restore 
 order in the two provinces. She was exceeding her 
 commission. She was enforcing the conscription and 
 promoting a Jesuit propaganda amongst the people. 
 Russia had not delivered the Slavs from the Turk to 
 have them trampled on by the Austrian. Even 
 under the Turk the Slavs had more independence 
 than under the oppressive yoke of the bureaucrats 
 of Vienna. Why cannot she let them develop in 
 their own way, and live their own life? It may be 
 rough and rude; but such as it is, it must be the basis 
 of their own social and political evolution. But they 
 are prevented from doing it ; they must set all their 
 clocks by Vienna time. The Austrian machine 
 works like a clock. It is regular, but it is inflexible 
 and unfeeling. The Slavs of the Adriatic would be 
 content with almost any kind of social autonomy. 
 It is denied them, and they revolt. In Serbia also 
 the foreign element is constantly encroaching. That 
 element is the enemy against which we have always 
 to be on guard. The Slavs have to struggle without 
 ceasing. It is a long and arduous contest between 
 the two civilisations ; it is going on in every Slavonic 
 land, but if we are true to ourselves, in the end we 
 shall be victors. 
 
 ' The West is deluded about Russia. It thinks that 
 we are so crippled by the late war as to be helpless. It 
 
272 SKOBELEFF IN PARIS. 
 
 is a mistake. A nation of ninety millions, capable 
 sacrificing itself with enthusiasm for an ideal, is n^ 
 so easily effaced. 
 
 ' Our provinces are disordered ; we are weaken( 
 by the war, and the Nihilists, these deformed childr( 
 of the German philosophy, are giving trouble. Bi 
 Russia is still living, and if certain lines were ove 
 passed, she would fight. In such a war all the risl 
 would not be on our side. Most of the Austris 
 troops are Slavs, and they would not be vei 
 enthusiastic in opposing the power that sought tl 
 liberation of their brethren.' ^ 
 
 ' In this Skobeleff agreed with Lord Derby. In the speech whi 
 the former Foreign Secretary delivered after leaving the Beaconsfie 
 Cabinet, he said : — 
 
 ' I think it is fully open to doubt whether you can rely much 
 Austrian co-operation. Without disclosing anything that is not befc 
 us, I say only what is known to everybody when I assert that Austj 
 cannot take the bold policy of coming to a rupture with Russia unit 
 personally assured of the support or the neutrality of Germany. The 
 are so many different races in Austria that a single unsuccessi 
 campaign might very possibly break up the Empire. No doubt t 
 Magyars, who have attracted and deserved so much sympathy in tl 
 country, are vehemently and intensely anti-Russian. But you hav< 
 not insignificant Slav population which takes exactly the opposite vie 
 and portions of the Austrian army distinguished by their Slav natic 
 ality could not be trusted to fight the Russians. You have the SIe 
 Germans, who only want peace. In addition to this, we know tl 
 the finances are in such a state that the Austrian Government had soi 
 difficulty in raising the 5,000, OOOL or 6, 000, COOL necessary for the fi: 
 organisation. I say, that with all these elements of weakness and cc 
 fusion, Austria is not a power on whose support we can rely.' — Spei 
 in the House of Lords, April 8, 1878. 
 
 The spontaneous recognition of Slavonic and Orthodox unity 
 the part of Austrian Slavs has sometimes proved somewhat e 
 barrassing for Russia. Of this the following extract from Palme 
 Notes on a Visit to the Russian Church, 1840-41, may serve as 
 illustration : — 
 
A SLAV FEDERATION. 273 
 
 Skobeleff continued : ' And the delusion is that 
 Russia wants to seize the Skvonic lands. The more 
 real freedom you give to the Slavs of the Adriatic 
 and the Balkan, the less likelihood is there of their 
 seeking new masters elsewhere. What we want to 
 see is a Slav federation, founded on the fraternity of 
 the race, and the liberty of all its members. "We 
 fought to emancipate, not to enslave our brothers. 
 Russia wants nothing for herself She is the only 
 State in Europe suflS.ciently idealistic to go to war 
 for a sentiment. Her people shrink from no sacrifice 
 in the cause of religion and of race. Beware lest you 
 provoke them too far ! 
 
 ' I am not here to foment war. On my honour 
 and conscience, I detest it. No one who has seen 
 the sickening horrors of war through which I have 
 passed could be otherwise. But war can only be 
 prevented if we drop the masks of diplomacy; and, 
 
 ' When the Emperor Alexander was at Laibach, the Austrian 
 Slavonic soldiers attending the Liturgy at his tent-church, and seeing 
 aU the same as in their own worship, and hearing the Church Slavonic, 
 from which their vernacular Slavonic differs less than does the Russ, 
 exclaimed publicly, according to Sir James Wylie, ' ' This is our Em- 
 peror ! " at which the Emperor Alexander was much annoyed, and he 
 and the Austrian Ministers had some difficulty in preventing a still 
 greater excitement. And it appears that any Russian Emperor might 
 have them all with him — 20,000,000 of Slavonians — Sir James says 
 (besides those which he has already), if he were to proclaim himself 
 Emperor of the Slavs. There are fine roads within the Austrian terri- 
 tory, which end suddenly before they reach the frontier, and all com- 
 munication is strictly interdicted. It is even felony to possess a 
 Russian book. So Austria has another source of weakness besides 
 the Magyars and Hungary.' (Page 236.) 
 
274 SKOBELEFF IN PARIS. 
 
 like Prince Bismarck, talk as business men of what we 
 want. We want peace.' 
 
 That is the substance of what Skobeleff said, and 
 what he often referred to in his conversations at 
 home as well as abroad. What he was supposed to 
 have said no one knows. Who can sum up the 
 absurdities of which the press can be guilty? We 
 have a vulgar but graphic proverb in Eussia : ' The 
 tongue has no bones, it can say what it likes.' A 
 free press is no doubt a great thing, but it has the 
 same privilege. When a free press means the free 
 dissemination of calumnies and slanders, its benefits 
 are hardly so obvious. SkobeleiF was disgusted be- 
 yond degree at the sensational falsehoods they spread 
 abroad about him and about Russia. All the mischief 
 resulting from his visit to Paris was due, not to what 
 he said, but what foreign newspapers pretended that 
 he had said. The occasion which they took for 
 creating a sensation was an interview which Skobeleff 
 had with a band of Serbian students who came to 
 present him with an address. This document, which 
 was published by ' La France,' was dated January 30, 
 and ran as follows : — 
 
 General, — Deeply impressed by the energetic and 
 noble words wMch you have addressed to our brothers 
 who gather to-day in the mountains of Bosnia, the Herze- 
 govina, and Dalmatia, around the flag of Liberty and 
 national independence, and who baptize it with their 
 blood and their tears, the Serbian youth in Paris feel 
 themselves bound to express their gratitude in presenting 
 you with this address. 
 
ADDKESS OF THE SERBIAN STUDENTS. 275 
 
 The undersigned, General, are fully convinced that they 
 have heard, not only the salutation of a Eussian soldier, 
 whose sword has flashed on many battlefields both of 
 Europe and Asia, but that through your fraternal and 
 heroic heart there has reached them the true and powerful 
 voice of Slavonic Russia herself. They beg you to believe 
 that this humble manifest alone is only a testimony of the 
 aspirations of the whole Serbian people from the Danube 
 to the Adriatic. 
 
 Animated by sentiments of admiration for the fraternal 
 enthusiasm to which you have abandoned yourself, the 
 undersigned cannot conceal their joy at seeing the hand 
 of these great sister-nations extended, in spite of all 
 obstacles, towards one another, to dress the wounds which 
 the strong of this world have inflicted and are still 
 inflicting on the Southern Slavs in general, and on the 
 Serbians in particular. They cherish the hope that the 
 day is not far distant when that same hand will be offered 
 against their civilised oppressors, as it has aided them 
 against their savage conquerors, and that upon the classic 
 ground of the Serbian and Slavonic East, Russia will 
 erect monuments of her history and of her mission of 
 which the most lasting foundation is the equality and 
 independence of the people, and whose crown is the ideal 
 of the human race — Justice and Liberty. 
 
 Finally, General, the Serbian youth will not cease to 
 regard you as the heroic interpreter of their race, so 
 nearly related to your own, alike in its unequal struggle 
 for independence, its secular trials, and its legitimate 
 aspirations. 
 
 Paris, January 30, 1882. 
 
 After the address had been presented, Skobeleff, in 
 Lis free and unrestrained fashion, talked to the young 
 fellovrs about the Slavonic cause, thanked them for 
 
 I 2 
 
276 SKOBELEFF IN PARIS. 
 
 their fraternal feelings, and encouraged them to 
 preserve their nationality and their religion against 
 foreign influences. It was merely an informal con- 
 versation, such as passes between would-be friends. 
 No reporter was present. There was no speech, and 
 nothing was further from SkobelefF's mind thaij that 
 any of his observations would be published as a mani- 
 festo against our allies at Berlin. 
 
 A painful fact has to be recognised — a very pain- 
 ful one indeed, especially to Russians — who have 
 sustained terrible losses -during the Serbian war ; 
 losses which no time, no efforts can make them forget. 
 All Serbians are not friendly to Russia. Some 
 of them think themselves less well treated than 
 the Bulgarians, and in return for Russian help 
 are even hostile to us. Some go still further, and 
 pretend having become ' too ' civilised not to sym- 
 pathise with constitutional or even with Socialistic 
 views. Have such Serbians been in that meeting in 
 Skobeleff's room ? and if they have, can their testi- 
 mony be implicitly accepted? I prefer not answering 
 these questions. The undoubted fact is, that Sko- 
 baleff, immediately after he saw his pretended ' speech ' 
 in the ' France,' spoke to the Correspondents of the 
 ' Kolnische Zeitung ' and of the ' Daily News,' and 
 though these papers, as a rule, are hostile to Russia, 
 on that occasion they acted fairly. Skobeleff urged 
 them to give a trae version of his remarks to the 
 world, and they both acquiesced in his request. 
 
 Those who did not know Skobeleff, or who had 
 
A BULGARIAN DEPUTATION. 277 
 
 some hidden motive for preferring the version of the 
 ' France,' of course clung to that authority. What 
 Skobeleff ought to have done, according to my im- 
 pression, would have been to insist upon the ' France ' 
 denying its first version ; but he thought the 
 ' Daily News ' and the ' Kohiische Zeitung ' were 
 more read and listened to than that Paris paper, and 
 did not go further in his contradiction. The sen- 
 sation produced by all this was enormous. In 
 Eussia we were half-amused, half-amazed. We 
 knew Skobeleff could never have said the nonsense 
 imputed to him, but for a few moments it was as 
 bad as if it were true. The Russian funds fell, and 
 all the people — for we have some of those also in 
 Russia — who regard the rise and fall of stocks and 
 shares as the barometer of heaven, set up a cry, a 
 very loud and angry cry, against Skobeleff. He was 
 ' a madman,' ' a criminal,' ' a traitor ; ' I know not 
 what else. There was such a commotion in all 
 Europe ; there was such anxiety at St. Petersburg, 
 that it was decided Skobeleff should be summoned 
 home to explain what he had really said and done. 
 
 The newspapers reported that, whilst in Paris, 
 Skobeleff received a Bulgarian as well as a Serbian 
 deputation. According to a Bulgarian correspond- 
 ence, which appeared in the ' Neue Freie Presse,' the 
 deputation presented him with an address, which 
 contained the following passage : — ' Your oppressed 
 Slavonic brothers only await your frank and manly 
 words to throw themselves into the unequal conflict 
 
278 SKOBELEFF IN PAEIS. 
 
 •with the enemy of the Slavs. The light of your 
 speech has shone on the heights of the Balkans, as well 
 as the valleys of the Danube, the Tundscha, and the 
 Maritza. It is upon you that we count to realise 
 the Treaty of San Stefano, and to found the great 
 Bulgaria.' Whether such an address was presented 
 or not, I do not know ; but it is worth notice that the 
 report says the presentation was only followed by a 
 conversation, as I know was the case after the Serbian 
 address was presented. SkobelefF did not formally 
 deliver an oration to a handful of youths. He entered 
 into a friendly chat with them individually. All 
 that is reported of his conversation with the Bul- 
 garians is, that he advised them to fortify without 
 delay the Ime of Karadja Dagh and of the Balkans. 
 ' The town of Slivno,' he said, 'could be made a Slav 
 Saragossa if its inhabitants shared the bravery of 
 Spaniards.' 
 
 Before he left Paris, he had an interview with the 
 Correspondent of the ' Daily News,' whom he greatly 
 impressed, as he generally did everyone, by his 
 winning manners, his lofty idealism, his chivalrous 
 devotion to the cause of the oppressed. ' He is the 
 Godfrey de Bouillon of the Slavonic race,' summed 
 up the Correspondent. The account given in the 
 ' Daily News ' of his parting conversation, although 
 brief, is yet so true, and so like SkobelefF, that it 
 delights me much. It is accepted too often as a posi- 
 tive truth that Englishmen are egotistical, cold- 
 hearted, that they have no enthusiasm. Nothing 
 
RECALLED TO RUSSIA. 279 
 
 seems to me less founded. English people are capable 
 of generosity and enthusiasm, perhaps not less than 
 any other nation ; but these feelings in England ma- 
 nifest themselves in their own way, and to my mind 
 in a very attractive, though unconventional, way. If 
 an Englishman gets positive proofs of an error he 
 was under, there is no man more ready to confess it, 
 and no man more eager to declare it openly and cou- 
 rageously. The way in which SkobelefF has been 
 judged and appreciated by some English people will 
 always constitute a strong tie, a real sympathy 
 between the two nations. 
 
 Immediately after he left Paris — never, alas ! to 
 return to the Western world — Skobeleff was in a 
 state of no small uncertainty about the result of his 
 self-imposed mission. His words had been mis- 
 represented, misunderstood. What had been intended 
 to be a warning had been changed into a defiance, 
 almost a manifesto. His attempt to preserve the 
 peace seemed as if it were likely to bring about an 
 immediate collision ; and as a reward for all this, he 
 was now recalled to St. Petersburg to be reprimanded, 
 perhaps dismissed, perhaps banished. But SkobelefF 
 had a brave heart. He was not afraid of sacrificing 
 his great position, his career, if in so doing he could 
 help the Slavonic cause. Had he not over and over 
 again exposed his life, and what can a man do more 
 than that? 
 
 He had given a warning to Austria. His voice 
 had been heard. If it was not all, it was something. 
 
280 SKOBELEFF IN PARIS. 
 
 The newspapers, with their usual truthfulness, re- 
 ported some sayings of SkobeleiF's during his stay at 
 Vienna. In reality he made there no stay at all, 
 having gone home full speed. 
 
 At Warsaw he stayed but a few hours, and availed 
 himself of that short space of time for addressing, at 
 a banquet offered to him, a few friendly words to the 
 Poles. But, entendons nousl Friendly feelings, in 
 order to bring positive results, have to be sincere on 
 both sides. It is hopeless to expect a real harmony 
 if all Russia's overtures remain unanswered. 
 
 To most English people Poland is still the same 
 Poland as that for which. Kosciusko fought. She 
 has changed, and is changing still more. There is a 
 new Poland of which the West knows little. This 
 new Polish party begins to understand the policy 
 of reconciliation, inaugurated by the Marquis of 
 Wielopolski, between the Poles and their Slavonic 
 brethren. The material prosperity of the present 
 Poland has gained for her the name of the ' Belo:ium 
 of Russia.' It will be no slight triumph for ' the 
 Slavonic idea if it should prove the means of the re- 
 union of two races, whose feuds have dyed crimson so 
 many pages of our common history.' 
 
 ' I wish the Poles,' he said, ' all the good in the 
 world, and sincerely wish they were at one with us, 
 as all the Slavs should be. Are we not brethren? 
 It is true there is a Russian garrison here ; but if it 
 were removed, you would have a German garrison in 
 its place. During the last war, the 16th regiment 
 
RUSSIA AND THE POLES. 281 
 
 was under my command. It was officered by Poles, 
 who were amongst the bravest of the brave. From 
 that time I have learned to respect the Poles.' 
 
 These were good words bravely spoken. Skobe- 
 leff but expressed a sentiment which two hundred 
 years ago had been enlarged upon by a Polish am- 
 bassador to the Russian Court. But, of course, this 
 was a new offence. To say a good word to a Pole 
 is held by some as a bad word to the Germans. 
 
 According to the ' Czas,' an eminent member of the 
 Polish conservatives recently expressed himself thus 
 to Prince Bismarck : — ' If Prussia were to seize any 
 part of Poland, the sympathies of the Poles for the 
 Russians would at once be awakened ; for these sym- 
 pathies are founded on history, psychology, and poli- 
 tical economy. On history, for the Prussians have 
 always been considered as the most violent enemies of 
 our nationality. Upon psychology, for of two evils, 
 one always endures more easily that which is old ■ 
 and upon political economy, for everyone knows 
 that of all parts of ancient Poland, those who found 
 themselves in the best economic condition are those 
 which have fallen to the lot of Russia. Polish 
 'industry and commerce would be undoubtedly 
 injured by a Prussian annexation and perhaps 
 destroyed.' 
 
 But let us return to Skobeleflf. Ever since the 
 calumnies published by the French newspapers, 
 Skobeleff had been the mark for innumerable assaults 
 from German sources. His name was mixed in 
 
282 SKOBELEFF IN PARIS. 
 
 popular rhymes with contemptuous epithets, no at- 
 tempt was spared to injure his position and his repu- 
 tation. After leaving Warsaw he immediately went 
 to the Minister of War, the Minister of the Interior, 
 and thus was received by the Emperor. His Majesty 
 is all for peace, but the Russian Emperor understands 
 Russian feelings. Skobeleff was heard and was not 
 banished. Since this, however, officers and generals 
 in service have been forbidden to make political 
 speeches. 
 
 M. AksakofF published in the New Year's number 
 of the ' Russ ' an account of SkobelefF's ' speech ' at 
 Paris which entirely confirms all that 1 have said. 
 Skobeleff wrote to M. AksakofF telling him that the 
 ' speech ' was in reality never delivered, but was 
 concocted by Camille Farcy,^ from the statements of 
 
 ' Here is the famous forgery which at first I was very loth to 
 reproduce even as such ; but as Skobeleff has declared it to be a tissue 
 of fabrication, I give it in a footnote ; — 
 
 ' I need hardly tell you, my friends, how deeply I am moved by 
 the warm manifestations you have indulged in. I assure you that it 
 is true happiness to me to see around me the youthful representatives 
 of Serbia — of that nation which was the first to raise the standard of 
 Slav liberties in the East, which is the birthright of the Slavs. It is 
 my duty to speak to you frankly. I shall not shrink from that duty. 
 I am bound to tell you the reason why Russia is not always equal to 
 the discharge of her patriotic duties in general, and to the fulfilment 
 of her mission as a Slav Power in particular. It is because at home 
 as well as abroad Russia has foreign influences to contend against. 
 We are not the masters in our own house. Yes, the foreigner is 
 everyivhere and everything in Russia. His hand is in all our affairs. 
 We are dupes of his policy, victims to his intrigues, slaves to his 
 strength ; and from his baneful influence we can only be delivered by 
 the sword. And shall I tell you the name of that intriguing intruder 
 — of that oppressor of Russians and Slavs ? You all know him. It is 
 the author of the " Drang naoh Osten." It is the German. I repeat 
 
THE FORGERY OF THE 'FRANCE.' 283 
 
 the students, pieced out by all the ingenuity and 
 talent at the command of the ' French press.' It 
 contained much that General Skobeleff said, but in 
 a greatly exaggerated form, and with considerable 
 additions. When the General, on reading this pro- 
 duction m the paper, went down to one of the best 
 offices to remonstrate, he was entreated not to deny 
 the words attributed to him — words which had 
 already spread like wildfire, and awakened the dor- 
 mant patriotism of France. General Skobeleff allowed 
 himself to be persuaded, and aftei'wards received the 
 thanks of M. Gambetta himself, who said : — ' The 
 speech has already done great good ; it has filled all 
 hearts with patriotic ardour, and rouses hopes of a 
 Franco-Russian alliance. Cela a pris comme une 
 trainee de foiidre. Look at these telegrams I have 
 just received from Havre and Marseilles ! The fleet 
 and army are wild with enthusiasm ; but I warn you 
 that in my paper I shall have to condemn the want 
 of tact shown by General Skobeleff, out of political 
 caution, and so as not to appear a party to its utter- 
 ance.' M. Gambetta further spoke of his efforts to 
 
 it, and entreat you never to forget it — the German is the enemy. A 
 struggle is inevitable between the Teuton and the Slav. It cannot be 
 long deferred. It will be long, sanguinary, and terrible, but I enter- 
 tain the faith that it will culminate in the victory of the Slav. It is 
 quite natural that you should be anxious to know how matters stand, 
 since your kith and kin are even now shedding their blood. I will 
 not say much, but I can assure you that if any one ventures to touch 
 the States recognised by European treaties, such as Serbia and Mon- 
 tenegro, you shall not be left to fight alone. Once more I thank you, 
 and if fate wills it, may we meet again on the battle-field, shoulder to 
 shoulder against the common enemy ! ' 
 
284 SKOBELEFF IN PARIS. 
 
 obtain a revision of the Constitution, to raise up a 
 strong power in France, and of the value of the 
 Franco-Russian alliance, saying, amongst other things, 
 ' Thank God that you have no Parliament ; if you 
 had one, you would go on talking for over a hundred 
 years without doing anything.' 
 
 M. Aksakoff says : ' If Gambetta's enemy was 
 " the German " — the cause of the fall of France — 
 SkobelefF's actual enemy was, not the German, but 
 the Austrian ; only the German of the Berlin Congress, 
 the supporter of Austrian aggression upon Slavonic 
 liberties, and the enemy of Russian nationalism was 
 disliked. The Austro-German alliance at that time 
 was represented by the press infinitely more close 
 than it proves to be.' 
 
285 
 
 CHAPTEK IV. 
 
 RUSSIA AND GERMANY. 
 
 Lord Beaconsfield on the Berlin Treaty— His declaration repeated by 
 Skobeleff— His sentiments towards Germany— Russian distrust of 
 Republican France—' We cannot go hand in hand ' — Panslavism 
 not hostile to Germany— Identity of Russian and English policy— 
 ' Hands off,' and no entangling alliances— Russia's foreign policy — 
 Circular of M. de Giers— The Dantzig interview— Moscow— The 
 German alliance— M. Katkoff on German policy at the Berlin 
 Congress. 
 
 It is odd what a difference it makes whetlier the 
 same sentiment is uttered by one man or by another. 
 Lord Beaconsfield, when the laurels of peace with 
 honour had not yet withered on his brow, used 
 language almost the same as Skobeleff, and was 
 applauded in Austria as if he were the guardian 
 angel of the peace of Europe. ' I can say,' the noble 
 Lord declared, ' that it is the policy and determination 
 of Her Majesty's Grovernment that the Treaty of 
 Berlin shall be carried out in spirit and to the letter, 
 and believing that the settlement of Berlin expressed 
 in the treaty is one that will advance the progress and 
 civilisation of the world, and that it includes provi- 
 sions admirably adapted to secure peace and the main- 
 tenance of peace. Her Majesty's Government, if neces- 
 sary, will appeal with confidence to the people of this 
 country to support them in maintaining to the letter, 
 
286 RUSSIA AND GERMA^TY. 
 
 and the complete spirit, the Treaty of Berlin with all 
 their energy and all their resources.'^ 
 
 Now what was the crime committed in Paris by 
 Skobeleff? All that he meant to say, and indeed all 
 that he said, was that, unless that very treaty, so em- 
 phatically praised by Lord Beaconsfield, was observed 
 in letter and in spirit, Russia would be forced to draw 
 her sword. 
 
 ' So there was actually no aggressive attack on 
 Germany ? ' asked I of the General, soon after his re- 
 turn to Russia. ' Certainly not,' replied he. 'It is 
 surely no great offence to Germany to demand that 
 the treaty drawn up under the presidency of Prince 
 Bismark and signed at Berlin should not be treated as 
 waste paper? It seemed at one time as if Germany 
 intended to attack us, and only in that case would I 
 ever recommend such a war.' 
 
 Without boasting of being a very sharp observer, 
 I think I may say that I know my countrymen pretty 
 well. They understand present Germany much bet- 
 ter than present France. Russians, with their sim- 
 ple, untheatrical ways, have in their souls an altar 
 to worship, a God to obey. There is a passionate 
 tendency to self-sacrifice, to generous devotion, which, 
 when wrongly directed, can be very dangerous, no 
 doubt. But France, as she is now, is too ' advanced ' 
 for us ; her crucifix is destroyed ; her idols are 
 too prosaic. Her absorbing care for the ' Bourse ' ; 
 her indifference to foreign questions ; her peculiar 
 
 ^ November 9, 1878. 
 
NO RUSSO-FRENCH ALLIANCE. 287 
 
 way of understanding patriotism, and what consti- 
 tutes the happiness of a country, are the very ex- 
 tremes of Russian views and feelings. In fact, know- 
 ing some Frenchmen as I do, and seeing how deeply 
 they regret the reigning tendencies of their coun- 
 try, I feel sure that some day or other, in view of 
 some great cataclysm, France will have to return 
 to her past unpractical times, when she was actually 
 one of the guides of civilisation, and then we 
 both will use the same language. But what is our 
 mutual position now? What can we expect from 
 her? She would perhaps become our ally in case of 
 a war with Germany ; but is that all we want from a 
 friendly ally? How does her sympathy to Russia 
 manifest itself ? The German Emperor, effusively 
 and publicly, in black or white, spoke of his gratitude 
 to our late Emperor, insisted upon friendship with 
 Russia, and though it ' were only words,' some words 
 will always have a meaning and an importance, 
 especially when facts support them. Our alliance 
 with Germany has lasted for more than a hundred 
 years. That is a good, solid fact. Her policy, her 
 Government are known. France yesterday meant M. 
 Gambetta ; to-day M. Gr^vy ; to-morrow, perhaps, 
 M. CMmenceau, if not M. Rochefort. ... No ! We 
 cannot go hand in hand. The gulf is yet too great. 
 
 As to Germany, whose unity we assisted materi- 
 ally, as was recognised by the Emperor-King in his 
 telegrams, what do we ask from her ? Some Slavs 
 of Prussia are Germanised too completely for us to 
 
288 RUSSIA AND GERMANY. 
 
 designate their place in the brotherhood of the Slavonic 
 race. Of the subjects of the German Emperor, except- 
 ing a hundred thousand Lusatians in Saxony and 
 Silesia, the only Slavs are the Poles of Posen, who 
 are almost as hostile to Russia as they are to their 
 own Government. We can hardly for the sake of 
 a mere handful, daily growing smaller as the pro- 
 cess of Germanisation advances, quarrel with a 
 staunch ally of 120 years' standing. Panslavism 
 that defends the rights of the Slavs recognises 
 the rights of non- Slavonic peoples to similar liber- 
 ties. Look at Finland. The Fins have enjoyed, 
 and still enjoy, the local independence and autonomy 
 which we ask for the Slavs in other States. They 
 have their own laws, their own institutions, their own 
 customs ; their own Church, their own Parliament, 
 their own coinage, their own language. In the Baltic 
 provinces the German element is stronger and has 
 more power than it is entitled to by its numbers, for 
 the lower classes do not belong to that nationality, 
 which is the cause of the troubles the German 
 nobUity have with their peasants. But agrarian 
 agitation does not mean Russification. 
 
 It was remarked the other day by somebody who 
 evidently did not know much what he was writing 
 about, that I was mistaken in remarking on the great 
 similarity between the foreign policy of Russian 
 Slavophils and English Liberals. I was, perhaps, 
 wrong. Their policy is not similar, it is the same ; 
 although, perhaps, Russians are more altruistic than 
 
■HANDS OFF.'' 
 
 289 
 
 the English. We both strive for the independence 
 and autonomy of subject races ;— the only subject 
 races left in Europe are Slavonic. Italians, Mag- 
 yars—partly Greeks are free. The Slavs alone 
 await their deliverance. The Slavophils of Moscow 
 adopt with fervour Mr. Gladstone's watchword, 
 ' Hands off! ' It is the motto of our policy in the 
 East. The identity goes even further — it extends 
 also to means. Everyone knows the famUiar Liberal 
 formula: 'Friendship with all; alliaJice with none.' 
 England departed from it in Egypt in 1879, with 
 results not altogether satisfactory to anyone — least of 
 all to the two allies. We share English views in 
 respect of these entangling engagements. ' Russia,' 
 said M. Katkoff, the editor of the ' Moscow Gazette,' 
 ' has no need of alliances, not even though they be 
 triple. The more she preserves her liberty of action 
 the more powerful will be her international position, 
 the more surely guaranteed will be the national 
 character of her policy. A firm and exclusive alliance 
 for a definite end has always resulted in the sacrifice 
 of her own interests for the benefit of others. The 
 national policy of Eussia has never been, and can 
 never be, of an aggressive character, menacing to the 
 peace of Europe. Russia will enter into no coalition 
 against any of her neighbours, and will preserve terms 
 of friendship with all. Such a course wiU constitute 
 the surest guarantee for the European equilibrium.' ^ 
 
 1 Moscow JIHJI30 ^gg^ 
 
 August H' 
 
 u 
 
290 RUSSIA AND GERMANY. 
 
 M. Katkoff is a man whose voice carries a great 
 weight. But we have a still better authority. What 
 has been the history of the present reign ? I need 
 not refer to the reign of the late Emperor. Of his 
 attitude to Germany there never was any doubt. The 
 actual Emperor is, as we are proud to say, the truest 
 representative of his people, and of his race. But 
 what has been his course since he ascended the 
 throne ? The principles of his foreign policy were 
 laid down in the circular issued by M. de Giers 
 immediately after his accession. The despatch is as 
 follows : — 
 
 Despatch of M. de Giers, dated March 3*^, 1881. 
 
 The foreign pohcy of the Emperor will be entirely 
 pacific. Russia will remain faithful to her friends ; she 
 will unchangeably preserve the sentiments consecrated 
 by tradition, and will at the same time reciprocate the 
 friendliness of all States by a similar attitude, while 
 maintaining the position to which she is entitled among 
 the Powers, and assuring the maintenance of the political 
 equilibrium. In accordance with her interests, Eussia 
 will not deviate from her mission, in common with other 
 Governments, of protecting the general peace, based upon 
 respect for rights and treaties. Above all, Eussia has 
 to care for herself, and only the duty of protecting her 
 honour and security can divert her attention from the 
 work of internal development. Our august monarch will 
 endeavour to strengthen the power and advance the wel- 
 fare of Eussia, and secure her prosperity without detriment 
 to others. These are the principles by which the policy 
 of the Emperor will invariably be guided. 
 
THE DANTZIG INTERVIEW. 291 
 
 What was the first visit paid by the Emperor to 
 any of his neighbours ? That remarkable visit to 
 Dantzig — to which Prince Bismarck was specially 
 invited — surely cannot have been forgotten so soon, 
 even in England, by those who pretend to follow 
 political events. 
 
 There is no need to enter into speculations 
 concerning that interview. To quote the official 
 circular, ' The ties of near relationship and of tra- 
 ditional friendship which unite the two sovereigns 
 suffice to explain the motive, and to define the 
 character of this interview.' As the ' Journal de St. 
 P^tersbourg ' remarked, ' the meeting was significant 
 indeed. The Emperor could not have given a greater 
 proof of his fidelity to the traditional fi-iendship of 
 his Empire, and of his family, than by hastening to 
 embrace the friend and ally of his august father.' 
 ' The welcome,' again to quote the official circular, 
 ' which our august master had received at Dantzig 
 has entirely corresponded to the sentiments which 
 animate his Majesty, and has testified once more to 
 the stability of the relations happily established 
 between the two countries in their reciprocal interests, 
 as well as in that of the general peace.' Even the 
 official papers of Vienna were good enough to 
 remark that the interview entirely put an end to the 
 groundless fears inspired by ' Panslavism.' The 
 waste-paper basket of Pesth — -for the ' Egyetertes,' 
 unlike your ' Globe,' did not even stand in need of 
 the friendly services of Mr. Marvin — revealed two 
 
 xj 2 
 
292 EUSSIA AND GERMANY. 
 
 despatches, tlie authenticity of which has never been 
 seriously disputed. In the first, our Emperor 
 telegraphed to the Emperor- King : ' I have been 
 very happy to meet again the Emperor Wilhelm, the 
 revered friend to whom we are attached by the 
 common bond of the most intense affection.' The 
 second is a despatch from Count Kalnoky, who had 
 not then been promoted to the portfolio of Count 
 Haymerle. In it the Austrian Ambassador records 
 some conversation of M. de Giers, to the effect that 
 ' The Emperor Alexander has returned from Dantzig 
 with an increased sense of tranquUlity and content- 
 ment. There was no question of foreign politics 
 calculated to inspire any anxiety. By his journey 
 the Tzar has manifested to all Russia his intention of 
 following a conservative and peaceful policy.' That 
 Dantzig interview indicated a policy from which 
 Russia has not departed, and had no ground for 
 departing. The conquests for which she longs are 
 the triumphs of peace. 
 
 Skobeleff's declarations startled Europe, but 
 although they gave every one a nervous shock, left 
 the peace of the Continent on a firmer foundation. 
 Skobeleff followed the national views ; he incarnated 
 them almost involuntarily, but he never was the 
 chief of the Slavophil party, and his authority on 
 questions of policy was but small compared with 
 that of such men as M. Katkoff and M. Aksakoff. 
 None of the recognised exponents of the Slavophil 
 party have ever expressed any hostility to Germany, 
 
MOSCOVITES AND THE GERMAN ALLIANCE. 293 
 
 though, both would protest in case of German en- 
 croachments upon Russian individuaHty or interests 
 of any kind. In their frank, outspoken way they 
 have objected to the Germanisation of Slavonic peoples, 
 but to the German Empire they have expressed no 
 hatred. In this they represent alike the policy of 
 the Court and the sentiments of the nation. The 
 extent to which the opposite belief has spread is really 
 matter for surprise. But a belief is not necessarily true 
 because many are deluded, and facts cannot be altered 
 by the vote of a majority. 
 
 Almost immediately after SkobeleiF's speech in 
 Paris there appeared in a St. Petersburg paper, the 
 ' Novo^ Vremya,' an interesting description of what 
 happened to M. Souvorine, the editor of that paper. 
 Desiring to recover his moral tone, says he, he went 
 to Moscow, to the true centre of Russian life, where 
 the national sentiment, strong and serene, contrasts 
 so strangely with the feverish and vacillating views 
 of the Petersburgers . When in the railway carriage 
 he met a Moscovite, a man of influence and of im- 
 portance, whose business kept him en rapport with 
 the citizens of both capitals. When they were talking 
 the Moscovite let fall the words ' German alliance.' 
 
 ' What ! ' exclaimed the editor, ' are you not a 
 Moscovite? ' 
 
 ' Certainly," replied the other. 
 
 ' And you are in favour of the alliance with the 
 German? ' 
 
 ' Not with the German, but with Germany, which 
 
294 RUSSIA AND GERMANY. 
 
 has a different meaning. What disputes have we 
 with the Empire, with the German nation? None. 
 I am not speaking of a passionate devotion of 
 one country to another ; but we can testify for her 
 respect and consideration, and we have a right to ex- 
 pect from her consideration and respect in return. 
 We are equals in strength, and when equals in 
 strength go to war with each other, they usually 
 contend in vain, while their neighbours exploit the 
 conflict to their own profit.' 
 
 Views of that kind are often expressed in Kussia 
 from persons belonging to all stages of life and 
 position. 
 
 Shortly after the SkobelefF incident the birthday 
 of the Emperor of Germany occurred, and, as usual, 
 our Emperor telegraphed to his ally his cordial con- 
 gratulations. I cannot illustrate better the real 
 feelings of the much-abused national Moscow party 
 at the very time when Skobeleff was supposed to 
 have set the world on fire by his anti-German 
 speeches, than by translating here the leading article 
 on the Emperor William's birthday, which appeared 
 in the ' Moscow Gazette ' of March ^\, 1882, and 
 which was written by M. Katkofi^ himself 
 
 Moscow, March Wth ( O.S.), 1882. 
 
 An event took place yesterday which ought to suflBce 
 to silence all rumours of a supposed coldness between 
 Russia and Germany, and consequently of a danger which 
 was supposed to imperil the peace of Europe. Yesterday, 
 March ^f, was celebrated the eighty-fifth birthday of 
 
M. KATKOFF ON THE GEEMAN ALLIANCE. 295 
 
 the Emperor William, and the congratulations offered to 
 the old hero and Sovereign, the creator of a united and 
 powerful Germany, tendered by Eussia in the person 
 of her ruler, witnessed to the fact that the ancient 
 bonds of friendship existing between the two Powers were 
 in no wise weakened, that the relations between them had 
 undergone no change, and that no danger threatening the 
 peace of Europe had arisen either on the part of Russia 
 or on the part of Germany. Nothing but a spirit of 
 downright falsehood could bring one to af&rm that Russia 
 stands in need of an active policy and has in contempla- 
 tion warlike designs. For the same reason there is no 
 ground for anxiety that a quarrel with Eussia is a neces- 
 sity for Germany. On the contrary, one and the other, 
 as history testifies, stand in need of mutual goodwill, 
 friendship, and union. It is only an inflammatory 
 political want of good faith, amounting to absolute menda- 
 city, which is capable of affirming, as was done not long 
 ago in a Petersburg print, that Germany felt herself in 
 some measure thwarted and confined by Eussia and in- 
 jured by her in view of its policy. Nowhere have 
 Prussia and Germany in general met with good will 
 and co-operation more sincere and advantageous than in the 
 policy of Eussia. We opine — we have reason to do so — 
 that we on our side could look with confidence for hearty 
 co-operation on the part of our neighbour, if we showed 
 ourselves anxious to secure it. The fact is, that Prussia" 
 follows at all times, with wisdom and foresight, the 
 exigencies of her national policy ; she knows well what is 
 to her advantage and detriment, she knows what she is 
 desirous of. We ourselves, unfortunately, have not always 
 known our own mind, and have sometimes wished for what 
 did not coincide with our true interests. Just relations 
 between individuals, and still more between states, demand 
 on both sides a healthy and constraining conviction of 
 mutual efforts and mutual aspirations. 
 
296 RUSSIA AND GERMANY. 
 
 In Russian circles there still remains a feeling of dis- 
 satisfaction grounded on the stand taken by Germany 
 both before and after the recent war. How many 
 envenomed reproaches aimed at the ' honest broker ' have 
 appeared in our papers, who has been accused of taking 
 a side adverse to Russian interests. But history has not 
 yet had her say on this matter, and justice demands that 
 these reproaches should be referred, not to others, but to 
 ourselves. We have no right to demand of the Minister 
 of a foreign State, although in intimate alliance with 
 ourselves, that he should feel, think, and act with a view 
 to our interests, divine these interests, point the way to 
 their fulfilment, and make his action chime in with our 
 own. And yet — shall we be believed by the Russian 
 public ? — in point of fact the German Chancellor, while 
 intent on the interests of his own country, was urging us 
 at that very time to have an eye to our own. Prince 
 Bismarck spared no pains to come to some understanding 
 with us, such as should subserve mutual interests ; but we, 
 with no less persistency, with an obstinacy worthy of a 
 better cause, turned a deaf ear to his offers, only giving 
 way on the very eve of events of the greatest moment, in 
 which our interests were so intimately bound up, and 
 which were destined to cost us such losses and so much 
 blood. Having allowed ourselves to be drawn into the 
 Eastern war, which arose without our co-operation, and 
 having entered upon a war of world-wide significance, it 
 did not occur to us to take any measures to make our 
 national interests harmonise with the policy of the only 
 Power in alliance with ourselves. It were impossible to 
 deny that our diplomacy on this occasion was a blind one, 
 and could find no support in popular sentiment a,nd feel- 
 ings at home. From the very first moment, when the 
 bloody banner of the Eastern Question unfolded itself on 
 the horizon, the ' Moscow Gazette ' instantly and un- 
 ceasingly encouraged and exhorted our Government to 
 
GERMANY AT THE BERLIN CONGRESS. 297 
 
 enter into an understanding with Germany. The leader 
 of German policy, both publicly and in private communi- 
 cations on this subject, addressed to our Foreign Minister, 
 insisted that Germany had no interests in the East, and 
 that here she was prepared to accord to Eussia perfect 
 freedom of action, provided only that German interests 
 did not suffer. ' Donnant donnant,' such is the line of 
 action followed by Powers in their mutual relations, and 
 on which alone a friendly feeling can be established be- 
 tween them. 
 
 But if the German Chancellor found not so much as 
 one German interest in Constantinople, we on our part — 
 can it be believed ? — before the outbreak of the war in the 
 East imagined that we had an important Russian interest 
 in Eome, in the Yatican ! This is the literal truth. It 
 was this circumstance which deterred us from coming to 
 an understanding with Germany, at that time engaged 
 in the ' Kulturkampf ' with the Vatican. We found that 
 that war interfered with freedom of conscience, and were 
 not prepared on this account to side with Bismarck. 
 
 And thus, not the cunning machinations of the ' honest 
 broker,' but our care for the Russian interests bound up 
 with those of the Papal Curia, and our dread of disturb- 
 ing the balance of power in Europe — this was why during 
 the war we were obliged to look around on all sides ; this 
 was why our armies did not occupy Constantinople for a 
 time ; this is the reason why in Berlin we had to stand at 
 the bar of the accused. . . . 
 
 Ergo no one but ourselves is to be accused if our affairs 
 in the East did not take a regular turn in accordance with 
 our interests. And if, at this present time, matters do not 
 take such a turn as appears to ourselves to best subserve 
 our own policy, we can take comfort in the thought that 
 in the Vatican all goes well. . . . 
 
 Whatever turn things may take, we believe in Russia 
 and in God. We do not doubt that, whatever may be- 
 
298 EUSSIA AND GEEMANY. 
 
 tide, circumstances will lead onwards either by a straight 
 or circuitous route, on this side or on that, to the triumph 
 of those interests in which lies hidden a power destined 
 to play a leading part in the history of mankind. 
 
 I tardly think tliat justifies the accusation so 
 frequently brought against the Moscovites, that we 
 are Germanophobes. Fortunately, there is no reason 
 why we should be enemies ; on the contrary, all our 
 reasons are in the other direction. 
 
 This is luckily also the conviction of Prince 
 Bismarck, whose declaration in the Reichstag, that 
 ' Germany, having been connected with Russia for 
 many years, by the ties of a sincere and mutually 
 profitable alliance, he for one would think twice 
 before giving up the friendship of so great and 
 powerful a State without real necessity.' 
 
 That ' real necessity ' has not arisen, and is not 
 likely to arise. 
 
299 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 RUSSIA AND AUSTRIA. 
 
 Austria ' only a Government' — Hostile to Slavs — Not necessarily an 
 enemy — Possible alliance with Slavophils— Count Taafe's policy — 
 Austria's only safety — Bad state of the occupied provinces — The 
 Great Powers on trial in the East — Collective Europe found want- 
 ing — France in Tunis — England in Egypt — Austria in Bosnia — 
 Russia in Bulgaria — Prince Alexander and the Constitution — The 
 Russian secret — An anti-Slavonic policy treason to Austria. 
 
 Princk Gortchakoit wittily observed one day, 
 ' Austria is not a nation ; she is not even a State ; she 
 is only a Grovernment.' There is indeed no Austrian 
 language, no Austrian literature, no Austrian Church, 
 There are Hungarians, there are Germans, there are 
 Slavs, there are Italians, there are Jews (the latter 
 more numerous than supposed), who serve the House 
 of Hapsburg, but there are no actual Austrians. 
 
 How is it then, that when you ask a patriot Slav 
 living in that geographical combination called by 
 courtesy ' Austria,' what his nationality is, he in- 
 variably says, ' I am a Slav belonging to Austria ' ? 
 How is it, on the other hand, that when you ask a 
 Slav who identifies himself with the highest spheres 
 of Austrian government, he emphatically declares 
 himself ' an Austrian ' ? I could give several names 
 to support that statement. I remember a Slavonic 
 
300 RUSSIA AND AUSTRIA. 
 
 Count, a general, attending the Court, whose name 
 was well connected with the history of one of the 
 Slavonic countries. I asked him what nationality he 
 belonged to, and, suggesting a possible thing, added, 
 'Are you not a Slav?' 'Oh, no,' he exclaimed, 
 with an expression of horror which amused and 
 rather disgusted me. ' I am an Austrian, and have 
 nothing to do with that engeance'' (with that brood). 
 Now ' Austrians,' as a rule, are very well-mannered, 
 having all the ways of men of the world. To utter 
 such an expression, to speak with that vehemence to 
 a Russian woman, at the Russian Embassy, was only 
 possible in a state of excitement. 
 
 Another remark. How is it that Austria 
 is so deeply detested in all the Slavonic coun- 
 tries, belonging and not belonging to her? The 
 Austrian Emperor, the head of the Hapsburgs, is a 
 very good, cultivated man ; perhaps weak, perhaps 
 unable to grasp once for all an energetic policy and 
 follow it out ; but whenever he is discussed as a 
 separate character, he is rather liked. Still, there it 
 is — ' Austrians ' were hated by all who came into 
 contact with that Power. Turkish pashas were not 
 more dreaded in Bosnia and in all Slavonic lands 
 than, up to the other day, Austrian officials were. 
 How is this? What constituted an Austrian 
 official? First of all, and above all, hatred to all 
 that was Slav ; hatred to all who could sympa- 
 thise with the Slavs ; still more so to those who 
 could help them. Therefore, all the Slavs had to 
 
AUSTRIA AND THE SLAVS. 301 
 
 become renegades to their country, to their traditions, 
 to their language ; and thus to do exactly what 
 Turkish pashas of Christian origin have to do. The 
 latter ones, though officially they are not obliged to 
 give up their creed, do so in reality. During the 
 last Turkish war, pashas of Christian communities 
 were as cruel, if not worse, to their co-religionists 
 than the actual Mussulmans. 
 
 What is it, th,en, that is '■hateful ' (yes, I maintain 
 the expression, though I know I shall be blamed for 
 it) ? What is hateful in ' Austria ' ? It is her 
 hatred, her injustice, her cruelty ; the persecution 
 of the Slavs who object to become renegades ! 
 
 Take away that systematic persecution of the 
 Slavonic countries, and that vast congregation of 
 races which make up Austria and Hungary, and there 
 will exist no more unfriendly feeling in any Slav, be 
 he Russian or Bosniak, be he Eastern-Churchman or 
 any other churchman you like. That hatred of the 
 Austrian officials towards a race who were supposed to 
 remain always ' ignored and oppressed ' was a crime 
 and a mistake. Now, since there seems to be a slight 
 hope of improvement, a slight attempt to do justice to 
 the Slavs, there may also spring up a friendliness 
 between the Russian nation and the ' piebald con- 
 glomeration.' 
 
 And how absurd, how groundless, how impolitic 
 was that systematic persecution of the Slavs ! If, in 
 the vast ' conglomeration ' of races which make up 
 Austro- Hungary, you subtract the Magyars and 
 
S02 RUSSIA AND AUSTRIA. 
 
 the Jews on one hand and the Slavs on the other, 
 there will remain but a meagre residuum of Germans, 
 with whom alone it might be supposed that Russians 
 could have grounds for dislike. 
 
 But, as I tried to show in the previous chapter, 
 there is no blood-feud between Germans and Slavs. 
 To retain his own customs, his own views, his own 
 civilisation, and his own language, is a desire just as 
 legitimate in a German as in a Slav. 
 
 Not only Slavophilism, but even Panslavism — the 
 latter in some points diifering from the first — is no 
 danger to Austro-Hungary, if Austrian statesmen 
 were less guided by morbid feelings of hatred than by 
 just, impartial statesmanship. And, at all events, it 
 is not too late, fortunately, to transform Panslavism 
 from a possible hostile force into a friendly ally. It 
 is still easier for the Austrian Government to trans- 
 form the Russian Slavophils into allies. What do 
 we, the Russian Slavophils, ask from the Austrian 
 Government? We wish to see our brethren happy, 
 unpersecuted. We wish that they may have the 
 opportunity to act according to their own ideas, that 
 they may have their language, their own schools, 
 their churches, even their parliaments if they should 
 want them (which, however, according to Russian 
 views, would be greatly to be regretted). In one word, 
 that the Slavs should be allowed to live their own life 
 without being molested in their rights either as 
 Slavs or as Christians. 
 
 The Slavophils are the well-wishers of the Slavs ; 
 
<THE GAOLER OF SLAV NATIONALITIES.' 303 
 
 but they reject Panslavism in the sense of aggressive 
 Pansermanism. The difference between these two 
 ideas is extremely well described by M. Louis 
 Leger. M. Leger's works on the Slavs deserve to 
 be studied not only by foreigners, but by Russians as 
 well. 
 
 ' The Slavs,' says M. Leger in his ' fitudes 
 Slaves,' ' claim the attention and the sympathies of 
 Russia.' Further on he accuses my countrymen of 
 having been so slow in listening to the voice of their 
 brethren. Russia never had the need of the Slavs 
 which the Slavs had of her. 
 
 Now, if the House of Hapsburg consented to be 
 just towards her Slavonic nationalities, it naturally 
 would have all the Slavophils of Russia as allies. As 
 long as Lord Beaconsfield's Government was in power, 
 Austria was blind to her true role. When Lord 
 Salisbury was playing the part of Herald Angel and 
 announcing, as ' good tidings of great joy,' that 
 Austria had accepted the post of gaoler of the Slav 
 nationalities, it was not surprising that the Camarilla 
 at Vienna and Pesth mistook the path of safety. The 
 English elections first made her doubt the wisdom of 
 this course. Skobeleff's speech and the rising in the 
 Balkans deepened that doubt into a certainty. But 
 it is a great thing that they should try to enter the 
 right road. 
 
 On the day when Count Taafe proclaimed that it 
 was necessary for Austria, even for Austria, to recog- 
 nise the historic rights of nationalities, the Slavs 
 
304 RUSSIA AND AUSTRIA. . ^ 
 
 began to hear a friendly and a rational voice — rbegan 
 to hope for a better future. The establishment of the 
 Tcheque University at Prague gave point to Minis- 
 terial declarations, and, according to the comment of 
 a passionate Germaniser, ' brought to a close the 
 German period ot the history of Austria ' — if that 
 measure does not remain, of course, an isolated fact ; 
 if it does not remain an exception proving the general 
 rule. 
 
 Count Taafe — poor Count Taafe ! — one sees he is 
 embarrassed and afraid of everything, even the accom- 
 plishment of a duty. Count Taafe denies that the 
 Government wished to make of Austria a Slavonic 
 State. Just imagine such a denial being needed three 
 years ago ! According to him, Austria should neither 
 be a Slavonic nor a German State, but a centre of 
 action between different nationalities, all equal in law, 
 and all of which accept no other limit for the exer- 
 cise of its rights than those dictated by the neces- 
 sities of the commonwealth. ' Austria,' said Hegel, 
 ' is not a nation, it is an empire.' If it is a federated 
 empire it may survive, but if it represents the ascen- 
 dency of a minority it is doomed. 
 
 The reduction of the electoral franchise which 
 has recently been effected secures the extinction 
 of the unjust ascendency of the German element 
 in the Cisleithanians of Austria. Hitherto the high 
 suffrage has excluded largely the Slavonic ma- 
 jority from exercising its legal full share in the elec- 
 tions. Now that the lower middle class and the 
 
AUSTRIA'S ONLY SAFETY. 305 
 
 peasants have entered the pale of the constitution — 
 to use the English phrase — German domination is 
 dead and buried. Such, at least, is the opinion of 
 acute observers at Vienna. I do not pretend to 
 understand all these details. I only report that such 
 is believed by people more versed in constitutional 
 chmoiseries than I, to be the probable result of the 
 new electoral law. 
 
 The occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was a 
 touchstone of Austrian sincerity, or rather, as to how 
 far she has opened her eyes to facts. Preparations were 
 made to occupy these provinces in 1877, when Count 
 Andrassy was solemnly protesting that such a step 
 was never contemplated by the Austrian Government. 
 They were occupied under a European mandate in 
 1878, and so far the results have not been brilliant. 
 And why have they not been brilliant? Because 
 Austria forgot that her only safety lay in conciliating 
 the Slavs. 
 
 It is not unkindness to Austria to point this out. 
 If she had recognised her provinces, not as a farm 
 to be cropped, but as a state to be developed, she 
 would have reaped a richer harvest. It is because 
 she turned loose against the unhappy Slavs the dregs 
 of her officials, the Jewish locusts and her Jesuit 
 agents, that her military expenses in the occupied 
 provinces amounted this year alone to 3,000,000/. A 
 bad bargain, truly, for the wise men of Vienna. She 
 might have saved that, to say nothing of many men 
 and much hatred, if she had taken counsel with the 
 
 X 
 
306 KUSSIA AND AUSTRIA. 
 
 majority of her subjects and left Slavs to govern 
 Slavs. 
 
 The evil influence of the Beaconsfield period could 
 not be so easily shaken oflP. Austria — we must not 
 forget — went into Bosnia avowedly to ' crush the 
 Slavonic serpent.' She tried to do so, by leaning first 
 on the Turks and then on the Jesuits. What has 
 been the result? I will not quote from a Russian or 
 a Slavonic source. I will refer to the correspondent 
 of the ' Times,' who, after travelling this autumn 
 through the occupied province, thus describes the 
 state of things which he found there : 
 
 Before the Austrians occupied Bosnia, there was a 
 strong Austrian party here even among the Mahomedans. 
 It is extremely doubtful whether an Austrian party now 
 exists even among the natives. Whatever may be their 
 religious differences, all creeds seem as one in their dis- 
 like of the Austrian occupation. The trade with Turkey 
 is cut off, but Bosnian goods are still taxed on entering 
 Austria. The commercial advantages derived from Aus- 
 trian administration are not obvious. The same remark 
 may be made about Austrian law, Austrian police, and 
 Austrian officialism in Bosnia. Turkish law has become a 
 byword in Europe, yet the Bosnians look back on it almost 
 with regret. Few good officials come to Bosnia. This 
 beautiful country is the Botany Bay of Austrian officials. 
 Before the revolt of 1875 Bosnia was one of the safest 
 countries in Europe to travel in. It is now one of the 
 most unsafe. Travelling is more dangerous under Aus- 
 trian than it was under Turkish rule.' 
 
 That is not a pleasant state of things, but Austria 
 
 ' Times, letter from Serajevo, dated Sept. 29, 1882. 
 
THE STATE OF BOSNIA. 307 
 
 has only herself to blame, as indeed she seems to be 
 slowly discovering. The appointment of M. de Kallay 
 was a sign that the old policy is clearly untenable. 
 There are indications that the statesmen of Austria 
 recognise the impossibility of governing Bosnia from 
 Vienna. The administration is to be localised. The 
 provinces have to be governed from Serajevo. Events 
 will show, however, whether Baron NikoHtch is a true 
 Slav or a Slav renegade, as there are so liiany among 
 Austrian officials. He is a relative of King Milan of 
 Serbia that is true ; but King Milan himself does not 
 seem to be intelligent enough to understand his own in- 
 terests. Baron Nikolitch may exercise a fatal influence 
 over his Serbian Majesty, and not improve matters. 
 A near future will show what the Baron is and what 
 is to be hoped or dreaded of him. 
 
 The agrarian and judicial questions are to be dealt 
 with. A promise is given to improve taxation. Now 
 to promise is one thing, to perform another, especially 
 in certain quarters. But that there should even be a 
 promise of improvement is a step in a good direction, 
 and a proof that the former state of things is becom- 
 ing intolerable. 
 
 It is the truest friendship to call the attention of 
 your friends to evils which may lead to disasters, and 
 Austria's tardy reformation is a tribute to the services 
 of her so-called foes. 
 
 Has it ever struck you that all the nations of 
 Europe are on their trial in the East? The Ottoman 
 Empire is being put in liquidation. To each Power 
 
 X 2 
 
308 RUSSIA AND AUSTRIA. 
 
 has been allotted a portion of Turkish territory to 
 deal with it in its own way. To none has any 
 province been ceded. Nominally, everything is 
 Turkish — ^in reality nothing. It has been allotted to 
 Russia to shape the destinies of Bulgaria ; to Austria 
 to occupy and administer Bosnia and Herzegovina ; to 
 Europe to reform Macedonia and Armenia ; to France 
 to absorb Tunis ; to England to establish order in 
 Egypt. To each Power a portion, so that all methods 
 may be tried and every experiment made on the 
 Eastern field. It is a great arena, and the task is 
 critical. Which Power is acting the least selfishly? 
 Which is doing most for liberty ; which is working 
 most for the development of self-government among 
 the subject populations? 
 
 Let us look at the facts. What has Europe done ? 
 That is easily answered, Europe has done nothing. 
 I beg pardon — the European Concert has made repre- 
 sentations, has raised its powerful voice ; but nothing 
 else. In Macedonia and Armenia, which Russia 
 most mistakenly abandoned to Europe to be re- 
 formed, and protected by all the Powers, nothing 
 has been done. Everything is as bad as ever, or 
 worse. No autonomous institutions have been 
 established. No reforms have been executed. The 
 miserable populations are tortured by their oppres- 
 sors, and Europe — the very image of impotence — 
 does nothing. 
 
 In Tunis, France has absorbed everything. 
 
 The Bardo Treaty made the Bey a vassal of the 
 
THE POWERS ON THEIR TRIAL. 309 
 
 Kepublic. Frencli soldiers occupy the province, and 
 French, ministers, govern it. It is almost a French 
 department. There is no semblance of popular go- 
 vernment. Democratic principles, which once were 
 supposed to have made the tour of the world with 
 French soldiers have not crossed the Mediterranean. 
 Instead of liberty, fraternity, and equality, France in 
 Africa establishes usury, stockjobbing, and despotism. 
 
 And England? What does England do ? She 
 has gone to Egypt, to give Egypt to the Egyptians. 
 Well and good. It is a noble programme, but not an 
 easy one ; especially as there are so many voices 
 which suggest another solution. 
 
 Austria has occupied and administered Bosnia 
 and Herzegovina. She has established no popular 
 institutions. She has enforced the conscription at 
 the cost of three millions sterling and much blood- 
 shed. Austrian ofl&cials govern with the rigour of 
 martinets and the folly of officials. The ' Schwab ' 
 has made himself as hated as the ' Tedeschi.' ' They 
 would shoot us through the head,' said an Austrian 
 officer, referring to the Bosnians, ' at the first oppor- 
 tunity.' And why ? Because Austria, disregarding 
 the wise counsel of Count Beust, acted on the sinister 
 suggestions of Lord Beaconsfield, and endeavoured 
 to destroy * Slavonic preponderance in the occupied 
 provinces.' ' The Serbs,' said one of their chief 
 officials, ' are our mortal enemies.' 
 
 If they had not been so, they were not to lack 
 reasons for such hostility. Even the national 
 
310 RUSSIA AND AUSTRIA. 
 
 alphabet was proscribed. The bayonet alone had 
 to elicit the love and equality of the Serbians, whose 
 province they were supposed to be administering. 
 They stamped upon the national sentiment, and there 
 sprang up thousands of armed men, whose only 
 thought was to rid themselves of the hated foreigner. 
 Why ? Because the Austrians interfered with their 
 local institutions, and attempted to Germanise them 
 with the jackboot and the halter.^ 
 
 Bosnia and the Herzegovina were, in short, to be 
 governed, not for the Bosnians, but for the Austrians ; 
 that is to say, for the Germans, and Magyars, and 
 Jews, who were dispatched to stamp on the head of 
 the Slavonic serpent, and restore order by crushing 
 the strongest aspirations of the people. 
 
 There remains now the province which fell to 
 the lot of Russia to reorganise. To purchase that 
 privilege cost us thousands of the best of our sons. 
 
 ' English people do not realise how strong, how intense is the love 
 of nationality among the Slavs. Mr. Arthur Evans, who knows these 
 lands, is an exception, and his words should not be forgotten. ' Among 
 the Serbs, the whole being of the people is concentrated in these 
 aspirations after national unity. The spirit of nationality has become 
 to them more than a political conviction. It is a religian, almost a 
 fanaticism. In these regions it has so far crushed religion itself as to 
 leave it only a secondary place as the humble handmaid of nationality. 
 . . No diplomatic jugglery, no constitutional makeshift, no show of 
 military right, ho laws, no police regulations can avail such a govern- 
 ment (as that of Austro-Hungary) to crush out a nationality, which 
 finds the best propaganda, not in Jesuit intrigues, not in an anti- 
 national system of education and an inspired press, but in a thousand 
 heroic lays, and on the strings of the Serbian lyre.' — 'The Austrian 
 Counter-Revolution in the Balkans,' Fortnightly Review, April, 1880. 
 
RUSSIA AND BULGARIA. 311 
 
 Skobeleff alone had 21,000 gallant men killed under 
 his command, and many other commanders sus- 
 tained also heavy losses. The liberation of Bulgaria 
 cost us sacrifices better worth the name than any 
 entailed by the promenade to Cairo which the 
 gallant General, Lord Wolseley, executed this year. 
 Yet what has Eussia taken for herself in Bulgaria? 
 I confess, it is with not a Httle national pride that I 
 see the difference between our policy in Bulgaria and 
 that of all the other Powers in the East. Russia, 
 yes, ' despotic,' autocratic, ' aggressive ' Russia alone 
 among all the other Powers dares to trust solely 
 to moral influences in maintaining her ascendency 
 in the province she has delivered. 
 
 I do not pretend that the Garden of Eden may be 
 rediscovered between the Danube and the Balkans, 
 nor is the Bulgarian Constitution destined to usher in 
 the millennium. By no means. The experiment of 
 Bulgaria for the Bulgarians was spoiled before it was 
 fairly begun by the meddling diplomacy of Europe 
 They deprived the principality of the most intelli- 
 gent of its citizens, and diverted the attention of the 
 Bulgarians from the pacific development of their 
 autonomous institutions to the patriotic duty of 
 working for the liberation of their re-enslaved 
 brethren in Macedonia, and their reunion with their 
 divided brothers in Eastern Roumelia. 
 
 It is not for the first time that English diplomacy 
 has been the curse of the oppressed populations in the 
 
312 EUSSIA AND AUSTRIA. 
 
 East. If our experiment failed, it would be England's 
 fault. Its success would be our own. 
 
 Russia asked from tbe Bulgarians nothing ; not 
 even gratitude itself, and there is not a single tie 
 beyond that of gratitude on one side, and fraternal 
 solicitude on the other, uniting the two countries. 
 Russia did not even ask for any recognition of her 
 position as protecting Power. That Bulgaria is 
 under the Russian protectorate is true enough. We 
 freed Bulgaria, and our shields are thrown above 
 the nationality which we delivered. Every Bulgarian 
 knows that in Russia, and Russia alone, can he 
 find a helper, in case Turk or Austrian attempted 
 to rob him of his mdependence, and that Russia, 
 and Russia alone, will assist him when circum- 
 stances permit in re-establishing the unity of his 
 divided country. From other nations he will only 
 receive either abuse or empty compliments. We are 
 his only friends. That establishes Russian influence 
 upon the only solid foundation. If you want to 
 secure the friendship of these little peoples, you cannot 
 do better than leave them alone as much as you can. 
 This is what Russia has done in the part of Turkey 
 confided to her care, and we have no reason to 
 regret the result. 
 
 Left to themselves, the Bulgarians drew up a 
 Constitution chiefly modelled by American mis- 
 sionaries, which might have done for the American 
 States, but which was sadly out of place in Bulgaria. 
 However, such was the free will of the people — we 
 
. THE BULGAEIAN CONSTITUTION. 313 
 
 respected i*, though we thought it a dangerous mis- 
 take. 
 
 The Constitution did not work well. How 
 could it? But the Prince Alexander, who, by the 
 bye, is not a despotic Russian, but a constitutional 
 German, suspended it for a time, and Russia of 
 course was blamed for that. It was not Russia's 
 doing, but so far as it was wise, it met with our 
 approval. 
 
 The ex- Premier of Bulgaria, M. Karaveloff, 
 declared most positively, in the midst of the crisis, 
 that the real instigators of the Prince's action were 
 not Russia, but Austria and Germany. The Prince 
 himself said to the Correspondent of the ' Standard ' : 
 ' I declare to you, and to Europe most emphatically, 
 that Russia never sought to influence me. Read 
 the constitutional history of Bulgaria for the last 
 two years, and then you will know all.' 
 
 The exact facts concerning Russia's share in the 
 late crisis were clearly explamed by M. de Giers in a 
 circular which is worth referring to, as showing how 
 Russia acted in a very critical and trying position. 
 M. de Giers recounts how Prince Alexander came to 
 St. Petersburg, and protested that it was impossible 
 to govern with the majority of the Chamber. 
 
 Prince Alexander wished to avoid a direct breach 
 of the Constitution. He wished to remain in the 
 path of legality. So he proposed to submit three 
 conditions to the Chamber, which, if rejected, would 
 justify a new appeal to the people. In compliance 
 
314 RUSSIA AND AUSTJilA. 
 
 with the request of the Prince, M. de Giers instructed 
 our Consul- General to use his personal influence with 
 the depu^ties, to induce them to arrange a modus vivendi. 
 If these efforts failed, as they did, and there was an 
 appeal to the people, the position of the Russian 
 Consul- General would become very delicate. ' Our 
 attitude,' wrote he, ' ought to give no colour to the 
 suspicion that we have concocted any anti-constitu- 
 tional measures, and it is necessary to avoid giving 
 the Radical party any pretext for saying that we are 
 trying to treat Bulgaria as a Russian province. All 
 that the representatives of Russia should do, there- 
 fore, was to give the people to understand that, if 
 they were to range themselves at the side of the 
 factious minority, they could no longer count upon 
 the support of the Power whom they regarded as their 
 liberator.' 
 
 Considering that England had just intervened in 
 Egypt to establish the Khedive's right to rule in- 
 dependently of his Chamber of Notables, Russia's 
 intervention in the matter was very modest indeed. 
 Russian officials in the service of Bulgaria may have 
 done more — as, for instance. General Ernroth, the 
 Minister of War ; but, if so, they acted, not as 
 Russians, but as officers being in the service of the 
 Prince. I do not suppose English officers acting as 
 servants of the Khedive would desert their master 
 because he took a short way of freeing himself from 
 his Notables. English officials, indeed, recently 
 took a leading part in quite another sense, and the 
 
THE RUSSIAN SECRET. 315 
 
 rule of M. Hitrovo was quite liberal compared with 
 that of Sir E. Malet and Sir A. Colvin. 
 
 Even this platonic intervention was resented by 
 some in Russia. The ' Novoe Vr^mya,' which often 
 supports the Slavophil views in St. Petersburg, 
 wrote on the affairs of Bulgaria very shortly after 
 Skobeleff 's speech : ' Eussia ought to avoid interfering 
 in the affairs of the Principality, while watching 
 jealously that no one else shall interfere. She ought, 
 once for all, to renounce a directing r61e with regard to 
 the Bulgarian people, and only to represent the purely 
 moral influence which springs from identity of race. 
 Bulgaria ought to be fully persuaded that Russia 
 desires the complete development of her national 
 element, and will place no restraint on the inde- 
 pendence of that development.' 
 
 This may seem inconsistent to some with the 
 declaration of M. Katkofi^, in the ' Moscow Gazette,' 
 that ' Bulgaria is not a world in itself, but a part of 
 that planetary system of which Russia is the centre 
 of gravity, and the source of light and heat.' In 
 reality the one is the key to the other. If we did not 
 leave the Bulgarians free to develop their destinies in 
 their own way, instead of being attracted to the sun 
 of Russia, she would be repelled. To protect without 
 interfering is the secret of our influence. 
 
 And we have not been without our reward. In 
 Serbia, which we liberated long ago, and which for 
 the moment is under an Austrian hand, and in 
 Bulgaria, Russia is regarded as the head of the great 
 
316 RUSSIA AND AUSTRIA. 
 
 Fatherland. Go into tlie Slavonic countries, live with 
 the Serbian or Bulgarian peoples, and I defy you to 
 say that the people have any animosity to Russia — to 
 say nothing of the intense hatred which is inspired in 
 Bosnians by Austria, in Tunisians by France, or 
 even, shall I say ? in Egyptians by England. Quite 
 the contrary. You will find that their sentiments to 
 their elder brother, as they call us, are most affec- 
 tionate. These peoples, the Bulgarians especially, 
 have not yet attained the degree of political develop- 
 ment where the theory of ingratitude is become a 
 dogma and a proof of independence and savoir- 
 faire. Of this I have experienced a very touching 
 proof in my own family, on the discovery and the 
 burial of the remains of my brother Nicholas, 
 killed in Serbia.^ This, it may be said, was excep- 
 tional. In details, perhaps ; but the spirit with 
 which Bulgaria regards Russia is the same as that 
 with which these humble peasants regard the memory 
 of those who sacrificed their life for them. 
 
 But let us return to our ' Austrians.' The truth 
 which Russia divined by her instinctive sympathy 
 with the Slavonic heart has at last, however slowly, 
 made its way into the high places of Vienna- Pesth. 
 M. de Kallay, reporting the other day the result of 
 his experience in Bosnia, informed the delegations that 
 he had observed, in the course of his tour through 
 the country, the strong local feeling and patriotism 
 of the natives, which prompted them to desire an 
 ' Vide Appendix C. 
 
TREASON TO AUSTEIA. 317 
 
 organisation by which every commune and village 
 would be left as much as possible to manage, quite 
 independently, its own aifairs, and to do as it pleased. 
 This was, indeed, not practicable ; but the Minister 
 thought this local patriotism, if allowed to develop it- 
 self within proper limits, was likely to be a safeguard 
 against agitation prompted from without. That to de- 
 velop local self- government i s the best protection against 
 revolutionising intrigue is the tardy discovery of 
 statesmen. It will soon be patriotic, I suppose, in 
 Austria to recognise that M. Tisza's anti-Slavonic 
 policy was treason to Austria. If so, it will be a 
 curious illustration of the heresy of to-day becoming 
 the truism of to-morrow. Last year I ventured to 
 say, in an English review, the substance of what 
 M. de Kallay is saying to-day. The Government 
 of Vienna-Pesth did me the honour of forbidding 
 the review containing my article to cross the fron- 
 tier. Scarcely any copies of it reached Serbia. The 
 times have changed, and even Austria has learned 
 to change with them. SkobelefF's noble outbursts of 
 sympathy with his brother Slavs of the Herzegovina 
 has at least done no harm. Nay, may we not say 
 that it has done good, and has compelled this states- 
 man to recognise truths which, until he spoke, 
 were felt only by the Slavs ? 
 
 I have no intention to pass in elaborate review all 
 the domestic policy of Austria- Hungary. But the 
 persecution of the Ruthenian peasants, the constant 
 pressure brought to bear upon the Serbians, the 
 
318 RUSSIA AKD AUSTRIA. 
 
 cordon of forts which they are building around 
 Montenegro, the restless propaganda of the Roman 
 priests amongst Orthodox populations, the war against 
 the Slavonic language, conducted in so many parts of 
 the Dual Kingdom, all show how far Austria is from 
 entering frankly into the path of safety and justice.^ 
 How slowly and unwillingly Austria is moving in 
 that direction may be imagined by the fact that it is 
 still regarded as treason to the State on the part of 
 the Slavs even to correspond with the Philo- Slavs 
 of the other countries. 
 
 The mania of Germanisation still lingers in many 
 places, like snow-wreaths in spring-time, as if to 
 
 ' On this subject I will again quote from Mr. Evans : ' Mean- 
 while, as if to show the Bosnians and Herzegovinians what they may 
 expect if they find themselves handed over to the tender mercies of 
 the Hungarian half of the Monarchy, the political and intellectual 
 persecution of their kinsmen the Slovacks is being actively proceeded 
 with. The suppression of the Slovack schools and their academy — 
 the Matica Slovenski — and the confiscation, for Magyar propagandist 
 objects, of their literary fund, together with some of the private 
 money of the deprived professors : all this, high-handed and iniquitous 
 as it was, was, it seems, only a foretaste of what the Hungarian 
 " Cultus-Ministerium " had in store for this unfortunate people. 
 Some recently published instructions to official subordinates, issued 
 by Trefort, the Magyar " Minister of Culture " (the same who sup- 
 pressed the Slovack schools and academy), enjoin the summary dis- 
 missal of any Slovack student or teacher in a Hungarian educational 
 establishment who shall presume to join any Slovack club or be a 
 member of the literary society "Zora," denounced by the " Cultus- 
 Minister" as a " Panslavistic committee" (!) In the case of some 
 dozen young men convicted of these heinous offences, and in conse- 
 quence dismissed from their lyceums, the ' ' Minister of Culture " (who 
 in modem Hungary appears to occupy the place of the Chief Inquisi- 
 tor) condescends to intervene, with the express object of ruining the 
 young men's prospects for life by prohibiting them from either learn- 
 ing or teaching in any school or college in the kingdom.' — Pall Mall 
 Gazette, December 14. 
 
A WARNING. 319 
 
 remind us of the winter from "which we have just 
 escaped. According to the ' Narodni Listy,' the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief at Prague has issued an order to the 
 effect that all the volunteers who serve for one year 
 Avith the army are, in theu" private intercourse, as well 
 as when on duty, to use the language of the army — ■ 
 namely, German. That is not an order which a Power 
 ' frankly Slavonic ' could have issued. Let us hope 
 that such facts are only ' survivals ' from bad old times, 
 and will soon become extinct. No doubt Austria is 
 timid. She is so artificial a creation that she shrinks 
 from running any risks which might even endanger 
 her existence. But is it no risk to have a hundred 
 thousand men permanently neutralised by the Bosnian 
 blunder, and to have acute observers like Skobeleff 
 and Lord Derby calculating confidently that Austria 
 need not be feared because most of her troops are 
 Slavs? It was not a Russian but an 'Austrian' 
 newspaper^ which addressed our Emperor as the 
 natural protector of all the Slavs, and implored him 
 to intervene on behalf of the Slavs of Austria, as he 
 intervened on behalf of the Slavs of the Balkans. 
 
 Eussia has no intention of doing any such thing, 
 for with Skobeleff's warning written in bold letters 
 before her eyes the statesmen of Austria- Hungary 
 will think twice, and even thrice, before provoking 
 Slavonic sympathies too far, 
 
 ' The Nwrodni Listy of Prague. 
 
320 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 RUSSIA AND ENGLAND. 
 
 Skobeleflf's admiration for England ; but not of Lord Beaconsfield 
 —Sir Henry Rawlinson's Eussophobia — Geok Tep^ as a, place- 
 d'armes — A Russian invasion of India — Russia and England in 
 Central Asia — One drawback of party government — SkobelefF's 
 prediction — Russian policy in Egypt. 
 
 Skobeleff was a great adherent of my favourite 
 dream of the Anglo-Russian alliance. He greatly- 
 admired England. ' What a pity,' said he once to 
 me, ' Russia and England know so little of each 
 other ! In Asia they could co-operate and work 
 together.' As far as he himself was concerned, he 
 spared no efforts to acquire that knowledge. He 
 was thoroughly master of English classics, and was 
 quite at home in English military works. He spoke 
 English quite fluently, and wrote it also pretty well. 
 One of his letters to me is written in English, and in 
 in it he begged me to give some information on 
 ' Slavophilism ' to an American author. Skobeleff 
 was very active, and overloaded with important 
 work ; but anybody showing an interest in Russia 
 was sure to find him always ready to oblige, and 
 render all possible service. 
 
 I think Mr. Marvin — who really deserves to be 
 known for something else than his exploit with Lord 
 
SKOBELEFF AND ENGLAND. 321 
 
 Salisbury's memorandum — would endorse my present 
 statement. He was equally impressed with the 
 sincerity of Skobeleff's friendliness when he inter- 
 viewed him at St. Petersburg on the possibility of a 
 Russian invasion of India. ' I consider the Central 
 Asian question,' said he, ' all humbug.' He expressed 
 an earnest desire that it might disappear altogether 
 as a source of difiPerence between the two nations. 
 ' Throughout the whole conversation,' writes Mr. 
 Marvin, ' which Skobeleff carried on with great 
 animation and good-humour, there was no indication 
 whatever at an attempt at plausibility or desire to 
 make an impression. His manner was so simple, so 
 straightforward, and so transparent that it would 
 have carried conviction to an Urquhart or Ashmead 
 Bartlett. I think Skobeleff's words should have 
 a calming effect. The limit I should assign to them 
 is this : that Skobeleff is not the Russian Govern- 
 ment, and that his friendly feeling and prudence 
 might not always prevail against that diplomacy 
 which is the curse of every country.' 
 
 That Skobeleff spoke of England, at one time, as 
 an enemy is true ; and he did so, as almost every 
 Russian, because England at that time was our 
 enemy. Skobeleff's great career was made in the 
 years during which hostility to Russia was the key- 
 note of English foreign policy. When Lord Beacons- 
 field was England, England was the enemy of Russia ; 
 as Lord Beaconsfield seemed to distant observers 
 to be England from the time Skobeleff conquered 
 
322 RUSSIA AND ENGLAND. 
 
 Khokand till the day when he was dispatched to reduce 
 Geok Tep6, it is not surprising that he occasionally 
 acted and spoke as if he accepted the English Con- 
 servative idea of the natural hostility between 
 England and Russia. In the great campaign which 
 established his renown it was England which cyni- 
 cally insisted on undoing Russian work and giving 
 back the Southern Bulgarians for which so many 
 Russians had died, to set them free. For months, 
 while SkobelefF stood guard at the lines of Tchataldja, 
 Russia was expecting at any moment to hear that 
 Lord Beaconsfield had declared war. If France 
 were to threaten to attack England in Egypt, in 
 order to compel the latter to share with her the 
 honours of the campaign, even the imperturbable 
 Lord Wolseley might venture upon remarks any- 
 thing but friendly to yonr allies in France. But, 
 how unfair, how ungenerous it would be, to set down 
 the outburst of impatience and of a national and 
 justifiable indignation against the perfidy and base- 
 ness of such conduct as sufficient evidence that your 
 general was ' an enemy of France ' ! 
 
 In Mr. Kinnaird Rose's charming paper in the 
 ' Fortnightly Review,' on the ' Russian Bayard,' there 
 occurs the following passage, which is greatly in 
 accord with everything I ever heard him say on the 
 .subject : — 
 
 In many quarters in the course of the last few weeks 
 it has been said that General Skoheleff was the enemy of 
 England. In no sense do I think was this a truthful 
 
SKOBELEFF ON ENGLISH POLICY IN 1878. 323 
 
 description of the man. He was an ai-dent admirer of 
 England and of English institutions, though he did not 
 believe that the latter were adapted for his own country. 
 It is true that before and after the signature of the 
 Berlin Treaty he bluntly expressed his hatred of the 
 policy of the Beaconsfield Government. This is his exact 
 language as noted at the time. ' Cannot you see hovr this 
 policy should stir us so? For two years we have deluged 
 this land (Bulgaria) with our blood. Our brothers are 
 slain, our country has made enormous sacrifices, widows 
 mourn, children weep, and fathers lament the loss of pro- 
 mising sons. All this we would have borne with the 
 patience which God gives, had the full freedom which we 
 had won for our brothers in race and religion, in lan- 
 guage and faith, been accorded to them. But accursed 
 diplomacy steps in and says, " No ; only the smaller half 
 of them shall be free, and the greater number shall be 
 again handed over to the tender mercies of the Turks." 
 You know yourself what the Turks have been, and are, 
 and ever will be ; and placing yourself in onr position, 
 would you not also be consumed with wrath that our 
 sacrifices are to be in vain, and that the men over 
 whose graves we are now treading should have died for 
 nought ? ' 
 
 The passage in Hs speech at St. Petersburg, on 
 the anniversary of the capture of Geok Tepe, may 
 be said to conflict with his view. I say that, on the 
 contrary, it confirms it. Skobeleff then refers to an 
 enemy, but that enemy is not England. A Russian 
 could not refer to England as a ' sagacious ' and 
 ' talented enemy of the Fatherland.' Sagacity and 
 talent are qualities usually imputed not to nations 
 but to individuals. The ' enemy ' of Russia parti- 
 cularised by Skobeleflf was Sir Henry Rawlinson ; 
 
 T 2 
 
324 RUSSIA AND ENGLAND. 
 
 that he is our enemy he would be the last to deny. 
 Enmity to Russia is written on every page of his 
 book, every line of his essays. It is with him a 
 fixed principle, not an impatient, passing feeling, 
 such as that expressed sometimes by Skobeleff. 
 
 The Russophobist theory of the universe is, that 
 England is the Ormuzd and Russia the Ahriman of 
 the Eastern Hemisphere. We have no counterpart 
 to such creatures in Russia. But I must again quote 
 English testimony. ' To speak plainly,' writes Mr. 
 Marvin, after his visit to St. Petersburg, 'there is 
 no Sir Henry Rawlinson, or even the ghost of Sir 
 Henry Rawlinson, in Russia ; there exists no Anglo- 
 phobia in Russia to match the Russophobia in Eng- 
 land. This of itself is a striking fact; for, as a Russian 
 officer put it to me — England has certainly done its 
 utmost to make us her bitter enemy ; yet, you find 
 as without feeling against her, and desirous of being 
 her friend.' 
 
 It is a curious instance of the extent to which 
 Russophobia blinds those who suffer from it, that 
 such an able man as Sir Henry Rawlinson, who so 
 ridiculously exaggerated the facility with which we 
 can approach India in one direction, should by a 
 strange perversity have imagined that our advance 
 was impossible in thfe direction which Skobeleff proved 
 to be comparatively easy. Seven years ago Sir Henry 
 Rawhnson proved, to his own entire satisfaction, that, 
 to quote Skobeleff's summary of his views, 'the 
 animosity of the Tekkes of Akhal would involve 
 
SIR HENRY RAWI-INSON'S MISTAKES. 325 
 
 Russia for many years in enormous expenditure of 
 men and money ; and in a war which would render 
 it obligatory on Russia to establish a cordon of forts 
 from the south of Attrek and through the entire 
 Oasis, and from the Attrek to Merv, and that finally, 
 and to crown all, it would undermine the political 
 power of Russia in Central Asia.' What an odd 
 fatality it is that the only place where the Russo- 
 phobist ventured to believe that he was safe has 
 proved the least secure of all ! 
 
 The Attrek frontier was the line along which 
 your Central Asians and ours elected to fight out their 
 battle. An English ofiicer, Lieut. Butler, fortified 
 Geok Tepe. Sir Henry Rawlinson declared that 
 Persia must be detached from Russia coute qui coute. 
 But Skobeleff stormed the fortifications of Geok Tepe, 
 and M. ZiaoviefF, our Minister at Teheran, belonging 
 to the actually useful and energetic diplomatists 
 who uphold the standard of Russia with a firm, 
 unfaltering hand, by a very brilliant display of 
 diplomatic ability secured Persia as a friend and ally. 
 The Butlers and Rawlinsons, and tutti quanti, were 
 discomfited all along the line. The very fact that 
 the Tekkes, instead of being scattered all over the 
 country, were concentrated in one spot, facilitated 
 SkobelefF's victory. But to make the Russophobist 
 prophecies really ridiculous, Russia did not go to 
 Merv, much less to Herat, and settled the frontier 
 dispute with such moderation as to leave the furthest 
 limit of our territory two hundred miles distant 
 
326 RUSSIA AND ENGLAND. 
 
 from Sarakhs. We baffled their intrigues, we check- 
 mated English diplomacy, and then we falsified 
 their predictions as to our annexations. 
 
 Skobeleff said that the late Emperor, having taken 
 the Akhal Tekke business in hand, fully realised the 
 immense importance of a ' place-d'armes ' at the gates 
 of Herat and Afghanistan. No doubt he did. It 
 was important, very important, and if unfortunately 
 Russophobists should once more come into power in 
 England, we shall be better able to hold our own in 
 Central Asia by reason of the establishment of our 
 garrisons in Akhal. On the other hand, if England 
 should want our support for some united action, 
 Russia could offer a more effective hand. 
 
 Do we not know — does not everybody know — that 
 one great idea of the Russophobists five years ago 
 was to attack us in Central Asia ? It is not four 
 years since Sir Henry Rawlinson told us ' Russia 
 must not be left in any uncertaint}?' as to our inten- 
 tions. She might, indeed, be warned that, if neces- 
 sary, we were prepared, in self-defence, to support 
 the Turcomans with arms and money, or even to turn 
 the tables on her by encouraging the efforts of the 
 Uzbegs to recover their liberty.' That is to say, 
 Russia was told in 1879 that England contemplated 
 in certain circumstances the raising a rebellion 
 amongst our Central Asian subjects in order to over- 
 turn our dominion in Turkestan. If such were 
 England's intentions, openly expressed by a man 
 occupying a high official position, who can blame us 
 
GEOK TEPE AS A ' PLACE-D'ARMES.' 327 
 
 for desiring & place- cC armes at the gates of Herat and 
 Afghanistan ? Was it not a legitimate measure of 
 self-defence? A place-cP armes ! "Was it not Lord 
 Beaconsfield's phrase when he annexed — I beg 
 pardon — occupied a certain island named Cyprus ? 
 Yet we never made him understand, in Sir Henry 
 Rawlinson's fashion, that we proposed to invade 
 Asiatic Turkey ; but he deemed it necessary to seize 
 that island in order to defend the Turkish frontier, 
 distant I do not know how many hundreds of miles. 
 Why should we not also have a shelter for our arms 
 to defend our own frontier against a possible enemy 
 coming from the gates of Herat and Afghanistan? 
 SkobelefF, not being in the least mad, never really 
 thought of attacking India from Geok Tep^. But he 
 used to tease a little English Correspondents during 
 the Bulgarian campaign by discussing plans of 
 campaign against India. But when he talked 
 seriously to Mr. Marvin about such a project, he ex- 
 pressed himself in exactly the same sense as all 
 Russians generally do except when indulging in prac- 
 tical jokes. When discussing this question three 
 years ago, I said that the invasion of India was barred 
 by two words — transport and commissariat. In 
 exactly the same sense spoke SkobelefF to his inquisi- 
 tive interviewer. 
 
 ' As to a Russian invasion of India ' [General Skobeleff 
 said], ' I do not think it would be feasible. I do not un- 
 derstand military men in England writing in the " Army 
 and Navy Gazette," which I read, of a Eussian invasion of 
 
328 RUSSIA AND ENGLAND. 
 
 India. I should not like to be commander of sucli an ex- 
 pedition. The difficulties would be enormous. To sub- 
 jugate Akhal we only had 5,000 men, and needed 20,000 
 camels. To get that transport we had to send to Oren- 
 burg, to Khiva, Bokhara, and to Mangishlak for camels. 
 The trouble was enormous. To invade India we should 
 need 150,000 troops ; 60,000 to enter India with, and 
 90,000 to guard the communications. If 5,000 men 
 needed 20,000 camels, what would 150,000 need ? And 
 where could we get the transport ? We should require 
 vast supplies, for Afghanistan is a poor country, and could 
 not feed 60,000 men, and we should have to fight the 
 Afghans as well as you.' 
 
 On my urging that the Afghans might be tempted by 
 the bribe of the spoliation of India to side with the Eus- 
 sians, he said : ' I doubt it. To whom could we offer the 
 bribe ? If we bribed one Sirdar, you would bribe another. 
 If we offered one rouble, you would offer two ; if we offered 
 two, you would offer five — you would beat us in this. No, 
 the Afghans would fight us as readily as they fought 
 you.' 
 
 ' But if you occupied Khorassan beforehand and made 
 it a second Caucasus ? ' 
 
 ' Why should we occupy Khorassan ? We should only 
 get provisions from the province, and we could get them as 
 it is. We derive a revenue from Khorassan now, by its 
 trade with Nijni Novgorod ; but we should lose this if we 
 occupied it. I do not believe Eussia would ever occupy 
 Khorassan. I think the new frontier will be permanent. 
 Do you know ' [here he rose and spoke with vehemence, 
 regarding me with a smile] 'I consider the Central 
 Asia question all humbug.' 
 
 ' But in regard to the possibility of invading India, 
 General Soboloff expressed to me a clear opinion on 
 Monday that Russia could march an army to India if she 
 chose.' 
 
A RUSSIAN INVASION OF INDIA. 329 
 
 'That was diplomacy,' replied Skobeleff; 'of course it 
 is possible — all things are possible to a good general ; but 
 I should not like to undertake the task, and I do not think 
 Eussia would. Of course, if you enraged Eussia: if , by 
 your policy, you excited her, if you made her wild — that 
 is the word — we might attempt it, even in spite of all the 
 difS.culties. For iny part I would only make a demon- 
 stration against India, but I would fight you at Herat. I 
 was very much interested during your war whether you 
 would occupy Herat or not. It would have been a mis- 
 take if you had done so. It would be difficult to march an 
 army from the Caspian to Herat to fight you there, but 
 we should be tempted to do it in the event of a war.' 
 
 There ought not to be a war ; but we have read 
 and beard too much of Russopbobia for Russia 
 ever to be off her guard. We wish to be friends ; 
 with Mr. Gladstone's Ministry we rejoice to believe 
 friendship is possible ; but even Mr. Gladstone has 
 been compelled (in 1874) to resign, and with 
 England's constitutional machinery a Lord Beacons- 
 field or a Lord Salisbury is always possible. Russia 
 has often been on fi:iendly terms with the Conservative 
 party in England ; but since Conservatism has con- 
 strued patriotism to mean Russopbobia, that would 
 seem to be somewhat difficult, at least until they 
 change their minds. 
 
 The fear of a Russian invasion in India reminds me 
 of the people, ' half-lunatic and half-designing,' who, 
 as Mr. Bright says, ' got up in the year 1836 a panic 
 abou.t the invasion of the English shores from Russia, 
 from the Baltic through the Sound. The Baltic is 
 
330 RUSSIA AND ENGLAND. 
 
 shut up for about half the year by frost. What 
 happened during the Russian War when the Enghsh 
 fleet went into the Baltic ? The Russian fleet did 
 not go out of it, because it could not, but took shelter 
 behind the fortifications which had been erected at 
 Sveaborg and Cronstadt. They did not come out to 
 meet the English ships, and the English ships did 
 not dare attack them within those formidable de- 
 fences ; and yet forty years ago we were told that we 
 were to have an invasion of this country by Russia, 
 and the government of that day actually added on 
 the strength of this panic 5,000 men to the roll of 
 the British navy. Wherever there is the slightest 
 panic of any matter of this kind these absurd and 
 extravagant acts are committed.' 
 
 Of course, if the imaginary Russian aggression in 
 India is a good pretext for augmenting the roll of 
 the British army — and for misleading once more the 
 credulity of the English public — let it be used. It 
 can do no harm to Russia, though it will not 
 strengthen much the authority, either of the English 
 press or the so-called 'public opinion,' however 
 deified and worshipped it may be in this country. 
 
 ' I consider the Central Asian question all hum- 
 bug.' How I like that frank, outspoken word of 
 Skobeleff's ! ' Humbug,' indeed, it is ; and it would 
 have been well for us, as for Englishmen, and well 
 for the world, if these great piles of blue-books 
 relating to the Russian advance in Central Asia had 
 
IN CENTRAL ASIA, 331 
 
 never been printed — or, better still, if these despatches 
 had never been written. 
 
 What right has England to say what we shall do 
 or what we shall not do, in any part of the world 
 outside her own dominions ? We are the only judges 
 of our own duties and interests, as England is the 
 only judge of her own. If it pleases her to annex 
 territory in Southern Asia, we make no remon- 
 strances, utter no protests, demand no assurances. 
 Why should the St. James's Cabinet do otherwise, 
 when we make, voluntarily or involuntarily, annexa- 
 tions in Central Asia ? 
 
 Is it not time to be done with all these absurd 
 protestations that no war is to be made in Central 
 Asia unless by the good pleasure of Downing Street ? 
 England is a great Power with great Asiatic posses- 
 sions. Russia is a great Power, also with great 
 Asiatic possessions. Why should either of them be 
 perpetually giving explanations and assurances to 
 the other? Countries as well as separate individuals 
 speak and write too much, far too much. Is it because 
 silence is too aristocratic for our democratic days ? In 
 good old times people exchanged ideas ; now they 
 generally only exchange sounds, and very shallow 
 ones indeed. 
 
 But in this case, Russian diplomatists, somehow 
 or other, went even further : instead of accepting 
 shallow remarks for what they were worth, our 
 officials, especially those belonging to the St. Peters- 
 burg school, deemed it necessary to give assurances, 
 
332 RUSSIA AND ENGLAND. 
 
 which dire necessity compelled Russia sometimes 
 to put aside. How did the matter stand up to very 
 late times ? England actually imagined that Russia 
 was bound in duty to seek absolution for every step 
 she undertook. It is too absurd. It is worse — it is 
 humiliating, and it wUl not be continued. 
 
 Why should we give assurances, which, as the rulers 
 of India know very well, circumstances over which 
 there can be no control often render it impossible 
 to keep ? Russia has been far too complaisant to 
 the whims and caprices of England in those matters. 
 The time has come for changing all that, and allowing 
 affairs to be arranged on a simple and more rational 
 basis. In the future let us each have a free hand. 
 South of the Oxus you do as you please ; north of 
 the Oxus we will have the same liberty. That is an 
 arrangement about which there can be no doubt any 
 longer, and it has now, I hope, superseded all the 
 Penelope's webs of understandings that were always 
 misunderstood, and of assurances which could not be 
 fulfiUed. 
 
 Skobeleff, so far from being an enemy of England, 
 was quite notorious for his friendship for English- 
 men, and his liking for all things English, except 
 her policy in the East in Lord Beaconsfield's days. 
 But Skobeleff was far too well read in the history of 
 English politics to believe that the Russophobist 
 fever of 1878 was likely to be permanent. 
 
 Englishmen do not fully appreciate the difficulty, 
 the almost insuperable difficulty, which the English 
 
ONE DRAWBACK OF PARTY GOVERNMENT. 333 
 
 system of government by parties throws in the way 
 of a cordial understanding with every foreign Power. 
 At St. Petersburg, at Berlin, even at Vienna, it is 
 possible to speak, it is possible even to treat, without 
 reserve. 
 
 Whether these Governments are friendly or hostile, 
 we know what they are, and can treat them accord- 
 ingly. But in England, who can say what England's 
 policy is ? Yesterday it was Lord Beaconsfield's ; 
 to-day it is Mr. Gladstone's ; to-morrow it may be 
 Lord Salisbury's. It has no stability. Parties 
 holding diametrically opposed views come to power 
 every five or six years, if not oftener. So far as 
 Russia is concerned, the vicissitudes of parties in 
 England make more difference than even a revolution 
 in France. Monarchy, empire, and republic are to us 
 ahke indifferent. The form of the government is 
 immaterial, the policy of all to Russia remains the 
 same. But in English politics the distinguishing 
 characteristic of parties is their antagonism on 
 questions of foreign policy, and to one large section 
 of English people, the only foreign policy is opposi- 
 tion to Russia. 
 
 We may be as friendly as you please to the existing 
 government ; but how can you establish confidential 
 relations with a Cabinet which may be bound to- 
 morrow, by some sudden turn in the tide, to hand 
 over all your secrets to your bitterest foe ? It cannot 
 be done ; untU the Conservative party lay aside its 
 recently acquired hostility to Russia, it is impossible 
 
334 RUSSIA AND ENGLAND. 
 
 for Russia to regard England as other than a possible 
 enemy. To those whose dream it was to see an Anglo- 
 Russian alliance a well-established fact, that logical 
 result of deeper reflections is a serious obstacle. 
 
 My hope — alas ! it still only remains a hope ! — is 
 that both parties in England wUl come to understand 
 that it does not always tend to the advantage of 
 British interests to have the defence of those interests 
 irrevocably bound up in the minds of one of the 
 great parties in the State with virulent Russophobism. 
 There would be much less anxiety in St. Petersburg 
 about Egypt, for instance, if Mr. Gladstone's tenure 
 of office did not depend upon the shifting foundation 
 of popular support. 
 
 Representative governments and parliamentary 
 institutions have their advantages, no doubt ; but a 
 firm consistent policy in foreign affairs is hardly to 
 be included among their number. 
 
 Who knows, however, but the Conservatives may 
 become as wai*m supporters of a Russian alliance as 
 they used to be in the old days ? Nothing, as I said, 
 is fixed in English politics, not even the political 
 sympathies of the Conservative party. 
 
 Skobeleff's knowledge of English politics was 
 most remarkable. Immediately after the signature of 
 the Treaty of Berlin — that is to say, in the autumn of 
 
 1878 two years before the general election, and 
 
 when, as I well remember, English Liberals were 
 almost in despair over the prospects of their party, 
 Skobeleff penned a memoir upon the political situa- 
 
SKOBELEFF'S PREDICTION. 335 
 
 tlon. He waa then commanding south of the 
 
 Balkans. In this memoir he passed in review the 
 
 changes which had from time to time taken place in 
 
 the attitude of the different E nglish parties towards 
 
 Russia since 1840, and dedu^^ed from his historical 
 
 epitome the remarkable, but accurate, conclusion that 
 
 the Russophobist period in England was drawing to 
 
 its close, and that, in accordance with the precedent 
 
 of the past, the English nation was certain before very 
 
 long to abandon the policy of systematic defiance, 
 
 and adopt a more reasonable and less hostile attitude 
 
 to the Russian Empire. He followed with a keen 
 
 eye all the political and electoral manifestations of 
 
 opinion in England, and, when the late Government 
 
 was complacently counting upon a new lease of 
 
 power, in return for ' Peace with Honour,' SkobelefF, 
 
 with prophetic voice, declared that its days were 
 
 numbered, and that it would be succeeded by a 
 
 Government with which it would be possible for 
 
 Russia to act in common. His prediction was 
 
 literally fulfilled at Dulcigno. 
 
 Of Russia's pohcy in Egypt Skobeleff^, of course, 
 did not speak ; the question only became urgent after 
 his death. The views of the Russian Foreign Office 
 on that question are clear and unmistakable. I will 
 only reproduce the circular of M. de Giers : — • 
 
 St. Petersburg, June l|, 1882. 
 
 1. First and foremost, the maintenance of the Euro- 
 pean concert. Whatever solution is adopted should pro- 
 ceed from it. 
 
336 RUSSIA AND ENGLAND. 
 
 2. As far as possible to re-establisli and consolidate 
 tlie status quo.^ 
 
 3. It is desirable that a moral action should suffice to 
 secure that end. In that case the results ought to be 
 registered by the Conference, so as to give a new European 
 confirmation to the public law of Europe. 
 
 4. If moral action does not suffice, the Powers in 
 concert ought alone to pronounce upon the measures to 
 be taken, and they ought only to be executed in virtue of 
 its authority and under its control. 
 
 5. If the Porte persists in refusing to take part in the 
 Conference, the Powers ought to come to an understanding 
 to compel us to accept their decisions. 
 
 6. If a material intervention is indispensable, the most 
 legal and the least dangerous would be that of the Sultan 
 acting in virtue of a European delegation, and with the 
 necessary guarantees that he does not overpass the limits 
 of his commission. 
 
 7. If the Sultan refuses, and England and Prance, 
 either singly or collectively, believe themselves obliged to 
 act, this ought also to be undertaken, after an under- 
 standing with the Powers by their delegations, and with 
 a clearly defined programme. The precedent of the mili- 
 tary intervention of Prance in Syria should be consulted. 
 The Powers should appoint special commissioners to 
 accompany the expedition. 
 
 8. As for the final aim of the intervention, it ought to 
 be the re-establishment of the status quo. But this status 
 quo has inconveniences which have been revealed by 
 experience. It may, perhaps, be necessary to modify it 
 upon some points relating principally to the position of 
 the Egyptian Government, vis a vis foreign Powers, and 
 to the obligations by which it is bound. In admitting 
 the principle, the obligation to respect the engagements 
 
 ' It will be seen by the date that this despatch was written before 
 the bombardment of Alexandria. 
 
RUSSIAN POLICY IN EGYPT. 337 
 
 wliicli it has contracted, opportunity may occur for modi- 
 fying them by mutual consent. 
 
 The inconveniences of the exclusive Anglo-French 
 Control have been revealed by events. To perpetuate 
 them by force would be a sorry task. 
 
 It may, perhaps, be possible and just to give a cha- 
 racter, not exclusive, but international, to this Control. 
 It would thus acquire more moral authority, and more 
 guarantees against the personal abuses of its agents. 
 
 The Commission of Liquidation and the mixed Tribunals 
 have this international character, and they work well. 
 
 It may possibly be found just to restrain this Control 
 within limits which would guarantee foreign interests, 
 without constituting an interference in the administra- 
 tion of the country. All these questions ought to be the 
 subject of detailed discussion in Conference. 
 
 To this I only need add one word. The English 
 Government has repeatedly and solemnly declared : 
 " Her Majesty's Government will invite the aid of 
 other Powers to make provisions for the future and 
 good government of Egypt.' 
 
 That assurance was accepted in good faith, and in 
 some way or other it will, of course, be fulfilled. 
 
 England is evidently anxious to settle the question 
 entirely as she likes. Naturally enough she feels no 
 inclination whatever to offer a preliminary scheme 
 ' on approval.' Even members of Parliament are left 
 in the dark as to the plans of the Cabinet, and it is 
 not very difficult to recognise the necessity of such 
 a mode of action. Still, Englishmen may, perhaps, 
 understand better now why Russians cannot entirely 
 forget the fate of the San Stefano Treaty. 
 
338 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM. 
 
 Skobeleff's belief in autocracy — Detestation of Nihilism — Assassins in 
 Ireland and in Russia — Prince Krapotkine's ' La Rdvolte ' — A pro- 
 paganda of anarchy — A Nihilist view of English society — London a 
 nest of Nihilist assassins — A Russian view of autocracy — G. 
 Samarine on Constitutionalism — Why unsuited to Russia — The 
 Moscow address — Aksakoff on the assassination of the Emperor — 
 The social Revolution the outcome of Constitutionalism — Autocracy 
 responsible and irresponsible — Liberalism the negation of Chris- 
 tianity — Evils not constitutional but economic — M. Anatole Leroy- 
 Beaulieu's prescription — Russian material progress — Self-govern- 
 ment in England and in Russia — The one man power — Autocracy 
 tempered by general elections — Rule of the minority in England 
 — The abuses of elective government — Skobeleff and Russian 
 democracy — Aksakoff's letter to the Prince of Bulgaria. 
 
 Skobeleff, as aU Slavophils do, believed not only in 
 autocracy, but lie understood that the very source of 
 Russia's greatness and power lay in that concentration 
 of power which allows speedy and drastic reforms, 
 and which, besides, has been for so many centuries 
 the shape of government which accords with the views 
 and traditions of his country. Autocracy does not 
 impede local self- development ; just the opposite ; but 
 its aim is to add unity and harmonious strength to 
 all the branches of administration. In Russia at 
 present without that unity and without that strength 
 there would be anarchy. Any unprejudiced and 
 intelligent Russian cannot fail seeing it. Russian 
 
NIHILISM. 339 
 
 Nihilists understand that quite well, and that is 
 precisely why they pretend sometimes that they are 
 only craving for constitutionalism. In reality, their 
 only wish is anarchy, pure and simple, without the 
 slightest restriction. Thus, the elements which are 
 the chief objects of their hatred and attacks are pre- 
 cisely those that the Slavophils are most anxious to 
 support and to preserve — viz. orthodoxy and auto- 
 cracy. These are the greatest securities of the 
 Empire, therefore those who want to destroy the 
 Empire naturally attack those principles. 
 
 Skobeleff detested Nihilism. It was contrary to 
 his very nature ; it made war against the national 
 tradition which he revered. It would destroy every- 
 thing in Russia except the soil — faith, fatherland, the 
 very idea of that which we all consider our duty 
 to uphold. NihUists exist themselves, but want to 
 bring destruction to everything else. ' I will live, 
 but you shall die ! ' is their motto. 
 
 The world, of course, is rich in people who do not 
 see the results of their doctrines, who do not realise 
 themselves what category they belong to, de facto, if 
 not always theoretically. Tell some of the real but 
 unconscious Nihilists that, in order to be consistent, 
 they have to become Hartmanns or Krapotkines, they 
 will look perfectly shocked. They talk of ' nuances 
 of Nihilism.' But that was only possiJWe' as long as 
 Nihilism only represented a certain tendency, and 
 never assumed any definite shape. When Tourgeniefi" 
 introduced that word on the Russian soil, it was little 
 
 z 2 
 
340 SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM. 
 
 more than a tendency to destroy established views 
 and authorities. Now, even in England, there are 
 authorities, like public opinion and Mrs. Grundy,^ 
 which can and often ought to be attacked. But 
 Russians, as is their nature, seldom stop half-way, 
 and thus a tendency which seemed not criminal at 
 first, has become a monstrous, illegal power which 
 no cultivated society can, with impunity, tolerate. 
 The extremes on one side strengthened the opposite 
 side. Many people who were indiiFerent to the main- 
 tenance of the autocratic power in Russia have be- 
 come passionately devoted to it now, going in that 
 direction perhaps even too far. They see in every offi- 
 cial a supporter of their political faith, and are afraid 
 to injure their cause by denouncing his shortcomings. 
 This, of course, is not the wisest way of serving the 
 interests of the autocracy, and our Emperor is the 
 very last man to admire that kind of devotion. 
 
 It is almost hopeless to make Englishmen under- 
 
 ' A Russian friend, reading this page in proof, pencilled on the 
 margin, 'For foreign readers. Explain in a footnote "WhoiaMrs. 
 Grundy?"' What an order ! Mrs. Grundy is a mythological deity 
 much worshipped in England, who is supposed to incarnate the pre- 
 judices of very censorious and intensely respectable old women of the 
 middle class. She is more feared than loved. Mr. Looker, in his 
 London Lyrics, sings : 
 
 ' The world's an ugly world. Offend 
 Good people, how they wrangle 
 The manners that they never mend, 
 The characters they mangle. 
 They eat and drink, and scheme and plod, 
 And go to church on Sunday ; 
 And many are afraid of God, 
 And more of Mrs. Grundy.' 
 
PRINCE KRAPOTKTNE. 341 
 
 stand the indignation excited in Russia at the warm 
 welcome they extend to the anarchists. Some English 
 literary men make quite a hero of Prince Krapotkine, 
 and are quite amazed that we should be hurt. What 
 would they say, 1 wonder, if we lionised at St. Peters- 
 burg the murderers of Lord Frederick Cavendish ? 
 
 ' Oh ! ' exclaims one of my very credulous friends, 
 ' but Krapotkine is only seeking liberty of speech, 
 hberty from arbitrary arrest, and constitutional go- 
 vernment ; and if you refuse all these things, what 
 can you expect but dynamite ? ' When remarks of 
 that sort are made to me, I cannot help wondering 
 if Englishmen actually suppose that we never see 
 Irish papers ? But, though we read them, we try to 
 see what is in accordance with truth, or in flagrant 
 opposition to it. Now the Irish papers complain 
 precisely of ' arbitrary arrests.' They deplore that 
 Irish meetings are dispersed by the police, and that 
 the Lish newspapers are seized in the post-office ; 
 they allege these facts as an excuse for their crimes. 
 But in neither case can assassins find a proper excuse. 
 Even on democratic principles, what right has a 
 minority, a miserable handful of a minority, to 
 assassinate the representatives of a majority because 
 the latter will not remodel its laws at its. dictation ? 
 
 Surely nobody, even in England, will deny that 
 the Nihilists are in a minority. If we had a parlia- 
 ment elected by universal suflFrage, do you think that 
 in all Russia one single Nihilist, even one, would be 
 elected by the people ? 
 
M2 SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM. 
 
 I was talking tlie other day to a very eminent 
 Liberal statesman, who had just returned from a 
 short tour in Russia. ' There are two things,' said 
 he, ' which struck me. The Nihilists are like our 
 Irish revolutionists in many things ; but they differ 
 from them in this : the Irish assassin is a coward. 
 The Nihilist has absolutely no fear, no thought for 
 himself. The other thing that struck mfe is, that 
 when a NihUist commits a murder, the people would 
 delight to tear him to pieces. In Ireland the populace 
 only thinks of screening the assassin.' I repeat the 
 remark as it was made to me. Does it not seem to 
 show that in Russia the Government, in punishing 
 the Nihilists, is acting much more in accordance with 
 popular feeHng than England is when she is attempt- 
 ing to repress crime in Ireland ? 
 
 There is no constitutional form of government 
 which to Russians does not seem a bit of humbug. 
 Several English friends of mine — not only Mr. 
 Carlyle — agree with us on that point. But because 
 they dislike that form of government, they do not 
 play the part of Guy Fawkes. Besides, I cannot 
 imagine how they could replace their government ? 
 Any other, I daresay, would work in England still 
 worse. How can one help regarding criminals other- 
 wise than as criminals — if one is not Mr. Cowen, 
 who gave the cordial hand of greeting to men whose 
 hands reek with the blood of the sovereign who 
 emancipated our serfs and liberated Bulgaria ? 
 
 We do not press anybody to adopt an autocracy, 
 
A PROPAGANDA OF DYNAMITE. 343 
 
 -and if we did, we should shrink from supporting a 
 propaganda of dynamite. Why, then, should English 
 Liberals persist in pressing upon us a system 
 unsuited to us, and glorify propagandists whose idea 
 of abolishing autocracy is to blow up an autocrat ? 
 But how little English people know of the Nihilists 
 if they candidly imagine that their object is to pro- 
 cure a constitutional government in Russia! The 
 Nihilists, knowing English pet crotchets, may tell 
 them that kind of thing, and some people like to be 
 deceived ; but we know better. One of the Nihilist 
 organs, published at Geneva, laughs at the foolish 
 falsehoods accepted by the ' Fortnightly Review ' of 
 the constitutional aims of Prince Krapotkine. He is 
 an anarchist, not a constitutionalist. His paper, 
 ' La R^volte,' is the organ of the party of European 
 anarchy. Even a Republic is not enough for him, 
 for it still represents an authority, and insists upon 
 order and discipline. He is avowedly an anarchist. 
 Anybody, studying the history of our times, must 
 understand the meaning of that word. It is a terrible 
 word, and, when supported by deeds, the cause of 
 unspeakable horrors and miseries, worse even than 
 those of any unhappy war. 
 
 In all Europe where is there a Republic so near 
 an ideal of the advanced Left as in France ? There 
 they have universal suffrage, triennial Chambers, 
 peasant proprietorship, equality, liberty, and fra- 
 ternity, inscribed on every public building. The 
 workmen are free to combine ; everyone, even (I beg 
 
344 SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM. 
 
 pardon for uttering such a name) Louise Michel, is free 
 to make speeches at all kinds of meetings. The press 
 is quite at liberty to invent all kinds of fiction. But 
 the anarchists are as dissatisfied there as anywhere in 
 the world, even in Russia. Prince Krapotkine himself 
 is as ready to recommend dynamite in the Republic 
 as in the Empire. If anybody doubt that, let him or 
 her I'ead the ' R^volte.' 
 
 When dynamite was used at Monceau-les-Mines, 
 the ' R^volte ' exulted m the introduction of that 
 explosive into French politics. 'France,' it ex- 
 claimed, ' is in full revolution. The movements at 
 Monceau and Lyons are the preludes of a great 
 popular rising, whose watchwords will be, " Vive 
 la revolution sociale ! vive I'anarchie ! Mort aux 
 bourgeois ! " In all be against property and owner- 
 ship. When the people this time take up arms, 
 the revolution will be made for the expropriation of 
 all social wealth, to put a final end to slaveiy. The 
 mot d'ordre of the appi-oaching revolution will not be 
 one of those empty formulas which some wish to impose 
 upon us. It will be the cry of " Vive I'anarchie! " 
 a cry which sums up all the aspirations of the nine- 
 teenth century; to that all the true revolutionists 
 will rally, and this time the revolution will not fail. 
 It is the insurrection at Monceau which has produced 
 this immense result.' A brilliant prospect, is it 
 not ? The very thing to imitate ! 
 
 I should like to ask my English readers, is there 
 any government in England — even if Mr. Cowen 
 
VIVE l'anarchie! 345 
 
 himself was Prime Minister — which would not 
 suppress such a propaganda of anarchy when it 
 hegan to strike terror by murder ? No matter how 
 faulty the government may be — and every govern- 
 ment, without exception, has a very great many 
 faults — it is justified in regarding such doctrines as 
 intolerable, and in treating their professors as enemies 
 of human kind. Society is not organised on prin- 
 ciples of anarchy, and it is not the duty of authorities 
 who are charged with its defence to capitulate to 
 anarchists and assassins. 
 
 In England there is a curious idea that you may 
 ignore such facts with safety. Truth remains truth 
 even when people dislike accepting it, and there are 
 fires which go across channels and seas. The old 
 English saying, ' Experience is never worth aught till 
 it has been dearly bought ' seems to be forgotten in 
 this country. England will have to pay some day 
 for her mistake in making heroes of the cosmopolitan 
 anarchists of the Continent. I am no authority on 
 these matters, "but it strikes me that in no city of 
 the world are the extremes of abject poverty and 
 enormous wealth so often seen as in London. It 
 also seems to me that the landed proprietors are ab- 
 solutely isolated against a sudden rush of the lawless 
 proletariat. I wonder if Englishmen will be pleased 
 to know that one of the tracts which the Nihilists 
 circulate among our peasants is devoted almost en- 
 tirely to describing the miserable lot of the poor in 
 England. ' If the Russian people,' says the author 
 
346 SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM. 
 
 of ' From Fire into Flame,' ' does not take care, it 
 will soon be as badly off as the people of England, 
 a land whicb, during the last sixty years, has become 
 one great prison, only that men work harder there 
 than in any gaol. In London, the richest city in the 
 world, during the last ten years, 3,292 labourers have 
 died of starvation.' The hero of another Nihilist ro- 
 mance, after seeing children plaiting straw in English 
 villages, and sleeping in foul cellars after fifteen or 
 eighteen hours' labour, goes to a revolutionary meet- 
 ing, where he learns from English lips that 'there 
 draws nigh the terrible deadly contest between the 
 working people and their oppressors. Already over 
 all the land are spread our friends and comrades. 
 Already do they everywhere secretly sharpen knives 
 and prepare matches. Like a torrent will blood flow, 
 like a burning mountain will glow fires,' and so forth. 
 Clearly, if London is allowed for the moment to be 
 a nest of Nihilist assassins, it is from no admiration 
 of your social system that they honour you with their 
 presence, nor will you have long to wait before you 
 experience some of the ' advantages ' of your hospi- 
 tality. 
 
 Skobeleff was the very opposite of a Nihilist. 
 He was an idealist, full of faith and enthusiasm. He 
 explained Nihilism by a defect in our system of 
 education. ' Panslavism was founded,' he told a 
 friend in Paris, ' upon faith in God and love for the 
 brethren, both of which were embodied in the Orthodox 
 Church.' With him, as with all of us. Church and 
 
THE RUSSIAN VIEW OF AUTOCRACY. 347 
 
 country are indissolubly united. He who is false to 
 one is seldom, can seldom be true to another, and a 
 weakening of faith in the first is often preliminary to 
 loss of faith in the other. 
 
 SkobelefF never expounded his political ideas at 
 great length. He left that to others. To understand 
 the system which he enthusiastically supported, read 
 the speeches of M. Aksakoff, M. George Samarine, 
 and others. Take, for instance, this very clear state- 
 ment of the Russian view of autocracy, which was 
 written by G. Samarine, in 1862, and presented to 
 his Majesty privately (as is often done in Russia 
 by people who occupy no political position what- 
 soever) at a time when there were rumours that a 
 Constitution was to be promulgated. 
 
 A report is current, that an address lias been drawn 
 up for signature in Moscow, demanding a Constitution. 
 I, for my part, refuse to believe it, and say to everyone 
 that this is nonsense, a falsehood. But such impossible 
 and unlooked for things ta.ke place in these days, that 
 perhaps after all some insane parody or other is being 
 played even on the theme in question. If true it be, then 
 I propose to put down in writing and give currency to 
 something of the following description. We deem our- 
 selves in conscience bound to make a full and public state- 
 ment of our views on the subject of contemporory 
 rumours about a restriction of autocratic power in Russia, 
 
 We do not acknowledge the truths of the theory 
 de jure divino elaborated by Western scholasticism and re- 
 peated at second hand by our own clergy. To affirm that 
 the supreme imperial power pertains to any dynasty by 
 right in virtue of the force of Divine law, that it belongs 
 
348 SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM. 
 
 to it by hirth, that a whole nation has been given over by 
 God as an entailed property to one person or family — this, 
 in our opinion, is blasphemy. The law of God blesses 
 imperial power in general, and imposes on every person the 
 duty of submitting to it, because the imperial order [this or 
 that), as being the actual condition of social life, serves to 
 accomplisli ends foreordained for the good of mankind. 
 In that sense, ' there is no power but of God.' But what 
 is this power, and what are we to understand by acknow- 
 ledging the power ? The Church leaves this an open ques- 
 tion. It does not affect her. The Saviour and the 
 Apostles founded the Church and gave to mankind a doc- 
 trine bearing on the relation of man to God ; but they 
 did not constitute forms of government and did not write 
 a Constitution. To elaborate for itself a form of govern- 
 ment, a limited or an unlimited monarchy, one aristocratic 
 or republican — that is the affair of the people itself. 
 Every nation constitutes for itself a power according to 
 its needs and convictions, and that power ordained by it, 
 receives the significance of a power binding on each in- 
 dividual pertaining to that nation. 
 
 To declare our opinion in this matter and to set at 
 rest misunderstanding, whicli might easily arise out of 
 what follows, we address ourselves to the question agitated 
 at the present time, and we openlj' affirm that we regard 
 every attempt to limit the supreme power which is now 
 being made in Russia as a foolish proceeding, because it 
 is impossible, and if it were possible, it would rightly be 
 called a calamity and a crime against the people. 
 
 We have called this impossible, because on Eussian 
 territory there is no power invested in wbich. one could 
 limit that of another- -the autocracy. To whatever pitch 
 of mental derangement adult minds may have reached at 
 this time, it is impossible to reckon government schools, 
 universities, or literary clubs, of this or that colour, as 
 power. We will allow that all these can do much harm ; 
 
THE AUTOCRACY. 349 
 
 give rise in this country to a host of wild conceptions, 
 pervert the common judgment, draw some generations 
 aside from the historic path and render them unfit for 
 life ; hut all this is but a manifestation of simply negative 
 strength, not creative nor life-giving. Poison is also 
 strength, but one which destroys and does not give life. 
 We have an historic, positive strength — the nation and 
 ar.other power — the autocratic Tzar. The latter is also a 
 positive historic power, but only in consequence of the 
 people's strength having evolved it out of itself, and be- 
 cause the former strength recognises in the Tzar its per- 
 sonification, its outward expression. As long as autocracy 
 embraces these two conditions it is lawful and invincible. 
 God grant we may not live to experience his strength on 
 some square opposed to some handful or other of discon- 
 tented persons. But it is time to give a timely account to 
 oneself of the consequences of the quarrel, in which pas- 
 sionate people are calling upon it to engage. Let us sup- 
 pose that some hundred pupils of a government institute 
 collect together, and let us suppose that this number is 
 swelled by some dozens of persons who have not yet suc- 
 ceeded in reconciling themselves to the abolition of serf- 
 dom ; suppose that a few noisy journalists join this body, 
 along with a few neighbouring drunkards, and a handful 
 of burgesses and valets thoroughly infected with the spirit 
 of revolution ; in a word, suppose that everyone who 
 would wish to see the fall of autocracy has surrounded the 
 Winter Palace. If the Tzar, summoned by their cries, 
 should rise and merely glance over the heads of that 
 sprinkling of people, and if the crowd behind it should 
 imderstand that it has offended the Tzar, what then ? 
 Will he say, ' Well deserved ! ' or will he move a body of 
 troops against it for self-defence ? Those who find this 
 question a doubtful one had better turn for information to 
 the peaceful arbiters who for six months have been about 
 among the people, and who are of all most likely to listen 
 
350 SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM. 
 
 to a straightforward statement of its grievances and hopes. 
 They will say, with one voice, that the aspirations of the 
 people go straight to the heart of the Tzar, swift as an 
 electric current, borne through all intermediate classes 
 and institutions and social layers, and that no person or 
 thing can arrest it on its course ; that all such intermediate 
 media, in the eyes of the people, serve only as an obstacle 
 which stands in the way of its union with the Tzar, and 
 that there has long been concluded between them a com- 
 pact for mutual aid, not, indeed, enunciated in so many 
 words, but well understood and intelligible to all. If — 
 which God forbid — they should chance in the general re- 
 action to meet with something in the way of opposition, 
 would not that ' something ' produce exactly the same 
 result as that which would overtake a frail canoe caught 
 between two billows advancing one against the other? 
 But let us take another view of the matter ; perhaps when 
 a cry is raised in the square, and the sound is heard of 
 broken panes of glass, they would take fright in the 
 Winter Palace and come to terms ; possibly in a moment 
 of terror some concession might be extorted ; or if the 
 people are not duly fired by ideas of progress and civilisa- 
 tion, and by those who consider themselves in the van of 
 enlightenment, is there perhaps not something else which 
 would fire their enthusiasm, even supposing, for instance, 
 they were promised the abolition of the law of recruiting, 
 the abolition of taxes, &c. ? ' In other words, one can act 
 without the people and one can deceive the people. Both 
 these devices have been had recourse to. Anna Ivanovna 
 signed the Constitution that had been thrust into her 
 hands, and on the day following tore it to pieces ; but the 
 people of that day who advocated constitutions were more 
 considerable in numbers than such advocates are now, 
 
 ' We must not lose sight of the fact that this was written in 1 862, 
 before the aholition of the law of recruiting, and the introduction of 
 many reforms. 
 
CONSTITUTIONAL CENTRALISATION. 851 
 
 though of a milder temperament. There is another 
 example to the point : on December 14, on the strength 
 of a lying order, two regiments of the Guards were led 
 out on the Palace Square. What came of this incident ? 
 . . . The fraud was powerless to move the people. So, 
 then, the limitation of the autocracy is impossible. 
 
 Besides, we remarked that, even if this were possible, 
 we should deem it a calamity. "We explain the reason. 
 All contemporary ills which afflict our land may be said to 
 come to this — our imperial order is not proportionate to 
 our strength and growth ; the government stands in need 
 of more than the land produces, and little by little con- 
 sumes the land. Aa a foil to that evil, a constitutional 
 form of government would not only not effect a cure, but, 
 on the contrary, would make matters worse. We know, 
 by experience, that where constitutional forms take their 
 rise, not as the spontaneous fruit of free development in 
 the life of a people, but are borrowed from without, ready 
 made, like the cut of a coat, they have this direct and in- 
 evitable result — the strengthening of centralisation, not 
 merely administrative but intellectual, in the development 
 of enlightenment among the people. One point, one town 
 becomes the autocratic ruler of all the country ; thence to 
 that central point of political action tend the majority of 
 the people, the bulk of capital and of means, attracted by 
 the hope of a fine career by reason of an attractive stir ; 
 but meanwhile life in the provinces grows torpid, the 
 spirit of independence is weakening, and little by little 
 everything grows dependent on directions given from 
 above. For the first instance centralisation was esta- 
 blished as a consequence of that strong tendency of 
 popular forces to one central point ; subsequently it was 
 strengthened unwillingly, as a consequence of a continuous 
 exhaustion of the whole organism, as the sole means of 
 filling the void and arresting the morbid torpor in its ex- 
 tremities. St. Petersburg, the centre of autocracy, is a heavy 
 
352 SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM. 
 
 burden for Eussia to bear ; as a centre of constitutional 
 government it would strangle her outright. 
 
 Further, the first condition of proper historic develop- 
 ment is sincerity and uprightness. By this I understand 
 a correspondence of that which finds its expression in 
 words, deeds, institutions, customs, with that which con- 
 stitutes the essence of a people's life. Every constitu- 
 tional form of government is founded on the right of the 
 majority, acknowledged as a fact of legal predominance — 
 an undoubted power — over weakness, over partial attrac- 
 tions and interests. But, if the minority arrogate to it- 
 self the vocation and rights of the majority, it is evident 
 that the whole representation of constitutionalism is 
 turned into a seditious lie. Whatever character a limited 
 monarchy might assume amongst us — for no particular 
 form has been sketched out for it — the masses, as a 
 material or instrument or lifeless substance, would be left 
 without it. I think it is evident enough that the people 
 could neither mediately nor immediately be active partici- 
 pators in any sort of constitution whatever. Firstly, the 
 people do not wish for a Constitution, because they trust 
 in the good intentions of their autocratic Tzar, and have 
 absolutely no faith whatever in classes and cliques, for 
 the benefit of which the absolute power might be subjected 
 to limitation ; secondly, the people are illiterate, the 
 people are isolated and formed into other societies ; by the 
 reforms of Peter the people have been jerked out of the rut 
 of historic development ; they are unfitted to be so, they 
 cannot take part in representative institutions. We cannot 
 therefore have a popular Constitution, but one acting apart 
 from the people — that is to say, a government by minorities, 
 acting without the authority of the majority, is a lie and 
 a fraud. We have enough and to spare of false pro- 
 gress, false enlightenment, and false culture ; may God 
 grant we may not live to see in our midst a false freedom 
 
WHAT RUSSIA NEEDS. 353 
 
 and a false Constitution ! The latter falsehood would 
 work more bitter mischief than the former ones. 
 
 It is now scarcely needful to explain why we have 
 called every attempt made at this present time to change 
 the form of government amongst us a crime perpetrated 
 against the people. Whoever puts forward such claims, 
 under the impression that he is speaking for the people 
 and in its name, we can only regard as an object of pity. 
 He who thinks it of no consequence what the people 
 think and feel, he who wilfully despises them, and by his 
 own authority lays violent hands on what the people has 
 created, and on what the people loves — that man is a 
 usurper. 
 
 We are firmly persuaded that all the talk of the pre- 
 sent day about introducing another form of government 
 is nothing more nor less than vain twaddle, which can 
 lay claim neither to justice nor to sincerity. It is not 
 of this that Russia stands in need. After the liberation 
 of the peasants, which could only have been peacefully and 
 successfully carried out by an absolute monarch, what we 
 want is, toleration in matters of religion, a cessation of 
 discourses against dissent by police agents, publicity and 
 independent courts of justice, freedom of the press, as 
 the only means to drive out all infectious juices which 
 poison our literature, and thereby to call out a free re- 
 action of sincere convictions and honourable sound 
 judgment ; we need a simplification of local administra- 
 tion, a reform of taxation, free access to means of en- 
 lightenment, a limitation of unproductive expenditure, a 
 reduction in Court attendants, &c. &c. And all this can 
 be done not only without limiting the absolute power, but 
 more speedily and more easily by an autocratic will, fear- 
 less and without suspicion, mindful of his absolute power, 
 and therefore a careful guardian of the free expression of 
 the people's mind and the people's needs.' 
 
 ' Tfie Muss, No. 29, May 30. 
 A A 
 
354 SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM, 
 
 That paper was written twenty years ago, but the 
 convictions which it expresses are unchanged to-day. 
 When "the present Emperor came to the throne, the 
 citizens of Moscow presented him with an address, in 
 which they asserted : 
 
 We firmly believe that the historical power which 
 created the unity of Russia, with all her external strength, 
 and has put the foundation to the emancipation of the 
 serfs, endowed with landed property, will save Russia out 
 of her temporary difficulties. We firmly believe that only 
 in the affectionate union between the Emperor and his people, 
 and not in the sham conventional-constitutional Jbrms taken 
 from abroad, lies our salvation. Using the words of our 
 Church, we may say that we firmly believe that God will 
 give you power, strength, and wisdom necessary for 
 achieving your difficult task. We firmly believe that the 
 real sons of Russia will defend with all their heart and 
 soul the traditions of their fathers, and that the renovation, 
 as it happened two and a half centuries ago, will be spread 
 from Moscow over all the rest of Russia. 
 
 It is true that the assassination of the Emperor 
 will seem incompatible with the devotion expressed 
 by Moscow to the autocracy ; but we see in that 
 parricide only the result of the apostasy from the 
 national and traditional path of Eussian develop- 
 ment. I cannot do better than reproduce here the 
 remarkable speech addressed by M. Aksakoff to the 
 St. Petersburg Benevolent Slavonic Society, March, 
 1881, on this very subject. M. Aksakoff said : — 
 
 Gentlemen, — I came from Moscow to take part in your 
 assembly, and to join my Moscow voice to yours. I should 
 greatly like to convey to you what is said and thought at 
 
AKSAKOFF ON THE AUTOCEACY. 355 
 
 Moscow, but it is beyond expression by spoken word. How, 
 indeed, are we to define the impressions which fill our 
 souls at this moment? It is sorrow, it is grief, it is 
 shame and horror — a kind of solemn foreboding horror. 
 Divine judgment is now risen up against us. It is God 
 Himself, living in history, who is sending us His terrible 
 revelations. We are now standing before Him, and called 
 upon to answer. What is the answer we are giving ? Is 
 there any answer we could give ? Let everyone appeal to 
 his conscience. Is he not partly to be blamed for the 
 infamy which has deserved the punishment of God and 
 stained our country in the eyes of the whole world ? Let 
 us not deceive ourselves. We are on the edge of ruin. 
 One step more in the fatal direction we followed with such 
 criminal light-headedness, and we attain to blood and 
 chaos ! This is no exaggeration, no mere words. Do not 
 flatter yourselves with dreams. If our country is mute, it 
 is because she is wondering and amazed. Do you realise 
 the meaning of the silent wondering of many millions of 
 people? Their breast is swelling like an ocean, full of 
 heavy thoughts. No external calamity could be compared 
 to the moral burden caused by the villainy of March 1. 
 
 The Emperor is murdered ; the same Emperor who 
 was the greatest benefactor to his country, who emanci- 
 pated, bestowing upon them human and civil rights, tens 
 of millions of Russian peasants. He is murdered; not 
 from personal vengeance, not for booty, but precisely be- 
 cause he is the Emperor, the crowned head, the represen- 
 tative, the first man of his country, that vital, single man, 
 who personified the very essence, the whole image, the 
 whole strength and power, of Russia. Prom time im- 
 memorial that power constituted the strength of the 
 country. The attempt directed against the person of the 
 Tzar is always directed against the whole people ; but in 
 this case the whole historical principle of the national life 
 
 A A 2 
 
356 SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM. 
 
 has been attacked, the autocratic power bestowed upon 
 the Emperor by the country itself. Who are those who 
 dared to bring that awful shame upon the people, and, -as 
 if by mockery, in the name of the people ? "Who are they ? 
 Is it merely a handful of criminals, blood-thirsty block- 
 heads, enslaved by the demon of destruction? Where 
 did they come from? Let us address that question 
 sternly to ourselves. Is it not the product of our moral 
 treason, of which is guilty almost all the so-called liberal 
 press. Can it be anything else but the logical, ex- 
 treme expression of that Westernism which, since the 
 time of Peter the Great, demoralised both our govern- 
 ment and our society, and has already marred all the 
 spiritual manifestations of our national life ? Not con- 
 tent to profit by all the riches of European thought and 
 knowledge, we borrowed her spirit, developed by a foreign 
 history and foreign religion. We began idolising Europe, 
 worshipping her gods and her idols ! Who is to be 
 blamed ? Some forty years ago has not Khomiakoff warned 
 us, threatening us with Divine punishment for ' deserting 
 all that is sacred to our hearts ' ? But really, what are 
 these ' Anarchists,' ' Social Democrats,' and Revolution- 
 ists, as they call themselves ? Have they the smallest 
 particle of Russian spirit in all their aspirations and aims ? 
 Is there the slightest shade in their teachings of a protest 
 against the real shortcomings of which Russia is suffering ? 
 Just the apposite ; what they despise most is precisely 
 the Russian people. In their servile imitation of foreign 
 teaching and foreign idols, they only borrow what can 
 easily be explained, if not excused, in Western Europe by 
 historical and social conditions. There results of that 
 kind are the natural protest caused by unequal partition 
 of land, the unjust reign of the bourgeoisie over the fourth 
 class — deprived of all civil organisation and political 
 rights — a protest, therefore, against the present constitu- 
 tional forms. 
 
THE SOCIAL REVOLUTION. 357 
 
 But that injustice is exactly what we do not possess. 
 Thank God, and thanks to that very martyr-Emperor so 
 brutally murdered, our ' fourth class,' or our peasantry, 
 forming almost eighty per cent, of the whole realm, now 
 possess land, organisation, and the most complete self- 
 government. To this very day, that fourth class is the 
 keeper of our historical instinct, of our religion, and of the 
 whole element of our political organism. They, and not 
 the so-called ' Intelligencia,' are the real supporters of 
 our country. The memory of our ' Zemskie assemblies,' 
 summoned by the will of the autocratic power, is not lost 
 in our history, and no efforts of our iureaucracy, and the 
 pseudo-liberal worshippers of the Western political organi- 
 sation, will be strong enough to stop in the future the 
 renovation of that precious homogeneous union between 
 the sovereign and the land {zemstvo). 
 
 And is it not monstrous that now, when violent pro- 
 tests are heard everywhere in the West against constitu- 
 tionalism and parliamentarism, that in Russia the so- 
 called ' Intelligencia ' should be craving for the constitu- 
 tional rags that Europe will have the charity to throw 
 to her valets ! 
 
 Who accepts the causes has also to accept their logical 
 consequences. Who accepts the Western Constitution 
 has also to bear the last expression of Western political 
 life, viz. social revolution with all its manifestations. 
 
 But can such be the result of the historical thousand 
 years' harvest of the Eussian people P Its patience con- 
 quered all, every kind of misfortune, and remained, in spite 
 of all, faithful to its civil and moral principles. Worse 
 than all the external calamities was the moral treason of 
 its leading class, powerful through knowledge and deve- 
 lopment. The reforms of Peter the Great weakened our 
 memory and disabled us from understanding our own his- 
 tory — so very different from that of the West. Conquest 
 
358 SKOBELEPF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM. 
 
 is not at the bottom of our historical life, as is the case 
 in all the Western countries. Our history begins with 
 quite a voluntary and rational appeal to power. The 
 same appeal was repeated much later, in 1612, and gave 
 the foundation to the present reigning dynasty, em- 
 powered with autocracy, and nothing and nobody could 
 induce the country to alter that shape of government. 
 Such was the will, such was the inspiration of the national 
 spirit. 
 
 Our history does not possess, therefore, that funda- 
 mental fact, which characterises the political life of the 
 Western Powers of Europe, the antagonism between the 
 people and a power imposed by conquest. That anta- 
 gonism, however, is the very foundation of Western 
 constitutionalism. It is a mere agreement ; a compromise 
 between two camps hostile to each other, mistrusting 
 each other ; a kind of treaty, surrounded with all sorts of 
 conditions. To evade those conditions without contradict- 
 ing the letter of the agreement, constitutes the great talent 
 of the rulers as well as of those who are ruled. Struggle 
 for power — that is the real sense of the political life of 
 European countries. The foundation of their administra- 
 tion is a kind of mechanical apparatus ; the centre of 
 power and mind, of an unlimited power, belongs to the 
 majority of voices based upon the numbers of the repre- 
 sentatives. Thus some ten voices — often bribed and 
 bought— autocratically decide the destinies of the people, 
 forming the a.ctual majority, in comparison of which 
 the parliamentary majority is a few grains of sand 
 compared to the sandy wilderness of Sahara. But that 
 autocrat, composed of several numerical units, bears no 
 moral responsibility before its conscience and the country, 
 responsibility which falls heavily on the one personal re- 
 presentative of the supreme power. More than that, the 
 so-called lowest class, forming the great bulk of the coun- 
 
AUTOCEACY RESPONSIBLE AND IRRESPONSIBLE. 359 
 
 try, is not even represented in tlie Chambers. It is 
 simply excluded, it is despised by the Western ' Intelli- 
 gencia.' 
 
 During the First Republic the Frencli Representative 
 Assembly declared — quite legally as far as the form was 
 concerned, and in the name of the people — that the wor- 
 ship addressed to God was null, and replaced by adoration 
 of the ' Goddess of Reason; ' and all that in the face of 
 tens of millions of true believers, but of men deprived of 
 any legal voice, and thus unable to protest at all. The 
 same thing happened in France the other day. It is 
 ordered now to put in all the primary schools, instead of 
 the word God, the word Nature. Is this not a study 
 illustrative of popular Western representation? What 
 is the use of political rights which allow, in the name of 
 liberty and law, such a revolting infraction of freedom and 
 truth ? 
 
 Such are the kinds of freedom promised to Russia by 
 worshippers of European liberal institutions. But the in- 
 stincts and the notions of freedom in the Russian people 
 are higher and broader than in any part of the world, be- 
 cause they are free from the conventional and formal 
 element, and are based on moral truth. They are easily 
 traced in our self-government, thebroadestof Europe, and 
 in the largest application of the elective element. There 
 was no antagonism between our Emperor and the people, 
 as our superior power has been voluntarily recognised by 
 the whole country. 
 
 The Russian people has not entrusted full power to a 
 heartless, soulless, mechanical apparatus, but to the 'holiest 
 of beings ' — to a man with a human soul, with a Russian 
 heart, and a Christian conscience. The people know, and 
 know well, the drawbacks of every human institution, but 
 feel at the same time the power to overcome and improve 
 them. And our former Tzars have not deceived their hopes 
 
3 GO SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM. 
 
 and confidence ; fhej held majestically and rigorously their 
 imperial title, and asked for advice the whole Russian 
 land in the shape of our Zemskie Sobory, and the land 
 never failed to bring in response the love and the truthful 
 thoughts of the whole nation. There was no mentioning 
 any political rights, or supporting any kind of political 
 doctrine. It was the regular, the natural manifestation of 
 national life itself. Neither the people nor the autocratic 
 Tzar ever thought themselves otherwise than in a con- 
 stant moral and intellectual alliance of unity. The 
 superior power, far from finding itself attacked, was 
 supported by millions of loving hearts and intellects. 
 And therefore, after the destructive calamities which took 
 place before the year 1612, after that epoch, it gradually 
 became, to the amazement of the whole world, one of the 
 most powerful countries. The Emperor Peter the Great's 
 reforms have changed all that. I admit that change had 
 its cause, its raison d'etre ; but now it exists no more ; any 
 obstinacy shown in that direction by the Government 
 or the ' Intelligencia ' would be fatal, and has already 
 been the cause of our present state. But, if our adminis- 
 tration has forsaken for a time its national traditions, the 
 nation itself remains faithful. 
 
 There is, however, another side of the question, of 
 which I beg permission to say a few words. All that 
 Nihilism, Socialism, that last word of Western European 
 life, has a moral underlining. The idea of a State could 
 nowhere be developed with such fullness and consistency 
 as in the heathen world, where it constituted the highest 
 idea of truth. Christianity showing to the man the 
 highest vocation outside and above the State, designated 
 the principle of Divine truth as the moral source of every 
 strength and power. But, as soon as the Christian world 
 forgets the notion of God, the modem foundation of the 
 State is shaken, as Christianity is the only great principle 
 
LIBERALISM THE NEGATION OF CHRISTIANITY. 361 
 
 subduing, moderating in due limits, the development of 
 mere State principle. Society, which repudiates Christi- 
 anity, but at the same time is unable to give up the exigen- 
 cies inspired by Christian truths, individual freedom, and 
 other Christian ideals — such a society is doomed to search 
 only in the State for the realisation of all these ideals, 
 though they are perfectly unattainable in that region. In 
 rejecting the spiritual weapon, that highest moral motive 
 for good, based upon faith in supernatural truth, there 
 remains only material force, however legal it may be. 
 
 But a Christian cannot simply cease to be a Christian ; 
 he will continually struggle with his former God, in his 
 own soul and in the outside world. And the more he 
 struggles the more . discontented he becomes. Therefore 
 the final fate of every Christian society which excluded 
 Christ from itself is rebellion and revolution. But re- 
 bellion creates nothing, and from rebellion to rebellion 
 you come to anarchy, to a complete self- negation. The 
 beginning of all this is to be traced already in Western 
 Europe. In denying the existence of God and his soul, 
 the man deifies the body, and is subdued by animal in- 
 stincts. Such is the political and spiritual path recom- 
 mended to Russia. After she has been covered with the 
 so-called Liberal constitutional organisation by our social 
 revolutionists, and that part of our ' Intelligencia ' who 
 stupidly imagine that you may stop half-way, they try to 
 displace from her historical and Christian ground that 
 Russia, which to this moment we call ' Holy Russia,' and 
 simple people generally designate themselves as 'Chris- 
 tians ' and ' Orthodox world.' 
 
 No, that shall never happen ! Our people is hostile 
 to Liberalism preached along with the negation of 
 Christian faith and Christian morality, and which ex- 
 presses the greatest contempt for the political and 
 spiritual belief of the Russian land. 
 
362 SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM. 
 
 The time is come for us to bethink ourselves. The 
 time is come to fix our mobile heart, our mobile thoughts, 
 on the rock of Divine and national truth. I am happy to 
 have been able to express aloud, in the name of the 
 Slavonic society, the civil and moral aims and ideals of 
 the Russian people. But that is not sufBcient. It is 
 necessary — it is absolutely necessary — for us to implore 
 our Emperor to allow us, the whole country, the whole 
 nation, to surround his throne and to express fearlessly, 
 openly to the whole world, our horror and indignation to 
 all who dare to make any attempt against what is most 
 sacred to our national feeling, the historical principle of 
 the autocracy, which constitutes the very foundation of 
 our political life. Yes ; let us implore that the old union 
 between the Emperor and the country shall be revived, 
 based upon reciprocal, sincere confidence, love, and union 
 of souls. 
 
 Possibly M. Aksakoff's terminology and modest 
 thought may be too Russian to be appreciated in the 
 West, or, perhaps, even to be understood. Let me, 
 therefore, supjilement his remarks by giving in an 
 Appendix some extracts from a very good reply to 
 Professor Dragamanoff, which Baron Nicholas Fred- 
 ericks, of St. Petersburg, published within a few weeks 
 of M. Aksakoff's speech. Baron Fredericks gives 
 a more occidental — a more St. Petersburg view of 
 the autocracy — but it is sufficiently Russian to de- 
 serve attention. Baron Fredericks is a man of ex- 
 perience, and for a St. Petersburger his views are 
 decidedly worth hearing.^ 
 
 We may be wrong, everybody is wrong some- 
 
 1 Yide Appendix B. 
 
SUPEESTITION OR BAD FAITH? 363 
 
 times, about the constitutional question. But whether 
 we are right or wrong, there can be no doubt that the 
 conventionalities of the West seem to us mere cant — 
 an element which to us is most repulsive. You might 
 as well say that people take smallpox because of the 
 colour of their eyes, as to attribute all the troubles 
 from which we suffer to the lack of a Constitution. 
 
 It is really too absurd to read the grave lectures 
 which are addressed to poor Russia by her sapient 
 critics of the West. A mob, plundered to the bone 
 by Jewish usurers, turns suddenly upon its oppres- 
 sors and wrecks their houses and hunts them through 
 the street. If this is on our side of the Carpathians, 
 it is held up to the world as the natural consequence 
 of despotism. ' What can you expect in a country 
 so barbarous as to submit to an autocrat? ' All pro- 
 testations that the causes of the anti- Jewish movement 
 are, not constitutional, but economic ; that bad coun- 
 sels, in some cases given by Nihilistic instigations, 
 have resulted in illegal protests, are obstinately 
 ignored. But, if the selfsame attacks on the Jews 
 take place on the English side of the Carpathians, 
 in constitutional Hungary, then, all at once, it is dis- 
 covered that the anti- Jewish riots have no connection 
 whatever with Magyar constitutionalism. They are 
 due to any cause but the form of government of the 
 State in which they occur. It is just the same with 
 Niliilism. We have our Nihilists, our dynamitards, 
 and so have other countries, even those blest with 
 the freest institutions of the world. But when a 
 
364 SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM. 
 
 Nihilist explodes a bomb in Russia, he is the natural 
 product of despotism. When he uses dynamite in 
 France, he is merely a miscreant and a criminal. 
 ' Virtue and vice,' says M. Taine, ' are products like 
 vitriol and sugar ; ' but what are we to think of this 
 anomalous classification wherein the products change 
 their character with their geographical locations ? In 
 the Baltic provinces, the peasants, imitating the ex- 
 ploits of the Irish, have also shot one of their land- 
 lords. This was fortunately a unique case. In 
 Ireland this is the result of landlordism, and can be 
 easily explained — some of my friends positively 
 assert — by the history of Ireland. But in the Baltic 
 provinces, when the same phenomenon occurs, it is 
 attributed in some mysterious way to the Pan- 
 slavists. 
 
 Now all this strikes us as so ridiculous, so trans- 
 parently absurd, that we can hardly take seriously any 
 remonstrances addressed to us by those who show 
 such bad faith, or at least such parti pris. If Eng- 
 lish critics wish to be attended to, let them at least 
 apply the canons of their criticisms impartially to 
 Russians and to their neighbours. What is virtue 
 in a Magyar cannot be vice in a Russian. Neither 
 can the mere fact that he lives east or west of a cer- 
 tain parallel of latitude convert an assassin into a 
 hero, or vice versa. 
 
 A very distinguished friend of mine, M. Anatole 
 Leroy Beaulieu, who has shown an exceptional energy 
 and good faith in studying Russian history and Rus- 
 
THE WESTERN PRESCRIPTION. 365 
 
 slan life, recently published, in the second volume of 
 his very interesting work, ' L'Empire des Tzars,' a 
 diagnosis of our social malaise, and a prescription for 
 our cure. Of course the prescription was a Constitu- 
 tion. Has any Frenchman or Englishman, except 
 Mr. Carlyle and Mr. Froude, ever seen a disease which 
 a Constitution would not cure ; of course always 
 excepting in their own Eastern dominions? The 
 countries for whose good government they are respon- 
 sible, and the conditions of which they must know 
 the best, are just those where our Western mentors 
 most resolutely refuse to apply their constitutional 
 instrument. Germans, with their usual scientific 
 thoroughness, are more cautious in. their liberal 
 doctrines. 
 
 Two years ago, on my way to Moscow, I stopped 
 for a few days at St. Petersburg. I went to see there 
 an old friend of mine, a German by birth, Protestant 
 by creed, but, having always been in close contact 
 with thorough Russians, very devoted to Russia. 
 ' Well,' said I, ' what have you been doing since we 
 parted? ' ' Sighing, sighing, and longing. . . .' ' Oh, 
 yes,' interrupted I, ' of course longing for constitu- 
 tional freedom, for Western progress, as almost every- 
 body in Petersburg ? ' 
 
 ' Not in the least,' was the reply ; ' nothing of the 
 sort. What do we long for ? — it is power, unity of 
 power, harmony of power, confidence in power, fide- 
 lity to power. ... St. Petersburg is carried away by 
 shallow phrases, loud words. It is so opposed to the 
 
366 SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM. 
 
 Russian character to prefer words to deeds, sham to 
 reality. But this is our present tendency. Life 
 becomes intolerable, simply becaiise one meets too 
 many traitors to Russia, traitors to Russian views, 
 traitors to Russian traditions, to real Russian inte- 
 rests. If I went abroad as often as you do, I would 
 only implore our advisers to think of themselves, and 
 to let us alone. But people naturally prefer thinking 
 of others, especially if they fancy they can find causes 
 for blame and noble indignation. Cela rCohlige a 
 rien, et neanmoins cela pose ! ' 
 
 I had warmly praised M. Leroy Beaulieu's first 
 volume, in an article written before the second ap- 
 peared, and the words I had used about the first were 
 ingeniously used by one of my critics to cover a 
 laudatory resume of M. Leroy Beaulieu's constitu- 
 tional prescriptions. It was a clever trick, often 
 used they tell me, by ' truthful ' servants of good 
 faith. In reality, I endorsed the first volume, and 
 disagreed with several parts of the second, though 
 M. Leroy BeauUeu is very moderate, and admits 
 honestly so many difiiculties in the use of his pre- 
 scriptions, that one is not altogether sure about the 
 way he would take himself, if suddenly he were 
 changed into Jupiter, and obliged to organise Russia 
 at a moment's notice. 
 
 Russia, thank God ! is not on the verge of ruin 
 or of revolution, as M. Leroy Beaulieu supposes. 
 Those who have witnessed the great national exhi- 
 bitions which we held this year at Moscow know 
 
SELF-aOVERNMENTIN ENGLAND AND IN RUSSIA. 367 
 
 that Russia, instead of decaying, is making gigantic 
 strides in material progress. Against all the asser- 
 tions of the Nihilists put this suggestive fact, recog- 
 nised and stated by the ' Economist,' that in the first 
 eight months of this year, the percentage of increase 
 of traffic on the Russian railways has been seven 
 times greater than that on English railways in the 
 same period ; eleven times as great as the French 
 lines, and thrice as much as the most prosperous lines 
 of Europe. An increase of twenty-three per cent, in 
 railway receipts, I willingly admit, is no proof of 
 other than material prosperity. Russians, at least, 
 do not gauge everything by a metallic standard ; 
 but it is at least a proof that the universal bank- 
 ruptcy and ruin which is supposed to be impend- 
 ing, is not visible from the railway. 
 
 What is the principle of a constitutional govern- 
 ment? Is it a government of the people by the 
 people? To that we have no objection. All our 
 government is based upon that idea. All that we 
 ask for is, that the people who govern shall be people 
 who understand the affairs with which they have to 
 do. Our peasants understand the affairs of their 
 commune ; they have therefore authority to govern 
 the commune. They manage its affairs, because they 
 are their own affairs. But they do not understand 
 Kuldja treaties or Egyptian protectorates ; they are 
 even unable to understand the difference between 
 Lord Beaconsfield and Mr. Gladstone. What better 
 instance can I give of their incapacity for understand- 
 
368 SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM. 
 
 ing? These questions are, therefore, left in the hands 
 of those who are familiar with such things. In 
 England, I willingly admit, the case is quite dif- 
 ferent. The English peasant has no voice in the govern- 
 ment of his commune. He is consulted only about 
 affairs of ' haute politique.' That does not seem to us 
 the most sensible plan ; but we are not so imper- 
 tinent as to urge England to adopt Russian customs. 
 Let everybody mind his own business and avoid 
 foreign novelties. Few things pleased me more than 
 a Court reception in England. Could anything be 
 more picturesque and unlike what you see anywhere 
 else? One felt as if old times came back at a mo- 
 ment's notice, and that England, in the face of the 
 whole world and all its representatives, liked to be 
 as she was before, firmly clinging to her own habits 
 and tastes, proudly disdaining the whimsical fancies 
 of fashion, the very nature of which is to be speedily 
 replaced and speedily thrown to oblivion. Had the 
 Russian Slavophils their own way, we also would 
 look more old-fashioned and more like ourselves. 
 But, I must apologise for those frivolous remarks, 
 and listen to the solemn voices of our judges. ' We 
 object to the one man power,' says one. ' We cannot 
 tolerate the autocracy of an individual,' says the 
 other. . . .' I feel amazed and puzzled. But really 
 — surely it was not a dream which I saw from 1876 
 to 1880 ? Surely, England under Lord Beacons- 
 field's government did not seem so very much 
 opposed herself to one man power ? My English 
 
THE ONE MAN POWER. 369 
 
 Liberal friends often urged me ' to admit that all that 
 happened in those bad times was not England's 
 doing, but that of her absolute ruler.' His will — 
 not England's — was law. Even the majority of the 
 nation could only protest when he led them from 
 one extravagance to another. He put armies and 
 fleets in motion without asking the consent of Parlia- 
 ment, and he got as much money from the country 
 as he hked for the display of his forces. He adopted 
 one policy after the other, without any control or 
 restraint. In Afghanistan England's traditional policy 
 was reversed. He reversed first England's tradi- 
 tional policy, and then his own, in the Balkan 
 Peninsula ; and all the time these antics were going on 
 the majority of the English people could only sing 
 hymns of despair, and wait till the English autocrat, 
 deluded by his own power, made an imprudent step 
 and committed political suicide by allowing a general 
 election. Fortunately, the man who can be con- 
 sidered as Lord Beacon sfield's extreme came to 
 power. But all the people I see, or at least all the 
 people whose opinions have any weight, tell me that 
 no man in Europe, not even excepting our own 
 Emperor, is more absolute than Mr. Gladstone. At 
 his bidding the House of Lords pass one measure 
 after another which they most abhor ; at his 
 command the House of Commons reluctantly con- 
 sents to impose— after twenty days' talking — the 
 closure upon interminable debates, which formed a 
 
 B B 
 
370 SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM. 
 
 kind of concert which no impresario in the world 
 would tolerate more than one night. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone's opponents are powerless. Queen, 
 princes, lords, commons, all the estates of the realm 
 are as nothing compared with him. It is no doubt a 
 noble spectacle, the devotion of the English people to 
 their greatest statesman ; but what about ' the one 
 man power ' ? 
 
 I shall be told, I daresay, the English can 
 tolerate an autocrat when they can dismiss him 
 at their pleasure. English autocracy is tempered 
 by general election, as marriage is said to be 
 moralised by divorce. The difference between the 
 two autocracies is that which exists between countries 
 where divorce is allowed and where it is forbidden. 
 But it is just as unfair to conclude that all wives in 
 the latter country are longing to be rid of their 
 husbands as it is to suppose that, because we cannot 
 dismiss our emperors, we are the victims of cruel 
 and degrading despotism. We do not want the 
 divorce. 
 
 The Nihilistic demonstrations form a passing 
 malady. In cholera times, Russia loses also many 
 victims ; but the cases of that other new-fashioned 
 malady are not numerous. They are not even such 
 an appreciable minority of the nation as Fenians 
 and assassins are of your country. Because English 
 Ministers cannot walk in the street without a police 
 escort, it does not prove that the nation wishes to 
 overthrow the Government. Is it fair, is it just. 
 
RULE OF THE MAJORITY ? 371 
 
 is it wise, to give to criminals in Russia a political 
 importance whicli Englishmen would be the first 
 to deny them in England ? They say tradespeople 
 find that in the long run nothing pays so well as 
 honesty and good name. Surely the same advan- 
 tages should also guide politicians and servants of 
 the press. 
 
 Who is it that has the right of dismissing the 
 English autocrat ? Clearly the majority of the whole 
 nation. But in 1874, if I remember right, there was 
 a very grave doubt whether the majority polled for 
 the Liberals was not even greater than that polled 
 for the Conservatives. So, at least, I was assured as 
 a foreigner. I have not the means of verifying 
 these facts by my own experience. 
 
 Is it not notorious that the majority of the 
 American nation was against President Hayes ? Yet, 
 by some curious constitutionalism, the elect of the 
 minority became President of the United States. But 
 the renewal of our autocrat's term of office, if it were 
 made terminable at intervals, would be secured by 
 overwhelming majorities. They are so overwhelming, 
 that it would be folly to take the vote. Not even 
 Nihilists — who do not practise great veracity in 
 their descriptions of Russia — would deny that ple- 
 biscites would result in majorities of millions for 
 the autocracy. Why, then, can we not accept the 
 fact for granted ? Why do English doctrinaires deny 
 us the benefit of their own doctrines ? 
 
 There is another point I would like to refer to ? 
 
 B B 2 
 
372 SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM. 
 
 When people talk of democracies and the rule of 
 majorities, how often is the real vote of the majority- 
 secured ? Not in Italy, where the electoral college, 
 even when extended, is a mere fraction of the popu- 
 lation. Not in France, where the abstention of 
 electors from the poll is alarming good Republicans. 
 
 Is it in England ? Well, this year I have been in 
 England during the School Board elections. Every- 
 one, even the illiterate, has a vote, and the uneducated 
 majority has the election of the educational parlia- 
 ment of the capital. No one can deny, however, the 
 importance of the questions submitted to the electors. 
 But what was the result ? The new Board was 
 elected after an expensive contest in every district 
 in London, but not one of its members received the 
 votes of one-half of the electors on the register. In 
 some cases only one-fifth came to the poll, and 
 members were elected by one-tenth of their constitu- 
 ents. Yet the candidates who received that frac- 
 tional amount of support were authorised to act in 
 the name and on behalf of the nine-tenths who either 
 did not vote at all or voted agamst them. ' Quite 
 right,' I am told, for the many who remained at 
 home were content to delegate their rights to the 
 few who voted. It is true that the latter did not 
 recognise any responsibility for those who stayed 
 away; but it was there all the same, and the 
 handful were authorised to exercise what the 
 French call ' the popular sovereignty.' 
 
 In Russia we accept that principle, only we carry 
 
ABUSES OF ELECTIVE GOVERNMENT. 373 
 
 it a little further. Instead of entrusting the exercise 
 of the national sovereignty to any chance fractional 
 group of irresponsible electors, we vest it in a family 
 trained generation after generation in the responsible 
 exercise of that sovereign trust. The majority — be 
 quite at ease about that — are very well content to 
 leave it there. 'With us,' said M. KatkofF recently, 
 in one of his leaders in the ' Moscow Gazette,' ' the 
 people forms only one indissoluble governmental 
 party,' and just as Liberals gave supreme power to 
 Mr. Gladstone, and the Conservatives to Lord 
 Beaconsfield, so Russians, regardless of party, give 
 a free hand to their Emperor. A power, indeed, 
 adorned by all the prestige of the Lord's anointed in 
 the eyes of a deeply religious people. 
 
 We are not without experience of elective institu- 
 tions in Russia, and our experience is not altogether 
 satisfactory. The ' Golos ' plays the part at St. 
 Petersburg of a ' constitutional organ,' and it is daily 
 misleading a great many readers. What did it admit, 
 however reluctantly, the other day ? ' One of the 
 essential vices of our provincial self-government is 
 the indifference of the elected to the discharge of the 
 duties of their mandate. It sometimes happens that 
 no sitting of the General Assembly can be held be- 
 cause there are not sufficient members of the Zemstvo 
 present to transact business, although one-third forms 
 a quorum. This was the case at Kishineff last 
 October, although very important business ought to 
 have been transacted.' Could this ever have hap- 
 
374 SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM. 
 
 pened if representative meetings of ttat kind suited 
 our tastes and beliefs ? It only shows that Russians 
 have little faith in majorities and decisions based 
 upon numbers and oratorical arguments. The repre- 
 sentation of the people often falls into the hands of 
 professional politicians, whose chief object is to 
 obtain a salaried post in the offices of the delegation. 
 This contingent of members of the Zemstvo, bound 
 together by the strongest ties of self-interest, forms 
 a ring against which the independent members are 
 powerless. Something of the same kind of thing 
 appears to exist on an even greater scale in the United 
 States ; but the ring, the machine, and the ' spoils 
 system ' are all to be found in an incipient state in 
 the heart of our democracy. If this is so where 
 the assembly deals only with the provinces, how 
 would it be if it controlled the destinies and dis- 
 posed of the patronage of the Empire? Of course, 
 the constitutionalists might object that ' the insig- 
 nificance of the questions discussed makes us indif- 
 ferent and lazy in attending the Assemblies.' But 
 that is a bad argument. There are no insignificant 
 questions when anything concerned with your country 
 is discussed. 
 
 But I am digressing unpardonably. Skobeleff 
 admired England, and the English institutions for 
 England, but not for Russia. He would have the 
 Slavonic races develop their destinies as Slavs, and 
 not as Germans or English. Russia has a nobility, 
 but without any political privileges. Skobeleff, like 
 
SKOBELEFF A DEMOCRAT. 375 
 
 all Russians, was a democrat, and believed, like the 
 overwhelming majority of Russians, that our 
 democracy required the supreme will of an autocratic 
 concentrated power. He believed in the Emperor 
 and the Mir. These summed up for him, as for most 
 of us, his political and social creed. 
 
 Those who share a dream in some future of a 
 fraternal tie which might lead all the Slavs to a like 
 kind of federal organisation under the headship of 
 Russia, will have to wait a very long time, and realise 
 many other dreams, before that latter crowning of 
 the edifice is likely to take place. 
 
 We prefer the autocracy for ourselves. We are 
 firmly convinced that it suits us better than the 
 Western systems, but in the wide field of the Slavonic 
 family all systems of government flourish. No uni- 
 formity is insisted on. A unity of brotherly affection, 
 that is all we seek for. At the same time we are free 
 to advise our younger brethren as to the best form of 
 government, and that M. Aksakoff has frequently 
 done. This letter of his to the Prince of Bulgaria 
 is an admirable treatise on the Slavonic theory of 
 governments : — 
 
 Truly it is a diflicult task to which Providence has 
 called you, and great indeed is the responsibility which 
 you have so courageously assumed. May God come to 
 the aid of your Highness and give to you the great, the 
 enormous fund of patience and of perseverance indis- 
 pensable for directing the government of a State whose 
 formation has hardly been outlined ! What, in my opin- 
 ion, is essential for the present moment is to imprint 
 on the government an emphatically national type. 
 
376 SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM. 
 
 The aspirations of the Slavonic races are entirely- 
 democratic in the true sense of the word, not in the sense 
 of the revolutionary theories so much in vogue in Europe. 
 The historic mission of the English Tories, of the Con- 
 servative parties in the West, die heharrende Kraft as the 
 Germans say, reposes among the Slav nations in the 
 popular ranks. It is here and not in the bourgeoisie, in 
 the population of the towns, in the soi-disant cultivated 
 classes, that the Government ought to seek its centre of 
 gravity. It is the good sense, it is the instinct of the 
 people which ought to regulate the administrative halance 
 and serve as compass in the devious roads that the State 
 has to travel. In Europe it is quite otherwise. The 
 tendency which becomes more and more manifest in the 
 Constitutional States of the West is to give a monopoly 
 of power to the class of doctrinaires and theorists, die 
 Literaten in Germany. These are they who, in the name 
 of the misleading principle of the ' sovereignty of the 
 people,' seek to impose on the people the most tyrannical 
 of yokes, to compel it to submit to the despotism of their 
 doctrines, and to direct the helm of the State according 
 to their passing whims and political passions. The ex- 
 ample of contemporary France is very edifying. It is in 
 the name of the people that a miserable minority of the 
 country, taking advantage of the title of the representa- 
 tives of the nation, and relying upon a parliamentary 
 majority of some dozens of votes, contrive to outrage 
 legally the religious beliefs of the real popular majority. 
 
 The Russian ideal, which is more or less common to 
 all the Slav races, is that of local self-government without 
 political powers, supported and crowned by a central and 
 superior authority, a personal authority, free and un- 
 trammelled in the governmental sphere. 
 
 The rural autonomy in Eussia is so great that the 
 Russian communes resemble little republics, which govern 
 themselves according to their own uses and customs. 
 
AKSAKOFF TO THE PRINCE OF BULGARIA. 377 
 
 The people do not want sovereignty, nor do they seek to 
 govern the State ; but that which they do desire is a 
 Government which inspires them with confidence by its 
 energy, its strength, its disinterestedness, and its national 
 character. The reason why the Eussian people know 
 their Tzar is, because the Tzar is not in Eussia what the 
 king was formerly in Trance, le premier gentilhomme du 
 pays ; he belongs to no party and to no social position, he 
 is above and beyond all, he is the first man of the country, 
 and stands for the people as their own personification. 
 The supreme authority in Eussia is neither an apparatus, 
 nor a collective body, nor a personal and abstract com- 
 bination, as in constitutional countries. That which the 
 Eussian people want is an authority possessing a human 
 heart, a living being whose mind and soul are substituted 
 for the formalism of the bureaucracy and the dead letter 
 of the laws. Before Peter the Great, who introduced 
 into Eussia Western notions about the relations between 
 authority and the people, the jealousy of power was entirely 
 unknown to Eussian sovereigns ; they had the good cus- 
 tom of convoking the delegates of the country of all 
 classes of the people to consult with them when they 
 wished to settle questions more or less weighty, or when 
 they wished to secure the sincere support of the whole 
 nation. Although autocrats, they did not believe them- 
 selves to be infallible, and they recognised without reserve 
 the necessity for the Government to know the thought of 
 the country. These assemblies naturally were only con- 
 sultative, and only influenced the course of events by their 
 moral force, without prejudice to the dignity and the 
 authority of the Tzar. It is that which will rehabilitate 
 Eussia in a time not far distant. 
 
 I believe, monseigneur, that this exposition of the 
 theory of the State among the Slav races, and especially 
 in Eussia, may perhaps be of some use to you in your 
 political combinations. Such democracy, based on the 
 
378 SKOBELEFF AND CONSTITUTIONALISM. 
 
 autonomy of the communes, the people, the true people 
 as centre of gravity, the national character recognised in 
 every theory, the art to make yourself popular, the 
 country often consulted, religion respected, and the clergy 
 honoured — these, with God's help, will enable you to 
 make Bulgaria strong and happy. 
 
379 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 DEATH. 
 
 Skobeleffa presentiment— Commander of the Fourth Army Corps— 
 Over-exertion — Love for his parents — His views of married life 
 — Respect for women — His sudden death — A national sorrow — 
 Honours paid to the dead — His funeral. 
 
 Skobeleff, who had so often exposed his life in 
 ■war, who led his troops into seventy actions, was 
 fated after all to die in time of peace, and in peaceful 
 Moscow. To me personally there was something 
 terrible in that fact. Not long ago, talking to him 
 of possible conflagrations and wars, I exclaimed, ' I 
 only hope and trust Russia will have no ground for 
 shedding new torrents of blood. We have sustained 
 too many losses already. Men like yourself have to 
 serve their country at home, and not be the victims of 
 a bullet.' ' As to me,' said he, as if gazing at the 
 future, and talking to himself in an absent and 
 dreamy way, ' I am convinced that I shall not meet 
 my death on a battle-field.' And here came an 
 expression over Skobeleff's face which I do not 
 think it is possible ever to forget. There was some- 
 thing prophetic and fatalistic at the same time. He 
 looked as if, forgetting all the surrounding scene, he 
 
380 DEATH. 
 
 was brought into contact with destiny itself, and all 
 the mysterious elements which surround our life. It 
 seemed as if death was already in the room, and 
 trying to seize its prey. I endeavoured to give 
 another turn to our conversation, and said, trying to 
 smile, ' Well, we are all mortals. The old philosopher 
 was right. As long as we Hve, death is not there ; 
 and when it comes we do not feel it.' ' Of course,' he 
 hastened to say, as if awaking suddenly from a heavy 
 dream ; and he began talking of the Roman Catholic 
 propaganda in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
 
 The real cause of his death has never been ab- 
 solutely well defined. Late in the evening of the 
 ^6jSF) 1882, he was dining with some friends, talk- 
 ative and gay, and all the time sketching plans and 
 maps, as he was fond of doing. At 3 a.m. the next 
 day he existed no more. Some ascribed it to the 
 rupture of an aneurism, others believed it to have 
 resulted from a contusion received in one of the 
 fiercest of his many battles. While before Plevna, 
 at the very time when the legend of his invulner- 
 ability was the most firmly believed by his soldiers, 
 he was struck by the fragment of a bursting shell. 
 Its force was broken by the fur which he wore under 
 his uniform, but the blow was so violent that he lay 
 senseless for a couple of hours. His wound was 
 concealed from his troops, who believed him to be 
 asleep ; and their belief was confirmed when the 
 next day they saw him going about the same as 
 always in their midst. But the shell, although it 
 
COMMANDER OF THE FOURTH ARMY CORPS. 381 
 
 had not pierced his body, is supposed to have left 
 there the germ of a fatal weakness. Such a hero 
 deserved to die under the folds of the flag which he 
 had so gloriously served ; but the course of history 
 both in Europe and in Asia might have been different 
 had he forgotten to put on that far, on the day when 
 the shell burst beneath him at Plevna. He was 
 spared to his country for two glorious campaigns, and 
 then — ah ! then — the end came, when Skobeleff was 
 only thirty-niue. 
 
 After his return from Paris, he resumed his 
 military duties, and was appointed Commander of 
 the Fourth Army Corps, whose head-quarters were at 
 Wilna. In peace as in war, Skobeleff spared neither 
 himself nor his men, and every garrison in his wide 
 district felt the stimulus of his energy. As a speci- 
 men of his duties at home, I may be, I hope, allowed 
 to give the following account of how he spent a few 
 days in the last month of his life, as it illustrates 
 the recklessness with which he exhausted his superb 
 vitality. 
 
 At nine o'clock in the morning of the -^ of 
 June, Skobeleff set out on horseback from Wilna to 
 review the 4th regiment of the Cossacks of the Don, 
 who were stationed at Lida, a distance of ninety-six 
 versts (64 miles). He rode through the long summer 
 day, and reached Lida at ten o'clock at night. The 
 moment he entered Lida, without pausing a moment 
 for rest, he ordered the ' boot and saddle ' to be 
 sounded. The Cossacks formed into line and ready 
 
382 DEA.TH. 
 
 to take the field. He took the command, and 
 put them through a nocturnal manoeuvre, which 
 they executed splendidly. Early next morning, he 
 was again in the field, exercising the troops, the 
 manoeuvres on this occasion including the crossing 
 a river by swimming. In the very middle of the 
 review a despatch arrived, announcing the arrival of 
 the Grand Duke Michael, the Grand-master of the 
 Artillery, at Wilna. SkobelefF left the field, and set off 
 at once for Wilna, joined the Grand Duke, and jaro- 
 ceeded with him to Orany. The next morning the 
 4th regiment of the Cossacks of the Don, who had 
 ridden durmg the night a forced march of seventy-five 
 versts, presented themselves in excellent order before 
 him, and were commanded to take part in the review. 
 No one thought anything of this ; Skobeleff least of 
 all. It is the simple duty of a soldier to endure all 
 things, and Skobeleff was soldier born. Whatever 
 our shortcomings may be, Russians may at least 
 be proud of an endurance that never fails, a courage 
 that nothing can daunt, and a patient persistence in 
 the midst of all adversity, which brings the hour 
 of victory at a time when other nations would find 
 only hopeless irrevocable defeat. We are many, we 
 are strong, we have learned to suffer and to wait. 
 Skobeleff thought nothing of hardships. These 
 nights without sleep after days in the saddle were 
 to him as natural as breathing. He did not speak of 
 them. He simply did what he wanted, and laughed 
 at those who warned him of the consequences. Had 
 
skobeleff's mothee. 383 
 
 he been more careful, he might still have been spared 
 to us ; but if he had been more careful, he would not 
 have been SkobelefF. 
 
 He had left Wilna after the close of the manceu- 
 vres at Warsaw on a 28 days' conge, in order to com- 
 memorate in the old house of Riazan the anniversary 
 of the tragic death of his mother.^ Skobeleff was 
 deeply attached to his parents, who also doted on 
 him. He could never speak of his mother's terrible 
 death without deep emotion, which he tried in vain 
 to control. It occurred in the region south of the 
 Balkans, which had been the scene of her son's most 
 heroic exploits. After the war, and the death of her 
 husband, Madame Skobeleflf had devoted her life to 
 
 ' Mr. Rose writes, in the Fortnightly Review : — ' Skobeleff's inter- 
 course with his parents was peculiarly touching. It is rare that there 
 is such perfect confidence and mutual regard as existed in the case of 
 the older and the younger Skobeleff. The affection of Skobeleff for 
 his mother and hers for him was extremely beautiful. I recollect at 
 Philippopolis, in 1879, she spoke to me of her "noble, handsome boy." 
 He was always a boy to her. And the fine mobile features of the 
 stately, high-bred, and courteous dame worked with emotion as she 
 deftly touched on the "deeds o' derring do " by which he had attained 
 his well-merited fame. She had taken a deep interest in the Russo- 
 Turkish campaign, both because husband and son were prominent 
 figures in the great drama, and because, with Aksakoff, she believed 
 that its results would be "the regeneration, not only of the Slavs of 
 the Balkans, but of the whole Slavonic world." At the close of the 
 war, her husband no more, she came to Bulgaria, and found at once 
 consolation in her bereavement, and an outlet for her abounding 
 energy, in the organisation of hospitals for Bulgarian children, and in 
 the foundation of schools ; for, like her son, she had an enthusiastic 
 belief in education. When I met her she was in the midst of the 
 preparations for establishing in the neighbourhood of the battle-field 
 a school, hospital, and church, to be endowed out of her private 
 estate, in memory of her son's great victory of Shenova.' 
 
384 DEATH. 
 
 works of charity, and was spending large sums of 
 money in providing for the destitute and the orphans 
 in that part of Bulgaria which is temporarily still 
 called Eastern Roumelia. Before starting for the 
 East, she came to see me, and urged me to go with 
 her and work together. My family duties compelling 
 me to spend the greater part of the year at Moscow, 
 I had to decline her kind offers. But she seemed so 
 full of her scheme, so delighted to work for the Slavs, 
 whom her son loved so dejxrly, that only imperative 
 reasons could prevent anybody from uniting one's 
 fate to hers. However, there it was. I remained 
 comfortably at home, and she went to work, not with 
 her pen or her word, but in bringing practical, imme- 
 diate help to the Slavonic world. Almost on the 
 point of reaching her destination, one of the men 
 assassinated both her and her maid. The fatal news 
 reached Skobeleff when he was far away, among the 
 Tekke- Turcomans. It left a scar which time could 
 never efface. As the year brought round the anni- 
 versary of her death, Skobeleff intended going to his 
 country place, where he spent his childhood, and 
 where his parents had generally spent their summers. 
 Skobeleff, though a very good son, was not a sup- 
 porter of family ties, and was not happy in his mar- 
 ried life. He never blamed his wife, who deserved 
 no kind of blame, but they lived apart. ' A man,' 
 he used to say, ' cannot serve two deities. Marriage ab- 
 sorbs a man too much.' But with all these heterodox 
 views, Skobeleff had a very great regard for women, 
 
HIS RESPECT FOR WOMEN. 385 
 
 especially Russian women. I came across, the other 
 day, an extract from a letter in an American news- 
 paper, from one who knew him, which is worth while 
 quoting : — 
 
 ' Skobeleff told me,' says the writer, ' that he was 
 in sympathy neither with English Constitutionalism 
 nor American Democracy, but he admired the quiet 
 daring of the Americans, and loved in them their 
 reverence for women. He thought the old American 
 lady a more agreeable being to contemplate than the 
 young. Old English Quakeresses he pronounced 
 ' most worshipful.' The staring, stuck-up British 
 peeress who ' clipped her words and was half choked 
 by her " R's " ' was his pet aversion. The English- 
 woman whom he most admired was an English 
 Quaker lady, who had a daughter married in some 
 Danubian town where he was quartered, and used 
 to lecture him on the sin of soldiering. Her sweet 
 eloquence and venerable manner affected him and 
 alarmed his conscience, which he lulled by resolving 
 to consecrate himself to the emancipation of his 
 Slav brethren.' But how could he support his Slav 
 brethren without committing the ' sin of soldiering,' 
 when that was the only means left for helping 
 them ? Does not Mr. John Bright, whose devo- 
 tion to peace is sufficiently known, show in his 
 ' XXXI. Manchester Address ' that Russia was 
 drawn into war by England's determination to refuse 
 all her proposals for the peaceful solution of the 
 
 c c 
 
386 DEATH. 
 
 Eastern difficulties ? Speaking at Birmingham of 
 Lord Beaconsfield's Cabinet, Mr. Bright deprecated 
 its being too much for peace.^ ' They are willing 
 to sacrifice the interests, the happiness, and the 
 freedom of millions of the Christian population of the 
 Turkish provinces, and I am afraid they would make 
 another great sacrifice, the fair fame and the honour 
 of this country ! ' Then again he says, ' People of 
 this country joined the Crusaders and went to Pales- 
 tme for the purpose of liberating the holy places 
 fi-om the possession of the infidel and the Maho- 
 medan, and now what do we do ? ' Skobeleff could 
 admire old Quakeresses, but he could never consent 
 to sacrifice ' the fair name and the honour of Russia,' 
 nor give up sympathising with those of his co- 
 religionists ' who were suffering from the oppression 
 of centuries.' 
 
 When at Moscow, Skobeleff stayed a few days to 
 visit the National Exhibition of Russian Industry, a 
 collection of manufactures which has astonished even 
 the Russians themselves by the evidence it afforded 
 of the extent of our resources and the rapid develop- 
 ment of our industries. He had not been very well, 
 but he seemed to have recovered, and he was in high 
 spirits when he met some friends in the evening of 
 the -/g^ July. At one o'clock in the morning he lay 
 dead — ^hardly thirty-nine years old. 
 
 It was the ?^^ 1882— day ever to be remem- 
 bered as one of the most disastrous in our history. 
 
 1 Bright's Speeches, p. 300, XIX. Birmingham Address. 
 
'SKOBELEFF IS DEAD.' 387 
 
 When the news of his death became known, Russia 
 wept. It was a terrible blow to the Russian heart. 
 Seldom was grief so universal, so bitter, so imcon- 
 troUed. Other great men have died and their country- 
 has mourned, but few have been snatched away so 
 suddenly in the very prime and glory of their youth, 
 Skobeleff had come to be regarded as the personifi- 
 cation of Russia. Almost invincible in war, terrible 
 to his enemies, devoted to his friends, the bravest of 
 soldiers, the kindest of chiefs, he was one for whom 
 hundreds would have been glad to die ; for it was 
 easier to die for him than to live for others. All 
 Russia, from the Emperor to the peasant, grieved 
 that national loss. All we can say is but as nothing 
 to what we felt. ' I am deeply shocked and afflicted,' 
 wrote the Emperor to Skobeleff's sister, the Prin- 
 cess Bielosselsky, ' at the sudden death of your 
 brother. His loss to the Russian army is one it is 
 hard to replace, and it must be deeply lamented by 
 all true soldiers. It is sad, very sad, to lose men so 
 useful and so devoted to their mission.' 
 
 ' A frightful news comes to us from Moscow,' 
 said the ' Journal de St. P^tersbourg ; ' ' Skobeleff is 
 dead.' 
 
 Erightfiil indeed was the news to Russians, nor 
 in the intensity of our grief did we even notice the 
 shameful exultation beyond our frontiers, over the 
 untimely death of a dreaded foe. Nor was it only 
 Russians who felt his death like a sword-stab ; from 
 
 c c 2 
 
388 DEATH. 
 
 Sofia, from Belgrade, from all parts of the Slavonic 
 world, came sounds of lamentation over the death of 
 the great Slav hero. ' He was the champion of the 
 liberty of the Bulgarian people ; our nation will pre- 
 serve religiously the memory of the dead from 
 generation to generation.' It seemed impossible, if 
 it had not been true. Skobeleff appeared to be the 
 very personification of youth and vigour. He had 
 gone through a hundred fights, shielded from the 
 hailstorm of bullets which swept down thousands 
 of the soldiers. There seemed to be a charm about 
 him which not only repelled death but made it 
 powerless. Hovf could he have died when Eussia 
 was at peace, and he was far from the scene of danger 
 and of glory ? It seemed so wrong that we felt it 
 could not be, and yet it was ; the serene and energetic 
 expression still covered the face, but life was gone. 
 
 The body was laid out in a room in the Hotel 
 Dusseaux, which had been converted into a chapeUe 
 ardente, crowded with people, and the beautiful sing- 
 ing during the prayers was often interrupted by 
 passionate sobbing. Immense crowds would not 
 leave the place till late at night ; others remained 
 all night. The next day, after embalming, the body 
 was moved in the evening to the Church of Three 
 Apostles. As the sad cortege passed slowly through 
 the streets, all Moscow stood mourning around the 
 dead. In the church the scene was, if possible, still 
 more touching. Representatives from all parts of 
 the country crowded the temple to do honour to the 
 
HOKOUE TO THE DEAD. 389 
 
 nero- patriot of Russia. Skobeleff's grandfather had 
 laid the foundation-stone of the church in which 
 unparalleled honours were being paid to the last of 
 the race. It had rained fast all night, but hundreds 
 had stood through the rain in order to take part in 
 the ceremony of the morning. All the authorities 
 of Moscow were present. Laurel crowns, enormous 
 bouquets were heaped on the coffin, near which were 
 his sword and twenty-nine decorations, records of 
 his yalour. Peasants brought simple flowers from 
 their fields, to him 'who loved the poor and the 
 little ones,' touching tokens of affection for the 
 leader whom their sons had so often followed to 
 victory. The highest and the lowest stood united in 
 a common grief before his bier. There was a sound 
 of sobbing almost as of women. How many hopes 
 were buried in his grave ! An old soldier, decorated 
 with the Cross of Koulm, who had served against 
 Napoleon, knelt down, and having kissed the fore- 
 head of the dead, placed his cross upon Skobeleff's 
 breast and went away. Another veteran, weak and 
 decrepid, stood gazing long on his placid features. 
 At last he said, ' God is angry with Russia. In His 
 vengeance He has punished Russia as he punished 
 Egypt in old times.' ' Skobeleff dead ! ' said another, 
 who saw the crowd and asked what was the matter. 
 ' It is impossible, he would not consent to die,' and 
 he went away, happy in his mistaken faith. The 
 church was full all night, the people would not go 
 home ; when any lefb, their place was immediately 
 
390 DEATH. 
 
 taken by others anxious to have one last look of the 
 
 hero. 
 
 So great was the press that the dais was damaged, 
 and admission was suspended for half-an-hour while 
 it was repaired. 
 
 On June ^f , at ten o'clock in the morning, the 
 funeral mass began. All Moscow assembled round 
 the church. The church itself was filled with digna- 
 taries, from the brother and uncle of the Emperor 
 (both arriving for that purpose from St. Petersburg) 
 downward. The Archbishop Ambroise officiated, 
 assisted by all the clergy, and a magnificent choir of 
 chanters. The service lasted three hours, during 
 which all were standing in deepest grief; no one 
 stirred or spoke ; some murmured a prayer, others 
 bitterly sobbed. At the close the Archbishop pro- 
 nounced an oraison funebre ; his voice trembled with 
 emotion, tears filled his eyes. How could he help 
 it ? How could we help it, as we stood for the last 
 time around the bier of the hope, the glory, and the 
 pride of Kussia ? 
 
 And then all was over ; the coffin, a simple shell 
 of polished chestnut, with a cross, was carried through 
 the streets to the station, to be convej^ed to the 
 family resting-place near Riazan. The crowd in the 
 church flung themselves on the flowers which had 
 covered the bier, and he was counted happy indeed who 
 bore away a faded rose or lily as a memorial of the 
 dead. 
 
 The streets were full, every window was crowded, 
 
HIS FUNEKAL. 391 
 
 men were standing on all the roofs. It was with 
 difliculty the cortege made its way through the 
 throng, which sorrowed as but with a single heart 
 over the bravest of the brave. 
 
 The coffin, preceded by singers of the Tchoudovo 
 monastery, was supported by the Grand Duke 
 Nicholas, the Grand Duke Alexis, the Prince Eugene 
 Romanoffsky, Duke of Leuchtenberg (the husband of 
 Skobeleff's sister), and several generals. After the 
 relatives and friends of the dead came the military 
 bands, playing a funeral march, and then the Cossacks 
 closed the procession. All Russia could not be more 
 fully represented in one feeling of homage to the dead. 
 
 When the cortege reached the station the coffin 
 was placed on the mortuary car, and the cannon 
 thundered forth a last farewell to our fallen chief. 
 Several miles before reaching the family property 
 (Spasskoj^) the peasants of that place met the coffin, 
 and carried it on their shoulders to the grave. 
 
 Skobeleff was honoured in his death as no young 
 Russian has ever been before ; but it was not thus 
 that he would have been buried, if he could have had 
 his wish. During the siege of Geok Tep^, when 
 General Petrush^vitch was kUled, some one said the 
 General ought to be buried apart, with aU due 
 honours. Skobeleff observed, ' If I am killed, I want 
 to be put in the common grave with the privates, 
 and without any privileges at all. It is a great 
 honour to be buried with the soldiers on the battle- 
 field.' 
 
392 DEATH. 
 
 That ' great honour ' was denied him, but such 
 other honour as Russia could pay she rendered to her 
 bravest son. He sleeps at Spasskoj^, but his memory 
 remains, and will remain as a lasting source of inspi- 
 ration and of hope to the whole Slavonic world ! 
 
APPENDICES. 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 SKOBELEFFS ORDERS OF THE BAY. 
 
 I. 
 
 ^he Trenches hefore Plevna, October -f^, 1877. No. 335. 
 
 A TELEGRAPHIC despatcli from tlie Commander-in-cliief, 
 his Imperial Highness the Grand Duke, announces the 
 fact that a brilliant victory was won yesterday in Asia 
 Minor. Mukhtar Pasha has been completely defeated, 
 driven back from Ears, and put to flight. I congratulate 
 my courageous fellow-soldiers of the 16th infantry division 
 on this telegram. 
 
 The matter which induced the most peace-loving of 
 monarchs to take up arms was a, just one, which had the 
 approval of God. It will have a glorious ending. I 
 would remind the army that our own metal is likely soon 
 to be put to the proof. I would have you all know this 
 and fortify your minds by prayer, that you may be ready 
 religiously to fulfil to the end whatever may be required 
 of us by duty, by our oath, and by the honour of the 
 Russian name. 
 
 The ofBcers and soldiers who have lately arrived from 
 Eussia are especially called upon to reflect on the new 
 duties which fortune has mapped out for them. Their 
 late residence in our beloved country will serve as a great 
 
394 SKOBELEFF'S 
 
 consolation to them while on active service. They have 
 seen what sacrifices Eussia bears for us who fight here, 
 and what she expects at our hands. 
 
 II. 
 
 Odoler ia, 1877. No. 360. 
 
 On this day the division entrusted to me, the 16th artillery 
 ■ brigade, the third battery of the 2nd artillery brigade, 
 and a hundred men of the 38th regiment of Don Cos- 
 sacks, roused up by a false alarm, were ready for action 
 in less than tweaty-five minutes. 
 
 Here is another striking proof afforded by my fine 
 army that neither losses, nor privations, nor bloody en- 
 gagements, nor the difficulties of a late autumn campaign, 
 are able to shake their endurance. 
 
 To-day I looked with pride upon you, my lads, so 
 dear to the whole of Eussia, and thought with confidence 
 of that day probably near at hand, when we shall again 
 stand face to face with the enemy, again cheerfully show 
 a bold front for the holy cause. The rapidity, the enthu- 
 siasm with which all officers and soldiers alike prepared 
 for action, burning with desire to co-operate valiantly 
 with our fellow-guardsmen, affords me a proof that the 
 division, reinforced as it is at present, will prove equal, 
 whatever it may be called upon to endure, to uphold the 
 immortal renown of its glorious standards. Trust me, 
 my lads, as I trust you, and then we shall soon again 
 strive, for the glory of the Eussian name, to win the 
 thanks of our Father and sovereign. 
 
 I offer my sincere thanks to all in command of com- 
 panies, especially to all officers and privates, who were at 
 the front. 
 
ORDERS OF THE DAY. S95 
 
 III. 
 
 Adrianople, January 10, 1878. 
 
 I CONGRATULATE the brave army entrusted to me on the 
 capture of the Turkish capital second in importance. It 
 is to your endurance, to your patience, and to your 
 courage that this success must be ascribed. 
 
 The Commander-in-chief, the Grand Duke, has desired 
 me to thank you all. Ton have gladdened his Majesty 
 the Emperor, you have gladdened our most gracious 
 leader, you have gladdened the whole of Russia. 
 
 In giving you the credit which is due to you, I must, 
 however, tell you frankly that I have lately remarked 
 some falhng off in discipline. During the march yester- 
 day from Haskio too many fell out from the ranks. I 
 even noticed that some privates dishonoured their uni- 
 forms by straggling for the purpose of plunder. 
 
 I address myself to all in command of companies, to 
 all officers, to all honourable soldiers of the valorous 
 army entrusted to me, and I remind them that on us, 
 fortunate that we are, the van of the army on active 
 service, are fixed the eyes of the whole of Russia, of the 
 whole world. 
 
 May the Lord deliver us from temptation. . . . 
 
 May we maintain in all its purity the glory of the 
 Russian name and the glory of the regiments — the glory 
 upheld in this war with the price of blood. 
 
 I warn all soldiers of the division entrusted to me, 
 that for all wilfiil absence from the ranks, not to speak of 
 pillage, drunkenness, and crimes set down in the articles 
 of war, culprits wiU be handed over to the court-martial. 
 
 Every act of pillage I shall regard as a proof of dere- 
 liction of duty on the part of commanders of companies. 
 This general order will be read before aU companies, 
 squadrons, and batteries. 
 
396 SKOBELEFFS 
 
 IV. 
 
 8t. George's Convent, February 22, 1878. 
 
 After the glorious victory at Shenova, -where you 
 annihilated sixty hostile battalions and captured 104 
 guns, you did not march, but, so to say, flew up to the 
 walls of Constantinople. 
 
 Your valour surmounted all difficulties, and when you 
 threatened the enemy at the very gates of the capital, 
 vanquished Turkey hastened to sue for peace. On Feb- 
 ruary 19, at six o'clock in the evening, a glorious peace 
 was signed between Turkey and Russia, one purchased 
 with the costly price of your efforts and of your blood. 
 
 We are now on friendly soil. Our relations to a 
 conquered people ought to be not only just in a legal 
 sense, but also magnanimous, for the courageous Russian 
 soldier was never known to strike a fallen foe. 
 
 I am firmly persuaded that all ranks of the army 
 entrusted to me are fully alive to the new relations which, 
 from the date of the conclusion of peace, should exist 
 between ourselves and the inhabitants of the country 
 occupied by Russian troops. 
 
 By order of his Imperial Highness, the Commander- 
 in-chief, I make it known that every act of plundering or 
 violence offered to such, however trivial or under what- 
 ever form, will be dealt with with all the rigour of the 
 articles of war. Further, his Imperial Highness, the 
 Commander-in-chief, will regard such an action as a proof 
 of want of influence over his men on the part of their 
 commander, and consequently, by his order, not only the 
 soldier immediately inculpated, but the officer in command 
 of the company in- which such a breach of discipline 
 shall have occurred, will be called to account. 
 
 I am convinced that the courageous army entrusted to 
 me will not sully its immortal glory by improper conduct 
 
ORDERS OF THE DAY. 397 
 
 in time of peace, and, mindful of the fact that one 
 diseased sheep will infect the whole flock, you will your- 
 selves keep a watchful eye on those among you likely, by 
 yielding to temptation, to lessen the high opinion in 
 which we are held hy his Highness, the Commander-in- 
 chief — the opinion which we so highly prize. 
 
 V. 
 
 August 15, 1878. 
 
 Gloriotts Cossacks of the Ural sotnia, — Hitherto your 
 name struck terror in the steppes of Turkestan ; at 
 Makroni in the Caucasian campaign, at Baliksh and on 
 the Ouldjibaj you cut your way through mounted Asiatic 
 hordes and took guns and standards by scores; many's 
 the time that you excited my admiration there. I have 
 learnt to love and esteem you, my fine lads. In the 
 present war you have seen a new country and have en- 
 countered a new enemy. 
 
 It has not often fallen to my lot to be your leader in 
 this present war, but I witnessed your fearlessness, both as 
 warriors and as rowers, when the passage took place at 
 Sistova ; I heard of your victories in the first campaign 
 beyond the Balkans. 
 
 In conjunction with the Imetli detachment, the 
 Ural sotnia, under my command, participated in the 
 arduous and dangerous duty of reconnoitring the pass 
 across the Balkans and mapping out the way by which 
 was accomplished the glorious passage across the Balkans, 
 crowned by the capture of the Turkish army ; after this 
 the sotnia participated in the rapid advance to the walls 
 of Constantinople. Here, condemned to inactivity, the 
 sotnia spent six months in laborious outpost duty, and 
 distinguished itself by its zeal, alacrity, and exemplary 
 discipline. 
 
398 SKOBELEFF'S 
 
 I offer my thanks to all Cossacks who upheld by their" 
 blood that renown already won by them in Turkestan. 
 
 Many TJral heroes lie in European Turkey, but the 
 survivors and those now on their way back to the Ural will 
 tell in their native home how the Ural cavalry of Tur- 
 kestan renown were no less highly esteemed in the 
 European war. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Adrianople, November 14, 1878. 
 
 By command of his Excellency, the Commander-in-chief, 
 some companies of the army corps under my command 
 are to be billeted in Adrianople and other places, by 
 reason of the fact that for many causes difficulties would 
 be experienced in the erection of huts. 
 
 I am well assured that the army, quartered for a time 
 among Armenians, Greeks, and Turks, will leave behind 
 it a good report, that they will treat with due respect 
 their peculiarities in point of faith, nationality, and mode 
 of life, and by an amiable and a winning behaviour to- 
 wards such supply a further proof that the peaceable 
 inhabitants of the conquered territory will never find an 
 enemy in the Russian soldier, who has come hither with 
 the sole purpose of delivering the weak from the will of 
 the strong. 
 
 It must be borne in mind that good behaviour towards 
 his hosts will serve as a motive to excite these also to 
 acts of kiadness, which will supply the soldier with many 
 little additional comforts. 
 
 I hope that the officers in billeting their men will take 
 all possible pains to quarter their soldiers in the best 
 possible manner. 
 
 In view of this fact that the dwelling and condition 
 in general of the soldier has a direct bearing on his 
 health and strength, and consequently on his fitness for 
 
ORDERS OF THE DAY. 399 
 
 military service and on his life itself, I would have all in 
 command bear in mind and apply all means calculated to 
 promote the health of the soldier and improve the condi- 
 tion of his mind. I would have them see also to the 
 maintenance of rigorous order in the quarters, where the 
 soldier naturally escapes the ej'e of his commander. In 
 furtherance of this end, I deem it advisable that the 
 officers of companies should live within the circuit of 
 their company. 
 
 The following points shall be attended to : — 
 
 (1) The quarters shall be selected with care; there 
 must be no want in them of fresh air ; they must be warm, 
 clean, dry, and light ; all chinks must be stopped up and 
 broken panes replaced. There must be a stove in each 
 quarter, and a supply of fresh water must always be within 
 easy reach. 
 
 (2) Over every quarter there will be an inspector, who 
 will be answerable for order in the dwelling ; privates will 
 retire to rest at twilight, the of&cer on duty in battalions 
 and companies wiU often visit the dwellings, in each of 
 which wiU be kept a list of the privates who inhabit it. 
 Each company will have its own court or square for the 
 purposes of drill. 
 
 (3) Ofi&cers in command will be careful that their men 
 attend to personal cleanliness and to that of their dwell- 
 ings. They must always wear clean linen, and all must 
 bathe at stated intervals. 
 
 (4) Inactivity is productive of mental decay, of drunk- 
 enness and disease. The soldier must always be occu- 
 pied ; hence, besides frequent drilling, instruction in the 
 articles of war and in the use of weapons, the officers will 
 encourage the soldiers to read and set on foot divers sorts 
 of games. 
 
400 ORUEES OF THE DAY. 
 
 VII. 
 Douz-Oloum, November 13, 1880. 
 
 The officer in command of tlie transport service has com- 
 municated to me a telegram from tlie commandant of the 
 
 N station, under date of November 1, to the following 
 
 effect : ' Eain fell in the night, the roads are heavy ; by 
 reason of this fact the supplies will not be moved on to-day.' 
 A strange thing this to hear and to read, that an ordinary 
 fall of rain should prevent the moving up of a military train. 
 For the stoppage of the transport on such frivolous grounds 
 
 I suspend Captain from his duties, and order him to 
 
 be confined to his house under arrest for three days. 
 
 Major , who permitted so irregular a proceeding in time 
 
 of war, will be reprimanded. I make known to the army, 
 that even in case of heavy rains the supplies must be moved 
 up without interruption. Neither the difficulties of a winter 
 campaign, nor illness in an aggravated form, nor bloody 
 encounters with the enemy, may hinder the fulfilment of 
 the sovereign will of his Majesty the Tzar. The army 
 entrusted to me, strong in the determination to heroically 
 fulfil the intentions of our beloved monarch, are ready to 
 endure all things, to submit to all things ... for God 
 and the Tzar are with us. 
 
 There is yet time'; let all who are moved by an honest 
 conviction that strength of mind and strength of body is 
 unequal to the task leave our valorous ranks. ■ Our war- 
 like undertaking shall be accomplished come what may ; 
 separated from those who are wanting in energy we shall 
 be still more united, still stronger than before, and shall 
 anew cover with glory the Eussian standards entrusted by 
 his Majesty the Emperor to our iron Eussian endurance, 
 to our Eussian valour. 
 
401 
 
 APPENDIX 13. 
 
 Baron Fredekicks addressed a long letter to the 
 ' New York Herald ' shortly after the Emperor's 
 assassination, of which the following are the most 
 interesting passages : — 
 
 My friends are all of the best educated classes ; I am 
 their most devoted adherent and strict follower in the 
 study of all that concerns our rights, our domestic and 
 public life, and therefore dare affirm and protest both in 
 their and in my own name, that we are very glad to have 
 an opportunity to assert, first of all, that we the educated 
 classes, exactly as every individual of the other classes, 
 are not so easily put into the condition of sufferers by any 
 arbitrary proceedings, when we have not transgressed our 
 rights or have not done anything prohibited by law. 
 Most of us, of the educated classes, have visited many 
 countries, observed many governments, and are convinced 
 that the same conditions for individual suffering and 
 exemption from suffering exist in every civilised country. 
 Every one of us who has taken the trouble to read atten- 
 tively the existing laws of his native country is perfectly 
 aware that the provisions of the so justly admired Habeas 
 Corpus Act have been reproduced in the first, tenth, and 
 fourteenth and fifteenth tomes of the Russian code of 
 laws (edition of 1837-1876). The most appreciated of 
 those provisions — that which prohibits any arbitrary im- 
 prisonment, written in a more precise form than in the 
 aforesaid venerable Act of 1679, which prohibited sending 
 anyone to a prison beyond the sea — is included in Article 
 10 of our statutes of criminal proceedings of 1864, in the 
 edition of 1876, as follows : — ' Every judge and every at- 
 torney who in his circuit of jurisdiction has ascertained 
 
402 JBARON FREDERICKS 
 
 that anyone has been arrested withotit due ^sentence or 
 order of an authorised tribunal or competent person must 
 liberate him instantly.' This provision was confirmed by 
 the truly liberal-minded Emperor Alexander II. of Russia. 
 All our well-educated men know that since the remote 
 epoch of 1613, when, at the election of the Tzar Michael 
 of the ancient noble house of Romanoff, the delegate? 
 of Moscow, in the name of the whole Russian nation 
 solemnly promised him loyalty, which signifies, accord- 
 ing to the definition of our forefathers, an engagement 
 to furnish him with all necessaries, provided that he and 
 his descendants undertake the arduous task to govern 
 the country, combined with the still more difiBcult obli- 
 gation themselves to select their coadjutors and coun- 
 sellors. This obligatiou of loyalty meant that the nation 
 and its posterity would consecrate to the Tzar their 
 allegiance — not the blind obedience of a slave, but that 
 of a conscientious and devoted co-operator; so that 
 every individual of our educated classes is also perfectly 
 aware that any needed alteration in such fundamental 
 stipulations, on account, for instance, of their being 
 superannuated, can only be effected by means of a reci- 
 procal agreement. That this stipulation, in its time, was 
 a perfect one is beyond doubt, because there are many and 
 many proofs of it ; and one of the most unquestionable 
 is the wisdom of our monarchs, by which they were 
 enabled during a period of more than two centuries and 
 a half to prevent internal wars. The mutinies of the 
 Strelitzs (1684), of Pugatshoff (1774), and the so-called 
 Decembrists (1825), although rebellions which required 
 armed force to quell them, cannot be classed as effective 
 wars. The population has been led on gradually towards 
 civilisation, and to enjoy the blessings of peace as long as 
 the political circumstances allowed it. An emancipation 
 from serfdom has been effected without the effusion of a 
 single drop of blood (1861). When we compare the 
 
ON RUSSIAN INSTITUTIONS. 403 
 
 emancipation in tlie Eussian Empire with tlie more recent 
 one (1864) in the United States of North America, re- 
 nowned on account of the political liberties enjoyed by 
 its inhabitants, where the consequence was the awful war of 
 secession, then the Russian Empire has no reason to com- 
 plain. Every youth is admitted into the highest schools 
 — the universities — at the insignificant expense of about 
 35 dollars a year, and this trifling payment is in general 
 made by government or difierent private associations for 
 the relief of the poor. Every one of these great mea- 
 sures has been met with approbation and opposition ; but 
 that the wisdom of our monarchs has been beneficial to 
 the nation in the highest degree and deserving of the best 
 thanks is beyond doubt, when we look upon the attach- 
 ment and the faithful devotion, not of the courtiers, but 
 of the whole Russian nation to its Emperor. 
 
 Now, a few words about the question whether our in- 
 stitutions, based on the principle of self-government, are 
 perfect or not, and why. Having been for twenty-two 
 years consecutively a member of the city Common Coun- 
 cil (Douma, established 1847), and also, for the space of 
 twelve years, a constant member of the Common Council 
 of the Government (county) of St. Petersburg (opened 
 1868), the undersigned feels a right to express an opinion 
 founded on some personal experience. The city and 
 governmental Common Councils are not perfect, and for 
 the following reasons : — First, we, their members, are not 
 perfect beings, but ordinary mortals, who do their best, 
 and only what can safely be done without augmenting the 
 existing burdens ; second, a great many of the inhabitants 
 out of doors wish for and expect important improve- 
 ments, which cannot be effected without additional ex- 
 pense and discovering new sources of income, and who 
 criticise, if not curse, the councils, ascribing to them 
 abuses which never existed and cannot exist; third, a 
 divergence of opinions prevails which is sometimes rather 
 
 BBS 
 
404 BARON FREDERICKS 
 
 difficult to conciliate. This is what concerns the interests 
 of all the different classes who send their representatives 
 into both the councils. . . . 
 
 Is it not evident to anyone who has read attentively 
 the history of the world, that all the different denomina- 
 tions and forms of government are, were, and will for ever 
 and ever only be, experiments of more or less stability ? To 
 anyone who has visited different countries it has become 
 evident that the nominal form of a government does not 
 constitute the sole reason for the public weal; that there 
 are certain necessary principles, admitted or excluded, 
 which influence more intensely the public weal, the happi- 
 ness and the prosperity of a whole nation, than the mere de- 
 nomination and form of a government. The most essential 
 foundations for a good government are undoubtedly — first, 
 the educational principle of instilling into the minds of 
 the individuals of both sexes, during their tender age, that 
 their first and most sacred duty towards their native 
 country is to be obedient to the existing laws and to their 
 superiors ; to fulfil their duties, be they of a conspicuous 
 or a modest order, as perfectly and as conscientiously as 
 possible. If everyone will do the same, their country will 
 always be in a prosperous state ; if, on the contrary, they 
 will neglect their duties toward their country, they will 
 most assuredly ruin it, whether it be a republic or a 
 monarchy. Another essential principle is that of central- 
 isation or decentralisation : we see the system of central- 
 isation established in France, a republic, and in many 
 European monarchies, and that of decentralisation in the 
 United States of North America, a glorious republic, and 
 in Germany, a glorious empire. The above-mentioned ex- 
 change of opinions and wishes have been briefly enume- 
 rated here, with the intention of proving that the easy 
 and educated classes have not neglected to discuss the pro- 
 blems of government with the greatest care. . . . We are 
 all convinced that a great majority of our representatives 
 
ON RUSSIAN INSTITUTIONS. 405 
 
 ill the councils, although they have not had an opportunity 
 of being brought up in the high schools of the Empire, 
 still are well disposed, highly honest men of business, with 
 the best intentions, and would look upon a motion to 
 petition to obtain a sanction of the right of calling public 
 political meetings as a mockery. They know by the ex- 
 perience acquired in the crowded assemblies in some of 
 our local credit institutions that at such meetings no 
 member can ever express his own opinion, for one is always 
 obliged to listen to the interminable and, in general, am- 
 biguous speeches of the leaders of such a meeting. . . . 
 
 The numberless gangs of outlaws of so many different 
 denominations who have usurped the title of political 
 parties, but have never been acknowledged as such by 
 anybody or anywhere, would at other times have been 
 looked upon only as extremely shocking and ridiculous ; 
 but now their importance has been augmented by the cir- 
 cumstance that they pride themselves on that account. 
 Russia is not, according to their boastful expression, ' the 
 sole field of their action.' It is now universally known 
 and recognised that the cynic Diogenes of the nineteenth 
 century has his nest and his supporters at Paris. Another 
 blamable oppressor, a German fugitive, a preacher of 
 death and destruction, has till lately had his readers and 
 supporters at London. A great many Russian runaways 
 are established and supported at Ziirich and Geneva. 
 Their demeanour is at present rather odious, and may 
 grow still more obnoxious if laissez faire is to be the rule 
 regarding them. The intentions of these criminals are 
 not only plainly defined in their denominations, but 
 openly professed in print, in the face of the whole world. 
 For instance, the fine denomination of ' Terrorists ' pro- 
 claims the intention of frightening the easy and educated 
 classes, not only in Russia, but all over the globe. They 
 would make every individual belonging to these classes 
 their slave and their victim. . . . 
 
406 BARON FREDERICKS. 
 
 In conclusion, it may be mentioned tbat some of the 
 members of our City Common Council, a short time after 
 the horrid catastrophe of March ^, considered it their 
 duty, in order to give a greater security to the movements 
 in his capital of their Emperor, the son of the late beloved 
 Emperor- Liberator, and acknowledging that local measures 
 would be insufficient, were of opinion that it would be the 
 best to submit the question of putting an end to such 
 hideous crimes to the consideration of a European congress, 
 whose care it would be to employ the numerous armed 
 forces, which are still in existence in consequence of the 
 superannuated principle of an armed neutrality, not against, 
 but in aid of every one of the European States which 
 would be exposed to the attacks and machinations of the 
 occult band. First of all, such mutual aid would consist 
 in the drawing of a perfect, and at the same time general 
 measure, which would be adopted everywhere as a law. 
 Considering that the above-mentioned criminal agitations 
 are the result of quite modern inventions, they seem to 
 require the establishment of new criminal proceedings 
 and punishments which would be adequate to the enormity 
 of the crimes which are now being committed. In the 
 meantime, as it has now been discovered that the activity 
 and measures of the whole force of the police are insuffi- 
 cient to eradicate the existing secret associations of poli- 
 tical impostors, which are herding together from distant 
 localities, both at home and abroad, the best means to 
 solve the difficult problem would be to apply the efficacious 
 measure which was decreed by the British Parliament, 
 when the London police was no longer able to prevent the 
 activity of the ' garroters.' 
 
401 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 LET TEH FROM WIDBIN ON THE BURIAL OF THE 
 
 REMAINS OF NICHOLAS KIRI^EFF. 
 
 No. XXVI. ' Enss,' June 26, 1882. 
 
 PROM A CORRESPONDENT OF THE 'RUSS.' 
 
 [Note by the Editoe. — We have already informed our readers of a 
 report of the discovery near the village of Rakovitza of the remains of 
 Nicholas Kirfeff, the first volunteer who died a glorious death in the 
 war between Serbia and the Turks in 1876, under the leadership of 
 Tohernayeff. The brother of the deceased, Alexander Kire'eflf, de- 
 sirous of making himself personally acquainted with the truth of 
 the said report, visited the field of battle, the environs of the village, 
 and the monastery of Rakovitza. This visit took place in the month 
 of May. He was accompanied, among others, by the dragoman of 
 the Russian Consul at Widdin, who forwarded us a description of this 
 excursion, which we print just as it stands, in all its fulness and 
 artless simplicity. It will give a better insight into the relations of 
 the Russian people with Bulgaria than any inferences or conclusions 
 based on this subject, and of the reality of that bond which has been 
 established between Bulgaria and Russia ; of the great and sacred 
 significance of that heroic epoch (the part played by Russian volun- 
 teers in Serbia), which a certain section of our press has treated with 
 such contempt — one which is loud in its professions of liberalism,, and 
 is by way of guiding the Russian people, leaving out of account its 
 national characteristics, and therefore out of sympathy with its national 
 aspirations.] 
 
 Widdin (Bulgaria), May 20 (O.S.), 1882 
 Three days ago A. Kireeff, the brother of the late N, 
 Kireeif, arrived at Widdin, on a visit from Russia. We 
 had already heard of the intention of this gentleman to 
 visit our obscure parts. As is well known, in the south- 
 west corner of the district of Widdin, not far from the 
 boundary of Serbia, near the village of Rakovitza, an ex- 
 officer of the Russian Imperial Guards, N. Kireeff, died a 
 heroic death, on July 6, 1876, in a battle between Serbian 
 troops and the Turks. He fell, so to say, on the very 
 
408 THE BUEIAL OF 
 
 boundary wliich lies between the two kindred peoples, 
 the Bulgarians and the Serbians — falling to free his 
 younger brethren. 
 
 On the day after the arrival of A. KireefF, it was decided 
 to visit the village of Eakovitza and the monastery of this 
 name. I will give you as simple an account as I can of 
 what I saw and heard during this interesting excursion. 
 
 On May 17, A. Kireeff visited his Holiness, the late 
 Exarch of Bulgaria, the Metropolitan Anthimos. The Bul- 
 garian chief pastor received his guest as a kinsman. Of 
 questions about Russia there was no end. Calling to mind 
 how the late Tzar, the Deliverer, had graciously received 
 a Bulgarian deputation at Tzarskoe Selo, at the head of 
 which was his Holiness Anphim, the aged Bulgarian chief 
 pastor burst into tears. . . . 
 
 Being informed of A. Kireeff's intention to visit Eako- 
 vitza, the Metropolitan exclaimed : 
 
 ' That is well ! I too will go thither ! We will go 
 together ! ' 
 
 'Has your Holiness some matter of business at Eako- 
 vitza? ' 
 
 ' Business ! I wish to accompany you ; I would wish 
 to visit again the field of battle at Eakovitza,' ' said 
 Anthimos, in an animated tone ; and it was found impos- 
 sible to dissuade the aged Metropolitan from this piirpose. 
 He at once called for his coachman, and ordered him to 
 prepare for the journey. It was decided to start on the 
 following day, at five o'clock in the morning. 
 
 The distance from Widdin to the village of Eakovitza 
 amounts to about fifty versts. When we drove off early 
 in the morning to join the Metropolitan, he had already 
 left. So we followed alone — A. Kireeff, a Bulgarian 
 Doctor J., and myself. 
 
 It was beautiful weather. The country through which 
 
 '■ His Holiness Anthimos had but just returned from this spot. 
 
NICHOLAS KIREEFF. 409 
 
 "we passed is highly favoured by nature. The slopes of 
 the hills are covered with vines, and fruit-trees here and 
 there mate a pleasing variety. Cherry-trees had already 
 doffed their bright green foliage. On this side and on 
 that, now peeping out into view, now lost again, were 
 seen in the depths of gardens the red-tiled roofs of the 
 white houses of the villagers. And yonder, there already 
 soared-up before us, seeming to float in mid air, the frown- 
 ing tops of the Ballcans and their branches in Serbia. 
 The mountains were girded by a blue, thin mist, and 
 seemed to frown from their snow-capped summits on all 
 going on below at their feet in the verdant flowering val- 
 leys. . . . We see in the far distance Mount Etau, which 
 faces Bani, in Serbia. This must be at least 150 versts 
 off, and from, here it has all the appearance of a head of 
 sugar. ... 1 looted behind me. The Danube glittered 
 from betwixt a vast luxuriant valley, burning in a silver 
 streat, lite a white satin ribbon on dart green velvet. 
 
 ' Loot over there,' said our coachman ; ' that is Mount 
 Vrshka-Chouta. Prom that point you find yourself in 
 Serbia. Not far to the left of that mountain is the village 
 we are bound for, Eatovitza,' resumed our driver, a Turk, 
 speating Bulgarian. 
 
 'What do I see there? . . . Soldiers?' asted A. 
 Kireeff, pointing to a group of people, moving about oppo- 
 site a village on one side of us. The groups in motion 
 carried arms, but wore the dress of peasants. 
 
 -'That's our *' National Guard " ; they are drilling,' ex- 
 plained Dr. J. ' To-day is one of their feast-days ; on the 
 morning of such days, the militia are required to march 
 out and drill,' he added. 
 
 Soon we.reached the neighbourhood of another village 
 in the vicinity of which more groups of villagers were 
 marching about. 
 
 ' There are some more militiamen,' said our driver. 
 Our guest from Petersburg looted on with pleasure at 
 
410 THE BURIAL OF 
 
 the nimble movements of the village militia; and viewed 
 these 'guards' in their village costume going through 
 their exercise, with perhaps the same curiosity and inte- 
 rest as that he would feel in evolutions gone through by 
 our own splendid guards on the field of Mars. 
 
 ' What capital guards you have ! They are simple 
 countrymen, yet how willing they appear to be to learn 
 their drill. . . . See how earnestly they prepare to fire.' 
 
 The word of command, ' fire ! ' reaches our ears. 
 
 Again they march forward. 
 
 ' Left — right ! left — right ! ' exclaims the drill-in- 
 structor, in a surly voice. He is a soldier who has served 
 his time. ' Eight-about-face , . . march ! ' 
 
 The words of command are given in Euss. So far as 
 the words of command are concerned, it is dif&cult to 
 realise that the speaker is a Bulgarian, and not a Russian 
 soldier. 
 
 ' Shorter steps ! shorter steps ! ' is uttered in a surly 
 shout. 
 
 (The instructor of the militiamen is almost always an 
 inhabitant of their own village. It often happens that he 
 sees brothers, uncles, or other relatives in the ranks before 
 him.) 
 
 Let me take this opportunity, while we are still on the 
 road to Eakovitza, of giving you a short account of the 
 peasant militia of Bulgaria. 
 
 How is this matter progressing in Bulgaria? OfBeers 
 in the army will tell you that the peasant militia of Bul- 
 garia will soon equal (and perhaps, they will add, even 
 in time surpass) the peasant army of our neighbour, 
 Serbia. Li my opinion, should Bulgaria be hereafter in a 
 position to defend her freedom by force of arms, it will 
 succeed in doing so as well as its neighbours. The Eus- 
 sians, whose arms secured that freedom, stiive to instruct 
 and protect them. . . . 
 
 In the district of Widdin, the militia amounts to one 
 
NICHOLAS KIREEPF. 411 
 
 hundred chets, or compagnies, numbering about 12^000, all 
 told. They use the ITrinka system of firearms. Each 
 chet has its instructor. He draws pay from the govern- 
 ment — fifteen francs a month. The militia turns out to 
 drill not only on Sundays, but also on holidays. As to so- 
 called economy and administration, at the head of each 
 chet is found a chetnik, appointed by the regiment, whose 
 duty it is to see that the militiamen are punctual at drill. 
 He settles, along with the podchetnik and desyatnik 
 (the council, of which the chetnik is president), the 
 fines inflicted on absentees. The chetnik acts in eon- 
 cert with ' the district committee of the peasant-militia,' 
 which administers the economic and administrative affairs 
 of the whole army of the district. The military part of 
 the affair is in the hands of the military commander of 
 the district. The latter, in all districts of the Principality, 
 are Eussian of&cers. In Bulgaria, at the present time, 
 the militia amounts to more than 100,000 men. (The 
 Turkish inhabitants are exempted from this service.) 
 
 In front of Eakovitza we were met by the chet of that 
 village. Militiamen lined the road. They were without 
 arms. The instructor, when he saw our carriage, gave 
 the word ' Attention ! ' . . . 
 Here we are at Eakovitza. 
 
 We drove into the village. The Metropolitan had 
 already arrived. We found him sitting on a bench, 
 covered with a carpet, in an arbour formed of vine 
 branches, in front of the little house to which our carriages 
 had driven up. He had been expecting us some little 
 time, as it seemed ; had had time to rest a little and drink 
 coffee. Bound the arbour stood groups of villagers with 
 uncovered heads. When they saw their guest, A. Kireeff, 
 who had come to see them from so great a distance, they 
 made before him a deep bow. My God, with what a look 
 of wondering, naive curiosity ... one may say with 
 what reverence, they looked upon him, on the brother of 
 
412 THE BURIAL OP 
 
 that 3'oung man wlio, six years ago, was killed in action 
 oil their soil ! 
 
 In the village of Rakovitza there are 300 houses. The 
 Turks looked upon that village, situated opposite the 
 Serbian boundary, as an important strategic position. 
 They always kept a garrison here, about a hundred men 
 strong, which occupied a large blockhouse which faces 
 the village on this side of the little river of Eakovitza. 
 The blockhouse is in a state of perfect preservation. It 
 has two stories, and is constructed of strong materials. 
 In the upper story the Turks stored arms and cannon, 
 while below were barracks. The villagers are now minded 
 to transform the blockhouse into a church, there being no 
 place of worship in Rakovitza. 
 
 In a line with the village of Rakovitza the Turks 
 established Tartar and Tcherkassian settlers, whose 
 numbers equalled those of the Bulgarians themselves. 
 There is now no trace of the village of these intruders. 
 On the approach of the Russians the Tartars and Tcher- 
 kassians took to flight. 
 
 In five minutes' time horses had been saddled, and all 
 the party, not excepting His Holiness, Anthimos, set forth 
 on horseback to the field of battle. This is situated imme- 
 diately behind Rakovitza. In order to reach it we had to 
 cross the little river Rakovitza, which flows through a 
 deep ravine, and then to ascend a somewhat precipitous 
 ascent to a wide plain. On that plain, not far from the 
 Turkish blockhouse, the battle took place, the site of 
 which, along with the Russian volunteer killed, unhappily 
 remained in the hands of the Turks. . . . 
 
 That plain is situated on a somewhat lower level than 
 that on which stands the village of Rakovitza, from the 
 houses of which the inhabitants could easily watch the 
 battle and observe all that took place. Eye-witnesses 
 relate how, with beating hearts, they observed the Serbian 
 line of battle spread itself out; how the leader of the 
 
NICHOLAS KIRJ^EFF. 413 
 
 Serbian detadiments, clotlied in wliite, advanced at its 
 head, sword in hand ; how, by and by, he dashed into the 
 Turkish trenches, and how, at length, as they watched, 
 the whole Serbian division suddenly retreated, unable 
 even to secure in their hasty retreat the body of their 
 courageous leader. 
 
 About twenty feet from the Turkish trenches, which 
 are still preserved, we saw an enclosure of oak. The 
 inhabitants of Eakovitza af&rm that this is the very spot 
 where was left the body of the brave KireefiF. 
 
 General Kireefif entered the enclosure, in the centre of 
 which lay a large white stone cross. The villagers had 
 not yet set it up. The brother of the deceased, when he 
 stepped on the soil watered with his kinsman's blood, 
 crossed himself, and, deep in thought, stood over the cross 
 for a few minutes. . . . He could not conceal his agita- 
 tion. . . . Villagers stood with uncovered heads crossing 
 themselves. His Holiness, Anttimos, '^ith head bowed 
 down and burying his face in his hands, clasped over his 
 pastoral staff, wept in silence. 
 
 ' I thank you, my friends,' said KireefiF, breaking 
 silence, ' I thank you for your remembrance of my brother 
 Nicholas. Should any fresh enemy rise up against you, 
 perhaps another Kireefif may be forthcoming. . . . 
 
 ' God bless you.' ..." Let us give thanks,' were 
 heard amid the crowd of villagers, who had perfectly well 
 understood the Eussian words uttered by KireeflP. 
 
 I viewed the environs of the field of Eakovitza, which 
 is now entirely sown over with maize. It is only round 
 the monument that a small clear space is to be found, 
 covered with green grass. The field of Eakovitza is for 
 the most part level ; it is enclosed on three sides by the 
 river Eakovitza, behind which the ground begins to rise 
 abruptly. On the fourth side, the western, descend, and 
 as it were settle down on the plain, the feet of mountains, 
 which extend beyond the boundary into Serbia, The 
 
414 THE BURIAL OF 
 
 view of these mountains is quite enchanting. They are 
 thickly wooded with oak and lime trees ; to look at them 
 one would take them for gigantic green waves, quietly 
 swelling and bursting over the plain of Eakovitza. To 
 the south, in the far distance, the Balkans present a back- 
 ground of blue and white, bright with their snowy tops. 
 To the north Mount Vrshka-Chouka rises up in solitary 
 grandeur, and looks down on us. On its summit is seen 
 an opening in a wood, which forms the limit between the 
 Serbian kingdom and the principality of Bulgaria. 
 
 A. Kireeff, standing at the enclosure, sketched in his 
 note-book the environs of the field of Eakovitza for his 
 mother. 
 
 Before our departure we visited the school. There we 
 found no teacher ; the pupils had already dispersed, but • 
 some of these latter, when they saw us on our way to the 
 school, came in of their own accord. A. Kireeff set two 
 children to read a passage from the Gospels. One of 
 these read pretty well, the other perfectly. A little girl 
 also read some lines. She was very shy, but read 
 distinctly. The children were praised, and promised a 
 map from Moscow and some copies of the Gospels. The 
 school meets in a low, but clean little house, where fifty 
 boys and eight little girls are under instruction. 
 
 After midday we left the village of Eakovitza and 
 went to the monastery of that name, dedicated to the 
 Holy Trinity. It is distant five versts from the village of 
 Eakovitza, and was reached in one hour. It lies at the 
 feet of the mountains, facing the boundary of Serbia. 
 
 At the monastery we were met by Archimandrite 
 Meletius, the head of that cloister. He is the only monk 
 in this monastery, there being no other brethren. 
 
 This cloister is very poor. I had never seen so poor a 
 one either in Eussia, where I had visited a great many, or 
 in Serbia, where, during my journeys in that country, I 
 had visited nearly all its cloisters. 
 
NICHOLAS KIREEFF, 415 
 
 The church, by reason of its smallness, should rather be 
 called an oratory ; it is only large enough to accommodate 
 about twenty worshippers. In the monastic enclosure 
 there are two ancient wings, in one of which dwells the 
 Archimandrite, in the other servants. 
 
 We entered the church, and there we saw a coffin on 
 our right. It was placed on a shelf against the wall. In 
 that coffin, covered with calico of a lilac hue, were pre- 
 served the remains dug out by the inhabitants of Eaho- 
 vitza. These were found on the field of battle, and were 
 held to be those of Kireeff and the Serbian soldiers who 
 had fallen in company with their chief. 
 
 General Kireeff begged His Holiness to permit the 
 remains to be interred opposite the church. A grave was 
 prepared forthwith. The brother of the deceased gave 
 directions in person as to its length and breadth, turned 
 up the turf with a spade, and began to dig. Four 
 villagers lent a hand in the work, and with their aid the 
 grave was ready in a very short time. 
 
 The coffin was borne out from the church. His 
 Holiness having vested, tapers were lit and the funeral 
 service began. The choir was composed of the Archi- 
 mandrite and two priests. . . . The mournful funeral 
 chant, resounding through the monastic enclosure, was 
 deeply affecting. I shall never forget that laying to rest 
 of the mortal remains of heroes who fell in the cause of 
 Slavonic freedom. . . . When His Holiness Anthimos read 
 the prayer in which were commemorated the names of 
 ' the servants of God, Nicholas and his companions,' the 
 villagers, according to the custom here, exclaimed, ' Lord, 
 have mercy ! ' They sang the hymn ' Eternal remem- 
 brance.' All the assembled worshippers knelt down. . . . 
 The coffin was let down into the grave. 
 In the porch of the church, high up against the wall, 
 a portrait of the deceased was suspended in a golden 
 
416 THE BURIAL OF 
 
 frame, with the inscription, in the handwriting of his own 
 hrother, ' Nicholas KireefP.' 
 
 From the monastery we repaired to Widdin, but by 
 another road, through the little town of Koula. . . , 
 
 Our postilion, a Turk, had put to the horses, and we 
 had already completed our preparations with a view of 
 commencing our return journey from the cloister to 
 Widdin, when Kireeff was asked for a,n interview by the 
 Metropolitan Anthimos, and addressed as follows : ' Pray 
 tarry a little, I have something to say to you. Here, not 
 far from the monastery of Rakovitza, five versts off and 
 close to the high road, lies a village; it is a new one, 
 having been but lately peopled, — it has not yet been named. 
 The villagers have begged me to visit their village, and to 
 " baptize " it in the name of the deceased Kireeff. Let us 
 go out of our way a little in order to do this, which will 
 not involve much loss of time. . . . The villagers will be 
 highly gratified ! ' 
 
 The invitation was accepted, and we set out for the 
 ' nameless ' village. 
 
 Here is a short account of this hamlet. Two years 
 ago, a few inhabitants of the village of Rakovitza addressed 
 a petition to the Government, asking leave to settle on 
 that site, which was left unpeopled from the time the 
 Tartars and Tcherkassians fled before the advancing Rus- 
 sian army. This request was acceded to, and over one 
 hundred families, of whom the greater number were 
 straitened in their birthplace by lack of sufficient land, 
 little by little transferred their dwelling-place to the new 
 dependency. These settlers formed a new village. It was 
 situated immediately under Mount Vrshka-Chouka on its 
 southern side. From the summit of this mountain (where 
 we find the boundary of Serbia) we see at its base, almost 
 under our feet, this new hamlet, from whence we can enjoy 
 the picturesque view it presents, and even observe all that 
 is passing within it. . . . If one turn to the south, one 
 
NICHOLAS KIREEFF. 417 
 
 can descry at the foot of Vrshka-Chouka, the little Serbian 
 town of Zaitschar, and a bend of the river Timok. Zaits- 
 char is the point from whence, in 1876, the Timok army 
 advanced to action, and from whence N. Kireeff with his 
 division entered Turkish territory. From its summit the 
 field of Eakovitza can be plainly discerned, and the enclosed 
 space can be plainly detected with the naked eye — the 
 open space where Kireeff fell. . . . (There is much to be 
 seen from this eminence, about half the kingdom of 
 Serbia, and almost as much of the Principality of Bul- 
 garia). 
 
 The idea of calling the village Kireeff was not one of 
 recent date. I can recall that about a year ago, when 
 M. PopofF was governor of the district of Widdin, he 
 informed me that these villagers had acquainted him of 
 their desire to call their hamlet Kireeff, when he, M. 
 Popoff, was among them for the purpose of marking off 
 their new lands and dependencies. . . . This matter was 
 subsequently shelved (I could never ascertain the reason 
 why), and the result was that the village remained name- 
 less up to this very time. It was designated in different 
 ways : some called it New Eakovitza, others New Vil- 
 lage, &c. 
 
 Here we are, then, making a journey for an imposing 
 object — to a ' baptism,' as the Metropolitan Anphim ex- 
 pressed it. Our way would now make a circuit through 
 little forests of oak and nut, now it would issue forth into 
 open ground, and wind through vineyards and between 
 fields of maize; through meads, now and then being 
 hemmed in by a little river. The road was narrow. Often 
 now one horse, now another — we were drawn by three 
 horses yoked abreast— would entangle itself in bushes of 
 brambles or wild roses, causing them to cover us with 
 their leaves and exhale their perfume. 
 
 We drive into the village. A great crowd had assembled 
 E E 
 
418 THE BURIAL OF 
 
 to meet us. Infirm old men, women with children at the 
 breast; every inhabitant would seem to have come out 
 into the streets. 
 
 The village is stiU in an unfinished state ; everything 
 was in a chaotic condition ; there were scarcely any 
 yards to be seen. The houses are wide, covered, or being 
 covered over with tiles. Around the dwellings wander 
 cattle and birds — buffaloes, oxen, sheep, pigs, geese, ducks, 
 chickens. . . . All spoke of confusion and disorder. It 
 was evening, the sun was setting. The household cattle, 
 driven in for the night, pressed around the houses, rend- 
 ing the air with a concert of divers sounds discordant to 
 our ears. 
 
 We stepped down from the carriage and went up to a 
 table which had been placed in a street in the centre of the 
 village. Here the Metropolitan offered prayers, sprinkled 
 the villagers with holy water, and then declaimed : 'Length 
 of days to the village henceforth called by the name of 
 Kireeff.' 
 
 When the prayers were over his Holiness Anphim 
 turned to the villagers and made an address : — 
 
 ' I am glad for your sakes, my children, for now you 
 are free. Where are the Tcherkassians and Turks from 
 whom you suffered such violence and outrage ? ' (His 
 Holiness Anthimos lifted up his eyes as he spoke and 
 looked out on the broad expanse before him, formerly 
 peopled by Tcherkassian marauders.) 'Of Tcherkassian 
 and Tartar villages there is left no trace ! Turks, Pashas, 
 and Zaptiehs will trouble you no more. ... I rejoice for 
 your sakes. But do not forget to whom you owe this 
 gift of freedom. It is Russia that has made you free.' 
 (Here the villagers raised a shout, ' Long live Russia ! 
 long live our deliverer ! ') ' And what has Russia sacri- 
 ficed to give you this freedom ? So great is the debt 
 you owe this country, that Bulgaria could never pay so 
 much as one thousandth part of that debt which is 
 
NICHOLAS KIREEFF. 419 
 
 owed to her for the freedom you enjoy. . . .' (Again a 
 shout is raised by the crowd, ' Long live Eussia ! ') 'It 
 is not of money that I speak. . . . Think of the many 
 mothers and fathers in that great country who are mourn- 
 ing the loss of sons ; think of the many widows who are 
 weeping for the loss of husbands ; of houseless orphans 
 who mourn for lost fathers, sisters — for lost brothers ! 
 And here on this day there is one amongst us ' (here his 
 Holiness Anphim turned to where Kireeff was standing) 
 ' who is mourning a brother, who feU in this your own 
 country for the freedom of its people. . . . The news of 
 the death of Kireeff was nearly the death of his aged 
 mother. How shall we console the unconsolable, who 
 have lost their dear ones for our sake, to win for us our 
 freedom? . . . 
 
 ' By calling your village by the name of the fallen hero 
 Kireeff, you have given a proof to his mother and relatives, 
 and to the whole of Eussia, our deliverer, that we do not 
 forget — that toe cannot forget those whose blood flowed for 
 ourjreedom. . . . Never forget Eussia' (here his Holi- 
 ness raised his hand to emphasise these words) ' remember 
 Eussia, to whom you owe your deliverance. . . . Without 
 Eussia we were like fish without water.' (' Long live 
 glorious Eussia, our deliverer ! ' the crowd broke in.) 
 
 Words would fail to express the sensation produced 
 on the crowd by this address. I wiU not attempt to de- 
 scribe the naive ' ovations ' accorded by the villagers to 
 their guest Kireeff. ... It would take up too much of 
 your space. One thing, however, I must put on record ; 
 something original in the highest degree. The villagers 
 ran after our carriage, escorting it far beyond the village ; 
 several times they stopped our horses, and running up 
 asked us each time to drink a glass of wine. Meanwhile, 
 greetings were heard to the brother of Kireeff, and to their 
 village ' baptized ' in his name. . . . 
 
420 THE BURIAL OF 
 
 In the brief history of the village called Kireeff, that 
 day will constitute a great epoch ; tradition will no doubt 
 perpetuate its remembrance from generation to genera- 
 tion so long as the village of Kireeff shall stand. 
 
 The sun was already setting when we left the hamlet 
 of Kireeif on our way to Widdin. It was growing dark 
 when we reached the little town of Kula.. Its inha- 
 bitants were probably aware at an early hour that a guest 
 would visit them in the evening, and, as it seemed, had 
 early made preparations for his arrival. 
 
 At the very entrance of the town the street was lined 
 on either side with townsmen who greeted us heartily 
 as we entered. The streets were decorated with flags, 
 and a mortar fired salutes on the town square. The 
 whole population of E!ula gathered together near the 
 church. The pupils of schools for both sexes stood before 
 their respective schools, and greeted their guest by sing- 
 ing the Russian National Air, the townsmen joining in 
 with cries of ' Long live Kireeff ! ' A senior pupil presented 
 A. K. with a crown of roses and pinks, in the name of all 
 the pupils. The Bulgarian National Hymn was struck up, 
 and we repaired to a garden, where supper had been pre- 
 pared for the gaest. Here the chief townsmen stood 
 behind the table, and waited on KireefP; everyone strove 
 to pay their guest every possible attention. . . . Greetings 
 were exchanged and prolonged, interspersed with the 
 singing of national airs. . . . Suddenly a cry was heard : 
 ' Everlasting remembrance ! everlasting remembrance to 
 Nicholas KireefP ! ' . . . A toast was drunk in his honour. 
 . . . ' To the church ! to the church ! ' exclaimed others. 
 The church was rapidly filled, and a choir of pupils of 
 either sex sang the hymns, ' Rest with the Saints,' and 
 ' Eternal Remembrance.' When A. Kireeff passed through 
 the town to enter his carriage, all the townsmen and 
 pupils escorted their guest, singing as they went. The 
 
NICHOLAS KIRilgEFF. 421 
 
 road was covered with nosegays of roses and other flowers. 
 Our carriage was so full of nosegays, that we literally had 
 difficulty in sitting. . . . 
 
 We spent one hour and a half in Koula. At two o'clock 
 in the night we were already in Widdin. 
 
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