The Express.
London, England, 1853-01-14 00:00:00

MONTENEGRO.

A private despatch, dated Vienna, January 8,
confirms the statement which we published from the
telegraphic summary on Wednesday, namely, the
abandonment of Zabljak by the Montenegrins. The
same despatch states that Omer Pacha was on the
point of entering the defiles of Montenegro.
As the fortress of Zabljak was the centre of the
operations carried on by the Montenegrins against
Albania, its abandonment marks a change
in the tactics of the Mountaineers. The
fortress lies on the frontier of Albania, at'
the head of the Lake of Scutari, and being sur-
rounded by water, has considerable strategetsc im-
portance. It was built in 1423, by Stephen the
Black. Stephen was Lord of Montenegro and
Zeuta. His son, Ivan, resided in the stronghold as
Governor of Montenegro, and fought on the side of
the Venetians, in 1478, against the Turks. In 1480
the Turks, already in possession of Scutari, revenged
themselves by taking Zabljak by storm. In 1482
Ivan recovered it, but in the same year was
besieged anew by the Turks. Ivan now sought
aid of the Republic of Venice, pointing out
how much he was suffering through their al-
liance. The Senate however excused itself
from ;rendering assistance by alleging the separate
peace it had made with the Sultan Bajazet. Here-
upon Ivan abandoned the fortress and fled to Cot-
tinge, in Montenegro, and Zabljak remained in the
hands of the Turks until 1833. In that year the
Montenegrins agreed with two Albanian sentinels of
the Greek religion, who opened the gates of the
fortress on the night of March 25, and allowed them
to take possession of the place. Hafiz Pacha, com-
mandant of Scutari, hastened to the fort with nume-
rous regular and irregular troops, whereupon the
Montenegrins again abandoned it.
A telegraphic despatch, founded on a statement in
the Trieste Gazette, reached London yesterday,
stating that a most sanguinary battle had been
fought, in whieh the Turks were mercilessly cut to
pieces. As neither date nor place are given in the
despatch referred to, our readers will probably sus-
pend their judgment on this intelligence. The
Trieste Gazette is uniformly pervaded by a strong
animus against all that is Turkish, and never con-
ceals the disasters or faults of the Moslems. But
that any combat between Turks and Montenegrins
would be "sanguinary and merciless," the following
testimony of an intelligent and impartial witness,
abundantly shows. It is the statement of M. Bro-
niewski, formerly an officer in the Russian fleet, and
travelled in Montenegro. He says :

A Montenegrin is always armed, and carries about, dur-
ing his most peaceful occupation, a rifle (a gun), pistols, a
yatagan, and a cartouch-box. The Montenegrins spend
their leisure time in firing at a target, and are accustomed
to this exercise from their boyish years Being
inured to hardships and privations, they perform without
fatigue, and in high spirits, very long and forced marshes;
. . . . they climb the steepest rocks, with great facility,
and bear with the greatest patience hunger, thirst, and
every kind of privation. When the enemy is defeated and
retiring, they pursue him with such rapidity, that they
supplylthe want of cavalry, which it is impossible to employ
in their mountainous country
Inhabiting mountains which present, at every step, passes,
where a handful of brave men may arrest the progress of an
army, they are not afraid of a surprise, particularly as they
have on their frontier a constant guard ; and the whole of
their force may be collected, within twenty-four hours,
upen the threatened point. When the enemy is in great
force, they burn their villages, devastate their fields, and,
ate: having enticed him into the mountains, they surround
him, and attack him in a most desperate manner. When
the country is in danger, the Montenegrins forget all per-
sonal feelings of private atinutage and enmity • they obey
the orders of their chief, and, like gallant republicans, they
consider it a happiness, and a grace of God, to die in battle.
It is in such a cue that they appear as real warriors • but,
beyond the limits of their country, they are savage iarba-
rians, who destroy everything with fire and sword.
Their ideas about war are entirely different from those
adopted by.pyilised nations. They cot off the heads of
those enemies whom they take with arms in their hands,
and spare only those who surrender before the battle. The
property they take from the enemy is considered by them as
their own, and as a reward of courage. They literally de-
fend themselves to the last extremity; a Montenegrin never
craves for mercy ; and whenever one of them is severely
wounded, and it is impossible to save him from the enemy,
his own comrades cut off his head. When, at the attack of
Clabak, a little detachment of our troops was obliged to re-
treat, an officer of stout-make, and no longer young, fell on
the ground from exhaustion. A Montenegrin perceiving
it, ran immediately to him, and, having drawn his yata-
gao, said, " Yon are very brave, and must wish that I
should cut off your head ; say a prayer, and make the sign
of the cross." The officer, horrified at the proposition,
made an effort to rise, and rejoined his comrades with the
assistance of the friendly Montenegrin. They consider all
those taken by the enemy as killed. They carry out of the
battle their wounded comrades on their shoulders; and be
it said to their honour, they acted in the same manner by
our officers and soldiers.

Like the Circassian, they are constantly making forays
in small parties, for the plunder of cattle, and consider such
expeditions as feats of chivalry. . . . . Being safe in
their habitations, where nobody dares to molest them, they
continue thellidepredations with impunity, disregarding the
threats of the Divan, and the hatred of their neighbours.
. . . . Arms, • small loaf of bread, a cheese, some
garlic, • little brandy, an old garment, and two pair of
sandals made of raw hide, form all the equipage of the Mon-
tenegrins. On their march they do not seek any shelter
from rain or cold. In rainy weather the Montenegrin
wrap' his head with the strooka, lies down on the ground
. . . . and sleeps very comfortably. Three or four
hours of repose are suite sufficient for his rest, and the re-
mainder of his time is occupied in constant exertion.
It is impossible to retain them is the reserve ; and it
seems they cannot calmly bear :he view of the enemy.
When they have expended all their eartouches, they hum-
bly request every officer they meet with to give them some ;
and as soon as they have received them, they run headlong
into the further line When there is no enemy
in sight theyfeing and dance, and go on pillaging; in!which
we must give them the credit of being perfect masters ; al-
though they are not acquainted with the high-sounding
names of contribution, requisition, forced loans. &c. They
call pillage simply " pillage," and have no hesitation in
confessing it.
Their usual manner of fighting is as follows :—lf they are
in great force they conceal themselves in ravines, and send
out only a small number of shooters, who, by retreating,
lead the enemy into the ambush ; here, after having sur-
rounded him, they attack him, usually preferring on such
occasions swords to fire-arms ; because they rely on their
personal strength and bravery, in which they generally
have the advantage over their enemies. When their num-
bers are inferior, they choose some advantageous position on
high rocks; where, pronouncing every kind of abuse
against their enemies, they challenge them to combat.
Their attacks are mostly made during the night, because
their principal system is surprise.
However small their force maybe they always try to
wear out the enemy, by constantly harassing him. The
best French voltigeurs, on the advanced posts, were always
destroyed by them ; and the enemy's generals found it
more advantageous to remain under the cover of their
cannon, of which the Montenegrins were not at all fond.
However, they soon became accustomed to them, and sup-
ported by our rifles they bravely mounted the batteries.
The tactic, of the Montenegrins are confined to being
skilful marksmen. A stone, a hole, a tree, offer them a
cover from the enemy. Firing usually in a prostrate posi-
tion on the ground, they are not easily hit, whilst
their rapgt and sure shots carry destruction into the closed
ranks of a regular army. They have, besides, a very prac-
tised eye for judging of distance; they thoroughly under-
stand how to take advantage of the ground; and as they
visually fight retreating, the French, who took it for a sign
of fear, constantly fell into their ambushes ; as for them-
selves, they are so cautions, that the most skilful mourn-.
Tres ronnot deceive them
Their extraordinary boldness frequently triumphed over
the skill the experienced bands of the French. Attack-
ing the columns of the enemy in front and flank, and
acting separately, without any other system than the in-
spirations of perional courage, they were not afraid of the
terrible battalion fiee of the Frenck infantry . . . . .
The Montenegrins cannot withstand regular troops be-

yand the mountains; because, destroying every tbjei7eisg
fire and swend, they cannot long keep the field ; and
advantage of their courage in assisting our troops, and tda
fruits of victory, were lost by their want of order. all •
rum
the siege of Ragusa, it was never possible to know doi
many of them were actually under arms, because they wees
constantly going. to their homes with spoil, whilst oaten
joined the army an their places, and after a few days of is,,
defatigable exertion, returned to the mountains, to my
away some insignificant trifle.
It is impossible to undertake any distant expeition, aeg
consequently to accomplish any thing of importance with
them. In one respect they have a grestladvantege over rep.
lax troops, by their great skill in mountain a arfare, although
they are completely ignorant of the military art. In the
first place they are very lightly dressed, are exceedingly
good marksmen, and reload with much more rapidity thee
regular soldiers, . . The Montenegrins dispersed, zed
deliberately firing from a lying position on the closed r„„k
of the enemy, are not afraid to attack columns composed GI
1,000 men, with numbers not exceeding 100 or 1.50. le a
pitched battle their movements can be ascertained only by
the direction of their standards. They have certain slue&
trice, which are uttered when they arc to join in a camped
body, for attacking the weaker points of the enemy. As
soon as such a signal is given, they rush furiously onwards,
break into the squares, and, at all events, create a great
deal of disorder in the enemy's ranks. It was a terrible
spectacle to see the Montenegrins rushing forwards, with
heads of slaughtered enemies suspended from their Reeks
and shoulders, and uttering savage yells. They can be roe
ployed by a regular army with great advantage, for fight.
mg on the advancedients, for seizing the enemy's convoys,
destroying his magemnes, &c., &c.
The Russian continander-in-chief had much difficulty la
persuading thellehot to cut off the beads of their prisoners.
He finally succeeded, not only its this (chiefly by paying
them a ducat for every prisoner), hut, what was more diffi.
cult, in persuading them, with the assistance of the
Vladika, to embark for an expedition on hoard ship; a
thing which they hail never done befor. . .
withstanding that they were treated with the greatest kid
nese, they proved very troublesome guests. Whenever the
captain invited their chiefs to breakfast, they all entered
the cabin; end having observed that more dishes were
served to officers than to common sailors, they wanted to
have a similar fare. When the fortress of Curzola wee
taken, and the feast of Easter was approaching, eey gave
the captain no repose, entreating him to accelerate his re.
turn to; Cat:aro; but when it was explained to them that
the vessel could not advance against the wind, they fell
into great despondency. . . . When at last the ship
approached the entrance of Bocce di Cattarn, and they
caught a sight of their own black mountains, they uttered
joyous acclamations, and began to sing and dance. On taking
leave, they affectionately embraced the captain end the
officers, and invited those to whom they had taken a liking
to pa y them a visit. But when the sailors told them they
could nit leave the ship without permission of their rupee
riors, they were much astonished, and said, " If you like to
do a thing, what right has another to forbid you ?"