Washington sentinel., 1854-03-02
Was1ingtun gentinel.
THE BATTLE OF CITATE.

/ 81
The following graphic description Of the
battle OF Citate is by o correspondent of the
London Times:
On Friday, the 9th of January, the Turkish
| troops, under the orders of Ismail Pasha and
Ahmed Pasha, marched to attack the Russians,
who had fortified themselves in the village of
Citate, which is about five hours march from
Kalafat The force of Ismail Pasha was COM
posed of three regiments Of regular cavalry,
| and one regiment of Bashi-Bozouks, with six
guns. Ahmed Pasha was stationed at some
distance from the village, with some reserve
troops, consisting of five battalions, and also
| six guns.
The Russian force in the village consisted Of
three battalions of infantry, commanded by
Colonel Bonnegarde, three squadrons Of hus-
sars, and two squadrons Of Cossacks, with six
guns.
| The Turkish troops were, as will be seen,
| superior in number; but the position Of the
Russians, who were distributed in all the
houses of the village, which is of great extent,
and which is surrounded by a double ditch,
rendered the attack extremely perilous, as the
enemy, well sheltered, were enabled to direct
murderous fire upon the Turks, without the
latter being able to reply to it. In spite of
this evident disadvantage, Ismail Pasha gave
orders for the attack, and threw himself into
the village under shower of balls fired from
all the windows. At first the Turks received
very serious injury; but although this circum-
stance somewhat disorganized their attack,
their impetuosity was by no means checked.
The greater portion of the soldiers, who had
never before been exposed to musketry, never
theless displayed indomitable courage. After
desperate struggle they attacked the houses,
and fought hand to hand with sword and bayo-
net. The massacre was frightful. The Rus
slams in vain begged for quarter. In the fever
of the fight, the Turks listened to nothing, and
| slaughtered, without pity, all who fell under
their hands. The Mussulmans of the Crimea,
Incorporated with the Russian army, in vain
appealed to their character of Mussulmans
No quarter was given to them. Cutters Of
blood ran down the streets from this wholesale
| human slaughter. To add to the horrors of the
scene, it may be stated that a number of pigs
which had been let loose were seen eating the
dead bodies.
! Allwho could escape the slaughter took refuge
in redoubt at the head of the village, and
thence recommended a murderous fire upon the
Turks, who returned it vigorously, but not
without receiving considerable injury from the
Russian guns.
At last the enemy, incapable of any further
struggle, decided upon abandoning the entrench-
ments. A number of Russian troops had
already evacuated the place, when colonel of
Turkish cavalry conceived the unfortunate idea
of endeavouring to oppose their passage The
Russians, finding themselves surrounded, and
having no outlet for escape, and no resource
but the terrible energy derived from despair,
no other alternative but to conquer or die, re-
commenced the fight with desperation, and in
vigorous sortie they succeeded in capturing two
i Il IL otol bokt tb,T T,,rlyo
the first success in the entertainments, COM
mtted the incredible fault of not destroying the
enemy's guns.
While the battle was thus going on in the
village. twelve battaions of infantry of the Rus
sian army and squadron of cavalry, with six
teen pieces of cannon, were brought to the as
sistance of the beseged, and attempted to place
the Turks between two fires. Information of
this was given to Ahmed Pasha, who, by
skilful maneuvre, directed his soldiers to the
point, in order to prevent the junction with the
besieged troops For this movement he made
use Of three Of his reserved battalions.
The advantage of the position was now on
the side of the Turks, who were on ground
which sloped towards the Russians; but the
latter were in three times greater number than
the Turks. In spite of this inequality, how
ever the Russians were entirely beaten, and
fed in the greatest disorder. They we're COM
pletely routed-afact constituting feat of arms
on the part Of the Turks, which does great hon
or to them, and establishes another important
truth, that the Russians cannot cope with Turk
ish troops in equal numbers to themselves in
open field, and that they can only hope for any
success when they have much more powerful
force than their enemy. Their, losses in these
two simultaneous affairs amount to nearly
1000 men, among whom are included so supe-
rior officers. The Turks had about 800 killed
and 396 wounded, who were sent to the hospi-
tails of Widdn, and Of whom it is hoped the
greater part may be saved.
According to the opinion of some European
officers now at Widdin, this fact is a most glo-
rious one for the Turks, and, if not productive
of any material result, will at least prove of
great moral advantage to them.
On the next day the Russians attempted to
reoccupy the redoubt from which they had
been driven in the night, but the appearance
of some Turkish battalions discouraged them
and they beat retreat. :,
At the time of the attack upon the village
| the Turkish soldiers, particularly the Bashi-
Bozouks. committed the fault Of stopping to
pillage before being entirely assured of victory,
and BY this means, in despoing the dead, OBJ
tanned some trding articles, much to the pre-
;udice of the general interest. 1t is to be re-
pretted that it has not been possible to derive
all the advantage from this affair of which it is
susceptible, at least so far as regards material
benefit but, so far as regards the moral effect,
there is nothing to desire.
Ismail Pasha fought like a lion, and more
like a soldier than a general. He had two
horses killed under him. He was grazed with
two balls one on the shoulder and another on
the wrist third ball struck the scabbard of
! his sword.
The Turks took from the field of battle, be.
sides number Of horses, great many mus
kets, sabres, schakos, epaulets, and decora-
| tons, and also many wounded. The latter
consoled themselves for their wounds by the
sight of watches or handfnls of gold, gathered
in the midst Of danger, which they placed BY
their beds Of pain as solace to their suiier-
ings.
Justice has been done to the bravery OF the
| Russian officers who courageously did their du-
ty, but were badly seconded by the soldiers,
whom it was often necessary to PRICK with the
point of the bayonet in order to prevent them
from running away. Some Of the Wallachian