New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-04-08
THE PAIL OF KARS.

before the Blush House OF commons, nave pceu
described by our London correspondent as arranged
with a view to conceal, rather than disclose the
truth; and careful examination Of the Blue Book
in which they are contained evinces the correctness
of that Judgment Hardly less remarkable and
significant than the papers themselves, are the COM
ments they have elected from the leading press of
London. tn. Times, for instance, has devoted
three consecutive articles to the subject, selecting
however, az the special marks of its furnishes, n
yectives and arguments, the dispatches coveringthe
interval from August 2, 1854, the day Of General
Williams's appointment as British Commissioner at
the head quarters of the Turkish army in Asia, to
the latter part Of January 1855 when his personal
ouarrels with Lord Stratford de Radcliffe had, at
last, died away The real aim Of The Times, In
giving this exaggerated Importance to that portion
Of the documents which do not even touch on the
epoch of actual warfare is transparent On the
ore hard, public attention was TO be diverted
from the darkest pages in this most melancholy Blue
Book: and on the other, Lord Radcliffe is TO be
made the scapegoat of the Government at home.
The rest Of the daily London press with the excep
ton of The Morning Herald, are but too happy to
follow III tnt tTdch Dtutcu W i"o f"''S'
To become initiated in the mysteries OF that dis
astrous Asiatic campaign, we must start from
quite different point, and commence by inqulrIng
into the action of tie Allied Governments during
the decisive epoch, beginning with the first adj
vance Of the Russians from Gumr, in May, AMI
ending with the capitustiOn of Kars, on November
| "a. 1855. Carefully concocted as it H. mutated
c-l. .coI L. haan :fa1h v
patches and plasters even this Government publ
cation if put to the critical rack may be forced to
speak truth.
Toward the end Of May, 1855, Gen. Williams
reports to Lord Radcliffe, who reports to Lord
Clarendon, that large Russian force, consisting
Of % GOO infantry $500 cavalry, and "a pieces of
artillery was assembled around Gumri; that the
Mushir had received information of their intention
to attack Kars and that their own (Turkish) force
concentrated in the intrenched camp consisted of
10 800 infantry 500 cavalry, 800 artillerymen,
and AZ field pieces. When Radcliffe received this
lettsr ON Williams, and Clarendon from Red
cliffe, both already held in their hands another
letter from Williams, in which he makes the fol-
lowing statement
- left ErZeruum Yesterday "a june en- route iof
Ks,. which place the enemy has announced, in an
order of the day, his intention TO attack IL have
now tour month"; proris'oH az thot garrtson, VIZ:
at Kars ano trust the central Government and the
Allies will prove to this remnant of army that
it il not absolutely forgotten by them"
The English Government, then, was informed
that if Kars should be cut of from Erzeroun, and
blockade be established BY the Russians, the
fortress could not hold out much longer than Oct.
E.I
month after, it was because the garrison were
Turks, and not beef-eaters.
On the receipt of the dispatches from General
Williams, Radcliffe makes urgent recommendation
to the Porte that reGnforcements with fresh sup
ples and money should be sent forthwith to the
army of Kars. He even invites the Seraskier,
now that Circassia is cleared of the Russians, to
unite the army of Batoum with that of Kars.
Why the Porte objected to this proposal, the fol-
lowing dispatch from Gen. Williams explains:
"KARs. June 90, le55.-Musapha Pasha OF Ba-
toum has recently written to me to say that ne had
only S772 regular troops, and was pressed by the
enemy"
On June %, Lord Radcliffe reports to Lord Clar.
endon that:
at is some consolation to him that at this
eleventh hour the Porte has recognized the necessity
of listening to his advice, and sending out reinforce
II ens without further delay"
The only difficulty avowed by Radcliffe himself
was to decide where those reenforcements were to
come from.
"Iow are they to be provided with the necessary
supplies Nothing can with prudence or consistency
be detached from the army under Omer Pashs in the
Crimea. At Batoum, Sukum-Kaeh, and other
neighboriDg stations on the coast, it would be eX-
tremey difficult TO muster more than IL, 900 men The
other ports of the Empire afford additional reserves
with the exception of Bosnia, where it is still possible
that few thousand men might De detached. speak
Of regulars Bashi.Bazouks may be procured. but
your lordship knows what little dependence is to be
placed on such undiscipined hordes. There remains
Tie halffomed corps Of Gen Vivian, and the Irregular
cavalry cole cted by Gen. Beatson and bis officers In
Bulgaria question the existence Of more than so 600
men, including garrisops. .. Austris, 1t is true,
has declared her intention OF considering the passage of
the Danube by Russia cdsus tell, ana she also stands
pledged to the exclusion Of that power from the Dan
ubian Pripcipaties but the resolution which in such
an emergency would enable the Porte take its line
upon those assurances and 10 overlook the awkward
ness Of leaving important position nadequately de-
Tended, Is fit TO be admired than to be EN-
braced."
According, then, to the avOwal OF Radcliffe him.
self, he urges the Porte to send to Kars ere
endorsements of every description, while he is
quite aware that there exist none Of any description
whatever
On June 80 there took place at the Grand Vizier's
house, on the Bosphorus, q meeting between the
Grandfather, the Seraskier, and Fuad Pasha on
the one side, and Radcliffe, attended by Brgadier
Mansfield, on the other. The Turkish Ministers pro-
posed, as they had done before, to collect an army
at Redout- Kaleh, which was to advance to Kutais,