The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1877-04-22
THE MILITARY SITUATION IN THE
EAST
sTRRNGTH AND DESIGNS OF Rgss1A AND
TURKEY.
louisville Courisr Journal

!
g medium of a war. The extent and dur,
t ton of the threatened war ard who all til
8 participants will be are questions which til
: future will reveal. just now the militar
situation is presented in the antagonist
t attitudes of Russia and Turkey. Th
8 the Black Sea. Russia binds the nortber
ard eastern coasts, while Turkey in Ea
rope is on the west, and Turkey in Asia O
3 ue south. Constantinople is said to b
the last word in the Eastern question. l
that last word has been reached. Constan
tlnople is taken out of the field of dipo
macy, and has become the first word in tn.
warlike demonstrations Russia is MAKING
towaid the south.
RUSSIA has now twenty five war steamers
aud Two iron clads on the Black Sea- Her for
tlhcations on her southern coast have been
very much strengthened, and she is said
| to have placed a Gordon of torpedoes alopp
her Black Sea shore. She has assemble
An army of four hundred thousand men on
her southern frontier Ofthese, one hum bred
and nifty thousand are gathered near Tiflis,
In her terriotry east of the Black Sea, ready
| to invade Armenia, in Asiatic Turkey.
either for the purpose of an open diversion
or threatening Constantinople from the
| south. The remainder of her army, and
that with which she will conduct her chief
operations, Is Assem- bled at points on and
near The Black Sea, at convenient distance
from her southwestern European frontier.
The chief points of the Assem- blage of this
army appear to be Odessa, on the coast,
and Kichinev, at some distance from the
coast, and on the east of the river Pruth
10 reach Constantinople this army will |
nave to make the circuit of the western end J
OF the Black Sea, and its progress. after
crossing the Russian frontier, will have to
be continuously south.
The territory to be thus passed over ia
n fhn H. roE
mania, Bulgaria and Roumelia. They have
some irregularities of shape, but they may
be considered parallelograms of -nearlv
equal size, Roumania lying to the nortI
aud on the Russian frontier, the others
ylng successively adjacent to the south in
me order named. The Danube river is the
boundary between Roumsnia and Bulgaria,
It's general line is from east to west. and aa ,
t lies below the Russian frontier the Rus-
nan army must cross it in makiog propress
outh. Something like fifty miles from the !.
MOUTH or the Danube occurs the junction
u the river Prath. The Pruth flows from
o north' and Its line is atrightangles with =
hat OF the Danube. Parallel with the Prutb. :
nd not far west of it, the Sereth flows =
ITO the Danube. On the north side of the Il.
'anuse, and between the Pruth and Sereth /.
es Galatz 1t lis expected that the Russian q.
rmy Will move west across the frontier. :.
ross the Pruth, and take position at Ga
W. ANY one looking at the map will at =
nee discover why the Russian army goes -
GalatZ. u
with the Danube in 'front.' a near river on
ther HANK, and an open road to Russia
'hlno, 1t Is very strong defensive posi-
On. Here, probably, will be established
Q depot for the base of operations to bs A
opted by TIE Russians, and if the aa q
ncing army should meet with reverse il !.
III fall back on this line to it's depot be 7,
nd the Danube. Having secured this -
sition and established depot, the Rus ),
'ns will have To advance farther to fix "A :,
so from which they can conduct the line n
operations that looks CD Constaptinonle
lts objective point. The Russia have ~ u
en- over this ground before for the same u
rpose; so history will, perhaps, throw =,
me- light on approaching events that seem | -
most to be within sight =
In the invasion of Turkey by Russia half .,
century ago the Russian army established Va Va
base eff operations on the coast line he- "
cen Varna, in Bulgaria, and Bourghas, in r.
nmeGa. West ct Varca, in the interior q,
Bulgaria, lies Shumla, which place the -,
lssians merely observed without ATTEMPT -
to occupy. The army, however, COW ~,
al line OF land commu nicatiou aud re- ~
lat TO Russia by obtaining the fortress of -
istria and Brahilor, lying at intervals on -
north line from Varna. This plan has a.
on condemned by number of military w
Itlcs, and the most that has ever been said Va
lts FAVOR, though it has been said by high | ~
iltary authority, was that it was an ex- a.
ption to well-founded maxim of mill Il,
ry operations. In practical results it was ~ ~
ccessful, for it carried the Russians to -
1rianople. almost confronting CONSTANT ~"
pile, where the Turks acceGed to tho de-
ands of Russia.
The maxim violated in this case, or TO tn
lich this case is an exception, ie ITO &c
tablish the base upon those points where mt
can be sustained by all the resources OF tn
Q country, and at the same time insure a Gu
fe retreat" The Russian army observed Ca
, part of this rule by covering itse!f by his
tanning possession Of fortresses on the bis
e to Russia, along which it might, under i'm
'oraole circumstances, have retreated to ma
D north side of the Danube and thus es Pile
ped to it's own country. But by letting wa
) important point of Shumla, in the intee rsO
r, alone, the army failed to place itself be'
a position where it could avail itself, in we
10 of need, of TIE resources of the coun- oOu
:. Jomini, referring to the general 'to
kim, says: "a State powerful both on ma
I'd and sea, whose squadrons control the c'a'
adjacent to the theatre of operations, ,
yht we'll base an army of forty or fifty
md | "