The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1877-10-04
! THE RUSSIAN CAMPS.

Horrible Seene-Tur1Eish sOldIeru Prefer
Death to TransEiOttaIiOn-Thei Rag
sed Uniforms and splendid Arrias
Poradim, where General Lotof has his
headquarters before Plevna, is if possible,
4 still more wretched place than Gorni-
Studen, Hadii KOi, and the other villages
Lear by. When rain comes ole feels
utterly wretched, being obliged to huddle
into a habitatiOn which the bugs di-pute
with him, and where the presence of the
easIlv-initiated scorpion is quite probable.
The roads from POradim towards the old
battlefield ef Plevua--it seems already as
if the affair occurred a century ago --aT6 in
an indie +cribably bad condition retreat
along them would be almost an impOssi-
bility so that it seems as if the Russians
must 90 ahead in any case. Hundreds
of dead still lie unburied on this terrible
field, and, sad to relate, hut true, the
ownerless dogs that infest this country
have eaten the corpse OF fhany brave
hero. This is one of the most revolving
features of the present campaign. There
has been no chance for the Russians to
give Christian burial to these unfortu-
mates; they lay too near the eftrersh-
ments from which the Turks can at any
time pour forth a murderous fire. The
stencil from the field, in this terrible
climate, is Cimply intOlerable for human
beings one is compelled to fly as rapidly
as possible; even the horses scream with
disgust when they are compelled to ap-
prOach this CHASTITY array of the results
of violent death. Here and there lie
multilated bodies, rOtting in the sun and
rain. Such spectaCles sOTce times move
the Russian soldiers to terrible threats of
vengeance, which their officers will not
allow them to fulfill. The soldiers have
murmured a few times at the very kind
treatment accorded by the Russian
authorities to their prisoners. But am
inclined to think that it Furnishes the
Turk worse to send him way into the
north of Russia than it would to kill him
on the "no quarter" principle. He
would take the death at the hands of his
enemy as a sure passport into Paradise
but he feels keenly the long journey
away from home, and especially from
MussuIman habits. Foreign countries
have no charm for him; he detests and
despises them q am, of course, speaking
of the rank and file noW), and home
sickness frequently drives the Turk to
suicide. Cases of this kind happened
repeatedly when Suleiman Pasha's army
was operating in Herzegovina and in
Montenegro. l have seen q great many
Turkish prisoners, and it must be ad-
mitted that they looked pretty thoroughly
punished. The other day, while crossing
an immense sandy expanse, dotted here
and there only by friendly wells, rising
their long sweeps like skinny arms,
beckOning the traveller to approach and
be refreshed, came upon six hundred
prisoners, escorted by about forty soldiers,
! toiIing along the wastes of this Oriental
iptT 10
enough, certainly, but it was full of
| misery. There were three officers in an
OK cart-imagine journeying across the
: desert in an ox-cart--WhO served so well
! to illustrate some types common in the
/ Turkish army that / will describe them
| for YOU. One was the traditional ragged
| captain, who has not been paid for two
or three years and whose EuTOpean-like
| uniform is mass of rags and patches.
I To see such a scaTeerOw ef1cer equipped
with eloquent side arms---a beautiful
! Damascus blade and an American revOl-
| ver-- can not but provoke a smile. But
the captains mieu was as proud as though
his pockets were loaded with gold, and
vixen he pulled his blue tattered coat
| about him, and turned his bronze COlOred
face toward the sky with grim dignity,
he seemed to be invoking the approba-
tion of Allah for his patience and self
denial. The second was an officer OF
high rank--evidently of Asiatic birth,
and one of the Old-schOOl Turks who do
not believe that the infidel has any right
to live, and who has proud memories
about the grandeur of the Turkish empire
once on a time. He wore a turban,
gracefully folded around his head, but
pushed back from a broad and rather
impressive brow. He looked neither to
the right nor the left as the procession
passed his arms were folded on his
breast, and his gaze was proudly fixed on
vacancy. He was made of the stuff
which prompts the fan8tical Turk tC
order the wholesale slaughter of Chris,
tians. as at Eski and Jeni Saghra, al
,, I.ovca and Plevna, at PhillipOpOlis and
AdianopIe. at Kazanlik and KsTabunaT
His clothes we're rich and his arms were
decorated with silver and gems. Why
the Russians allew these fellows to TetaiI
their swords I have not yet been able t,
: discover. Its certain that if the empero
had not made many express command
concerning the exercise Of mercy anC
courtesy towards the enemy, some 0
hese superior Turkish officers woulC
have Jared very badly. The thir,
7 prisoner in the OK cart was a thorough
: tvpe of the commander of irregulars,
brigaud, if there was one, a professions
murder, who weuld prefer 10 cut thrOa
rather than TO spare a life, whose hatTe'
2 for the Russian was only an excuse fo
:. the exercise of his villianous trade. Thi
! I man reminded me, while gazing at bi
face, Of q fox and a tiger. He had al
: the slyness of the one. and the capriciou
ferocity and blood thiIstLBess OF the othe
: written on his mean, low brow, IN tn
: rapid glances of his small tWinkling eye
E aud in his rapid, sinuOus movements
u Such men when taken are nearly alWaY
9 found armed with a small kni.e, who's
/ blade Is shaped Ike a crescent. Ih
e gentle New England reader may plac
+ perfect credence in the 'act that thl
e knife is manufactured expressly for tn
e purpose of cutting thrOats. It's Peculla
9 shape renders it specially adaptable I
this amtIsement. In addition TO tn
knife. the commander Of the irregular
70 generally carries two long pistols, antlq U
r in fashion. snd firing q ball about the 81
Ie If ulnrbl,, such So boys play with
-ch.oI Il yataghan, with All ivory or boz