The Sun.
London, England, 1854-09-12 00:00:00

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of-his fellows, set at nought the • former general's
orders, attacked the Russians, and suffered the pre-
dicted defeat as a consequence. s This ivy.discour-
aging news, but more startling and important still
was the additional intelligence, brought by the same
messenger, that the majority of the successful army had
matched, after the battle, towards Ezerourn, and were
already as far on the way as Taprakale, with the view
of attacking the Kars army in the rear, while Bebutoff,
the Russian commander-in-chief, our neighbour at
Hadjivelekey, fell upon it in the front with the re-
mainder of his force. Here-was startling news, indeed,
for the Mushirl- Hurriedly calling together the Turkish
pashas, he sought counsel_as to what was to be done ;
but unfortunately their suggestive faculties were not
much brighter or more lively than his own. Pacha
This suggested one thing, which Pacha That declared
to be suicide, and proposed something else in its stead,
which Pacha the Other assured the helpless commander-
in chief anpdaolfi
laniwshaesdinbaysaxd. advising
somethingßut
bad..
rif "
orthodox" counsellors having failed him, he fell back
- must
equally
up on his dernier ressort, and unwillingly sought relief
and deliverance from Guyon. This general saw at a
glance what the circumstances demanded, and at once
proposed one of two courses—first, that the army should
't. P . , • or secondly, that theya.either fall back on Kars, and send a division against the T
hostile column at Taprak
should, on the following morning, attack Bebutoff whilst
Mushir
dispose similarly of the body in the rear. The ,
a general fight, was partial to the
his forces were divided, and after having defeated him
—ever willing to avoid
former of these plans ; bus Khourscla .
d Paella and the
other European officers deemed the second the more ad-
risable one, amt accordingly counselled its adoption.
After much hesitation, and many nervous misgivings,
the General in-Chief consented, but stipulated that the
attack should be postponed till the morning of the oth,
as the 4th and sth were `unlucky' days in the Turkish
calendar, the moon beings he alleged, in the sign of the
rain, or crab, or some other equally fatal and not-to-be-
thought-of conjunction. The necessity of disregarding
this superstition was forcibly insisted on, but the ram
hiscourage
crab were not to be overruled by any argument
whit's Guyon cored call to his aid, and so the attack
was definitely fixed for the 6th. When it became known
ma ruosuligirh
htande
act lengtham p'o
`screwed
on
the afternoonofortahey
e ing place,' great was the general satisfaction. Little
groups assembled at all points in eager, and seemingly
confident, discussion of the remit of th
an
' . I
sttoh, ththeast tite
okh.
e morrow s tria
of strength between the two armies, and when the men
assembled on parade that evening, to give the usual
shouts of 'Long live the Sultan,' the hills around Had-
jivelekey echoed as they had never done before. During
the afternoon ammunition had been distributed, on the
backs of mules, to the various regiments ; arms were
individually 'looked to, and all seemed eager for the
coining novelty of a fight.
"An hour after sunset had. been the time fixed on
by Guyon for the march of the troops, so as to secure
their having• the light of the moon en route, and
reach the enemy in time for an attack at dawn.
It came, but brought not the necessary order
from the Mushir ; and it was only after the moon
bad risen, shone, and gone down that the march began.
This was blunder No. 1, and its consequences were
soon.
felt. Soon after getting clear of the camp confusion be-
gan on all sides— men, horses, and waggons tumbling
pell-mell in the darkness into the ruts and holes which
honeycomb the first portion of the line of march. After
another hour lost in this way lanterns were procured,
and the troops proceeded, literally groping their way
through the darkness thus made 'visible.' In this
manner they crept along, cavalry running foul of in-
fantry, and artillery of both—all, in fact, in as delight-
fully unmilitary disorder as the (supposedly) sleeping
and unexpecting Bebutoff could have wished. The first
grey streaks of dawn struggling over the hill tops of
Georgia revealed these consequences of the Mushir's
procrastination, and with them the startling proximity
of the whole Russian army some few hundred yards
ahead, close by the deserted village of Perget. Fortu-
nately this unexpected neighbourship was discovered in
time to allow of the scattared columns being gathered
together, and arranged in something like orer, before
there was sufficient light for the enemy to take advan-
tage of the Turkish status quo. When this was accom-
plished, the march was resumed for a short dis-
tance, when a general halt was made, and the first
division (consisting of twenty battalions of infantry,
one of rifle,-, three regiments of cavalry, and six bat-
teries of artillery—the whole commanded by. Karim
Pacha) advanced and deployed in order of battle. I
should mention, that on the previous evening the avant-
garde composed of a detached corps from the Ist divi-
sion, and formed of four battalions of foot, one battalion
of riflemen, and one mountain battery, had been sent
on to occapy the Caradagh (black mountain) which over-
looks the itussian camp, for the purpose of operating
against their rear during the battle. This force re-
mained on the heights throughout the entire action,
without firing a single shot—though within musket-
range of the Russians below—or even attempting to
silence a masked battery which opened a few yards
before them on the right of the Turkish left wing. Had
they efficiently executed their assigned duty the Russian
rear must have suffered severely, and the fortune of the
day have been materially influenced : as it was, they
merely remained safe spectators of the storm which
raged on either side and in front of them below.
" A gun on the left of the Turkish right wing `opened
the ball,' and after the firing of a few shots—which
were promptly returned by the Russians—the cannonade
soon became general. For nearly an hour the Russian
firing was execrable, nearlAlevery shot and shell passing
, high over the enemy, and bursting far in the rear ; but
alter that it improved, and, as I can personally testify,
told' with a precision which could not well be sur-
passed. Not so with the Turkish artillery : from the
very first it had fired most adruiraJy--witli a splendid
accuracy of aim, indeed, which would have done honour
to any army in Europe, and which well accounted for
the ultimately great losses of the enemy. The com-
pact battalions of the Muscovites offered an excellent
target ; and it required but little " length" of sight
to perceive hoar terribly every discharge from the Turk-
ish guns mowed them down. For the first half of the
engagement success thus went strongly with the Mos-
!ems ; but after that the balance of victory turned—
owing to causes now to be mentioned—and their defeat
went steadily and rapidly on to. its consummation.
Early in the action flesul Pala, of Bagdad (mentioned
in a former letter from Erzeroum in terms of confidence
which his subsequent conduct has not justified), fled at
the head of 3,000 Bashi-bazouks, before a fire of Rus-
sian musketry and one field-piece, on the right wing. I
was close by them at the time, and can bear witness that
no mob ever ' absquatulatear more rapidly before the
watery discharge of a fire-engine than he and his Arabs
did before—no pursuers. The force of this example soon
began to work upon the regular infantry engaged in the
same part of the field, and when some additional Russian
guns were brought up, whole battalions actually fell flat
upon their faces at each discharge—exactly as at their
evening prayers par pe/otorts. At this juncture Khour-
schid Pacha (who had no command during Lthe action
thanks to the jealousy of the Mushir), seeing the aspect
of affairs, ordered Vely Pacha, who commanded the
second division behind, to advance to the support of the
that ; but this individual—allowing personal enmity to
overrule public duty—refused to move without a direct
order from the Mushir. Now the Mushir being "no-
where," could not be found till after an interval of nearly
an hour, when he galloped into sight bare-headed, and
in most comical perturbation at having unwittingly
come within range of a Russian gun in another part of
the field. I happened to be passing at the time, when a
shell flew over his staff, and burst some 12 or 15 yards
off, without injuring any one. Its effects upon his r,,zs
cellency's nerves were most amusing to a less sensitive
observer; shouting A 1-lah. ! he dug the spurs into his
horse's side till the animal bounded from the ground as
f struck by a whole fry of electric eels, nor stopped till
he was far beyond the reach of Russian metal. When
he had sufficiently recctvered the effects of this fright,
the necessary order was given to Vely Paella, but it
was now too late to recover the lost ground ; the first
division, borne down by the whole force of the enemy,
was in full retreat, and no efforts of the Mushir could
stop them. j bourschid Pacha succeeded in arresting
two battalions of infantry and a battery of guns, and
with these returned to the charge, regained the heights
which the Russian dragoons had already taken from
Keriin Pacha; and held them till the last. But no
efforts of individual skill or courage could now prevent
the full catastrophe of a defeat ; cowardice and incapa-
city had lost the day, and neither bravery nor ability
could regain it. Vely Pasha advanced, but (with nearly
20,000 men) could only help to cover the retreat. -
"In accounting for so unlikely a result this signal
as
defeat of a well-found army of more than 40 000.
it would neither be sufficient nor just to
' men'
m confine the
blame to the troops themselves ; the acted infamously, but all their superior Turkishajorit of them
acted worse. Nearly an hour after the battle 4ad.oficers
hardly a major or colonel was ou the field_ 1 a.most to a
-
man they had deserted their regiment
camp to pack and send off their baggage8'and
fledtb%he
to Fars.:. n
Europe, the reward of su h
c
certain enou conduct is understood and
gh but ; • •
here it excited onl some 'short-
lived and fruitless remark. Off
arms o
the service I may mention different
the
~
lar
the special and Pecul
cowardice of the cavalry, who behaved from first to
last in a manner that would have disgraced the rawest
Bashi-bazouks. Two regiments of aseantry.rthe sth
Arabistan and 4th Desardat—eon lit '
g gallantly, and
t
left two-thirds of their number on the field,, bat with
these exceptions the foot rivalled the Cavall7
the
striking contrast, however, to such conduct waswhose
sustained ands plendid braver of the artillery,
TahiPacha,
behaviour, with that of their commander,
before mentioned,
who was educated at Woolwich,
aasmy
in Europe. To
would have done honour toaleonnye
is i to be ascribed the
their efficiency and heroism
weighty loss of the foe.
cavalry down upon
fire till the enemy were
and then poured .
hundreds at once ,
ad-
vance, an In a full swoop of the Russian
heir four batteries, reserved their
t within fifty paces of the guns,
in a fire of grape which swept down
the remainder continued to d
the gallant artillerists , were cut down to a
man.
"Thus was fought and lost the battle of Kurackdere
—so called from the village nearest the Russian camp.
I have now
time to add merely the number of both
armies' losses, reserving other details and some im-
portant subsequent information for the next post, The
Turkish returns represent a loss of '2,345 killed, in-
cluding one pacha ; 1,201 wounded, and, about 4,224
prisoners
lost through their horses being shot and there being
none in reserve. Whilst Russian deserters, who have
come in since the battle, report Bebutoff's loss at more
than 8,000 killed, including one general and three
colonels. A few more such victories would leave the
Czar's province of Georgia without a defender. The
defeated, army retreated to Kars ; but in what order
and with what subsequent intentions on the part of its
commander I shall describe at length in my letter by
tin outpost, " . „