The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1876-07-21
Montenegro and the srontenegrin..

ces, is manifested from the declaration
OF Austria that Prince Nicholas will be
held strictly accountable for the conduct
of his subjects. The precise weight OF
the country in the scale of war can now
be estimated from the report of two
Servian officers who were employed
there as instructors IN gunnery and tao
ties.
An old Aontenegriu proverD runs ::
"Take my gun or my brother; tits all
one" 1t is certain that the man of the
Black Mountains recks little of house
goods, provided his firelock is left to
Ina, and a decree of his Prince which
should confiseate that symbol of activi-
ty and duty would plung him in hu-
initiation and despair. With such ideas
and feelings, whole district becomes
permanent camp, where every male,
from boy to graybeard, is a soldier;
and this is, in fact, the spectacle which
Montenegro has presented throughout
the course of its stirring history.
Up to the year 1858 the mountaineers
had not the shadow of organization.
When a point of tue frontier was
threatened, the news, signaled to watch
els stationed along the heights, flew
like an echo from parish to parish, and
called forth every able-bodied man, who,
| without further orders made all speed
to the imperiIed quarter. Each indi-
vidual furnished his own Weapons, his
own food, and other requisites of the
campaign. In all engagements the
women co-operated, being charged with
the supply OF, ammunition and provisions
to the combatants, and often exposed to
equal danger We may add that the
Christian subjects of Turkey commonly
served as voluntary spies, aquainting
the monntaineers with the plans of the
enemy or with the line of march taken
by Ottoman detachments.
According to the statement of trnst-
worthy historian, Montenegro in the
seventeenth century was able to set on
foot 5000 men drawn from 90 villages.
OF these only one-teuth was armed with
inuskets and the rest with yataghan,
lance, and shield. Any thing like con-
certed action was impracticable, tor, al
though supreme authority was conceded
to the Waladika, each soldier would
recognize no other officer than the head
of his own village, and the chiefs them
selves gave violent proof of rivalry un
der the eyes OF the sovereign. The
nucleus Of more effectiYc force was at
last created by Peter l., in the shape of
body guard comprising some hundred
men, which, gradually gaining numbers
and discipline, insured victory to the
Montenegrins in the bloody battle OF
Grahowo. In 1858 Peters successor,
Danilo, ordered a regular conscription,
which included all able-bodied men
from the age of fifteen to fifty. In the
rev militia the WaladIka was Of course
commander-in-chief,w while the acdieco3es,
or dukes, figured as general officers.
There were likewise sirdars, correspond
ing to colonies; stoti7edtslti, command
ing hundred men; and sveral grades
d s4balterns. These troops, however,
hsadline arms or in evolutionS. the
single aim being to impress thelDrivate J
soldier with the necessity of Obedience
and cooperation. When the war was
over, these improvised battalious van
ished, each combatant speeding home to |
his own village, after sharing with his |
chiefs and the State the booty taken |
from the enemy. In quiet times the /
stotindtshi officiated as justices in their
native districts, while the acaitrodes !
and the sirdars were summoned TO the !
Senate.
OF artillery, until very lately, there |
was no question in Montenegron, even |
the few pieces captured from the Turks
being seldom used. The firearms,
moreover, remained old-fashioned ard |
defective; but the events of 1862, when |
the troops of Omer Pasha displayed the |
effect of improved weapons, at length |
convinced the mountaineers that some |
thing besides courage was exacted by |
modern warfare. As the financial re-
sources of the country were inadequate |
to the purchase ofperfect arms, a lottery
was instituted in France for Montene- |
gro, and the proceeds, invested in
twelve thousand MIME rifles, were dis |
tributed among experienced sbarpshoot-
ers. The native mechanics, however,
proved incompetent to repair these
elaborate weapons, and the cartridge
used being of peuliar kind, the con-
script was no longer able to prepare his
own ammunition. Thes matters, tri-
vial enough elsewhere assumed immense
importance in Montenegro, and the
Prince of Servia gained the gratitude of
the nation by sending them an accom-
pIished gunsmith and assisting them to
found and arsenal.
subsequently military engineers were
dispatched from Servia to establish |
powder mills and cannon foundry in |
the Black mountain country, and under