The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-03 00:00:00

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POSITION OF OMER PACHA.
The Vienna Military Gazette publishes the fol-
owing :—"lt is probably no longer doubted by
any one that our correspondent at Trebizend was
well informed when he wrote that Omer Pacha
had not for weeks lost sight of the Pontic coast,
and that he had not advanced further than the
small town of Chopi, on the right bank of the
small river bearing the same name. Skender
Pacha, it is true, advanced along the excellent
road that runs to Abasha, but did not venture fur-
ther than Tchenitzehale. He only did this for the
purpose of ascertaining whether or no the Russians,
under the command of General Bagration Mn-
harski, and reinforced by the troops of General
Brunner, had taken up a position in Levano and
Kutyri on the left bank of that river. Having
done this, Omer Pacha decided on retreating to
Redoubt Kaleh and Anaklea. It having at
the same time become known that the Russian
Commander intended sending to Mingrelia all
the troops collected in the fluvial districts of
the mountains near Gori, so that they may
act on the offensive, die Turkish Admiral,
Ahruet Pacha, received orders to place all the dis-
posal Turkish and Egyptian steamers at Omer
Paella's service. It is possible that a re-embar-
kation of the troops is to be made.
Mustapha Pacha has, in a similar way, retreated
to Batoum, in order to pass the winter in that un-
healthy coast station. As we cannot suppose Omer
Pacha means to persist in wintering where he is at
present, seeing that he is exposed to the danger of
being attacked by the Russians, and unable to
make any great resistance, Anaklea and Rodent
Kaleh being only small forts, it is highly probable
that the entire Turkish army will be brought to
the Roumelian harbours, and stationed there in
winter quarters. The Russians too will do no
more than garrison Kars, and will not advance on
the offensive in the wide radius between the Wes-
tern and the Eastern Euphrates. General Moura-
vieff has detached one division to Achalkalak and
Achalzik, whilst another division has escorted the
captured garrison of Kars to Tiflis. The Pachas,
and few superior officers, will be transferred to
Moscow ; the remaining officers with the men,
will have probably to pass the winter in the govern-
ment of Tiflis.

TURKEY.

CONSTANTINOPLE, DEC. 24.
The news of the fall of Kars, although long ex-
pected, has produced a deep impression here, espe-
cially on those who are most concerned by it—
namely, the Turks and the Turkish Government.
Numberless are the councils and conferences which
have taken place in consequence.
The object of all these councils is, first, to find
out the person or persons who are to blame for the
disasters, and then to guard against its conse-
quences. Everybody seems agreed that no blame
could possibly attach to the garrison of Kars, which
did whatever was humanly possible to do.
Just as all opinions are unanimous in respect to
the garrison at Kars, so are they divided as to the
really guilty parties. The Allies, the Turkish
Government, Selina Pasha, and Omer Pasha are all
in their turn pointed out as the offenders.
The Allies are blamed for not having speedily
enough supplied the means of transport for the
Turkish troops in the Crimea. Whoever knows
anything of the circumstances will easily absolve
them on this score.
The mistake of the Allies seems rather to have
been that they broke up the Turkish army by
taking away such a large portion of it to the Cri-
mea, where they were of no earthly use. They
thus paralysed the whole and rendered it inefficient.
The charges which are brought against the
Turkish Government are of a more general charac-
ter, and certainly this changeable nondescript body
must in a great measure be held responsible for the
state in which it left its Asiatic frontiers. A
Turkish town was to be rescued, and an army to be
formed in a Mahomedan country ; what better
centre of union could hare been found than Turk-
ish troops organised by European officers ? Whose
fault it was that the idea of sending there the
Turkish Contingent has not been carried out is a
mystery. Some blame General Vivian, others
Lord Stratford, others the French Government,
and. others the Turkish Government. The most
probable supposition is that the project failed on
account of the different views entertained about
matters of detail.
When the sending the Turkish Contingent for
the relief of Kars was given up, the army of Omer
Pasha was thought of ; and he, anxious to escape
from the anomalous position in which he found
himself in the Crimea, eagerly seized this opportu-
nity, and went down to Constantinople to make
the final arrangements.
General Williams had written several times that
ho did not think it advisable to attack the Russian
position in front, and that the best way to relieve
him would be to make some flank, or rather roar
movement from Batoum ; and it was with this
understanding that Omer Pasha departed. After
a few days' stay in the Crimea be went to Batoum,
and the original orders for the troops which were
to be concentrated were to go to that place.
But this original plan to operate from Batoum
was not adhered to. Soukum-Kaleh was chosen
as the point of concentration, and Kutais as the
line of operations. This was tantamount to giving
up the idea of relieving Kars. When the first
troops were beginning to arrive at Soukum-Kaleh
the garrison of Kars was already on short rations,
and it required no great Power of combination to
see that before the effect of this demonstration
could be felt Kars would have fallen.
Soukum-Kaleb, as a base of operations for an
army of 60,000 men, Well provided with every-
thing—especially baggage animals--would be in-
valuable in the spring and would lead to consider-
able results, but it could never have had the effect
of relieving Kars. Mouravieff did not send a single
man away before he was sure of the fall of Kars ;
he ignored entirely the flank movement as soon as
Soukum-Kaleh was chosen as the point of opera-
tions

It would be, however, unfair to condemn Omer
Pasha without inquiring what were the reasons
why he abandoned the original plan.
Besides this fatal alteration of the original plan,
Omer Pasha is likewise accused of having lost time
uselessly.
Selim Pasha, the Commander of Erzeroum, is
the last on the list of those accused of not having
done enough for the relief of Kare. He had
10,000 men in Erzeroum, and be ought to have
moved. Besides the inquiry into the causes of the
fall of Kars, the Turkish Government ie busy