The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1877-12-16
NUMBER ~.
BEFORE PLETNA.
A VIEW or THE TURKISH POSITION.

VIEW or THE TURKISH PosITroN.
Special Core, Poaeence OF ths Philadelphia Tiuss.
HEADQUARTERS OF THE GRAND DUKE NIcuo-
LAS, RoGor, BEFORE PLEvNA, Nov. 9.
Now that the investment of Plevna 10 ooul-
plete We have settled into the monotouy Of q
regular ronnd of daily bombardments, which
make plenty of noise, but. from all that can be
seen, do little or no damage to the onemy. The
details of the capture Of the last Turkish posi-
tions along the Sofa road have already reached
you by telegraph, so i will not describe them.
No correspondents were present. for the whole
corps has been under u ban for several weeks.
and the reports of few authorized visitors,
who are accredited at headquarters as visitors
and not as correspondents, are the only ONES
which have been sent from the front lately.
The headquarters of the Grand Duke Nicholas
were moved to this village ten days ago. and
the Emperor came at the same time to PorAdin,
q village some two hours ride to the rear,
whence he makes frequent trips TO the front.
BoRot is about two miles behind the batteries
side of the village, where the quarters Of che
Grand Duke are, can be seen the white pu6s
OF smoke from the tsisge guns all along the
northern hori.On and the rumble Of the can
leben has ordered the batteries to FIRE by vol
ieys, directing their gune upon certain points
in the Turkish lines indicated by telegraph
and by concentrating the Are in this way he
expects to retard the further construction Of
redonbts and to damage those already baiIt-
O plan which reads well, bat which resalts
only In IN euOrmOub eXpouuituEO oL
tion. The investment of Plevns 10 by NO
means ss strong 1t would seem irom 70
ports. / have to-day visited all the redoubts
from the GrevitEs to the Loftcha road. aud can
speak frem actual knowledge. TIE redonbts
themselves are strong and well bnilt, but they
are isolated and with low parRpets, and oc-
oupy positions SO far distant from the Turkish
ines as to be of very little use In offensive op-
erations From the Radisoyo ridge the pano-
rama of nearly the whole OF both Turkish and
and Russian works is before me, and at only
single point are the line. any where near ono
another, and that is ut GreyitsI, where the
RoumaniauB are within speaking diatance OF
their enemy. There 10 no such thing As 3 con-
tinuous line Of entrenchments on the Russian
side. Compared with the eiege of Petersburg,
In the rebellion, this 10 little moro than play.
To be sure, the lines are within rine range Of
one another the whole distance around Plev-
d but, with Buch bad marksmen as there are
on either side, absolutely NO injuries are in
Aicted in ordinary picket firing Wthsl there
are great many cASualties, because the Turk
ieh rifles carry great distance; ana whensvee
Q shower of bullets falls into the camp OF she
reserves and frequently kills and wounds men
and horses there. Remembering how uncom-
Portable it was in the trenches before PeterO-
burg, confess did not care to walk along the
open from one redoubt to the other when was
conscious that was on the skyline and per-
fectly visible to the Turks in the hollow below.
In a few moments it was apparent tbRtA hit
was an accident, and theu, OF course, the senso
of insecurity vanished
THE TURKISH POSITION.
From the rsdonbts one can see perfectly
plainly the red fer of tho Turkish soldiers a.
they stand in the trenches. They wander
about the fields quito at ease, and often gather
in crowds to watch tho Russ sps when an on
Ger passes when come great gnn 10 put In
place. II there WAC anything like sharp
shooters this freedom of action would be i'm
possible. As it is, they seem to do about aS
they like in the face of their enemy. The
Russian batteries keep at work, almost with
;pIe their KhellB DlUmO Into
the yellow sides of the Turkish redoubis, one
after another, and that 10 all. When the great
herds Of beef cattle are driven out upon the
hillsideS to grbze there cones vollsy OF
shrapnel from the Russian batteries, which
m Akos q stir among the hook' and they are
hurried away behind como little ridge, WheIS
they feed 10 security. The prisoners are we'll
supplied with good bareback and appear
we'll fed enough, so it is tho opinion OF the
majority of the kossiaH Cfi GERS that 1t IL nso-
less to think Of starving out the army OF Os-
nan psaha before another month At least.
There Ia some expectation that be will make
break through the lines, bat in whatever
direction be goes II 10 always sS,o o,sAs,os @ ~
ofthe campaign will be near Ht hand.
Within the last fortnight nearly ten thOu-
sand pSiUoners have been tSkep' and q more
motley set Of human beings never was col
ieoted together. Negroes from Enbin, the
black eat Of the black fine types OF Arabs and
Egyptians; blonde BosniRDs and POlee ana
several EDglishmeD, and then al the TlhFa
of Turkey In Europe, among them some Of
the most fendish faces that ever were seen.
Tbav ueTa fresh from their mutilAbOu OF Roe
alan dead and wounded when / saw them first,
and although the story Of their participation
in the barbsrities was well Known to the
guards the mild Muscoyite treated tho cap
lives With a LiDd consideration that, under
The ciroumttauces, was painful to zee. TbS
e.oort was u very email one, bot was quite
elective because the Turks well fed, warmly
clothed, and with plenty OF money 60 boy
lIttle luxuries outside the regular Fationss
we're having q sort of picnic all the time