The Sun.
London, England, 1854-05-13 00:00:00

THE WAR IN ASIA.

The following is from the special Correspondent
of the Morning Chronicle :
" KARs, April 13.—Since my last communication
nothing stirring has taken place here, if I except a false
alarm created by a report of the advance of the Russians
on Ardahan. The army is in the same distressing
-state described in my last letter, and I regret to add,
without prospects. No money has arrived, nor, indeed,
have we any indications of relief from the side of Con-
stantinople. A regiment which had been expected for
some time arrived :few days ago, and has been quartered
on the surrounding villages. This regiment was reported
to be composed of volunteers, but, in fact, it is one of
the Rediff guard of Constantinople The men were
quite unfit for a march across the snow, being badly
shod ; consequently, every opportunity to desert was
taken advantage of. In this manner, the regiment
has lost a considerable number of men. Here the soh
diers are equally badly off for shoes, but unfortunately
there are no shoemakers, and the army is, as in all other
articles, dependent on Constantinople. With respect to
provisions, the army exists on supplies brought in daily
from the country about, which are collected with diffi-
culty, and may suddenly fail. It may then be judged on
bow precarious a tenure depends the very existence of
this corps d'arinee. At the risk of being considered an
alarmist, I five you these sad details, for I consider it
imperative that the English public should be made ac-
quainted with the real state of affairs here, and prepared
to hear of the catastrophe which must soon arrive, unless
the army is strongly reinforced, and properly supplied
with clothing and money. By a catastrophe, I mean either
that, in case of an attack on the part of the Russians,
defeat to the Turkish arms must ensue, or else that
the army will, from sheer want and despair, disperse
over the country. Since the accesion of Riza Pacha to
the Seraskierate, the isolated position of the army of
Anatolia has become most painfully evident, and I re-
peat the burden of my proceeding lettcr, that, with the
true interests of Turkey and England, it bas been sacri-
ficed by diplomacy at Constantinople. I can readily
understand that if this army had been strengthened, and
thus enabled to march on Tiflis, all ideas of peace would
have been scouted by the Czar. It was, therefore, con-
sidered unadvisable by the diplomatists to allow hostili-
ties to be carried on in Russian territory ; consequently
the army, in'its present helpless condition, now that war
is declared, is equally incapable of offensive or defensive
operations. _ _ _

A golden opportunity has been lost of destroying Rus
sian influence and power iu the East by hurling her oul
of Georgia. _ .

" The insidious and incessant efforts directed by Russia
to extend her influence towards the British possessions
of India are far from being ignored in England, and yet
this available means of defeating the projects of Russia,
and humbling her in the eyes of the East, has been thus
allowed to escape. Let England in the present crisis
beware of Persia, for the intelligence which has this day
arrived from Bayazid, where the Turks have a few bat-
talions, is important and threatening. It appears that
the Persian army which had assembled some months
since at Khoi, and was supposed to have dispersed after
the apparent triumph of British over Russian influence at
the Court of Teheran, has been merely spread over the
surrounding country, so that twenty thousand men can
be assembled at a week's notice. The Russian com-
mission, composed of a numerous staff of Russian
officers, headed by an aide-de-camp of the Czar, is at
present in the neighbourhood of Khoi. A caravan had
been seized on the frontier, on the unheard-of plea of
carrying provisions to the Turkish forces. On redress
being demanded, the functionary who had directed the
seizure referred to higher quarters.
" A treacherous attack on the part of Persia, which
is far from improbable, would at the present moment be
fatal to Turkey, for the army here would be forced to
advance against the aggressor, thus leaving the whole
country open to the Russians. In a word, it is most
essential that a British force be sent to this quarter, not
only to assist threatened Turkey, but to defend English
interests against the machinations of Russia.
" We are still in winter, and the plain lies deep in
the snow, thus keeping closed communications from
which provisions might be received. Typhus has de-
clined in its ravages, but the troops suffer greatly from
dysentery and exhaustion, caused by insufficient nou-
rishment. The stocks of rice are exhausted, and the
Arabistan regiments, who loathe meat, live simply on
bread and water. Yet these poor fellows are the flower
of the army, and if a smile be seen in Kars—l confess
the occurrence is rare now—be assured it beams on the
face of an Arab."

Captain Jones is the officer who was entrusted
by Rear-Admiral Bruce to conduct the desperate
and bloody attack at Lagos. Captain M'Cleverty,
of the Terrible, is the officer who won his rank by
his gallantry on the coast of Morocco, in attacking
the Riff pirates. Commander Dickson, who had
the charge of the rocket division, belongs to the
flag-ship Britannia ; he has served as commander
in three line-of-batte ships, and is a very gallant
officer.

The Cronstadt Gazette, in Transylvania, says
that the Turks resorted to a ruse de guerre lately
at Silistria, for enticing over a body of the enemy
across the river. They set fire to a huge pile of
reeds, straw, and dry weeds, which looked as if
the town was in flames. Loud hurrahs resounded
in the Russian camp ; they thought the moment
favourable for crossing, and hoped in the confusion
to carry either the whole or a part of the fortress
by a coup de main. But the Turks had already
planted an ambuscade of sufficient strength in the
vineyard near the town, along which the Russians
would have to pass. A contest ensued, and the
Russians had to retreat, being both out-generalled
and overmatched.
We read in the erotonal de Constantinople of the
29th ult. :—" We learn by letters from Bucharest
of the 11th, that when Messrs. Hory and Grant,
archivists of the French and English consulates,
took their departure, a gentleman employed in the
English consulate was arrested by order of General
Budberg, and sent to Bender. M. Rotta is a Rou-
meliote by birth, and has been four years in the
service of the English consulate. When he was
appointed archivist, Prince Stirbey refused to re-
cognise him in that character, and he remained in
consequence a simple attache. The arrestment of
M. Rotta is an additional proof that the Czar never
hesitates to violate the law of nations." [The Czar
is running up a long score : a day of reckoning will
come.]
The Fress of Vienna contains a letter from
Semlin of the 3d, which says :—" The arrival of
the Archduke Albert in the countries of the Lower
Danube, as commander of the Austrian troops on
the Servian frontier, has produced an extraordinary
movement in Servia. Scarcely had this news been
received, when six Cc un.;illuni of State, v,itii a ru-
merous staff proceeded to the provinces to adopt
such measures as might be necessary for the case
of the Imperial troops entering Servia. At Bel-

grade, orders were given to all citizens to bold
their carriages and horses at the disposal of the
Government, which will probably establish its seat
at Kragujewatz."