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

THE BATTLE OF KURACKDERE.

The following interesting letters have been re-
ceived from the seat of war in Asia :

" KARS, Ang. 7.—1 have at length to report a great
battle and a shameful defeat.

" My last letter, containing only an account of some
recent skirmishes and fresh illustrations of Zarif Pasha's
utter unfitness for the post which he here fills as Com-
mander-in-Chief of the army, was more than half written
when an advance of the Russians towards our camp set
everybody in motion, and myself among the rest. This
was on Friday hat. On came the hostile battalions in
formidable and imposing orders across the plain which
separates the two camps, their artillery, infantry, and
cavalry being clearly distinguishable as they rapidly.
advanced. On reaching the mid distance between their•
own and the Turkish outposts, they halted, in seeming.
expectation that their apparent offer of battle would be
accepted b s the Mushir, but, this being declined, after,
an hoar P r two's delay they slowly returned to their own
tents, aToi we in the Turkish camp added another to our
already -numerous imprecations loud and deep' at this
see,Aingly fresh instance of Zarif Pasha's cowardice.
The interruption, short as it had been, put it out of my
peaver to finish my half-written despatch and forward it
ha time for Monday morning's post from Erzerount ; and
accordingly, breathed a supplemental blessing' on
the author of our disappointment, At that time, how-
ever, I knew not the special cause of the Turkish gene-
ral's refusal to accept the proffered challenge ; but a few
hours later I and the rest of the many' learnt that this
time it had a justifying reason, and was to be followed
forthwith by action on his own part.
" For the sake of completeness in my narrative of what
followed, it is necessary to mention that on the 3d inst. an
aide-de-camp arrived from Bayazid with the double intel-
ligence of the defeat of 8,000 Turks under Selim Pasha (do
not confound him with the commander of the same name
on the coastof Circassia), by asuperior force of 11,000 Rus-
sians, and of the advance of a body of the enemy 8,000
strong upon Erzeroum. With reference to the former piece
of news, I may intuition that this defeat, which cost the
Turks, 1,800 men in killed, wounded, and prisoners, re-
sulted directly from the disobedience of the commander
to certain ,explicit orders sent from this by Khourschid
Pasha (Co syon). The latter general had directed Selim
Pasha to stand entirely on the defensive till the occur-
rence of a specified and expected movement of the enemy;
but " 'rise in his own conceit," the Turk—like many
others of his fellows—set at nought Guyon's instructions,
attacked the Russians, and suffered the predicted conse-
quence of a defeat. But this news was of less moment
than the reported advance apon Erzeroum, which was
soon confirmed by the arrival of spies and scouts, who
affirroed that the hostile division had already reached
Toprakalti, and what was of
greatest importance of
all--Ras a portion of Bebutoff's army (our neighbours
at Hadjiveiekey), which was intended to attack us in the
rear, while Bebutoff himself fell upon us in front with
thee remainder of his force. llere was startling news
for Zarif Pasha and his fellow-imbeciles. Their flurry ,
'and alarm were amusing to witness. What was to be
done ? The Mushir himself, unable to conceive a step in
any direction, called together his Turkish generals and
besought counsel ; but their suggestive faculties were
little clearer or more lively than his own. Pasha This
proposed one thing, which Pasha That declared to be
suicide and advised something else, which in its turn was
overruled by Pasha The other, who denounced both
plans as certain to end in defeat, and
yet was unable to
suggest a third. Orthodox advisers, therefore, failing to
get him out of his difficulty, tie Mushir at last was
driven to the unwelcothe necessity of falling back upon
his fist-flier resBort —Guyon. Thls general had already
seen at a glance the only courseieuggested by the cir-
cquee of Bebutoff ; and
an immediate
Tree rc.uttsnacsktaunpceosn,
thane d onsnocwweeqaulecenntledy
then, after its defeat, a similar coarse in reference to the
column which was behind towards Erzeroum. Taken
attack tmheakßeussians at dawn a night march
thus in turn, there could be no reasoaable doubt as to
the destruction of both. This was on the evening of
ttlhiaet3ds.ameGunyiognh't, Guyon's planan
wasto
of the 4th. The nervous Commander-in-Chief, with a
faint heart and sinking pulse, agreed to the proposal,
but declared that its execution must be put off till the
6th, as the 4th and sth were unlucky days in the Turkish
calendar, being in the sign of the Ram or Crab, or some
equally fatal and not-to-be-thought-of conjunction.
It
was in vain that General Guyon endeavoured to override
this superstitious objection. Zarif Pasha had made a
wonderful concession in consenting to a fight at all ; but
the Ram and Crab were considerations not to be yieded
Sunday, the
to any amount of argument or persuasion Khourschid
Pasha. could call to his aid, and so the attack upon the
6Rtuhs. o
Russians was
finally Friday,
sdaay
, as
already fixedfor thementioned,
a tidoanwedn, of
enemy
ap-
peared
I were allowed to exhibit themselves to no purpose,
"Accordingly, on the evening of the sth it became
known in the camp that the Mushir had at length
" screwed up his courage to the sticking place," and
that sunrise on the following Morning would witness a
trial of strength between the two armies. He himself
rode through the camp personally to communicate his
intention and encourage the men, who heard the news
gladly. Ammunition was distributed, on the backs of
mules, from the magazine to the various regiments; arms
were individually " looked to," and little groups were
assembled at all points in eager and seemingly confident
discussion of the probable result of the coming fight.
At the evening parade, the cries of "Long live • the
Sultan" were given with such a strength of lung as the
bills around Hadjivelekey had never eohoed before, and
the men retired to their tents to eat their—to many
their last—pilaff in spirits of uproarious satisfaction
with the morrow's prospect. Khourschid Pasha's plan
was, that the army should march an hour or so after
sunset, so has to have the benefit of the moonlight en.
'Mae, and be ready to make the attack at early dawn.
The importance of this was forcibly impressed upon the
Mushir, but his evil genius--or, in plainer phrase, hie
stupidity—could not sufficiently perceive it to secure his
attention to it, and the appointed hour came, but
brought no order for the troops to move. This was
blunder No. 1, and its fruits will be seen in the sequel.
"For a novelty during the last fortnight, the night
wan c J 1 sad aloud**, and tile 010911 clew awl Way