(ll0rit0U HmucrHlta Hibrara atljara. Ncto fork FROM THE BENNO LOEWY LIBRARY COLLECTED BY BENNO LOEWY 1854-1919 BEQUEATHED TO CORNELL UNIVERSITY Cornell Unlvefslty Library DB 573.N84 1878 Armenia, and the «{n>,(>ak(n,^^^ 3 1924 028 512 519 oHn r^> Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028512519 ARMENIA, AND THE CAMPAIGN OF 1877. BY C. B. NORMAN, LATE SPECIAL^ CORRESPONDENT OF "THE TIMES" AT THE SEAT OP WAR. WITH SFECJALLT-FMEFAREI) MAPS AND FLANS. €)^conO ©Oltion. CASSELL PETTER k GALPIN: LONDON, PARIS ^ NEW YORK. \i \ \ \ [all RIGHTS RESERVED.! , I I.- K A in' La TO \ LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIE ARNOLD KEMBALL, C.B., K.C.S.L, f ROYAL ARTILLERY, WHOSE CAREER IN PAST DAYS AS A BOMBAY HORSE ARTILLERYMAN, IN THESE NO LESS STIRRIN& TIMES AS A SOLDIER DIPLOMATIST, TESTIFIES ALIKE TO HIS TACT, ENDURANCE, AND GALLANTRY — WHOSE NAME ADDS ONE MORE TO THE LIST OF THOSE INDIAN HEROES OF V WHOM EVERY ENGLISHMAN MAY BE JUSTLY PROUD — TEIS VOLUME IS BEBICATED BY HIS OBEDIENT SERVANT, THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. My apology for launching yet another book on the world must be that I am aware the history of the war in Armenia is but imperfectly known in this country. More vivid interest attached to the scenes nearer home, Plevna and Schipka eclipsed Zewin and Kars in both honour and gallantry, and though British interests were more sensibly affected, according to party cry, by the events in Asia, yet popular interest was more, visibly affected by the deeds upon European ground. I landed at Trebizond an advanced philo-Turk, and deeply impressed with the idea that Turkish mis- rule and Turkish maladministration had been grossly exaggerated. Being a novice in the profession of journalism, I was not bound to adhere to my former opinions for the sake of consistency in my future articles; and being entirely unfettered in my instruc- tions, I determined to write fairly and honestly what came before me, and endeavour to the best of my ability to uphold the Ottoman cause. I have seen misrule in native states in India; I have seen Oriental vice and profligacy amongst the higher classes of Her Majesty's Eastern subjects; I a2 viii THE GAMFAIGN IN ARMENIA. have studied the Oriental character for some years, and flattered myself I knew a little about it. These pages will show how soon my views changed; how soon I learnt that no words could exaggerate the amount of misrule that exists in Asiatic Turkey, where Christian and Mahomedan alike groan under an intolerable yoke. I learnt, too, that the debauched rajah is an innocent compared with the majority of pashas. As regards the Turkish army, I never saw a Nizam battalion that could hold its own with our worst- drilled regiment of Bengal Infantry. Our native officers are as a rule infinitely superior to the Ottoman regi- mental officers, few of whom, in Lord Napier of Magdala's regime, could have qualified educationally for promotion to naiek. Some few among the superiors — how few the campaign shows — were good men. It is no exaggeration to say that the success of the earlier portion of the war may be traced to the exertions of less than half a dozen men — Ahmed Mukhtar, Djameel and Paizi Pashas, Halit, and Captain Mahomed Bey. Eemembering what the Ottoman army did in the Crimea, fighting by the side of our own men, and remembering what our native troops in India have done at Lucknow, Delhi, Chillianwallah, Punniar, Jellalabad, Grhuzni, and a hundred other places — com- paring these acts with those of the present campaign, we ought, at any rate, to feel satisfied that if with their faulty organisation, bad officers, ignorant stajff, and lack of pecuniary resources, the Ottoman armies have been enabled to hold Russia at bay for eight long months, we with our well-trained troops, and PEEFAGE, ix our inexhaustible native reserve (every whit the equal in physique and gallantry of the Osmanli), need have no fear should we unfortunately be drawn into war. If the Czar's armies have taken two -thirds of a year to march from Alexandropol to Erzeroum, and seven months from Goomri to Kars, they may abandon all hope of ever reaching Peshawur, of ever ruling in Hindostan. I have not touched on the political view of the Eastern Question, for I know little about it. I am aware that the war is entirely due to the machinations of Russia. I know that her agents fomented rebellion in Bulgaria ; that her ambassador persuaded the Porte to suppress the revolt with Bashi-Bazouks, and to repudiate her loans. I am aware that, behind the flimsy pretence of the amehoration of the Christian subjects of the Porte, the real reason for the war was love of aggression, and that the Czar still hopes to see the Cathedral of St. Sophia the head of the Greek Church. Thus, though I know the conduct of Russia to be indefensible on every ground, I cannot but feel that if the war is the cause of granting a good government to the subjects of the Porte, if it strangles the rule of the pasha and the zaptieh, the Czar will deserve as much credit for the invasion of Turkey as for the emancipation of the serf. As for British interests being affected by the annexa- tion of Armenia, I fail to see the point. Alexandropol and Erivan are nearer the Persian Grulf than Kars and Erzeroum, Samarkand and Khokand nearer the Punjaub than either. Those who advance the theory that the X THE CAMPAIGN IK ARMENIA. Mahomedan tribes of Hindostan would join Eussia were we involved in hostilities with her, because we failed to support the Sultan in his hour of need, forget the lesson taught in 1857, just one year after the Treaty of Paris, one year after the Crimean War, when we sacrificei 100,000 men and £100,000,000 to bolster up the Ottoman Empire, the Bengal army mutinied, and our bitterest foes in that dire struggle were the Maho- medans of Northern India.*' Before these pages see the light we may be at war with Eussia. A large section of the people seem urging the Government to defend ''British interests;" but not a man seems able to define the term. Should unhappily we find ourselves called upon to defend either of the two points laid down by Lord Derby as debatable ground, I feel no fear for the result. We know Eussia's armed strength : the events of the last few months have thoroughly opened our eyes to the exaggerated views we formerly held of her power. She has no idea of our power; and as this war has proved the value of infantry, the uselessness of un- trained artillery fire, so if we go to war will we prove that our infantry are the finest-trained soldiers in the world, even as they ever have been. I have no doubt in my mind that a battalion of native troops, organised * I recently read a lecture given by a Lieutenant-Colonel of Yolunteers, in which it was deliberately stated that the capture of Kars in '55 weakened our hold of India, and was one of the primary causes of the Mutiny. This is as amusing as the statement gravely made by Sir H. Hoare to Lord Derby, that our first news of the capture of Kars on the 18th November was derived by telegraph from Cabul ! Truly, as Lord SaUs- bury remarked, the study of large scale maps is most desirable — a little knowledge is a dangerous thing I PREFACE, XI as they now are, would prove more than a match for any battalion the Czar could put against them; and, as far as the cavalry of the army of the Caucasus is concerned, our Indian irregular cavalry, I am con- vinced, could walk round them. If Kussia, overpowered by conceit at her recent successes, rushes into war with us, she will, I believe, emerge a crippled and a third-rate Power. • In my correspondence to the Times I made it a rule to report nothing but what came under my own personal observation, or facts confirmed by European evidence ; in the re-publication of my letters I have adhered to that rule. I have endeavoured to write impartially, neither glossing over the faults of the Turks nor imputing .glaring atrocities to the Eussians ; in truth I may say that I failed to obtain one authenticated case of cruelty committed by the army of the Grand Duke, and in this statement I am borne out by the despatches of Sir Arnold Kemball, published in the recent Blue Books on the Eastern Question. Of the conduct of the Turkish administration no one could speak too strongly : in making no provision for their sick and wounded ; hx sanctioning the employ- ment of irregulars ; in failing to punish the perpetrators of deeds which roused the indignation of every honest man ; and in circulating the most barefaced falsehoods about Eussian cruelty, notably the statements of the treatment of prisoners at Ardahan, and of the inhabit- ants of the Alashgird plain. Such acts as these must inevitably alienate the support of those who feel for a gallant people fighting for effete rulers. XII THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. In conclusion, I have to offer my heartfelt thanks to many, but for whose kind assistance I should have been unable to lay before the public what I venture to trust will be accepted as a truthful history of the Armenian campaign. To Dr. W. H. Eussell, the king of war correspondents, I am indebted for much help — hints as to kit, aird warnings as to the danger that besets the unwary correspondent ; to Mr. Wylde for his invaluable help in the compilation of the map which accompanies this volume ; to Mr. Zohrab, Her Majesty's Consul at Erzeroum; Mr. Biliotti, Consul at Trebizond; Mr. A. Magack, of Erzeroum, all and each of whom vied in kindness and hospitality, placing not only their houses and libraries at my disposal, but aiding me in collecting news of hostilities and facts concerning the history and administration of the country; without their help I should have been powerless. To Sir Arnold Kemball and his indefatigable aide-de-camp, Lieut. Maitland Dougall, E.N., I owe more than words can express. I can only hope that they retain as pleasant a re- miniscence of our united efforts to rub along under discomforts of no ordinary kind, on the sunny slopes of Ararat, as I ever shall. CONTENTS. CHAPTER T. LONDON TO TREBIZONr. FAQB Austrian Custom House — Travelling Companions — IMisseri's Hotel— Search for Horse-flesh— Krikol, Possum, and Mr. Vincent — Early Impressions of the Turkish Army — Defences of the Bosphorus— Eedif and Eaoiif — Turkish Volunteers— Trebizond and Her Majesty's Consul— Trade in the Black Sea— Sport and " Polly "—Djameel Pasha— The Abkhasians CHAPTER 11. TREBIZOND TO EEZEEOUM. DJameel Pasha at Work— The Sword of my Escort — Turkish Troops pushing on to the Front — Anatolian Trout — The Zigana Pass — A Night's Lodging — " Riz-au-gras " — The Pests of Armenia — Guns and Volunteers — Comfortable Quarters — Esprit de Corps — Monsieur Magack — Erzeroum — Its People and Defences — Its Drains and Dirt — Its Shepherd — Its Trade 19 CHAPTER III. THE HOSTILE ARMIES. The Turkish Army, and its Changes during the Present Century — Thirty Years' Stagnation — Abdul Azeez's ileforms---Equality of Race as "^ regards Military Service — Nizam, Ichtayat, Bedif, and Mustahfiz — Military Districts — Administrative Staff — Sappers and Miners — Ar- tillery — Guns — Equipment of Mounted Branch — Horses — Pay of all Grades — Cavalry Equipment — Horses — Men — Pay of all Grades — In- fantry Staff — Uniform and Equipment— Arms and Pay — Rations and Quarters — Scarcity of Officers — Mukhtar's Forces — Russian Army — Composition — Artillery — Position of Turkish Army — Position of Russian Army . • . 34 xiv THE CAMPAIGN IJsF ARMENIA. CHAPTER lY. THE STORY OF ABDAHAN. PAGE Ismail Kurd's Invasion of Eussia — Discontent in the City— The Petition to the British Consul— Mr. Zohrab— Eussian Designs on Armenia — Alacrity in following up the Declaration of War — Capture of Bayazid — City Canards— Aidahsin — Captain Mehmed Bey — Sahri Pasha — Gallant Defence of the Emir Oghlou— Flight of Sahri— Capture of the Town 59 c CHAPTER Y. ON THE WAY TO THE FRONT. Fugitives from Ardahan — Sahri Pasha again — Conduct of Eussians— Eetreat from Olti — The Herman Dooz — Kuipri Kui and its Defences — Suspicious Death of a Christian — Khorassan — The Fight at Beghli Ahmed — First Impressions of Circassians — Ahmed Mukhtar Pasha — The Zewin Dooz — Disposition of Turkish Troops — Apathy of Ismail Pa§ha — The Kurds — Discontent among Troops at Erzeroum — Appeal for Help from England — Visit to the Camp at Delihaba — The Pass — Turkish Oflficers — Ee-occupation of Olti— Our Kurdish Escort — Sortie from Kars— Faizi Pasha's Opinions— Other Versions of Beghli Ahmed — The Head- quarter Camp — Talked- of Court-martial on Sahri Pasha — Want of Cavalry — Position of Eussian Forces — Position of Turkish Forces 76 CHAPTER YI. THE BATTLE OF TAGHIR. A Fatal Omen! — With Sir Arnold in Search of a ** Scrim" — Mahomed Pasha wishes to Fight — Our Breakfast Interrupted— View the Ground — Kurds and Circassians — A Eough Time of it — Eussian Intentions — Disposition of our Troops — Description of the Ground— Wild Firing of the Turks — Gallantry of their Gunners — Pluck of the Tcherkess — Excellence of Eussian Infantry — Waste of Ammunition — Our Flank Turned — Yahvash! Yahvash! A Eun from the Cossacks — Hospital Arrangements — Eeflection on the Fight — ^The Energetic Djameel Pasha — Turkish Losses 104 CHAPTER YII. A LULL IN THE STORM. Ismail's Canards— Halit Bey— Disorganised state of Turkish Eight Wing- A Eussian Scape— A Fish Dinner-, Position of the Hostile Armies- CONTENTS, XV Ke-occupation of Bayazid.by Faik Pasha — Mukhtar Pasha reinforces and assumes Command of Right Wing — Ismail the Kurd joins Central Column — Moussa Pasha — News of a Turkish Success at Eshek Khaliass — Awkward Position of Tergukassoff— Faik Pasha's Division . .130 CHAPTER YIII. THE MOSLEM AT BAY. Leave Erzeroum once more for the Front— The Battle of Eshek Khaliass — Conduct of Turkish Cavalry — No Ammunition! — Wounded Men — German Doctors — Hand- wounds — True Missionaries — Sir Arnold KembaU — Fresh News of Eshek Khaliass — Turkish Losses— Fate of Skirmishers against Shelter Trenches — More Fighting — Another Stampede — Tcherkess Heroes — A Christian Village — Reinforcements for Zewin — Rumours of 'a Fight — '■'■ Perish India ^^ — Outrages on Christians — Faizi Pasha's Victory — ^Enthusiasm of the Turks — Ismail and the Koran — Russian and Turkish Losses — Value of Turkish Cavalry — Value of Turkish Casualty Returns — Melikoff's Returns . 143 CHAPTER IX. IN PURSUIT OF THE RUSSIANS. Visit from the Mushir — Complications in Daghestan — An Advance on the Enemy — A Cold Night — Inefficient Quartermaster- General's Depart- ment — The Bivouac on the Mellidooz — Treatment of Sir Arnold Kemhall — March to Sara Kamysh— A Turkish Camp — Turkish Hospitals — Rations of the Turkish Soldier — Discipline on the Line of March — The Peabody-Martini Rifle — Russian Letters — The Opinion expressed in them of the Conduct of the. War — Russian Retreat from Zaidikan — Desecration of the Graves of Russian Dead — Stripping the Dead — Dis- position of the Army — Rumour of Russian Retreat — Turkish Reverse near Ardanutsch — Kurdish Atrocities — Lawlessness of the Circassians Russian Wounded killed on the Field — Murder of Two Karapapak Irregulars — A new Mushir with Reinforcements — Detail of our Army— • Officers of Redif Battalions on the Line of March — Stories of Russian Cruelty — Not home out by Facts — Plunder of Christian Villages by Circassians — Vairan Kale — ^A Late Dinner 1 74 CHAPTER X. THE RELIEF OF EARS. We enter the Fortress — The old familiar Names — Turkish Forts and Turkish ** Obstacles" — Losses during Bombardment — Round-headed Shell — Russian Siege Batteries— Changes in our Staff— The Town well supplied with Provisions — Fortress with Ammunition — Description of the place from the Moskovskiya Vedomosii 204 x^-i TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, CHAPTER XL CAMP LIFE IN FRONT OF KAES. PAGE Massacre at Bayazid— Kurdish Atrocities— Conduct of Faik Pasha— Murder of a Russian Doctor near Kars— His Diary— Eussian Opinion of Battle of Khaliass— Strictures on Heimann— The Siege raised— Yet one more instance of the value of Turkish Cavalry— Siege Batteries— Move our Camp to Vezinkui — Beggars on Horseback — Success of the Turks deemed only Temporary — Conduct of the Officer in charge of Hospitals — An Interruption to our Breakfast — An Interchange of Civilities on the Slopes of the Yag-ni- Kindness of the Consul at Erzeroum— Energy displayed by the new Governor there — News from Van — Treatment of Christians throughout Armenia — Eussians change their Camp — Their Kindness to Turkish Prisoners at Ardahan — A Flag of Truce fired on, and Bearer killed, by the Eussians — ThQ Polish Legion — Cavalry Skirmish near Sabatan — Turkish Opinion of Kurds . . . .220 CHAPTEE, XII. ON THE WATCH. Shift our Camp once more — Strength of our Forces — Stoppage of Telegrams — Hospitals in Erzeroum — EeHef of Bayazid by Tergukassoff — That General's Operations during the War — The Kurds once more — Court- martials on Faik and Sabri Pasha — Turkish Accounts of the EeHef of Bayazid — Circassian Account of same Affair — Losses in the Engagement — Eussian Punishment of Kurds — Pleasures of Camp Life — Expec- tations of a "Scrim" disappointed — Turkish Eeconnaissance into Eussian Territory — The Enemy's Attempts to cut it off — Peace and War — Eussian Eeinforcements at Tashkale — Hailstones and Pigeons' Eggs — Spies' Tales of Bayazid — British Officers' Accounts of Scenes in Bayazid — Sir ALmold Kemball's Endeavours to stop the Kurdish Atrocities — Mukhtar Pasha's little Affair with the Circassian — His stem Ideas of Discipline — Eussian Atrocities in Armenia — Utterly False Disposition of Eussian Troops 244 CHAPTER XIIL HEAD-QTJARTEKS, FOURTH TURKISH ARMY CORPS. The Eussian Entreat — Machinery of Turkish Staff — Medical Department An Amateur Opinion on Eussian Eeconnaissances — ^A Skirmish on the 28th — Cossacks left to bear the brunt of the Fight — Dash of the Cir- cassians — More Eussian Eeinforcements — Story of a Deserter — Strength of the Invading Army— Demoralisation after Defeat at Zewin— Eussian Casualties— Projected Assault at Kars — Value of our Cavalry Eus- sians occupy Ani unobserved— Mukhtar attacks them— Fresh Details CONTENTS. xvii PAGR from Bayazid— The Instigators of the Massacre — Sir Arnold Kemhall Demands their Punishment — Positions of Ismail Pasha and Tergu- kassoff — ^Turkish Ofificial Telegrams — Their close Adherence to Truth — Interchange of Civilities between ISIelikoff and Mukhtar — Ahmed Vefyk Pasha and the Stafford House Surgeons 264 CHAPTER XIV. MOSLEM AND CHRISTIAN. Return to Erzeroum — Russians evacuate Ani — Incompetency of Commanders of Turkish Right and Left Wings — Christian Harvest and Moslem Reapers — Disinterred Russians — Behaviour of Kurds in Head-quarter Camp, and in the Right Column — English Hospital at Erzeroum — War Preparations at Erzeroum — Ani once more reoccupied — Conduct of the Russians in Armenia — The Kurds of Shoragel, Mehded, and Youssouf Bey— The Kurds in Alashgii-d— At Moosh— At BitHs— In Van— The Treatment of American Missionaries — Of Armenian Villages— Apathy or Sympathy of Ismail Pasha — Skirmish at Taouskui — Another at Hieraai Bulak — Engagement on 18th August — Preparations for a Winter Campaign — ^War Taxes, and prompt Pajnnent of subordinate Officials 281 CHAPTER XV. TURKISH SUCCESSES. Battle on the 18th August — Attack on the Nakharji-Tepe unsuccessful- Russians fail to press home any of their Assaults — Turkish Losses — Stripping the Dead — Skirmishes between Ismail and Tergukassoff at Khalifin and Abazgool — Battle of Kizil-Tepe — Successful Assault of the Hill by Mehmed Bey — Grallant Attempt of the Abkhasian Prince to retake it — He is Wounded — Sheremetieff succeeds to the Command-r- Melikoff arrives with Reinforcements — Defeat of the Russians — Losses on both Sides— Reinforcements called for by both Mukhtar and Ismail Mr. Zohrab's position in Erzeroum — Paper Organisation of the Ottoman Army and its actual Condition — Drill and Discipline — Skirmishes and Sentries — Taxation in Armenia— Movements of Ismail Pasha , , 305 CHAPTER XVI. ARMENIANS — THE TRUE STORY OF BATAZID. Arrival of Stafford House Stores at Erzeroum— State of Hospitals in Main Army and in Right Wing— Turkish Authorities refuse Permission to amputate— Refuse Carriage for Medical Stores— Our Hospitals in Erzeroum— My Ideas of the Armenian— The Exodus to Russian Territory, caused by Kui-dish Atrocities— Denial of this by Kurd Ismail xviii TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. TAOE Pasha— Changes in the Turkish Staff— Jealousy of General Kohlmann —Court-martial on Sabri and Faik Pashas— Hussain Avni, and Zarif Mustafa— The True Story of Bayazid— Ferocity of the Kurds— Supine- ness of Faik Pasha— Neglect of Ismail to Support — Consequent Defeat of the Turks at Bayazid by Tergukassoff- Defence of Mr. Zohrab . 322 CHAPTER XYIL WINTER PREPARATIONS. Ghazi Mukhtar Pasha— Promotion of Captain Mehmed Pasha— Further Plans of the Turkish Commander-in-Chief — Condition of the Erze- Toum Garrison — Prospect of Famine — Komaroff's Measures for the Defence of Ardahan — Eumoured Reinforcements for Tergukassoff — Winter Clothing for Turkish Troops— The British Ambulance — Re- ported Violation of the Geneva Convention by the Russians — Conduct of the Turks on the Battle-field — Conduct of the Russians in Ardahan — Explosive Bullets — Desertion of the Circassians — Probability of the Loss seriously affecting Mukhtar — Difficulty of an Advance on Erivan — Successful Raid of Arab Cavalry — Force despatched to Natschevan — Russian Reinforcements — Skirmish at Tcherkgi 344 CHAPTER XYIII. THE MOSLEM AT THE END OF HIS TETHER. Skirmish near Zaim — Russians defeated — Plans of the Grand Duke — Mukhtar preparing for a Winter Campaign — His Position near Ears — Skirmish at Natschevan — Battle of the Yagnis on 2nd October — Gallantry of Mehmed Pasha's Brigade — Turkish Success at the Little Yagnj — ^Attack and Capture of the Great Yagni — Repulse of the Russians — Heavy Losses — Misery in Ears — Paucity of Doctors — Hospital Arrangements 357 CHAPTER XrS. TURKISH ADMINISTRATION IN ARMENIA. Mahomedans Exempted from War Taxation — Christians Forced to Pay Pensioners of Turkish Government — Irregular Imposts— The Discon- tent they Cause — The Hadji— The Caimakam and the British Consul —The Police Station at the Mouth of the Ghiurji Boghaz— Mr. Layard and the Danger to India — American Missionaries' Yiews on Christian Oppression— Turkish Reforms— Her Hospitals— Dr. Casson on Turkish Atrocities — Employment of the Press by the Porte The Abkhasian Exodus— Treatment of the Bayazid Refugees by the Russians and Persians— Treatment of their own Wounded by Turks- Reduction of Unpaid Salaries .... ' • • . 366 CONTENTS. xix PAGE CHAPTER XX. THE TURN OF THE TIDE. Russian Reinforcements— Mukhtar draws in his Men— The Grand Duke occupies the late Turkish advanced Posts — Mukhtar's Confidence — Despondency of Turkish Soldiers — Increased Desertions — Russians learn the Value of a turning Movement — The Battle of the Aladja Dagh — Gallant Defence of the Little Yagni — Loss of the Olya Tepe — Extraordinary Conduct of Men sent to support the Position — Russians occupy the Nalhand Tepe — Panic on the Aladja Dagh — Flight to Ears — Scene in the Fortress — Hassan Bey's Exertions — Sanitary State of Ears — Mehmed Pasha evacuates the Little Yagni — Mukhtar's Plans — He falls back on the Araxes — Ismail Pasha also retires — Russian Trophies — Retreat through the Eose Dagh — Evacuation of Euipri Eui ^Energy of Faizi Pasha — Ismail surprised at Hassan Eale — Capture of Captain Creagh — Treatment accorded to him, and to Dr. Casson — Turks fall back on the Devi-boyun— Reinforcements from Constan- tinople and Batoum 382 CHAPTER XXI. OPERATIONS ROUND ERZEROUM. Turks strengthen both Erzeroum and the Devi-boyun — -Heimann attacks Mukhtar — Great Gallantry of Mehmed Pasha — Faizi holds the Turkish Right — Heimann tries a Ruse — Faizi tries to rally the Osmanli — Flight to Erzeroimi — Turkish Losses — Mukhtar Pasha encourages his Men — His Refusal to surrender — Russians invest Erzeroum — They construct a Redoubt on the Tope Dagh — Relative defensive Value of Erzeroum and Ears — Heimann' 8 ill-judged Attempt to assault the Place — Gallantry of Tamaieii — Capture of the Medjidieh Lunette — Mehmed Bey retakes it — Death of Tamaieff — Failure of the Attack on the EremedU Fort — Coolness of the English — Mr. Zohrab — Dr. Featherstonhaugh — Reginald and Percy Zohrab — Conduct of Turks to Wounded — The gentle Ladies of Erzeroum — Mutilation of Russian Dead , . . 396 CHAPTER XXII. THE THIRD CAPTURE OP EARS BY THE RUSSIANS. Siege of Ears — Capture of Fort Hafiz Pasha — Russians move their Head- quarters — Projected Assault of the Place— Detail of Attacking Columns — Success of Lazaroff on the Right — Death of Count Grabbe in front of the Kanli Tabia — Capture of aU Works on the Plains— Capture of Earadagh and Citadel — Hussain Hami Pasha Escapes—The Majority of the Garrison surrender — Grand Duke enters the Place in Triumph — Melikoff moves towards Erzeroum — His Column forced to fall back from Olti — Eomaroff moves to Ardahan — Thence to Ardanutsch — XX THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. PAGE Skirmish there— Condition of Erzeroum—Treachery at Kars— Huasain Bey, Commandant of Artillery — Osman the Eenegade— Hussain's Visits to the Kussian Camp — The Circassian Letter-carrier — His Death — Abandonment of the Hafiz Pasha Tahia — ^Escape of Hami Pasha — The Man whom the Russian General allowed to wear his Sword — Like Father, like Son 410 CHAPTER XXIIL paskiewitch's campaign in 1828-29. Paskiewitch's Forces — Doubts about Persia — Pankratieff watches her at Khoi— Brigade for the Circassians— The Russian Plans— Their Three Columns — Their Strength and Leaders — Inability to Siege Erzeroum in one Campaign — Cross the Frontier 14th June — Detail of Army of Czar — Of that of the Sultan— Kars Captured 23rd June — Akhalk- alaki, 24th July — Hertwitz, 26th July — Akhalzik, 16th August — Ardahan taken same day — Aitzkui, 18th August — Russian Right Column captures Baj'-azid — The Russian General cantons his Army in Armenia — Turkish Spring Preparations — Endeavour to re-capture Akhalzik — Massacre of Christians — 19th May, 1829, Paskiewitch rejoins the Army — 11th June, he advances — 19th, Battle of Zewin — 20th, Battle of MelKdooz — 28th, Erzeroum surrenders — Treaty of Adrianople 422 APPENDLK A.— Organisation of Turkish Army . . . .439 APPENDIX B.— Russian Army Organisation 459 APPENDIX C— The Armenian Theatre of War .... 469 APPENDIX D.— HussAiN Avni Pasha 481 LIST OF MAPS AND PLANS, Map of Armenia Frontispiece Plan of the Affair at Taghir to face page 104 Plan of the Engagement on the Zewin Plateau Map of the Ground between Kars and Alexandropol Plan of Battles of the Aladja Dagh .... Plan op Erzeroum ........ Sketch Map showing Campaign of 1828-29 . Map of the Country around Erzeroum J) n >> >) >> 162 305 366 386 405 437 ARMENIA, AND THE CAMPAIGN OF 1877. CHAPTEE I. LONDON TO TREBIZOND. Austrian Custom House — Travelling- Companions — Misseri's Hotel — Search, for Horse-flesh — Elrikol, Possum, and Mr. Vincent — Early Impressions of the Turkish. Army — Defences of the Bosphorus — Redif and Raouf — Turkish Volunteers — Trehizond and Her Majesty's Consul — Trade in the Black Sea — Sport and " Polly ^' — ^Djameel Pasha — The Abkhasians. Trebizond, May \^ili. The evening of Monday, April 30, 1877, was cold and stormy, not such, an one as an unfettered traveller would have chosen for the purpose of crossing the Channel ; but, with my head towards Kars, and an ardent longing to reach Armenia before the actual outbreak of hostilities, it did not behove me to be too particular about the weather at the commencement of my trip. Breaking my journey to Buda Pesth of a necessity at Vienna, I experienced the annoyance of an Austrian custom-house examination. It was useless aflSrming that my saddlery was old ; that my waterproof sheeting was destined for Armenia, not Hungary; that my note-paper was for my own use ; and that I considered soap an indispensable article for my journey. The cadaverous chief carefully examined, weighed, and measured everything, from a spare tooth-brush to a Colt's revolver, and, after a delay of two hours and a B 2 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA half, permitted me to proceed to the Hotel Imperial, where, as usual, everything was most comfortable. At three p.m. on the 3rd of May, I left Vienna for Pesth. A popular colonel of the Scots Guards, bound for Widdin and the theatre of war on the Danube, was my companion. At ten p.m. we parted, he for the Eoumanian frontier, I to make some necessary arrangements with a friend, driving straight to the Casino Nationale. I was present during the reception of the Softa Deputation by re- presentatives of the Hungarian nation, the interest of which was much heightened when I was informed that there was not a single Softa in the group of fezzed heads. At six the following morning I was once more ready for Trieste, and at noon on Saturday, the 5th, embarked on board the Austrian Llovd's steamer, Diana, for Constantinople. Even on a five days' sea- voyage, I think one naturally looks with interest on one's fellow-travellers, amongst whom, no matter of what nationality or creed they may be, an Englishman, I may say invariably, meets with a friend. Among the passengers were a naval confrere, en route to join Hobart Pasha, and relate the doughty deeds of the Ottoman fleet; two ex-naval oificers, about to place their services at the disposal of the Sublime Porte ; a Scotch peer, travelling in search of informa- tion, and seeking it even at the cannon's mouth ; an American journalist ; a Prussian nun, who lost her heart during that short water- trip ; and last, though not least, Turfek Bey, the late Charge d' Affaires at St. Petersburg, returning with his suite to Con- stantinople. His first-secretary, Aristarchi Bey, was a perfect English scholar, and to him I am much ABBIVAL AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 3 indebted for valuable information on the subject of the Ottoman administration. Thouf^li fine and smooth as we steamed out of the Trieste harbour, the breeze outside was decidedly freshening, and as the sun went down behind a thick dirty bank of clouds, the old Scotch engineer on board prophesied a nasty night. A dead head-wind, rising to a fresh gale, accompanied by heavy showers, ushered in the storm, in which the Diana showed her rolling powers. I am afraid few of ns turned up to breakfast on Sunday, though dinner- time saw most of the male passengers earnestly discussing the very excellent repast furnished by the burly, good-tempered old steward, who must have been sorely tried by the babel of orders and the practical jokes played on him by more than one member of our mess. Monday afternoon we spent at Corfu, and heard the usual wail of lamentation from shopkeepers and hotel proprietors, at the cession of the isles to Grreece. Whether the move was politic or not is very question- able ; that it was most unpopular is doubtless the case. Steaming away the same evening, we reached Syra at four p.m. on Wednesday, the 9th, and then we learnt that the Eussians had crossed the frontier of Armenia, and captured Bayazid without a struggle. Here we lost the Prussian nun, the charms of her Smyrniote admirer outweighed all other scruples, and, renouncing her intention of joining the Eed Cross Hospital on the Danube, she took ship to the coast of Syria. At dawn on the 11th we awoke to find ourselves steaming into the Grolden Horn, and an hour later we were toiling up the hill from the custom-house to Misseri's. Mr. Murray, Mr. Murray ! you have much B 2 4 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. to answer for ! confiding in your recommendation, the whole of our party went to the hostelry kept by the late dragoman of Eothen; but that any of us would endorse your opinion, or pay it a second visit, I much doubt. After breakfast, in company with my naval confrere, I drove out to Therapia, where his Excellency Mr. Layard kindly promised me his assistance in obtaining the necessary papers to enable me to go to the front. The ambassador's earnest promises were to a great extent nullified by the extreme discourtesy of his Levantine dragoman, who certainly appears to think that the fact of sitting at a Minister's footstool robes him with a Minister's importance. Keeping appointments and answering letters do not seem to be part of the duty of embassy subordinate officials in Pera. The following day was spent, in company with some of my fellow-passengers, in exploring the streets of Stamboul in search of horse-flesh. I suppose there are some good cattle in the city ; we failed, however, to see anything resembling a horse, and returned, hot and thirsty, and somewhat out of temper, to our hotel. Here I heard of two animals, of which I eventually became the purchaser, and two better little beasts I never wish to own. One, a bay Arab, the property of Hobart Pasha ; though peculiarly marked, a very hand- some horse, and just as good as he looked. The other, a very ugly bay pony, with two big splints, a huge head, and altogether quite as ugly as the '' Earl " was handsome ; but as good as he was hideous, and that is saying a great deal. Having overcome the difficulty of horses, the next thing was to obtain servants. Through the kindness of GROOMS AND DRAGOMAN. 5 •Hobarfc Pasha I engaged two Armenian grooms who had been in his employ for some years. Krikol, the father, was a thoroughly trustworthy old gentleman, who spoke nothing but Armenian. "Possum/' the son, spoke and read French, Turkish, and Armenian ; a smart, willing, intelligent boy, he possessed all his father's reliability, with twice his intelligence. They certainly were the most favourable specimens of their class I have ever met. They did not lie, they did not cheat much; they stood all the hardships which we subsequently went through most cheerfully, and they had no scruples about going under fire. A dragoman who could also cook, and who would not be above pitching tents, or putting his hand to all work, was the next difiiculty, and it was not until just an hour before the boat left for Trebizond that Mr. Vincent Graldies was introduced to me. A Maltese by birth, and consequently a British subject, Mr. Vincent assumed great airs amongst the people with whom he associated in Armenia, and upheld the dignity of our flag in a comical though authoritative manner. His knowledge of the culinary art was limited ; but, situated as we often were, it merited, as it received, our warmest encomiums. His knowledge of English was as small; many was the hearty laugh we indulged in at Mr. Vincent's expense. Poor fellow ! the hardships of the campaign told on a not too strong constitution, and it is with much regret I have heard since leaving Pera that he now is in a rapid decline. During my short stay in Constantinople I had in- terviews with several Turkish gentlemen, who one and all received me most courteously. They seemed im- pressed with the idea that both England and Austria 6 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. would be forced to help them, though they felt pretty confident of holding their own without any foreign aid. There was no excitement or passionate declamation con- cerning the war. Everything was received in the usual Oriental stoical manner. The Volunteer barracks were slowly fiUing, chiefly with Circassians and Zeibeks, who strolled into the gates to enlist themselves with the same easy nonchalant air that the drummer outside was beating his drum. The good people of Stamboul itself seemed supremely indifferent on the subject; hundreds of able-bodied men, well calculated to form food for powder, were collected in groups at corners of streets discussing affairs in a matter-of-fact sort of way, without betraying any enthusiasm whatever. In spite of the declaration of neutrality, there were several Englishmen seeking employment under the Porte, but the Turkish officials show great jealousy of English interference, and naturally wish to keep all the superior appointments in their own hands. The Turkish army is divided into seven army corps, having their head-quarters as follows : — 1st Army Corps, Constantinople. 2nd \ Shumla. 3rd Monastir. 4th Erzeroum. 5th Damascus. 6th Bagdad. 7th Yemen. The strength of each corps differed, and as the fourth is the only one liable to be called upon to play any part in the campaign, I will in a subsequent chapter give a detailed account of its constitution. TUEKISE ARTILLERY, 7 The authorised composition of a corps d'armee is two divisions of infantry, each consisting of two brigades of four battalions, one regiment of artillery of twelve bat- teries, two brigades of cavalry of two regiments each, and a company of engineers, the whole under the com- mand of a Mushir or Marshal. From what I saw of their regiments, they would not be amiss for the importation of a few smart com- mandants and adjutants; the physique was admirable, but the clothing, drill, setting-up, and discipline left a very great deal to be desired. The artillery seemed the smartest branch of the service, the guns being Krupp's breechloaders, of a similar pattern to those in use in the German army, while the heavy siege guns and guns of position were either Armstrongs or Krupps. The batteries, like ours, had six guns each, and were chiefly four or six pfdnders. There were several mountain batteries of 5J-centimeter Krupps. These guns are mounted on mules similar to our Indian mountain batteries, though the carriages are more clumsy, and ammunition boxes not so complete. Each cavalry regiment is commanded by a colonel, with two majors and two adjutants under him ; it is divided into six squadrons of 156 sabres, with one captain, one second captain, and three subalterns, as the staff. Each infantry regiment is commanded by a colonel, with a lieutenant- colonel under him. There is a major to each battalion, assisted by two adjutants, and there are eight companies of from 80 to 100 men in each, officered by one captain, one lieutenant, and one sub -lieutenant. To every regi- ment of cavalry and battalion of infantry there are several doctors and a paymaster. This is the organisation laid down, but I fear the army is far removed from it. 8 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. However, it reads well on paper. As there is no pub- lished army-list, and as there are no outward and visible means of distinguishing regiments from each other — ^for they are not numbered, nor have they different facings — it must be almost as difficult for an officer on the staff of the Turkish army to know the corps one from another as it is for a stranger. Leaving the Golden Horn on the afternoon of the 14th, we steamed slowly up the Bosphorus. I thus had a good opportunity of looking at the new works for the defence of those Straits. The old Eoumeli Hissar is supplemented by a powerful earthwork battery, mounting twelve 10-inch Armstrongs, in embrasures, with traverses between each gun portion, and six 12 -inch Armstrongs en barbette — i.e., two in the centre of the face and two on either flank ; the face of the battery thus has fourteen guns. The parapets are thirty-six feet in thickness, with a command of forty feet over the sea-level. So I was assured by a major on the Turkish staff, a fellow-passenger of mine. Between the Eoumeli Hissar and the Euxine are four earthworks, each mounting four 10-inch Arm- strongs ; the Anatole Hissar has a battery of similar profile and construction to the old fort of Europe, except that in the centre are mounted four 12 -inch guns en barbette, making twenty pieces in all. Between it and the sea are six earthworks, two mounting six guns and four four guns each, all 10-inch Armstrongs. Four Turkish ironclads are moored in the stream, and supplement the defences considerably. I could not ascertain their names or armament, but one looked very like the MessoudieJi I saw in the Thames in 1875, and I noticed two Gatlings in the after quarter-deck ports of each of them. Clearing the Bosphorus at eight p.m., we experienced A TURKISH REGIMENT, 9 brisk wind and dense mist through the Black Sea, reaching Samsoon, half way to Trebizond, late on Wed- nesday night. Samsoon is a small town on the coast, with some interesting Greek ruins. There are three small masonry works, one at either extremity of the bay and one in the centre of the town ; the garrison consists of two battalions of infantry and 200 gunners. The guns in these antiquated forts are old smooth 18- pounders, but the eastern battery has one 7 -inch Arm- strong, and the western battery two 40-pounders. The regiment which I saw on parade was a disgrace to any army — material excellent, but training, accoutrements, and discipline wanting. The equipment is there, for the greater part of the Turkish army is now furnished with the Henry-Martini rifle, with the Berdan cartridge ; but the men have not been instructed in its use, and very few ofiicers even understand the sights of their new weapon. Discipline in one sense of the word seems to be unknown, but I believe crime is very rare amongst the subordinate ranks. Sentries relieve each other at pleasure, lay their rifles down, and converse pleasantly with their officers on various topics, the most general one being abuse of the War Minister. I am sure even Lord Card well never suffered from our service half so much as Redif Pasha does from those under his command. In Con- stantinople the opinion was pretty openly expressed that he would fall in a few days, and that Eaouf Pasha, the present Minister of Marine, r^uld take over his port- folio. Eaouf is an old St. Cyr cadet, and served in the Crimea. He is well educated, intelligent, and free from the obstinate conservatism so common among Turkish officials, being very popular in his own service, which is the army; and having been successful at the Ministry of 10 THE CAMPAIGN IN AHMENIA. Marine, tlie military Turks look forward to having tlie army put on the same efficient footing as the navy is at present, and for their sakes I hope Eaouf will soon rule the War Office. Leaving Samsoon at eight a.m. on the morning of the 17th, we coasted along the mountainous shores of the Black Sea, reaching Ounieh at two p.m. I there went ashore with the correspondents of the Temps and Moniteur, fellow-passengers of ours, in order to see a battalion of volunteers, which a major on the general staff of the Turkish army had told me was lying here waiting for transport to Batoum. Volunteers, forsooth ! The poor fellows were confined in the common jail of the town, and on seeing us clamoured loudly, im- ploring us to use our influence to obtain their release. They evidently were not fired with that love of country sufficient to induce them to sacrifice all home ties for the sole purpose of fighting the Giaour. Many of the men were fine, smart, intelligent, clean-limbed young fel- lows, just the stuff to make troops out of ; but there were a great many weeds too, and not a few greybeards quite unfit for work. I was told that the religious enthusiasm of these elders would inspire some of their more faint- hearted comrades with zeal, and so compensate for the lack of bodily vigour. I noticed that many of the men seemed scarcely to enjoy their position, and the wives, mothers, and sweethearts, sitting under the jail windows, fostered their discontent. The pride of taking part in a religious war scarcely seems to deaden human feelings, even in the breast of the Turk. Although Ounieh is a telegraph station, we could hear no news from the seat of war ; the merchants of the place seemed strangely uninterested in the subject. WE BHAGR TEEBIZOND. 11 They had a mmour that the Circassians had risen and massacred the garrison of Poti, but the story was told in such general terms, with such an absence of detail, that I could not credit it. They also said Kars had been reheved by the Erzeroum force ; but as you have later and more trustworthy news than these good folk on the shores of the Euxine, I will not repeat their tattle. One fellow-passenger, a major, who has lately been promoted from a captaincy in the 1st to the post of c/ief de hataillon in the 5th army corps, treated the whole subject with true Oriental indifference. He did not know, nor did he seem to care, to what regiment he was going, but would have preferred staying at Trebi- zond. He asked no questions as to recent news, but had an idea that the Russians had been driven back on Alexandropol with heavy slaughter. Although a first- class passenger, he did not dine at our table, but mixed entirely with some non-commissioned ofl&cers, who are going to Trebizond as deck cargo, took his meals with them, and played draughts with them all day. The Ulysses steamed into the Trebizond Eoads at three p.m. on the 18th, having taken ninety-six hours to perform the 540 miles from Constantinople. A fine iron- clad was at anchor, also a Turkish transport, which had just landed a cargo of guns, both heavy and light Krupp breechloaders. The field guns were minus limbers, and were intended for the reserves, which are being called out all over Asia Minor. The heavy pieces were meant for the defence of Ardahan and Erzeroum, but how they will be sent on to Ardahan no one seems to know, as the Russians are between it and the Turkish corps at Erzeroum. A British steamer, the Florence Trenchaw,, 12 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. was in the harbour, having come in yesterday morning from Poti, which she found completely abandoned. The captain told me he had been* ashore three days, and found the custom-house deserted, all merchants' offices closed, and being unable to find the consignees of his cargo, had been forced to return. He says the Turkish bombardment had done no harm. Very few of their shells had reached the town, but the bombardment had completely frightened all the inhabitants away. He heard there of a rising among some hill-men in the neighbourhood, but could give me no accurate informa- tion on any subject except that the town bore no traces whatever of the recent bombardment. On landing I at once proceeded to the house of the British vice-consul, whose kindness and attention deserve my warmest thanks. M. Biliotti did his utmost to procure horses for my servants, and baggage animals for my luggage. His efforts were so far successful that three hours after touching the shore I had all my traps packed and was ready to start. In spite of the day being the Mahomedan Sunday, and all offices being closed, M. Biliotti himself went to the governor of the town and procured the necessary passports for me, and, notwithstanding the order that all horses and mules are to be used solely for the purpose of transporting war material to the front, he succeeded in inducing the Pasha to spare me four. At dinner I met Monsieur Eiva, the Italian consul at Trebizond. The conversation during the evening was amusing as well as instructive. Our representative is decidedly Turcophile in his views, whilst M. Eiva is strongly opposed to the continuance of the Ottoman Empire. As he represents Germany, and, consequently, is in charge of all Eussian subjects, this gentleman has TBEBIZOND PAST AND PRESENT. 13 his hands very full at the present time. He, however, was good enough to spare time to give me much informa- tion regarding the tribes in the Caucasus, and the state of feeling with regard to the war amongst the populace at Trebizond. From the harbour Trebizond presents a view than which it would be hard to find a fairer. The brightly whitewashed houses cluster in groups on the sides of the well-timbered hills, which rise higher and higher until their snow-capped crests cut the deep blue arch of the Armenian sky. To the east the shore stretches away in hills thickly covered with vegetation, whilst to the west a rocky cliff — on which the citadel stands — shuts out a further peep of the same range. The surrounding country is full of ruins, Greek, Eoman, Byzantine, and Genoese all bearing witness to the wealth dis- covered in the Anatolian provinces by its successive rulers. The capital of a kingdom in its earlier days, a port at which Xenophon embarked, and which had survived the fall of many a prouder empire, it was des- tined on passing into the hands of the Osmanh, in the year 1461, to become a mere fishing village. Closing the Bosphorus to all vessels but their own, the Porte effectually crippled the maritime trade to which Trebi- zond owed her importance. By the treaty of Adrianople, in 1829, the Dardanelles were once more opened, and by degrees Trebizond regained her trade, but her position, once lost, seems gone for ever. Lines of Russian, Turkish, Austrian, and French steamers now run weekly from Constantinople and the other ports in the Black Sea. The principal imports are Manchester goods for Persia, which here are transferred on to the backs of " the ships of the desert " or of mules, the caravans travelling 14 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. via Erzeronm and Tabreez. Carpets and tobacco are brought in exchange ; also skins and furs to a goodly amount. The opening of the Suez Canal, however, has to a great extent ruined this trade. The merchants of Teheran find it cheaper to procure their goods by the Persian Gulf, and eventually, if some other Eeuter comes to the front, and actually builds railroads in the dominions of the Shah, the Erzeroum route will be almost entirely superseded.* Even Oriental merchants are well aware that any carriage is preferable to pack- carriage — with the daily lading and unlading, and continual exposure to weather. In 1831, the first English vessel carried a cargo to Trebizond, the advantages it possessed as a sea-port for trade with Persia being ably pointed out by Mr. Brant, the consul there. Subsequently the Peninsular and Oriental Company ran a fortnightly steamer ; but for the last few years our flag has seldom been seen in the roadstead. The decline of the Persian trade, doubtless, is the cause, for, if statistics are reliable, Trebizond is fast sinking into the same position whence she emerged in 1829. Whereas in 1858 the imports amounted to £3,750,529, and exports to £1,280,794, in 1875 they had fallen to £1,253,647 and £598,073, respectively— a decline of upwards of fifty per cent. ! Trebizond possesses many advantages : the chmate is glorious, the surrounding hiUs full of game — ^hares, woodcock, partridges (the red-legged, much like the * I am aware there is a general idea that the Persian trade has been diverted from the Trebizond and Erzeroum to the Poti-Tiflis route. A glance at the books of the British India Steam Navigation Company will show that English steamers now convey the greater bulk by the Persian Gulf route direct from London to Bushire. A VISIT TO DJAMEEL PASEA. 15 chikorr of the Himalayas, and a grey bird resembling the common English species), quail in the season, and snipe near the river ; the roadstead, too, is plentifully stocked with fish, turbot and sword-fish being the most sought after, whilst in the mountain streams trout abound. There are many most interesting ruins -in the immediate neighbourhood, the finest being the church and monastery of St. Sophia, which contain some mag- nificent frescoes. I regret that my short stay prevented my visiting these places. Amongst other points worthy of notice, in these days of Taunus and '' Polly," I ought not to forget a very excellent spring of mineral water, which our worthy consul patronises handsomely. Just before sitting down to dinner, an aide-de-camp arrived from Lieutenant-Greneral Djameel Pasha — who has been sent here to arrange the forwarding of all war material — asking me if I could spare him half an hour, as he wished to forward some letters to his brother, who commands a battalion at Ears, and also to hear the state of public opinion in Pera. I arranged to call on him at nine p.m., but slightly before that hour the general, unaccompanied by any staff officer, appeared at the consulate. I was much struck with him. He is a man of forty -two (so he says), looks about thirty-five, is very intelligent and active, speaks French well, and is very well up in all subjects of general interest. Entering the army at fifteen, he remained in the rank of Kol- aghassi, or adjutant-major, for fifteen years, when, in consequence of his conduct in the Syrian and Cretan affairs, he suddenly found himself famous and a major- general ; he now is a general of division of some seven years' standing, and hopes to obtain command of one of 16 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. the corps in Asia Minor. He complains bitterly of the manner in which he is treated by the War Office authorities at Constantinople. Field guns without limbers are sent to him, and siege guns without car- riages. He is furnished with no means of transport nor money for the payment of impressed cattle, and yet he is expected to push everything on to Erzeroum without any delay. As he says, he wants money to repair the road, which is practically impassable; and he finds it utterly impossible to get the country people to work cheerfully without prompt payment. It was a pleasure to converse with the general — a thorough soldier, a perfect gentleman, and an enthu- siastic patriot. Without despairing of his country, he saw and acknowledged all her faults, and urged that she was not only not so black as she was painted, but that, as her artists were chiefly Russians, v/e ought not to look on the pictures as very life-like representations. He assured me that the Anaksia, or Abkhasians, as they are occasionally called, a hill tribe dwelling on the southern slopes of the Caucasus from Kertch to Anaklia, near Poti, were in a state of revolt ; that they had attacked Soukoum Kaleh, on the Black Sea, killed the general commanding, massacred the garrison, and were flocking into Batoum in thousands. This corresponds with the news I heard at Samsoon, and also with the stories picked up by the captain of the steamer which had arrived from Poti. Djameel Pasha told me he had despatched 15,000 Snider rifles to Batoum to-day to arm these men, and was endeavour- ing to spread the revolt all down the Caucasus. The rifles were taken by the ironclad we saw in the roads as we entered — an Egyptian vessel, presented by the THE ABKHASIAN8. 17 Khedive to the Porte two years ago. Should this movement succeed, it will interfere with the Eussian advance in Asia Minor somewhat, as they cannot push on with insurrection rife in their rear. The Abkhasians had burnt two towns near Poti, and were to make an attack on that place in conjunction with the ironclads of the Black Sea blockading fleet. The general also informed me that during the success of the Turkish Troops on the Chorouk Su, near Batoum, the Russians were surprised in a mountain pass, and after nine hours' fighting were forced to retire. He divides their esti- mated loss by ten, and says, from his information, they have lost about 400 killed, while the Turks had one lieutenant-colonel and 140 killed, with a slightly larger proportion wounded. The Russians had no artillery engaged. The Abkhasians deserve a passing notice. For the following brief description of them I am indebted to Mr. Biliotti, Her Majesty's consul at Trebizond, whose knowledge of the tribes dwelling on the shores of the Black Sea is equalled only by his kindness to all Englishmen visiting them. The earliest historical notice we have of this in- teresting tribe is, that in the third century their country was annexed to the Empire of Constantinople, under whose dominion they flourished until the thirteenth century, when they passed into the hands of the Genoese. The ruins of more than forty towns testify to the grandeur of their buildings in those days, the Temple of Pitsnada being a particularly magnificent structure. There are also many Greek and Byzantine ruins, the frescoes on the walls of which are worthy of study. 18 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. Initiated into the mysteries of Islamism in tlie early days of that religion, the Abkhasians for some centuries abandoned their idolatrous courses, and became tolerably faithful followers of the prophet, but by degrees the contact with Armenian and Georgian Christians almost effaced all traces of Mahomedanism, and they lapsed into their old superstitions. Their god, whom they name Tsitsinatelli, is all-present, and all-powerful; but sacrifices to him can only be made on the summit of Mount Dudrupeh, near the source of the Bzib river. Baptism is performed according to the rites of the Grreek Church. Funeral ceremonies, except in the case of wealthy or great men, are never performed; whilst marriages are conducted in a most primitive manner. When an attachment springs up between a young couple, the man asks permission of her father to marry the daughter. If the parents approve, a dinner is given, to which all mutual friends are asked, and during the entertainment a male infant is brought in and placed on the knees of the bride, as a delicate hint that she now is permitted to be fruitful and multiply, and an expression of hope that her first-born may be a son. The reigning house is that of Tchawachawadze, and though under the Russian rule they are bereft of power, they are permitted to retain their rank, and are treated with much deference by the Grovernment. In the cam- paign of 1828-29, the head of the family placed his sword at the disposal of Paskiewitch; and at the present moment the Prince is commanding the regiment of Nijni Novgorod Dragoons, under Loris Melikofi*.* *He was badly wounded at the battle of Kizil Tepe on the 25th August, 1877, but subsequently recovered sufficiently to command the Cavalry Brigade, which under him did most excellent service at the assault on Kars, 18th October. CHAPTEE II. TREBIZOND TO ERZEROUM. Djameel Pasha at Work— The Sword of my Escort— Turkish Troops pushing on to the Front— Anatolian Trout— The Zigana Pass— A Night's Lodging — '*Riz-au-gras" — The Pests of Armenia — Guns and Volunteers— Com- fortable Quarters — Esprit de Corps — Monsieur Magack — Erzeroum Its People and Defences — Its Drains and Dirt — Its Shepherd — Its Trade. Erzeroum, May 23rd. On the morning of the 19th, after bidding farewell to our hospitable consul, M. Biliotti, I went to return Greneral Djameel Pasha's visit, and found him hard at work in a large, scantily-furnished room, endeavouring to arrange for the transport of guns, heavy and hght, and of 30,000 cases of ammunition to the front. Strings of peasantry had volunteered to drag the artillery, and, as we conversed, gun after gun was pulled up the steep hill in front of the Pasha's house, the men singing cheerily as they toiled away. Ever and again the general would go into the street and cheer these villagers with a few kind words of encouragement. Little else has he to offer them. His Excellency had no news that he could give me, but very kindly furnish- ing me with letters of introduction to his brother, who commands a battalion in Kars, as well as to other officers in the 4th army corps, and giving me some sausages of Turkish manufacture, which he highly commended, bid me God-speed, and at noon I set off on my ride to Erzeroum, escorted by two zaptiehs, or mounted police- c2 20 TBE CAMPAIGN IN ABMENIA. men, kindly provided by Djameel Pasha. These men were dressed in the usual uniform of the Turkish cavalry, and armed with Winchester repeating rifle and sabre. Their accoutrements, both in material and cleanliness, left much to be desired. I was amused, though I cannot say I was surprised, after cantering for a few miles, to hear a clanking sound, behind me, denoting the fall of a sword on the metalled road. I pulled up, and saw that the unwonted strain had carried away the slings of one of my escort's sword-belt. He seemed used to such accidents, for quietly tucking the weapon between his leg and the saddle, he announced that he was perfectly ready to proceed. For the first few miles the road winds along the shores of the Black Sea, and then, turning sharp off to the south, follows the right bank of the Degirmen river, to a place called Djhevizlik, distant sixteen miles. Here post-horses are changed, and seeing my baggage, which had been waiting for me since morning, shifted on to new animals, I selected the best-looking pony in the stables, and at once startiiig off again, reached the next post stage, Khamsi-kui, in about two hours. Again changing animals, I proceeded, and in about half an hour overtook a battalion of the 5 th army corps, commanded by Colonel Ahmed Hamid Bey, to whom Djameel Pasha had kindly given me letters of introduction. I found the colonel had taken up his quarters in a very comfortable little ''khan,'' or guest- house, some short distance from his men. I sat for about half an hour, conversing with the colonel and two or three of his officers, who came into the room on hearing an Englishman was present. One and all seemed perfectly satisfied that England would help them 80ENEBY OF ARMENIA, , 21 in the coming struggle, not only with an army, as she did in 1854-55, bnt also with what Turkey needs far more — money. It was with some difficulty I could get away from my new-found friends, who were most anxious that I should march with the regiment to Erzeroum. Time, however, was of vital importance to me, and as I had already learnt that the Turkish watch- word, "yahvash, yahvash" (slowly, slowly), is the cry even of troops moving up to the seat of war, I declined their kind hospitality, and, mounting my post pony, started off for Zigana. The beauties of Kashmir and Kangra pale before the scenery I now passed through. The road — an ex- cellent metalled highway, some fifteen feet in breadth — followed the course of a clear, rippling stream, the banks of which were in many places overhung with thickets of ash and hazel. In the long still reaches more than once I saw the speckled beauty of our English brooks rise greedily to the small blue quill-gnat, which, even in Asiatic waters, is a sure killer ; and as I pushed my pony on, I could not help regretting that I had none of Charles Farlow's handiwork with me, wherewith to try my skill on the Matscka trout. As I ascended the slopes of the Chulat Dagh range, which had to be crossed before reaching my halting- place of Zigana, the roadway wound along a narrow mountain pass, down which the brook dashed and foamed with all the wildness of a Scotch burn. On either side towered huge basaltic columns, giving an air of grandeur to the scenery, which, softened down by the luxuriant vegetation growing on the lower slopes of the mountains, was again brightened by the many-hued flowers, which in wild profusion lent colour to the 22 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. whole. The somhre tints of the oak, pine, larch, beech, and birch, were thrown into contrast by the rhododen- dron, peony, and wild rose, which grew in their midst ; whilst on the grassy banks of the stream wild gera- niums, tulips, cowslips, and primroses, lent a home-like air to the scene. It was dark ere I reached the crest of the Chulat Dagh, near 8,000 feet above sea-level. The snow had been cleared from the roadway, but still lay in wide- spread masses on the neighbouring slopes ; a chill breeze whistling up the pass, grew still more piercing as it gained intensity from the snowy bed it passed over. It was with no small sense of relief that I spurred my pony down the mountain road, and gained the shelter of the thick forests on the southern slopes of the range. The " bir sat '' (one hour) of my zaptieh was not unlike the '' ek koss " of an Indian guide, for it was past ten by my watch ere I reached the village of Zigana, which (notwithstanding the noisy greeting accorded me by the numerous dogs my entrance disturbed from their slumbers) seemed locked in everlasting sleep. Not a light was to be seen, not a sound to be heard, except the dreary howl of the village dogs as they accompanied us in our search for a night's shelter. After knocking at the doors of about a dozen khans, my zaptieh broke the news gently to me that he feared there was no help for it, but the Bey must sleep in the post-house stable. It was with some difficulty we could induce the owner of this edifice to open his doors to us, and when, having succeeded in doing so, I looked in, and saw the number and nature of my fellow-lodgers, I could scarcely per- suade myself to enter. A sharp rain drove all thoughts of sleeping in the open out of my head, so procuring a AN OBJECTIONABLE LODGING. 23 light and despatching my zaptieh for some wood, water, and fire, I strolled round my bed-room. It was the basement floor of the principal khan in the place, in which (it being filled with troops proceeding to the front) I could obtain not even a corner. The stable consisted of a long, low room, measuring forty- eight feet by eighteen feet, scarcely six feet in height. Down the centre was a long heap of manure, the accumu- lation of months ; on either side were rows of horses and bullocks, whilst huddled up at the farther end lay a group of sheep and lambs. Forty-three animals and six men shared my humble abode. These latter were crowded round a small lamp in one corner of the room, smoking and using not very complimentary language towards the Griaour who had invaded their sanctum. The atmosphere inside the place was stifling, the odour overpowering, so I took up a strong position near the door, determined to have as much fresh air as possible. My zaptieh returned in about a quarter of an hour, and we together made a fiire, then ferreting out a saucepan from myhoorjeen (small leather mule trunk), and a cake of "Eiz-au-gras" from my holsters, I prepared my dinner. I cannot too strongly recommend these invaluable pro- ductions of the " Societe General des Potages Econo- miques '' to those travellers to whom expense is an object. They are very cheap, very portable, and, though not quite so tempting as the more costly soups, yet the fact that eight cakes of the " Eiz-au-gras " occupy the same space as one tin of soup makes them preferable to those whose means of carriage are limited. A tumbler of very dirty water, the evil effects of which were nullified by a dash of brandy, washed down my meal, and was con- ducive to a sound sleep. Alas ! my fellow-lodgers were 24 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, averse to fresh air, and no sooner had I rolled myself up in my blanket than one stealthily rose and closed the door. To open it again was the work of an instant, and as there appeared every probability of a second Eastern Question being raised on that same subject, I informed my zaptieh that if it was again closed he should have to stand sentry with his back against it for the remainder of the night. This threat induced him to enter into an . alliance, offensive and defensive, with me, and I turned round once more in search of sleep. Vain effort ! I had counted forty -three animals in that den but half an hour previously; I now was turned into a grazing ground for a hundred times that number of those domestic insects, which are supposed to haunt English lodging-houses. I learnt a little of the habits of these diminutive creatm'es when occupying Barra-durrees, on the road to Srinuggur, but a real knowledge of their powers must be reserved for those whose fortune leads them to the khans and odahs of Armenia. I was forced to own that I was profoundly ignorant of their ways : their sole aim and object seem to be to deprive their human enemies of all sleep ; and the ingenuity they display in discovering new methods of assault, their perseverance in overcoming every ob- stacle that man can contrive to prevent their access to his flesh, the utter disregard they have for all those chemical preparations which are presumed to be '* insect destro3^ers," prove most conclusively to my mind that Armenia is the home and birthplace of the '' industrious flea." It was with no small sense of relief that at one a m. I heard footsteps outside, and my fellow-traveller from Constantinople, *' Mr. Williams," entered the stable ; fortunately, my soup was still hot, and I was enabled to give him what he stood in great need of — a I I " ''MtBEGIN MALGBJ^ MOL" 25 good mealr Leaving him in undisturbed possession of the khan, I got up at four a.m., and started off once more towards Erzeroum, descending the lower slopes of the Chulat Dagh, and passing through Ardasat, Gumesh Khaneh, and Khadrak, I reached Baiboort about two p.m. Here I was assailed by two men, who, like most Orientals, seemed persuaded that all English are doctors, and who insisted upon my prescribing for them. From past experience I knew that severe and sudden remedies are much appreciated by all dwellers in the East, who certainly would never believe in homoeopathic treatment. My knowledge of the Pharmacopoeia is limited, so was my store of medicines; but the never- failing Cockle came to the rescue, and giving each man six pills, to be taken three at a time, I left them and rode on. I presume they still hve, but I doubt if they will ever forget the Ingliz hakeem who passed through Baiboort on the 20th May, 1877. Ascending the Kop Dagh range, which was covered with snow, and on the summit of which I passed a battaUon of the 5th army corps, straggling in a manner that showed too plainly that the want of competent regimental officers, and the utter absence of discipline, would be the ruin of the Ottoman cause. It was nearly dark ere I reached the next staging-house ; but as the road was good I determined to push on, and reached Karabooyak at ten p.m., having covered, according to my watch and the milestones, one hundred and twenty -six ' miles in seventeen hours. I here found a very comfort- able room attached to the post-house, stables luxurious as compared with my previous night's lodgings, inas- much as I was alone, and enjoyed comparative immunity from the visits of nocturnal enemies. 26 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. The road the whole way from Trebizond was in excellent order— by far the best hill road I have yet seen, one that throws quite into the shade the Hima- layan and Tibet road from Simla to Cheenee, and infinitely superior to that which runs down oui' Punjab frontier from Kohat to Jacobabad. Every few miles we passed bands of peasants dragging heavy siege guns up the steep inclines, singing merrily to airs played on the zoorna and dhaol, similar instruments, with similar names, to the soornai and dhole of the Affghan tribes ; and more than once I passed small bodies of volunteers pushing on to the front ; some of them were headed with a small band, and all carried the national standard. They were in their own peasant dress, armed with their own arms, old flint smooth-bores ; but these they hoped to exchange in Erzeroum for new Martini-Peabodies. I had only twenty-one miles to do the following morning, and I rode into the Consulate at Erzeroum at about ten a.m., where the hospitable representative of her Majesty received me with much kindness, and gave me what seemed drink fit for the gods — a bottle of Ind and Coope. From him I learnt that Ardahan had fallen, Mukhtar Pasha's forces were much scattered, and that the Russians were fast making their hold good in the eastern districts of Asia Minor. An American missionary, Eev. J. E. Pierce, very kindly placed a room at my disposal, so now I am resting in clover, waiting for my baggage to arrive before proceeding to the front. Moreover, I wished to spend a day or two at Erzeroum, to look over the defences of the place, and ascertain what means Mukhtar Pasha has of making any stand in this neighbourhood. Dui'ing my ride I passed five battahons of Eegular TE00F8 FOB THE FRONT. 27 troops and three of the Eeserve Mustahfiz, pushing on to the front ; I also saw four batteries of Krupp's field guns, 34 guns of position, Krupp's pattern, but made of bronze — I learnt that they had been cast in the Tophane at Constantinople; they were chiefly 12 and 15 centimeter guns, but I believe there are some of 18 on the road — and nine 8-inch rifled howitzers. The regiments of regular troops were from Syria, and the physique of the men, on the whole, was good, though there was a great deal of falling out, and many men were left lying sick by the roadside. They were armed well, four battalions having the Martini-Henry, the fifth the Snider rifle. The accoutrements were very bad, one pouch behind containing fifty rounds, belts and pouches of bad material, bad shape, and in very bad condition. The rifles also were in a shocking state — evidently inspection of arms does not occupy company officers many moments at morning parade. The men all had great-coats, with hoods, some of dark- blue cloth, some of brown homespun; knapsacks, and canteens. The shoes were all of different patterns, and generally in bad condition — a sandal made of strips of carpet being the favourite. There was a fair supply of tents to each corps, but no commissariat transport, no hospital comforts, and no doctors. The officers appeared perfectly ignorant of the meaning of the word discipline, and the men sauntered along as they pleased. The officers were generally mounted on little ponies, which carried their bedding, clothes, and cooking utensils, and themselves. Their clothing was in as bad order as that of the men. I noticed one mule carrying a tent which had fallen into a muddy quagmire, and was fast being submerged. The man in charge was doing his best 28 THE CAMPAIGN IJSf ABMENIA. to extricate the poor beast, and called on comrade after comrade who passed him to lend a hand ; but they one and all passed by on the other side. Finally, the oflacer commanding the rear-guard came up, and, in spite of his appeals, the poor wretch was left struggling with his dying mule and abandoned tent. There seems to be no enthusiasm — no esprit de corps — among the officers. To note one thing, I saw just opposite the guard-tent of a regiment in camp a small bridge, which was broken down, making the road quite impassable for guns. The officer commanding the regiment knew that a large convoy of carts and guns was following him, and yet no attempts were made to repair the bridge, although 500 or 600 men were lolling about the camp. Strings of arabas (bullock-carts much resembling the hackery of India) were on the road the whole way from Trebizond to Erzeroum, laden with tents, corn, and ammunition ; but the rate of progression was so slow that more than a fortnight must elapse before any of this can reach Mukhtar Pasha. The following morning, in company with the talented interpreter to the British Consulate, Monsieur Antoine Magack, I visited the various bazaars, hospitals, and other places of interest. Permission to go over the detached works was refused me, and as a similar refusal had been accorded to a request preferred by Colonel Macgregor and Captain Lock wood, of the Quarter- Master Grenerars Department in Bengal, I was not surprised at my rebuff. Situated on the southern portion of a large plain some thirty miles in length by twelve in breadth, and nestling, as it were, under the crests of the Devi-Dagh range, Erzeroum is fully exposed to the cold blasts which F0ETIFI0ATI0N8 OF EEZFEOUM. 29 wliistle over the peaks of the Giaour-Dagh. To the north of the town, at a distance of three miles, flows the Euphrates, here called the Kara-Su, or Blackwater, and a small, muddy-looking, insignificant stream it is. The city possesses few peculiarities. The ancient citadel, a brick building almost in ruins, consists of a double wall, with ditch in front ; the governor's house and some barracks are in it, but for defensive purposes it is useless. An enceinte on Vauban's principle, with a perimeter of about three miles, surrounds the place. The ditches cannot be flooded, nor are they deep enough to afford any serious obstacle to an assaulting army. The escarp and counterscarp have been allowed to fall into dis- repair, and can be scaled in many places. Nor are there any ditch defences, except the fire from the flanks of the bastions. The main ditch is not extended round the ravelins, and on the southern face the ground slopes down into the work. The parapets are all revetted with sods, laid on vertically, and, as may be imagined, the revetments are not of much value. The guns, which are all Krupp's breechloaders, the majority being 12, 15, or 18 centimeter, are mounted en barbette. The carriages are painted scarlet, and, whilst affording a pleasing sight to the eye, they make an admirable target for an enemy's fire. In addition to the bastioned enceinte, there is a series of outworks built on the adjoining hills, as well as I was able to judge, following the general rule in Turkish fortifications, aU of which were commanded by neighbouring heights. Erzeroum is by no means a striking- looking place, even for an Oriental town. It contains about 40,000 inhabitants, the majority being Mahomedans ; but there is a large Christian community ; perhaps the finest 30 THE CAMPAIGN IN ABMENIA. public building is the Armenian cathedral. I was informed there were forty-five mosques and nineteen baths. I won't dispute the point. Twice that number would be far too few to cleanse either the minds or bodies of the good people of the place, for a more evil- looking, dirty set of rascals as were daily to be seen grouped at the comers of the streets, I have never met. Persians and Greorgians, Circassians and Kurds, Jews, Greeks, Armenians, and Turks, all dwell together, but not in brotherly love. The wrangling and noise going on at every door were never-ceasing ; at the same time, the different costumes, composed, as many were, of the bright colours which all Orientals love, lent a pleasing effect to the scene. The cause is beyond me, for a Turkish saddle is no worse than an Indian one, but I certainly saw more sore backs in Erzeroum than I have ever seen before ; and whether it is the air of the place, or contact with Turkish rule, I know not, but I never saw so much cruelty to animals. I have seen horses, wounded, sore, and lame, in such a state that to kill them would have been mere charity, driven to the nearest fountain, rather than that their brutal owner should have the trouble of carrying a bucket of water twenty yards to water them. Situated on the slopes of the Devi-Dagh range, Erzeroum should be a splendidly-drained city, whereas, with the exception of Kars, it is the very dirtiest town I have been in. The streets are badly paved ; whilst down the side runs an open channel, into which all the refuse from the houses is thrown. Much of this is devoured by the dogs, who, I think, exceed even their brethren of Constantinople or Cairo in numbers. What is left by them remains to be washed away by the next CURIOUS CUSTOM OF "EEBDING:' , 31 shower, and in the meantime poisons the air and breeds disease. The houses are for the most part lower than the street, and are built o£ stones and mud, with flat roofs, and, as a rule, have but one floor. The windows are seldom glazed, but in winter are covered over with greased paper; as summer approaches, this is torn ofi* to admit fresh air, which during the cold months is religiously excluded. Except in the houses of the rich, horses, cattle, sheep, and poultry all share the same roof as their owners, so the atmosphere inside an Armenian house is simply indescribable. The most striking buildings in the city are the Iki- Chifteh, two exceedingly graceful minarets standing near the citadel. They are fluted, like Byzantine columns, with a light-blue, highly-glazed brick. Originally they formed a portion of a Mahomedan college, but the dome- like roof of the original structure has fallen in, and none have cared to repair the place. I could learn no more about them, nor could I gather any information con- cerning the numerous circular towers with conical tops, which greet the eye in every direction. I was told they were tombs of holy men who died in the fourteenth century. There must have been a goodly number of holy men in Erzeroum in those days ! One of the most amusing scenes in Erzeroum was the witnessing the operations of the herdsman. Leaving the city in the morning, accompanied by two dogs, he would start from his own home with his own small flock, and perambulate the city. At every turning he would be joined by yet other flocks and herds, brought to the corners by their owners or their owners' servants. These would soberly amalgamate with their former acquaintances, and walk quietly out of the city towards 32 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. the Euphrates plain. In the evening, on his return, he would simply follow his old route, and as each little flock neared its own home, it would break into a trot, and scurry off to its own door. The intelligence of the dogs here showed itself. There never was the slightest attempt to head them back ; though such slack discip- line as breaking the ranks at any other time of the day would be promptly checked. Every owner of cattle, or sheep, or goats — and nearly every household in Armenia possesses some live stock — pays the herdsman a small sum annually for the trouble in escorting the beasts to the plain. I never knew which to admire most, the utter nonchalance of the man, the sagacity of the dogs, or the bright intelligence of the cattle and sheep, which joined in the whole affair as a matter of course — though I fancy it would take some generations before English beasts would behave likewise. There are a few shops in Erzeroum where European goods may be bought. These are kept chiefly by Arme- nians. As in most Oriental towns, each craft keeps to its own quarter — one street being devoted to workers in iron, another to workers in brass, a third to leather workers, a fourth to tailors, to silversmiths, to provision sellers, to butchers, and so on. The bazaar where meat was sold was the one to be avoided — flies abound ; and the dogs looking hungrily up at the joints, which appeared to have been torn from the carcase, not cut, as in England, gave me the idea that the canine species aided the butchers in their labours. The ''Kassai" bazaar in Indian towns, notably at Kalabagh, on the Indus, is bad enough, but they are simply magnificent markets when compared to the like places in Asiatic Turkey. TRADE OF EBZEBOUM. 33 The climate of Erzeroum is bad — bitterly cold in winter, during which snow falls to a depth often of four feet ; it is oppressively hot in summer. The want of drainage and the filthy habits of the people cause an immense amount of sickness, typhoid and dysentery being the principal scourges. The manufacture of brass is carried on to a great extent in Erzeroum, some of the brazen vessels and large candlesticks being particularly handsome. There is also a large trade in leather goods — saddles, bridles, and such like ; silks and wine from Kharpoot ; carpets and tobacco from Persia ; cats from Van ; furs from Eussia ; and Manchester goods are also seen in large quantities. The wine is a very fair red wine, not unlike Bordeaux, but decidedly superior to much that we drink in England. I thought it preferable to some Greorgian wine given me in Kars. The price was moderate, and assuredly during the hot months it was most refreshing. D CHAPTEE III. THE HOSTILE ARMIES. The Tui'kisli Army, and its Changes during the Present Century— Thirty Years Stagnation— Abdul Azeez's Reforms— Equality of Race as regards Military Service— Nizam, Ichtayat, Redif, and Mustahfiz— Military Districts— Ad- ministration Staff— Sappers and Miners— Artillery— Guns— Equipment of Mounted Branch — Horses — Pay of all Grades— Cavalry Equipment- Horses— Men — Pay of aU Grades — Infantry Staff — Uniform and Equip- ment — Arms and Pay — Rations and Quarters — Scarcity of Ofl&cers— • Mukhtar's Forces — Russian Army — Composition — Artillery — Position of Turkish Army — Position of Russian Army. Erzeroum, 21th May. Before entering further into the details of the cam- paign, it may be advisable to describe somewhat fully the organisation of the Turkish army, and in doing SO I shall dwell at greater length on the constitution of the Fourth or Armenian Corps, although it is but a sample of the whole. Until the year 1801 the corps of Janissaries formed the sole standing army of the empire. In that year, however, Sultan Selim III. raised a new corps, styled the '' Nizam geded," officered, armed, and clad after the style of European armies. In 1807 he was deposed, and his army massacred. In 1826, on the disbandment of the corps of Janissaries, Mahomed II. determined to organise his forces on the Prussian model. Taking ad- vantage of the peace after the campaign 1828-29, and availing himself of the services of one Captain von Moltke, then travelling in Turkey, he raised an army of 215,000 men, based on the model of the Prussian Landwehr. In BEFOBM OF THE TURKISH ARMY. 35 1834 this system was in fair worting order, and in 1837 a school for young officers was established in Constanti- nople. In 1842 Abdul Medjid improved on the work of his predecessor. All able-bodied men between the years of eighteen and twenty-six were liable to serve five years in the active army, after which they were drafted into the Eedif, or reserve regiments. The artillery were organised on the Prussian, the other branches on the French, system. The army was divided into six corps d'armee, each of two divisions of three brigades, the total strength being about 300,000 men. Thus the army remained for thirty years. The vic- tory of Sadowa, however, opened Sultan Abdul Azeez's eyes to the fact that his troops were not fit to cope with those of other European powers; and in 1869 a committee, of which the late Hussain Avni Pasha was President, assembled to decide on a new military system that would provide an army large enough to satisfy the requirements of modern warfare. The result of their labours was the Hatti-Houmayoun of the 1 8th of February, 1869, which, annulling all previous decrees on the subject, drew up a series of regulations to provide for the better defence of the country. Theoretically these are second to none in the world. Having first satisfied themselves that a force of 150,000 men would be ample for the peace footing of their army, the committee judged that a first reserve of 50,000 would be necessary for the purpose of strength- ening the standing army in the event of rebellion or disturbances in the interior of the kingdom. Looking to disquieting causes from without, the conclusion was arrived at that 200,000 men in Eoumelia and 150,000 in Anatolia would suffice for all defensive purposes, while D 2 36 THE CAMPAIGN IN AEMENIA, an additional 300,000, as a last reserve, should be or- ganised, in order to have at hand an army fully prepared for any eventuality. Having thus laid down the strength of the army, it now became a difficult question to deter- mine the means for providing a healthy flow of young blood through its ranks. Since the abolition of the corps of Janissaries in 1826 the army had undergone many transformations, all being based on the Prussian model ; therefore, the population was in some measure accustomed to conscription, and was consequently pre- pared for the edict that all able-bodied males — Jews, Greeks, and Christians — ^were alike, with Mahomedans, liable to military service between the ages of twenty and twenty-six. Religion, however, has proved an in- superable bar to military employment, even in this great war, when the resources of the empire have been strained to their uttermost. In the Armenian army corps not a single Christian was to be found ; Mahomedans flocked in sufficient numbers to fill the ranks of the standing army ; so the services of Jews and Christians not being needed, a poll-tax, varjdng from sixteen to thirty piastres per annum, is levied on all Jews and Christians, they thus purchasing exemption from service. As this tax is per- manent, and clings to the Giaours from birth to death, it falls heavily — too heavily — on the poorer classes. A Mahomedan wishing to escape service pays a fine not exceeding 2,300f. and not less than l,500f. The duration of military service was fixed at twenty years for all arms, and this period was apportioned as follows : — Six years in the Nizam, or standing army ; six years in the Eedif, or reserve army ; eight years in the Mustahfiz, or territorial army. The Nizam, or standing army, furnishes the 150,000, or peace-footing CLASSES OF THE TURKISH ARMY. 37 organisation. In this every man serves — in the infantry- four, in tlie mounted or ordnance branches five years, after which he is draughted into the Ichtayat, which has a fixed strength of 60,000, and is supposed to serve as that first reserve to be drawn upon in the event of in- ternal complications. The infantry soldier serves two years, other branches one year in this force. Having com- pleted his time with the colours, the Nizam soldier, should there be no need of his services, is permitted to go to his home, when he reports himself to the oflicer commanding his recruiting district. From him short periods of leave may be obtained, not exceeding a month at a time. Per- mission to marry is refused, and the Ichtayat soldier is liable at any moment to be recalled to his own regiment or battalion, on the rolls of which he is still borne. Thus it may justly be considered that the Ichtayat con- sists of Nizam soldiers at home on furlough, for they still draw pay and rations. Havicg completed his six years with the colours, the soldier is transferred to the Eedif, or reserve army. This is again subdivided into two " bans " or classes, in each of which a service of three years is required. These furnish 240 battalions of 800 men,- or the 190,000 men requisite to bring the army up to its strength of 400,000 men, deemed the number requisite for the proper defence of Eoumelia and Anatolia. Like the Ichtayat, the Eedifs are under the orders of the officers commanding their recruitiog district ; but they are only called upon to serve in case of war, and for short periods of training, under the direction of the Minister of War. They obtaia pay and rations only when enrolled. The Eedif battalions are supposed to be complete in officers, non-commissioned officers, 38 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. and men. Their arms, uniforms, and equipments are in store at their recruiting depots, and every man knows, in the event of his services being required, exactly where to go. Having served six years w^ith the colours and six v^ith the Reserve troops, the Turkish soldier is now draughted into the Mustahfiz, or Territorial Army, the period of service in w^hich is eight years. This force is destined to furnish the 300,000 men necessary to bring the total strength of the Ottoman forces to 700,000. The cadres of all these corps are complete; but it must be remembered that a vast army numbering 863 battalions, or 676,200 men, is nominally enrolled in the infantry of the Eedif and Mustahfiz. Being without officers, they cannot be considered tactical units of the army, but they practically form inexhaustible reserves from which the gaps formed by war may readily be filled. The Turkish army is divided into seven army corps, each of which has a territorial as well as a numerical designation ; and the empire is apportioned into seven cii'cles, one of which is allotted to each corps. These circles are subdivided into districts, the number varying in each circle, and these districts are once more divided each into four divisions. Each of these divisions forms, as it were, a depot centre, and is the head-quarters of three reserve battalions — ^viz., one of each class. A permanent staff is quartered in the depot barracks, where are stored the arms, equipment, and clothing of the men. Each military district comprising four divisions furnishes, therefore, one complete regiment of each class. The regimental staff are quartered in the chief town of the district, while in the capital of TURKISH CORPS D'ABMEE. 39 the circle dwells the staff of the army corps. The following is a table showing the name and designation of each corps, with the number of divisions and districts into which it is divided : — {Ismidt. Isbarta. Broussa. Kaisarieh. Koniah. Kara Hissar. Kali Sultanieh. /'Shumla. Tchorum. 2nd, or Shumla, Corps.- I Sofia. Angora. (Adrianople. Boli. /'Monastir. Smyrna. 3rd, or Monastir, ) Jasina. Aidin. Corps. j Uskub. Seraievo. ^ Drama. Travnik. f Erzeroum. Diarbekir. 4th5 Armenian Corps. < Van. Sivas. ( Kharpoot. Kars. /'Damascus. Aleppo. 5th, Damascus, ^ Antioch. Beyrout. (Jerusalem. Adana. t Bagdad. HiUa. 6 th, Bagdad. < Mossoul. Solimanie. ( Kherkouk. Bassorah. 7th, Yemmen. In course of formation. The districts of Trebizond, Tireboli, and Samsoon, each furnish four battalions in either ban of Eedifs. These troops are not permanently attached to any corps, but are meant for coast defences — during the war they will be employed in Batoum. Taking the Fourth Army Corps as an example, it will 40 TSE CAMPAIGN IN ABMEmA. be seen that it comprises six districts, and is, therefore, composed of six regiments of Nizam, six of Eedif of the 1st ban, six of Eedif of the 2nd ban, six Mustahfiz— 24 regiments, or 96 battalions of troops in all. The territorial divisions of the corps are as follows : — 1st District, Erzeronm. — 1st Division, Erzeroum; 2nd, Erzingjan ; 3rd, Kara Hissar ; 4th, Arabkir. 2nd District, Ears. — 1st Division, Kars; 2nd, Batoum ; 3rd, Olti ; 4th, Artvin. 3rd District, Kharpoot. — 1st Division, Kharpoot; 2nd, Molahja ; 3rd, Eehesni ; 4tli, Argans. 4th District, Sivas. — 1st Division, Sivas ; 2nd, Amasya; 3rd, Tokat ; 4th, Zileh. 5th District, Yan. — 1st Division, Van ; 2nd, Bitlis ; 3rd, Sert ; 4th, Bashkale. 6th District, Diarbekir. — 1st Division, Diarbekir; 2nd, Hidja; 3rd, Djezireh ; 4th, Mardin. Nizam corps are known only numerically as the 3rd battalion of the 2nd regiment of the Fourth Army Corps ; whereas the battalions of reserve or territorial armies are distinguished by their local designation, as the Kharpoot Mustahfiz battalion, or the 2nd ban of the Djezireh Eedif. Cavalry and artillery are dis- tinguished in the same manner. The constitution of an army corps, the command of which is entrusted to a Mushir, or marshal, is as follows : — Two divisions of infantry, each commanded by a Ferik, or lieutenant-general. One brigade of cavalry, commanded by a Liva, or general of brigade. One regiment of artillery, commanded by a Liva ; one com- pany of engineers. The staff of each corps is divided into two distinct portions — the executive and the administrative. The ADMimSTEATIVE STAFF, 41 former consists of the Mushir, aided by a major-general, as a rule, as chief of the staff, one colonel, one lieutenant- colonel, one major, and seven adjutants-major, and is entrusted with all questions relating to the drill, dis- cipline, or movements of troops in their command. The administrative staff is presided over by a lieutenant- general, with the designation of " Eeiss ; " he is assisted by two colonels, one lieutenant-colonel, one commissary- general, one surgeon-general, and one first-class War OflBce clerk. All matters concerning pay, clothing, and provisioning the men, together with questions relating to hospitals, repairs of buildings, ordnance stores, and armament of men and fortresses, are decided by this body. To touch briefly on the main points connected with the various branches of the army, commencing with the scientific corps, not one sapper could be discovered in that corps.* Nominally there is a corps of engineers in the Turkish army. The First Corps d'Armee boasts of five battalions of eight companies, but the other corps have to rest satisfied with one company each, the strength of which is six officers and one hundred and eighty-one non-commissioned officers and men, the command being vested in an adjutant-major. Of the pay and equipment of this branch I could learn nothing. As in other armies, the battery forms the tactical unit of the artillery. These are massed into battalions, each of which consists of three batteries, and into regi- ments, consisting of four battalions. To each regiment, however, a certain number of extra batteries are attached * I asked many officers to give me information concerning the corps of Sappers and Miners, but to every inquiry I learnt that in the 4th Army Corps engineers did not exist; the Chief of the Staff performing the duties of that branch of the service. 42 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. — in all cases one or two of mountain guns, in some one or two field or horse. With the exception of the First, or Constantinople Army Corps, which contains three, one regiment of twelve batteries is considered the normal complement of a corps. The first battalion of a regi- ment is composed of horse, the other three of field batteries. The regiment is commanded by a Liva Pasha, or general of brigade, with a colonel and lieutenant- colonel on his staff, to which is attached a first-class veterinary surgeon and thirteen other sub-officers. The command of an artillery battalion is entrusted to a chef de hataillon, or Bin-Bashi, with two adjutants-major, medical officers, a veterinary surgeon, and three sub- officers as a staff. All batteries have the same number of officers — namely, one captain and two lieutenants. Horse batteries have 164 non-commissioned officers and men ; field, 162 ; mountain and mitrailleuse, 107 and 139 respectively. The equipment of a horse battery consists of six guns, two ammunition wagons, one baggage wagon, and one forge in the first line, with twelve ammunition wagons in the second line, and eighty-seven and one hundred and fifty draught horses in the first and second lines respectively. A field battery has the same equip- ment in every particular, except that the number of riding horses is twenty-five. As a rule, the ammuni- tion, relegated to the second line, is carried on arabas or on pack ponies in small mule trunks. A mountain battery consists of six guns. The com- plement of ammunition is carried in ninety-six mule trunks, two on each mule. As a rule, the guns, limbers, wheels, and carriages are carried on the backs of mules, though often they are to be seen dragged with one TURKISH ARTILLERY. 43 animal in the shafts. During the campaign in Armenia I was mnch struck with the battery mules in Armenia — strong, jS^ne animals, many fourteen hands. They mostly come from Persia, and command a long price — indeed, a man asked me £35 for a really good animal, and not only refused to take less, but rode away when I offered it. There were no mitrailleuse batteries in Asia, but the authorised equipment is twenty-six saddle and one hundred and twenty-six draught horses, six guns ; the same number of wagons in the first line as field batteries, and eleven in the second line. The field-guns in use in the Turkish service, as far as I had an opportunity of judging, are all on the Ej-upp pattern, made of steel, and are either 4-pounder with a calibre of eight centimeters, or 6-pounder with a 9-centimeter calibre. The twelve batteries in a regiment of artillery are equally divided — six being 4-pounder, six being 6-pounder. The smaller gun with limber complete weighs 3,9601b.; the larger gun weighs 4,208 lb. All guns are drawn by six horses in both horse and field batteries. There are two systems in vogue in the mountain batteries. The first is Whit- worth's small 3-pounder rifled gun. In Asia there were a few of these in Kars. Two, early in the campaign, were entrusted to Moussa Pasha and his Circassians, and were lost by them in the affair at Beghli Ahmed on the 29th of May. The second system is Krupp's bronze 5J-centimeter breech- loading gun; its weight is about two hundredweight. In addition to the field artillery in the Turkish army there is a very strong body of garrison gunners, destined for the charge of the various fortresses. The company 44 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. is the unit of this branch, and the number of companies varies in each army corps. The strength of the unit is fixed at three officers and 150 non-commissioned officers and men. The 1st Army Corps has 96 companies, 14,400; the 2nd Army Corps has 20 companies, 3,000; the 3rd Army Corps has 21 companies, 3,150 ; the 4th Army Corps has 12 companies, 1,800; the 5th and 6th Army Corps have each three companies, 450 ; and the 7th Army Corps has five companies, 750. The twelve companies in the Armenian Corps were distributed among the fortresses of Ardahan, Batoum, Erzeroum, and Kars. In Europe guns of a calibre of 27 centimeters are mounted on the fortifications. In Asia there are a few 18-centi- meter guns in Erzeroum ; but in Kars and Ardahan the principal pieces were Krupp-pattern bronze 12 and 15 centimeter cannon, cast at the Tophane at Constantinople, and muzzle -loading 12-centimeter shunt guns. Of these latter there were a great number. The artillery undoubt- edly are the finest corps in the Turkish army. The drill, discipline, and bearing are far superior to the other branches. Their practice, as a rule, was excellent, and though provided with nothing but percussion fuzes, the losses they inflicted on the enemy in the numerous engagements in Armenia prove that their training had not been thrown away. The horse furniture and equipment of the artillery consist of a saddle of the same pattern as that used in the Spanish army, a holster on the near, a wallet on the off', side of the pommel, a valise on the cantle containing one vest, one fez, one shirt, one pair of drawers, one pair of shoes, one pair of laced boots, one housewife, and one turnscrew. On the near side of the saddle, attached to it by D's, hangs a nosebag, and on the off* side a leathern TUEKiSE CAVALBT, 45 water-bottle. The uniform of the men consists of a short tunic, with sling sword-belt, cross-belt, and pouch in black leather, a pair of pantaloons, and half-boots, with the national head-dress of the fez. Drivers are armed with a sword and Smith and Wesson's revolver ; gunners with sabre and Winchester carbine. Artillery horses are mostly imported from Hungary, and are, though small, powerful, hardy animals. They are allowed twelve pounds of barley and sixteen pounds of grass per diem. In the month of May they are turned out to graze for fifteen days, when they receive only half rations of grain. The pay of the various grades in the artillery is as follows: — Captain, per annum, £70 13s. 2d; first lieu- tenant, £53 18s. 4d.; second lieutenant, £49 7s. 6d. ; third lieutenant, £47 10s. 4d. A gunner in the horse artillery receives 6s. 7d. per mensem ; in the field or garrison, 5s. 7d. The cavalry in a corps d'armee consists of two brigades,, each commanded by a Liva Pasha, or general of brigade; the brigade is composed of two regiments, each of six squadrons, the efiective strength of which is 152 men and 165 horses. The stafi" of a regiment comprises one colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, two cAefs d'escadron, two adjutants-major, two paymasters, nine medical officers of various grades, three veterinary sur- geons, an armourer, a farrier, and a saddlemaker. Each squadron is commanded by a first captain, with a second captain, two lieutenants, and two sub-lieutenants under him. The total strength of a regiment consists of 131 officers, non-commissioned officers, and staff*, and 831 sabres in the ranks. The uniform of the cavalry is similar to that of the horse artillery, except in the matter 46 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, of buttons and belt-plates, in which there are slight variations. The armament consists of a sabre carried in a sling belt, a revolver carried in the holster, and a Winchester repeating rifle, with either twelve or sixteen cartridges, slung across the shoulder. In certain regi- ments some squadrons are armed with lances ; however, I saw none of these in Armenia. The equipment con- sists of sling sword-belt, two small cartridge-cases, each containing twenty rounds, worn on the waistbelt, one on either side of the clasp, a valise strapped in rear of the saddle, containing the same kit as the artillerjrman's. The saddle is of the same pattern, and all ranks carry the nosebag and water-bottle. The horses generally are country-bred, and their daily rations are nine pounds of barley and twelve pounds of grass. Occasionally, more especially in the 1st and 2nd Army Corps, Hungarian horses are found. They receive the amount stated as the ration for artillery horses. All animals, country-bred as well as those imported, are turned out to grass for fifteen days in the month of May. The manner of shoeing is difierent to what we practise. A circular plate of iron, with a small round hole the size of a shilHng in the centre, is fastened on with seven nails. This cer- tainly protects the frog, and I found myself compelled to adopt it after a very short acquaintance with Armenian roads, although my horse had up to that time in European Turkey worlti only the ordinary Enghsh shoe. The pay of subordinate oflicers and men is as follows, per annum: — First captain receives £73 15s. 2d.; second captain, £66 Os. lOd. ; first lieutenant, £55 12s. lOd. ; second lieutenant, £51 4s. 2d.; sub- lieutenant, 1st class, £48 10s.; sub -lieutenant, 2nd TUBKI8E INFANTRY. 47 class, £44 16s. lOd. A sergeant receives 9s., a corporal 8s., and a private dragoon 6s. 7d. a month. The battalion is the tactical unit of the infantry. It is commanded by a Bin-Bashi, or chef du bataillon, and is divided into two half -battalions under adjutant- majors. These again are sub-divided into four com- panies each, commanded by captains. I believe it is intended that the battalion shall consist of four instead of eight companies. The administrative staff of a battalion is composed of the chefy one adjutant-major, one captain, one lieutenant, and one sub-lieutenant, all selected by the officers of their own grades. Each battalion has two medical officers borne on its rolls. A regiment of infantry consists of four battalions, one of chasseur s-a-pied, the remaining three of ordinary bat- talions. The regimental staff, the head of which is the Mir AUai, or colonel, comprises a lieutenant-colonel, a regimental writer, and eighty bandsmen. The effective strength of a battalion is 827 of all ranks ; that of a company 102, which includes three subordinate officers — ^viz., a captain, a first lieutenant, and a second lieu- tenant; the administrative staff of each regiment consists of an officer of each grade selected by his comrades, the colonel being the president. Nominally the chasseur battalion is accompanied by two small mountain guns of the Whitworth pattern, but this certainly was not the case in Asia during the present campaign. The uniform of the infantry consists of a blue tunic with red piping, blue pantaloons with red seam. The universal fez, buttons, and piping (except that the first regiment of each corps d'armee wears yellow) are the same in every battalion and regiment; there are no 48 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, distinguisliing marks, so that it is impossible to tell one battalion from another — ^Nizam from Eedif, cbasseurs from ordinary line corps. All brandies wear a blue great-coat with hood ; mounted corps carry tbis rolled up on the cantle of the saddle, dismounted corps on the back. The equipment of the infantry is as follows : — ^A waist-belt, with bayonet frog — on the belt is carried a pouch containing fifty rounds ; a haversack slung over the right shoulder, capable of carrying three days' sup- ply of biscuit, a small tin canteen, and a pack which contains forty cartridges, and the same articles of kit enumerated as in the possession of artillerymen. As a rule, in time of war spare cartridges are carried on the breast in small stitched receptacles, similar to those which Circassians wear, or else in a coarse cloth cart- ridge-belt of the same pattern that EngHsh sportsmen use, only slung over the shoulder, not worn round the waist. The Martini-Henry, manufactured by the Pea- body Company in America, is the weapon of the Tm'kish infantry, but some regiments are still armed with the Snider. The bayonet is a four-sided weapon, except in the case of the Tallia or chasseur battahons, which carry a sword-bayonet. The pay of the various grades of subordinate officers is as follows : — Per annum, captain receives £70 13s. 2d.; first lieutenant, £53 18s. 4d. ; second lieutenant, £49 7s. 6d. Per mensem, sergeant-major, 13s. 2d.; sergeant, 10s.; corporal, 7s.; private soldier, 5s. 7d. A brigade of infantry consists of two regiments, or eight battalions, and is under the command of a Liva Pasha, or general of brigade. A division consists of two brigades ; this is commanded by a Ferik, or lieu- BABBA0K8 OF TEE TURKISH ARMY. 49 tenant-general — the junior grade in the Ottoman army permitted to wear a beard. Eations per day for all arms are the same, and nomi- nally stand thus: — Bread, 2 lb.; meat, 8i oz.; rice, 3oz. butter, i oz.; salt, f oz.; onions, g oz.; candles, 1-10 oz. wood, 23 J oz.; charcoal, 9? oz. ; clarified butter, 1-10 oz. soap, 1-10 oz. On sei-vice the Government reserves to itself the right of issuing 23 oz. of biscuit or of flour in lieu of bread, and the soldier on enlistment has to agree that 2oz. of meat shall be deducted from his daily rations and sold, and with the amount vegetables pur- chased to provide him with soup. Companies are divided into messes of eight, and the men have, when in barracks, two meals a day — one an hour after sunrise, the second an hour before sunset. In the Eamazan, or , month of fasting, the hours are changed to an hour before sunrise and immediately after sunset. The dinner hour, as in our service, is announced by bugle sounds. The barracks vary much, some being fairly comfortable, but the great majority are, it would seem, low, badly ventilated, and indescribably filthy. The men sleep on wooden platforms raised about a foot from the floor of the room, which is rarely or never boarded. Each man is supposed to have a mattress, a pillow, and two blankets. Sergeants, corporals, and the like grades of non-commissioned officers sleep in the men's barracks ; captains, subalterns, and the higher grades of non-com- missioned officers dwell apart in separate rooms. It must be borne in mind that a Bin-Bashi, or ckef du hataillon or d' escadron, is the junior com- missioned officer in the Turkish army. Captains and all below him in rank have quarters in barracks. Ad- jutants-major and all above that grade have to find E 50 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. quarters in the town. They, however, receive money compensation in lieu of rations, which enables them to do this. Commissioned officers of all branches receive the same pay ; those of the mounted receive extra rations for horses, which makes a slight difference in the total amounts. The annual pay of the various commissioned officers is as follows : — Mushir, £5,420 ; lieutenant-general, £1,300; general of brigade, £725; colonel, £395; lieutenant-colonel, £270 ; chief of battalion or squad- ron, £200 ; adjutant-major of right wing or squadron, £110 ; of left wing or squadron, £93. This includes rations and lodging allowance. It should be remembered that for reasons of economy the Porte made an all-round deduction in 1869 of seventeen per cent, of all pay and allowances of civil and military servants. This has never been remitted. Officers and soldiers also have to subscribe two per cent, of their pay towards the *' widows and orphans " fund, and twelve per cent, towards their own pension fund. By a decree published in July, 1877, all salaries were reduced by one-half, in order that the Porte might be enabled to prosecute the war with renewed vigour, and, as the regiments in Armenia are in arrears varying from twenty-four to fifty-one months, the scale of pay laid down by the Hatti-Houmayoun of the 18th of February, 1869, scarcely represents the actual amount drawn by the soldier of the present day, although in that docu- ment appears the following paragraph : — '' L'Etat pourvoit a tous les frais de nourriture, d'equipement, et d'entretien du sold at, et lui donne en outre en numeraire un solde mensuelle fixe qui, contrairement k Tusage generale des puissances militaires, n'est susceptible'"'d'aucune diminution ou retenue." TURKISH RESERVE TROOPS. 51 The composition of regiments and battalions of- re- serve troops is ttie same as tliat of the Nizam. They are called out only in time of war, and though pre- sumably not so efficient as the corps of the standing army, yet in this campaign Nizam, Eedif, and Mus- tahfiz battalions have fought side by side, and to the spectator there was no visible difference between them. The corps which on the 25th of June repelled a flank attack of a Russian brigade on the left of the Zewin Dooz position, charging the enemy, who were the grenadiers of the Caucasus, with the bayonet, and driving them headlong down the valley, was the Aleppo Battalion of the 2nd Ban of Redifs. The battalion which held the Great Yagni hill on the 2nd of October, and was literally annihilated, was the Erzingjan 2nd Eedif Battalion. Indeed, the reserve troops in Armenia have proved that in releasing all Eedif prisoners at Ardahan the Russians far undervalued their foes. On paper the organisation of the Turkish army is second to none in the world ; in the field they have proved themselves to be the same. In the Appendix I give the authorised establish- ments of batteries, regiments of cavalrv, and battahons of infantry, as well as a tabulated statement of the strength of the Ottoman army in all its branches — Scientific, Ordnance, Cavalry, and Infantry. The total number of troops nominally supposed to be at the dis- posal of the Porte in case of war, drilled, equipped, and officered, amount to— Cavalry ... ... 48,819 Engineers ... ... 8,789 Artillery ... ... 90,000 Infantry ... ... 496,6 94 E 2 644,302 62 THE CAMFAIGN IN ARMENIA, This organisation, admirable as it appears on paper, broke down hopelessly when called upon to stand the strain of actual war. The Eedif battalions were absolutely without officers. Sergeants and corporals were hurriedly transferred from Nizam corps, with the rank of captain and lieutenant, and the battalions, instead of numbering 800 men, rarely mustered 500. At a moderate computation Mukhtar Pasha ought to have been able to place a force of 5,000 cavahy (regular and irregular), 65,000 infantry, and 180 guns in the field within a week of the declaration of war. Yet so shamefully mismanaged were all matters rel^^ting to the Seraskierate that on the 1st of May his available forces numbered but 87 weak battalions, 24 squadrons, and 20 batteries, of which 11 only were horsed. His troops were distributed as follows : — • Place. Battalion. Squadron. Battery. Erzeroum 13 6 6 Bayazid 2 2 1 ■i^cLl. 0*«» ••* ••• #«• 29 6 5 Ardahan 12 3 3 Between Erzeroum and Kara 8 — Vy J. vl •■• ••• ••• ••■ 8 — Khagisinan 1 — Erzingjan ,. 4 3 1 Gutenfcab 2 — — ' V clLL ••• ••• ••• ••■ 6 3 2 Toprak-Kali ... 2 — 1 Delibaba 2 1 1 The composition of the Eussian army was as follows : — Main Column. — The Grenadier Division of the Cau- casus, head- quarters at Alexandropol, and consisted of the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th Eegiments of Grenadiers, with the Grenadier Field Artillery Regiment. RUSSIAN ARMY IN ARMENIA. 63 Srd Division. — The 20th Infantry Division, head- quarters, Alexandropol ; commandant, Lieut. -General Heimann; the 77th, 78th, 79th, and 80th Eegiments of the Line, with the 20th Field Artillery Eegiment, formed the corps. hth Division. — The 39th Division, head-quarters at Akhalzik, under Dewel, with the 153rd, 154th, 155th, and 156th Eegiments, with the 39th Field Artillery Division. Left Column. — The 19th Infantry Division, head- quarters, Erivan. The commander of this was Lieut.- Greneral Swoyeff, and it comprised the 73rd, 74th, 75th, and 76th Eegiments of the Line, with the 19th Field Artillery Eegiment. 4 defiance to the Eussian batteries, I thought of that gallant band of our own countrymen, under whose heroic guidance, twenty-two years ago, the Turkish army withstood one of the most memorable sieges of modern times, finally surrendering — when starvation stared them in the face, and all hope 206 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. of succour, owing to the supineness of the Ottoman Government, had passed away — to a foe as chivalrous as they themselves had proved to be. It is hard for an inexperienced pen like mine to attempt to give an idea of this fortress, which two decades ago was familiar to all Englishmen, and which has been so ably, so minutely, and so often described by men whose names are household words in all military circles. In these times, however, of blind faith in the all-powerful wisdom of the rising generation, of scorn- ful scepticism as to the gallantry or skill of the giants that lived in those days, there may be many who have never read of the difficulties experienced by Sir Fenwick Williams, and of the indomitable valour and persever- ance with which they were surmounted. There may be many to whom the names of Fenwick Williams of Kars, of Kmety, of Lake, of Teesdale, convey no mean- ing whatever, although little more than twenty years ago all England was ringing with the sound of their gallant deeds, and all Russia paying a noble meed of tribute to their bravery and endurance. Kars is situated at the extreme end of one of the easternmost slopes of the Soghanly range. This spur is pierced by the Kars Tchai stream, which flows between precipitous banks, rising some 950 feet above the level of the water. On the eastern side of this river the ridge constitutes a flat plateau, about one mile in length by 800 yards in breadth, with steep rocky slopes to the north and south, and a gentle grassy glacis towards the Russian frontier. On this eastern spur are built the Karadagh and Kara Paltak forts (the latter known as the Arab Tabia in the days of 1855). Five miles off* on a spur some 300 feet below the Turkish crest, lies the THE FOBTS OF KAES. 207 army of the Czar, their siege-batteries being placed in a ravine some 4,000 yards from our works. The hills on the western side of the Kars Tchai extend on command- ing heights for about a mile, when a second stream cuts the Soghanly spur, and beyond it the range is lower, and, consequently, valueless for all military purposes to friend or foe. On this western hill are built the largest forts — I believe it is generally conceded that when the Karadagh falls the place cannot hold out, for it com- mands the town, situated as it is on both banks of the Kars Tchai, on the southern slopes of the hill ; and in the town are the magazines, commissariat stores, hospital, &c., the possession of which by the enemy would necessitate the capitulation of the fortress. At some distance from the town, in the plain on the southern side, three very substantial permanent redoubts have been built since the campaign of 1855; these are connected with each other by a breastwork of strong profile, which is carried on over the hills, and runs from fort to fort. I was not enabled to ascertain exactly the profile of any of the works, but I judged the trench running round the works to have a parapet four and a half feet in height and six feet in thickness. It was revetted with stones (!), and had a trench two feet deep and about six feet in width in rear. The whole front was defended by various obstacles — troup de loup — smaller military pits, and wire entanglements being freely made use of. At irregular intervals small batteries for two or more field- guns were placed. These were neatly constructed, but I am afraid the School of Military Engineering at Brompton Barracks would not approve the Turkish works. The troups de loup were about four feet deep, and about five feet in circumference ; < in fact, they were 208 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. excellent rifle-pits for an enterprising enemy. The sod revetments, which were few and far between, were built up with the turf being laid, not horizontally but vertically; they were not even pegged in; while the splinters from the stone revetments caused the casualties from the enemy's shell-fire to be largely increased. The works on the plain and on the western hills are very- substantial, the parapets being from twenty -four feet to thirty-six feet in thickness, with a command varying from fifteen feet to twenty -four feet ; but the batteries, four in number, on the Karadagh hill are very weak, with only from six feet to ten feet of thickness. These are not revetted, and, consequently, are in a very dilapidated condition. The shots fired by the enemy show that they have some sixteen and a half centimeter guns, and altogether thirty-five heavy siege-cannon in their advanced batteries. It may appear absurd, but I was assured by an officer of the Eoyal Engineers, on the authoritj'', I believe, of the Turkish Commandant of Artillery, that the garrison commenced firing at the enemy's camp at a range of upwards of 10,000 yards, and at that distance did considerable execution ! ! The day I went over the batteries was the twenty- first of the bombardment, and during that time the Turks had fired 17,558 shell at the enemy, who in their turn had replied with an average of 2,000 a day, their largest number being 3,200. It was amazing to see the ground round about the Kara Paltak and Karadagh batteries, which had been the principal objects of the Eussian fire. The place was literally covered with fragments of shell, and in many places with unburst sixteen-centimeter projectiles. It was marvellous to see the wreck that the ridge appeared, and then to learn that the total PROJECTILES USED BY THE RUSSIANS, 209 damage done by this frightful cannonade had been eighty-five men killed, 155 wounded, three women and one child killed, one field 6-pounder completely disabled, one fifteen-centimeter Krupp partially disabled, one nine- centimeter shunt gun partially disabled, three carriages totally disabled, and eight expense magazines blown np. It is impossible to estimate the Russian loss, but twelve magazines have been seen to explode. They have not as yet attempted to advance by regular ap- proaches, but threw up, at what I should jndge a dis- tance of 6,000 yards, two batteries, each containing two 16i-centimeter guns, and then they constructed, under cover of their fire, six batteries at 4,000 yards' distance ; these each contain five fifteen-centimeter guns, but whenever a bombardment is contemplated, forty field- guns are brought up before dawn,* placed in the trenches which connect the siege-batteries, and with these the fire is considerably strengthened. The projectile fired from some of these field-pieces excites considerable curiosity, and is as unfamiliar to the British officers present as it is to the Turk. The diameter was 3 inches, the extreme length 92 inches. A hollow cylinder of i-inch iron, sur- rounded by four belts, is surmounted by a solid iron shot, through which the percussion-fuse is screwed, connecting it with the charge of powder in the lower cylinder. On striking, the fuse explodes the bursting- charge ; the shell scatters its splinters in every direction, and the solid round shot is propelled for a further dis- tance — sometimes as much as 2,000 yards. So I am assured on the authority of the Turkish commandant of artillery. Colonel Hassain Bey, an officer who studied * These were 9-Pf under field Krupps, with a shell equal ii weight to the 12-centimeter siege g^uns of the Turks. 210 TEE CAMPAIGN IN AHMENIA. for seven years at Woolwich, and who would be a credit to the ordnance branch of any nation. I saw a great number of these projectiles ; some were perfect, the fuse having failed to explode ; the cylindrical shot was still unseparated from its spherical head, while in others the round shot was only found intact, the cylinder having burst into innumerable fragments. I do not know whether I am attaching undue importance to a well- known invention, but never having seen such a shell in any of my numerous visits to Woolwich, I cannot help thinking that as complete a description as my unpro- fessional pen can give may be of interest to some. The Russian batteries were very well constructed. The Turks have an idea that they have Moncrieff carriages, as they never see the gun, only the puff of smoke ; but my glasses, which are an excellent pair, showed me screens at a distance of about thirty yards in front of each battery, which would fully account for the guns being invisible. The whole line was covered with rifle-pits about fifty yards in advance of the batteries, and in these all day long were seen the white cap- covers of the Russian infantry. The. Turkish garrison at this time consisted of twenty-nine battalions of infantry, averaging about 400 rank and file, 1,700 garrison artillery, 1,500 armed citizens, and about 300 cavalry. The Turkish forts, as I said before, are all connected by a trench of strong profile. This is manned day and night by one-half of the garrison, so that the duties of the men are exceedingly heavy, and they suffer in health accordingly. The gunners never leave the batteries, so they may be said to be continually on duty, and under fire too. There has been a slight change in the staff of FOOD SUPPLY IN KAES. 211 the two forces since we arrived. Mushir Mustafa Pasha, who arrived on the 6th instant with five battalions of infantry, assumed command of the fortress on the 8th, and took Faizi Pasha (Greneral Kohlmann) as his chief of the stajff; the late commandant, Hussein Hami Pasha, re- mains in Kars as second in command, and Hassan Kiazini Pasha, chief of the stafE in Kars, joins this force in the same capacity. We were reinforced yesterday by three battalions from the right wing of the Turkish army under Major-Greneral Mustafa Djavid Pasha, who succeeded to the command on the death of Mahomed Pasha, at Taghir ; so that now, including the Kars garrison, we have here sixty- three battalions, six field-batteries, two regiments regular and 3,500 irregular cavalry, a force with which Mukhtar Pasha ought to be able to raise the siege. But I doubt if he will face the Russians in the open field, although I am assured on the highest Turkish authority that the enemy have only forty-eight battalions, three regiments of dragoons, fifteen of Cossacks, and eighty field-guns in front of Kars. The stories as to the want of provisions here are all false. Stores of all kinds can be obtained in great quantities, even luxuries, such as sugar, tea, brandy, and wine, being easily procurable. Indeed, prices of many things are lower than in Erzeroum. Ammunition also is abundant, there being 62,500 rounds for the siege- guns, enabling them to fire 500 shells a day for 125 days, while the supply for field-guns and small arms is com- paratively inexhaustible. Now the Commander-in-Chief has made up his mind to remain encamped at Vairan Kale, and to bring up victuals and ammunition enough to last the garrison a whole year. Whether the Russians will allow him to remain unmolested is another o 2 212 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. matter. The following description o£ the fortress, taken from the MosJcovsJci^a Vedomosti, gives a far better description of the works than I can ; so I produce it, merely adding, that advanced batteries have been con- structed in front of the Mukhliss, the Karapatlak, and the Karadagh redoubts, and that these contain fifteen- centimeter Krupp guns, of which there are a con- siderable number on the works. The artillery for the defence consists of 327 siege-guns (not 100), all rifled; I did not see a smooth-bore on the works. A very large number of traverses have recently been thrown up ; their utility has been demonstrated by the marvellously small loss sustained by the garrison, during the late siege. From the right wing we hear that Eeiss Ahmed Pasha has been leisurely following up Tergukassoff, who, moving by Kara Kilissa and Dijadin, has effected a retreat across the Alasgird Plain, to the mountains in the immediate vicinity of Balykly lake, where he is apparently waiting for reinforcements, and whence Ahmed Pasha means to drive him, following him up, if necessary, to Tiflis — at least, those are the orders he has received; but as Eeiss Ahmed during the Eussian retreat from Zaidikan never attempted to attack Tergu- kassoff, I cannot think that he will be so rash as to beard the lion in his den. THE FORTRESS OF KARS. The Moshovshiya Vedomosti gives the following de- scription of Kars : — " The foi-tress of Kars lies at a distance of 57 versts (30 English miles) from the Russian district-town Alexandropol, and 200 versts (130 English miles) from Erzeroum, in the fertile valley of the Kars Tchai, on the principal transit route from Erzeroum to THE CITADEL OF KAR8, 213 Tiflis, The situation is very picturesque. The town and its three faubourgs are crowded into a kind of amphitlieatre in the western, southern, and eastern slopes of a pretty high hill, cut through from the south-west to the north-east by the Eiver Kars TchaL That river flows through the town in a course of about 2,500 yards, and makes three decided bends. Entering the town from the south, it flows first for a distance of about 1,000 yards in a northerly direction, during which it is broken up into several arms by two large and several small islands. Then it makes a curve, and leaves the city in an easterly direction. To the south and east of this curve, on a high hill, stands the town, properly so called, and the citadel. Further south lies the faubourg of Orta Kapi ; to the east is that of Bairam pasha ; and to the west, along the left bank of the river, stretches the narrow faubourg of Temur-pasha. " Kars is surrounded by a continuous wall. The citadel, called by the Turks Itch Kaleh, extends for about 300 yards a long the highest ridge of the hill on which the town is built. It is composed of a high brick wall, with stone foundation, of which the largest side faces the town in the form of a re-entering obtuse angle. The opposite side. crowning the steep descent to the river, is built almost in a straight line. On each face of the re-entering angle is a small tower, and within the walls are two large towers. Behind the north-eastern tower is the powder-magazine. The walls of the citadel are con- structed for defence by artillery. There is but one gate, and it is to the soutL The easiest approach is from the east. To the west and north there is a high precipice. From the side of the town the slope is steep ; but along it runs the most convenient road by which the citadel is provided with supplies. The fortifications are too weak to bear a long si^e. As the walls could not resist the destructive force of the artillery now in use, the Ottoman Government has constructed forts all round the place according to the plans and under the direc- tions of foreign engineers, chiefly English. These forts, of various strength and construction, have converted K^rs into a strongly fortified camp, which could not be taken by sudden open attack. The exterior fortifications crown the ridge of hills which approach the town from the north-east and the west ; but the three principal forts are on the plain, on the east and south of the town. All the surrounding heights compose three groups, under the names of the Karadagh, the Shorakh, and the Tchakhmak Hills. The highest of 214 THE CAMPAIGN IIT ARMENIA, these, commanding all the others, ai*e the Karadagh Heights, forming the continuation of the ridge on the western extremity of -which stands the citadel, and extending along the right bank of the Kars Tchai. The Shorakh and Tchakhmak Heights lie on the other side of the river, and form the extreme eastern offshoots of the Tchalgaour Hills, which lie to the north-west of Kars. They are separated from each other by the Tchakhmak Kayine, which runs from the village of Tchakhmak in the direction of the citadel. The Shorakh Plateau begins near the left bank of the Kars Tchai, about two miles above the town, and extends to tihe village of Tchakhmak. The highest point of it is called by the Kussians Bashi-Bazouk Hill. The Tchakhmak Hills stretch from the Tchakhmak Ravine towards the north-east till they reach the Kars Tchai, about a mile and a half below the town. They cover the town on the north and north-west ; but they are less elevated and more liable to be attacked than the others. " Let us now turn to the description of the exterior fortifications, beginning with those on the right bank of the river. These may be divided into three groups — those on the Karadagh Hills, those on the plain, and those on the left bank of the river. "L On the Karadagh Heights. " 1. Arab Tabia, or Karapatlak, presents an irregular figure, the gorge of which is closed by stone barracks. The left face is built on the top of the high precipitous bank of the Kars Tchai, commanding the opposite bank, on which are the forts Williams Pasha and Teesdale Tabia. It serves to protect the approaches from the valley. The front and right face are strengthened by a supplementary parapet, constructed in advance of and parallel to them. The fort is composed of earthworks, and surrounded by a glacis arranged for defence by artillery and musketry. The following are the proportions of the profile : — Height of the principal parapet, 14 feet ; thickness of the parapets, the principal one, 40 feet, and the supplementary 37 feet ; breadth of the terre-plein, 22 feet. There are no ditches or traverses. The powder-magazine is constructed under the extremity of the right face of the chief parapet. The line of fire of the chief parapet is 606, and of the supplementary 312 paces. " 2. Karadagh Tabia lies at a distance of 560 paces to the south- east. Its form is an acute salient angle cut off at the point. It has FOBTS ON THE PLAIN, 215 an elevated battery called Ziaret, defensive barracks, and a glacis for defence by artillery and musketry. Like the former, it has no ditch, because it is built on rock. The height of the parapet is from 9 to 12 feet, and the thickness from 21 to 24 feet. The battery Ziaret is placed behind the chief parapet, on a square stone foundation 2 1 feet high. Each side of the square is 65 paces in length. There is one small powder-magazine. The fort defends the approaches on the side of Melik-Kui and Mazra, and serves for the cross defence of the forts Arab and Hafiz. The length of the whole line of fire is 1,518 paces. In the principal fort there are two powder-magazines, one in the advanced gorge and the other at the end of the right face of the chief rampart, under the parapet. " IL On the Plain. " 3. Hafiz Pasha Tabia is on the plain at a distance of 1,890 paces from Fort Karadagh. It has the form of a bastioned fort, having traverses for the chief parapet and for the covered passage. The length of the exterior side is 266 paces ; the parapet is 9 feet high and 21 feet thick. Depth of the ditch not known. The entrance faces the town, and is defended. At 230 paces in front of the south- eastern bastion is a JlecJie (called by the Turks Ekhali), having faces of 77 paces in length. Inside of the fort is a stone barracks and a small powder-magazine. The length of the line of fire of the chief parapet and the Jleche 1,782 paces. "4. Kanli Tabia lies at a distance of 3,103 paces from Fort Hafiz, and is composed of three separate fortifications, two redoubts and a reduit, having the form of a lunette, closed at the gorge by barracks, with supplementary constructions of a bastion form, with ravelins or demilunes. All the fortifications are surrounded by a common ditch. The covered passage has traverses. Small powder- magazines are aiTanged in the lunette. In the chief lunette the parapet is 21 feet high. The breadth of the terre-plein with bcmquette is 42 feet. The ditch is 12 feet broad, and 6 feet deep. The length of the whole line of fire is 2,163 paces. " 5. Suvari Tabia, at a distance of 1,690 yards from the preceding, has just been constructed, and is said to be one of the strongest forts around Kars, but we have no details concerning it. Another new fort, it is said, has been recently built in this part of the defences, and armed with Krupp guns ; but of this likewise we have no information. 216 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, "III. On the Left Bank op the River. " 6. Yassif Pasha Tabia, called also Fort Tchim or Ted-Kharab, has the form of a lunette. It is intended to defend the defile through which the river flows, and the back of Fort Suwarri. It is composed of earthworks, and being built on rock has no ditch. At 57 paces in front of the parapet there is a glacis. Under the parapet of the left flank is the powder-magazine. The parapet is from 9^ feet to 12 feet high, and 18 feet thick. The line of fii-e extends to 415 paces. "7. Fort Lake, called also Fort Yeli Pasha, at 1,200 paces from Yassif Pasha Tabia, and 960 from the citadel, is an inclosed fort, three sides of which are bastioned. The fourth side — facinsr the citadel — is protected by stone barracks and a defensive wall. The exterior side of the bastion-faces is 107 paces. The parapet is 28 feet thick, and 24 feet high. The ditch is 21 feet wide, and 7 feet deep. The length of the Hne of fire is 335 paces. There are two entrances, one through the barracks, another through the curtain from the ditch. The left flank of the fort has no ditch. The glacis is constructed for defence with musketry. The fort is intended to cover the back of the Forts Takmash, and Laz-Tabia, and to defend the approaches to the northern side of the faubourg of Temu Pasha from the direction of the Tchakhmak Defile. " 8. Fort Takmash, 2,100 yards distant from Fort Lake, and 2,650 from Yassif Pasha Tabia, consists of two bastioned forts connected together. Inside the fort there are barracks and a small powder- magazine. The entrance is from the side of Fort Lake. The parapet is 12 feet high, and 12 feet thick. The ditch is 9 feet wide, and 7 feet deep. The length of the line of fire is 520 paces. Fort Takmash is intended to bar the approach to the Shorakh Heights from the side of Shorakh, Kumbet, and Tchiftlik. " 9. Fort Yarimai Tabia, situated about 580 paces to the north- west of Fort No. 8, is a bastioned fort without glacis. The parapet is 12 feet in height, and the same in thickness. The ditch is 9 feet broad, and 7 feet deep. The length of the line of fire is 520 paces. The aim of the fort is to defend the approaches from the villages Shorakh and Tchiftlik. According to the description of the taking of Kars in 1828, this fort stands on the spot where General Moura- vieff" placed his battery, and from which Count Paskiewitch watched the movements of the attacking columns. FORTS ON THE LEFT BANK OF THE EIVEE. 217 " 10. Yaksek Tabia lies to the north of the preceding fort. The length of the line of fire is 261 paces. "11. Laz-Tabia, or Fort Tchakhmak, crowns the Bashi-Bazouk Hill — or, more strictly speaking, a rocky position with precipitous sides near the top of that hill — commanding the left bank of the Kars Tchai. It is composed of three distinct batteries, surrounded by one glacis, constructed for defence with musketry. The parapet is 12 feet high, and 24 feet thick. The length of the line of fire is 806 paces. The fort protects the approaches from the villages of Tchiftlik, Djavra, and Mazra. " 12. Fort Bluhm-pasha lies to the east of Laz-Tabia. The pro- portions and profile of that fort are unknown to us. " 13. Williams Pasha Tabia is situated at a distance of 1,860 paces from No. 12, and 1,420 paces from No. 1. It is an irregularly- traced inclosed fort, with an entrance from the south-east, and con- structed merely for musketry defence. The parapet is 14 feet thick, and 9 feet high. The ditch is 21 feet broad, and 7 feet deep. Length of the line of fire, 262 paces. " 14. Teesdale Tabia, the most northerly of the forts, about 815 paces from Fort No. 13, and 1,210 paces to the west of Arab Tabia, It has been recently constructed, and is of an irregular form, with open gorge. It is constructed on the brink of the precipice, in order to cover the approaches from the defile of the Kars Tchai to the Tchakhmak Plateau. Though the trace of the parapet is irregular and broken in several places, there are situations in front not exposed to its fire. The parapet has a banquette ; and it is intended to dig a ditch for the westward faces. The height of the parapet is 9 J feet, and the thickness 21 feet. Length of the line of fire, 429 paces. " From this description of the Kars fortifications, we see that th« entire length of the line of defence exceeds 15 versts (about 10 English miles), and the inclosed space about 17 square versts. The artillery for the defence of the works, now that all necessity for secrecy has passed away, may be given. It may interest some of my readers. It, at any rate, will show that the Turks failed to make the most of the many months' leisure during which it was patent to all the world that Kussia meant war. " There were in the works 157 siege-guns of 9, 12, and 15-centi- meter calibre, with 60 4 and 5-pounder Krupp field-guns ; and there were 48 field Krupp guns in field-batteries. Many of the siege-guns 218 TSE CAMPAIGN IN AHMENIA, were muzzle-loaders, some being M.L. bronze guns, rifled, with a calibre of 9, 12, and 15 centimeters; others were the old 6 and 9- pounders, smooth bore. The breech-loading siege-guns were all of Krupp's pattern, bronze, 9, 12, and 15 centimeters, made in the Tophane at Constantinople. Of the largest size there were but 18. " The normal garrison, according to the length of the lines, should consist of 23,000 men ; but the actual number of troops in the place at present is unknown. The Cologne Gazette gives the number as 32,000 ; but according to the data obtained bj the Eussian army from deserters there are not more than 15,000. Looking at the position from the point of view of attack and der fence, we may draw the following conclusions : — " The advantages for the defenders are — " (1) The favourable arrangements of the heights commanding the surrounding country ; (2) the strong mutual defence of the foi-ts by artillery ; (3) the rocky subsoil, which prevents siege operations. " The disadvantages of the position are — " (1) Its great extent ; (2) the absence of ditches in many of the forts ; (3) difficulty of repairing the parapets, in consequence of the scarcity of earth ; (4) the absence in some forts of flank ditches ; (5) insufficiency of strong buildings for sheltering the garrison and storing the supplies ; (6) absence of water in almost all the forts, and diffi- culty of obtaining it ; (7) absence of covered traverses, and the small number of ordinary traverses ; (8) the exposed position of some powder-magazines ; (9) — and this is the chief weakness — the dif- ferences which have arisen between the garrison and the inhabitants, who, according to the latest accounts, obstinately demand the sur- render of the place." The old citadel, called now Itch Kaleh, was built by Siiltan Amarath III. in 1578, when it played an im- portant part in the Turko-Persian war, then raging; in 1732 Sheik Nadir besieged it, after having defeated the Turkish army, but was forced to raise the siege in the following year, owing to the advance of Topal Osman, who signally defeated him near Bagdad; in 1807, the fortress then only consisting of the old citadel and some batteries on the Karadagh, successfully resisted FORMER SIEGES OF EARS, 219 the Russian attack, but on the 24th June, 1828, owing to the treachery of Emin iPasha, it surrendered to Pas- kiewitch, after a bombardment of two days. In 1854, after a most gallant defence, it was starved into sur- rendering to Mouravieff on the 28th November, since which time, the fortifications, then much improved by the British officers under Sir Fenwick Williams, have been strengthened, the number of outworks in- creased, and heavy guns of Krupp pattern mounted under the able direction of Faizi Pasha. CHAPTEE XI. CAMP LIFE IN FRONT OF KARS. Massacre at Bayazid — Kurdish Atrocities — Conduct of Faik Pasha — Murder of a Russian Doctor near Kars — His Diary — Russian Opinion of Battle of Khaliass — Strictures on Heimann — The Siege raised — Yet one more instance of the value of Turkish Cavalry — Siege Batteries — Move oui- Camp to Yezinkui— Beggars on Horsehack — Success of the Turks deemed only Temporary — Conduct of the Officer in charge of Hospitals — An Interruption to our Breakfast — An Interchange of Civilities on the Slopes of the Yagni — Kindness of the Consul at Erzeroum — Energy displayed hy the new Gover- nor there — News from Van — Treatment of Christians throughout Armenia — Russians change their Camp — Their Kindness to Turkish Prisoners at Ardahan — A Flag of Truce fired on, and Bearer killed, by the Russians — The Polish Legion— Cavalry Skirmish near Sarbatan — Turkish Opinion of Kurds. ' ^ Head Quarters TV. Turkish Army Corps. Kars, July lOtL From Bayazid we learn of an act of atrocity that will do more to harm the Turkish cause than half a dozen defeats. It appears that on the 13th of June Faik Pasha, advancing on that fortress, encountered the Russian forces, consisting of two battalions and 1,2&Q Cossacks. As the Turkish division numbered six bat- talions, two batteries, and about 8,000 Kurds, a fight in the open was hopeless, so the Eussian commander retired to the citadel, leaving the Cossacks in the town; then seeing that resistance was out of the question, oflfered to surrender, and this offer being accepted, they laid down their arms. A flag of truce was sent to the citadel calling upon the commandant to capitulate. FEARFUL MA88ACBE AT BAYAZIR 221 While their messenger was away the irregular Kurds came up and commenced vilifying some Mahomedans who were among the prisoners. One of these answered somewhat sharply, and was immediately cut down. The sight of blood and of unarmed and defenceless men was sufficient for these scoundrels, who immediately fell on their hapless prisoners, and deliberately massacred three^ fourths of them in cold blood ; the number of those killed varies, some saying 970 ; others, among these being the Commander-in-Chief, put down the slain at 170. Some regulars coming on the scene, the work of slaughter was stopped, and Faik Pasha coming up, despatched the survivors under escort to Van. On the road the detach- ment was set upon by a second body of Kurds, who murdered some more men, stripped the remainder per- fectly naked, and left them to pursue their journey unmolested. It is but fair to add that Mukhtar Pasha has sent orders that a certain number of these scoundrels shall be hung, that the prisoners shall be furnished with clothes, money, food, and all that they require, and sent on immediately to Constantinople. Whether the execu- tion of these villains wiU have the desired effect of restraining them I much doubt, and I refrain from passing any comments on the above facts, which admit of no contradiction, as the Commander-in-Chief himself owned to them, but what I do comment upon is that in spite of the known atrocities committed by Kurds and Circassians alike — in spite of the continual complaints made of their conduct to the Mushir — in spite of his oft-expressed opinion as to their utter uselessness in the field — Mukhtar Pasha still retains a body of 4,000 of them in his own camp, every village in the vicinity of which has been pillaged under the very eyes of the 222 TEU CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, general himself, and by keeping them in its pay the Turkish Government silently approves their acts. Were these villains disbanded, disarmed, and sent to their homes, Europe would believe that Turkey meant re- form; but as long as bands of undisciplined barbarians are provided with the best weapons that America can produce, as long as these men are kept in the pay of the Ottoman Government, so long must the support of every right-minded nation be withheld from the Porte. I regret to have to report another circumstance which goes far to prove that the Eussians had some authority for stating their wounded were never cared for by the Turks, and rarely escaped alive. It appears that after their last fight on the 4th the Russians left their wounded men in the village of Tchiflik-Kui, about three miles from Kars, in charge of a doctor, that they put up a white flag over it, and were making arrange- ments to send in a flag of truce to ask permission to remove them, when a body of Kurds swooped down on the village, and massacred and stripped every man in it. This is the story given by the Commander-in-Chief himself, and I must own that it is disgraceful enough. A German doctor, however, in this service, gives the folio wiDg version — viz., that on the fight of the 4th being over, the Eussians sent in a flag of truce with a doctor to ask permission to see the wounded prisoners, and ascertain the treatment they were receiving. The flag was fired upon by the Turkish infantry, every man slain, stripped, and left naked on the field. I do not know which is the true story ; but I glean that a doctor, attending the wounded, was shot with the Geneva Cross flying over his head. TEE MUBDEBED BOGTOB'S DIABY, 223 that his body was stripped. His diary is now in the tent of the Turkish Commander-in-Chief, and in it he states that the total strength of the army which invaded Armenia was 50,000 men, of whom only 25,000 were operating on the Kars frontier. If these numbers be true, I do not know which nation deserves the palm for military incapacity — the one that invaded a country and undertook the siege of a place like Kars with but 50,000 men, all told, or the one which has allowed a small force to besiege a first-class fortress with a garrison of 20,000 men, and to keep a second 20,000 fully employed for two-and-a-half months. This unfortunate man had, from all I can hear, kept a complete and very interesting diary of the proceedings since the 24th of April. He wrote somewhat strongly of General Hei- mann's conduct at Zewin, and the supersession of that officer leads me to believe that there must be some foundation for the numerous strictures passed on him so freely. He puts down the Russian losses at Khaliass as 500 killed and wounded, and at Zewin as 800, all told. The former affair he considers a success for the Russians, as their ten battalions withstood Mukhtar Pasha's attack of twenty-three battalions, held their ground all day, and retired unmolested on the following morning to Zaidikan, where they remained for a whole week. I think a Russian may well be pardoned for considering Khahass a success, for they certainly held their own against a vastly superior force, and drew off unpursued twenty-four hours after the fight. The battle of Zewin he owns to have been most disastrous. This, in common with all his countrymen, he ascribes to the wanton conduct of Heimann, who, without recon- noitring, led his men up by deep precipitous ravines to 224 TRE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. a perpendicular wall, where they were shot down by hundreds without any hope of success. Kars, July 13^A. I am in hopes that the few lines I am now sending will reach Trebizond in time for the same steamer that carries mine of the 9th to you. It was at noon on that day that messengers were sent out to Mukhtar Pasha, encamped at Vairan Kale, to inform him that the Rus- sians had raised the siege and moved off bodily from Kars. I could scarcely believe my ears when I heard the news, but that it was true was evident. Not a sign of a tent was visible. How the Russians contrived to slip away unobserved is a mystery, and one that reflects but little credit on the vigilance either of the garrison or of the Circassian horsemen, 4,000 of whom are encamped within four miles of this place. On the 8th instant the bombardment had slackened considerably, but large bodies of foot and horse were seen constantly moving about. Spies accounted for this by saying that a con- siderable force had received four days' provisions, and bad moved off to the south. The trenches, moreover, presented an unusually lively appearance, teams of horses being sent down every now and again to the bat- teries. This agitation seems to have excited no com- ment, and at night the blaze of several bonfires in the Russian hnes, though noticed by the Turkish sentries, aroused no attention. It was not until 9 a.m., appa- rently, that some of the garrison, struck by the unusual quietness reigning in the trenches, thought of turning their eyes further northward to the spot where the long row of Russian tents usually glistened in the morning sun. To their surprise none were there. On reports RUSSIAN BETBUAT FROM KAUS. 226 being made to the new commandant, Mnshir Mustafa Pasha, lie sent out parties of irregular horse to recon- noitre. These soon returned with the news that not only were batteries, trenches, and encampments deserted, but that the Russians had gained the pass of Kharrak- Darrah, where, on the 8th August, 1854, Mouravieff in- flicted such a signal defeat on Zarif Mustafa Pasha, and had established two other camps at Yeni-kui and Gadi- kler, where they had strongly entrenched themselves. On proceeding to the late siege works, the reason of the last night's bonfires was apparent ; not a gun platform, gabion, or fascine was left in the batteries, their charred and smoking remains showing that Loris Melikofi*, judg- ing retreat desirable in the face of the superior forces now in front of him, had determined that no material should fall into the enemy's hands. So quietly and so expeditiously had he set to work, that without exciting the suspicion of the garrison, he succeeded in removing all his stores, tents, and guns safe to the entrenched posi- tion at Kharrak-Darrah without any molestation. The siege works appear to have been constructed with much care and skill, and with all the improvements that late experiments, both in England and on the Continent, show to be necessary, owing to the increased range and accuracy of rifled cannon. The batteries were half sunken ; owing to the soil being of a peaty nature, crumbling up readily when once broken, the parapets were shored up with large beams. The traverses be- tween the gun portions contained bombproof recesses for the detachments, thus doubtless affording perfect immu- nity from all shells bursting in rear of the battery. I believe the batteries did not seem to have suffered much from the Turkish fire, though the screens, thrown up in p 226 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. front at a distance of about twenty-five yards, were raucli knocked about. These were about four feet in height, and about ten feet in thickness, while the parapets were about eighteen feet in thickness ; they had been revetted with sand-bags, the majority of which had been removed, but a fair number were left on the ground. The whole of the trenches, bombproof recesses, and rifle-pits were well lined with grass, showing that the comfort of their men was studied by the Czar's officers. The timbers used in the construction of the magazine, &c., were heavy beams, from nine inches to twelve inches in diameter. Most of these were destroyed in the bonfires of the preceding night, but some few were necessarily left. It is surprising that the Eussians contrived to move off, not only their men and guns, but all the mate- rial, without exciting remark and provoking a conflict, for at this time, in and around Kars, Mukhtar had 64 battalions, 48 field-guns, 1,000 regular and 4,000 irregular cavalry. It is useless speculating on the future or dreaming on the past of this campaign, pregnant as it has been with the most glaring errors on both sides. When I arrived in this country I was assured that the invading force consisted of 100,000 men, of whom 16,000 were cavalry, with 300 field-guns. The week before last I was informed by an officer high on the staff that they had only sixty-four battalions at Kars and with Tergukassoff's column. Last week Mukhtar Pasha himself said they had forty- eight battalions, three regiments of dragoons, fifteen of Cossacks, and eighty field-guns before Kars alone, and now he maintains that his information has proved correct, that the Eussians invaded Armenia with 50,000 men all told, and that the force in front of Kars never exceeded THE RUSSIAN INVASION OF ARMENIA. 227 25,000 men. To extract the truth from these conflicting statements is obviously impossible. Should the larger number of men be correct, it goes far to prove that Russia has degenerated as a military power, that the lessons the campaigns of the past ten years have taught the world have been wasted on her, and that she need no longer be feared as a foe. Should the smaller number be accurate, it shows that she has far under-estimated the value of her enemy, and, by despising the improve- ments effected in the armament and equipment of the Turkishforces,has drawn upon herself well-merited defeat. Being ignorant of any outside cause that may have tended to bring about the abandonment of the occupation of Armenia, and assuming that Loris Melikoff commenced the war with the six divisions for which he has been given credit, I can only stand aghast at the innumerable errors he has committed, the many chances he has lost, and the total failure of a campaign the success of which would have been assured had ordinary forethought and care been exercised by the Russian general. Yesterday Mukhtar Pasha moved his force from Vairan Kale to a ridge east of Vezinkui, about ten miles south-east of Kars ; but on hearing of a more favourable position he shifted camp this afternoon to a plateau under the Sevri Tepe possessing very strong natural defence, some five miles further east. There he has entrenched his men, and probably means to provoke a conflict with the Russians, who are said to be twelve miles north of him. I have ridden out to the camp, which to my mind is very extended, and which in the eyes of an Englishman possesses the extreme disadvantages of having a scanty supply of bad water and being totally destitute of firewood. These are drawbacks which never p 2 228 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. enter into the calculations of Tni'kish generals, who, in my short experience, rarely, if ever, study the comfort of their men, the endurance, willingness, and gallantry of whom cannot but excite the warmest admiration of all who may be thrown into contact with them. Flushed with success, the Turks are not pleasant companions. In their distress a month ago, when all seemed going against them, an Englishman was treated with courtesy and deference. Now, when appearances seem favour- able, the)^ are filled with pride, openly talk of the selfishness of our Grovemment — one that only consults her own interests, as they complain — and loudly pro- claim their ability to defeat the Russians single-handed, and their intention in a few weeks of carrying the war into the enemy's territory. Although the Turks have gained successes in the past three w^eeks which I deemed perfectly impossible, yet when I look round me and see the material vdth which these successes have been gained, see the absence of all commissariat arrangements, and hear the cries on all sides from both officers and men of want of money, shoes, and clothing, I cannot but chng to my opinions previously expressed — look upon this phase of the campaign as but a temporary check for the enemy, and prophesy the ultimate success of the Eussians. I may mention one trivial circumstance here, which goes far to prove how utterly the Turkish regimental officers disregard the feelings of their men. I stayed behind in Vairan Kale for a few hours after the camp had moved on to Vezinkui. The hospital, which was the last to go, was under the charge of a captain, who struck his tents and moved off. A foreign doctor, in medical charge, begged for a working party to bury two men who had died that morning. This request was A RUSSIAN DESERTER'S REPORT, 229 refused ; nor was the doctor granted leave to remain behind to see the corpses interred. Some short time after the party had moved off, my servant came to me and reported the circumstances, when I obtained some villagers, who, for a small pecuniary consideration, buried the poor fellows. There was no excuse for the conduct of this officer ; the army was only shifting camp a few miles, so that the few moments' delay to enable their co-reHgionists to receive a decent burial would not have been a grave military error; indeed, the incident was only on a par with the general behaviour of the company officers to the rank and file in the Turkish army. Head-Quarters, Fourth Turkish Army Corps, » Camp near Vezinkui, JuIt/ lith. This morning we were informed by an officer on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief that a Eussian deserter had come into camp at dawn, reporting that the whole of the Loris Melikoff forces had struck camp at Yeni-kui, and marched during the night toKharrak-Darrah — where previously only one division had been entrenched — and that this move was only prior to a general retreat on Alexandropol. Owing to the thick haze over the plains we were unable to see the Eussian tents which yester- day had been distinctly visible to the north, and so were unable to verify this man's statement. As the Mushir himself believed it, we saw no reason to doubt the truth of the story, and consequently prepared our- selves for a quiet day. Our breakfast, however, was rudely disturbed by the sound of artillery ; so, hastily swallowing a meal, which certainly was not worth dally- ing over, we mounted our horses, and set out in the 230 THE CAMPAIGN IN AMMENIA. direction of tlie firing, whicli from the sound we judged to be about three miles distant. Descending the ridge on which the head-quarters camp was pitched, at an alti- tude of 8,400 feet above sea level, we rode along the most fertile table-land it has been my lot to traverse ; for miles and miles it stretched to the east and south- ward, until lofty snow-clad peaks, rising grandly from its undulating surface, brought the luxuriant vegetation to a standstill. Not a yard was under cultivation, and with the exception of a few kibitkas, or Kurdish black blanket tents, not a sign of habitation was visible, and yet the soil was rich enough to please a Kent farmer, and the vast expanse of clover through which our horses literally waded would give a handsome competence to any one energetic enough to cut and transport it. As the sun rose the mist cleared off, and there in the plain some 2,000 feet below us, we saw ghstening to the north the Russian camp at Yeni-kui, and farther eastward their entrenchments at Kharrak-Darrah, thus proving the story of the deserter to have been false, and showing without doubt that Armenia was not yet rid of the Muscovite invader. All firing had ceased, but small parties of Kurdish and Circassian horsemen were hastening to the left to join a large body of irregular horsemen, who were jdxawn up in columns — if the irregular crowd they formed may be so designated — at the north-western edge of the plateau. As we advanced we saw coming down on our left two Turkish horse artillery guns, while in rear of them, with standards flying, bugle sounding, and men cheering, were two battalions moving to the front in columns of double companies. We joined the artillery, who came into action a few moments before noon at a distance of some A CAVALRY DEMONSTRATION. 231 5,000 yards from the enemy. The Eussian force con- sisted of three regiments of dragoons and eight of Cos- sacks, as well as I could judge, and were accompanied by a half battery of Gralloper guns. They were all dis- mounted, but had taken up a position on the southern slopes of the Tagni Tepe, a lofty tor (as we should call it in the west country), or conical hill, from the summit of which a good view of our whole position was dis- tinctly visible. At noon precisely our guns opened fire, the shells all bursting fully 2,000 yards short. After a few rounds they were pushed _ forward about 500 yards, and at the same time bodies of irregular cavalry were advanced on either flank. On this, at 12.45, the Eussian guns leisurely came into action, but finding the range too great, ceased firing after fouj rounds, and leisurely moved ofi*, the cavalry accompanying them. No at- tempts at following the enemy were made by Mukhtar, and in this he was wise, for his badly-mounted, un- disciplined irregular horsemen are no match for the well- organised cavalry Loris Melikofi* that day showed xis. While this little diversion was occurring we saw a large convoy of carts, &c., moving from Yeni-kui to the eastward towards Groomri, this cavalry demonstration evidently being made with a double object of protecting it during its flank march straight across the front of our position and of ascertaining the strength of our force. Although the enemy's troops consisted entirely of cavalry, and never approached within five miles of our camp, Mukhtar Pasha took the opportunity of manning all his entrenchments, thus displaying to the Eussian general all the troops at his command, and at the same time a body of twenty battalions, with three field 21 52 THE CAMPAIGN IN AUMENIA, batteries, moved out from Kars under the command of Faizi Pasha, with the intention of intercepting the retreat to Yeni-kui of the Eussian cavalry. They were, however, discovered long before they could effect their purpose, and retired again about sunset, when they pitched on the banks of the Kars Tchai stream, about five miles to the north-east of the fortress. At three p.m., the enemy having effected their retreat to camp, and there being no intention of following them up, we returned to camp, where we found awaiting us a box of provisions, sent out by the ever-thoughtfal consul at Erzeroum, who, mindful of the tastes of Britons, had enclosed what were, indeed, pearls of great price, some bottles of beer. To us, whose sole beverage for the past six weeks has been water, tempered, when its quality was more offensive than usual, with a dash of brandy, this consignment was a perfect godsend. We had been so constantly on the move during the past month, and our means of communicating with Erzeroum are so precarious, that I have been unable to give you more than the news immediately concerning the head-quarters of this army corps. It appears that since the departure of the governor, Ismail Pasha, to join the left wing of the army in the Alashgird Plain, the authorities have awoke to the fact that prayer and the constant reading of the Koran were not sufficient to supply the army with food and reinforce- ments. The new governor, Hassan Pasha, seems to be a man of energy and determination, and to have in- fused some of his spirit into the palace officials. To the Olti road, whence all troops had been most un- wisely withdrawn on reinforcements being needed at Delibaba, he has despatched eight battalions, 1,200 ACTIVITY AT EBZEBOUM, 233 irregular cavalry, two field and one mountain battery. These are in an entrenched position in the Grhiurji Boghaz defile, a short distance to the north of Hindsk. He also has called up twelve more battalions from Angora, Konieh, Kharpoot, Diarbekir, and Bagdad, with 600 cavalry from Angora, and about 3,000 irregu- lars from Syria. These men will be forwarded, haK to this and half to the left wing of the Turkish army. He also has obtained permission from Constantinople to make a forced levy of all males in Armenia between the ages of sixteen and sixty. By this means he hopes to raise 50,000 men ; and towards their equipment he has already received 25,000 Martini-Peabody rifles, 25,000 sets of accoutrements, and the same number of infantry uniforms. To provide transport for these men he himself has issued an order that every one hundred houses in his vilayet shall furnish one horse, either for pack or cavalry purposes. Thus he has already collected some 1,500 ponies and horses. The need of provisions which was being severely felt in Erzeroum has passed away, and there now is sufiicient to feed the army for the remainder of the year. Last week 1,000 camels and 2,560 horses and mules arrived laden with wheat, barley, and flour from Bagdad, Moussaul, Mardin, and Diarbekir ; 680 camels also arrived from Sivas, and 1,800 horse-loads of biscuit from Trebizond. It will be seen that at last the civil administration are awakening to the urgency of the situation, and seconding with promptitude the energy displayed by Ahmed Mukhtar Pasha and his brave soldiers. The latter have shown throughout the campaign the greatest patience, en- durance, and gallantry. The news from Van daily becomes more revolting. 234 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. Faik Pasha seems quite unable to restrain the Kurds, who commit every description of atrocity unopposed and unchecked. The American missionaries have been forced, for fear of their lives, to take refuge in a boat on the lake, where they enjoy comparative immunity, although they have to be careful, when in need of pro- visions, to land at night and move off again before dawn. Their Christian charges have been subjected to the grossest treatment — crops cut and carried away, cattle killed, villages burnt, men murdered, and worst of all, women and even children violated. Churches afPord no refuge for these wretched mortals. Ten who fled for safety into the church at Utch-Kilissa were there foully murdered, and at Tsitawankh, near Erzeroum, the Armenian superior of the monastery has been threatened with death if he ventures to preach again. Hundreds of Christian villages in Armenia, having been gutted and fired by these miscreants, are completely abandoned, and their inhabitants have fled for refuge into the Eussian camps. Hordes of fanatics, led by Moolahs, have joined the Turkish army ; their fury, daily fed by the exhortations and addresses of the priests, who have denounced the war as a menace to the Otto- man religion, leads them to commit every conceivable excess against the defenceless Christians, whom they accuse of furnishing information to the enemy. Facts prove the reverse, for as yet not a single Armenian spy has been discovered by the authorities, while several Kurds and Circassians, preferring money to faith, have paid for their treachery with their lives ; in short, every spy hanged during this war has been a Mahomedan. In spite of the gallant manner in which she has repelled the Eussian invasion of Armenia — a feat which OUTRAGES ON CHRISTIANS. 235 no one can but adnaire — Turkey has irretrievably alienated the good wishes of even her best supporters by the cowardly and cruel excesses committed by her irregular soldiers — excesses which, if not connived at by the authorities, are invariably excused, and seldom punished. Outrages on Mahomedans, being against the Koran, are visited with great severity ; outrages against Christians, who are considered beyond the pale of the law, are left unnoticed. The massacre at Bayazid, the desecration of Eussian graves, mutilation of corpses, violation of a flag of truce, and the recent cruelties towards the Christians at Van, all furnish excuses, and valid excuses too, for a continuance of the war. We cannot hope that a great power like liussia will sit quietly down under the reverses her arms have sustained during the past month, and will permit the Christians, on whose behalf she has ostensibly made war, to be treated in Armenia as they were last year in Bulgaria. She must compel the Porte, by force of arms, to respect the rights of all her Christian subjects, and afford to them equal protection and privilege as to Mahome- dans. At present this is far from being the case, Mus- sulman officials literally treating them worse than the dogs which act as scavengers in their streets. I mean this as no mere figure of speech, but as an actual fact, borne out not only by what I myself have witnessed, but also by reports of occurrences which have come under the notice of many of the American missionaries in Armenia, who daily receive complaints from their Christian congregations of the cruelties and acts of oppression they endure at the hands of the Kurds, whom the Ottoman Grovernment have now let loose in Anatolia. 236 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. July \^th. Last night we were disturbed by rumours that the Russians had struck camp at Yeni-kui, and were advancing in force to attack us. However, these turned out, as most camp rumours usually do, to be false, for on riding out in the morning to our advanced posts, I saw that the first half of the rumour certainly had some foundation, for not a single Eussian tent was to be seen on the Teni-kui ridge; but, instead of coming forward to attack us, Loris Melikoff had con- centrated his forces round Kharrak-Darrah and Parget, a village on the Ears Tchai stream, about four miles north of the Goomri road. It is impossible to estimate his forces ; but, from the number of tents, I am of opinion that he cannot have less than 40,000 with him. It is rumoured that the Russians are preparing to evacuate Ardahan, where they have mined all the barracks, and completely levelled the earthworks. How far this is true I cannot say; but this I know, that they have upwards of 240 wounded Turkish prisoners in the hospital there, whom they have been treating vrith the greatest kindness. Among those taken on the 17th of May were four Turkish and two German doctors. As I told you in a previous letter, they released all prisoners belonging to the Eedif, or reserve force, and with them the four Turkish doctors, who proceeded to Erzeroum; the two German doctors, Ardler and Weiss, were retained, and placed in charge of the wounded Turks, receiving the same pay guaranteed by the Porte. I hear from all sides of the consideration shown to the sick and wounded, who receive far better TEUGE'MESSENGEB KILLED BY RUSSIANS. 237 nourishment and far more attention in the Russian hospitals than they do in their oavtl. While recounting their generosity, it pains me to be compelled to place on record an act of savagery committed by the Russians before Kars on the 5th instant, which, if true, admits of no excuse. Unfortunately, I have it on such good authority — authority independent from any Turkish source — that I cannot but believe it to be true. It appears that Hussein Hami Pasha, the commandant of Kars, wished to send a flag of truce to the enemy respecting their shells, which were doing considerable damage to the main hospital. Above this the white flag was certainly flying, but owing to the Karadagh hill being between it and the Russian siege works, it was not possible for the enemy to see the hospital flag ; and, moreover, it was so situated that all shells passing over the Karadagh redoubt must necessarily fall in the vicinity of the hospital. I therefore am of opinion that the damage done to the building, which was very trifling, was purely unintentional. However, the Turks thought, and still think, otherwise ; and Hussein Hami Pasha, accordingly, despatched a Kol-Aghassiz with a flag of truce to the Russian camp. This man proceeded alone, unaccompanied even by the traditional bugler. He was fired on and killed, whether intentionally, and in revenge for the murder of the doctor killed, with the Greneva Cross above his head and the white badge on his arm, the day previously, as the Turks maintain, or whether accidentally, I cannot say. I give the story as I have learnt it from lips which ascribe the deed to revenge. The same oflficer who informed me of the above also told me that a '* chaous,'' or sergeant of regulars, went about Kars boasting that he had killed 238 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. the Russian doctor by cutting off his head as he would that of a sheep ! It seems that there is a certain amount of discontent rife among the small band constituting the Pohsh Legion in this army. From what I can learn, it appears that, after volunteering for service, they were detained in Stamboul for some weeks, and then despatched to Trebizond to escort back 400 Polish prisoners captured in sorties from Kars, or rather deserters from the Russian army before that place. These men they were to organise, drill, and instruct in Turkish, and with them they were to form the nucleus of a Polish regiment, which was to be sent to the Danube. On arrival at Trebizond they were told that the prisoners were in Erzeroum, and these misguided men were con- veyed there in arabas, receiving no pay and no meat on the road. At Erzeroum they, of course, learnt that not a single Polish deserter or prisoner had been seen. Having come so far, the thirty-six men determined to join the army, and so were forwarded on to Mukhtar Pasha. Now I hear that their wrath against the Russians has somewhat subsided, and that no pay, short rations of bread and meat, and total abstinence from all spirits do not tend to increase their admiration for the Ottoman rule. They have been provided with a large standard with the Polish national colours emblazoned on it. The idea is that on the occasion of the first great fight they will proceed to the front, holding this aloft, when the numerous Poles serving in the ranks of hated Russia will throw down their arms and at once espouse the cause of the Porte and — Liberty ! This afternoon the force here was reinforced by six battalions and one field battery, under the command of RUSSIANS AGAIN ON THE MOVE. 239 Mustafa Nihadji Pasha, who has been detached from Kars. This brings up our strength to forty battalions, four field batteries, one mountain battery, two weak regiments of regulars, and about 4,000 irregular cavalry. When I think of the days when I joined the Mushir's army on the Hoonkiar Doozi, and found a marshal of the Ottoman Empire in command of eight battalions and a battery, and then look round me on this army, I am overwhelmed with astonishment at the energy dis- played by the Turkish authorities. To-day Mukhtar Pasha has been making a reconnaissance, but I doubt if it will lead to any decisive movement, though it is extremely probable that the head-quarters will be advanced some three miles in the direction of Kharrak- Darrah — to a hill higher, more barren, and further from water than its neighbours, and, therefore, for this reason, I suppose, possessing inestimable advantages in the eyes of our Commander-in-Chief. July ISth. The signal-gun denoting that the Russians were moving boomed out at 10 a.m. My servants by this time are as well drilled as an outpost of Punjab frontier cavalry, and in six minutes from the sound of the gun my horse and orderly were in front of my tent. " Yahvash " being the watchword of the camp as of the empire, I had to wait some ten minutes before the Commander-in-Chiefs pony was ready, and then we ambled — for our chief is no horseman — towards the advanced battery, which had given us notice of the enemy's movements. On reaching it I saw two bodies of Russian cavalry in the plain below, at a distance of about five miles. They had dismounted, and were 240 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. quietly feeding their horses on the luxuriant crops of grass which bound the banks of the Kars stream. Beyond them, shining brightly in the morning sun, lay the two Eussian camps, at Parget and Kharrak-Darrah ; but as for any movements betokening an advance of the enemy, the most powerful glasses could not discover anything approaching them. At about noon, however, the cause of this demonstration was apparent, for a long column of men, horses, and guns were visible winding along the road to the foot of the Karajal hill, toward the Kizil Tepe hill, which was shortly afterwards crowned by a strong party of infantry, supported by a battery of field-guns. In the meantime the remainder of the column, passing round the rear of the hill, com- menced pitching their camp on the left bank of the Mazra stream, in the immediate vicinity of the village of Bash and Onka-Gadikler. It was a very formidable defensive position, protected in front by the deep, pre- cipitous ravines of the Mazra, whilst the Kizil Tepe hill dominated the whole plain by which an attacking foe would advance. Our right was seriously threatened, too, by the new camp of the enemy, who, under cover of the broken ground on the western slopes of the Aladja Dagh, would find it an easy matter to move forward by Hadji- veli and Bolanik to the Olya Tepe, and thus turn our flank. The Eussian Commander-in-Chief being idle was no excuse for our gallant Marshal to abstain from employ- ing his men, and, consequently, the brigades of Ibrahim Bey and Captain Mahomed Bey were moved off some five miles to the right to cover a valley up which it was just possible the enemy might advance, while the remain- der of our troops, with fixed bayonets, lined the shelter- GALLANT TCEEEKES8. 241 trenches surrounding our camp. For six hours did the poor fellows remain in this cramped position, although at no time was a single Eussian infantry soldier in sight, and the cavalry never approached within five miles. It is such acts as these, the unnecessary worrying of these men, which, to my untutored mind, show the imbecility of the Turkish commanders. I noticed Moussa Pasha, the whilom commandant of the Circassians, on the staff of the Mushir. He has at last been removed from the command of the Circassians, who are much incensed, and justly so, at his conduct throughout the campaign. Edhem Pasha, who has assumed command of the cavalry, gave the Circassians a chance of showing their mettle this afternoon. It appears that after the Russian demonstration in the forenoon, which was evidently made with the view of covering the move- ment of their division from Parget to Kizil-Tepe, a regiment of dragoons was left to cover the retirement of the cavalry corps making the demonstration. At 4 p.m. this regiment began to fall back, when the Circassians, to the number of some 2,000, who with Edhem Pasha had been thrown forward in advance of our position, asked permission to attack and endeavour to cut them off. He accordingly sent forward a couple of regiments, with one more in support, at the same time drily remarking to a British officer at his side, " See how these Tcherkess will split up into small bodies and be kept at bay by that handful ! " The Circassians dashed forward at a gallop, and in a quarter of an hour were within 400 yards of the Eussian dragoon regiment, who, merely dropping a squadron to cover their retreat, continued falling back at a walk. The officer commanding this squadron dismounted his Q 242 THE CAMPAIGN' IN ARMENIA, men, and they, acting as infantry skirmishers, kept their pursuers at bay. Directly these were checked, Edhem Pasha's estimate of them proved correct, for they at once broke into small groups. All three regiments became intermingled, other bodies came galloping out from the reserve, and in swarms of tens and twenties they harassed the Russians on all sides. As far as sound was concerned, the fight now re- sembled an infantry skirmish, for the constant crack- ing of the Winchester rifles from one side, and the steady fire from the dismounted Russian dragoons, did away with all one's ideas of a cavalry encounter. Slowly falling back, the Muscovites came abreast of the small village of Sarbatan, from behind the friendly shelter of which swooped down, on the Circassian left flank, a fresh squadron of dragoons. Though barely numbering 120 sabres, their dashing leader never hesi- tated a moment, but charged clean across the front of his dismounted comrades, clearing the ground in a moment. The sight of the gallant Tcherkess, to the number of some 1,500, tailing ofi" to the rear as hard as their ponies could carry them, was one scarcely calculated to increase Edhem Pasha's opinion of the value of his troops. When they were well beyond the reach of Russian sabres, the bolder spirits rallied, and continued harass- ing the retiring enemy with a harmless long-range fire from their Winchesters. Every now and again the colonel of dragoons would leave a troop hidden in some ravine, which by a dashing charge would drive the Circassians still farther back, and finally, at 6 p.m., they drew off on the appearance of a second regiment of Russian cavalry moving up to support their comrades. The Russian loss, though unknown, BBAGGABT KURDS, 243 » is reported as immense. I have it on the best au- thority, however, that they certainly did not lose half-a-dozen men, and considering that the only attempt the Circassians made to get at them was with their repeating rifles, and knowing the value of mounted fire, I am inclined to think the above esti- mate correct. It is very difficult to get at the truth of the Circassian losses, but I hear they had twenty- two men and forty-seven horses killed, and twenty-seven men wounded. The flank charge of the Eussian squadron certainly did some execution; the Chef d'Escadron himself was seen to cut down four men, and from the fact that the above numbers come from a Turkish source, I am of opinion they are entitled to some weight. I must not omit all mention of the Kurds, a body of whom were sent out with the Circassian supports. These men, cheering loudly, gal- loped forward, firing their pieces as they advanced. Un- fortunately, their gallant intentions were frustrated by the conduct of some of the fainter spirits in their midst, who commenced to lag behind as the distance between themselves and the enemy was lessened. On the sudden appearance of the Russian supporting squadron from behind the village, an irresistible impulse to strengthen the reserve seems to have seized them, and they accord- ingly rode back as defiantly as they had advanced. I have conversed with many officers on the staff* of the Turkish army, and they are unanimous in their denun- ciation of the employment of these men, who are simply useless as soldiers, untrustworthy for purposes of recon- naissance, and faithless as spies, and who by their dastardly cruelty bring discredit on the name of the Ottoman army. q2 CHAPTEE XII. ON THE WATCH. Shift our Camp once more — Strength of our Forces — Stoppage of Telegrams — Hospitals in Erzeroum — Relief of Bayazid by Tergukassoff — That General's Operations during the War— The Kurds once more — Court Martials on Faik and Sabri Pasha — Turkish Accounts of Eelief of Bayazid — Circassian Account of same Affair — Losses in the Engagement — Eussian Punishment of Kurds — Pleasures of Camp Life — Expectations of a ' Scrim ' disappointed — Turkish Eeconnaissance into Eussian Territory — The Enemy's Attempts to cut it off — Peace and War — Eussian Eeinf orcements at Tashkale — Hailstones and Pigeons' Eggs — Spies' Tales of Bayazid — British Officers' Accounts of Scenes in Bayazid — Sir Arnold Kemball's Endeavours to stop the Kurdish Atro- cities — Mukhtar Pasha's little Affair with the Circassian — His stem Ideas of Discipline — Eussian Atrocities in Armenia — Utterly False — Disposition of Eussian Troops. Head Quarters TV. Turkish Corps. Camp above Sarbatan, July 19th. This morning we followed Mukhtar Pasha, who had struck his camp, and moved the majority of his army to this spot, which is situated on the same table-land as our late encampment, but about nine miles to the north- east. Immediately below us to the north, distant about five miles, lies the Eussian camp at Kizil-Tepe ; while four miles farther to the north is their entrenched position at Kharrak-Darrah. It is quite impossible to estimate their strength, but I judge it to be greater than ours. We have been further reinforced to-day by a division of twelve battahons, under Hussein Hami Pasha, from Kars. These are holding our old ground, and connect DRAWBACKS OF THE TURKISH POSITION. 245 US, in some measure, with the fortress. A body of 600 Circassians, under the command of Mahomed Schamyl Pasha, son of Schamyl, the old Circassian chief, also marched in here. This now brings up our force to fifty- two battalions infantry, five field batteries and one moun- tain battery, two regiments of regular and about 4,600 irregular cavalry. The force is very much extended, and, lining as we do the edge of the northern slopes of the Aladja Dagh, we must present a very formidable appearance to our foes who are on the plain some 2,500 feet below us. Although the mountain positions present many advantages to a general who prefers to act on the defensive, they are extremely distasteful to the men. Many regiments have to send three miles for water, and the supply of firewood is absolutely nil. The health of the men suffers from the extreme changes of tempera- ture. At midday the sun is overpoweringly hot, while at night the cold wind whistling over the snowy slopes of Ararat pierces our bones. With good English blankets we are enabled, to some extent, to defy the elements ; but the poor soldiers, with but a thin great- coat made of contractor's cloth as their only covering, must feel the chilly nights terribly. My telegrams denouncing the arrangements for the wounded have, I learn, been stopped in Constantinople. I regret this for two reasons — first, because I was in hope that by calling the attention of the British public to the destitute condition of these men, I might touch that chord of sympathy which never fails to raise in breasts of our fellow-countrymen a desire to aid in the relief of pain and distress ; and, secondly, I regret the circumstance, because by their folly in hiding the de- fects of their system, the Ottoman Grovernment allowed 246 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, the wounded men to He comparatively uncared for and untended for more than a month. When I tell yon that in the company of a very distinguished British officer I passed upwards of 1,000 wounded men, many hundreds obliged to walk seventy miles to the nearest hospital ; when I tell that with my own hands I distributed money, and, what was even more welcome, tobacco, to as many as my limited means would allow on riding from Erzeroum to Kuipri Kui ; when I tell you that I collected among our small English community here the sum of £55, which I was enabled, through the unselfish exertions of the American missionaries, to distribute in meat and suchlike luxuries among the wounded Turks, I think you will agree with me that however strong my telegrams may have been, they were actuated by no ill-feeling to the men with whom I am now daily thrown in contact. Would that the Ottoman authorities had awoke to the necessity of aiding these sick and wounded, for here we are in the immediate presence of a large hostile force, in expecta- tion of a great battle, and there is not a single litter or ambulance with the 4th Turkish Army Corps I From Bayazid we have just received the news that TergukassofF, who had succeeded in eluding Kurd Ismail Pasha, and who had effected a retreat to Igdyr to the east of the Balykly Lake, moved suddenly to the south, and threw himself on Faik Pasha, who, with six bat- talions, one field and one mountain battery — together some 8,000 irregulars — was besieging the two Russian battalions in the citadel. After a sharp encounter, Paik was driven back with the loss of three guns ; and know- ing that Ahmed Pasha was moving down from Moussin, Tergukassoff, collecting all the sick and wounded of the TEBGUEASSOFrS GENERALSHIP, 247 late garrison, abandoned the place, and crossed the fron- tier with the whole of his charge. Throughout this campaign the only Russian who has shown any pre- tension to generalship has been the man Tergukassoff. The manner in which he handled his men at Taghir on the 16th of June, when, with eight battalions, he thoroughly defeated the twelve which Mahomed Pasha opposed to him: the stubborn resistance with which he checked Mukhtar Pasha's onslaught on the 21st at Eshek Khaliass ; the gallant retreat which his half- division effected in front of Ahmed Pasha's twenty- three battalions ; and, finally, his dashing flank march from Igdyr to Bayazid, and the relief of that place in front of two Turkish corps, both superior to him in numbers, stamp him a general of division of the first class. Had the Czar many more like him, this war would have been completed a month ago. Continued reports of Kurdish outrages reach me from Van and Bayazid, where these outrages on Christians are now beginning to bear fruit in the literal starvation of the Turkish armies ; all the stores of grain, herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep belonging to Arme- nians were considered fair pillage by these gentry. Now that the troops are more than 100 miles from Erzeroum, and the difficulties of transport are being severely felt, Ahmed Pasha turned to the Christian villages for com- missariat supplies. Alas ! all the stores have been gutted and burnt by his auxiliaries, and the result is that his men are suffering the greatest privations. The conduct of Faik Pasha in permitting the escape of the Bayazid garrison is very severely criticised here, and it is rumoured (with what truth I do not know) that Mukhtar Pasha has applied for a court-martial on 248 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, him. While, however, Sabri Pasha, the commandant of Ardahan, and Monssa Pasha, the late Circassian chief, are permitted to go unpunished, it is absurd to suppose that any serious notice will be taken of the misdeeds of Paik. We hear rumours of a revolution in Daghestan, and that the Grand Duke has been forced to withdraw men from Loris MelikofF to support authority in these re- gions ; if this is the case, the inactivity of the Russian commanders is accounted for. At the same time it re- flects little credit on the Czar's Government that such a complication was not taken into consideration and due allowance made for it when the plan of campaign was laid out. Had the most ordinary forethought entered into the minds of the Russian authorities, a first-rate Power would scarcely have been driven back by the undisciplined, semi-organised reserves of the Ottoman Empire. Camp above Sarbatan, July 25th. The news from Bayazid is, of course, most conflicting, and it seems quite impossible to obtain a true statement of ^ what actually occurred. The story in vogue at head- quarters is that Ismail Pasha, although warned by spies of Tergukassoff 's movements, never attempted to succour Faik Pasha, but remained at Moussin with his twenty battalions, and that after a short fight, in which the Haideranly Kurds, who form no insignificant portion of Faik Pasha's force, did not distinguish themselves, Tergukassofi* drove the Turkish commander back on Te- periskui with heavy slaughter, capturing three mountain- guns. My experience of Orientals leads me not to place too implicit trust on head-quarter rumours, and when I scan Mukhtar Pasha's official telegrams in your columns CONFLICTING DESPATCHES. 249 and compare them with the events that occurred under my own eyes, I am not tempted to change my want of faith. Ismail Pasha's official despatch ran as follows: — ''A Russian division, consisting of 12 battalions, eight regiments of cavalry, and 30 guns, coming from Erivan, arrived before Bayazid, evidently witb the intention of surprising Munib Pasha, who was occupying the hills commanding the town. The enemy being in very superior numbers, Munib Pasha was forced to fall back under a heavy musketry fire. On hearing of the Russian advance, I im- mediately detached a brigade of six battalions, one battery, and 400 cavalry, under Hakif Bey, who attacked the enemy with much spirit. After a sanguinary contest of some hours, the Russians were put to flight, leaving on the field, besides a large number of dead, many thousand stand of arms, several yburgons, and a large train of pro- vision wagons. I now am myself marching down to efiect a junction with Faik Pasha's corps, and intend to make a combined attack on the enemy. Send immediately large quantities of provisions and ammunition, as we are in need of both." This story differs considerably from the Commander-in- Chief's report, which acknowledges the success of the Eussians, who captured three guns, and succeeded in carrying off all their sick and wounded and blowing up the citadel when they evacuated it. From an intelligent unofficial source I obtained the following information, and as I have had an opportunity of hearing what Ghazi Mahomed Pasha (Schamyl's son) — who, with his Circassians, was present at the fight — says on the subject, and as it agrees in the main with my informant's story, I give it without any hesitation as the really true account of the battle of Bayazid. On Friday, the 13th of July, a Russian division, consisting of twelve battalions of infantry, thirty-two field-guns, two regiments of dragoons, and five of Cossacks, arrived at dawn in front of Bayazid from Erivan. Munib Pasha, 250 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. who, with four battalions, five field-pieces, and 1,200 cavalry, held two hills to the east of the citadel, com- pletely commanding the ground, on the approach of the enemy, seeing their superior strength, evacuated his posi- tion, and endeavoured to fall back on Faik Pasha's force at Teperiskui. Rapidly moving forward his cavalry, Ter- gukassoff cut off Munib Pasha's retreat, and compelled him to accept battle. In the meantime the Eussian artillery and infantry came up, and a sharp encounter ensued. Munib Pasha being unable to retire on Teperis- kui, owing to the Eussian cavalry being on the road, fell back towards Moussin, and at about 2 p.m. was reinforced by Hakif Bey's brigade, consisting of eight battalions, one battery, and 1,200 cavalry, which Ismail Pasha had detached to his support. The fight then continued until 5 o'clock, when the Turks fled in disorder to Kizil Diza, about ten miles N.W. of Bayazid. Tergukassoff then fell back to the town, where he remained the night, making arrangements for the transport of the sick and wounded of the beleaguered garrison to Erivan. On the 15th he moved off unattacked, blowing up the citadel and partially destroying the town. Thus, in face of a force at least double his own strength, and which was fully aware, not only of his movements, but of their object, Tergukassoff, by a rapid march and brilliant vic- tory, succeeded in relieving the garrison of Bayazid, who for twenty-three days had been closely besieged by the faint-hearted Faik, who, though his forces numbered 13,000 men, feared to assault the citadel, with its gallant garrison of 1,270 men. The battle of Taghir, the retreat from Zaidikan, and the relief of Bayazid, stamp the com- mander of the thirty-eighth Eussian division a general of no mean order. Were the other divisional leaders or the THE VILLANOUS KURDS, 251 Commander-in-Chief of the same calibre as Tergukassoff, I much doubt if our advance from Zewin would have been unopposed, or if we should have relieved K^rs without a struggle. It is simply impossible to estimate the losses of the Turks in the engagement on the 13th inst. Mukhtar Pasha acknowledges to 500 killed, besides wounded and prisoners, as well as three mountain guns which fell into the hands of the Russians ; and this tallies in the main with my own information, which gives three guns (not mentioning whether field or mountain), 800 pri- soners, and 900 killed and wounded. The Commander- in-Chief has sent down instructions for Faik Pasha to be placed under arrest, and tried for failing to afford support to his advanced brigade under Munib Pasha. Prom all sides we hear complaints as to the scarcity of provisions in the Bayazid, Van, Dijadin, and Kara Kilissa districts — a scarcity amounting to a famine. The Turkish commanders telegraph daily to Erzeroum for corn, grain, flour, and meat to be sent out imme- diately and in the largest possible quantities, as every village store has been clean swept by the Kurds. It appears that these worthies, of whom there are some 10,000 with the Turkish right wing, have been roam- ing over the country, taking whatever they pleased, and murdering any one who said them nay. Such cattle as they could not drive away they slaughtered and left to rot in the sun. Grain that they could not carry away was either burnt or thrown into rivers. It appears that thirty Kurds were captured by the Rus- sians after the afiair of Bayazid. These were imme- diately brought before a court-martial, and twenty of them sentenced to death. Of these many were inhabi- 252 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. tants of Eussian territory, one Ayub Aga, the son of Jaifir Agha, chief of the Zilan Kurds, who dwell on the left bank of the Araxes. This man held the rank of honorary colonel in the Eussian army, and was decorated by the Emperor Alexander on his visit to Alexandropol some years ago. Having been convicted of atrocities on Eussian prisoners in Bayazid as well as of faithlessness to his salt, he well merited the punish- ment he received. The past week has been so devoid of incident that it seems hardly worth while to attempt to chronicle the doings of the camp for the benefit of your readers. Incessant rain, with vivid lightning, varied the dull monotony of our existence both yesterday and on Mon- day. Two miserable days indeed ; when to write was impossible, for my paper was reduced to the consistency of pulp if I removed it from my sabretache for a moment, and my brain so sodden with the atmosphere that all ideas were as vapid as the air around me. Night was a relief indeed, and in spite of the damp surroundings, in spite of the prognostications that damp blankets foreboded rheumatism, fever, ague, any and all the ills that Oriental travellers are exposed to, I slept as soundly as man could wish. At six a.m. I was rudely awakened by Sir Arnold Kemball's orderly in- forming him that the Eussians were advancing in force, and our troops moving off to meet them. Damp boots, damp saddles, and damp coats were quickly rubbed down, and in a very few minutes our horses were at the door, and we ready to accompany the Commander-in- Chief ; but, in spite of the agitated assurances of the excited Moolazim (Sir Arnold's Turkish orderly officer), there seemed to be an air of peacefulness over the THE ENEMY'S MOVEMENTS. 253 Mushir's camp that boded of anything rather than an impending attack ; so, leaving our horses by the tents, we moved on to the edge of the ridge about a couple of hundred yards from us, and sat down to watch the progress of events. There was no doubt as to a movement on the part of the enemy, for half way between Kizil-Tepe and Sarbatan were three regiments of cavalry, five battalions of infantry, and two field batteries, while between Tainalik and Jelanly were a couple of cavalry regiments. Our 1st cavalry brigade, under Mustafa Pasha, was moved down to Chela, and our second, under Edhem Pasha, from Bolanik to Hadji-veli, and at one time I certainly thought an engagement was imminent. The Russian horsemen, however, dismounted, and commenced feeding their animals on the rich green grass with which the plain below us is covered, and our Circas- sians, mindful of the losses they sustained almost on the very spot now occupied by Eussian dragoons only one short week ago, never ventured beyond the range of our guns on the ridge below Kharkana. As the enemy certainly was not likely to run under the fire of their Krupps, my expectations were disappointed, for at 11 a.m. the Eussians mounted and retired to their camp in rear of the Kizil-Tepe hill, the infantry pre- ceding the cavalry by about half an hour. I cannot imagine what was the object of this demonstration, unless it was to give the men a marching-out parade to warm them after the damp chilliness of the past two days. Thursday, Juli/ 26th. This morning I learnt that the Commander-in-Chief had yesterday detached 1,200 cavalry, under Major- 254 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. General Mustafa Pasha, on a reconnaissance across the Arpa Chai to Mastara, in Eussian territory, and that, fearing their retreat might be threatened, he meditated moving out with a strong force to support them at 9 a.m. Previous to that hour an unusual stir was seen in the Eussian camp at Gadikler, and presently two battalions of infantry, twenty squadrons of cavalry, and two horse batteries were seen moving out in the direction of Aras-Oghlu, evidently with the in- tention of cutting off Mustafa Safvet Pasha's retreat. Marching down the banks of the Arpa Tchai, this brigade drew down upon it the fire of the troops posted in the Nakharji-Tepe, and as they debouched into the plain between Utch Tepe and Aras-Oghlu, Edhem Pasha, at the head of a body of Circassians, moved out to oppose them, the Mushir supporting him by a heavy fire from two batteries, which on the first announcement of the Eussian advance had been ordered out to Chela. This was replied to with much spirit by the Eus- sians. The Commander-in-Chief, however, at 11 a.m., advanced three brigades of infantry to support the Circassians, who were contenting themselves with firing at the enemy's skirmishers, never attempting to come to close quarters. On this the enemy retired to Aras- Oghlu, and occupied a ridge to the east of the village, whence it would have been difficult to dislodge him. Desultory firing between the Circassians and the infantry skirmishers of the Eussian force now was the order of the day, and it was not until 2 p.m. that Loris Melikoff advanced a division from the Gadikler camp to support his detachment. It was a pretty sight to see the men parade in front of their snowy tents, and, as the sun shone on their white caps and glistened on ''PEACE AND WAR." 255 their bayonets, they presented a fair enough spectacle for any artist to delineate. The column was headed by four regiments of dragoons, moving in column of troops, and in splendid order ; in rear of them were two horse batteries, followed by two more cavalry corps. As they were without the white head-dress, I concluded they were Cossacks. Immediately behind these men was a battery, and then, in half -battalion columns, came two infantry brigades, numbering twelve battalions — fine, strong corps, too, numbering fully 800 bayonets. As these moved out to the eastward, another force advanced straight to the front on Sarbatan, consisting of four battalions, one battery, and five squadrons of horse. The scene now witnessed would have been an admirable study for a picture of " peace and war." The opposing armies, in all the pomp and circumstance of war, moved in compact order over the ground, already dotted with the gathered sheaves of corn, whilst the husbandmen, regardless of the roar of cannon in their vicinity, con- tinued their reaping with the stoicism and nonchalance of which only a Mahomedan is capable, whilst here and there was to be seen a herdsman quietly watch- ing his flocks browsing on the stubbly fields. In the low ground between Tainalik and Kharkana, lay one of these ; for a long time his goats were a subject of discussion amongst us, one thinking they were a Russian column well in advance of the main body, the other maintaining they were aiximals. The first shell whistling over their heads served to strengthen the delusion, for, frightened by the noise, and awakening to the sense of danger, the goatherd commenced driving his herds towards our camp, and they in turn, startled by the fire, which now became hotter, spread out into irregular 256 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. order, and running forward some fifty or sixty paces, stopped, and gazed round in bewilderment. The anxiety of the villager to get safe away was natural, though ludicrous, and we could not help indulging in a hearty laugh as a few Circassians galloped forward, and soon covered the retreat of their future meals. Being thus threatened, Mukhtar, by a heavy attack on his front, withdrew his force from the attack on Aras-Oghlu, moved to his left, and opposed the Eussian division, who, covering their front with a long cloud of skirmishers, supported on either flank by a battery, moved on until they came within range of the Nakharji- Tepe. On our left another column advanced, covered with cavalry and guns, but on nearing Sarbatan it was halted, and opened a desultory fire, freely responded to by our guns. In the meantime, the Eussian general detached five squadrons of Cossacks, who threatened the left flank of our troops near Bolanik. Grhazi Mahomed at once went out to repel this attack, and though in doing so his Cir- cassians came under the fire of a field-battery, posted on the lower slopes of the Kizil-Tepe Hill, they charged the Cossacks most gallantly, driving them back on to their guns. Neither party seemed willing to advance ; the Eus- sians not caring to come under the fire from our en- trenched position, and the Turks not venturing to face an overwhelming force of cavalry in the plain; so at sunset both armies retired to their own camp, a fright- ful hailstorm considerably hastening their movements. Taking advantage of the diversion on their right, Meli- koff* pushed forward a couple of regiments of cavalry, two batteries, and two battalions to Ani — which they IDLENESS AND BOUGH WEATHER. 257 occupied unopposed, and held for a couple of hours, but unaccountably evacuated about sunset. One thing I learnt, which up to that time had escaped the notice of the Commander-in-Chief, namely, that a strong cavalry camp had been formed at Tash- kale, about twelve miles to the north-east, and that the Gadikler camp contained one complete division of infantry. This had been a moot point iji camp, the Turks maintaining that there were only cavalry there, while the English of&cers were equally certain that infantry formed the front line of the encampment. ^ I trust you will excuse the shortness of this letter. It has rained heavily the last three days. Everything in my tent is thoroughly saturated. I myself am wet through, and, though I fain would write more, I feel that the effects of quinine and the aching in my bones are but too sure indications that even damp blankets are preferable to wringing clothes. Camp above Sarbatan, Fifteen Miles East OF Kars, July 26th. The past week has not been marked by any stirring incident. Continual rain, violent hailstorms, and the absence of all military movements have made the mo- notony of camp-life almost insupportable. Our days are spent in watching the two Russian camps at Kharrak- Darrah and Gradikler, and vainly endeavouring to discover the symptoms of advance ; our nights in futile attempts to make our tents waterproof. Our efforts in these directions were not attended with success till noon yes- terday, when a long string of cslv^Iyj, four^ons and guns moving from Alexandropol to Gadikler told us that the long-expected reinforcements had arrived, and that our R 258 THE CAMFAIGN IN ABMENIA, eyesight Lad not been strained in vain. Alas ! the endeavour to keep a whole tent over our heads was less successful, for the most violent hailstorm I ever wit- nessed broke over the camp, and raged with frightful violence for two hours. The hail, breaking the outer covering of our tents, drenched everything inside, and caused us a night of misery. Until now, I had been wont to regard the stories of hailstones as large as pigeons' eggs as travellers' tales, but now I awoke to the fact that they were indeed a reality. Much damage was caused not only to the tents, which, originally made of weak material, had from expo- sure become quite rotten, but also to the sheep and cattle in the commissariat camp, many of which were killed by the violence of the storm. The crops in the neighbour- hood of Sarbatan and Kharkana also suffered greatly. The reports I have received of the relief of Bayazid reflect the greatest credit on Greneral Tergukassoff, the commandant of the 38th division of Infantry. It appears that after the battle of Eshek Khahass, on the 21st of June, where, with eight battalions he success- fully resisted the continued assaults of Mukhtar Pasha with nineteen battalions, he retired on Zaidikan, where he remained until the 27th, when, being threatened in the rear, he fell back through Kara Kilissa and Djiadin, across the frontier to Igdyr. In this retreat he was cautiously followed by Ismail Pasha, who, however, never ventured to attack him, but contented himself with encamping at Moussin, on the western shore of the Balykly Lake. Ismail Pasha did not attempt to cut off his retreat, but remained satisfied with closely investing the citadel of Bayazid, the garrison of which on the 13th had suffered a severe repulse at the hands of Paik Pasha TRE BELIEF OF BAYAZID. 259 near Teperiskiii, whither they had advanced to attack him, falling back into the citadel in some confusion. They lost many horses and some prisoners, and the Tm-ks pressing them closely, invested the place. As might have been expected, the most strenuous efforts were made by the Grand Duke to effect the relief of the beleaguered garrison ; and on the 10th of July General Tergukassoff, having been reinforced by four battalions, bringing up his strength to thirty-two field guns, three regiments of dragoons, four of Cossacks, and twelve infantry battalions,- moved rapidly down on Bayazid. Although it seems that Ismail Pasha had warning of this movement — indeed, there is no doubt that he was aware of it, for on the morning of the 9th he rode over to Teperiskui, where Faik Pasha was encamped, and spent the day with him — it was not until that morn ing that he detached a brigade, under Hakif Bey, to reinforce the six battalions, two batteries, and about 10,000 irregulars who were besieging the town. At dawn on the 13th General Tergukassoff appeared on the north-east front of the place, where Major-General Munib Pasha, with three mountain guns, four batta- lions, and 1,200 cavalry, was holding a commanding position. Finding himself opposed to such a superior force, Munib evacuated his position and endeavoured to fall back on Teperiskui. A rapid movement of Eus- sian cavalry cut off his retreat. Munib was forced to fight his way to the north, where Hakif Bey's brigade, consisting of eight battalions, a battery, and some 600 horse, was seen advancing. A junction was effected ; but General Tergukassoff 's onslaught was so vigorous, that the whole force was driven back on Kizil Diza, with the loss of three guns, 500 killed, and 800 pri- R 2 260 THE CAMPAIGN IN ABMUNIA. soners. Upwards of 1,500 wounded are reported to have been sent into Van. Faik Pasha never attempted to support Munib Pasha, and well merits the court- martial which Mukhtar Pasha threatens to bring him before. From the accounts of two British ofl&cers who have visited Bayazid since the relief, it appears that the whole town is in ruins and filled with the bodies of Christians whom the Kurds ruthlessly slaughtered. The Turkish soldiers for six days were employed in burying the dead citizens. In this crisis Mukhtar Pasha has not only shown himself a gallant and able officer, but also a firm disciplinarian and a humane, courteous gentleman. He openly spoke of this mas- sacre to Sir Arnold Kemball, and not only assured him that he had given orders for the ringleaders to be shot, but that he had also sent instructions for the Hai- deranly Kurds, numbering more than 8,000 men, to be disarmed and sent home. He complained of the ex- treme difficulty of apprehending the delinquents, as they were always warned of their danger by their chiefs, and got out of the way. I may give two instances to show his determination to conduct the war on principles that cannot fail to merit the approval of European nations. On the 10th inst. a report was made to him by the head man of the village of Tchiflik Kaiah, near Kars, that two Circassians the preceding evening had ridden into the place and stolen a lamb, and that, on being remonstrated with by the owner, one of them raised his Winchester rifle and shot the villager dead. As the man was easily identified, the Mushir summoned a court-martial, who found the Circassian guilty, where- upon the Commander-in-Chief gave orders that he "RUSSIAN ATROCITIES.'' 261 should be hanged. All the chiefs begged his life, and one went so far as to threaten that if the man was hanged he would retire to his home with his whole tribe. Undeterred by this, Mnkhtar carried the sen- tence into execution, and, to the dishonour of the irre- gular cavalry, I grieve to say that 1,100 men deserted the following day. The second instance is as follows : — Yesterday 500 irregular cavalry arrived from Diarbekir. Eeports had preceded them as to their vague notions of meu7n and fuum, and, consequently, on their arrival in camp the Commander-in-Chief paraded them, and informed them that if any man was brought up for the theft of a single egg he would hang him, and if the culprit could not be found, he would cause the whole detachment to draw lots in his presence, and that he on whom the lot fell would suffer. I must now, in the most emphatic manner, deny aU reports of Eussian atrocities in Armenia. I have had the privilege of accompanying Sir Arnold KembaU throughout this campaign, and, should any atrocities have been committed, I should assuredly have seen or heard of them. On the 31st of May, in company with Sir Arnold KembaU, I proceeded towards Olti, and on the way met hundreds of the Ardahan fugitives. So far from their accusing the Eussians of cruelties, they were loud in praise of their kindness, and assured us that they had received free passes to their homes, which they showed us, and also five days' provisions. They told us that several Grerman doctors had been retained to look after the Turkish sick and wounded, and that all those who wished and were able to travel to their homes were permitted to depart. In addition to the testimony of those men, I may mention that I have marched with the 262 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. Turkish army in the wake of the retiring Eussian forces from Zewin to this place, and that so far from there being any signs of oppression, it is impossible to believe that we were in a country forming the seat of war. All Mahomedan villages are left untouched, cattle feeding on the pasture-land, the crops ripe for the sickle, and all seems as if smiling peace, not grim war, was around us. To-day a village happened to be between the Turkish cavalry and the Russian guns, and as shells screamed overhead we saw the phlegmatic Turk coolly driving his goats under cover. Does this look as if the Russians really committed the atrocities of which they are accused? One instance, and one only, has come under my notice, which happened in this wise: — The villagers of Tchiflik, to the north of Ears, were warned by the Russians that as their hamlet lay between the fortress and the siege-batteries, they must either move into the fortress or into the Russian lines. They not only refused to do either, but were strongly suspected of giving information to the Commandant of Kars which enabled him to surprise the besiegers. Consequently, the villagers were driven into the fortress at the point of the bayonet. There are stories of women being vio- lated, and of men who refused to embrace Christianity being sent to Siberia. These are all false. I heard the story of Tchiflik from the lips of one of the sufferers, a man who, having held the post of personal orderly to Sir Penwick Williams in the siege of 1855, would not have hesitated to tell the truth to an Englishman. He denied all the statements except that they were forcibly driven out of their homes, and I feel sure that any English general in similar circumstances would have done the same. Were I to harp on the atrocities committed "TURKISH atrocities:' 263 by Kurds and Circassians on the Christian inhabitants of Armenia I should be dubbed a " Eussophile/' and probably disbelieved. All I can say is that between Kuipri-Kui and this I have not seen one Christian village which has not been abandoned in consequence of the cruelties committed on the inhabitants. All have been ransacked, many burnt, upwards of 5,000 Christians in the Van district have fled to Eussian territory, and women and children are wandering about naked, bereft of their honour ^ and despoiled of all they possess. If Turkey had more men like Mukhtar Pasha, her. future might yet be one of prosperity ; but when her rulers are of the stamp of the men who at Bayazid were powerless to stop the massacre, it is no wonder that many look on her as doomed. The Eussians now are in three divisions in front of us, the main and strongest being at Kharrak-Darrah, the second at Gadikler, the third at Tashkale, in Eussian territory. Greneral Tergukassoff, with his left wing, is at Igdyr, and Komaroff, with a small brigade, is holding Ardahan. "When they advance they will find a powerful army opposed to them, who have been raised to the highest state of enthusiasm by recent events, whose equipment and organisation have been vastly improved by the energy of the Commander-in-Chief, and who, thanks to the zeal of Djameel and Hassan Pashas at Trebizond and Erzeroum, are now well supplied with commissariat and ordnance stores; indeed, until very strong reinforcements arrive, a forward movement on the part of the enemy is impossible. CHAPTER XIII. HEAD-QUAUTEUS, FOURTH TURKISH ARMY CORPS. The Russian Retreat — Macliiiiery of Turkish Staff — Medical Department — An Amateur Opinion on Russian Reconnaissances — A Skirmish on the ' 28th — Cossacks left to hear the hrunt of the Fight — Dash of the Circas- sians — More Russian Reinforcements — Story of a Deserter —Strength of the Invading Army — Demoralisation after Defeat at Zewin — Russian Casual- ties — Projected Assault at Kars — Value of our Cavalry — Russians occupy Ani unobserved — Mukhtar attacks them — Fresh Details from Bayazid — The Instigation of the Massacre — Sir Arnold Xemball demands their Punishment — Positions of Ismail Pasha and Tergukassoff — Turkish official Telegrams — Their close Adherence to Truth — Interchange of Civihties between Melikoff and Mukhtar — Ahmed Vefyk Pasha and the Stafford House Surgeons. Camp, Heights above Sarbatan, Aug. 2nd. Throughout the afternoon of Friday, the 27th July, groups of officers might be seen congregated in front of the head-quarters tents, anxiously scanning the Eussian camp at Gadikler. Their excited looks and vehement gestures betokened some move on the part of the enemy ; so, inspired by curiosity, I strolled down about sunset from the English camp and joined the party. I certainly was not prepared to see the stolid Turk betray so much eagerness and pleasure, nor was I prepared for the news which was vehemently imparted by some of them — namely, that the Russians were in full retreat, that tents had been struck, and that cavalry, artillery, and infantry were moving in long strings towards Goomri. This has been reported to me so often during THE TURKISH STAFF. 265 the past fortnight that I must own that I received it with some incredulity, which was not lessened by the fact that my field-glasses, on which I most particularly pride myself, failed to show any movement of troops, except that the left of the enemy's position had been strengthened by four battalions, and that their artillery and cavalry encaijapments had considerably increased. ' I mentioned my doubts as to the retirement, and my certainty as to reinforcements, to my friends on the staff; but my announcement was received with scorn, and not caring to argue the point, I, after again satis- fying myself as to the actual position of afiairs, returned to my own tent, struck with wonder at the absence of all trustworthy intelligence in camp, and marvelling greatly at the smooth way in which the machinery, rude and primitive as it is, of the Turkish stafi" worked. Un- trained men, who had never handled a rifle in their lives, have in a few short weeks been converted into obedient, enthusiastic, and workman-like troops; and this, too, has been achieved by officers notoriously inefficient, and who, in this instance, are no exception to the rule. The various departments which are deemed in European armies so absolutely necessary for the harmonious working of the whole, are here wanting — adjutant-general, quartermaster-general, commissary- general, paymaster-general, advocate-general — are not to be found here. A chief of the staff, aided by two young officers from the military school at Constantinople, and one civilian secretary, comprise the staff at head-quarters. Divisional generals are provided with one staff- officer ; officers commanding brigades with none. There is not an officer on the staff capable of making a military sketch. It was only last week that a supply of maps was 266 THE GAIIPAIGN IN ARMENIA. received, and these are copies of the Eussian ordnance survey. The men have received no pay for upwards of two years ; they are poorly clad and hadly shod ; their rations are limited in quantity, and of bad quality ; our hospitals are destitute of the commonest medicines, and there are but four doctors among 40,000 men. In fact, the administration has left no stone unturned to insure the discontent of their men and the defeat of their armies ; and yet, in spite of all, in spite of the lack of officers, in spite of their faulty organisation, the Turks have checked and held at bay an army far their superior in numbers and equipment, and one which confidently expected to conquer Armenia in six weeks. In fact, looking at the Russian troops as I have now seen them in some half-dozen encounters, there seems nothing to prevent them doing what they please with the Turks, and yet they hold back. Their troops, in appearance, in manoeuvring, in organisation, in marching power, leave nothing to be desired ; and yet, with the one exception of General Tergukassofi*, their leaders appear to be men of little intelligence and no dash. The nume- rous reconnaissances they have conducted the last few days have been marked by the grossest incapacity. Although large bodies of troops, generally numbering from 10,000 to 15,000 men, have been employed in the course of these operations, detached troops have been pushed forward unsupported, and often sacrificed use- lessly. On the morning of the 28th one of these re- connaissances was made. At dawn two battalions of infantry, four regiments of cavalry, and three field-bat- teries were detached from Gadikler, and, marching by Aras-Oglu and Ani, passed down the Arpa to our right GALLANT CAVALRY COMBAT. 267 rear. At the same time five regiments of cavalry, two field-batteries, and twelve infantry battalions, advanced from the Kharrak-Darrah camp, by Chalif Oghlu, towards Vezinkui. This place is held by Hassan Hami Pasha, late commandant of Kars, with twelve battalions, two batteries, and a few hundred irregular horse. Fearing for this position, Mnkhtar Pasha detached Major General Edhem Pasha with his cavalry brigade, num- bering nearly 3,000 sabres, to the Yagni Tepe, a lofty conical hill some four miles north of Vezinkui to ope- rate on the Eussian flank. By the time Edhem Pasha had reached this position the lower slopes were held by a body of Cossacks, while the main Eussian column, passing round the western slopes, had come under fire of the guns on the Vezinkui position. They replied vigorously to this, and, rapidly • moving forward his cavalry, the Eussian general was enabled to capture a small convoy of provisions en route from Xars to the head-quarter camp. In the meantime, a very dashing cavalry combat was going on on the eastern slopes of the Grreat Yagni Tepe, where a regiment of Cossacks — some say Lesghians- — ^were endeavouring to ward off the flank attack of Edhem Pasha. Why this regiment was not supported by guns it is difiicult to say ; and why it was not drawn off when the main column retired is inex- plicable. After most gallantly holding his own, entirely unsupported for more than an hour, the Cossack com- mander, seeing that the main body were clear out of action, endeavoured to draw off his men ; but being left entirely unsupported, the Circassians, who all day had behaved with the greatest gallantry, closed in on them and pursued them round the hill with great vigour. On emerging on the north side, however, a few rockets, 268 THE GAMPAIGJSf IN ARMENIA judiciously planted in the midst of the Circassians, sen- sibly cooled their ardour, and they wisely drew off on seeing two infantry battalions of the line manoeuvring in support of the rocket-troop. The Russian com- mander now drew up his men in the plain to the east of the Yagni Tepe, and endeavoured to entice the Turkish troops away from the hills ; but Easchid Pasha, who had taken out an infantry brigade and a battery to support the Circassians, refused to expose his men ; so, after wait- ing for more than two hours, and seeing there was no chance of provoking a conflict, the Eussian commander retired unmolested to Kharrak-Darrah. In the mean- time, four infantry battalions, two regiments of cavahy, and a battery had moved out from Gadikler towards Sarbatan, with the endeavour to entice Mukhtar Pasha from his entrenchments, but without success, and after remaining on the ground until 4 p.m., this brigade also retired. It is impossible to estimate the Eussian loss. That they carried off some dead I am confident, yet I am not prepared to receive the Turkish official reports, which say they left 300 dead on the ground, for I went over the field immediately after the engagement with Sir Arnold Kemball and his indefatigable aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Maitland Dougall, E.N., and we could only discover three Eussian bodies, which, in conformity with Turkish usage, had been stripped; and two, I regret to say, were grievously mutilated. Eight Eussian prisoners, Mahomedan irregular cavalry soldiers, fell into our hands. Our published loss amounted to 30 killed and 161 wounded. From the prisoners we learnt that up to the 27th four regiments of cavalry, four battalions of infantry, *'FBOM INFORMATION BEGBIVEBr 269 and three field-batteries, had marched 'into camp from Groomri ; and that rumours were prevalent at that place that peace or an armistice would be concluded in the course of the next few days. I am forgetting the Eussian brigade which marched round Ani on Saturday morning : it returned about sunset ; but I am unable to report its movements, except that it never came into collision with our troops. From a deserter of a Eussian dragoon regiment, who gave himself up to our outposts on the 29th, I have learnt some details of the enemy's forces, which may account for the want of success achieved by General Loris MelikofE in the campaign, as well as for his in- activity at the present moment. It appears from this man's statement that at the outbreak of the war the Eussian army of the Caucasus consisted of seven com- plete infantry divisions — namely, the Grenadier, the 19th, 20th, 21st, 38th, 39th, and 41st divisions ; two divisions of cavalry, five brigades of horse-artiUery, and eight batteries of Cossack horse -artillery. Each infantry division consisted of four regiments of four battalions and a brigade of field-artillery, consisting of two 4 -pounder batteries and two 9-pounders. I now speak of German "pfiinde." The field-batteries have eight guns, the horse -artillery brigades have four batteries of six guns, Krupp's 4-pounders, and the Cossack batteries have fom- Krupp 3 -pounder mountain guns. There were also three - rocket batteries attached to the cavalry divisions. General Melikoff's army consisted of the Grenadier and 39th divisions complete, one brigade from the 19th and one from the 20th division. The Batoum forces consisted of the 41st division complete and a second division composed of brigades of other 270 THE CAMPAIGN IK ARMENIA. corps. General Tergukassoff, operating on Bayazid and the line of the Araxes, has the 38th division complete. The distribution of the cavalry and artillery I cannot give you with any accuracy, except that I know the 2nd division of cavalry, with a rocket troop, was with Tergukassoff, who had the artillery of his own division complete. Loris Melikoff had eighty field-guns, one rocket troop, and a cavalry division, consisting of three dragoon and four Cossack regiments ; but his force has been considerably streugthened since the commencement of operations. The 39th division was detached to aid in the capture of Ardahan, and subsequently rejoined head-quarters at Ears ; and the Grenadier division pro- ceeded, under General Heimann, to force Mukhtar Pasha back from Zevin. According to my informant's story, it appears that this division suffered so heavily in the battle of the 25 th of June that on its return march it was moved round by Vezinkui and Ani into Eussian territory, and never rejoined the head-quarters at all. Where it has been sent he is unable to say; but it would be either to Erivan or Tiflis, as it has never even passed through Goomri. The story of another deserter, a Pole, who was servant to the commandant of artillery, confirms this, and says the Grenadier division had to fall back owing to failure of ammunition, and that for three days after the fight the men had no rations. It must be borne in mind, however, that deserters, in order to insure good treatment, are very likely to exaggerate the diflBculties of the army they leave, and that not only do the Eussian official accounts put down the casualties at under 1,000, but that the numerous letters from officers found in the intercepted letter-bag on the 29th of June, while freely criticising Heimann's dispositions, HOW AN ASSAULT ON KAB8 FELL THROUGH, 271 never put the loss at more than from 900 to 1,000 men. The Polish gunner gave some interesting details regard- ing his own corps during the siege of Kars. He stated the number of casualties to have been seventy killed and 156 wounded, and he added that four guns had been disabled, one from a Turkish shot and three from the rapidity of their own fire. He also said that during the twelfth night of the siege all arrangements were made for assaulting the fortress, and that at 10 p.m. the columns were all drawn up, and an extra ration of liquor served out to the men, when the accidental dis- charge of a gun in one of the Russian batteries alarmed the Turks, who at once opened a very heavy fire from the Mukhliss and Karadagh redoubts, and the attempt had to be abandoned. This account was confirmed by Hassan Bey, colonel of the Turkish artillery, who states that on that night a gun was fired from the siege bat- teries, which he vigorously replied to on the supposition that an assault was intended. On Sunday, the 29th of July, no movements Were made; but on Monday, the 30th, at noon, we were somewhat surprised at seeing a hurried stir in the head- quarters camp. We learnt that the Eussians had sud- denly moved down from Tashkale and occupied Ani in force. To mount our horses and canter through the tents of the first division to the extreme right of our position was, perhaps, the work of half an hour, and I could scarcely credit my senses when I saw encamped on the plains of Ani a division of infantry, four field- batteries, and two regiments of cavalry. The whole road from Tashkale was covered vnth strings of waggons and detachments of cavaby. The fact that this move •was carried out in broad daylight, within full view of 272 THE CAMPAIGN IN AJRMENIA. the troops on the Nakharji-Tepe, within two miles of our right cavalry brigade, and within five miles of our main camp, shows of what miserable material our horse are composed, and what enormous difficulties Mukhtar Pasha has to contend against. It was not until the greater portion of this division was encamped, and their outposts, consisting of two battalions, twelve field-guns, and two regiments of cavalry, had been pushed forwards to the vicinity of Chela, that the Commander-in-Chief learnt the news, when he at once detached Lieutenant- Q-eneral Easchid Pasha with fourteen battalions and three mountain guns to attack from the south, while he, with both cavalry brigades, moved down towards Chela to engage the enemy's outposts. As he advanced across the open between Kozludja and Chela, the Eussian guns opened fire, and after a round or two succeeded in getting the range of the Circassians, who immediately com- menced tailing away in such numbers that Mukhtar deemed it advisable to order them to retire at once, when Edhcm Pasha moved them round to the northern slopes of the Nakharji-Tepe, where, under cover of its guns, and also protected by the extremely rugged nature of the ground, they were presumably safe from a uxacj^ . In order to divert attention from Easchid Pasha's movement, Mukhtar engaged the Eussian artillery in a duel with his horse batteries, and threatened them with an infantry attack, but all was of no avail, for owing to the deep precipitous ravines to the south of Ani, which is a ruined fortified town, in a very commanding position, and possessing great capabilities of defence, Easchid Pasha was forced to draw ofi* his men without even threatening the place ; and, finding all opposition with- THE MA88ACBE AT BAYAZID. 273 drawn, the Russian general called in his outposts, and continued the pitching of his camp. I have received fresh details concerning the lament- able occurrences at Bayazid, and as they come from an official source, I am justified in claiming some atten- tion for them. I gather that after the engagement at Teperiskui on the 13th of June, between Faik Pasha's division and the Russian garrison, the latter, being over- powered, fell back on the citadel. The infantry suc- ceeded in reaching it in safety; but the cavaby were surrounded by some 6,000 Kurdish cavalry, under a Moolah, named Sheik Jelaludeen, and called upon to surrender. Their fate I have previously related, and to dwell upon it can do no good. After deliberately mur- dering the Cossacks, the Kurds, under their fanatical leaders, Sheik Jelaludeen, Obeidullah of Nari, Sheik Pekar of Vastan, Fahim Effendi, Mahomed Beg of Julamerik, Sheik Tell, and his nephew Osman, both of Sert, and Takhir Beg of Van, entered Bayazid. The scene that ensued was one of unparalleled horror. The town contained 165 Christian families, and all of the men, women, and children were ruthlessly put to the sword. A Turkish officer who visited the town. a few days subsequently states that there was not a single inhabitant left; all had fled, and, including Russian prisoners, upwards of 2,400 people had been kiUed. In every house he entered small groups of dead were lying shockingly mutilated and in the most revolting and indecent positions. Captain M'Calmont, who visited the place shortly after the Russian relief, states that it is entirely deserted, and a mere heap of ruins; also, that soldiers were employed for six days in burying the dead, the number of whom it was impossible to estimate. On s 274 THE CAMPAIGN IK AMMENIA. hearing of this massacre, Mukhtar Pasha at once sent down orders to have the Kurds disbanded and dis- armed, and their ringleaders shot. They, however, anticipated the first of these instructions by throwing down their arms and deserting en masse on the approach of Tergukassoff's column on the 10th of July. Safe in their mountain fastnesses, these miscreants will defy the Commander-in-Chief's orders, and unless Europe sternly demands their execution, and deputes officials to see the sentences carried into effect, they will escape. We are very fortunate in possessing an officer of Sir Arnold Kemball's calibre with the Turkish head-quarters. He has strongly impressed on Mukhtar Pasha the necessity of inflicting summary punishment on these vile scoundrels. Immediately communications were opened between Mukhtar Pasha's forces and the Van column, he detached Captain M'Calmont to Ismail Pasha's camp, with instructions to point out to that officer the horror with which these atrocities would be regarded by the whole civilised world, and the injury that would accrue to Turkey owing to their perpetration. He requested that he might be furnished with a list of the authors and the punishments meted out to them, and directed that in the event of any further atrocities being com- mitted Captain M'Calmont was to leave the Turkish camp immediately, and to report to Ismail Pasha his reasons for doing so. I fear that the ringleaders will not be apprehended, and I am aware that Mukhtar Pasha holds out but small hopes of his ability to put his hands upon them. The employment of this irregular soldiery, the savage mode of warfare they practise, the cruelties and outrages they have committed, and the failure to bring them to punishment, must surely FAIR PASHA TO BE COUET-MABTIALLED. 275 alienate from Turkey the support of the few who yet hold to her. While on the subject of these atrocities, it is but just that I should state that Ahmed Mukhtar Pasha has received Sir Arnold Kemball's representations in a friendly spirit, that he has exerted himself, and, as far as his own immediate command is concerned, has fairly well succeeded in keeping his irregular troops in hand. He has cordially concurred in General Kemball's demands for the punishment of the Bayazid criminals ; and, adjudging Lieutenant-Greneral Faik Pasha to be in blame, inasmuch as he was in command of the force and was unable to stop the massacre, he has suspended him, and directed that he shall be brought before a court-martial. This latter statement, though received from the highest authority, must be accepted with the reservation due to all Turkish official reports, as I hear from a British officer now at Bayazid that Faik Pasha still commands a division there. Mushir Ismail Hakki Pasha, governor of Erzeroum, is in command of the army corps which is now encamped at Narriman, some four miles west of the town of Bayazid. It consists of five batteries of artillery, 4,000 cavalry, of which all but 500 are irregulars and Km-ds, twenty-six battalions of infantry, and 3,000 irregular infantry. The force is divided into two divisions of thirteen battalions each, commanded respectively by Lieutenants-General Faik and Eeiss Ahmed Pasha. The brigade commanders are Hussein Avni Pasha and Hakif Bey to the first, Shahin Pasha and Mahomed Bey to the second division. Opposed to this force is Tergukassoff, just inside the Russian frontier, with detachments at Igdyr and Koolpi. He has with him, as far as I can learn, twelve battalions of infantry, s 2 276 THE CAMPAIGN IN AEMENIA. five regiments of cavalry, and thirty-two guns; but it is rumoured that reinforcements, in the shape of one complete division, are within three days' march of him. If this is the case, it will fare badly with Ismail Pasha, who, although he was following Tergukassoff with a force double that of the Russians, never once dared attack in the retreat from Zaidikan. I have been much amused by a perusal of Turkish ofl&cial telegrams of this campaign. Mukhtar Pasha, reporting the engagement of Khaliass, states that after thirty -three hours' hard fighting the Russian army was cut in two, and fled in disorder, pursued by him. In point of fact, the fight lasted eight hours, during which time eight battalions of Tergukassoff 's army held their ground against Mukhtar's division of nineteen battalions, and though they fell back to Zaidikan on the following day, the Turks never advanced from Khaliass until the 27th, when the Russians effected a most masterly retreat through Kara Kilissa and Dijadin to Igdyr. The Turkish general so far failed in his duty as to have to report to the Commander-in-Chief that he was ignorant of the route pursued by Tergu- kassoff, and the feat performed by that dashing and intrepid officer in relieving the garrison of Bayazid in the face of a force of double his own strength within one fortnight of the time he was reported as fleeing before the Turkish right wing, with his army demoralised and his guns buried, shows that Ismail Pasha must have overrated considerably his success at Kara Kilissa and Zaidikan. I am assured by an English gentleman who accompanied the Turkish troops in this march, that the only Russian corpses he saw by the road were TURKISH BRAGGADOCIO AND CONCEIT. 277 bhose disinterred hj Kurds from the burial-ground at Zaidikan, so I can scarcely credit the report that the infection from decomposing bodies was the cause of the slowness of Ismail's advance. Turning again to the operations of this corps from the date of our leaving the camp at Zewin on the 30th of June, until the 14th of July, when Loris Melikoff made a reconnaissance in front of our camp at Vezinkui, not a shot was ex- changed between Mukhtar Pasha's forces and the Russians. The ofl&cial despatches which say that the Russians had been defeated and driven successively out of Mellidooz, Sara Kamysh, and Beghli Ahmed, are utterly false. We not only did not come into collision, but we never came in sight of the Russians at those places. The sympathy that one naturally feels for the Turks in their gallant struggle in Armenia is deadened by the braggadocio and childish conceit indulged in by all ranks regarding their successes. The withdrawal of a Russian reconnaissance after its object has been fully effected is construed into a great victory ; its losses are multiplied by hundreds, and the enemy openly vilified as cowards and barbarians. With all this Mukhtar Pasha, and very wisely too, never ventures to oppose these reconnaissances in the plains, declines absolutely to hazard his army by attacking, and is unable to bring forward one instance of oppression or cruelty practised by the Russians in this country. As to reports of cruelty, I may mention that on the 28th ult., during the re- connaissance to the west of the Yagni Tepe, the Cossacks carried off a number of carts. The owners, complaining to Loris Melikoff that they were poor men, and would be ruined if he confiscated their goods, he assured them that if the carts were private property 278 TEE GAMTAIGN IN ARMENIA, they should be released, and he immediately sent a parlementaire to the Mushir to inquire into the truth of their statement, and on learning that it was true, he allowed the men to take their arabas back to Kars. I am glad this act of courtesy produced a like civility on our part, as Mukhtar Pasha at once returned some cattle captured by his patrols. I notice that Mr. Gibson Bowles, in The Times of the 8th of July, states that Ahmed Vefyk Pasha has reported to him that ambulances have been purchased with money sent by the Stafford House Committee and despatched to Asia Minor. I can assure the members of that body, who have so liberally sacrificed time and money in the good cause of relieving the sufierings of the sick and wounded of the Turkish army, that up to this day not one single ambulance or one single bale of medical comforts has reached Mukhtar Pasha's head- quarters. I have this moment returned from the hospital, where I have conversed with the only two qualified doctors in this camp, and they have not even heard of such help having been despatched from Con- stantinople. It is true that two English doctors, Messrs. Casson and Featherstonhaugh, are at Erzeroum, where, aided by our consul, Mr. Zohrab, his son, a boy of sixteen, and the American missionaries, they are working nobly among the wounded, who have been neglected in the most cruel manner. The British public should know the treatment that these English doctors received in Constantinople, where Ahmed Vefyk Pasha refused them any assistance or money, and where the English residents had to make a subscription in order that these gentlemen should have funds in hand to enable them to commence their labours on arrival GE088 MISGONDUGT OF TURKISH OFFICIALS. 279 at Erzeroum.* I have learnt from the highest authority that the most urgent representations were made to the Stafford House Committee by gentlemen whose position and past careers place them beyond suspicion, as well as firm friends of the Turks, begging that in no case might distributions of money be left to any Otto- man officials. These representations have been steadily disregarded, and the result now is that on this 3rd day of August there is an army of 35,000 men without a litter, without one single ambulance wagon, without one case of surgical instruments, and, neither here nor at Kars, nor at Erzeroum, has a shilling of the money so nobly subscribed by the English public been received. Would that I had the pen of Dr. Eussell to describe the harrowing scenes I have witnessed, and the still more terrible stories I have heard of wounded men left in hospital for their wounds to mortify, rather than Turkish bigotry and Turkish fanaticism should so far relent as to permit amputation; men with undressed wounds left to find their way to the nearest hospital, forty miles from the scene of battle ; maimed soldiers, unable to walk, crawling on hands and knees to the nearest well to slake their burning thirst and then to die ! The only gleam of sunshine to relieve this ghastly picture is the patient endurance, the uncomplaining fortitude, the noble heroism with which the poor suf- ferers have borne their terrible agonies. It was heart- * This statement was contradicted in public print by Dr. Dickson, the surgeon to the Constantinople Embassy ; but I have subsequently seen and conversed with the promoter of this subscription, who states that £60 were by this means handed over to Dr. Oasson, and Dr. Casson himself assured me that had it not been for the generosity of a certain section of the English community in Pera he would have been unable to start his hospital in Erzeroum. 280 THE CAMPAIGN UST AEMENIA. rending to pass by group after group of wounded, and to feel how utterly powerless I was to help. I have written and telegraphed strongly on this subject, and have not hesitated to blame the Administration, who are alone at fault ; and for this reason my letters have been detained and my telegrams suppressed. Is it to be wondered at that a man, with one drop of human kindness in his breast, could pass through the scenes I have feebly attempted to describe, and not boil over with indigna- tion at the conduct of a Grovernment which treats its soldiers worse than it does its damb cattle — ^fails to clothe them, fails to pay them, and then, when sick and wounded, leaves them utterly uncared for ? r CHAPTEE XIV. MOSLEM AND CHRISTIAN. Return to Erzeroum — Russians evacuate Ajii — Incompetency of Commanders of Turkish Right and Left Wings — Christian Harvest and Moslem Reapers — Disinterred Russians — ^Behaviour of Kurds in Head-quarter Camp, and in the Right Column — English Hospital at Erzeroum — "War Preparations at Erzeroum — Ani once more reoccupied — Conduct of the Russians in Ar- menia — The Kurds of Shoragel, Mehded, and Youssouf Bey — The Kurds in AJishgird — ^At Moosh — At Bitlis — In Van — The Treatment of American Missionaries — Of Armenian Yillages — Apathy or Sympathy of Ismail Pasha — Skirmish at Taouskin — Another at Hiersai Bulak — Engagement on 18th August — Preparations for a Winter Campaign — ^War Taxes, and prompt Payment of subordinate Ofl5.cials. Erzeroum, August \^th. General Loris Melikoff's unaccountable inactivity and the rumoured advance of a Russian column on Olti, induced me to leave the head-quarter camp and to return to Erzeroum, where I shall be in a better position to learn the truth regarding the operations of the Turkish right and left wings, and be enabled, should occasion require, to move out to join any force which may become involved in actual hostilities. At davm on the 5th inst. we were somewhat aston- ished to hear that the Russian division, which in my last I told you had taken up a very strong position to the north of the ruins of Ani, had during the night fallen back across the Arpa Eiver, and encamped near Kizil Kilissa. The reason for this retrograde movement is involved in obscurity, for, with a Russian force there. 282 THE GAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. Mukhtar Pasha's right was most seriously threatened, and any attempts by him to thwart an attack on either Kars or Vezinkui would most assuredly have been defeated by a demonstration by this body. Their retire- ment across the river thus left his right flank free, and was hailed by the Turks as another proof of the dread in which they were held by the Muscovites. This movement certainly did not lead me to anti- cipate any immediate action on the part of the central Eussian column, and coupled with the reported arrival of reinforcements, both with Tergukassoff's forces at Igdyr, and Komaroff's at Ardahan, forced me to the conclusion that the Grand Duke would throw forward his now strengthened right and left wings by Olti and Bayazid on Erzeroum, and endeavour, by cutting off Mukhtar's retreat to that place, to force him into Kars. This, of course, is a mere supposition, but the fact is that both the Olti and Bayazid roads are guarded by comparatively small bodies of troops, under generals whose knowledge of the art of war, and whose aptitude for command, can only be represented by a negative quantity ; and as this is as well known in the Grrand Duke's tent as in Mukhtar Pasha's, it would not surprise me any moment to hear of a strong Eussian advance on this place, and of the Turkish Commander-in-Chief being forced into Kars, where, of course, his fine army would be useless for all further operations during this cam- paign, or to hear of the central Eussian column inter- posing between Mukhtar Pasha and that fortress, consequently severing him from his base, placing him in an extremely hazardous situation, and eventually com- pelling him to fight his way through them to Erzeroum, or to lay down his arms. MORE ''RUSSIAN ATROCITIES." 283 The march from Kars to this place presented no features worthy of record, except that the villagers were busy cutting an extremely rich barley crop, the Mahomedans profiting by the absence of the Christians to appropriate their untouched fields. I followed the route taken by the Russian army in its retreat from Zewin with a view of ascertaining from the villagers themselves the extent of the '' atrocities '' inflicted by Loris Melikoff's troops. Passing through Vezinkui, the site of a Russian encampment, Azatkui, Vairan Kale, Tchiflekkui, Beghli Ahmed (a Christian village), I halted the first day at Kotanli. At this latter place the Russian division, marching on Zewin, made their first halt from Kars. At none of the villages, with the exception of Kotanli, could I hear of any cruelty or oppression. Everything taken was paid for — it is true, in rouble notes, but a ready sale was found for them to the Armenian merchants of Kars and Erzeroum. At Kotanli a man complained to me that a bullock had been taken from his herd by some Cossacks for which no payment was made. The deserted state of Beghli Ahmed I have before described to you. It bore the same appearance now. The neat fields ready for the sickle were being cut by Mahomedans from the neigh- bouring villages, who were loud in their indignation at the conduct of the Circassians and Kurds who followed the Turkish army. On the second day I made a march of 42 miles, pass- ing Ali Sophi, Kirk Punar, Sara Kamysh, through the pass of that name, over the MeUidooz plateau by Kara Orghan to Zewin. At none of these places could I find any traces of Russian cruelties, but the ghastly sight I met on the site of the Russian encampment at MeUidooz will 284 THE CAIIPAIGN IK ARMENIA ever live in my memory. The graves of their dead had been opened, and seventeen corpses, stripped of the clothes in which their comrades had buried them, lay exposed, naked, mutilated, and rotting, to the sight of the passer- by. This fact has been reported by so many, and officially so by our Consul at Erzeroum, that I feel I am repeating an oft-told tale when I write this pitiable and deplorable tale of outrage. I found some villagers who were willing for a small sum to re-inter the bodies. These men told me that this act of sacrilege had been committed, for the sake of the clothing, by Kurds, who thought it a pity it should be wasted. The crimes of these men are glossed over or else attributed to the Eussians by their clansman, Mushir Kurd Ismail Pasha, late Vali of this place, and now commander of the Turkish right wing. In spite of Mukhtar Pasha's stringent and oft-repeated orders for the summary execution of the instigators of the Bayazid massacre, the blame of this foul act of treachery has been laid at the door of the Mahome- dan inhabitants of that town, while Sheik Jelalu- deen has been allowed to go scathless. Ferik Faik Pasha, too, through whose negligence and supineness the act was committed, still holds the command of a division, although a month ago the Commander-in- Chief sent orders for his suspension and trial. As long as the Turkish Government permit Ismail Pasha and Paik Pasha to retain their commands, and allow Sheik Jelaludeen to go free, so long does it connive at the atrocities committed by the Kurds, and is itself respon- sible for the lives of those who have been thus cruelly murdered. I have been unable to obtain any confirmation ot Ismail Pasha's reports of Eussian atrocities in the SIR ARNOLD KEMBALL'8 BEPOETS. 285 Alishgird plain. Although I have coaversed with a great number of inhabitants, both Mahomedan and Armenian, they one and all maintain that they were treated with consideration by Tergukassoff's column, and that it was not until the Eussians had fallen back from Zaidikan that they were exposed to the cruelties spoken of by Kurd Ismail Pasha, and these acts were one and all committed by Kurds, not by Eussians. I myself can testify to the manner in which Loris Meli- koff's column behaved to the inhabitants. It is high time th^,t the Foreign Office should publish Sir Arnold Kemball's reports on the subject to the people of England. It is only just, on the other hand, to state that with Mukhtar Pasha's column the Kurds and Circas- sians have been kept well in hand. Marauding and plundering have been promptly and severely punished ; and though it is possible that this severe discipline may be attributable in no small degree to the presence of our military attache at Turkish head-quarters, yet the Com- mander-in-Chief deserves more credit for restraining his irregular levies than he does even for the successful issue of this part of his campaign. Prior to leaving the head-quarter camp I visited the field-hospital, with the view of ascertaining whether any stores had been received since the commencement of the war, either from the Stafford House or Eed Cross Societies. I was positively assured by the Commander- in-Chief, by Tusuf Bey, the principal medical officer, and by Dr. Schoeps, the surgeon in charge of the fields hospital, that nothing whatever had been received from any English society. The state of the hospital was most pitiable : there was no hospital bedding or blankets ; 286 THE CMITAIGN IN ARMENIA. drugs were at their lowest ebb ; there was one case of instruments (received only after the battle of Eshek Khaliass; there was no iron among the stores in any shape or form, no quinine, no splints, and but a very limited quantity of bandages. On my informing Dr. Schoeps that Ahmed Vefyk Pasha had assured the Stafford House Committee that he himself had purchased and sent out stores, blankets, litters, and ambulance- carts, he said that nothing whatever had been received from Constantinople for this army corps, except a gratuity of two medjidies to each wounded man in Kars and forty cases of empty medicine-phials. In order that I might have ofl&cial authority for this statement, Sir Arnold Kemball was good enough to speak both to Mukhtar Pasha and to Dr. Tusuf Bey on the subject, and they both declared that no stores at all had been received from Ahmed Vefyk Pasha, or from any English society. On my arrival here I called on Dr. Casson, who assured me that, so far from Ahmed Vefyk having afforded him any assistance either in stores or money, he had deliberately declined doing so, and that had it not been for the liberality of the English at Constanti- nople and at Erzeroimi, he would have been quite un- able to commence work here, owing to want of funds. I am afraid I must take exception to Mr. Gribson Bowles's statement, or else must include myself on the roll of the '' worst-informed of correspondents." Ahmed Vefyk's statement that he held receipts for the blankets issued to the Turkish soldiers was received with ridicule, a brigade -commander telling me, with a smile, that he could get receipts for any number of them from any major in his brigade. All I can say is, that I have spoken to the Commander-in-Chief, to both AHMED VEFYKAND TEE STAFFOED HOUSE FUNDS. 287 divisional and to two brigade-commanders of the 4th army corps, and they deny the receipt of anything whatever from Ahmed Vefyk. I am aware that he himself declined to furnish a statement of his expendi- ture to an ofllcer in the employ of the Stafford House Committee, and absolutely refused either money or stores to Drs. Casson and Featherstonhaugh when they were passing through Constantinople for Erzeroum, and with a show of some rudeness, said : — '' We do not want a paltry £20,000 or £30,000 ; our hospitals are splendidly supplied. They need nothing in the way of medicines, instruments, or am- bulance-trains. What we want is a universal subscrip- tion throughout England. Let every man, woman, and child show sympathy for our cause by subscribing even sixpence — that is what we want." Where the money intrusted to Ahmed Vefyk Pasha has gone to I do not pretend to say, but this I can say, and with certainty too, that not a single penny of it has come to the 4th Turkish army corps, that at this moment there is not a litter or an ambulance-wagon at the head-quarters of the army, and that the field- hospital is almost without medical stores of any kind. I have since learnt that the stores purchased by Ahmed Vefyk were sent to Batoum and Trebizond. It seems odd, however, that in spite of the numerous appeals made in the columns of The Times and other papers, no efforts should have been made by this gentle- man to forward stores to Erzeroum and Kars, where even at the outbreak of the war heavy fighting was anticipated. Mr. Layard has taken exception to my statements as to the hospitals in the Turkish army. The evidence of 288 THE CAMPAIGN IK ABMUNIA. my own eyes, coupled with the knowledge that every word I have written must be borne out by the des- patches of our gallant military attache. Sir Arnold Kemball, as well as by our Consul at Erzeroum, Mr. Zohrab, and by Doctors Casson and Featherstonhaugh, who repeatedly spoke to me of the difficulty they en- countered in Pera on their way to the front, induce me to adhere to the above text. It is a pleasure to turn from the scene of criminal carelessness and mismanagement daily visible in the Turkish hospital to the clean, well-ordered, admirably- organised establishment under the charge of Doctors Casson and Featherstonhaugh, who have been sent out here at the sole expense of that philanthropic noble- man Lord Blantyre. These gentlemen were kind enough to permit me to accompany them on their morning visit to their hospital yesterday morning, and though I am not one of those who care for ghastly sights, and must plead guilty to a feeling of nauseating anguish when I look upon the agonies that soldiers daily suffer, yet it was with no small feeling of national pride that I noted the comfortable beds, the snowy sheets, the clean bandages, the cheerful, willing bearing of the patients themselves, all showing such a marked difference to the surroundings of the neighbouring Turkish hospitals. When I contrasted the womanly gentleness and kindly firmness with which my countrymen performed their labour of love, with the perfunctory, indolent manner with which the Turkish surgeons attend to their patients, I did not wonder at the statement I had so constantly heard as to the piteous entreaties of wounded men to be transferred to the "Ingliz" hospital. Through the liberality of Mr. Layard, Lady Kemball THE NEW GOVERNOR OF ERZEROUM. 289 and other English ladies in Constantinople, these gentle- men were enabled to provide themselves with many- comforts hitherto unknown in Turkish hospitals; but their means are now at a very low ebb, and unless they receive speedy and liberal support from a generous English public their sphere of usefulness will be much curtailed. Is it too late to reiterate the injunction that funds should be sent direct to the officers themselves, and on no account should they be permitted to pass through the hands of any Turkish official ? I forward a letter to you from Dr. Casson, which will corroborate all I have said as to the obstacles thrown in his way by the Ottoman authorities, and will, I trust, prove to even the most advanced philo-Turk that to trust in the honesty of a Turkish official is to trust, indeed, in a broken reed. The new Grovernor of Erzeroum seems a man of a very different stamp from Kurd Ismail Pasha. A soldier by education, he has busied himself in frequent brigade parade -days, in seeing personally to the repair of the fortifications, to the mounting of the artillery, which now has nearly all arrived from Trebizond. He has made an excellent gun-road over the Devi Boyun Pass into the Passin Plain, and has placed a number of heavy field-pieces in the earthworks on that position; so if the Russians ever find themselves within striking distance of Erzeroum, they will meet with a very different reception from what would have awaited them had they pushed boldly on in June, when there was absolutely nothing to prevent them marching into the town. As I close this, a rumour reaches me, from an authentic source, that the Russians have re-occupied Ani, after a sharp engagement with Mukhtar Pasha's troops, T 290 THE CAMPAIGN IN AJiMENIA, in whidi his cavalry were worsted, and that a brigade, amounting to four battalions of infantry, two batteries of artillery, and one regiment of cavalry, marching down from Ardahan, have occupied Zaim, or Yenikui, the site of their head-quarters during the recent siege. I hope to be able to send you particulars of these operations in my next. Erzeroum, August 20tk, Having accompanied Mukhtar Pasha's army in the advance from Zewin to the Eussian frontier, I have been enabled to speak from personal experience as to the conduct of his troops on the line of march, and I must confess that, with the exception of a few cases of pillage, and one of murder, committed by Kurds and Circassians, the villagers were left unmolested, the country presenting no signs whatever of having witnessed the passage of the two armies. There is no doubt that the presence of Sir Arnold Kemball in- fluenced the Turkish Commander-in-Chief in promptly repressing all acts of marauders. That the severity meted out to the offenders was unlooked for and un- welcome, may be judged from the fact that on Mukhtar Pasha hanging a man for murder, 1,100 of his irregular comrades deserted. My statements as to the moderation shown by the Russians, both in their advance to the Soghanly Range and their retreat to Kharrak-Darrah, have been borne out by the despatches of the Turkish Greneral, who only instanced one act of severity on their part — ^Az., the treatment of the Kurds of Shoregel. I can safely assert that not a single village their armies passed through was in the slightest degree damaged, and ABOUT THE KURDS, 291 although. I made the minutest inquiries on the two journeys I have made over the road, I have only been able to ascertain one instance of property having been taken without having been paid for, and that was at Kotanli, where a buUock was carried off by the Cossacks. As, however, I lost a horse from this village when the Russians were not in the neighbourhood, it is more than possible that the theft was the work of Moslem thieves, who abound in the valley of the Kars Tchai. As Mukhtar Pasha himself brought to the notice of the Porte the treatment of the Kurds of Shoregel, and as the Ottoman Government has communicated his despatch to their representatives abroad, I have made inquiries into the matter, and am enabled to give you some particulars as to their past history and relations both with the Turkish and Russian Grovernments, which may in some way palliate the conduct of Loris Melikoff towards them. The inhabitants of the Shoregel district, which lies due east of Kars, are either Turkish peasants or Karakapaks — emigrants from Persia. Prior to Paskiewitch's invasion of 1828 the population was entirely Armenian, but now very few Christian families remain, the most part having abandoned their homesteads and fled to Russia in 1829. The chief family in this district is that of Khatoon Oghoulleri, and the head of this family is Ismail Pasha, the late Governor-General of Erzeroum, commonly known as Kurd Ismail Pasha, a name of course derived from his Kurdish origin. This family, owing to several of its members holding positions under Government, has constituted itself the ruling power in the district, the other Mahomedans being virtually slaves of the Khatoon Oghoulleris. After the Crimean war, Mehded Bey, the elder brother of Kurd T 2 292 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. Ismail Pasha, collected a band of chosen spirits, and commenced a system of brigandage along the frontier, pillaging Russian and Turk alike. His wealth was a means of silencing all opposition on the part of the Governors of Kars, who recognised in him a turbulent spirit, Ukely to raise disturbances in their province, were his vocation to be interfered with, and they were only too willing to secure peace in their vilayet by the simple expedient of filling their own coffers. His depredations, however, grew so bold, that they reached the ears of the authorities in Constantinople, and they, learning of his power, and the difl&culty there would be in repressing his band eflfectually, made him Kaimakam, or lieutenant- governor, of the Shoregel district, very much on the same reasoning that after the Mahsood Vaziri campaign of 1861 a famous robber chieftain, Futteh Eoz, was made commandant of the British outpost of Mortaza. From the date of this appointment the name of Mehded Bey ceased to be a terror in the Kars district, but his occupation in Turkey was gone. He commenced brigandage on a more extended scale in Russian territory, and a lengthened correspondence ensued between the Governor-Greneral of the Caucasus and the Governor- General of Erzeroum; dissensions rose to such a pitch that remonstrances on the conduct of Mehded Bey were addressed by the Russian ambassador to the Ottoman Government, and it was proved beyond doubt that on more than one occasion, members of his band who had been arrested by Turkish police, while robbing caravans on the main Persian route, had been released by the Kars and Erzeroum Pashas, under circumstances that savoured very much of bribery. At length Sir Robert Dalyell, late Consul at Erzeroum, took the matter A RENEGADE KURD, 293 up, on some English subject having laid a complaint before him, and on his earnest representations Mehded Bey was removed from his appointment. But until his death robberies, though on a smaller scale, con- tinued; and I hear on authority that the people taken of Shoregel by Loris Melikoff are members of Mehded Bey's band, which has not yet been broken up. It is a well-known fact, and I have it from an officer high on the Commander-in-Chief's staff, that Youssouf Bey, son of the late Mehded Bey, and nephew of Kurd Ismail Pasha, has been bought over by the Russians, and since the commencement of the war has been sup- plying them with grain. This man is an inhabitant of the village of Digor, and only a few days before I left the camp a party of Russians proceeded to that place to pay Youssouf Bey a friendly visit, who, fearing that a knowledge of the enemy being so close to the rear of his camp might come to the ears of the Marshal, determined to take the bull by the horns, so, warning them of their danger, he galloped off to Mukhtar Pasha's camp, and told him that a body of Cossacks were attack- ing Digor. The Commander-in-Chief, knowing Youssouf Bey's character, was not disturbed by this news ; he merely detached Mustafa Safvet Pasha with some cavalry to drive them off, and warned the Kurd that it was only his relationship to Ismail Hakhi Pasha that saved him from the hangman's knot. I give you a brief list of some of the atrocities committed by Kurds in the Van, Bitlis, and Alashgird districts. The majority of these, I am aware, have been reported by our energetic Consul, Mr. Zohrab, to her Majesty's Government ; but I trust for that reason they 294 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA will not be the less interesting to the British public. A complete list it is impossible for me to obtain, but from all sides — from Turk and Armenian alike — I hear piteous tales of the desolation that reigns throughout Kurdistan — villages deserted, towns abandoned, trade at a standstill, harvest ready for the sickle, but none to gather it in, husbands mourning their dishonoured wives, parents their murdered children ; and this is not the work of a Power whose policy of selfish aggression no man can defend, but the ghastly acts of Turkey's irregular soldiery on Turkey's most peaceable inhabi- tants, acts the perpetrators of which are well known, and yet are allowed to go unpunished. On the 28th of June, on Tergukassoff falling back from Zaidikan, Ismail Pasha's irregular cavalry, instead of following up the Eussians, proceeded to scour the country in small bands, pillaging and destroying all the Christian villages in the Alashgird plain. Fortunate it was that upwards of 3,000 Armenians placed themselves under the protection of the Eussian general (himself an Armenian), and under his escort passed safely into Eussian territory, or the loss of life would have been ten times as great as it now proves to be. In Jeranos, Utch Kilissa, Kaya Beg, Moola Suliman, Ahmadkoi, Kara Kilissa, and Kheshishkui, all Armenian houses were destroyed, and the few remaining Christians ruthlessly put to the sword. In the church at Utch Kilissa ten men who had sought refuge there were brutally murdered. I have conversed with an Armenian priest of that place, who indignantly denies that this was committed by Eussians — a statement made by Ismail Pasha, and circulated by the Porte to the European Powers --and who solemnly assures me this was the KUED ATROCITIES. 295 work of Kurds after the Eussians had passed through. Some of these irregulars, under the command of Has- saranli, of Sofi Agha, proceeded to Kaya Beg, midway between Kara Kilissa and Moola Suliman, and there killed Johannes Kehya, the head man of the village, and with him one Serkis, a merchant from Bitlis. They then went on to Moola Suliman, and killed an Arme- nian merchant named Ampassoon, having robbed him first of all his property, completely destroying the place, as well as the neighbouring village of Ahmad, where, together with some Circassians, they slaughtered all the cattle. At Kara Kilissa four Armenians found hiding were murdered, their wives violated and then killed, under circumstances of the most atrocious nature. In the neighbourhood of Moosh, one Moussa Bey, a son of Mirza Bey, a Kurd from near Van, has been ravaging the country at the head of a small body of cavalry. The villages of Moolah Akjam, Hadogan, and Kharkui, having been first pillaged, were set on fire. At Ardouk he extracted £60, and at Ingrakam £40 from the head men of the village, under pretence of sparing them from destruction, and straightway set the places on fire. He then proceeded to a Mussulman village called Norashen, and hearing that an Armenian merchant of Bitlis was passing through, robbed him of all his goods, to the value of 30,000 piastres, and then ordered his men to murder him. At Khartz this monster entered the house of the Armenian priest, who had lately brought his bride to his father's home. Bind- ing the old man and his son together with cords, this inhuman scoundrel ravished the poor girl before their eyes, and then gave orders for the murder of the three. I can write no more. A bare recital of the horrors 296 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. committed by these demons is sufficient to call for their condign punishment. The subject is too painful to need any colouring, were my feeble pen enabled to give it. Suffice to say, that the town of Bayazid, having been pillaged, and more than 1,100 people slain, is now a heap of ruins. Bitlis is entirely deserted — not a shop open in the bazaar. The villages of Philirieh and Ishmirondagh in its immediate neighbourhood have been completely devastated. In Van and its immediate neighbourhood they have been guilty of the greatest excesses. The American missionaries for months have been living on the lake in boats, fearing each day would be their last. The governor of the district, an able and humane man, has affi^rded them all the protection in his power, but he at last, for fear of exciting the Kurds against himself, was obliged to beg them to leave the place, when they took refuge in an Armenian monastery on the lake. From these gentlemen I received a long account not only of their own sufferings, but of the cruelties practised on all Christians in their districts. I am aware I shall be told that the Kurds were instigated by Eussian gold, with a view of exciting European indignation against the Porte, but as the leaders of these gangs of murderers. Sheik Jelaludeen, Obaidulah and Pekas, Fakim Effendi, Sheik Tell and Osman of Sert, and Tahir Bey of Van, all served against the Eussians, under the command of Kurd Ismail Pasha, this accusation falls to the ground. On the 4th of Mav, the Kurdish volunteers commenced to enter the city of Van, in obedience to the summons of their clansman Ismail; en route they committed much damage, attacking a caravan of cotton-merchants return- ing from Persia, and after completely looting the .loads. KURD ATROCITIES, 297 they murdered in sheer wantonness the three chief men, and gutted the following villages : Khoosp, Pertag, Kuzilja, Noorkui, Dulozen, Nakhta. In Avgugli, they burst open the church, in which the women and children had been placed for safety, and violated them all, leaving them naked. The people of Latwantz and Shahbaghir shared the same fate. In Jaim, Sheik Jelaludeen's men, headed by their fanatical leader, seized every- thing of value, and compelling the villagers themselves to carry the goods, drove them off to their mountains. Out of 600 who started, only 400 finally reached Van in safety ; the greater part of the absentees were virgins and young boys, doubtless kept for the worst form of slavery. This gang also attacked the village of Kordjotz, violating the women, and sending off all the virgins to their hills ; entering the church they burned the Bible and sacred pictures ; placing the communion- cup on the altar, they in turn defiled it, and divided the church plate amongst themselves. In sheer wan- tonness they emptied all the flour and oil they could find in the village into the streets, and mixing baskets full of manure with them, kneaded the whole together. They then attacked the vineyard of the head man, Melikian, cutting down all the trees, leaving it a mere wreck. Passing on to Kharbobitz, they performed similar acts of barbarism, and again at Kharagoons the church was desecrated and spoiled, women violated in the very streets ; the Hooseeh monastery in the neigh- bourhood was attacked, the graves of the elders dug up, and, on these savages finding no treasure in them, used as latrines. Between Van and the Persian border, in the neighbourhood of Bashkala, the following villages were attacked and looted, all boys and young women carried 298 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. off, whilst the remainder, stripped naked, were driven into the fields amidst the jeers of their Moslem tor- mentors : Soladeer, Vank-ki-kni, Bazingird, Eringanee, Hatchpodan, Kharodan, Malkaven, Arag, and Baz, were ail thus treated ; in the first-named, some show of resist- ance being offered, fourteen men were slain. Sheik Obaidulah's men rivalled their comrades under the flag of Jelaludeen; these latter operated between Van and Paik Pasha's camp. They attacked and robbed the villages of Shakbahgi, and Adnagantz, carrying off all boys and virgins. At Kushartz they did the same, and killing 500 sheep, left them to rot in the streets, and then fired the place. Khosp, Jarashin, and Asdvadsadsan, Boghatz and Aregh suffered in like manner; the churches were despoiled and desecrated, graves dug up, young of both sexes carried off, what grain they could not transport was destroyed, and the inhabitants driven naked into the fields, to gaze with horror on their burning homesteads. The monastery of St. Bartholomew, the richest in the district, was attacked by Ali Khan's horsemen, and completely destroyed— its valuable treasury broken open, and its contents distributed amongst the robbers. A number of women and children from the neighbour- ing villages had taken refuge in the building. The most desirable of these were carried off, and a priest, in en- deavouring to defend his daughter, was murdered. The monastery was completely destroyed, the grave of the saint, its founder, was dug up, his bones scattered to the winds, and his resting-place defiled. Early in June a body of men coming up to reinforce Jelaludeen attacked and looted the village of Dushag ; amongst other acts of villany, the wife of the priest was *'QUI FACIT PEE ALIUM FAGIT FEB 8E:' 299 violated in turns by a gang of men, before his eyes. The poor woman died from the injuries she received ; and having mutilated the husband in the most grievous manner, they left him to die. Lesk, Hawantz, Shahbahgi, and Pergal were treated in like manner — women vio- lated, whilst the young of both sexes were driven off into the most hopeless captivity. In spite of Mukhtar Pasha's energetic remonstrances, the perpetrators of these outrages are allowed to go free, and the man who shelters and screens these miscreants is retained in his command by the Ottoman Grovem- ment. As long as Kurd Ismail Pasha is at the head of a Turkish force, so long will the Kurds be allowed to carry on their war of creeds with impunity. Should the Russians obtain reinforcements, I dread to think what may happen, for the rank and file will doubtless burn to avenge their murdered comrades of Bayazid, the desecrated graves of Zaidikan and Melli- dooz, and the war, which hitherto (with the exception of the conduct of the Turkish irregular soldiery) has been carried on in a chivalrous manner, will be stained with excesses on both sides, and, like all wars in which re- ligion is made use of as the incentive to fight, will be sanguinary and awful in the extreme. Erzeroum, Aug. 2ith. I am happy to be able to announce that on the 1 5th inst. orders were received from the Seraskier for the assembling of a court-martial here to try Hussein Sabri Pasha, late commandant of Ardahan, and Faik Pasha, the general of the Van division. The condition of the Armenians in the country through which Ismail Pasha's army has passed is pitiable in the extreme. Out of 300 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. 122 villages in the Alashgird plain, all but nine are entirely deserted, as I told you in my last. The few- Christians who had not availed themselves of Eussian protection were, on the retreat of Tergukassoff, bar- barously murdered, and a number of hamlets were burnt down. In the Moosh district several villages were destroyed and many of the inhabitants killed. The town of Bayazid and neighbouring villages shared the same fate. In the majority of these places, men, women, and children have been put to death under circumstances of most atrocious cruelty. In spite of many of these outrages having been clearly traced to the followers of Sheik Jelaludeen, and in spite of the cold-blooded murder of the Eussian prisoners of war being attributable to his instigation and actually per- petrated by his own men under his own eyes, it seems more than probable that this monster will escape justice altogether, as Kurd Ismail Pasha, the fanatical com- mandant of the Turkish right wing, has now reported that the massacre of the Eussians and of the Armenians in Bayazid was the act of the Mahomedan inhabitants of the place, not of the Kurds, although it has been proved most conclusively that Jelaludeen did instigate, and his men did carry out, this act of foul treachery; and, to the shame of the Ottoman Government, this monster is still an honoured guest in the camp of Kurd Ismail Pasha. Mushir Ismail Pasha, commanding the army at Bayazid, moved his camp on the 3rd inst. to Varpoz, and subsequently to Zor, with the view of being better able to observe Tergukassoff 's movements. On the 11th inst., being informed that a party of Eussian cavalry were at Taouskui employed in removing the inhabitants to the interior to protect them from the Kurds, Ismail ISMAIL PA8EA AND HIS MEN. 301 at daybreak moved down on the place with one regi- ment of cavalry, 2,000 irregular Kurds, eight battalions of infantry, and three guns. The village, being fourteen miles from the Turkish camp, was not reached until 10 a.m., by which time five squadrons were seen escorting a large convoy of country carts, horses, and cattle away from Taouskui. On the approach of the Turks the Russian cavaby formed line to the right, leaving one squadron echeloned about half a mile in the rear, and covered their front with dismounted skirmishers. They then retired their main body by alternate squadrons from the left. Ismail Pasha's Kurds, Arabs, and Bashi- Bazouks made no pretence of closing even with the Russian skirmishers, and, of course, his infantry and cavalry did not appear on the field in time to be of use ; consequently, the Russians were enabled to draw off their heavy convoy with the loss of only one man killed, the Turkish loss amounting to ten. Captain M'Calmont, of the 7th Hussars, who was present on the field, says, in a letter to me, that nothing could have been prettier than the manner in which the Russian commander handled his men, and he commented in forcible terms on the want of dash and utter absence of discipline and order among the irregular cavahy of the Turks, who all displayed an irresistible longing to move to the rear directly the Russian skirmishers opened fire. He owns that, considering the Turks outnumbered their oppo- nents by more than six to one, and considering that the Russians effected their object of moving off a heavy convoy with comparatively little loss, the affair at Taouskui does not reflect much credit either on Ismail Pasha's generalship or the valour of his troops. On the 16th the Turkish right wing again had 302 THM CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA skirmish with TergukassoJBf's cavalry. At dawn Hadji Hassein Pasha, a noted freebooter, whose men have gained an unenviable notoriety by pillaging the Christian villages in the Alashgird plain, was sent, with all the irregular cavalry, numbering upwards of 3,000, supported by oneinfantry regiment, under Colonel Hakif Bey, to Hiersai Bulak, fourteen miles south-east of Moussin, to which place Ismail had moved subse- quently to the engagement on the 11th. The Cossack vedettes, being far outnumbered, evacuated the village and fell back, covering their retreat by dismounted skirmishers. As usual, the Turkish infantry were late on the field, and the irregular cavalry would not face the Cossacks, who retired rapidly through the villages of Mula Ahmed and Grulyan. Just beyond the latter Russian reinforcements were met, and the retreating Cossacks then faced about and made a vigorous onslaught on the Kurds, who retired in much confusion, losing some ten men killed. The Russians, however, did not push their success, for Shahin Pasha's brigade, which, on the sound of firing, had moved out from camp, now came up, and deploying in support of Hakif Bey's battalions, effectually checked pursuit and covered the retreat of the Kurds. On the 18th there was a sharp engagement between the Russian main army and Mukhtar Pasha's forces. At about eight a.m. the Russians were seen advancing in five columns from their camps at Gadikler and Kharrak- Darrah ; the strongest, which was on the extreme right, moved towards the Yagni Tepe, evidently with a view of preventing the Vezinkui division, under Hussein Hami Pasha, moving to the assistance of the main body. The defence of the front was intrusted to RUSSIAN GAVALBY AND INFANTRY. 303 Mahomed Nadjib Pasha, while the Commander-in-Chief, with Easchid Pasha's division, proceeded to the support of the Nakharji-Tepe, a knoll on the extreme right, which was threatened by three columns. As yet I have been unable to obtain more than the briefest details of the affair ; but it appears that the Russians drew off towards the evening in excellent order, and that although Edhem Pasha and Ghazi Mahomed Pasha, Schamyrs son, attempted to harass their retreat with cavahy, they were unable to effect anything. Mukhtar Pasha himself bears witness to the extreme gallantry displayed by the Eussian cavalry under the heaviest artillery &re, and more than one account states that their infantry were magnificently handled. The Eussian retreat was slow, and throughout marked with much coolness and decision. What their object was it is most difficult to say, for no single attack was pressed home. Their losses must have been heavy, as ours amounted to more than 400 killed and wounded. It seems extra- ordinary that the Eussian Commander-in-Chief should persist in making fruitless, half-hearted attacks against the Turkish position, which is virtually impregnable against any assault of Loris Melikoff's forces in their present strength. It is evident the Porte anticipates a winter occupa-^ tion of the Kars Valley by the Eussians, as orders have been received that the engineer officers of this army corps should prepare estimates for the construction of temporary barracks on the Soghanly mountains for an army of 25,000 men. The site has not yet been fixed on, but I believe that opinion is divided between Tcharpakli and Sara Kamysh. Stone, wood, and water are in abundance, and wooden huts could be erected at a sinall 304 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. cost at either of these places. Sara Kamysh being in a valley, is well sheltered, and perhaps for this reason is the preferable site, owing to the extreme latitude of the Soghanly range and the heavy snowstorms. The Syrian and Arabian troops will be fairly annihilated, should the Porte determine to keep them hutted during the ensuing cold season. Orders have been received in the Erzeroum district authorising the Grovernor to appropriate for the use of the troops seventy-five per cent, of the harvest, leaving the remainder for the support of the inhabitants. This is termed an extra war tax, and is causing the utmost discontent among the rural population, who already have been called upon for contributions far beyond their means. Mahomedans and Christians alike rail at the intolerable exactions of the Grovernment authorities, who pay for nothing that they export in the Sultan's name. Where the money goes is a mystery. With the excep- tion of officers in the highest grade, whose complaints would be likely to reach Constantinople, not a soul in this army has seen pay for two years. A colonel of artillery informed me that no officer or man in his command had received any for forty -seven months. The foreign doctors in the employment of the Porte yesterday brought a most painful case to my notice, where a poor Italian veterinary surgeon was actually dying of starva- tion in this' city, having received no pay, allowances, or rations for twenty -two months. They themselves are many months in arrears, and it is only owing to the untiring exertions of our indefatigable consul, Mr. Zohrab, that they ever receive even their pecuniary compensation in lieu of rations. Soddljub o £i idccrcu alexan: M>UaMussa° ►POL -htlzsscu ^LCLShbL/ AraJbuJc lAJAL AU ^ JdkwxxLo\ ^KcurcrwoonJc BashcbgdP S^j iharv '>Sofv-TV€rcbu ARJEETEPE ZHanhu o oMoreh rCdy ''/ig'mOtlTEPE I- cbsoghjbjb' Tlhy TashhoJUy AbSxurahnyxn/ I&^-Jwiisscu Ground Letweea KARS ALEXANDROPOL, to iUxLStrate^ operatwrbs OF SIEGE OF KARS, BATTLES OF KIZILTEPE, YAGNI AND ALADJA. xKbzCUcalt' J Vjxfjtihe^==L CHAPTEE XV. TXTRKISH SUCCESSES. Battle on ISth. August — Attack on the Nakharji-Tepe unsuccessful — Russians fail to press home any of their Assaults — Turkish Losses — Stripping the Dead — Skirmishes between Ismail and Tergukassoff at Khalifin and Ahazgool — Battle of Eozil-Tepe — Successful Assault of the Hill hy Mehemed Bey — Grallant Attempt of the Ahkhasian Prince to retake it — He is Wounded — Sheremetieff succeeds to the Command — Melikoff arrives with Reinforce- ments — Defeat of the Russians — Losses on both Sides — Reinforcements called for by both Mukhtar and Ismail — Mr. Zohrab's position in Erzeroum — ^Paper Organisation of the Ottoman Army and its actual Condition — DriU and Discipline — Skirmishers and Sentries — Taxation in Armenia — Move- ments of Ismail Pasha. Erzeroum, September 3rd. A SHARP touch of the sun, which has confined me to bed for the past ten days, prevented me from forwarding you my usual weekly budget last mail, and repeated attacks of fever, which retard my recovery, must be my excuse for a brief letter to-day. I have been enabled to collect some particulars of the battles near Kars on the 18th and 25th of August from trustworthy eye-witnesses. In T^oth of them the Turks were victorious, and in the latter engagement, where they assaulted the Eussian camp, they proved that they are a match for their oppo- nents in the open field. The result of these victories has been to instil fresh courage and enthusiasm into Mukhtar Pasha's troops, to improve the morale of his men — in fact, to double the value of the fighting strength of his army. u 306 TEE CAMPAIGN IK ARMENIA. It appears that at dawn on the 18th the Eussian forces were descried drawn up in the plain between Gadikler and the Turkish camp. Their strength was computed at from forty -two to forty-eight battalions of infantry, 112 guns, and ten regiments of cavalry. They advanced in five columns, making their first attack on the villages of Kharkana and Tainalyk, which were only held by small detachments of irregulars, and, having occupied them, commenced a violent cannonade on the Turkish entrenchments and on the villages of Hadjiveli and Sarbatan, in which were outposts of considerable strength, the defence, however, was not vigorous, and by 8 a.m. the enemy were in possession of Sarbatan, whence, moving their guns into the cover afforded by the banks of the Mazra stream, they opened a violent cannonade on the head-quarter camp. Situated on the slopes above Kharkana, their guns were served most accurately, and although owing to the steep embank- ments behind them, and the fact that the percussion shells plunging into the soft soil often failed to burst, the losses were not heavy, yet the moral effect of the storm of shells was such as to open Mukhtar's eyes to the fact that his men would not advance under such a deadly fire. They then moved forward a column, with four batteries, and commenced a heavy artillery fire on the Nakharji-Tepe, a conical hill on the extreme right of the Turkish position, which was held by one battalion, strongly entrenched, with three field-pieces in an earth- work. This knoll rises to a height of 800 feet above the plain, the sides are smooth, but very steep, having a gradient of over forty-five degrees, and it can only be ap- proached by a single path in the rear. Thus it may well be considered impregnable ; indeed, it seems the Russians PB0GBE8S OF THE BATTLE, 307 thought SO, for they never pressed their attack, merely contenting themselves with a violent cannonade, which did but trifling execution, the garrison losing only three killed and seventeen wounded The majority of the shells, being necessarily fired at a great elevation and at a range of 3,000 yards, passed clean over the crest, bursting harmlessly in the rocky ravines in the rear. The Russians using only percussion fuses, the projec- tiles were absolutely harmless to the defenders, who were reinforced at 10 a.m. by three battalions and cavalry, under Schamyl's son, and thus defied attack. While these two columns were threatening the right front of the camp, it became apparent that the remainder of the Russian forces were about to prosecute a determined attack on the Vezinkui position, to which, on the first appearance of fighting, Mukhtar Pasha had despatched Major-Greneral Mahomed Nadjib Pasha with six battalions and two batteries. He took up a position to the west of the Tagni Tepe, and was promptly sup ported by Hussein Hami Pasha from Vezinkui, with twelve battalions and two more batteries, while Edhem Pasha, with all the regular cavalry and some 3,000 Circassians, also lent his assistance. Opposed to this force were eight battalions of infantry, four batteries, and seven regiments of cavalry, the remainder of the Russian forces being held in reserve. These were some 1,200 yards north of Tagni Tepe, and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. a violent cannonade was kept up from both sides, but with smaU results. The Turks held the ridges connecting the hills, from which the Russians made but one ineffectual attempt to dislodge them. At noon Edhem Pasha moved his cavalry round, with the intention of cutting off the Russian retreat. A regiment u2 308 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. of dragoons charged him in flank, but was repulsed with a loss of fifty killed. Shortly after this, Major- General Shefket Pasha, with a force of eight battalions and two batteries, assaulted and carried the village of Sarbatan. This was effected in conjunction with Grhazi Mahomed's men, who, finding the attack on the Nak- harji-Tepe not likely to be developed, moved round by Tainalyk, and, threatening the flank of the Russian column, compelled it to retire. Following it up, the position of the enemy advancing on Nakharji became dangerous, and these, too, were forced back. Lieutenant- General Hadji Easchid Pasha, marching down on the Tagni Tepe with his division, released by the repulse of the Russian attack on the Nakharji-Tepe, threatened the column operating on the Yagni side. They were compelled to retire, which they did in good order, though losing heavily, leaving, however, only one prisoner — an officer's orderly, with his dead master's horse — in the hands of the Turks. With the retirement of the right Russian column of attack all fighting ceased. The enemy drew off* on all sides, and, withdrawing their de- tached camps from Ani and Parget, concentrated their forces at Kharrak-Darrah and Gradikler. The Turkish losses are estimated at 114 killed and 352 wounded; those of the Russians are unknown. A Prussian doctor present on the field told me he counted between seventy and eighty dead on the ground, and that the contrast between them and the Turkish dead was most marked — the latter fine-bearded men, with excellent shoulders and legs, the former thin, attenuated boys, scarcely able to hold a musket. He remarked also that not a single Russian lay on the ground with a vestige of clothing. The sight of the naked corpses, he said, adds FLAN FOB SIGNALISING THE SULTANS BIETEDAY, 309 to the misery of the task the surgeons have to perform. Surely Turkey might try to prevent, at least, this bar- barous custom of despoiling their dead enemies ; but, alas ! both ojfficers and men indulge in it, and the senior officers even lend their sanction to the custom. From the Turkish right wing we hear of a couple of small skirmishes — one near the village of Khalifin, where a detachment of Turks, consisting of four field- guns, 1,200 cavalry, and three battalions, moved up to support a cavalry picket which was in difficulties. The Russians, numbering but two battalions, without artil- lery, fell back on Igdyr with but slight loss, the Turks not caring to pursue. Our loss was five killed and thirty-five wounded. On the same day there was an affair between the Russian outposts in the vicinity of Abasgool and Turkish irregulars there. The losses are not known, but it appears that Ismail Pasha mentions a noted Kurdish chieftain, Sheik Khalid Effendi, as among the missing. The battle of Kizil-Tepe, which resulted in a complete victory for the Turks, has been followed up by Mukhtar Pasha entrenching the heights to the south of the villages of Gadikler, and holding them with six battalions of infantry and five heavy guns. I have been enabled to gather the following details concerning the battle: — The 24th being the birthday of the Sultan, Abdul Hamid, Mukhtar Pasha in the evening assembled the commanders of divisions and brigades, and unfolded to them a plan he had decided on for signalising the day by a vigorous onslaught on the enemy. The Russians, as before, were in three camps, at Kharrak-Darrah, Gadikler, and Ani. Spies had kept him informed for some days of the 310 TEE CAMPAIGN IK ARMENIA. watchword of his foes, and he had also learnt that preparatory to striking a decisive blow at his left, Loris Melikoff had drawn off the majority of the troops from his centre camp, the 39th Division having left it that afternoon, and that he had massed them at Kharrak-Darrah ; indeed, it was afterwards ascertained that but one battalion of infantry had been left to hold the Kizil-Tepe hill, whilst three more were in the camp at Bash Gradikler. To the First Division was given the post of honour. The plan unfolded was as follows : — At midnight Captain Mehemed Bey, with his division (Hadji Easchid Pasha, the rightful com- mander, was in Erzeroum on court-martial duty), was to advance on the Kizil-Tepe. Favoured by the dark- ness of the night, and accompanied by Circassian spies, who possessed the watchword, it was judged he would gain the summit unperceived, or, at any rate, un- suspected. This movement was to be supported by the Second Division moving on between Kizil-Tepe and Utch Tepe, thus preventing the troops in Ani affording help to their comrades ; whilst the main body of cavahy, supported by Hussein Hami's troops from Vezinkui, were to advance by Yagni and Khalif-Oghlou to threaten the Kharrak-Darrah position. The total number of men at Mukhtar's disposal for these operations were fifty-four battalions, eight batteries, and about 6,000 cavalry. At about 2 a.m. on the 25th Mehemed Bey's divi- sion, consisting of thirteen battalions, with three bat- teries, having pushed forward by Kharkana and Sarbatan, reached the Kizil-Tepe hill, and commenced the ascent on the southern side. The Russians, deceived by the counter-sign being given to their challenge, permitted A NIGHT SURPRISE. 311 tlie advance of the Turks until too late ; but on discover- ing their mistake made a most determined stand. This, however, was^ of no avail in face of the vastly superior numbers opposed to them, and they were speedily driven off, leaving eighty dead on the summit of the hill. Having gained the crest, and knowing that dawn would see him heavily attacked, Mehemed Bey com- menced to entrench his position, and ere day broke had two batteries on the hill well covered in gun-pits, whilst his men had thrown up for themselves very effectual shelter trenches. As soon as it was light the captain opened a heavy fire on the enemy's camp at Gadikler, in which the utmost confusion reigned. The bursting of shells in the midst of the terror-stricken camp- followers only heightened disorder ; tents were hurriedly struck, and left lying on the ground, only to entangle the feet of horses passing over them ; shopkeepers in the bazaar commenced dismantling their huts, and packing all their portable property in fourffons, pre- paratory to a hasty flight on Alexandropol, whilst staff officers were seen dashing hither and thither, vainly endeavouring to get under arms the few soldiers left in the camp. The sun was scarcely above the horizon ere Loris Melikoff was made aware that his centre was in imminent danger, and his communications with the force at Ani threatened. Hastily getting his division under arms, he despatched Prince Tchavachavadzi (the chief of the Abkhasian race), with all the cavalry and horse artillery, to endeavour to shell the Turks out of their newly-won position. Placing his guns within 2,500 yards of the hill, and supporting them with his dragoons, the prince opened a terrible fire on the Kizil- Tepe. The Turkish loss, however, was comparatively 312 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. slight, for many of the shells, passing over the crest, fell harmlessly in the gullies beyond, whilst many more, plunging into the soft grassy slope, failed to explode at all. His cavalry, however, were fully exposed to Mehemed Bey's fire, and one regiment, the Nijni Novgorod Dragoons, suffered terribly. In the meantime Melikoff was advancing, by the road from Karajal to Kizil-Tepe, his men in three columns, he with the left moving straight to Tchava- chavadzi's support. Heimann threatened Sarbatan, whilst Komaroff opposed Hussein Hami at Vezinkui; but before the welcome reinforcements arrived the Abkhasian prince had been struck down grievously wounded, and some confusion was caused by the absence of any general officer with the cavalry. But Sheremetieff, who had advanced from the Bash Gadikler camp with two battalions, assumed command, moved the troops round to the east of the Kizil-Tepe hill, and endeavoured to carry it by assault. Time after time did this gallant officer lead his men up the steep slopes of the Red Knoll, under the deathly storm that rained on them from above ; time after time were his men hurled back in confusion. Melikoff at the same time made strenuous efforts to assault the hill from the north, but with like success, whilst all Heimann's efforts to carry Sarbatan, and thus cut Mehemed Bey off from the main camp, were frustrated by the gallantry of Mukhtar Pasha's troops, who, inspired with enthusiasm by their success, redoubled their efforts, and in spite of the murderous artillery fire rained on them from upwards of 100 guns, drove the enemy back on to his main camp at Kharrak-Darrah ; indeed, at one time it appeared as if this would be carried, and a scene of the AN APPEAL TO MB, ZOHBAB. 313 wildest confusion ensued. Tents were struck, and every preparation made for a hasty retreat ; but owing to the personal gallantry of Generals Heimann and Komaroff, who received a severe wound, the men were rallied, and the Turks compelled to draw off, satisfied with their first success, the capture of Kizil-Tepe. The Russian official loss was twelve officers and 237 men killed, thirty-four officers and 667 men wounded. That of the Turks is 421 killed, and 938 wounded. Both he and Ismail have sent in the most urgent requests for reinforcements, especially of artillery. The only field-battery fully horsed in this neighbourhood was at the Grhiurji Boghaz, and that, with a battalion from that place, has been to-day despatched towards Kars, leaving but one battalion, with one battery unhorsed, to guard the defile leading to Olti. Large bands of Circassian and Kurdish deserters are prowling about the neighbourhood of the town plunder- ing and murdering to the fullest extent they are able. They are all armed with Government repeating rifles, and, as there are no troops here, it has been found im- possible to check them. Last night a village within three miles of this was attacked, three men (Mahome- dans) murdered, and 120 head of cattle driven away. It speaks well for the English name, for the Turks' knowledge of English justice, and still more for the reputation in which our consul here is held by Mussul- man and Christian alike, that the villagers should in the first instance have come to Mr. Zohrab to beg him to submit their case to the Pasha of Erzeroum. I am enabled to state this as a fact, as Mr. Zohrab was in my rooms when the men came to him with their piteous tales. I have the more pleasure in making this inci- 314 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, dent public as I am aware that there is a Tery large party, many of my fellow-countrymen, too, who, having partaken of our consul's liberal hospitality, do not hesi- tate openly to bring accusations against him which they must know to be false. Mr. Zohrab has not hesitated openly to denounce the system of oppression that exists in Armenia. He has not hesitated to denounce the corrupt character of the majority of the Turkish Pashas, and to show them in their true light to our Minister at Constantinople. The feeling there being of an emi- nently Turkophile character, Mr. Zohrab's reports have been unfavourably received, and doubts have been thrown on their accuracy. Ask any of the American missionaries in Armenia if the British consul has not rather underrated than overrated the barbarities that are openly committed. Ask them to whom they turn in danger or difficulty ; ask them to whom they submit all cases of oppression practised on the Protestants ; ask them who is accessible at all hours of the day to Mahomedan and Armenian, English, American, Aus- trian, or Grerman alike, and they will at once answer, Mr. Zohrab. To whom do the Grerman doctors turn for protection when unable to obtain their just pay from the Turkish Government ? To Mr. Zohrab. He is secretary and treasurer to the Stafford House Committee here. He is the interpreter to Lord Blantyre's doctors, and the instrument through which they obtain permis- sion to perform operations. He is postal agent, house agent, and forwarding agent to the majority of English- men here, and there is not one among us who on arrival did not meet from him a warm English welcome, a comfortable meal, and for whom he did not im- mediately find house-room. I have travelled with him TREATMENT OF MB, ZOBBAB. 315 through the district, and can bear testimony to the way in which the lower classes — the agriculturists — turn to him as a guide and a friend, and welcome him in their villages. Thoroughly acquainted with their language, with their manners and customs, he is at home among them, ever ready and willing to hear their smallest trouble, and never forgetting a promise. Because he openly denounces Turkish rulers and the Turkish Go- vernment, because he openly states his conviction, founded on a twenty-three years' acquaintance with this country, that it will be the happiest thing possible for Mahomedan and Christian alike when Armenia passes out of the hands of the Porte, because he boldly re- pudiates the mendacious statements of Russian atrocities in Asia Minor, and because he has not hesitated to blame the Kurds, and their bigoted, fanatical chief, Ismail Pasha, as being the perpetrators of every outrage committed in the Van and Alashgird district, he is dubbed a Russian agent, and treated with discourtesy and disrespect by those from whom he is entitled to nothing but gratitude and thanks. I have, in a previous chapter, given the paper organi- sation of the Turkish army, by which it will be seen that no European State possesses such a perfect military system as the Porte, but on examining into the actual state of afiairs we find matters very different. The Nizam battalions, as a rule, are fully officered, and each one has a surgeon, but the Redifs are very badly off — one officer per company usually being con- sidered quite sufficient to answer every purpose in war. Discipline, in one sense of the word, does not exist, but crime is very rare. Strong drink being forbidden by religion, the Turks, consequently, are a sober, abstemious 316 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. race, and drunkenness, the curse of European armies, is, I may say, unknown in the rank and file of the Ottoman army. I wish I could say it was equally rare among the officers, but I am forced to confess that, although I have never yet seen a Turkish soldier the worse for liquor, I have seen officers of all grades, from that of lieutenant-general downwards, in a state of intoxication. Articles of war exist, but are rarely called into requisition ; more rare still is it for a court- martial to be held. Should a private or subordinate officer commit a crime, the dictum of the colonel or chef du hattailon is sufficient to insure condign punishment ; while in the case of an officer of superior grade, court influence or bribery wards ojff the evil effects of any faux pas. In the matter of drill, I have yet to see a Turkish infantry battalion that could hold its own with our worst militia corps, while their cavalry are totally ignorant of the meaning of the word. To expect a Turkish cavalry soldier to take a fence would be to strike at the root of all their liberty. The artillery is by far the best disciplined and best drilled branch of the service. I have seen batteries walk past in a very creditable manner, but I have never seen them attempt to manoeuvre at a faster pace. Of the sappers and miners I can say nothing. In Armenia, at any rate, they are like the snakes in Iceland — *' there are none." Drill of all sorts is carried on with as much noise as possible ; every bugle or trumpet call is repeated by every officer and non-commissioned officer in the bat- talion. The consequence is that at all the skirmishing parades the confusion is appalling.. A faint attempt to copy the English system has been introduced. TAXATION m ARMENIA. 317 Men skirmish in single rank on the hill-side, but in presence of cavalry invariably in groups. Supports move in the same formation as skirmishers — i.e., either in single rank or in groups — reserves always in column of half companies or companies. Men fire as they please, and they generally please to fire standing. Guard duties are carried on in the most slovenly manner possible. The relief of sentries is never carried on in the presence of a non-commissioned officer, nor do sentries walk ''briskly backwards and forwards on their posts in a soldierlike manner," for they never move at all, but stand on the same post until the next man for sentry strolls forward as a relief. Erzeroum, Sept. 7th. I am not aware whether an account of the taxation of a country comes legitimately under the head of '' war news," but as I have not seen any description of the interior economy of Armenia in any English journals, I am in hopes that the following brief notes may interest some of your readers, bearing as they do on the iniquitous system of government in vogue in this land, explaining in themselves the unequal burden imposed on Christian and Mahomedan, and the reason for the grave discontent that exists among the entire Armenian population. It is a custom sanctioned by usage, if not by law, that all Grovernment servants are exempt from taxation, and as all Mahomedans except the poorer classes hold official appointments, it follows that the greater proportion of the revenues is derived from the lower orders, from those classes, in fact, who in England pay nothing to the State by direct taxation. By far the heaviest and most obnoxious charge is that for ''military services." Mahomedans -318 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, only are called upon to bear arms, but the Christians pay for their exemption a poll-tax o£ sixteen piastres per annum. I find on inquiry that in the vilayet of Erzeroum this impost has been increased to thirty piastres per annum for the last two years, and that, in addition to this sum, there is a permanent war-tax, which has existed in its present form since 1854, of twenty-five piastres per head on all Christian families. The tax on house-property amounts to one-third per cent, per annuin, but on mills and on shops and houses of business to ten per cent. ' Every man following a trade or profession pays ten piastres per annum for the privilege of pursuing his calling, while a Medjlis, or committee of merchants, in every city sits annually to fix the amount of profession-tax to be deducted from all men of business. This varies, but rarely is fixed at less than seven per cent, of a man's income, in many cases amounting to as much as fifteen per cent. Government, again, claim ten per cent, of the harvest, the value of which is computed by an official specially appointed for the purpose. More often, however, the viceroy of a district farms the tax, and the "mooltazim," or speculator, who has purchased this tribute has a great field for extortion. Municipalities claim, in addition to the State exaction of ten per cent., a further sum of one per cent, for city purposes from all townsmen owning arable or meadow land, and this latter is subject to the same impost — viz., ten per cent. — as the harvest is. A charge of three piastres on every sheep and goat above the age of one year is levied at the expii-ation of each lambing- season. Horses, cattle, camels, and mules are exempt from this tax, but they are subject to a special charge of two and a half per cent, on sale, each sale having to be TAXATION IN ARMENIA. 319 registered in public market. All wood brought into bazaars for sale, except for fuel, is subject to an impost of two per cent. Permission to erect new buildings has to be obtained from the governor of the township, who invariably exacts a handsome fee for granting a warrant to build, while the unhappy dabbler in bricks and mortar is further mulcted in the sum of ten piastres for every workman employed. Import and export duties, though very heavy, varying from three to fifty per cent., are often evaded by a liberal backsheesh to the Custom- house official. Indeed, many merchants pay a fixed sum per annum to these worthies, in order to insure a prompt clearance of their goods, and to avoid the trouble of Grovernment dues. For the privilege of carrying arms every man (Christians are forbidden to use firearms) is called upon to pay two and a half piastres per annum for each gun he owns, but, I believe, except in towns this tax is never collected. The proceeds of the harvest-tribute are remitted to Constantinople for State purposes, while the balance of the revenues is kept in the district treasuries for pro- vincial purposes. By this means the governor of a vilayet is responsible for the payment of the officials under him, and each town is nominally called upon to disburse the pay and allowance of the regiments of their murkess or circle; Erzeroum, for instance, paying the Erzeroum battalion, Erzingjan its own battalion, and so on, so that really the Porte is not responsible for the non-payment of its soldiery. The onus rests upon the vali or governor of the district, and to show what a punctual regard they have for the performance of their duties, I may mention that I have conversed with men of nearly every battalion and battery in this army corps, 320 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. and find that they are from nineteen to forty- eight months in arrears. I was unable in my last to give you more than a few lines referring to the movements of Ismail Pasha's force near Bayazid. It appears from information I have since obtained that he received orders from Mukhtar on the 1st August to move the camp from Narriman, five miles west of Bayazid, to some spot where he could better observe the movements of Tergukassofi"s force, which was encamped at Igdyr. These instructions were coupled with the most stringent injunctions that he was on no account to cross the Russian frontier, and that he would be held personally responsible for any outrages committed on Russian subjects by his irregular soldiery. Notwithstanding these express orders, Ismail Pasha moved on the 4th inst. to a place called Arzab, near the Balykly Lake ; on the 5th to the Jila Gedik Pass ; and on the 6th to Zor, about seven miles inside the frontier, and six from Igdyr, where the Russian left wing, numbering, I believe, but twelve battalions of infantry, four batteries, and seven regiments of cavalry, were encamped. As might be supposed, the Kurds at once got loose, and the first day attacked a Christian village in Russian territory, killed seven men, women, and children, besides completely sacking the place. Ter- gukassoff", on the 11th, sent an escort of cavalry to bring off* the Armenian villagers in Taouskui. This brought on the conflict I briefly described in my last, which resulted in the Kurds ignominiously declining to attack a small body of dragoons, less than one-sixth of their ovna number. Ismail Pasha is most indignant at the Russian General removing the Christians from beyond the reach of his fanatical clansmen, and asserts KURD RAID m RUSSIAN TERRITORY. 321 that lie was about to forward a party of men to protect those very villagers from pillage, when Tergukassoff sent his men -to escort them farther inside the frontier. Mnkhtar Pasha is, as might be supposed, justly indignant at this deliberate disobeyal of orders on the part of his subordinate, Ismail, more especially as it has led to the pillage of a Christian village in Eussian territory, and the cold-blooded murder of inoffensive inhabitants. He has sent down the strictest orders that the offenders, whoever they may be, are to be seized, and, regardless of their rank or position, hanged on the scene of their crime. It is, however, much to be feared that Ismail's fanaticism and his dread of offending his own tribe will lead him to screen the culprits. As yet I have been unable to learn of any men having been executed for participation in the Bayazid massacre, and I know on the authority of an officer recently returned from the army that both Jelaludeen and Faik Pasha, in spite of the Commander-in-Chief's orders, are still at large. Sir Arnold Kemball has, as usual, shown much deter- mination and promptitude in calling on Mukhtar Pasha for the just and speedy punishment of all the per- petrators of these barbarities; but it is only just to add that the Commander-in-Chief has invariably met our gallant military attache half-way, and has proved him- self throughout this campaign a man determined that no odium of brutality shall mark the track of his army. Loris Melikoff has nothing to fear should his wounded fall into the hands of Mukhtar Pasha. CHAPTEE XVI. ARMENIANS THE TRUE STORY OF BAYAZID. Arrival of Stafford House Stores at Erzeroum — State of Hospitals in Main Army and in Right Wing — Turkisli Authorities refuse Permission to amputate — Refuse Carriage for Medical Stores — Our Hospitals in Erzeroum — My Ideas of the Armenian — Their Exodus to Russian Territory, caused Ly Kurdish Atrocities — Denial of this by Kurd Ismail Pasha — Changes in the Turkish Staff — Jealousy of General Kohlmann — Court-martial on Sabri and Faik Pashas — Hussain Avni, and Zarif Mustafa — The true Story of Bayazid— Ferocity of the Kurds — Supineness of Faik Pasha — Neglect of Ismail to Support — Consequent Defeat of the Turks at Bayazid by Tergukassoff — Defence of lilr. Zohrab. Erzeroum, Sept. 9^/i. I THINK I mentioned in one of my previous letters that Lieutenant Malcolm Drummond, K.N., last month brought to this place from Constantinople, at his own expense, several cart-loads of Stafford House stores, Avhich were handed over to Drs. Casson and Feather- stonhaugh for distribution to the hospitals here. The former gentleman, taking with him one assistant, has proceeded to Mukhtar Pasha's head-quarters with a large supply of medical comforts, as the only qualified medical 2^ractitioners in the camp were some weeks ago ordered into Kars. There has been very severe fight- ing, entailing heavy losses in killed and wounded on the Turks, so the arrival of Dr. Casson with his English supplies will be most opportune. On all sides I hear stories, from Turkish officials too, speaking of the frightful state of the hospital arrangements at all the TUEKISB MISMANAGEMENT OF HOSPITALS. 323 camps and fortified towns in Asia Minor. I myself was a witness of the discreditable state of things both at Kars and at Mukhtar Pasha's camp, where the hospitals were destitute of drugs, where there were no beds for the patients, and where there was not a single litter or ambulance for the conveyance of the sick and wounded. I, consequently, am not surprised to learn from our oflficers at Bayazid that there is no hospital in Ismail Pasha's army, not a single doctor with a corps of 35,000 men, and that sick and wounded have to be sent into Erzeroum for treatment — a distance of 130 miles. It will scarcely be believed in England, but it nevertheless is a fact, that here in Armenia, where we have had upwards of 3,000 wounded in our hospitals, until the arrival of Lord Blantyre's doctors not a single case of amputation had been performed. On the day after reaching Erzeroum, Drs. Casson and Peatherston- haugh went over the hospitals, in company with our Consul, Mr. Zohrab, and the principal medical officer, Ismail Bey, They noticed many cases requiring the use of the knife, and pointed them out to the principal medical officer, who kept a discreet silence. The fol- lowing day they were handed over a hospital containing about 200 patients — wounded men, many of them suf- fering from wounds inflicted two and a half months previously. All their hurts were most neatly bandaged, but on removing these there was scarcely one that was not suffering from gangrene, and the poor fellows owned that their wounds had not been looked at for weeks ; in fact, as Drs. Casson and Feathers tonhaugh have both remarked to me, such cruelty and mismanagement they could not conceive to have been possible. Having carefully examined the men committed to their charge, V 2 324 THE GAIifPAIGN IN ARMENIA. tlie doctors selected eight on whom it was urgently- necessary to perform operations. They at once sent to Ismail Bey, who came down to the hospital and flatly refused permission for any amputations to be performed. Mr. Zohrab, our Consul, was present at the interview, which has been recounted to me by all three English- men there. Dr. Casson, on hearing this refusal, said, '' But the men will die if these operations are not at once performed." Whereupon Ismail Bey replied, '' Better that they should die than that they should become burdens on the Sultan as pensioners." Drs. Casson and Featherstonhaugh at once closed the inter- ^dew by stating that if free permission were not accorded to them to act according to their judgment, they should return to England immediately, and Mr. Zohrab notified his intention of reporting the conver- sation officially. This frightened Ismail into granting permission for one operation (a slight case) to be per- formed ; and subsequently, on a renewal of the threat that the English doctors would return, they were per- mitted to exercise their own discretion in performing amputations. I am happy to say sixteen cases have,, been carried out successfully in the English hospital, whereas up till to-day not one case has been attempted by other than British surgeons. I am aware that Mr. Layard has written strongly denouncing Dr. Casson's conduct in asserting that the Turkish Grovernment prefer to lose their soldiers rather than that they should remain burdens on the State as pensioners. With all due deference to the ambassador's superior judgment, I must venture to uphold Dr. Casson's opinion. I have conversed with Turkish doctors, and with foreign doctors in Turkish employ, THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT AND ITS WOUNVED, 325 many of them strong Turkophiles, and they, cne and all, have assured me that they have been unable to obtain sanction to a single amputation, and that the reason is as above stated — the senior medical officers are strictly enjoined by Government on no account to permit them. If Mr. Layard would only reflect for one moment, he would see that facts disprove his statement. If the Turkish Grovernment are anxious to save the lives of the gallant men who risked their aU, without even hope of reward, to stem the torrent of Russian invasion, why does the Porte not make some efforts to establish hospitals, to organise ambulances, to furnish instruments and medicines? As I have re- peatedly stated in my letters, these things do not exist in Asiatic Turkey. With Ismail Pasha's army there is not one doctor. Does that look as if the Ottoman Government was anxious about the lives of its men? In spite of my letter of the 23rd of June, feebly describing the sufferings of the wounded in their march from Taghir and Khaliass to Erzeroum, and my request that litters might be sent out ; in spite of Ahmed Vefyk Pasha's letter to the Stafford House committee, that Htters and ambulances had been sent to Armenia, there is not one with this army to-day. One more instance, and I have done : — A few days ago a German doctor was ordered to Olti, where there is a force of some 5,000 men and no medical man. This gentleman called on Dr. Casson, and begged from him some stores, as he was being sent without medicines or instruments. Dr. Casson made a selection of three horse-loads of various drugs, instruments, lint, and hospital necessaries. What was his astonishment to learn that Ismail Bey had refused to provide carriage for these things, and 326 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. had told the German doctor that if he wished to take them he must do so at his own expense. The same state of things exists at Kars, where typhus fever is raging, and where the doctors have been so terribly overworked that all four are on the sick-list with that dread disease. A German doctor in Turkish employ has written me several letters, begging me to use my influence to cause some of the doctors and Stafford House stores so freely distributed throughout European Turkey to be despatched to Kars, where they are far more needed than in Erzeroum. I mentioned some few weeks ago that we had organ- ised a small fund for the relief of the wounded men in hospital, providing them with such luxuries — meat, tobacco, fruit, &c. — as we could afford, and giving them, on their discharge from hospital, a small gratuity to enable them to go to their homes. Mr. Zohrab, our Consul, who is foremost in all works of charity, and whose goodness to the labouring classes about here, Turks and Christians alike, has given him a position in Erzeroum that few Consuls hold in other Turkish cities, is the honorary treasurer, and he daily visits the hospitals for the purpose of distributing his little doles. Our money is very low ; but last mail a handsome donation from Lady Chesterfield gave us a fresh start. Any contributions to this fund should be sent to our Consul here, through Messrs. Coutts or Hanson, to Constantinople, and I can assure you they will be well spent and most gratefully received. Besides assisting the patients, the money is expended in paying the hospital attendants, dressers, night-watchers, and the like ; for these men, like all Government servants, have seen no pay for months. It is impossible to expect that they THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT AND AMPUTATION. 327 will show even ordinary care and attention to the patients if they are never paid ; so now they have been temporarily transferred to our establishment, and are paid regularly every week by Mr. Zohrab. This has had a most beneficial effect. Any man found neglect- ing his work is dismissed, and the result of prompt payments, firm discipline, and gentle supervision, can be seen in the cheery, willing manner in which all our English hospital attendants perform their work, and may be learnt also from the fact that patients in the other hospitals beg to be transferred to ours whenever vacancies occur. While writing the above I have been visited by a doctor in Turkish employ, whom I questioned on the subject of amputations. He informs me that they are not absolutely forbidden by the Government, but that the following procedure is laid down, should a surgeon deem a case worthy of operation : — The doctor in charge of the patient makes a report to the principal medical officer, who himself visits the hospital, examines the man, and, if he considers amputation necessary, lays the whole case before the military committee of the district, who decide as to whether the operation shall be per- formed or not. This doctor informed me that though he has repeatedly during the war apphed for permission to amputate, he has invariably been refused by the principal medical officer here; and, after conversation with doctors of all nationalities, I cannot learn of one single instance in which permission to amputate has been accorded by any of the three principal medical officers, either here, at Kars, or at Ardahan. Again, I have ocular evidence that amputation is disapproved of, if not formally forbidden. In this army there are thousands 328 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. of officers and men decorated with war-medals for service in Yemmen, Crete, Servia, Montenegro, and Herzegovina. Is it possible that, had amputation been performed, we should not see proudly riding at the heads of their companies, their regiments, brigades, or divisions, men whose armless sleeves tell of a life saved by a judicious use of the knife? After our wars in the Crimea, in India, in China, and New Zealand, regi- mental officers might be counted in scores whose looped- up sleeve told of surgical skill. Scarcely a regiment in the service did not possess one living evidence that the British Grovernment, at any rate, encouraged amputa- tion ; and a glance at German and French corps to-day tells the same tale, Who has seen a Turkish officer similarly situated ? I, for one, certainly have not ; nor can I learn of a single instance of amputation having been performed, except by British doctors, and then only after the strongest pressm'e had been brought to bear on the Turkish authorities. I have had several opportunities during my recent visit to Erzeroum of conversing with many of the lead- ing Armenian famihes in the place on the subject of the war, of Turkish rule, and of their ideas as to the effect of any change of Government upon them. These con- versations have not improved my ideas of the Armenian. A more selfish, narrow-minded, mean, cringing race, I fancy, does not exist, the Protestant Armenian being of a lower type than those who have clung to their old religion ; but both are despicable to a degree. Far preferable is the agricultural Turk, who bears uncomplain- ingly the heavy burdens imposed on him in the way of taxation, sends out all the males of his family between the ages of sixteen and sixty to fight the common foe TEE ABMENIANS. 329 — the hated Moscov — entrusts the gathering of his har- vest to the women of his family, and sees ruin, absolute ruin, staring him in the face through the wickedness and corruption of his Pashas, whose ears never hear the maledictions hurled at them by their poorer, suffering fellow-countrymen. As far as I have been able to learn, the bulk of the Armenians would welcome any change. They have been oppressed for centuries, treated with contumely, unable to obtain a hearing in the law-courts, compelled to pay, in addition to the Government taxes (which fall far heavier on the Chris- tian than on the Mahomedan), innumerable unjust levies forced on them by officials against whom there is no redress ; and they consequently see that there is no hope for them to obtain an equal footing with Mussul- mans in this country. When the Russians, in June, were close on Erzeroum, and the fall of the city was looked on as inevitable, the Armenian might have been seen moving briskly about, as if he longed to welcome the invader, the prowess of whose deeds, the valour of whose men, and the invincibility of whose armies had for years been old wives' tales in every Armenian house- hold. The check at Zewin and the subsequent retire- ment of both Russian armies caused a revulsion of feeling, and the evil deeds of the Moscov began to be recounted, his tyrannical form of government, his re- ligious intolerance; dim visions of the knout and of Siberia flitted through the Armenian brain, and the question began to be asked whether it would not be better to bear the ills they had than fly to others they knew not of. The idea of freeing themselves and establishing a '' Switzerland in Asia Minor " has never entered their 330 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. heads, and though, since I saw the scheme mooted in your columns I have propounded it to many well-educated, intelligent Armenian gentlemen, they have one and all denounced it as impracticable and absurd. For centuries they have remained a subject race, and so they will remain to the end of the chapter. Those few who have travelled in Europe, and become politicians of a minor character and merchant princes, may have formed wild visions of a kingdom in the mountains of Anatolia, but the idea is scouted with scorn by residents of the country itseM. They long for change, that is all ; they long to escape from the hateful thraldom of th^ Turk ; they long to be taken in hand by some beneficent, just Grovernment — to them it is immaterial, though they would prefer America, England, or Grermany to Eussia — and allowed to live peaceably and quietly, tilling their own land, selling their own merchandise, living their own uneventful, unambitious lives, free from all dread of their wives being dishonoured by their Kurdish neighbours, their children carried off into captivity far worse than death, and themselves quite unable to move a finger in self-defence, and powerless to call for justice. In fact, so strong has this longing for change become, that many of the wealthier families, both here and in the neighbourhood, seeing the chances of Russian occupation diminish, have determined on emigrating; and more than one already, having realised all its pro- perty, has gone to America. That the Armenians are content with Turkish rule is false. Their hatred and dread of it are evident from the fact that upwards of 5,000 families have fled from the Van and Alashgird district and taken refuge in THE EXODUS OF CHEI8TIAN8. 331 Russia. 1 am aware that Ismail Pasha states that these people were forcibly taken away by Tergukassoff in his retreat from Zaidikan. Common sense repels such an idea. We know the Russian General had an army consisting of eight battalions, twenty-four guns, and seven regiments of cavalry, and we know that he was threatened in rear by Faik Pasha with 12,000 and in front by Ismail Pasha with 15,000 men. The despatches of the latter General state that he so closely pursued Tergukassoff, and harassed his retreat so con- tinually, that the advance of his men was impeded owing to the infection arising from dead Russian corpses. This we know how far to believe ; for Mr. Williams, an English gentleman, present at the so-called pursuit, states that on the 28th all touch of the Rus- sians was lost, and Ismail Pasha himself reported to the Commander-in-Chief that he did not know which road they had taken. Still, any military man will know that it is a moral impossibility for an army of less than 5,000 to convoy over a hundred miles of ground some 15,000 souls, with aU their worldly belongings, in face of an army following them in rear, with one double their strength harassing them in flank. No ; I have conversed with many refugees from Alashgird, who came into Erzeroum for safety from the Kurds, and these people — Mahomedans for the most part — inform me that immediately after the battle of Khaliass the Armenian exodus was made, and that Tergukassoff never broke camp at Zaidikan until he was assured of the arrival of the fugitives in safety across the Russian border. In the Van district the Muscovite never appeared. There, in consequence of the barbarities com- mitted by the Kurds, the Christians spontaneously fled— 332 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, not, however, until they had suffered terrible losses, and more than 380 young girls and boys had been carried off into the most hopeless slavery one can imagine. I have not yet heard a Turkish officer attempt to ex- tenuate the conduct of the Kurds ; nor have I met one who did not freely own that the Christians were fairly driven out of the country by their revolting outrages. There is one, however, who denies all this, who writes .despatches to the Turkish Government, stating that the desolation worked in Van and Alashgird is Eussian doing, in spite of the Commander-in-Chief knowing that these despatches are false — for has he not ordered the arrest and trial of Jelaludeen, the greatest offender? — in spite of the Ottoman Grovernment knowing it — ^for have they not ordered the trial of Faik Pasha, who, by his negligence, contributed to these atrocities ? The Porte circulates Ismail Pasha's statements to its Minis- ters abroad as evidence of Eussian cruelty and oppression. I simply state as a fact, after the most careful inquiries from Turkish officers and soldiers, as well as from the Armenians themselves, that the exodus from Van and Alashgird was purely voluntary on the part of the Christians, that it was solely on account of the horrors and barbarities they were daily and hourly subjected to by the Kurds. Ismail Pasha is himself a fanatical Mahomedan, connected with the chief robber clan in Shoregel, and, consequently, is anxious to screen his fellow-clansmen from the effects of their misdeeds. It is simply a disgrace to Turkey that, after the foul massacre of Eussian prisoners at Bayazid, the well- known perpetrators of the murders are not only allowed to go free, but should even remain as the honoured PROMOTIONS m THE TURKISH ARMY. 333 guests of the Commander-in-Chief of the Turkish right wing. There have been a few changes and promotions in the staff of the army since my last — Ferik Eeiss Ahmed Pasha, the commander of the first division of the Van and Alashgird army, has been ordered to Kars tem- porarily to take command of the garrison during the absence of the recently appointed governor, Mushir Mustafa Memenli Pasha, ordered to Erzeroum to assume the functions of President of the general court-martial assembled for the trial of two general oflBcers. Ferik Hadji Easchid Pasha, commander of the first division of the head-quarters army, and Ferik Faizi Pasha (General Kohlmann, the hero of Zewin Dooz) have both arrived at Erzeroum, nominated members of the same court- martial. Major-General Mustafa Safvet Pasha, at present with Mukhtar Pasha, has been promoted to Lieutenant-General, and nominated to the command of the first division of the Van and Alashgird army ; Colonel Hakif Bey, of the staff of the same army, has been promoted to Major-General, and appointed tem- porarily to the second division of that army, vice Ferik Faik Pasha, placed under arrest. Captain Mehmed Bey, the Prussian officer, whose defence of the Emir Oghlou Fort was the one gallant deed performed at Ardahan, and who commanded the column of assault at the recent battle of Kizil-Tepe, where he was wounded, has at last been recommended for promotion to a Major- Generalcy, and is temporarily appointed to the command of Hadji Easchid Pasha's division during that officer's absence on court-martial duty at Erzeroum. It is rumoured, with what truth I know not, that poor old General Kohlmann will not return to his post at Kars ; 334 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. that the praise so freely bestowed on him for his personal gallantry and the skilful nature of his dispositions at the battle of Zewin Dooz, on the 26th of June, has aroused the jealousy of his Turkish comrades, and that the Mushir has promised not to employ him again during the war. If there is truth in these rumours, the fine old General will add one more name to the long list of foreigners who, having spent their best jesLVS in the service of Turkey, are in their old age, or in the hour of Turkish triumph, thrown aside and forgotten. General Kohlmann's conduct at the* siege of Kars in 1855, the skill and care with which he has organised the Fourth or Armenian Army Corps, the judgment and engineering knowledge he brought to bear on the con- struction of the new fortifications round Batoum, Kars, and Erzeroum, and finally his brilliant repulse of the Russians at Zewin Dooz, constitute in all fairness a just claim for his promotion to the rank of Mushir; but jealousy of foreigners stands in the way, and Kohlmann has no more chance of his well-earned Mushirlik than the last-joined private in the Polish Legion. The court-martial for the trial of Lieutenant-General Hussain Sabri Pasha, the Governor of Ardahan, and of Lieutenant-General Faik Pasha, the officer who per- mitted the massacres at Bayazid, and finally failed to prevent the place being relieved by a much inferior force under Tergukassofi*, has assembled ; but as the chief evidence against Sabri Pasha, Captain Mehmed Bey, is still retained at head-quarters, and as Faik Pasha has not arrived from Bayazid, the proceedings as yet must be devoid of interest. It is generally believed that both men will escape ; but even if they are sen- tenced to degradation, they know full well that there is COUBT-MABTIAL FAUCES. 335 always hope for a Turkisli Pasha. Hussain Avni Pasha, tried at Kars in 1855 for peculation, was reduced to the ranks, and a promise extracted by our Minister at Constantinople that he should never be employed under Grovernment again, and yet he died Prime Minister of Turkey, by the hand of a man he had grievously wronged.* Zarif Mustafa Pasha, who commanded at the battle of Kharrak-Darrah in 1855, was tried for losing that battle, and sentenced to degradation to the ranks. He was sent to his home, and in six months was again promoted to the rank of Liva Pasha, or Major-General. So the two prisoners about to be brought to trial need be under no fear as to their fate. If Hussain Sabri Pasha's Court influence was sufficient to obtain for him the command of Ardahan after he had been removed from his post in Montenegro for inefficiency, it will be quite sufficient to keep him from all harm in this little difficulty. As for Faik Pasha, to the shame of the Ottoman Government it must be told that he is not to be tried for permitting the murder of Eussian prisoners of war — men whose surrender he had accepted, and whose arms had been laid at his feet — but merely for * My statement concerning Hnssain Avni Pasha called forth an indig- nant remonstrance from General Sir Lintom Simmons, who characterised the story as *' utterly groundless and devoid of all truth." I gave it on what may be considered unimpeachable authority, and I regret that I inserted the word "peculation" in place of "gross debauchery, and habitual insolence to Sir Fenwick "Williams." Hussain Avni, I find, was never tried ; he was sent under escort to Pera, and there released, subsequently serving with such distinction as could be earned in that mismanaged affair, the expedition to Soukhoum Kaleh. In the Appendix I quote the correspondence that passed between Sir Fenwick Williams, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, Lord Clarendon, and the Porte on the matter. As the name of one Major Simmons appears in these letters, it is but fair to conclude that Sir Lintorn has forgotten the circumstance. 336 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, not preventing tlie relief of the Bayazid garrison by Tergukassoff. Althougli well aware so far back as the lOth July of the actual fact of the Bayazid massacre, I have been nnable up till now to obtain any reliable account of the frightful scenes enacted. Now, however, through the courtesy of Sir Arnold Kemball, I have been placed in possession of the main details, which I proceed to give. It appears that on the 14th of June, Lieutenant-General Faik Pasha, in command of the Van division of the Turkish army, having organised his forces, which prior to the outbreak of war were much scattered, advanced from Pergi, on the eastern shore of the Van Lake, on Bayazid (which, as yon may remember, was evacuated by Ahmed Nuri Bey on the 30th of May without re- sistance). The Eussian commandant, leaving two com- panies in the citadel, an old massive masonry building, marched to Teperiskui, some ten miles S.E. of the place, and gave battle to Talk's forces. Being much out- numbered he was worsted, and retired in some confusion into the town, occupying the citadel with his infantry, while the cavalry remained just outside its walls. With the aid of two field-guns the officer commanding the cavalry managed to keep the Turks at bay ; but, Faik sending Munib Pasha with two battalions and three mountain guns to occupy a hill about 1,200 yards east of the castle, the Turks were enabled to command the Russian position, and finally rendered it untenable. On the 28th June, their water supply having been cut off, the commandant of the garrison hoisted a white flag, and finally sent an officer out to arrange terms of capitu- lation. An officer of similar rank was deputed by Faik Pasha, and these two met in a house in the town and THE MASSACRE AT BAYAZID. 337 drew up the proposed treaty, which received the sanction of both the Russian and Turkish commandants. At 4 p.m. that afternoon, all preliminaries having been gone through, Faik Pasha betook himself to the three-gun battery to the east of the town, and sent a company of infantry up to the citadel, over which the white flag still flew, to line the road from the gates, in order that the Russian prisoners of war might march between the ranks and so down to the camp prepared for them. At the appointed time the gates were thrown open, and the garrison, unarmed, filed out. Some 200 or more had already passed between the lines of Turkish soldiery, when suddenly a body of Kurds (of whom in a previous letter I have reported there were 8,000 in Faik's forces) rushed on the defenceless men and com- menced a wild massacre. In vain did the Turkish regular soldiery interpose ; it was all to no purpose ; in vain did the Russian ofiicers appeal to their sense of honour, and cry that they were unarmed prisoners of war ; demons let loose from hell could have shown no worse devilry. A party dashed on in rear of the column and endeavoured to cut ofE the Russian retreat to the castle, but, fortunately, some Russian soldiers retain- ing their presence of mind, and saving their own at the expense of their comrades' lives, closed the gates and opened fire on the hell-hounds outside. It is stated, on Faik Pasha's authority,* that he opened fire on these miscreants from his own guns, and thus aided the Russian garrison to disperse them. ^ Suffice it to say that, baulked of their prey in the Russian garrison, of whom it is said 236 were thus massacred, the Kurds unchecked * This was subsequently denied by several Turkish officers of high rank present on this occasion. W 338 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. rushed sword in hand into the city, and carried their work of butchery among the defenceless inhabitants. Mussulman and Christian, men and women, children and babes, alike fell victims to their lust of blood. In one church 200 bodies were found. Scarcely one house existed in which there were not two or more corpses — and, shame to Turkey, shame to the name of soldier, Faik Pasha, a lieutenant-general, at the head of six battalions of soldiers, heaven save the mark ! never moved a file into the town to check these blood- thirsty scoundrels in their work of slaughter. On the contrary, he moved his personal camp to Teperiskui, retained the Kurds in his service, and re-opened fire on the citadel. From the Russian account of the siege it appears that the garrison, which consisted of thirty officers and 1,587 men, were reduced to the greatest straits prior to their relief. On the 14th of June, immediately after the engagement at Teperiskui, Faik Pasha, in order to insure submission, cut off the flow of water into the citadel, and the garrison had to depend on the small quantities brought in by men who volunteered for this purpose at night. As early as the 20th of June the ration of liquid was reduced to half-a-pint per diem ; at times even this quantity could not be spared, and then the day's order notified : '* In consequence of yesterday's sortie for water not having proved success- ful, the sick and wounded will receive one pint, men in health one quarter of a pint, daily." Then again, on dark nights, when the vigilance of the Kurds was not so keen as usual, we have a more cheering order: "From the quantity of water brought in last night, a sufficient quantity will be served out to cook food and bake SIEGE OF BAYAZIB, 339 bread." Provisions soon became as scarce as water, and when a sortie was made to the stream, a party was^ detached to search the deserted houses for food. Even this did not suffice, and on the 6th of July the com- mandant, himself confined to his bed by a dangerous wound, issued the following pithy order: ''My horse and that of the brigade major to be killed, as the remainder of the biscuit is required for the use of the sick; they are to be roasted, not boiled, so that all the water may be kept for drinking." Of the severity of the bombardment, which lasted twenty-seven days, we may judge from the fact that the garrison lost two officers and 114 men killed, seven officers and 359 men wounded, irrespec- tively of those massacred by the Kurds. Having no artillery, the commandant was unable to reply to the fire poured upon him from twelve field-guns, which Faik Pasha placed in position on an eminence campletely commanding the interior of the work. On the 6th of July, Ismail Pasha effected a junction with Faik; thus the Turkish forces available for the siege amounted to twenty-eight battalions, but the Kurdish chief was so convinced the place would be starved into submission, that he would not hear of an assault. He, however, sent in a Parlementaire to the Russian commander, offering to permit him to march out with all the honours of war, if he would capitulate. As if to add to the indignity of the proceeding, the message was sent in by a corporal, who was told to inform the Turkish Greneral that, having regard to the perfidious manner in which the Ottoman troops behaved on the 19th ult., the garrison preferred death to treating with such inhuman monsters. On the following daj^ another Parlementaire was despatched from the Turkish camp, w2 340 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. but he was ifired on; whereupon Ismail retired to his own camp at Moussin, and told Faik to prosecute the siege \\dth all vigour. The supineness of these two Generals enabled Tergukassoff to cut in between them on the 10th of July, and relieve Bayazid. The sufferings of the Eussians, bad as they were prior to the massacre, when want of water, the direst want a garrison can feel, led them to offer to surrender, were now increased a thousandfold. To die of starvation, preserving their honour, was preferable — far preferable — to death at the hands of the murderous villains whom a Turkish General permitted to remain in his army. In spite of the breach of faith of which men in his own command had been guilty, Faik Pasha showed no signs of remorse for an act at which all Europe will stand aghast in horror, no sign of shame at the infamy which must inevitably fall on his own head, no sign of pity for the gallant men inside the chateau, no sign of acknowledgment of the white flag which still floated over the Russian garrison; but gave orders for the continuance of the bombardment, and exultingly pointed out the accuracy of his own artillery practice, boasting that night after night the stream from which alone the Russians could obtain their supply of water was watched, and that the forlorn hope, which ever and anon made desperate efforts to carry up some drops of the precious liquid to their comrades, were attacked in their gallant mission, and nightly driven back with loss. For twenty- three days did this pitiless warfare continue ; for twenty-three days did this gallant band hold out, enduring all the horrors of a siege, enhanced by the far worse terrors of a death from thirst, until on the morn- ing of the loth of July, Tergukassoff, by a feat which THE UPSHOT OF THE BAYAZID AFFAIR, 341 must stand on record as one of the most dashing feats of arms of modern times, with eight battahons, thirty- two guns, and seven regiments of cavalry, cut in between Ismail Pasha with twenty, and Faik Pasha with six battalions and 11,000 regulars, relieved his beleaguered comrades, carried them off, sick and wounded, guns, and munitions of war, and then turning on Faik Pasha, signally defeated him, capturing three guns and 800 prisoners. And what did the infuriated Kurds all this time — the fanatical " Ghazis " — who were to carry death and destruction into Russia under their gallant leader, Kurd Ismail Pasha — the heroic men who did not for a moment hesitate to throw themselves on unarmed prisoners of war, on defenceless women and children? No thought of facing that avenging army, no thought of fighting an armed foe. One glance at the steady advance of the Eussian infantry, one look at the squadrons of dragoons sweeping round their rear, and then, casting aside their arms, they fled like sheep from the battle-field. I wiU not attempt to criticise the conduct either of Faik Pasha on this horrible occasion, or of the Ottoman Government, for emplojdng such mercenaries. I will merely point out that this massacre occurred on the 19th of June ; that Mukhtar Pasha has informed Sir Arnold Kemball that orders have been sent down to suspend Faik Pasha and to try him by court-martial ; that Kurd Ismail Fakki Pashi has interceded for him; and. that he still commands the 1st Division of the right wing of the Turkish army. Permit me to say a word in conclusion on a some- what analogous subject. More than once it has been my pleasant lot to speak of the conduct of our consul, 342 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. Mr. Zolirab, during this campaign, and to point out the very prominent position he has taken in endeavouring to allay excitement and calm the passions of the fanatic population of Erzeroum. I am aware that he never glosses over the faults or the crimes of Ottoman officials. For this reason he has been dubbed a hater of the Turk, and I have reason to believe his reports have been regarded as highly coloured. As he has dwelt in this country since he reached manhood, and has a know- ledge of Oriental languages, manners, and customs possessed by few, and is moreover a straightforward, honest, gallant, English gentleman, his despatches should possess a peculiar value, and his suggestions be received with the respect due to the well-weighed words of a master of the Armenian question. Without attempt- ing for one moment to deny the numerous faults in the Armenian character, I maintain that no report describing their sufferings and oppressions can be too highly coloured. The conduct of Mr. Zohrab at Kars in 1855, where, as one of that gallant little band of our fellow- countrymen who so bravely defended the place against the repeated assaults of the Eussians, he added a fresh name to the list of those who, shedding lustre them- selves on the name of England, have been forgotten by their country ; his noble abnegation of self in now daily sacrificing hours of a day already far too short for the work this war imposes on him, in order that he may aid Lord Blantyre's doctors in their task of love and charity ; his never-ceasing endeavours to provide for the comfort of all his countrymen, ay, and of Americans too, official and non- official, whom this crisis has attracted to Erzeroum ; and the cool front and cheery demeanour he now exhibits among the scenes of danger, of distress, of IN MB, ZOHBAB'S BEHALF, 343 suflfering, and of sickness, to which his family and him- self are daily exposed, compel me to say one word in his defence against the cruel imputations I have heard cast upon him, and to claim for him that meed of sympathy which Englishmen are ever willing to accord to a fellow- countryman who tries to do his duty. CHAPTER XVII. WINTER PREPARATIONS. Ghazi Mukhtar Pasha — Promotion of Captain Mehemet Pasha — Further Plans of the Turkish Commander-in-Chief — Condition of the Erzeroum Garrison — Prospect of Famine — Komaroff's Measures for Defence of Ardahan — Rumoured Reinforcements for Tergukassoff — Winter Clothing for Turkish Troops - The British Ambulance — Reported Violation of the Geneva Conven- tion by the Russians — Conduct of the Turks on the Battle-field — Conduct of the Russians in Ardahan — Explosive Bullets — Desertion of the Circassians — Probability of the Loss seriously affecting Mukhtar — Difficulty of an Advance on Erivan — Successful Raid of Arab Cavalry — Force despatched to Natschevan — Russian Reinforcements — Skirmish at Tcherkgi. Erzeroum, 12th September. During the last few days we received information that the Sultan has bestowed upon Mukhtar Pasha the title of Ghazi, as a reward for his conduct during the campaign, more especially for his brilliant victory at Kizil-Tepe, on the 25th of August. Captain Mehemet Bey, who led the assault on the Kizil-Tepe Hill, and who previously, as our readers will remember, had shown the most marked gallantry at the defence of Emir Oglou Tort at Ardahan, on the 16th May, was promoted to the rank of Liva Pasha, or major-general. As far as I know, this is the only instance of a foreign officer being promoted by the Turks in this campaign for services in front of the enemy. Mukhtar determined to establish his right to the title of Ghazi, and so evidently resolved to drive the Muscov across the Arpatchai into Eussian territory. Ismail Pasha, it will be remembered, suc- ceeded in forcing Tergukassoff back into Georgia, and is MUKHFAB'S NEW DISPOSITIONS. 345 established in such a strong position on the hills in front of Igdyr, that I doubt the possibility of the Eussians being able to drive him back into Armenia. Mukhtar is so convinced of the impregnability of his own position, that he has called up from the right wing six battalions, and has ordered every available man to be pushed forward from Erzeroum and from the Grhiurji Boghaz defile to his camp on the Aladja Dagh, and now there literally is not a man keeping open communications between this place and the Turkish advanced columns at Pennek, Sarbatan, and Igdyr; by massing his forces near Kars, and throwing himself, with all his strength, on the flank of Melikoff*, Mukhtar is in hopes that he will rid Armenia of the hated Giaour. His recent victories have increased the enthusiasm of his men, and he very wisely stirred the spirit of disaffection in Daghestan, proclama- tions having been circulated amongst the Abkhasian and the Mingrelian and Circassian tribes by Ghazi Mahomed Pasha, the son of Sheik Schamyl, the hereditary prince of that nation. With the Russians in their own terri- tory and insurrection in the mountainous district between the Caspian and Black Seas, the work of the spring cam- paign would be much lightened. The common talk of the head-quarter staff is of wintering in Tiflis and Erivan ; however, the fact of having denuded his line of communications of troops somewhat jeopardises the position of Mukhtar. Erzeroum is garrisoned only by the Mustahfiz battalions of Koniah and Baiboort and some 400 volunteer artillery, so that were either of Mukhtar's columns to be defeated and driven back, it would necessitate the retirement of the others, other- wise the capital would fall into the hands of the Russians, and the process of revictualling Kars would 346 TBE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. be summarily interfered with. The Turkish armies are now reaping the fruits of having raised levies in Kur- distan, the massacres in the Alashgird Plain, and the horrible atrocities committed in Van, Bitlis, and Moosh having caused a general exodus of the Armenians to Russian territory. The crops, though ripe, are waiting for the sickle; there is none to gather them in but robber horsemen, who wander over the country plunder- ing, ravishing, and murdering wherever they please. The consequence is that there is a prospect of a famine throughout the province. As in Bulgaria, the steady tillers of the ground are Christian inhabitants. In Mahomedan villages all able- bodied men have been drafted off to fill up the gaps caused by the war, and the harvest is being gathered in by women. All grain is seized by the Government officials for commissariat purposes, and the harvest-tax, instead of being one-tenth, as it usually is, is now increased to three-fourths, the remainder being left for the support of the villagers ; but even with these large exactions the supply is most limited, and urgent messages have been forwarded to the vilayets of Sivas and Diarbekir to collect and forward all the grain that can be procured. The difficulty of transport, however, will be very con- siderable for them. Fortunately the harvest there has been an unusually good one ; yet, owing to the absence of pack-animals, all of which have been pressed into the transport service of the army, much delay must occur before the supplies reach these. Mehkoff seems to have been well aware of the danger of Ardahan, and, having received early infor- mation of the mobilisation of a column at Pennek for its recapture, took prompt steps to insure its safety. DESIGNS AGAINST THE RUSSIANS. 347 The Emir Oglou, Dooz, and Ramazan Tabia have been considerably strengthened; several minor earthworks have been razed. The barracks and all masonry buildings in the town which would afford cover for an attacking force have been mined. Telegrams have been sent to Akhalzik'for reinforcements to be promptly pushed up, and Komaroff has been directed to hold the place to the last extremity. Hassan Bey, commanding the column at Pennek, seems fully alive to the diffi- culty of the undertaking, and, I hear, will not move forward until he receives intelligence of the arrival of Dervish Pasha's brigade at Ardanutsch. After the junction, in the event of his still considering the place too formidable to be attacked with the troops at command, Hassan Bey has received instructions to stand fast at Pennek, and bar any attempts of a Russian advance by that road to Erzeroum. There are rumour^ that Tergukassoff has been reinforced by three regi- ments of cavalry and a brigade of infantry. It is impossible to say what his actual strength is ; but we know that in his adventurous advance on Zaidikan he had only eight battalions at his disposal. It is pro- bable, however, that now he has fourteen battalions of infantry, five batteries, with ten regiments of cavalry. Although this does not amount to more than half the forces of Ismail Pasha, who has twenty-nine battalions, six batteries, and from 6,000 to 10,000 horse, yet the Russians are quite strong enough, under their able and gallant leader, effectually to bar the way to Erivan ; and I think it may be safely assumed that Ismail Pasha, who has already tested the metal of Tergukassoff*s troops, will abandon his loudly-proclaimed intention of wintering in the capital of Georgia ; his army, too, 3iS THE CAMPAIGN' IN ARMENIA. is in the most pitiable state. As regards supplies, tlie whole district in his vicinity has been completely pillaged by his clansmen, the Kurds, and provisions are nowhere obtainable nearer than Erzeroum, where the authorities very naturally pay more heed to orders sent from the Commander-in-Chief thto they do to those from Ismail Hakki. Indeed, it was not until he threatened to fall back on Van, and report that he was obliged to do so owing to the neglect of the Erzeroum officials to replenish his commissariat, that Hassan Pasha awoke to the real urgency of his state. His army is divided into two divisions, one of which he has sent out under Hakif Pasha to Alkah, while he himself with the remainder of his forces stays at Zor. Active preparations have been made through- out the provinces for a winter campaign ; 80,000 suits of new uniform have been ordered by Mukhtar Pasha, and he has shown a prescience rare in the Osmanli, by directing that the whole of the skins of the beasts killed by the commissariat dnring the campaign are to be sent into Erzeroum, for the purpose of being turned into coats for his troops. This is a measure certainly adopted none too soon, for the majority of the soldiers are in rags and tatters. Doctors Casson and Buckby are at present at Kars, organising an ambulance corps for the head-quarter column of the Turkish army, whilst Dr. Feather- stonhaugh, with two assistants, has been left in charge of the English hospital in this place. Mr. Zohrab, our energetic consul, is busily aiding them in collecting material and means for the ambulance train. I see in a recent issue of the Times that Mukhtar Pasha has formally complained of the Russians having CHAEQES AND COUNTEE-GHAEGES. 349 violated the Greneva Convention during the battle of the 25th of August by firing upon his ambulances. As these ambulances consisted of a few '' Arabas '' or country carts, of the same pattern as those used for the transport of artillery and infantry ammunition, as well as for the general commissariat purposes of the army, and as they were surmounted merely by a small flag, just eighteen inches square, it would be difficult for an enemy to recognise them as hospital institutions ; and I think, taking into consideration the conduct of the Russians to the Turkish wounded at Ardahan, we may acquit them of having wilfully perpetrated the crime which Mukhtar Pasha lays to their charge. These accusations only tend to embitter the feud now raging between the Moslem and the Slav, and throw a blot on the civilisa- tion of both. When the Russians take to exaggerating the savagery of their opponents, they forget that they too lay themselves open to a charge of inhuman conduct in having armed the Bulgarians, in having fomented insurrections among the Christians in the European provinces of Turkey, and having repeatedly violated the armistice during the Servian war, when Turkish water- bearers were shot down in cold blood by Russian rifle- men in Servian trenches. When the Turks, as they have too frequently done in Armenia, accuse the Russians of crimes which exist only in their own heated imaginations, they must expect unbiassed spec- tators to expose 'their misstatements to the Christian world. It is generally admitted, indeed there can be no two sides to this question, that off the battle-field the Turkish regular soldier has shown no disposition to commit these so-called atrocities. When under fire, and under the influences of the excitement of the moment. 350 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, the Turk undoubtedly behaves in a somewhat savage manner, and I think from the fact that during this cam- paign the prisoners taken in various actions may be counted on one's fingers, and the wounded prisoners represented by a negative figure, we shall not be wrong in arriving at the conclusion that the Turk slays aU wounded men found on the field of battle ; and when we remember that until the year 1826 a reward was ojffered for the head of every enemy brought to the tent of the Commander-in-Chief, we can scarcely be surprised that the custom is still in vogue. That they strip their dead foes is also an undeniable fact, and that they mutilate the dead in as brutal a manner as the Afghan tribes on the north-west frontier of India, I myself can bear witness to. The atrocities committed ofi" the field of battle, the vengeance wreaked on unofiending Armenian ^dllagers, the desecration of the graves of the Russians, the carrying ofi* of boys and maidens for the most diabolical of purposes, have all been committed by the Kurds. The Russians in general, at any rate, have shown their enemy a good example with reference to the wounded men. The statement of the Grerman doctors, Addler and Weiss, taken prisoners at Ardahan, show that the Turkish wounded were treated with the same kindness and consideration as their own; they received the same pay as they would have done had they been serving with their regiments, but very much more regularly. Their rations were accompanied by an extra allowance of meat and soup as refreshing as it was unusual to the Turkish soldiers, and when reported fit for duty the wounded men were provided with five days' provisions, and permitted to return to Erzeroum. The stories of explosive bullets which have been EXPLOSIVE BULLETS. 351 bandied about from side to side during the last few weeks is another of those exaggerations of which both parties may well be ashamed. Any sportsman who is used to the Henry-Martini rifle will know that the express bidlet striking on a bone inflicts a wound very similar to that made by the old explosive shell. That there is gun-cotton used in the Turkish bullet, or any explosive material whatever, I can confidently deny. I have examined, I may say, hundreds of their cart- ridges, both in quarters and in the field. The bullet, I have no hesitation in averring, is exactly the same as our own. I have also picked up some unexploded cartridge-cases belonging both to the Krinker and Berdan rifles, with which the Russian forces are armed. In many of these there was a compressed felt plug in the cup at the base of the ball ; but I submitted this plug to test, and it possessed none of the qualities of gun-cotton. Consequently, I am satisfied that, so far as explosive bullets are concerned, the Geneva Convention has been violated by neither party during the present war. We hear that the Q-rand Duke has been recently reinforced by a complete division of infantry and seven regiments of cavalry. This increase of horse jeopardises Mukhtar Pasha's position considerably. His large force of cavalry is being rapidly diminished by numerous desertions of both Circassians and Kurds, who arrive here in parties sometimes up to the strength of 150 sabres. A day or two ago we received telegraphic information from Kars that a body of 150 of these gentlemen had quietly deserted from the camp and were returning to their homes. Instructions were forwarded to the governor to send a sufficient force to arrest them. -r '^ i 1 352 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, Accordingly a body of infantry and cavalry was de- spatched from this place, and they very shortly met the Circassians on the road from Kars. They were promptly disarmed and marched prisoners into the town, where they have been located in one of the empty barracks. On my asking one of the officers what was meant by this desertion en masse of the Circassian horse, he replied, *' We get no pay, we get no rations, we get no grain for our horses, we get no warm clothing for our- selves. How can we fight under those circumstances ? We have constantly applied to Mukhtar Pasha for some of the arrears of pay due to us, for great-coats, and for blankets for our horses, and to all our appeals we received the answer that it is quite sufficient for a Mahomedan to fight for the Sultan with the hope of receiving a reward in the future world. Unfortunately the hope of the reward hereafter does not fill our stomachs or those of our horses, and so we have re- turned here and mean to appeal to the Sultan for our just dues." Whether the Sultan antedated the bill I cannot say. This reduction of his cavalry is a very serious thing for Mukhtar, still, in the sense in which we speak of cavalry, it certainly was not of much use. There was not an officer in the whole force who understood the art of reconnoitring. He was never able to depend upon the information brought to him by the cavalry leaders. Although, as a rule, the men were willing enough to face the Cossack horse, they distinctly declined to face either infantry or guns. Indeed, on more than one occasion, their hurry to take up a strong position with the reserve when the Russian artillery opened fire upon them was somewhat ludicrous. As long as Mukhtar Pasha could place two battalions in the field to one that TEEGUKASSOFF'S POSITION. 353 the Eussians could show, his weakness in this respect was not so discernible. But now the want of sufficient cavalry forces, the want of the eyes and the ears of the army, will, I fear, prove disastrous to him. Should the Grand Duke succeed in cutting in between the Aladja Dagh and Kars, the loss of the greater portion of the Turkish army will be the inevitable result. How- ever, throughout this campaign the Eussians have ignored every principle of war in the most disastrous manner. They have allowed to pass by so many ex- cellent opportunities for striking a fatal blow upon their opponents, that even should Mukhtar be seriously defeated in his present position, I see no reason why he should not be able to retire on the Soghanly range with as large a force as he did in May last. There have been a few minor encounters between Ismail Pasha's troops and Tergukassoff's small division, yet the Kurdish chief, who in April proclaimed to the world his immediate intention of invading Eussia with 40,000 clansmen, now fails to cross the twenty miles of ground that intervenes between him and Erivan, and he shows more wisdom in remaining in his position on the Igdyr Hills than he did in despatching his bombastic telegram to the Porte. The valley of the Araxes as it passes through the Erivan plain is entirely devoted to the cultivation of rice. Those of my readers who are acquainted with the paddy- fields of Bengal will easily understand the difficulty of moving a large army of 35,000 men, with its attendant transport consisting either of arabas or pack-animals, across that style of country; by the simple act of cutting a few sluices, Tergukassoff would convert the plain into one large morass, and then T think he would gain a more X 354 THE GAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, decided triumph on the plains of Erivan than he did at Taghir on the 16th July last. On the 20th of September there was a small cavalry- affair in this vicinity. A squadron of Sulimani irregular cavalry was detached on reconnoitring duty across the Araxes. It advanced towards Erivan, and actually cut in between the outposts on the Alexandropol road. These appear to have been very inefficiently commanded, for the detachment succeeded in overpowering the postal escort, bringing letters from the Grrand Duke to Erivan. The sound of firing brought up one outpost, but the Arab horse, showing the greatest gallantry, having seized the letter-bags, charged the enemy's cavalry; and, laden with the arms of the escort, and leading thirty captured horses, the Arabian irregulars returned with their booty to camp. From these letters we learnt that Tergukassoff had recently been reinforced by twelve battalions under General Dewel, but the Grand Duke, anxious to strengthen his centre as much as possible preparatory to making a determined assault on Mukhtar's position, had ordered seven of these battalions to return imme- diately to Karajal. From the letters also we found that there was an intention of pushing in a force to cross the Arpa Tchai, and intervene between the two Turkish wings. This fact was at once communicated to Mukhtar Pasha, who detached five battalions and a battery to Natschevan with orders to entrench themselves there. On the following day, the 27th of September, Ismail Pasha endeavoured to seize the village of Tcherkgi. For this purpose at dawn he sent three battalions with a half -battery, supported by the remainder of Hakif s brigade. The village was held only by a ISMAIL PASHA'S GENERALSHIP. 355 small detachment, but the Eussian general at once threw forward eleven battalions, two batteries, and three regiments of cavalry, who opposed the assault of our men. Seeing that they were terribly over- matched, Ismail ordered Lieutenant-General Mustafa Safvet Pasha to support this force with the remainder of his' division, and after a brisk cannonade on the Eussian position, Hakif Bey's troops were again led forward to the assault. They, however, were driven back, and owing to the impetuosity of the Eussian advance, were forced to retire to the hills near Alkali, which Tergukassoff proceeded to storm ; night was coming on, and after two attempts, during which his men were brilliantly repulsed by six Turkish battalions on the hill, Tergukassoff drew off. The Turkish loss was 132 officers and men killed, amongst them being Major Ibrahim Bey. Ismail Pasha, who throughout the campaign has distinguished himseK as much by the inaccm^acy of his despatches as by his disinclination to expose himself to danger, and who, evidently, is of opinion that a knowledge of strategy is valueless to a general who has the Koran at his fingers' ends, despatched a flaming report to the Seraskierate, in which he announced that he had signally defeated the Eussians, who left 1,100 dead on the field. The want of leaders in the Turkish right wing is very severely felt. If Mukhtar Pasha could spare a skilful, determined man to supersede the Kurdish chief, the campaign would have a very different result. There was a rumour that Captain Mehmed Pasha was to have the command, but the blind jealousy of Europeans will stand in his way, and although he and his brigade (who follow him with a rare X 2 356 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. devotion) are always pushed forward wherever the fighting is thickest, yet it is too much to expect that, sinking their blind conceit in their powers, the Osmanli generals will allow Mukhtar Pasha to carry out this move, so necessary for the successful issue of the campaign. CHAPTEE XVni. THE MOSLEM AT THE END OF HIS TETHER. Skirmish near Zaim — Russians defeated — Plans of the Grand Djike — Mukhtar preparing for a Winter Campaign — His Position near Kars — Skirmish at Natschevan — Battle of the Yagnis on 2nd October — Gallantry of Mehmed Pasha's Brigade — Turkish Success at the Little Yagni — Attack and Capture of the Great Yagni — Repulse of the Russians — Heavy Losses — Misery in Kars — Paucity of Doctors — Hospital Arrangements. On the 30th of September all things pointed to the fact that the Grrand Duke was in receipt of heavy- reinforcements, and was evidently determined to assume the offensive. News reached the Turkish camp that Komaroff had been reinforced by a complete division from Akhalzik, and that, feeling his position there to be impregnable, he had detached a brigade of four battalions, one field-battery, and one regiment of cavalry, to reinforce the Russian head- quarters. These men marched by Zarchat, encamped on the 29th to the north of the Arpa Tchai, near Zaim, throwing out pickets in that direction. Hassan Ahmed Bey, who commanded at Pennek, aware of this move, and wishing to prevent the proposed junction, detached a regiment of Arab cavalry to watch the force, at the same time warning the Commander-in-Chief of the march of the Eussian brigade, so that it might be attacked by troops moving up from Kars, and anni- hilated before effecting a junction with its head- 368 THE CAMPAIGN IN AMMENIA. quarters at Karajal. The Turkish, cavalry regiment reached the banks of the Kars-Tchai simultaneously with the Eussian brigade, and with true Oriental negligence the colonel bivouacked his men without even posting one picket. The Russians, aware of the usual custom of the Turks on such occasions, attacked them after nightfall, completely surprised them, and succeeded in cutting up some forty or fifty men before the Arabs were able to escape. The following morning Mukhtar Pasha sent a force under Colonel Tcharkir Bey to avenge the loss that his cavalry had received the pre- ceding evening. The Turkish colonel, placing him- self at the head of three regiments of cavahy, at once charged the enemy's position, and in spite of a very heavy fire from their field-battery, suc- ceeded in driving the enemy, in some confusion, as far as Parget, when, on perceiving reinforcements moving out from Karajal, Tcharkir Bey wisely retired. On the following morning, 1st October, the Grand Duke sent forward a cavalry brigade, accompanied by two horse-batteries, to harass Mukhtar's right ; and now commenced that series of operations which were in- tended to cover the real advance of the Russians . It was evidently the Grand Duke's intention to wear out Mukhtar's men, to reduce his force day by day by slight losses, and, finally, by cutting in between him and Kars, compel him to abandon his forward position on the Russian frontier, to leave Kars, and fall back on his base at Erzeroum. By these means the Grand Duke hoped to be enabled to assault and capture Kars, to drive in the detached brigade at Natschevan, and thus compel Ismail Pasha to execute a retrograde movement — in fact, to begin the campaign entirely anew, advance READY FOB A WINTER CAMPAIGN. 359 on the three old roads of Ardahan, Kars, and Bayazid, concentrate at the foot of Devi-boyun, and take up bis winter quarters in the capital of Armenia. The skirmish on the Turkish right was of no importance ; their losses, as losses in sheltered trenches exposed to artillery fire invariably are, were slight, and the Russians, receiving as good as they gave, retired at dusk to their camp. During the month of September Mukhtar Pasha employed himself in entrenching the hills of Little Tagni and Kizil Tepe ; on the latter were posted some heavy siege-guns, and the position was altogether one comparatively impregnable. In fact, the Tarks were making their preparations for the winter campaign. A site had been selected on the eastern slopes of the Soghanly for a standing camp. Many Christian in- habitants of Kars had been warned that their houses would be required for the quarters of the troops ; large supplies of ammunition and provisions had been thrown into that fortress, not merely for the consumption of the garrison during winter, but for the consumption of an army of occupation. From spies Mukhtar learned that the Russians were employing themselves in like manner, that huts were springing up at Karajal, similar to those which the Russians erected during the campaign of '55, and the remains of which may now be seen round Kars. But Mukhtar, doubting the reports of deserters and spies, disbelieved the story of Russian reinforcements, and hoped that he would be enabled to drive them back to their own territory before winter set in, in its real severity. The Little Yagni position, having been strengthened 360 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. and entrenclied, was garrisoned by six battalions ; eight guns were also placed npon it, and it was intrusted to Capt. Mehmed Pasha. Hussain Hami Pasha was in command of the division at Vezinkui with a battalion occupying the Grreat Yagni hills in his front, whilst Hadji Raschid Pasha, with thirty-four battalions, was holding the slopes of the Aladja, his flank resting on the Nakharji and Olya Tepe. The command of the cavalry division had been vested in Lieut. -Greneral Omar Pasha, a German ofiicer of some distinction, who had recently arrived from Bagdad. The garrison of Kars, terribly reduced by the many demands made upon it, now consisted of four battalions, and these men, under the superintendence of Hassan Bey, the gallant commandant of artillery, were busy in throwing up four new redoubts, two to the north of the Mookhliss Tabia, two to the east of the Karadagh hill. Now, having given a detailed account of the position of the Turkish armies on the 1st October, I will proceed to describe the operations commencing on the morning of the second. Prior to this, however, I must state that on the 30th September, Ahmed Pasha's brigade at Natscbevan was attacked by a Russian brigade of superior strength, which after a sharp engagement was driven back, the Turks suffering a loss of about 250 killed and wounded. At dawn, on the 2nd, a signal- gun boomed out from the Olya Tepe, announcing the fact that the Russians were in motion ; indeed, columns were to be seen advancing en wasse along the Kars road, towards the Little Yagni, whilst others threatened the whole Turkish front. It was evident that the Grand Duke's intention was to turn Mehmed Pasha out of his post, for by 7 a.m., thirty-four battalions, sixty-one ATTACKS ON TEE YAGNI8. 361 jscuiis, and six regiments of cavalry, were drawn up in line in front of the Little Yagni hills. The cavalry (owing to some absurd blunder on the part of the Eussian commander) for a length of time were massed in column, well within the range of Mehmed's guns, and suffered very heavily from the accurate artillery firing brought to bear on them. Following the tactics of their grandfathers, the Eussians threw column after column upon the steep slopes of Little Tagni, but, as must inevitably be the case where troops armed with breech-loaders have availed themselves of tlie spade, the defenders were enabled to repulse every attack upon their front, with the most hideous slaughter. Mehmed Pasha's heroism inspired his men with the utmost enthusiasm. Although they were but Eedifs — soldiers fresh from the plough — ^they showed all the gallantry of trained veterans ; they were, however, for some hours exposed to a galling fire from sixty guns in their front, and suffered most heavily. Mehmed Pasha at last saw that unless aid arrived he would by sheer weight of numbers be driven from the Little Tagni hill ; so he despatched urgent messages to Kars for aid. The Eussian general, however, seemed to think that his men had had enough of it, for about noon there was a cessa- tion of attacks on this position, and a division numbering fifteen or sixteen battalions with twelve guns moved off to the left for the purpose of seizing the Great Yagni, and thus keeping off the reinforcements which were being moved from the Aladja to the support of the Little -Yagni. Whilst this was going on in the left of the Turkish position, a heavy attack developed itself on the right, where two columns of infantry, covered by sixty guns, advanced on Sarbatan, and the easternmost 362 THU CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. slopes of the Aladja Dagh. Hadji Easchid Pasha com- manding this position sent forward two brigades under Mustafa Djavid Pasha and Ibrahim Bey, to repel them. Obeying the calls of their gallant leaders, the Turks went at the enemy with the bayonet. On all sides one hears of the bravery displayed at this point. After fighting the Russians were driven back to the banks of the Arpa Tchai with terrible losses. In the meantime the commandant of Kars had sent out five battalions to the aid of the gallant Prussian. Cheered by these rein- forcements the Eedif soldiers gained courage and practi- cally sealed the issue of the day. Great Yagni, however, in spite of the repeated suggestions of the staff, had been left comparatively undefended, one solitary battalion numbering scarcely five hundred men manned the entrenchments on its crest, and although these men showed heroism that has not been surpassed in this war, the place was carried after a most obstinate defence ; three junior officers and thirty-seven men alone escaped to tell the tale. The cannonade on the Little Yagni continued all day long, and before nightfall seven hundred and fifty men had been removed into Kars. Ahmed Pazel Pasha,* who had superseded Mehmed Pasha in the command on the arrival of the reinforcements, received a ball through the thigh, and the command of the position once more devolved on Mehmed Pasha. Long after dusk the cannonade on this point continued, although all actual assaults had long since been dis- continued. Well now might the Eussians have despaired of suc- cess. AU their attacks on the Turkish positions had been * This officer was amongst the prisoners taken in Kars, and died early in December from the effects of the wound received on the 2nd Octoher. SICK AND WOUNDUD IN KAES. 363 repelled with the exception of that on the Great Yagni Hill, and they were doubtless surprised to find that no attempts were made by the Turkish Commander-in-Chief to recapture this ; but Mukhtar was well aware that there was no necessity for him to waste valuable lives to effect that which must shortly ensue as a matter of course. The losses on both sides were most severe. A doctor with the Turkish army computed the Ottoman casualties at 1,000 killed and 3,500 wounded, whilst of the Eussians Mukhtar asserted that 2,800 dead bodies were found on the slopes of the Little Yagni alone !* The 3rd of October was spent in desultory artillery firing between the advanced artillery posts, without leading to anything more; but the following day, seeing that the Russians had occupied the Kapack Tepe in some force, Mukhtar Pasha sent forward Hadji Easchid Pasha with a strong column to reconnoitre, charging him most particularly on no account to bring on a general engagement. Prior to that the Great Yagni had been evacuated, owing to the extreme difficulty of supplying the garrison with water. The arrival of the wounded men in Kars strained the hospital resources to their utmost. There were but four doctors in the place fit for duty, and prior to this engagement there were upwards of 4,000 sick and wounded in the fortress, Por those in England or for those who have campaigned only with our own armies, which, as a rule, are so adequately provided with medical officers, with ambulances, litters, and hospital comforts, it is difficult to conceive the amount of misery daily to * The Russian official report mentioned 960 killed, 2,400 wounded, and two missing, while 24-0 Turkish prisoners remained in their hands. 364 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. be seen in the streets of Kars — hospital accommodation existed only for 1,200 men, and even for that number there was not sufficient bedding, nor were there cots for more than 300 patients. The barracks and khans (rest houses for travellers) were speedily filled, and yet scarcely one-half of the wounded were provided even with shelter. In despair, the doctors applied to the commandant for the various masonry Government buildings, but this request was refused, and the victims of Turkey's misgovemnient, of Eussia's love of aggression, were perforce crowded into the small, ill- ventilated huts which abound in the city, men suffering from typhoid, from dysentery, from scurvy, lay side by side with comrades brought low by shot or bayonet. It was practically impossible for one-fourth of these men to be visited by the doctors, who were fear- fully overworked ; indeed, it was impossible that the medical men could know where all their patients were housed — fresh cases came daily to notice, and men were hourly found who had been lying for days with undressed wounds, unset limbs. The Stafford House stores that Dr. Casson brought out from Erzeroum early in September were expended before the battle of the Yagnis, and from a letter I received from a German doctor in Kars, dated the 10th of October, I learnt that they were utterly without car- bolic acid, lint, charpie, there were no bandages, no splints, no tourniquets, in the hospitals. From all quarters, however, the story was the same, the Turkish authorities took no means to provide for the medical requirements of their army, and help from England was not only inadequate, but came too late. The hospitals in Erzeroum were now crowded; but whereas in former days such a thing as a man being discharged HOSPITALS AND THEIR ACCOMMODATION. 365 fit for duty was never heard of, now, under the skilful and kindly treatment of Dr. Featherstonhaugh and his assis- tants, men were daily turned out cured. It is a pleasure to read the universal testimony borne to the comfort experienced by the Turkish soldiers in the Blantyre Hospital. Officers and men located in the other build- ings used to beg for admission, in order that they, too, might reap the benefits of England's charity. In antici- pation of a further increase in the number of such, the Governor of Erzeroum despatched Dr. Galenthay to Erzingjan, with instructions to provide hospital accom- modation for a further number of 1,000, in addition to the 1,500 who were sent under the doctor's charge. At Olti, too, early in October, Dr. Fliiss reported that his stores were exhausted and his hospitals full, whilst the same story was repeated at Bayazid. In fact, it was computed by the medical authorities that at this time fourteen per cent, of the whole strength of the Armenian army was on the sick list. CHAPTER XIX. TURKISH ADMINISTRATION IN ARMENIA. Mahomedans Exempted from War Taxation— Oliristians Forced to Pay — Pen- sioners of Turkish. Government— Irregular Imposts — The Discontent they Cause — The Hadji — The Caimakam and the British Consul — The Police Station at the Mouth of the Ghiurji Boghaz — Mr. Layard and the Danger to India — American Missionaries' Views on Christian Oppression — Turkish Reforms — Her Hospitals — Dr. Casson on Tui'kish Atrocities — Employment of the Press by the Porte — The Abkhasian Exodus — Treatment of the JBayazid Refugees by the Russians and Persians — Treatment of their own Wounded by Turks — Reduction of Unpaid Salaries. Erzeroum, Sept. \2>th. The publication o£ the Grovernment orders relative to the new internal forced loan of 600 million piastres was received with the most marked signs of discontent and dissatisfaction — so much so, indeed, that a deputa- tion of the principal Mahomedans called on the Governor of Erzeroum and pointed out to him that the people in this district were more heavily taxed than in any other part of Asiatic Turkey ; with regard to the war, they were subject to numerous requisitions which those living at a distance from the seat of hostilities were not liable to ; they were called upon to feed any de- tachments of soldiers passing through their villages, receiving no compensation ; and they were constantly obliged to furnish carts and oxen for the transport of Government material, for which they received no pay- ment. In fact, their demands were so reasonable that 'lb fbuc& page 366. BEABEBS OF THE BURDEN. 367 the Grovernor at once telegraphed to the Porte, who directed that all Mahomedans in the vilayet of Erzeroum should he exempt from the operations of the tax, on condition that they continued to supply horses, carts, and oxen for the transport of munitions of war. Em- boldened by this success, the Christians formed a deputation and waited on his Excellency, begging that they, too, might be relieved, as they had already, since the commencement of hostilities, been called upon to pay nine separate money contributions towards the expenses of the war. Hassan Izzet Pasha, how- ever, pointed out to them that they were exempt from military service, that they had all their able-bodied men at home, and were in a position not only to carry on their ordinary business avocations, but also to cut and gather their harvest, which the Mahomedans, owing to the majority of their males being with the army, were unable to do ; and that, although he would forward their petition to the Sublime Porte, he could not hold out much hope of relief. As is usual in all wars, the effect of this falls with far heavier force on the labouring classes than on any other; the distress rife throughout the district is almost inconceivable. The Pashas and richer people do not feel it, as they take care to draw their pay regularly from the Government Treasury, while the lower officials and the private soldier never see their allowances. These all suffer extremely, more especially the pensioners of the last war — widows of men who fell in 1855, of whom there are still a few dependent on Government bounty for support. Their pensions, small as they are — only 30 piastres a month — have not been paid them this year, and they are consequently 368 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. plunged in the greatest want and destitution. The people do not complain of the regular taxes, but what they do inveigh against most bitterly are the irregular imposts, from which they have no escape, and which they know full well never go into the Grovernment Treasury. Christians and Mahomedans speak alike on this point, and I have met as many of the latter creed as of the former who state there will be no happiness in Turkey as long as a Pasha exists. I will give you one or two instances to show you the unjust way in which taxes are levied here. These have come under my own personal observation, and I have con- versed with the villagers concerned, chiefly Mahomedans, whom, as a rule, I have found more bitter against the system of Pasha rule than their Armenian fellow- countrymen. In a village some fifteen miles from this, which I have visited three times, dwells a certain Hadji, who is one of the chief men of the place. He is a farmer on a small scale, owns a small plot of land, a few cattle, and is able by the sweat of his brow to earn his own living, and keep his head above water, which comparatively few Turks are. Just after the outbreak of the war, the Caimakam, or sub-governor of his district, called on this man, and demanded a war contribution. The old gentleman gladly consented to give towards the good purpose of driving the hated Giaour out of the kingdom of the Faithful, but did not see his way to the large sum the Caimakam was anxious to extract from him. Appeals were made to his pride as head man of the village, to the odour of sanctity which surrounded him and his family in consequence of his pilgrimage to ]\Iecca, and finally the old gentleman was induced to TEE GAIMAKAM AND THE HADJI. 369 part with 2,000 piastres in good money, equal to £200, on the express condition that he was not to be called upon for any more war taxes during the present year ; but, as the Hadji piteously remarked, " there has not been one single week since then that I have not had to pay towards the war in some shape or another.'' The first blow that fell upon him was the announcement that he had been drawn for the Mustahfiz, or Eeserve troops, and was to join the battalion in Erzeroum. The poor old fellow fled to the British Consul, Mr. Zohrab, who, with his usual kindheartedness, at once went to the palace, explained the old man's case, pointed out that he was over sixty, was the only male in his family, that if he were sent to the front those dependent upon him for support would be plunged into starvation and misery, as their crops would be left standing, and their cattle untended, and that, moreover, he had already served fifteen years in the regular army, had voluntarily given 2,000 piastres to the war fund, and was a just object for the Mushir's benevolence. The pleadings of the British Consul were successful, and the old man, to his delight, was granted exemption. Freed from that trouble, his old friend the Caimakam continued, never- theless, to make calls upon his purse ; his village every week is called upon to furnish a certain number of carts for Grovernment transport; and he, of course, is com- pelled to pay his share of their cost, varying from ten to thirty piastres a week. As he says, '' When and where is this to end? Neither I nor the rest of the agriculturists can go on paying these sums or giving our labour for nothing, and we see nothing before us but ruin and starvation. We help the Government to the best of our power, but Grovernment will not help us ; T 370 THU CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, they only take our money, our young men, our all, and return us not even thanks/' Another instance of oppression, though of a different kind : — In April last the Grovernor conceived the idea of building a police station at the bridge across the Euphrates, just at the mouth of the Ghiurji Boghaz, and an official was sent to warn the villagers in the immediate vicinity that they would be called upon to contribute £500 towards its construction. They are all small agricultural hamlets, and such a sum was almost beyond the grasp of their intellect. They at once sent a deputation to Ismail Pasha, say- ing that there were no thieves in the Pass, that they had done without a police station since the com- mencement of the world, that they were utterly unable to find such a sum among them, and they implored him to reconsider his determination. He refused, and threatened to quarter soldiers in the villages until the money was forthcoming. Thus pressed, the greybeards of the neighbourhood met together, apportioned the various sums to be contributed by each village and by each household, and conveyed the money to Erzeroum. They were then told to collect stones and beams of wood at a certain spot. Workmen were sent out, and the building commenced. It is now finished ; I have seen it. It consists of a rectangular, stone, one-storied house, containing but one room 30 by 24 feet; it is 14 ft. in height, unboarded; there are two holes for windows, unglazed; the door consists of a couple of rough planks joined together; the stones are undressed, and no mortar was used in the construction ; the roof is a flat mud one — in fact, it is similar to the road-side police stations one sees all over India. The cost, I THE WAY TEE PASHAS FILL THEIB PURSES. 371 should say, could not have exceeded 5,000 piastres, especially as the village gave the beams and stones, and many of the villagers were forced to labour on the work. I have conversed with many men who have seen it, and they all say that £30 was the outside sum it cost. What has become of the balance of £500 ? The answer given by Mussulman and Christian alike is — "' It is in this way our Pashas enrich themselves, and grind us down to the dust." I have read with much interest Mr. Layard's de- spatch of the 30th of May. With all due deference to the large school of Eussophobists who inveigh so loudly against our policy of masterly inactivity in India, I cannot conceive any man who has travelled down the North- West Frontier of the Punjab and viewed the natural ramparts which surround us, andhas studied the physical geography of the country beyond them, fearing that the conquest of Armenia, or even the possession of Herat, would endanger the safety of our Indian Empire as long as our rule is as beneficent and as tolerant as it is now, and as long as we have or can put at call 100,000 bayonets, British and native, to man the mouths of the passes in the Suliman Mountains. With regard to the majority of the Christians preferring Turkish to Eussian rule, I fear my short experience in this country and my con- versation with American missionaries, men as much to be depended upon as Dr. Washbourne, have led me to form a completely opposite opinion. Moslem and Christian alike groan under an intolerable yoke — the yoke of Pashas whose wills are unfettered, whose passions are unbridled, whose vices are beyond descrip- tion, and whose oppressions are too well known for Y 2 372 THE CAMPAIGN IN AHMENIA. my pen to attempt to describe. Turkey bears a striking resemblance to the Infernal Eegions, which good George Herbert said are paved with broken pro- mises ; all her promises of reform have been swept away ; her conduct in this war has been marked by the vilest crimes of which a nation can be guilty. She has not only committed the crime of arming and letting loose bands of undisciplined, fanatical robbers, whose passions, fed by the religious exhortations of their bigoted priests, and strengthened by the proclamations of the Sheikh-ul-Islam, have led, as the Porte knew full well and firmly intended that they should lead, to the brutal massacre of the survivors of the Bulgarian re- bellion and the cold-blooded murders of the inoffensive Christians in Armenia. Of worse crimes even than these has Turkey been guilty ; she has been guilty of plunging into a war which she knew would be a bitter and a sanguinary one, and she has made no preparation for the care of the sick and wounded men — of men who pour out their lives like water for the sake of the Pro- phet and the Sultan. Armies without a single doctor are sent 100 miles from the nearest hospital, and sick and wounded men are left to drag their weary limbs as best they may to the nearest harbour of refuge ; no preparations are made for their transport, no escort sent with them to obtain shelter or food at the various villages en route ; they are left unprovided with money to procure themselves even the commonest necessaries of life on the way, and, as Turkish doctors themselves have said to me, only the slightly wounded men ever reach Erzeroum ; and it is the wish, doubtless, of the G-overnment that it should be so, for, as I have before asserted, so I repeat, that it has been deliberately stated REAL TURKISH ATR0GITW8. 373 by the principal medical officer of Erzeroum, in the pre- sence of three Englishmen, that " the Porte prefers its soldiers to die rather than that they should become pensioners on the State." The conduct of the Ottoman Government goes far to prove there is too much truth in Ismail Bey's statement, and until the hospitals in the Turkish army are put on the same footing as those of other European armies, so long, in my humble opinion, should the condition be annexed to the gifts of English stores and the services of English doctors, that no convalescent man should be permitted to return to the ranks, but should be straightway sent to his home ; indeed, I do not see why such conditions should not be annexed in all future wars as the price of the assistance given by all sick and wounded aid societies. At the present time they cease to be charities ; in the case of Eussia they are auxiliaries to her own excellent hospital arrangements ; in the case of Turkey they simply fill a void, for it may be said that medical men and hospitals do not exist here, and so the charitable institutions of England heal the wounds of men in order that they may be the more speedily able to destroy some more of Grod's creatures. Is this charity ? I think not. As Dr. Casson very pertinently remarked to me the other day, '' the greatest atrocities to be seen in this country are to be daily witnessed in our hos- pitals. There you have the most dire outrages that Moslems have ever perpetrated, and they are daily and hourly committed by the Turkish Grovernment on her brave soldiers." If the Porte really meant reform, why did it not take measures for the protection of the Chris- tians in Armenia and Bulgaria ; why did it not take steps to procure proper medical assistance for the 374 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. 300,000 fighting men, who need, Grod only knows how much, every help that man can afford them ? The statement that Turkey does not employ the Press to support her cause, which I saw in a recent issue of the Ti?nes under very high authority, is perfectly unfounded. The Porte does employ the Press, and very largely, too. I know two European journals which are heavily subsidised by the Ottoman Govern- ment. I know that divers advantages, some partaking of a very solid character, are offered to correspondents who advocate the Turkish cause, and who forward tele- grams dictated by Turkish authorities. I am making no idle accusations now, and I know cases in which credits have been opened at various telegraph oflBces by the Ottoman Grovernment in favour of their said con'espondents. If this is not employing the Press, I know not what is ; in fact, as far as my short journalistic experience goes, I have been astonished at what I have learned since my arrival in Turkey. I knew, at least I was told, that every Turkish official had his price, and that the longest purse obtained the services of the best man. But I was not prepared to learn that the razor cut both ways, and that the Turk knew full well that the European could be bribed too. The Turkish fleet in the Black Sea has been very busily employed of late in transporting the insurgent Abkhasians from Soukoum Kale to Trebizond. Upwards of 4,000 have been already landed at that port, where they are in a state of the greatest destitution. Removed from their homes — where, at any rate, they had land to till, crops to cut, and wherewithal to earn a liveli- hood — they had been shipped off penniless to a strange THE ABKRA8IAN EMIGRANTS. 375 land, and left stranded in Asia Minor, without money to provide themselves even with the barest necessaries of life. Many of these men are Christians, and have appealed to the American missionary at Trebizond, laying their hard case before him, and many hundreds have complained to him that they were actually carried off against their will, and would gladly even now return and face the anger of the Russian Grovernment.* M. Biliotti, our energetic vice-consul at that place, with the assistance of Mr. Cole, is inquiring into the case, which, as far as I have been able to learn, reflects but little credit on the Ottoman Government. What will become of the poor creatures it is hard to say. There is no hope that they will receive a money grant from the Porte to enable them to purchase agricultural implements, oxen, horses, &c., or that they will be assisted to build homesteads. I hear that small grants of land will be made to them, but at the best these Abkhasians will find that their lines have not been cast in pleasant places. It is satisfactory to learn that the survivors of the Bayazid massacres who fled into Russia to escape the fury of the Kurds were treated with the greatest hospitality and kindness by the Mahomedan inhabitants of Maku and the neighbouring villages, whither they fled for protection, arriving, many of them, perfectly naked, having been stripped to the skin by the blood- thirsty savages, who even now form part of Ismail • A lengthened correspondence on this subject took place between Prince Reuss and Mr. Layard on the one hand, and the Porte on the other. Promises were given by the latter that all Abkhasians who so willed it should be sent back to Russia ; and about 4,000 signified their wish to return. It is needless to add that the giving the promise, not the fulfilment of it, satisfied the scruples of the Porte. 376 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. Paslia's army. They were provided with food and clothing, and the Eussian general at Erivan sent £500 in gold to the governor of Maku to be divided among them, as the town was gutted and burnt by Sheik Jellaladeen's men. Everything of value being destroyed and upwards of 460 Christians, men, women, and children, murdered in cold blood, under circumstances of the most revolting cruelty, it is not to be wondered at that the survivors decline to return to Turkish protection, and announce their intention of settling permanently in Persia or Russia. Some few merchants have returned in the hope of recovering money they had buried, but in every instance, as far as I can learn, they had been forestalled in their search by the Kurds. In the district of Van order has been partially restored. Two battalions from Mussaul and Djezireh have arrived, and the governor, a man of firm and humane temperament, has succeeded in a certain measure in reassuring the Christians of their safety. The Ameri- can missionaries, after months of wandering in disguise in fear of their lives, have at last been enabled to return to their homes, but are forbidden to pursue their labours, for fear of irritating the Kurds. Large batches of wounded men have been arriving in Erzeroum during the past few days from Kars, as is usual here ; the slighter cases pour in fast, and the hospitals now are deluged with hand wounds, very many of them requiring amputation. Owing to the very strong pressure brought to bear on the principal medical ofiicer, Ismail Bey, Dr. Featherstonhaugh has no difficulty now in procuring the necessary permission for these operations. Yesterday he carried out eight successfully ; the poor fellows were overwhelmed with BB. FEATHEB8T0NHAUGH. 377 gratitude at the kindness with which they were received in the British hospital, and the extreme care and attention shown them by our surgeons. ''There is no pride about the English," said a wounded man to a comrade after Dr. Featherstonhaugh had been busy- ing himself in washing a wounded limb, the hurts of which were much aggravated by the fact that the owner had ignored the principle that cleanliness is next to godliness for some months previous to his wound. The 1,800 wounded men were sent in from Kars without any doctor to attend on them. So it is not to be wondered at that the mortality en route was some- thing frightful. Four Turkish doctors were sent out from Erzeroum to meet these poor fellows on the road, and afford them all the assistance in their power ; but of the sixty-five wounded handed over to the care of Dr. Featherstonhaugh, one and all denied that their bandages had been removed since the day they had been first put on. They said, " The doctors came out to be seen, but they did not touch one of us ; they just walked about and smoked at Hassan Kale, and never even looked at us.'' Of course the number of carts was far from suflftcient for the large number of men they were supposed to convey, and I am in no way exaggerating when I say that hundreds of men, badly hit too, walked the whole distance from Sarbatan to Erzeroum, 130 miles. No preparations were made for them to receive rations at the various villages on the road ; the consequence was that the stronger and healthier were enabled to forage for themselves, while the sick and weakly often and often went without a meal. No money even was distributed among these 378 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, poor fellows, already upwards of three years in arrears of pay, to enable them to purchase a good meal. And this is the country, forsooth, that is trying to in- augurate reform, and would do so even if not paralysed at its earliest efforts by the wicked aggression of Holy Eussia. Turkish reform ! When Pashas, Effendis, Cadis, and all the blood-sucking officials have been vigorously suppressed, when the Turkish peasant, Mahomedan or Christian, can freely ventilate his wrongs and obtain justice against his superior in the social scale, then we may hope for reform in Turkey. Has Turkey one whit improved in the last five cen- turies ? No. Her diplomatists have learnt to tell falsehoods with more freedom and more unblushingly ; her cruelties and oppressions are practised more vigor- ously, but more secretly ; and she is far more steeped (I mean her higher classes) in vice and barbarism than she was 500 years ago. The lower classes have not improved one whit either. The same depravity and ignorance ; the same rude implements that were used 1,000 years ago are used now; the unmuzzled ox treadeth out the corn, guarded by a small boy with a stick to see that the dumb beast does not help himself to the grain ; the same low, half-underground mud huts that satisfied their ancestors satisfy the present Turkish peasantry ; the same blind faith in the doctrine of Mahomed and absurd belief in the superiority, intel- lectual and moral, of the followers of the Prophet over all other nations, and the same willing, cheerful en- durance under all difficulties, the same free, open hospi- tality to strangers, exist now in the humbler classes as ten centuries ago. The saving clause in Turkey is, indeed, her poor. They are her nobility. I have met BEDUOTION OF UNPAID SALARIES, 379 in my travels in this country few Pashas who could, by any means, be made to answer to the term '' gentle- man;" but I have 'met many specimens of Nature's true nobles under the ragged garb of a private of Eedif s, or the still more tattered clothing of a Mahomedan villager. I have in the course of the past few days received visits from two officials high in Government employ in this vilayet, and took the opportunity of questioning them as to the effect the recent order reducing salaries by one-half would have on the employes here. They both gave me much the same answer. The order lays down that during the war Government officials will only receive one-half of their salaries ; the remainder will be looked upon as a loan by the Sublime Porte, who will give bonds for the sum, which will be redeemable at the close of hostilities. Both my friends assured me that this order was issued solely for the purpose of standing well in the eyes of certain European Governments. One informed me that he had seen no pay at all for twenty-seven months ; while the other, though forty- three months in arrear, had at his urgent entreaties received one month's pay in April ; but they said the Mushirs and Valis of districts, and Caimakams, or sub- Governors, as well as all Treasury officials, take care to receive not only their pay regularly every month, but to take it in good money, thus making a difference to them of eighty per cent., when we consider the present value of paper money. One of them — from his position he is enabled to speak with certainty on such a theme, and from my knowledge of him, and from the fact that I have never yet detected him in a falsehood, I believe him to be trustworthy — positively assured me that the 380 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, Vali of this district took his money from the treasurer every month in gold ; that Mushir Mukhtar Pasha, on leaving Erzeroum for Kars in April, took what, according to regulations, he was allowed to take — viz., an advance of six months' pay — and that this was taken in gold, leaving the paltry sum of £1,500 in the Erzeroum Treasury wherewith to carry on the expenses of the war. " If," said these men, " the pay of all Pashas is to be reduced by one-half, a small saving AviU be effected by Government; but if they are to be permitted, as hitherto, to rob as they please, and only the salaries of small officials are to be mulcted, well, the saving will be nil ; we are months — nay, years — in arrear, and never hope to see our back pay again, so a reduction of our salaries by one-half will not affect ns or men in our position in the sHghtest degree, and most certainly will not affect Government." There are one or two errors into which I have fallen in my previous letters, which I now wish to correct. The first is the statement made shortly after the battle of Taghir, to the effect that the Eussian General had offered a reward of 2,000 roubles for the capture of any English officer. This rumour was current, not only throughout the Turkish camp, but also in Erzeroum. I, however, treated it as a mere rumour until I saw it stated, as I thought in all seriousness, in a semi-official letter from one of Sir Arnold Kemball's assistants, an officer of a scientific corps, whose connection with a recent high official at Constantinople makes his anti- Russian proclivities a matter of family pride. I have since learnt that this officer made the statement as a joke. It was a joke, however, which I maintain I was justified in placing some credence in, although I must A TURKISH OFFICER IN SERVIAN UNIFORM. 381 express my regret that I was led into the error of accusing the Eussian general, Tergukassoff, who has throughout these operations shown himself a gallant and humane officer, of such a dastardly act as that of offering rewards for the capture of the military attaches of a friendly Power. The second mistake into which I have fallen has caused some annoyance in the Turkish camp, and although it is a very trivial one, yet I feel it my duty to correct it. In a more recent letter, referring to the barbarous custom of disinterring the Eussian dead as practised by the Kurds and Bashi-Bazouks, and of stripping the Eussian corpses, I stated that an aide-de-camp of the Turkish commander-in-chief might be seen in the head-quarters camp wearing a Servian officer's coat, thus showing that Turkish officers sanc- tioned the custom of despoiling the dead. Again I was wrong. The officer in question is not an aide-de-camp of Mukhtar Pasha. He is merely commanding the per- sonal escort of his Excellency, not on his personal staff. The fact, however, remains unaltered that an officer living in Mukhtar Pasha's camp, the daily companion of his aides-de-camp, and one who constantly accom- panies the chief himself in his rides, in his walks — one holding a position much sought after in our service — might be daily seen in the uniform patrol jacket of a dead Servian officer. That this custom of despoiling dead enemies is sanctioned by the Turkish authorities I have on the highest authority, and I know that in Servia the Turkish Commander-in-Chief declined to interfere with it. CHAPTER XX. THE TURN OF THE TIDE. RuBsian Remforcements — Mukhtar draws in his Men — -The Grand Duke occu- pies the late Turkish, advanced Posts — -Mukhtar's Oonfidence^Despondency of Turkish Soldiers — Increased Desertions — Russians learn the Value of a turning Movement — The Battle of the Aladja Dagh — GaUant Defence of the Little Yagni — Loss of the Olya Tepe — Extraordinary Conduct of Men sent to support the Position — Russians occupy the Nalband Tepe — Panic on the Aladja Dagh — ^Flight to Kars — Scene in the Fortress — Hassan Bey's Exertions — Sanitary State of Kars — Mehmed Pasha evacuates the Little Yagni — Mukhtar's Plans — He falls back on the Araxes — Ismail Pasha also retires — Russian Trophies — Retreat through the Kose Dagh — Evacuation of Kuipri Kui — Energy of Faizi Pasha — Ismail surprised at Hassan Kale — Capture of Captain Creagh— Treatment accorded to him, and to Dr. Casson — Turks fall hack on the Devi-hoynn — ^Reinforcements from Constantinople and Batoum. On the Gtli and 7th of October, heavy columns of reinforcements arrived at Karajal, and the Turkish Commander-in-Chief learned from spies that his oppo- nents had been strengthened by two complete divisions. It was impossible now to conceal from himself the fact which he had hitherto strenuously denied, that the Russians were about to commence an offensive move- ment on a very grand scale. It would have been wise if Mukhtar, even at this late hour, had fallen back on the Soghanly range, leaving in Kars a strong garrison ; but he still possessed the firm belief in the qualities of his own soldiers and of his own strategic powers, and felt certain that he would be able even now to hold his own on the slopes of the Aladja Dagh. He however felt MUKHTAB CONTRACTS HIS POSITION. 883 that his position was too extended, and that a brigade on the Kizil Tepe still was exposed to capture. Conse- quently, on the morning of the 8th, he abandoned all his advanced positions, withdrew from the plains of Sarbatan, and concentrated his forces in the position occupied in the early days of August. On the 9th the Grrand Duke, taking advantage of the retrograde move- ment on the part of the Turkish Commander-in-Chief, occupied Kizil Tepe, Sarbatan, Hadji- veli, and the eastern slopes of the Great Yagni, As he thus was exposed to the artillery fire from the whole of the Turkish guns, he pushed forward his own' artillery accompanied by strong columns of infantry, and vigorously replied to the Turkish fire, never venturing, however, to assault. At dusk the Eussians, who had pressed forward to the left bank of the Mazra stream, now retired to the far side, and bivouacked for the night. On the 10th, the Grrand Duke bombarded the Turkish camp from dawn to sunset, threatening it at the same time with the usual dense masses of infantry. The two following days were passed in comparative quietude. On the 12th, the ball opened by the Eussians repeating the manoeuvre of the preceding week, pouring a most destructive fire into the Turkish shelter trenches, which covered nearly their whole front, and harassing the Osmanli by repeatedly threatening an infantry assault. Mukhtar, although personally unacquainted with the ground, had always persistently maintained that it was impossible for an army to move round the rear of the Aladja Dagh, and feeling convinced that only small bodies of troops could intervene between him and his right wing at Igdyr, felt safe with the occupation of Natschevan; consequently he thought only of his front. 384 THU CAMPAIGN' IK ARMENIA. His flanks and his rear were left comparatively un- defended, and absolutely unreconnoitred. In spite of Mukhtar Pasha's confidence in the security of his position, there was a pretty general feeling throughout the Turkish camp that a turning movement was not only possible, but was really on the tapis. A settled conviction of impending danger seems to have fastened itself on the minds of his men. Since the advance from Zewin, they had fought with the courage and boldness of conquerors, with the enthusiasm of men fired by religious exhortations. Now the weight of im- pending danger fastened on them, and they became most despondent. On the night of the 10th October up- wards of 700 deserted. On the morning of the 14th it became known that a Russian division had crossed the Arpa Tchai, and had made its appearance in the vicinity of Bazardjik, and Hadji Easchid Pasha was moved off to oppose this body with twelve battahons of infantry, eighteen guns, and some cavalry. His first attack was successful, and he succeeded in driving Lazaroff's division back on to a small range of hiUs near Orlok. For a time it seemed as if the impetuosity of the Turkish infantry would carry the day, for there is no doubt Lazaroff's men were thrown into great disorder by the gallantry of the onslaught. Hearing the sound of firing to the south of the Aladja Dagh, the Grand Duke learned that his turning movement had proved so far successful as to necessitate the march of a Turkish division from the main camp on the Aladja Dagh, towards Orlok. Leaving this attack to develop itself, on the morning of the 15th, he advanced with his entire forces to crush the Ottoman army. His right column, which was the strongest, moved via Kapack on THE STRUGGLE ON THE LITTLE YAGNL 385 the Little Yagni hill, the troops bivouacking on the Great Yagni, advanced on Vezinkui ; those at Hadji- Veli were directed on the Olya Tepe, whilst the division at Sarbatan and on the Kizil Tepe were ordered to assault the camp on the Aladja Dagh. All day long Captain Mehmed Pasha defended his position on the Little Yagni against the repeated assaults of the enemy. He had with him but ten bat- talions, six field and four siege guns, whilst his assailant numbered thirty-six battalions and fifty-six guns. The Russians with dogged pertinacity endeavoured to gain the crest of the hill ; the Turks, inspired by the valour of their commander, as often repulsed them. On one occasion, shortly before noon, a very powerful assaulting column made a most determined attempt to reach the summit, and for a few moments the place seemed lost. As the Russians poured in over the northern face of the entrenchments the Turks fell back in confusion to the southern slopes of the hill; but Mehmed Pasha, with his usual dauntless courage, placed himself at the head of the Ohf battalion of Mustahfiz, and drove the enemy back at the point of the bayonet, following them up nearly to the foot of the hill. The fight on the Olya Tepe for a time was conducted with equal gallantry ; four battalions holding it behaved in a marked manner. Their losses, however, were most severe, for the Russian artillery, which now fired mostly timed fuses, burst their shells on the summit of the conical hill with deadly accuracy. Mukhtar, forseeing that the loss of this hill meant the loss of the day, made a determined attempt to retain it. He despatched five battalions to its assistance, retiring himself to the Sevri Tepe for the purpose of taking the Russian columns in z 386 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. flank. The leading half -battalion of the brigade, des- tined for the relief of the Olya Tepe, reached the crest of the hill in safety, but the remainder for some nn- accountable cause were seized with a sudden panic; when they were about half-way up, there was no attempt at a disorderly stampede, no breaking the ranks and rushing headlong on their comrades below, but mer^y reeling from the effects of the sudden rain of sliot that burst on them, as they cleared the summit of the Bolanik ravine they turned and retired slowly towards the Aladja Dagh. This strange conduct seems also to have animated the officers. No one seemed capable of taking command, of deploying the men, or of returning a shot to the Russian infantry who were now pressing after them. They never rallied, never made another attempt to reinforce their hardly- stricken, bravely-fighting comrades on the crest, who, seeing the help once so near gradually passing away, lost heart; and as the Russians, emboldened by the failure of the attempt to reinforce the Olya Tepe, pushed up its slopes with re- doubled vigour, the Moslems turned and fled. Pushing a few companies up the sides to occupy the hill, the Russian commander continued the pursuit of the five battalions who had recoiled from his fire, and pressing up the Bolanik ravine, by noon had completely cut in between the troops on the Aladja Dagh and those at Vezinkui. Promptly taking advantage of the ground, field guns were dragged up the slopes of the Nalband Tepe, and a heavy fire poured on a division which Mukhtar had hastily collected and placed on the Sevri Tepe. At the sight of the Russian division strongly estab- lished in their midst, a general panic seems to have seized the troops on the Aladja Dagh, who, regardless <^-:s i m~ ^^y^: Mddzr^a^ „,iiii';,;'/#'-!f,lll;1'«> .r K- '..^fe^' •:^x^ ^ ''//U-'lllif ^■^ •':■ ^" ^aHaxi IhJcaii 1 >CALE OF Miles 2 -I- 3 _L_ 4.jyBle6 H.Wellfip.Zit/w i^^^i'. PANIC AND FLIGHT, 387 of the entreaties and threats of their officers, broke their ranks and moved rapidly in dense disorganised crowds in the direction of Kars. Makhtar vainly endeavoured to rally the fugitives, whose conduct was already begin- ning to tell amongst his own men, who were falling back rapidly ; indeed, the panic now appears to have set in generally amongst the men, as it almost inva- riably does with Turkish troops when once the flank is turned, and a frightful scene ensued. The sole aim and object of one and all seemed to be to reach the friendly shelter of the fortresses as soon as possible ; horse and foot, officers and men, guns, baggage, wagons, all dashed forward in one confused mass. Every man for himself was the cry, and no one hesitated to use what- ever arms he had in order to open a path for himself in the living mass before him. Mukhtar Pasha showed, as he has invariably shown throughout the campaign, the greatest gallantry, and bravely endeavoured to rally his men. Some few, be- lieving in their chief, still clung to him, and with these he was able to make a stand on a hill near Vezinkui. By this means he was enabled to cover the disgraceful flight of the troops. Hussain Hami Pasha, who was commanding at Kars, at once moved out a brigade, who, with fixed bayonets, barred the way. Thus a certain amount of order was restored among the flying masses before they entered the city, where the scene defied description. Women, having thrown ofl* their veils, thronged the parapets, straining with eager eyes to watch for the advent of those loved ones never to return. The Christian merchant, ever mindful of his worldly goods, was hurriedly gathering his property together, and removing it to a place of safety. The z 2 388 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. pressed commissariat bullock cart-drivers, heedless of the curses of the Circassians and Kurds, who vainly endeavoured to force their horses through the endless strings of vehicles, were goading on their bullocks in hopes to pass through the fortress and reach the peaceful quiet of their own homes before the stern necessity of war should again compel them to serve a thankless and rapacious government, whilst the Governor, aided by the gallant commandant of artillery, was vainly endeavouring to restore some sort of order amongst the flying masses, who now thronged the entrenchments to the south of the town. In vain did Hassan Bey try to rally these men ; in vain did he point to the smoke still wreathing up from the crest of the Little Yagni where Mehmed Pasha still barred the march of the Grand Duke's army. Prayers, threats, exhortations were of no avail, and the brave gunner soon found him- self compelled to visit his batteries, and prepare for the renewal of the siege which he foresaw was now about to burst upon him. As far as his own department was concerned he had no fear ; the batteries all had been thoroughly repaired; extra traverses had been erected in the works on the eastern and western hills; extra bombproof accommodation had been provided for the garrison of the forts ; the number of armed citizens had been largely increased; he had received reinforcements of trained artillery, and he had more than 800 rounds per gun in the magazine ; but the sanitary condition of the place was worse than ever. Typhoid was raging amongst the sick and wounded, and though supplies of food were abundant, there was no firewood, nor was there fodder for the cavalry or artillery horses. Mehmed Pasha was enabled to retain possession of DESPJEBATE SITUATION OF THE TURKS. 3S9 the Little Yagni Hill; but at niglitfall, perceiving that the whole of the Turkish positions except his own were in the hands of the enemy, and that there was no hope of receiving further support, made preparations for eva- cuating it, dismantling the guns, and carrying off their breech pieces. At midnight he retired unperceived and unmolested into Kars, where he found Mukhtar Pasha and Hami Pasha (who had been re-appointed com- mandant on the 5th October), together with all the senior officers, in the Tahmasp Battery, making ar- rangements for the future of the campaign, which seemed dark enough. The Commander-in-Chief, on receiving the reports of staff officers, found that not more than 13,000 men fit to bear arms could be col- lected, and he was well aware that, unless he could throw a force between Kars and Erzeroum, there was not a man to bar the Eussian advance on that city ; be determined, therefore, to leave Hussain Hami Pasha with 10,000 men to hold the place, while he himself, with the remaining 3,000, would fall back on the Soghanly. He at once telegraphed to Ismail Pasha, who was in Eussian territory, near Igdyr, ordering him to retire immediately on Kuipri Kui. This retrogade move- ment caused much surprise in the camp of the Kurdish chief, for on the 16th instant, two days before he received Mukhtar Pasha's telegram, Tergukassoff had fired a salute of 121 guns, on learning the news of the Grand Duke's victory. Ismail Hakki, with that facility for invention which has characterised him throughout the campaign, published an order to his men that Tergukassoff had received intelligence of an insur- rection in Eussia, the Panslavonic conspirators having dethroned Alexander, and proclaimed the Czarewitch in 390 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. his stead. On the 17th, however, Ismail Pasha learned the true cause of this rejoicing, and discovered that Mukhtar had been routed and compelled to abandon his advanced position. At daybreak on the 19th, the Kurdish chief, having destroyed all his spare ammunition and commissariat stores by fire, detached six battalions and a battery to Bayazid, while he himself with the remaining twenty-two battalions and thirty-three guns fell back on the Araxes. At mid-day on the 16th, Mukhtar, being unable to learn any tidings of the division under Easchid Pasha, came to the unwelcome conclusion that the whole of the troops on the Aladja Dagh had fallen into the hands of the enemy. In this he was not far wrong, as it transpired that, with the exception of thirteen battalions, who were enabled to cut their way towards Khagisman, and who in driblets afterwards rejoined the force, the whole of the infantry, cavalry, artillery, commissariat, and hospital equipments, with large trains of baggage animals, had fallen into the hands of the victors. Nine thousand men, 56 guns, upwards of 3,000 pack animals, with seven pashas were prisoners in the Russian camp. Among these were Hadji Easchid Pasha, the commander of the division ; Hassan Kiazim Pasha, chief of the staff, together with his five aides-de-camp ; Shefket and Mustafa Pashas, brigade commanders ; and Omar Pasha, the German renegade in command of the cavahy division. Thus, taking into consideration the serious losses his army had sustained, and remembering that he must retain sufiicient men to form the nucleus of a force destined to defend Erzeroum, Mukhtar was enabled to leave with Hami Pasha, in Kars, the remnants only of thirty battalions, numbering barely 10,000 men. The GHAZI MUKBTAW8 BE TREAT. 391 hospitals, as I said before, were crowded with sick, and it is computed that there were no less than between six and eight thousand men unfit for duty in the fortress. At mid-day on the 16th, Mukhtar fell back on the village of Teni Skui, reaching it on the 1 8th. He had with him then ten battalions, numbering about 3,000 bayonets, and ten mountain guns. The Grand Duke having made arrangements for the despatch of the prisoners to Groomri, detached General Heimann with two divisions to follow up Mukhtar Pasha. Lazaroff was directed to move on Magardjik, and thus cut off the communications between Erzeroum and Kars. On the 27th, owing to the rapid pursuit of Heimann, Mukhtar was forced to fall back on Kuipri Kui, where he effected a junction with Ismail Pasha, who had succeeded in traversing the Alishgird plains, avoiding the pursuit of Tergukassoff's strong cavalry force. In passing through the defiles of the Kose Dagh range Ismail Pasha divided his force into two columns, in order the quicker to pass this obstacle. The left column marching by Moola Suliman and Taikhojeh, was attacked on the 26th by a brigade of Cossacks, but owing to the steadiness of the infantry- commander in charge of the rear guard the Russians were beaten off. Learning from Ismail Pasha that Tergukassoff was also in hot pursuit, Ahmed Mukhtar determined to abandon Kuipri Kui and fall back on the Devi-boyun. In this he was wise, for the field-works erected to cover the bridge were completely commanded on the northern and eastern faces, and so were not calculated to enable the Turkish commander to make a stand behind them. Another reason, doubtless, for this decision was that his men, as also Ismail Hakki's troops, were much demoralised, and it was a matter of question 392 THE CAMPAIGN IK ARMENIA, whether they would face the Eussians in the plain ; so that Mukhtar wished to traverse the five-and-twenty miles constituting the Passin Plain unexposed to the attacks of the large Eussian cavalry force in his rear. Leaving Ismail in command of the combined divi- sions, numbering scarcely 13,000 bayonets, Mukhtar pushed on towards Erzeroum, directing his lieutenant to retire at once on Hassan Kale. This movement was carried out none too quickly, for at 4 p.m. on the 28th, just three hours after the Turks evacuated the place, the Eussian advanced guard occupied Kuipri Kui, finding large quantities of grain which the Osmanli had forgotten to destroy. ^ Mukhtar, on reaching the Devi-boyun ridge, defend- ing the south-eastern entrance to the capital, found that Faizi Pasha had not been idle. Immediately on receipt of the intelligence of Mukhtar's reverse and disaster, which the gallant old Hungarian had long predicted, he set to work to place Erzeroum in as complete a state of defence as was possible with the scanty means at his command. He had hurriedly collected all the able- bodied men in the citj^ convalescents as well as civilians, armed them, and sent them up to the batteries on the Devi Dagh range ; but even with this precaution he was not enabled to place more than 3,000 men on that position. He, however, had contrived to send up forty guns, the majority of them Krupp's breech-loading siege guns ; the entrenchments had been much im- proved, redoubts had been thrown up on the advanced spurs, and every inch of the road from the Nabi Tchai was swept by a cross fire from the heights above. Ismail Pasha, although well aware that he was being pui^sued by three divisions of Eussian infantry and by vastly . .> THE GEEAGH INCIDENT. 393 superior forces of cavalry, with true Oriental negligence, bivouacked his men in the plain to the south of Hassan Kale, without throwing out one single picket. Many- men, more particularly the superior officers, entered the village, and slept in the numerous khans inside the old battlemented walls. Heimann's advanced guard discovered and reported this fact; the general in com- mand immediately determined to surprise the Turkish n. bivouac that night. Moving a force by Ogomi to the north of the place, so as to take the sleeping Turks in flank, he himself about midnight advanced straight on the town. Another panic, another flight, was the inevitable result. Disturbed in their sleep by the sound of firing in their immediate vicinity, the Turks sprang to their feet. All thoughts of defence were at an end ; men abandoned their arms, gunners abandoned their guns, commissariat drivers their carts, and all dashed in headlong confusion along the road to Khooroodjook, Many hundreds were cut down by the Cossacks, who dashed in upon the unarmed fugitives, hundreds more were taken prisoners in the town of Hassan Kale, amongst them being Captain Creagh, late of the 1st Eoyals, who, after being robbed of everything he possessed by the Cossacks, was taken a prisoner to General Heimann. That officer, with much courtesy, expressed his regret at the somewhat rough treatment the gallant captain had received, which, however, under the circumstances, was perfectly unavoidable, and at once gave him a permit to return to the Turkish camp at Erzeroum. I think this little incident deserves to be recorded. I doubt whether any British general would have treated a newspaper correspondent in the same manner. And surely when we hear of the treatment to which Doctors 394 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. Casson and Buckby were subjected in Melikoff's camp, Heimann's conduct is worthy of all praise. These two doctors had in August proceeded from Erzeroum to the head-quarter camp for the purpose of organising hospital and ambulance corps at the front. Whilst there, Dr. Buckby had been stricken down by typhoid fever, and was consequently, owing to prostration, unable to accompany Mukhtar Pasha in his retreat from Kars on the 17th October. When he was sufficiently recovered to bear the fatigues of the journey, he and his comrade determined to endeavour to reach Erzeroum; but shortly after commencing their march they were met by Cossack patrols, and led into the Eussian camp. Their request to be permitted to pass on to the Turkish head-quarters was refused; and, in a military point of view, Melikoff, I humbly submit, was justified in so acting: but the treatment they received from Eussian subordinate officials can only be stigmatised as brutal. Yet it was scarcely on a par with that meted out to Dr. Armand Leslie and his companions in Europe. The fugitives from Hassan Kale were checked in their flight by some of the troops at Khooroodjook, who, on the noise of the firing, promptly turned out, and advanced in its direction. Ismail Pasha was thus enabled on the 29th to effect a junction with Mukhtar Pasha on the crest of the Devi-boyun. Urgent telegrams had been sent to Constantinople for all available help, and on reaching Erzeroum, Mukhtar Pasha received the welcome intelligence that Dervish Pasha had been enabled to Send him five battalions from Batoum, which were already on the march from Trebizond, and that twelve more battalions, BUMOBALISATJON OF MUKHTAE'S TROOPS. 395 with two batteries, were en route from Constantinople. Prior to the arrival of these men, Mukhtar Pasha was enabled to place in position on the Devi-boyun ridge about 16,000 men and sixty guns, and with these he seemed confident that he should be able to repel all attacks that Heimann might make on him. He was under the impression that the Russian forces opposed to him amounted to only twenty-two battalions, fifty-six guns, and seven regiments of cavalry, whereas, with the arrival of Tergukassoff's troops, the Eussians had no less than forty-eight battalions, ninety-six guns, and twelve regiments of cavalry on the eastern slopes of the Devi Dagh. As may be imagined, the morale of Mukhtar 's troops had been much affected by the recent defeat and flight. Mukhtar showed the greatest energy and gallantry in endeavouring to repair the irreparable mistake he committed in pushing so far forward from Kars, and mixing freely with his men endeavoured to rally their spirits. In this he was aided by the cheery bearing of his two foreign generals, Faizi and Mehmed Pashas, CHAPTEE XXI. OPERATIONS ROUND ERZEROUM. Turks strengthen botli Erzeroum and tlie Devi-boynn — Heimann attacks Mukhtar — Great Gallantry of Mehmed Pasha — Faizi holds the Turkish Right — Heimann tries a Ruse — Faizi triss to rally the Osmanli — Flight to Erzeroum — Turkish Losses — Mukhtar Pasha encourages his Men — His Refusal to surrender — Russians invest Erzeroum — They construct a Redoubt on the Tope Dagh — Relative Defensive Value of Erzeroum and Kars — Heimann' s ill-judged Attempt to Assault the place — Gallantry of Tarnaieff — Capture of the Medjidieh Lunette — Mehmed Bey retakes it — Death of Tamaiefi' — Failure of the Attack on the Kremedli Fort — Coolness of the English — Mr. Zohrab — Dr. Featherstonhaugh — Reginald and Percy Zohrab — Conduct of Turks to "Wounded — The Gentle Ladies of Erzeroum — Mutilation of Russian Dead. The first three days of November were spent by the Turks in strengthening the works, both at Erzeroum and the Devi-boyun. The recent heavy falls of snow made advance from Olti a matter of such difficulty, that Mukhtar Pasha considered it impossible for the Ardahan column to turn his left flank. He, however, posted a small detachment in the Grhiurji Boghaz, and on the suggestion of Faizi Pasha, the Euphrates was dammed up to the north of Erzeroum, so as to convert its valley into one large morass. On the morning of the 4th of November, Heimann advanced from Khoo- roodjook with the intention of forcing Mukhtar out of his strong position. Profiting by the lesson taught him at Zewin on the 25th of June, and by the repulse of the many frontal HEIMANN'8 ATTACKS. 397 attacks he had so gallantly led during this campaign, Heimann at last appeared convinced that to gain a posi- tion defended by breechloaders and spades, he must either attempt a strong flanking movement, or draw the Turks out of their entrenchments by stratagem. It is more than probable that this was suggested to him by Tergu- kassofP, who throughout the campaign had shown him- self a thorough master of the art of tactics ; indeed, few living generals could handle troops better than this general has done. Heimann determined on this occa- sion to try both a turning movement and a ruse, so during the night of the 3rd of November he sent off a strong column along the mountain road towards Partak, and another column towards Nabi Kui. These were directed to conceal themselves in the numerous ravines on either flank of the road leading up to the Turkish position. Mukhtar's troops were divided into three divisions. The right, under the command of Faizi Pasha, held the high ground above the village of Topalack. It had been strongly entrenched, and on it two or more re- doubts had been placed. The centre was under the com- mand of Mukhtar Pasha himself, whilst the left column, under Captain Mehmed Pasha, occupied a flat-topped conical hill, which enfiladed the whole Turkish front, and commanded all the ground in its vicinity. This was the key of the position, and Heimann sent forward a strong body of troops to endeavour to seize it. The gallant Prussian succeeded in repelling all these attacks ; but towards mid-day, owing to very severe losses, he was obliged to apply to the Commander-in-Chief for assist- ance. Mukhtar Pasha, appreciating the danger, de- tached three battalions and two batteries to reinforce 398 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. liis left. Two of these battalions Mehmed placed on the crest of the hill, and threw the guns with the other battery slightly forward on some rising ground to his left, thus completely raking the Eussian attacking columns. These movements seem to have been so far successful that all idea of carrying Mehmed Pasha's position was abandoned by the Russian general, and their columns withdrew out of range. Success seemed certain for the Turks, and more so when, at about 2 p.m., a strong cavalry division was seen advancing up the Persian road, straight on their entrenchments. Mukhtar at once sent an infantry column, supported by two horse artillery batteries, down the road to drive these adventurous horsemen back. With loud cheers the Turks leapt out of their entrenchments, and dashed down the hill, halting now and then to pour volleys at long ranges into the Eussian cavalry. Some of these were already dismounted, and plied the Turkish infantry as they advanced with a sharp fusilade. This only drew them further into the trap, for the Cossacks now began to retire, and the Turks pressed on in all haste. Soon they reached the Nabi Tchai, when, suddenly, from either flank sprang up thousands of footmen, who, pouring volley after volley into the astonished Tm^ks, dashed in at them with the bayonet. Mukhtar now saw his mistake. His advanced brigades turned, and in much confusion endeavoured to regain the safety of their entrenchments ; but the Eussians were already between them and the works. Hundreds of gallant Osmanli were shot down in brave but ineffectual attempts to hew their way through the dense masses of Eussian infantry, whilst hundreds more sullenly threw down their arms and gave themselves up THE FLIGHT TO EEZEROUM, 399 as prisoners. Mukhtar could not but see that the ambus- cade must prove fatal ; however, with that heroism which he has shown throughout the campaign, he at once placed himself at the head of two battalions, and endeavoured to stem the torrent of advancing Russians. It was too late, however ; the contagion had spread, and the majority of the troops in the centre, regardless of their commander's personal example, of his entreaties, his orders, regardless of the threats of their own officers, turned and fled towards Erzeroum. In vain did Faizi Pasha endeavour to rally these men ; it was in vain he pointed out that if they would only cling to the hill on the right above Topalack they would be enabled to enfilade the Russian advance, and at any rate check their pursuit. It was of no use. As long as the sun shines brightly the Turk will fight to the death, but he is a bad player at a losing game. The scene on the road leading down to Erzeroum defied all description. Large convoys of commissariat cattle blocked the road, and through these Circassian and Kurdish horsemen endeavoured to cleave a way, while the infantry, rushing over the low hills on either flank, sought the safety of the town- Mehmed Pasha and Paizi Pasha, the two European officers commanding the flanks, behaved with the greatest gallantry. The steady front showed by their men did, in fact, check the rapid advance of the whole of the Russian force, and thus delayed the capture of Erzeroum. Had the panic spread to their men, there is no doubt that Heimann could have passed over the Devi-boyun, reached and entered the capital of Armenia that night. The Governor, hearing of the defeat, closed the gates of the city in order to prevent the fugitives rushing in, and as he feared pillag- ing the town ; but at about midnight, the excitement 400 THE CAMPAIGN IN ABMENIA. having to a certain extent calmed down, strong guards were placed at the gates and the men allowed to file slowly in. All the barracks in the place were filled with sick and wounded men, so that there was no accom- modation for the fugitives, whilst to add to their other horrors a heavy sleet commenced at about 11 p.m. The streets were crowded with famished, panic-stricken soldiers, who, wearied with the hardships they had recently undergone, sank exhausted into the mud and endeavoured to seek comfort in sleep. Where Mukhtar Pasha went that night no one knows. Shortly after midnight, Paizi and Mehmed Pasha reached the city ; the former drew off his guns, and managed to escape unperceived by the enemy. Mehmed Pasha, however, was not so fortunate ; he was followed up in his retreat by a Russian brigade, and had to contest every inch of the way from the Devi-boyun to the Pasha Punar, some three miles from the walls. The following morning the Russians could be distinctly distinguished on the crest of the Devi Dagh mountains, busily engaged in throwing up redoubts, and preparing for the bombardment of the city. It is very difficult to estimate what the Turkish losses were, but it may be safely assumed that 3,000 prisoners and 42 guns were left in the hands of the enemy, while between 2,500 and 3,000 men were either killed or wounded.^' This was a severe blow to Mukhtar Pasha, quench- ing, as it did, the last hope of being able to undertake the offensive during the campaign. He, however, busied himself to raise the fallen spirits of his men. He daily visited the fortifications, addressing some few words of spirited encouragement to his. soldiers. He * Mukhtar Pasha acknowledged to 1,000 men killed. 8UBBENDER OF EBZEBOUM DEMANDED. 401 assembled a council of war in the palace, to which he invited the leading Mahomedans and Christian in- habitants, and there explained to them the real state of the case. Fired by the enthusiasm of their chief, and prompted by the hope that large reinforcements would speedily arrive, these announced their determination of aiding him with all their ability in the defence of the city. On the 6th inst. 2b parlemeniaire arrived from the Eussian general, and demanded a surrender of the place. To this Mukhtar returned an answer that Erzeroum belonged to the Sultan and not to him, and that until he received instructions from his royal master he was unable to return a reply. He at once despatched a telegram to Constantinople informing the Porte of the very warlike feeling amongst the inhabitants, and his own determination to lay down his life rather than resign his charge. On the following day he received an answer direct- ing him to defend the place to the last man and the last cartridge. A note to this effect was despatched to General Heimann, who informed Mukhtar Pasha that he would give him three days' grace, and if at the ex- piration of that time he did not surrender, he should commence the bombardment. On the 7th inst. the Russians busied themselves in throwing up a redoubt on the hills to the eastern face of the tovm. Prom what we learn, this must have been a large work some 200 yards in length, with a parapet ten feet in height, and a ditch in front. It was situated about 2,500 yards from the Tope Dagh, and completely dominated the city. All day and all night men were employed in its construction. Mukhtar's forces were too weak for him to attempt to prevent the erection of these A A 402 THF CAMPAIGN IN AEMUNIA siege works. He could do nothing but collect supplies and make all arrangements for withstanding the assault, which he knew would not be long delayed. Erzeroum is perhaps better adapted for this purpose than Ears : the enceinte is of strong profile, and cannot be carried until it has been breached. The perimeter is about three miles, whereas that of Kars is almost ten, and the en- trenchments of Kars, as we have already seen, owing to their weak profile, can easily be carried by assault. On the walls of Erzeroum there are mounted upwards of 1 50 Kjupp siege guns, many of them being eighteen centi- meters in calibre. The garrison, including armed in- habitants, of whom there are several thousands, cannot be less than 20,000. This gives four men per yard for the defence of the walls, which would render an assault an extremely hazardous undertaking. On the morning of the 9th November, Greneral Heimann made an ill-judged attempt to carry the out- works by storm. Columns were directed upon the Azizi position on the south-east, on Ejremedli Fort, to the south-west ; but owing to the darkness of the night, or the treachery of the spies, the attacks were not deUvered simultaneously, and so resulted in failure. It appears that during the evening of the 8th November there was a council of war in General Hei- mann's tent, on the crest of the Devi Dagh range, to consider and discuss the best means of capturing Erzeroum. All saw that a most favourable opportunity had been lost on the 4th November, when in all pro- bability if Mukhtar had been promptly followed up, the place would have surrendered without a struggle. However, several causes combined to make this move- ment particularly hazardous at that moment. In the COLONEL TABNAIMFF. 403 first place, a severe snow-storm came on as the sun went down, which much impeded the advance ; in the next, the feat o£ crossing a mountain-range 8,000 feet above sea-level, by a single road, with an army of 50,000 men and 120 guns, is not one lightly to be undertaken ; and lastly, the Eussians were thoroughly worn out after their late long and rapid marches. So Heimann judged it inexpedient to risk an assault on the 5th November. At this meeting in the Eussian commander's tent, a staff officer named Tarnaieff, a man of Armenito extraction, who had distinguished himself on more than one occasion during the campaign, and who was personally acquainted with the city of Erzeroxmi,* volunteered to undertake the capture of the outlying Azizi works, if he were entrusted with the command of three battalions, and were supported by a complete brigade. His views at first were scouted as ridiculous^ but so earnest was the young lieutenant-colonel, and so fired by enthusiasm, that at last he succeeded in im- pressing his opinion on the minds of the senior officers. Heimann himself, a bold, daring leader, had readily fallen in with them, but the more cautious divisional generals, mindful of recent disasters against fieldworks defended by the breech-loader, dissuaded him for some time from countenancing Tarnaieff's proposal. In the end, however, the young Armenian carried his point, and arrangements were made, not only for carrying out * Tarnaieff was for some years employed in the Russian Consulate at Erzeromn, nominally as a dragoman. The fact that carefully prepared plans of all the works were found on his body, proves the real nature of his employment, and that the capture of Erzeroum had for many years been determined on. The act of employing staff officers as dragomans in the consulates of fortified towns, is a novel feature in diplomacy, one that redounds more to the far-sightedness of the Russian Government than to its honour. AA 2 404 THE CAMPAIGN IN ABMENIA. the attack on the Azizi outworks, which command the whole eastern system of fortifications, and virtually constitute the key of the position, but also for support- ing it by a simultaneous attack on the south-western face near the Kremedli redoubt. At midnight the Eussian columns paraded — the right, consisting of ten battalions, near the Loussa- voritch Monastery, destined for the attack on the Azizi, whilst the left column of sixteen battalions assembled on the Yerli Dagh, to the south of the town. Tarnaieff with three battalions led the right column of attack, being supported by seven more battalions under a general of brigade. These were left some two miles in rear, and covered by the darkness. The brave young colonel moved silently onward, accompanied by one field battery, until he arrived within about three-quarters of a mile of the fort. Here he deployed his men, and dropping two battalions, with instructions to push on directly they heard the firing commence, he crept noiselessly on. His men were provided with scaling- ladders, and he determined to throw the ladder party on the salient angle of the Medjidieh lunette, whilst he with the remainder of the battalion entered the work through the open gorge. From Turkish sources we learn that before break of day a sentry in the Medjidieh lunette, an outwork of the Azizi fort, hearing what he took to be the approach of a large column of troops, reported the matter to the officer of the guard, who declined to believe the man's statement. As dawn broke, the garrison of the lunette learned that the sentry had not been mistaken, for two bodies of Eussian troops suddenly entered the work, one from the parapet in the front, one from the open REPULSE OF THE RUSSIAN ATTACKS. 405 gorge in the rear, and before the men could even seize their arms, the place was in the possession of the Russians. Captain Mehemed Pasha, commanding Azizi, which is about 1,200 yards in the rear of these outworks, hearing a disturbance, with that promptitude and gallantry that have characterised him throughout the campaign, placed himself immediately at the head of half a battalion of one of the new regiments recently arrived from Trebizond, and proceeded to ascertain the cause. On approaching the Medjidieh fort, he at once saw it was in the hands of the enemy. Without giving the matter a thought, he fixed bayonets and straightway charged them. A sanguinary hand-to-hand fight took place inside, but such was the impetuosity of the onslaught that the Russians were fairly driven out of the work, not before they had removed the garrison, consisting of twenty officers and 500 men. Tarnaieff's reserve battalions now made a desperate effort to retake the lunette, and the sound of the firing was now to be distinctly heard in the city. The big guns of Azizi opened upon the Russian columns with terrible effect. Awakened to a sense of their real danger, thousands of citizens, stirred with frenzy by the wild exhortations of^ the Moolahs (who thundered forth their anathemas on the hated Giaour from every minaret), dashed up to the citadel, where arms were hurriedly distributed. By 7 a.m. the whole road from the Tabreez Gate to the Azizi was crowded with a mass of armed men proceeding to defend the city. With this welcome re- inforcement Mehmed Pasha was not only enabled to repel all the Russian attacks, but towards the afternoon had so far gained the ascendency that, delivering one more impetuous bayonet charge, he hurled the Russians 406 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. back from the lunette, and then drove them inch by inch up to the walls of the Tope Dagh redoubt. To turn to the Russian column of attack on the south-east, descending the Yerli Dagh, instead of keep- ing along the crest and moving down the eastern- most slopes of the Palantukan range, it found itself discovered, and under a heavy fire from both the Djebri and Ahali forts long before they had approached their goal. Further advance was useless. The Kremedli is a permanent work, and to endeavour to carry it by storm must only have ended in disaster and disgrace, so Heimann very wisely recalled the column, which at about 2 p.m. fell back on Topalack. The casualties here were very small. Had the commander of the detach- ment been enabled to reach the Kremedli unnoticed, in all probability Erzeroum would have fallen, for, attacked on both sides, Mukhtar would not have been able to devote the whole of the garrison to the repulse of the gallantly-led attack on the Medjidieh lunette. Mukhtar Pasha, on the first sound of firing, had proceeded to the Azizi fort, and himself directed the fire of the heavy guns on the Russian columns. The gallantry of the Turks was most marked, and augured badly for any Russian columns that might endeavour to assault their stronghold; but no less marked was the conduct of Dr. Featherstonhaugh, who, aided by Reginald and Percy Zohrab, sons of the worthy British consul of the place, went about regardless of the hail of bullets, binding up the wounds and helping the stricken men to a place of safety. These two English youths were on the field of battle carrying out their humane work until long after midnight, when they proceeded to the English Hospital, there to make COLD-BLOODED ATROCITY. 407 all necessary arrangements for tlie large number of men waiting admission. They were not alone in their work of charity, for the consul himself, accompanied by his eldest son, a lad of eighteen, and by the old consular cavasse, Mustafa, who has been a faithful servant of Her Majesty for upwards of forty years, were equally busy on the battle-field, superintending the conveyance of the wounded to a place of safety, and endeavouring to save Eussian prisoners. In this humane work Mr. Zohrab nearly lost his life. A Turkish soldier, foiled in his attempts to plunge his bayonet into the body of an already badly wounded Eussian, turned on the consul, and threatened to bayonet him. The timely arrival of a Turkish officer saved the life of one of the best men in the consular service. And now I have to place on record one of those acts of cold-blooded atrocity which, alas ! have been furnished in such ghastly quantities by the present war. Directly it became known in the city of Erzeroum that the fortunes of the day rested with the Osmanli, bands of women trooped up to the field armed with knives, hatchets, choppers, whatever household weapons came first to their hands, and then commenced a system of mutilations which it does not do to dwell on. Suffice to say that from Englishmen, who visited the battle- field on the following day, I learn that nearly every Eussian found lying on the ground was decapitated and subjected to nameless outrage, and that the appear- ance of the wounds proved that many of them were inflicted on still living men. The gallant Tamaieff, who was wounded early in the day, surrendered to a Turkish officer, but this was not sufficient to save his life : his dead body, mutilated 408 THl^ CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. in the cruellest manner, was found in the Medjidieh' lunette the following day, clad merely in a silk shirt dyed crimson with the life-hlood of the brave young Armenian. Heimann, on learning from others present that he had been wounded and had surrendered himself a prisoner, sent in a parlementaire to Mukhtar Pasha, offering any two Turkish officers in exchange for the hero of the day, but the Turkish Commander-in-Chief was compelled to return answer that no such officer was to be found amongst the prisoners. Some few Russians, including one officer, were taken ahve, owing to the exertions of the gallant little Captain Mehmed Pasha, to whom belonged the honour of the day. His prompt attack on the Medjidieh lunette before the Eussian supports had time to arrive was the sole cause of success. His personal bravery on this, as on every other occasion in which he has been engaged during the war, extorted the admiration of all who saw him; he certainly well earned his promotion to the grade of lieutenant-general, which it is rumoured Mukhtar has recommended him for. The Turkish casualties in this engagement were ex- ceedingly heavy, about 700 killed and 1,500 wounded, whilst twenty officers and 500 men were left pri- soners in the hands of the enemy. But the Russian loss must have been far heavier. Three hundred dead bodies were left in the interior of the Medjidieh fort, and Captain Mehmed Pasha may be trusted to have given a very good account of the columns whom he broke and pursued to Tope Dagh. The Rus- sians, having failed in their attempt to carry the outworks, and having learnt that reinforcements were daily arriving from Trebizond, determined completely THE ONLY BRITISH OFFICIAL IN ERZEBOUM. 409 to invest the place. To effect this, a road was made over the Deyi Dagh range, via Partek, to Tsitawankh, in the Euphrates valley, and by this means bodies of cavalry were enabled to pass over the range and occupy Madirga. In obedience to directions received from the ambassador at Constantinople, Sir Arnold Kemball, who throughout the campaign had been present wherever the J&ghting was thickest, and wherever the danger was greatest, now left Erzeroum, and took up his head-quarters at Baiboort, midway to Trebizond. The only British officer left in the place was Mr. Zohrab, the consul, who, however, was quite at home in a besieged town. November, 1877, will seem to him but a counterpart of November, 1855, when, as secretary and interpreter to Sir Fenwick Williams, he aided in the heroic defence of Kars. CHAPTEE XXII. THE THIRD CAPTURE OF KARS BY THE RUSSIANS. Siege of Kars — Capture of Fort Hafiz Paslia — Russians Move their Head^ quarters — Projected Assault of the Place — Detail of Attacking Columns — Success of Lazaroff on the Right — Death of Count Grabhe in front of the Kanli Tabia — Capture of all Works on the Plains — Capture of Karadagh and Citadel — Hussain Hami Pasha escapes — The Majority of the Garrison surrender — Grand Duke enters the Place in Triumph — MelikofE moves towards Erzeroum — His Column forced to fall back from Olti — Komaroff moves to Ardahan — Thence to Ardanutsch — Skirmish there — Condition of Erzeroum — Treachery at Kars — Hussain Bey, Commandant of Artillery— Osman the Renegade — Hassain's Visits to the Russian Camp — The Cir- cassian Letter Carrier — Hig Death — Abandonment of the Hafiz Pasha Tabia — Escape of Hami Pasha — The Man whom the Russian General allowed to wear his Sword — Like Father like Son. To turn now to the main Russian column, under the immediate command of the Grand Duke Michael, which after the battle of the Aladja Dagh had been established at Kharrak-Darrah with a division at Magardjik, having cleared his camp of all sick, wounded, and the many thousand prisoners, who were all sent into Groomri, and having ordered up the siege train from that place, he determined once more to open the siege of Kars. Lazaroff was accordingly directed to commence siege batteries at Magardjik, whilst one division was moved to Vezinkui, with instructions to bombard the eastern face of the town. The Grrand Duke himself on the 10th inst. moved round from Karajal to Vairan Kale, the spot which MouraviefE selected in 1855 for his head-quarters camp. During this march the Russian flank was exposed to the attack of the enemy, and Hami Pasha was not slow to take advantage of it. Moving out the greater PLAN FOB SIEGE OF KAM. 411 portion of his garrison, he attacked the Eussian division on the line of march, and threw it into some confusion. But Melikoff quickly ralUed his men, and turning on the Turks, drove them at the point of the bayonet back into their entrenchments. So sudden was the onslaught and so rapid the flight, that for some time the Eussians were in undisputed possession of Hafiz Pasha's fort, and were enabled, before the garrison recovered their surprise, to dismantle the guns and remove the breech -pieces. As there had been no intention of carrying the place by assault, this Eussian column was unsupported, and con- sequently forced to retire from the position it had so successfully and gallantly won. The next day the Grand Duke sent a parlementaire to the city to demand its surrender, but Hussain Hami Pasha declined to discuss the subject, and threatened to fire on any party venturing on a similar errand. The following day, on the 12th of November, the Eussian batteries commenced to bombard the forts on the southern and eastern faces of the city. The Grand Duke had now adopted the plan followed by Paskiewitch in 1828, by Mouravieff in 1855, viz., that of commencing siege operations on the southern face of the fortress. In May and June the mistake was committed of bombarding the place from the north, when it was found that the works situated on lofty hills suffered little or no damage ; the siege batteries now covered an arc of a circle, stretching from Komadsor on the right bank of the Kars stream, through Karadjuren, Magardjik, and Azatkui, to the foot of the hills west of Vezinkui; their fire was directed against all the southern forts, which comprise the Suwarri, the western- most, the Kanli, Paizi Bey, and Hafiz Pasha; the 412 THE GAMPAIGl. :-i Ti. ,,vx^«^'i^^^^^" ^..-^^ - COUNTRYarouBdERZEROUM '/, i-s -f};y \'l>,. ^4^ Abvar Dt v^ ■vw ,^>-^ k^ — — n ^Isi Ti V 7165" ,iUW>ii S ''i(':.;,'i ■' KaraJbcCicui^ oMBi m .# ^^'i -i^\^ i'f/ « 0:2^2 ^»^^' t' \il(l, W' \\\[\i(rr. [ill •^^ w .-^. w.ui;, ;^\ WW ■^^ 0. ^'■y^ k-^' ..>\\' Md ^<^ ^ M!^ ^: ^. \ii^'- ^^^^ -.V) v\> .\"^" ■N^^' ..v^i^ 'W , ll:.-/' >^SP^^i3^ . 'MM M #' V iWl'Vn Idl" /' 'll' 'lij^i!.;'^!^!-^ .#-!!v!)ll..«l')!'l AHMENIA TWICE CONQJJEBED, TWICE CEDED, 437 pursuit, that Selegh Pasha had only just time to escape from the place, leaving twenty -nine guns in the hands of the Eussians. On the 24th the whole of the Eussian army concentrated at Hassan Kale, and a parlementaire was sent in to the Grovernor of Erzeroum, demanding its surrender. This was refused ; so on the 25th Paskie- witch advanced to the Nabitchai stream, and on the 27th seized the Devi Boyun heights unmolested. On the 28th the city surrendered, a slight skirmish taking place between the excited soldiery in the citadel and the Eussian troops as they entered the town, 150 guns, four Pashas, and about eight . thousand prisoners falling into the hands of the Eussian General. Thus, in five short weeks from the commencement of the campaign, Paskie- witch had been enabled^ to effect his object. He sub- sequently advanced towards Trebizond, and occupied Baiboort. Insurrections among the Lazis, however, broke out, and this, coupled with the badness of the roads, prevented him advancing further than Gumish Khane. In August, the treaty of Adrianople having been signed, the Eussians evacuated all the conquered provinces with the exception of Akhalzik, Akhalkalaki, and Kars. The frontier-line was laid down afresh, and has remained unaltered since those days. In the war of 1855, Kars capitulated to Mouravieff, Paskie witch's lieu- tenant ; but by the Treaty of Paris, in 1856, it was again ceded to the Turks. It is not my province to speculate on the future of Armenia, but I doubt if an instance has occurred in the history of any nation of a province twice conquered at the point of the sword, having been twice ceded by a stroke of the pen. APPENDIX A. Organisation op Turkish Army. 1. Tabular Statement of Regular Troops on War Footing. 2. „ „ Reserve Troops, completely organised. 3. „ „ Field Artillery. 4. „ ,, Cavalry. Siege Artillery. Regular Infantry. Reserve Troops without cadres. Engineers. 5. » 6. » 7. j> 8. » 9. I iiStablislin 10. 97 11. 99 12. »> 13. JJ U. 99 »» » >> „ Field Artillery. „ Mountain Artillery. Cavalry Regiment* Company ^of Engineers. Regiment of Infantry. 15. Scale of Pay of Officers. 16. „ „ Non-conunissioned Officers and Men. 17. Tabular Statement of Military Districts. 440 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, EH o o Jz; O P w o o r^ P5 |H H kH 03 W csi H tD CO H »— ♦ H p3 w O Eh Eh EC4 O < Eh W Ph O O M Pq W S a Fh < N fe ^ O H (x; t3 O o di o < ^ t^ t-H D >H H m w EH P^ O ■< O O •< « 'snnf) aS^is o o CO CO 03 •^ o 0» CO QO CD 00 CD CO ^ CO -<* •snn{) ppij Oi 1-H 03 Oi oa Tj* OS CO '* CO CO o> '^ '* CO i-H "^ 1-H I-H C4 t- CO -S9saoH o i-H )0 CO ^ •» kO l> 00 l> r^ JO r-t (N 1^ lO TiaK CO 00 CO o o CO o CO CO CO CO CO 00 1-H 00 o 00 00 o CO CO o 03 (73 H o !z: 63 'V»J/i o 00 CO 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 '9©^ o (M ^ W 1^ 5 o CO 'B •suno o o CO CO o CO Tiaj^ o o CO o o o I-H CO CI <=) JO 1-H CO !>. CO CO o o o CO o JO (M CO CO •SOQ o 00 Oi CTS ca CO CO CQ CO 03 Oi OS OS Cl •UOH OS CO CO CO CI OS CO 01 CO CO cci CO CO ci CO CO CI OS SQug^j:;^ OS CO CO CO CO o 00 < < Q •sasjoH CO CO CO 1> CO 1>- co CO 1> ^ '* 00 00 o CO XO" C3 'U3M CO o CO o CO 00^ CO o CD 00 co" o CO 00^ CO o CO 00 o CO OS CO r-t "SUOJp'BTltg CO CQ CQ CQ CQ S I o ^« C0~ CQ 'sntif) "upi CQ CD CQ CQ CO 00 ■S8SJ0H CO OS CO OS JO 00 OS OS OS OS OS o )0 •U8M 00 CQ 00 co" 01 CQ o CQ CO CO CQ O CQ CQ CQ O CQ O o CQ o '"it OS co" »o •suDHB^^^a 00 CQ CQ CQ CQ O CQ O CQ 00 00 4) 53 i I m 5 O) I— I O .g § 00 S^ O CQ •+3 CD 00 o DO I 13 bo Pt B a 03 •43 o H ■SdjLOO JO -0^ -*3 00 CQ CO :3 CO i> Od 00 § "<:5» I> OS XO CS O 00 CO ■^ Tjt t> CO «S «V M 0^ CO CO 00 o JO CQ CQ APPENDIX A, 441 p Pi o* M &< O « o o QQ S25 I - Eh H o •iCianilJV 00 iH CJ 1 CO O 00 00 CO CO CO o 4 tH "* t* 00 o ^ CO OS '* H •AllBWQ i-t 50 o 00 00 OS 00 T}« ■« n •-T P4 O 1/5 lO -* N rH « CO w O o o O O o o o •Ai^Trejui o o CO o o o o o o o o 1 o 00 00 o o CI t» -'J' l> -"f ^^ OQ CO lO CO lO 00 o CO o Tj« CX) CO '«? 00 o iC o CO •moi OS OS CO l> 'I? o JO iH OS cq o» "* W f-H iO o CO o •^lanx^jjy OS 00 CO CO CO o CO 1 1 OS CI 5 9% 00 n -# 1-* cq rH CO ^ CO o o ''3' 1 •XllBABO CO CO OS O 9% CO CO CO 1 s CO CO J-t tH r-{ iH o o o o o o o •Xiijtrejui § o o (M o 00 efl i-H 1-t iH I-H o I-H •suor[B:j:;Ba 00 ^ 03 C3 CI 1 1 CI CO CO JO -Oij 1 1 I-H lO lO !>. CO CO OS o CI '««' 1>- (M o o 1 CO •AiieAvo o 00 00 00 CO OS CO o o iH 1-< tH r-\ t^ O o o O o o o •£j^iivpij O o o CO 0S O CO o CO 1 1 o CO o o C4 a Ui OS OS o» CO cq tH (N iH I-H T-l •8uoq«(^Ba JO ox 00 C4 CO (M cq 1 1 CI I-H o '* iH 00 iH o o '^ CO y-t 1> OS I-H CD t o 00 'moj, »o CO o ■* CI o I CO »o CO »H o o CO 00 OS CO ,• CM (M CO cq CI CO 1-H CO CO '\ •* #« r* «^ 1-H Ol CQ CI OS t* iH t* "^ CO o iO p; iLq^A^O CO CO o OS CO CO OS o o CO CO ^ «« v« #» 1-( tH cq CO o o O o o O o o o o O o o o o o •Xi:ju'BjTii Til IC OS OS ■^ o> OS ca »H 442 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. Ui H w &4 Pi » Hi M I 9 o IS < 3 •8J0^s m :^c[a3[ 8J[^ sdjoQ ^mJY ^^^9 P^''^ *q^5 'qi^fr 8q^ JO S8TJ8:).^'Bq 98JI{(^ m sun£) ni'B:).nnoj\[ eifj- -'a:.N[ CO CO co CO CO CO lO CO • •gS-gjoj CO 1—t 1—1 T^ 1— 1 1—) o 1—1 1 •snog-BM eS-BSS-Bg; 00 CO CO I— I CO 1—1 CO r-H CO f—l CO 1—1 )0 00 o •8aoS'B/Y\ CO CO CO CO CO CO o O r-l iO Oi Oi Oi V\ •\ •N •N • 1ft (?q 3 ■i 1 w CO -?*< ^ ^ ^ (N '^ 1 03 • t- o O O o o o s CO C£> CO CO CO CO • M ^ O 00 00 00 00 Oi * CO CO CO CO CO l-H • CO t &« • DO J>» o a o CO C> m -<* 00 00 00 00 C3^ ■ o IV) f^ r-i Ci an Oi Oi aa • r* ^ uu o •^. "S >« m^ ». •» "^ p^ 1 w CO CO CO CO CO l-H (M fo es o rC ^^ • »c o o O o o o Q a CO :H -«!»< -<4^ -^ (N • • • cq *t! <» : • • • • »£l O m <— < . * * * ■4a 0/ 1 1 1 1 • 1 1 bo 1 3 V is 1 1 « n3 1 •891 rajy^p sdjoQ -s rS -3 :S -B i' D jeqin- n^ r-l - (M ir- 00 I— I T— 1 • • • o r— I CO o o o o o o o d o O lO o lO XO lO ^ ^ O r-H CO -^ • i:^ CO ^4 % #V WN, ^\ CO CO CO • o3 bo 1 •> f-i I— t CI o a» t to 00 O CO l> 1 lO to o »o lO • lO o •^ 03 ea >— 1 r-H j-H 1— 1 l-H • 1—1 Oi EfPec of Comp 09 f-t ^ ^ 0) • « « * • t^ e3 O J^ ■^ 9^ o o -+3 H a 02 d Monasti Erzerou i be • APPENDIX A. 445 55 3 M O o » O W O 525 m to cq e5 •sunf) '«J' oq CO cq cq O O CO nraq-unoj^ tH lH tH I-H 1—1 rH iH 00 • 0) CO t3» O -^ -* lO XO o • -4 A in oa Oi 00 OS Oi OS OS XO "B s CD JO OS to XO r}« ''J* '^ O -§ w '^ ^ 00 -^ -* ''ft -* o O "f g . t* CO E4 (N cq CO cq cq 1-i 1-t XO rH •snnf) cq CO cq cq - -« O o CO 00 ui'wjimou r^ i~i rn ^^ ir^ ^^ r^ • GQ Oi cq CO cq cq XO XO iH 2 ^ 00 CO tH CO CO CO CO CO on- (4 o iH iH d »H t-l iH tH DO to 4 U T-i d JO • CO 00 ' 00 o CO o o 1-i r-i OS r^ ^ U5 CO JO lO 0% 0S XO CO •SUOllW^-Ba 1> CO 00 CO CO XO XO CO s -«? cq OS cq cq o o OS m o CO CO CO CO CO CO 00 O JO ^ 1> ' CO CO 00 00 lO M •V ^ •» M *\ n 9% n . ^ t* lO t* lO lO cq cq i> H tH 1-J cq 1-t rH T-i tH rH M Hi r^^^ § O »o o o o O iO XO XO W o Oi xO OS OS r* r* t^ 4^ fH tH CO >4 OQ • 4) lO o o o o lO XO XO ^ c» rH lo iH r-4 cq cq cq 1^ *o iO 00 iO lO '^ '^ 00 CO « 9 Oi cq OS CI cq XO XO -^ s OS '* '«? ^ •^ 00 00 x? o 1 CO CO CO CO CO cq cq CO -4J t* CO o CO CO xO XO XO -s fl CO 00 o 00 00 O o CO m 0) CO 00 OS 00 00 -•^ "^ l> ^ m\ •% #v «« •« #% •* *\ C" "* CO '* -«? cq cq CO 1-1 I-H 01 rH iH rH iH rH •buoh'b:j:^'B5 r-l 00 1-1 CO CO 00 00 XO XO r-t 00 CO 1-i •si^uannSaa '^ CO o 1-i CO CO XO XO XO • • ■ . • • ■ • m « • • m • • n « 9 a ■^ s« «3 g • * • m ta • • • • • o 1 § 1 i S3 o 00 03 B B o CQ ^ P w h i -sdaoojo -0^ -*3 03 :$ :5 rB N I-H cq CO -* "5 CO i> 440 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. O 1-4 t^ o Eh 5zi » QQ 1-4 < O >^ . ^ 8 « O 03 Hi O ^ ^ O Ec] » Eh O 5z; E£| Eh < e3 o o O o o o o o o o o o o o o o •q!^3n9j:^g 00 CD o 00 CO uo • ■ CO CO • »o CO CO CO id CO (M l-H I— 1 f-H p— 1 l-H l^- H CO o ^ 00 (M -^ a CO !>■ •snoT^t'B^'Ba; 05 I— 1 J:^ CO Ir- ''f • CO C3i I— t s a O * • • • • • • • ■ ^ H 1 ^ 1 ^ 1 03 ■u 09 g s Hi w. w 5 'a c8 o o CO I c6 o o ^ p 1—1 PQ 'e^iQj [y^p sdjoo -*^ ni ^ ,£i ^ ^ • ^ fo -ON CO 1— 1 CO +3 CO -p *> ** APPENDIX A, 447 w OQ 1-4 Pi H (Hi H o O H n e2 1 » 1—4 o '* t- t^ t- t^ !>. OS ce 00 t* 00 00 00 00 00 00 "S '^ CO r^ r- 1 r-t 1— t l-H !>- H 00 s o cq r^ j-H i-H l-H f-H t* xj< CO 00 00 00 00 00 s CQ i-H l-H f-H r-i »-H 10 • t* 00 ^ ^ '■ ® M -tj CQ QD © o cq CO CO CO CO CO (M 1 -«i< r-( 00 '^ -^ o , S o • • • • « • • • • • • • • • • • ■ * • • • • • s -^ • • • « • • • 1 ^ • ■ * • • • §•"8 5 1— H 1 O r^ 13 o ■ • « • a OQ • • • • M & •I » • 3 CO • • O H 03 -P s o ■^ 2 1 ^ § s i 1 5; 5 ^ fi c3 • CQ -tiS '73 T* p£? .id rJd rfl >5^ H 03 rt ^H -M -M 43 +3 5Zi ^ l-H » 448 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. Establishment of a Battery of Horse Artillery. Captain ... Secretary... First Lieutenant. Second Lieutenants Sergeant-Maj or ... Sergeants Quartermaster-Sergeant Bombadiers Gunners ... Drivers . . . Trumpeters "Water-carrier Ordnance Corps Private Farriers . . . Saddler ... Wagon-maker Carpenter Armourer Men. 1 2 1 8 1 12 54 42 3 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 133 Saddle Horses. 1 1 2 1 8 1 6 54 3 1 1 2 1 82 Draught Horses. Mules. 60 60 A Battery has Six Guns (either of four or six Pfund weight), Krupp's steel breech- loading guns ; one Ammunition Wagon, one Baggage Wagon, one Forge, completes the establishment. APPENDIX A. 449 Establishment of a Battery of Field Artillery. Captain . . . First Lieutenant Second Lieutenants Sergeant-Maj or ... Sergeants ... Quartermaster-Sergeant Bombadiers Gunners Drivers . . . Trumpeters "Water-carrier Ordnance Corps Private Farrier Wheelwright Carpenter... Armourer Saddler . . . Men. 1 1 2 1 8 1 12 54 42 3 132 Saddle Horses. 1 1 2 1 8 1 1 1 19 Draught Horses 60 Mules. 60 1 5 The Battery has Six Guns. As a rule these are Krupp's steel breech-loa ini-; sii-Pfiinder rifled pieces. Some batteries are armed with the four-Pf under. One Ammunition Wagon, one Baggage Wagon, one Forge, completes the establishment. D D 450 TEJE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. Establishment of a Mountain Battery. Men. Saddle Horses. !Miiles. A*^L VA.A\^H * Captain 1 1 First Tiieutenant 1 1 Second Lieutenants... 2 2 Sergeant-Maj or 1 Sergeants 8 Quartermaster-Sergeant 1 Bombadiers ... 12 • • • Gunners 36 Drivers 18 18 Trumpeters ... 3 • • • Water-carrier 1 Ordnance Corps Private 1 5 Farrier ... Saddlemaker Wheelwright Carpenter ... Armourer ... 90 5 24 APFENBIX A. 451 Establishment of a Turkish Cavalry Regiment. ■ Regimental Strength. Squadron Strength. Men. Horses. Men. Horses. Colonel 1 3 • • • • • • Lieutenant-Colonel 1 2 * • • • « • Squadron Commanders ... 2 4 « • • ■ • ft Major on the Staff 1 2 • < • • « • Regimental Secretary 1 2 • . • « • • Adj utants-Maj or . . . 2 4 • a • • « ■ Secretary of 2nd Class , . . 1 2 « • Assistant Secretary 1 1 * ■ • Paymasters 2 2 • • ■ • • • Standard-bearer ... 1 2 « • • p « » Veterinary Surgeons 3 4 a « • Physician ranking with Lieut. -Colonel ... 1 2 « • • a a • Physicians ranking with Major ... 2 2 * 9 m • ■ • Physicians ranking with Adj utant-Maj or 2 2 • ■ ft • • % Physician ranking with Captains 1 1 ■ • • • • a Surgeons of the 1st Class. . 1 1 » ■ • a « • „ „ 2nd Class.. 2 2 • • & a • ■ Armoiirer 1 1 • • • a « • Master Saddler ... 1 1 • • « • a • ,-, Farrier 1 1 • • ■ • a * Riding Master 1 1 • • • • a « First Captains ... 6 6 1 1 Second Captains ... 6 6 1 1 First Lieutenants 6 6 1 1 Second Lieutenants 6 6 1 1 Sub-Lieutenants ... 12 12 2 2 Sergeants 60 60 10 10 Corporals 96 96 16 16 Privates 672 672 112 112 Water-carriers ... 12 12 2 2 Musicians 30 30 5 5 Saddlers 6 6 1 1 Total strength 941 954 152 152 D D 2 452 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, Establishment of a Company of Engineers. Major in Command . . . Secretary Paymaster Surgeon Captains First Lieutenant Second Lieutenant Sub-Lieutenant Sergeant-Maj or Sergeants Quartermaster-Sergeant Corporals Privates Musicians "Wheel wriglit ... Carpenter Saddler Water-carriers 12 1 12 144 3 1 1 1 2 187 Although laid down in the Haiti -Honmayoun of 1869, Engineers do not exist in all the corps of the Turkish army. In the fourth there were none, except a few mechanics in Erzeroum. Nominally each corps has a, battalion of eight companies, the first, or Constantinople army, having three battalions, one a pontoon corps, the other two sappers. APPENDIX A, 453 Establishment of a Turkish Infantry Regiment. L '§)aD & 1 § o ^§ 'd § • -1 §i fit • • • : Firs Batalli : Secot Batalli : Thir Batalli Com Organi Colonel Lieuten an t-Colonel 1 • * • • « • • • ■ • • « Chief of BataUions ... • • • 1 1 1 1 Major on the Staff. . . 1 • • • • • • • « • • • • Paymaster-in-Chief 1 • • • • • • • • • • • • Regimental Secretary 1 • • « • • • • • • • • • Adjuta,n ts-Maj or . . . * • « 2 2 2 2 BataUion Secretaries • • • 1 1 1 1 Assistant Secretaries • • • 1 1 1 1 Paymasters of Ilatallions ... • • • 1 1 1 1 Standard-bearer 1 « • • ■ • • • • • • « Regimental Physician 1 • « « • • • « • • • • • Doctor ranking with Chief of Ba- tallion ... ... •«.. . ■ . • • • 1 1 1 1 Physician to Right Half Batallion • • ■ 1 1 • « « • » • „ to Left H alf BataUioE L ... • • • • • • • * • 1 1 ,, ranking as Captain ... ■ • ■ 1 • • • • fe • 1 Surgeon-in-Cliief ... . .• • • • 1 1 • ■ • • • • Assistant Surgeons ... • • • • « • « « • 1 1 Armourers... • •• • • • 1 1 1 1 Regimental Musicians ... 80 * • » • ■ • * • • • . » Batallion Musicians . « • • « • 33 33 33 33 4 Capta.ina ... • « ■ • ■ • 8 8 8 8 1 Lieutenants ... • • • 8 8 8 8 1 Sub-Lieutenants .. ... « • • 8 8 8 8 1 Sergeants-Major . ... • • • 8 8 8 8 1 Sergeants ... ... • « • 40 32 32 32 4 Corporals ... ... mm m 64 64 64 64 8 Privates ... ... • • « 640 640 640 640 80 Water-cai'riers • • . • • • 8 8 8 8 1 • Total strength • • • 87 828 819 819 819 101 454 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ABMENIA. Annual Scale of Pay Received by the Officers op the Turkish Army. grade. £ s. d. ^ Marshal Commanding First Corps . 5,637 12 6 „ „ other Corps 5,421 2 6 Tiieutenant-General of all arms . . . 1,302 3 4 Major-General „ 725 2 6 Colonel „ 391 7 6 Lieutenant-Colonel „ 269 1 8 Chief of Battalion or Squadron ... 197 14 2 Major on the Staff 133 19 2 ) Commissioned Kegirnental Paymaster ... 131 10 Officers. Adjutant-Major of Right Wing or Squadron 110 8 4 Regimental Secretary 97 19 6 Adjutant-Major of Left Wing 92 9 2 Battalion Secretary 91 11 8 „ Paymaster 65 18 4 „ Assista.nt Secretary 65 18 W CAVALRY. First Captain 73 15 10 Second Captain 62 10 \ 4 First Lieutenant ... 55 13 Second Lieutenant 51 4 2 Sub-Lieutenant of First Class 48 10 „ „ Second Class ... 44 16 8 ARTILLERY. Captain 70 11 8 s Subordinate First Lieutenant ... 53 19 6 Officers. Second Lieutenant 49 7 6 Third Lieutenant ... • 47 10 10 INFANTRY. Captain 70 11 8 Lieutenant 53 19 6^ Sub-Lieutenant 49 7 APPENDIX A, 455 Monthly Scale of Pay of Non-Commissioned Officers and Men. ARTILLERY, £ 8. d. Sergeani-Major of Battalion ... 13 9 Battery Sergeant-Major 10 6 „ Quartermaster-Sergeant 8 9 Corporal 7 8 Gunner of Horse Artillery ... 6 5 „ Field or Garrison Artillery 5 9 Corporal of Drivers ... 8 4 Farrier Sergeant 13 6 Saddler Sergeant 12 2 Magazine Sergeant ... 15 3 Sergeant of Water-carriers ... 10 6 Water-carrier 7 6 Trumpet-Major 13 8 Trumpeter 7 6 CAVALRY. Regimental Sergeant-Major ... 12 3 Quartermaster-Sergeant 9 1 Troop Sergeant-Major 8 4 Corporal .., 7 6 Private 6 4 Farrier Sergeant 13 6 Saddler Sergeant 12 2 Corporal of Water-carriers ... 8 4 Water-carrier 7 6 I Regimental Trumpet-Major ... 13 6 Squadron Trumpet-Major 8 4 Trumpeter 7 6 INFANTRY. Battalion Sergeant-Major 13 8 Quartermaster-Sergeant 10 6 Sergeant 9 Corporal 7 6 Private ... 5 9 Water-carrier 5 9 I»u^le-Major of Iiegiment 13 6 Battalion Bugle-Major 10 6 Bugler 8 2 Drummer or Fifer 5 9 456 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. o p W CG l-H 5zi CO o 52; ^2; W w o o E ^ o H % Q H pq < o H >■ f-l m > w to P5 c o o CO o o o o r c:J*Tt<-^-^COCO cT o' cT o"" cT o" co' co" COCOCOCOCOCOi-i^ 00 ■+-» <4-l o !2i "sajp^O 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 (M -. t*- •sajpBQ ^^i ^^^ ^^^ ^5^ ^^^ ^^^ ^'T^ ^^i ^p ^9^ ^J^ ^^r ^p ^p ^^^ ^^^ ^T^ ^^' ^r •4J (A pq o •S9ipBQ CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO ^J' ^Ji ^^^ ^P ^T" ^9^ ^I^ ^^^ *S8Jp^3 ^j^ ^7^ ^%i^ ^^ ^^ ^^7" ^^ ^Ji ^5* ^3^ ^J^ ^^^ ^^^ ^Ji ^T^ ^7^ ^^^ ^'T^ ^J^ ^?^ ^9^ > CO ^ if « pq O •SSjp-BQ Tf^TjH-^i^TjHTHTt*-^ Oi > -O ^ ^^PP^^mH I— I P^ O .s I 6 CD a o OQ t3 a CO • APPENDIX A. 457 o o j4 <(^ <<}4 Ti4 • CO CO CO CO CO « CO CO CO c^ « ; '^ -«*4 T*4 ^Bl ^P ^^P '^Jt ^5* ^9^ r i» ^ji ^^P ^5^ ^^P ^J^ ; * • • ft ft ft ^^ ^^ 7^ ft '• ft # ft ft • • ft • ■ ft ft ft ft • ft ft ft ft ft ft ft • • ft • ca s g £ el S GO o QQ B a g o q piii Til ec O •Ti rid •a 03 H C3 Pj^«^-H •J i—t « o W Eh CO O CO » CO o w ai H H < > hi CO (23 W O ^H Em o "saxoa noi^mnrarav N •Sjaq^O •XiB^^tUBS 'n-i'Bd: rH VO •UOlSlAOJj; (M Cq OO 00 o CD t>. CO I— I O 00 Pi • I-I cS Ph Ph' Ph I I I '^ ^ OS PM I CO oo 'O CO o CO CO CO CO CO •SI9AUQ; ^ o « < is o CtJ CO o CD 00 00 to O a O (D ^ O O c^ 'ce "Ti M a & |25 * ri « o 60 ^ ^ :3 1=1 a^ cc S'^ •s o ^ •% oi^ , <^ few o m o CO b* OO f-H O O - OO OO o CO OS CO tr^ (M OS CN C<1 r— ( I-H 00 CO OS urs -* vo »o I— ( ra <^ OS CO 00 CO rt* uti OO O 00 CO OS CO 00 CO C3S to lO ft § CD g S3 1=1 o • o {=! • • o • -3 o 1 » r-t § • g CD o I-H o O 1 +3 i a? -4-3 S g I ® o Q o a OQ PI APPENDIX B. 467 Pay of Non-Commissioned Officers and Men. Guard. Line. Annual Pay. Daily Pay, Annual Pay. Daily Pay. £ 8. d. £ 8. d. £ 5. d. £ s. d. Sergeant-Major ... 5 15 11 3f 3 17 3 ^ Senior JSTon-Com- TniasiOTiefl Officer 2 15 7 If 14 9 OJ .Junior Non-Com- missioned Officer 2 U 8 If 13 3 0.', Bombardier and Lance-Corporal 10 9 Of 9 2 01 Private, Drummer, A and Bugler ... 13 OJ 0| 8 8 Oi In addition to the above the men receive a "mess allowance," varying in amount, but averaging about l^d. per diem, and the following rations free — Flour Barley Salt 2 lbs. :Joz. EE 2 468 THE CAMPAIGN IlSf ARMENIA, Authorised Establishment of Infantry Regiment, Battalion, AND Company of the Russian Army. ■ Regiment. Battalion. Company. Hegimental Staff- Major-General • • • • Field Officer for Interior Economy ... Executive Field Officer Regimental Adjutants ... Paymaster Quartermaster Tnstiiictor in Arms Officer in Command of Non-couibatants Regimental Drummer ... ,, Bugler Senior Surgeon ... Junior Surgeons 4 Chaplains 2 Battalion Staff. Colonels ... 4 1 • • * Battalion Adjutants 4 1 • • * „ Druinrners 4 1 • « • ,, Buglers 4 1 • • • Oaptams ... ... ... ..• ••» 20 5 Lieutenants 20 5 Sub-Lieutenants ... 20 5 Ensigns ... 20 5 \_/acieiis ... ... ••• «•• ••• 20 5 Sergeants-Major ... 20 5 Senior Non-Commissioned Officers 80 20 4 Junior ,, „ 240 60 12 Corporals... 400 1 00 20 jrri Y axes ... ... ... ... ... 2,960 7 40 148 Drummers 60 15 3 a5ugiers ... ••• ... .4. ... 60 15 3 Officers' Servants 80 20 4 4,034 1,C )04 ,200 N.B. — Each Company is provided with the following tools: — 12 hatchets, 6 shovels, 3 picks, 3 axes, 1 scythe. APPENDIX C . Memorandum on the Nature .of the Armenian Theatre of War, as regards Requirements for Military Purposes. Roads. Trehizond to Erzeroum. — An excellent liill-ro9.d, of an average width of twenty-seven feet : it passes over ranges of a height of 8,000 feet, consequently the gradients in many places are steep, but are practicable everywhere for heavy guns. 'Bridges. — All the streams are bridged over, and culverts thrown over small mountain torrents. .The bridges do not admit of guns or wheeled vehicles passing each other. The stages, which are dealt with farther on, are somewhat longer than we consider an average march, but there is good accommodation for troops at each. Erzeroum to Kara, — By no means such a good road as that from Trebizond. The ascent to the Devi-Boyxui is steep ; but lately it has been eased off, and an excellent gun-road now crosses the range : through the Passin plain the road is excellent. Cavalry and infantry could march with a wide front on either flank as far as Khorassan. Across the Soghanly range there are four roads, dealt with later in this Appendix. Neither of these is metalled, nor are streams bridged : that vid Ala-kilissa, Bardez, and Tcharpakli is the best, but both by it and the Mellidooz, guns can be freely moved. Eraeroum to Ardahan. — Merely a hill-road, practicable for field artillery after some engineering labour. Between Lisgaf and Olti there are two routes, that by Id and Narriman being the easier. Erzeroum to Bayazid. — This branches off from the Kars road at Kuipri-Kui, where it crosses the Araxes by a fine masonry bridge. The Kose Dagh range may be traversed by four routes, 470 TSE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. that from Delibaba to Zaidikan being the one most generally- used, but all are practicable for field-guns. Supplies. Armenia is a land flowing with milk and honey, with many flocks and herds. ' As in India, so here, there is no dearth of meat; large quantities of cattle may be procured in every village — goats and sheep principally in the mountainous country, kine in the plains ; fowls also in abundance. Grain. — Maize, wheat, barley, and oats are cultivated, the Alashgird, Passin, and Kars plains being the richest districts. For a large force the country mills are not numerous enough to turn out sufficient flour ; handmills should therefore be carried. Forage. — In abundance : the gi-ass and clover are particularly rich, especially on the slopes of the Allaghoz and Soghanly ranges. Fruit. — Grapes, nectarines, peaches, apples, pears, mulberries, filberts, walnuts, melons, are found in various parts, the Thortoom and Khagisman districts being perhaps the most famed. Vegetables. — Potatoes in and round Trebizond ; beans, pump- kins, vegetable marrows, turnips, carrots, onions, in nearly every village. Firewood. — Only to be found in the mountainous regions near Trebizond, and the Soghanly. Tezek, or compressed manure, is greatly used for fuel. Its manufacture occupies the Armenians all the winter, but quantities sufficient for a large force could not be found. Strong Drinks. — There is a fair claret to be procured in bulk at Kharpootj the supplies at other places are small, being imported from Europe. Indeed, such things as wine and brandy can only be procured at the large towns. Tobacco. — In any quantity, but not good. Water. — Plentiful and good ; but the Turkish soldier and camp- follower require more supervision even than natives of India to keep the supply undefiled» Transport. Arabas, similar to the Indian bullock-cart, of either two or four bullocks. These and pack-ponies could be procured in, I APPENDIX 0. 471 may say, unlimited quantities by employing local agents. Mules are dear and not easily found. Accommodation. The mud, flat-roofed houses, which form the majority of the dwelling-places in Armenia, are not very pleasant quarters, but are preferable to a bivouac in the rain. There are many places enimierated in the accompanying Road Report, which contain two-storeyed houses, airy and substantial, admirably adapted for field hospitals or barracks. Climate. Most variable, on account of the changes of altitude as the traveller passes over the road. Commencing at sea-level at Trebi- zond, two high ranges of 6,000 and 8,500 feet are crossed before reaching Erzeroum^ 6,100 ; there the Devi-Boyun, upwards of 8,000 feet, is traversed, and the Araxes followed, until it drops to 5,000 ; the Soghanly again rises to 8,200, and a further descent to Kars once more brings the aneroid down to 5,600. Thus, warm clothing is necessary, for even in the height of summer, when the glass reminds one of July in the Punjab, the nights are piercingly cold ; indeed, the inhabitants wear furs all the year round. The winter is most severe. Snow to a depth of several feet covers the ground, rendering locomotion a matter of much difficulty and danger. ROUTES. Ro2t>te No, 1. — Trebizond to Erzeroum, 1st Stage, Djevizlik; distance, 18 miles. — Koad excellent; a slight ascent the whole way. Water and grazing in abundance. Djevizlik is a village contain- ing about 80 stone houses ; there is a good deal of fruit in the vicinity during the season. Supplies of all sorts to be obtained in any quantity in giving short notice. There is a post-horse station here, and fair Armenian accom- modation for the traveller. 2nd Stage, Khamsikui; distance, 16 miles. — Eoad good; still an ascent. The village contains about 100 houses, scattered a good deal. Water and grazing in abundance; also fuel. Supplies in large quan- tities on giving short notice. Excellent accommodation for the traveller in one of the many stone khans which abound in the village. There is also a post-horse station. Khamsikui to Zigana ; distance, 21 miles. — Over a very stiff moun- tain range. The road, though good, is very steep, and it , is a long stage for wheeled vehicles or guns. There is 476 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. Kop to Farna-kapan j distance, 16 miles. — Koad good, but very steep, crossing the Kop Dagh, nearly 9,000 feet above sea- level. The stage, which is also a post-horse station, con- sists of a small hamlet. Sup- plies very scanty ; accommo- dation bad. Farna-kapantoKarabooyuk ; distance, 16 miles. — Road good and level. The halting-place consists of a khan, where only very small quantities could be ob- tained. There are villages in the vicinity whence supplies could be obtained. The water supply is from a spring oppo- site the khan, and would have to be carefully guarded. This is a post-horse station. Karabooyuk to Erzeroum ; distance 27 miles. — Passing through Ilidja, famous for its hot springs. This village is of considerable size, and would furnish supplies to a large extent. Fuel is the most scarce commodity. Ilo2ite No, 2. — TLrzeroum to Kars. Erzeroum to Hassan Kale ; distance, 20 miles. — Road good, crossing the Devi Dagh by a newly- made gun road,* 16 feet in width, at 5 miles ; then de- scending to the Passin plain, passing through the village of Khooroodjook, which possesses large flocks and herds. Hassan Kale is an old * This road, I hear, has fallen into a terrible state owing to the amount of traffic over it, and is now anj'thing but a "gun road.'* ROUTES. 477 {Erzeroum to Kara,) walled town, containing about 6,000 souls. There is a very- picturesque though useless castle here. Suj)plies in large quantities, but there would be difficulty for fuel for a large force. There are hot springs here, much resorted to by scrofulous and rheu- matic people. Being on a branch of the Araxes, there is an endless water supply, and very good fishing in the neighbourhood. Hassan Kale to Kuipri-Kui ] distance, 10 miles. — Road good and quite {On the Araxes River.) flat; the village contains about 300 houses. Supplies, except fuel, would be obtainable in fair quantities, and the neigh- bouring villages would afford a vast number of cattle and sheep. The roads here diverge to Kars and Bayazid. KuipriKtii to Khorassan ; distance, 20 miles, along the left bank of (On the Araxes River.) the Araxes. — Excellent graz- ing ground in the vicinity. Khorassan is a large village with flocks, herds, and an admirable water supply. Yery good accommodation for the traveller ; fuel scarce. Khorassan to Mezingird. — Ascending the southern slopes of the Soghanly Dagh ; road fair, practicable for guns; but at this stage supplies scarce, with the exception of fire- wood, which can be had in abundance. There is difficulty about water here ] the stream is very small. 478 THIJ CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. Mezinp;ird to Sara Kamjsli; distance, 18 miles. — Road quite practi- cable for guns j first ascends to the Mellidooz plateau, then down into the Sara Kamysh defile. There are several Circassian villages in the neighbourhood of this halting-place, whence supplies could be procured. Water and firewood in abundance; accommodation limited, but the vast pine forests offer every facility for the bivouac of troops. Sara Kamysh to Kotanli ; distance 20 miles. — Road level and good. The village is rich in flocks and herds ; there is a very good camping-ground on the left bank of the Kars Tchai. Fuel is scarce. Kotanli to Kars j distance, 25 miles. — Road good ; crosses the Kars Tchai twice, which is always fordable, passing through several villages, the popula- tions of which are devoted to agriculture. Fuel in the whole valley is scarce, as it all has to be procured from the Soghanly Range. Rotite No. 3. — Erzeroum to Kars (another Route), Erzeroum to Hassan Kale. — Same as before. Hassan Kale to Kuipri-Kui. — Do. Kuipri-Kui to Ala-Kilissa; distance, 18 miles. — Road quite practicable for guns ; ascends the western slopes of the Soghanly. The village is insignificant, and supplies scanty ; water plenti- ful ; camping-ground cramped. ROUTES. 479 Ala-KilissatoZewin; distance, 1 6 miles. — Road good. Water plentiful; supplies and accommodation very scanty. Camping ground good. Zewin to Mellidooz; distance, 15 miles. — Large camping-ground. Water at some distance ; sup- plies nil. Nearest village, Mezingird, 3 miles. Mellidooz to Sara Kamysh; distance, 16 miles. — As route No. 2. Sara Kamysh to Kotanli. — As route No. 2. Kotanli to Kars. — As before. Route No, 4. — Erzeroum to Kars, Erzeroum to Hassan Kale. — Same as before. Hassan Kale to Kuipri-Kui. — Do. Kuipri-Kui to Ala-Kilissa. — Do. Ala-KHissa to Yeni-Kui ; distance, 20 miles. — Road practicable for guns. Small village, but with notice supplies could be pro- cured from places in the neighbourhood. Water good ; fuel limited. Yeni-Kui to Bardez ; distance, 15 miles. — Road good. Camping-ground fair ; fuel and supplies plenti- ful. Bardez to Tcharpakli; distance, 20 miles. — Road practicable for guns. A small village with a limited quantity of supplies. Water and fuel plentiful. Tcharpakli to Kotanli ; distance, 1 6 miles. — Road excellent. Kotanli to Kars. — As in other routes. Route No, 5. — Erzeroum to Olti, Erzeroum to Hindsk; distance, 13 miles, — Through the Euphrates valley ; road excellent. A small village, but in such a closely-populated district that supplies can be obtained in great quantity ; fuel scarce ; 480 TEE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA, {Erzeroum to Olti.) grazing and water in abund- ance. Hitidsk to Lisgaf ; distance, 20 niiles. — Road bad, practicable for pack, not wheeled carriage, though after some engineering labour guns could be moved on it. Here is the Ghiurji Boghaz, a defile most difficult to defend, easy to turn. Sup- plies of cattle, sheep, fuel, forage, and water in abund- ance. Lisgaf to Id; distance, 16 miles. — E-oad good. Supplies fair; collec- tions could be made after short notice. Id to Olti ; distance, 20 miles. — Passing through Narriman, still keeping to the stream. Sup- plies plentiful; accommoda- tion good. The following Table of Altitudes may be of interest to some of my readers, illustrating the extreme variation of temperature to which we were exposed, and the difficulties that stand in the way of militaiy operations : — Trebizond Zigana Kop Dagh Erzeroum Hindsk Kara-Kobeg . . . Lisgaf Kutumar Kntuman Hemron Dooz . . . Kuipri-Kui Khorassan Deli-baba sea-level. 5,200 feet. 8,000 6,150 6,200 6,600 6,800 6,700 8,000 9,000 5,600 5,300 6,600 Zewin Dooz .. Eshek-Khaliass Taghir Mellidooz ... Mezingird . . Sara Kamysh Kirk Punar Vairan Kale Kars (town) Kars (citadel) Vezuikui Aladja Dagh 6,500 feet. 7,800 7,400 8,600 7,800 7,500 6,800 6,400 5,800 6,130 6,400 8,500 7J APPENDIX D. HussAiN AvNi Pasha. Correspondence published in the Blue Book relating to the " Defence and Capitulation of Kars," havLug reference to Hussain Avni Pasha : — Despatch No. 16 — D. Therapia, September 27, 1854, from Lord Stratford de Redcliffe to the Earl of Clarendon — announces the appointment of Hussain Pasha as Chief of the Staff, to Shukri Pasha, the newly-nominated Commander-in-Chief in Armenia. Despatch No. 60 — D. Erzeroum, November 17, 1854, from Colonel Fenwick WOliams to the Earl of Clarendon — complaiQS of the conduct of both Shukri Pasha and Hussain Pasha towards him. Enclosure No. 3 in above despatch. — Colonel Williams complains of the studied incivility of Hussain Pasha. Despatch No. 62 — D. Foreign Office, December 29, 1854, from Lord Clarendon to Lord Stratford de Redcliffe — insistiag that General Williams must be upheld, and demanding that the most stringent instructions be sent by the Porte to the Mushir in Armenia to avoid a recurrence of the affronts to which General Williams is exposed, from Shukri and Hussain Pashas. Despatch No. ^^ and Enclosures — D. Erzeroum, December 8, 1854, from Colonel WiUiams to Lord Stratford de Redcliffe — coai- plairis still more strongly of the " insolence " of Shukii and Hussain Pashas. Despatch No. 69 — D. Constantinople, December 14, 1854, from Lord Stratford de Redcliffe to Lord Clarendon — announces that the Porte has reprimanded Shukri and Hussain Pashas, and em- powered Yassif Pasha to dismiss them. P F 482 THE CAMPAIGN IN ARMENIA. Despatch No. 165 — D. Erzeroum, February 25, 1855, General Williams to Earl of Clarendon — announces that Yassif Pasha has placed Hussain Pasha under arrest. Enclosure No. 2, in 165 — Charges against Liva Hussain Pasha, Chief of the Staff. — " As the British Commissioner to the army at Kars, I charge Liva Hussain Pasha, the Chief of the Staff, with the following instances of disregard for the English Government, and of personal contempt towards me. " 1. — On his arrival at the camp of Kars, he began by making alterations in the defences of that place, and by causing considerable movements of troops, without informing me of his object or instinic- tions ; and on my resenting this neglect, he told me, in presence of Kerim Pasha, that ' he had received his orders as to what was necessary to be done.' a 2. — For having from that day continued to treat me with con- tempt and silence, this conduct being pursued towards a friendly Commissioner, sent to communicate to his Government all intelligence necessary to enable that Government to assist the Porte. " 3. — For habitual drunkenness and debauchery, evincing his sympathy for Shukri Pasha as regards that officer's disrespect towards me, and a fellowship for that Ferik in all those vices which degrade the military profession and lower the dignity of man. " (Signed) W, F. Williams. ^^ Erzeroum, February 25, 1855." Despatch No. 176 — D. Constantinople, March 21, 1855, from Lord Stratford de Redcliffe to Lord Clarendon — reports that the Seraskier disapproves of the arrest of Shukri and Hussain Pashas; and further states that whatever may have been their demerits at Kars, yet they served with distinction under Omar Pasha. N.B. — It was whilst serving with Omar Pasha that Major Lintorn Simmons formed that acquaintance with Hussain Pasha which induced him to deny the fact of the disgrace in 1855. Enclosure No. 2, in Despatch No. 179, from Brigadier-General Williams to Kerim Pasha. — Announcing the departure of Hussain Pasha for Constantinople to undergo trial. IIUSSATN AVNL PASHA, 483 Enclosure No. 3, in Despatch No. 187 — D. Erzeroum, March 20, 1855, from Brigadier-General Williams to Earl Clarendon — *'It is also notorious that the Pashas in question, Shukri and Hussain, had given themselves up to such habitual drunkenness and dissipation, that, besides their having become a bad example to the Sultan's troops, and a disgrace to their fellow officei'^, they were never by day, in consequence of their nocturnal gambling and debauchery, in a fit state of mind to transact the business of the Council." * * * Hussain Pasha made no secret of his dissipated conduct ; and on one occasion the people of his quarter of the town were exasperated to such a degree, that they would have actually made an attack on his house had they not known that the Mushir was about to arrive ; and they therefore decided on laying a formal complaint before His Excellency. Despatch ITo. 213 — D. Constantinople, May 17, 1855, from Lord Stratford de Redcliffe to the Earl of Clarendon — reports that neither Shukri nor Hussain Pashas have been submitted to any judicial proceeding, and that Omar Pasha has applied for the services of the latter. Enclosure No. 1, in Despatch No. 213. — The Seraskier states that so far from charges existing against Hussain Pasha, he has been much praised by the Commander-in-Chief at Kars ; and that, on the express demand of Omar Pasha, he was to be sent to the army of Eupatoria. Despatch No. 228 — D. Constantinople, June 14, 1855, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe to Earl of Clarendon — reports the determination of the Seraskierate to release Hussain and Shukri Pashas, and to send the former to Omar Pasha's staff. Despatch No. 236 — 237, on the same subject. — Lieutenant-Colonel Simmons urges that Omar Pasha was unaware that charges had been preferred against Hussain Pasha when he applied for his services, and states that Omar Pasha wishes his appointment to be delayed until the charges shall have been inquired into. Mr. Zohrab, in a letter to me dated Erzeroum, December 7th, 1877, says, " I think Sir Lintorn Simmons' memory is at fault. I was 484 THE CAMPAIGN m ARMENIA. the meiluin of communication between Sir Fenwick Williams and Hussain Avni Pasha, saw him under arrest, translated the charges that were to be preferred against him, and know that he was released on reaching Constantinople. He was subsequently employed with Sir Lintorn Simmons in Asia, and murdered last year." Although I was in error in accusing Hussain Avni of peculation, I think these extracts prove that my story was not " utterly ground- less,'' and to clear myself from the imputation of rashly listening to Armenian stories, I publish the above. They prove that the Porte then, as now, in the case of Chefket Pasha, paid little attention to the requests of the British Government for the punishment of evil doers. Lord Stratford notwithstanding. THE END. X- CASSELL PETTBR & GALPIN, .BELLE SAUVAQE WORKS. LONDON, E.C. 478