, 1877-08-03

AaG AVoo4dN OAp6 R4EHs
Close upon tho serious dsaster7t 10 the
Russian arms in Asia com es tho nj ws Of a
crushing defeat In Europe, which In nppar-
entity ended in rout. TIE Russian !, beaten
in two days battle at plovna, have not only
beon compelled. to rotiro, but hn, 70 been
driven fnIrly over the Da' lube into 10 umania,
so that their plaus for the present C unpnign
havo been thrown into :l1o utmost CO Infusion.
Tho reports of the two dayH' h titles at
Plcvna are conflicting in many OF their do
tails, especially as to the numbers engaged
and the extent Of tho loss, but they all ngres
in tho essontinl point Of decided Turkish
victory. As fur back Al she 10th Of July, the
Ninth Corps of the RuR,ia waa att acked In
tho vicinity Of Plovnn ~ os,tAN PumA, and
80 severely hnndlod ulat 1t had. to fall back
md nwait reinforce ,mcnts. The Etovonth
Corps was ssnt to 1t 4 relief from 1e1stchnk,
md, after making f.long forced naaroh, effect
cd q junction, tho small forco which hnd
been garzisoning Nikopol's also joining thom,
Its place having been filled by contingent
from the T.ou1naninn army. It vaa
over D week before tho aEny could
resume tho offensive. Marching sot.thward
again, It en- ,ountercd OsMAN PAauAs forces,
10, 600 Str ong, securely intrcnohod noar
Plevna, tb Ruasiana numbering G0,0o .. Tho
battls CO. .nmenced July 30 with a tori bls ar-
tillary d ael, In which tho Russians, b ,ing In
the OF EN- field, suffered severely. Under
covers i their artillery, tho intautry alta mptsd
K, n sorm tho intrenchments. but without
s'lco .ss, and at nfghtfall tho Turks holtl their
1,og stion, having recovered some Of shoir out
ws ,rks from which they had bscn forced,
7 ho next day tho Russians resumed the at
tack, but, although they fought with tho ut
most desperation and performed proligics Of
valor, they wero lcfoato1 In q hand-to-hand
engagement and compelled to retreat with a
loss, according to OsMAN PAsuA'B bulletins,
Of 5000 killed and 1G, 900 wounded, besides
heavy loss In war materinl. Tho russians
have fallen back to Sissova In disorder, md 1t
is reported aro pouring back into Kon,nania,
willie the Turks hold thoir position awaiting
endorsements. At last accounts, tho Rou-
.nanians wero ordered across the Danube, but
thoy will add nothing Of consequence to tho
u.aaian strength. Had tho Turks boon power
full enough 10 have followed up their adyan-
tage, they might have crushed the Ilussiau right
wing, and perhaps ended the campaign for
this summer. It never rims but 1t pours.
On tho sa1no t1ay OF tho defoat Of the Hus-
slams north OF tho Da lkans, the lsustians
south attacked 1sAouT pAauA, and after stven
hours fighting captured Eski-saghra, hut
| s3uLEutAN PAsltA, coming up with fresh
forcc, .icfcated tho 1t,,saians with heavy loss
r,1aon Tto rr1Yst,f~yrr Il
feat in Bulgaria will now more than over
| jcopardize the small Russian forco In 1eoumo-
lla, ~ they aro henmod In BY two powerful
| Turkish ar1nies, which may cut Of their sup
plies and retreat. It la not cheering out
look for russian SUCCESS thia summer.
! In searching for tho Causes OF this surpEis-
ing soriea OF dcfcats, 1t scems NJ 1t tho Rus-
ainns had made tho Raiuo mistake In underes-
ti,nating tho numbers and strength Of tho
.rurks TINT tho North made in thu first two
ycars Of the WaE with tho Southern Coufetl-
urucy. The North did not achieve
decided Buccesass until 1t realized tho actual
strength and lighting quality OF the South,
aud AIr. LINCOLN calioA out 1.-THE COO, 600
mort" who oyorca1ne tho Soull.srn forces by
overwhelming weight Of nnmhen. The
Russians hayo all aloug aiIected u dcslise
tile Turks and their ability to fight, and havo
slispoaed thoir foroes u II they expected that
the Turks would not daso 10 meet thcIn in
Tue oIon field, hut woall gradually fall baek
10 Coustantinopls, where they could bs at-
lacked ea ssaase. Ths Btatomont made some
time since by tho London 1SDks, that Thu
sctual foyce Of Tie Russians iu The viuinity