New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1853-11-15

,npi Aiib luiaa ~ lhe inhish Positions ~ flyssas
.i J,ss,nm And vhieh.ysf II iLa tno haals 10 she
nieeL nsa d,,aa ihn dhai bach iuig ia bsfbDfs bAi
n,ei commands nslup
NO Russians 40 perfectly aware ~ Tho impeflaoos
nj Ibis posl 1bay have senl. Wy lsnd aud Ny water,
,epn,r.euunia ~ Tho ffansosnonsiaa ooasi ahpd
,ne apu u mnht have been btlleyed hat tbs TURKS II
weaker IL Luiopo enjoyed ieridod superiority 10
Asln Abdi ibaba who commands tho Asialie army,
aa snd 10 have collected ~ 900 o. 10000 psy 10000
men and swafmA ol Brdouina, kurda aud other war
hko lrfeguihfu we're reported 10 nock daily 10 his
standard Arms aud anmnntons were said to be In
.toro for tho Caucasian insurgents, and
wsrwns declared, an advance was BIO made into the
very heart OF these centres OF Feistances to Russia
Il may however be well to observe that Abd Pasha
cannot possibly have more than about 10000 regular
troops and that before the Caucasus is reached. with
these, and with these alone he viii have to encounter
the stubborn resistance Of Russian battalisns His
Dedouins and Kurdish horsemen, may be capital for
mountain warfare, for forcing the Russians to detach
largely and TO weaken their main body;
they may DO a great deal of damage to the Geor
rian and COlonst villages in the Russian Ter
ri,ory and even open some sort o. al underhand COM
municaiion with the Caucasian mOuntaineers. But
unless ADD Pashas regulars capable of blocking
up the road from Batun to Erzerum, and can defeat
whatever nucleus of an active army the Russians may
he enabled to bring together, the success of the
irreeulsrs will be of very ephemeral
nature. The support Of regular army is nowadays
necessary to the progress of all nsurrectionary or r-
regular warfare against powerful regular army The
position of the Turks this frontier would be similar
to that of Wellington in Spain, and il remains to be
seen whether Abd Pasts will know to husband his re-
sources as well as the British general did, against cn
enemy decidedly his superior in regular warfare and
the means of carrying it on In 1929 the Russian
forces in Asia amounted before Erzerum, to $4,000
men only, and considering the Improvements that have
since then taken place in the Turkish army, although
that of Asia has least participated in them we should
say the Russians would have fair chance of success
if they could unite 10000 men in body before the
same place now
Whether they viii be able to do so or not, who can
decide at the present time when there is even less OF
real facts known and idle ruors spread as TO the
Russian army in Asia, than to that in Europe The
Caucasian army is officially computed at 100000 men,
at its full complement 2l,OO0 Cossacks of the Black
Sea have been marched toward the Turkish frontier
several divisions said to have been embarked from
Odessa for Redut Kalch on the South Caucasian coast
But every body knows that the Caucasian army does
not count half lite official complement, that the re-
enforcement sent beyond the Caucasus cannot, from
obvious causes have the strength reported by Russian
papers, and from the conflicting evidence we receive
We are absolutely at loss to make anything like an
estimate of the Russian forces the Asiatc frontier
But that we may say that in all probability the forces
of both parties IAN immediate general Instruction OF
the Caueasans lett out of the question: the forces will
be pretty nearly balanced that the Turks may perhaps
lie little stronger than the Russians, and therefore
will be- on this theater of war, justly entitled to I'M
deItake ofcnsre operations.
The chances for the Turks are, indeed far more en-
couragng in Asia than in Europe. In Asia they have
but one important post to guard, Batun and an adj
vance be it from Batun or from Erzerum toward the
Caucasus opens to them in case Of success direct
communication with their allies, the mountaineers,
and may at once cut of the communication, at least by
land Of the Russian army south of the Caucasus with
Russia result which may lead to the entire destruc
ton of that amy On the other hand if defeated the
Turks risk losing Baun, Trebisond and Erzerum; but
even if that be the case the Russians will then not be
strong enough advance any further The advantages
are far superior TO the loss to be undergone in case OF
defeat and it is therefore, for sound and satisfactory
reasons that the Turks appear to have decided upon
offensive warfare in those regions.
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