New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1854-07-25
THE WAR ON THE DANUBE.

About eighty years ago when the victorious armies
IF Catherine H. were severng from Turkey province
after province prior to their transformation into what
Is now called South Russia the poet Derzavn, in one
Of the bursts Of lyrical enthusiasm in which he was
wont TO celebrate the gories if not the virtues Of
that Empress and the destined grandeur Of her en-
pire, uttered memorable couplet in viii IN we may
still find condensed the scornful boldness and self
reliance of the Czarian policy:
And what to thee o Russ IL any allyl
Advance aud The whole Uniger-e is thine"
This may be true enough, even now if the Rass
only could advance, but that process pretty de-
cid ed check has been put Consequently he is con-
strained for the present moment at least 10 postpone
the possession Of the Universe. But what is very
bitter to bis pride is that in retracng his steps he
not only fails 10 carry him with thepedge ofuniversal
dominion, but is even obliged to leave behind the
KEYS of the simple fortress Of Silistria, on the
Danube which be had sworn TO have. And still
more painful be leaves behind him also the remains
of some fifty thousand Of his brethren, who have
perished by disease and battle in this single cam
paign.
There ia 70 doubt that in a military point OF view
the siege of Slistria is the most important among
all the military events since the beginning OF the war
II il the failure to take that fortress which renders
The campaign failure for the Russians and adds dis
o,sce and the Cars disfavor to the retreat behind
the Screth in which they are now engaged vi the
earlier stages of the siege we have already LAID before
our readers careful, and, we hope, clear analysis;
and now at last having received by the Paclhc the
official Russian reports, we are able TO iOiiow the
whole affair to its conclusion without dong any III
iu,tce TO either party Besides the Russian reports
uhicb are distinct clear and business-like In what
they state but abound in faults Of omission we now
have Lieutenant Nasmyths Bengal Artillery report
70 The London Times complete journal OF the siege
irving some interesting particulars, but made up IN
rather sloveny way and sometimes incorrect IN the
dates Ii is only proper Osay that the views ana con
cusons we have previously expressed concerning the
siece. are altogether confirmed by these later and
more detailed narratives, except in the particular
that the Turks did not abandon the defence of the
or, Arab abass as in the latter part of the siege
we supposed they would be constrained to do. 1t
annears too that the Russians still more ex-
trsv,oant in their operations than we suspected.
First they made regular attack on the fortress on s
eastern side ON the low lands of the Danube, hoping
70 be able to turn the detached ores altogether and
to make a breach in the main wall OF Sillstrla az
once If this attempt had the merit OF originality IL
certainly had no other 1t affords, perhaps the first
instance OF trenches and approaches being thrown
upapainst fortress, on ground which was not only
hapked but actually commanded in the rear by nights
fortified by the enemy. But then second, an irreg-
ular attack was directed against these very Nights and
so ceyerly combined, that after the loss OF fort
Light on accommodating and storming in which thous-
snds of Russians were killed or disabled; regular
siege against them had also be employed. SO much
for the skill displayed by the Russians. Let us now
pass to the details of the period OF the siege.
On the Ist of June the Russians got fresh train OF
siege. artillery brought over from the left bank OF the
Danube which they arranged in battery against Arab
Tabassi The Turks sunk shafts and pushed mines
under the counterscarps and glacs of this fort On
June 9. Musta Pasha, commander of Silistra was
killed by she'll Toward evening the Russians ex-
ploded mine under one of the bastions of Arab Ia
bassi. As at that time they could not yet have ar
rived at the crest of the gacs this mine could not
have been very accurately laid. The distances, as
well as the line of shortest resistance must have
been wrongly calculated, and, accordingly when the
mine sprung, SO far from injuring the Turkish de-
lenses it exploded backward and overwhelmed the
Russian trenches with a hail of stones and earth.
But here the stormng columns were assembled ready
for an assault and the effect of this hail OF stones
among them may be readily imagined. How far the
Russians succeeded in efectually blockadng the
fortress is shown by the fact that on this day 5OOO
Turkish irregulars from Rasgrad west of Slllstrla
made their Nay into the beseged town.
From the the 4th to the Sth of June the trenches
against the Arab Tabiassi continued. The Rus
slams arrived at the glacs pushed sap boldly Tor
ward toward its crest which was very poorly sup
ported however by the fire of their artillery They
commenced sinking mine below the ditch and pushed
it under the scarp Of the bastiOn. While this was
going on Marshal Pashkewitch on the 9th again made
one of bis inexpcable displays of armed force in
grand reconnaissance against the fortress, consisting
of 81 battalons, 40 squadrons, and li4 field pieces
What he expected to gain by this exhibition nobody cal
tell 1t looks like one of those displays volunteered
only in the hope OF some chance offering itself for do
ing something serious, or at least to impress youi
enemy with the notion that you are irresistible Blu
no such effect was produced upon the Turks. On the
contrary, they sent forth 1900 cavalry who, accord
ING to the Russian bulletin were dreadfully beaten
Nssmyth however asserts that they brought in sxt!
Russian horses taken in the ARRAY At the same time
Pasbkiewitch instead of recon- siterng something Il
his advantage was, according to the report, hmsel
reconnoitered by Turkish csnnon'ball which Pu
him hors de combat and necessitated his being trans
ported to Jassy.
On the 10th the siege was at it's crisis. The gram
mine, Schlders last hope, was sprung. Itproducet
indeed practicable breach in the front bastion o
Arab Tabiassi The Russian columns advanced t
the assault; but, as they might have expected tn
| II, Ill s;p do n Or