The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1877-05-12
THE TAKING OF CONSTANTlNOPLE.


Graphic Account of a Desperate
struggle Between the Mohammedans
and the Christians.
For nearly 425 years Constantine
Pile has remained undisturbed in the
possession of the Turks. On May
20, 1853, the city was then the capi-
tai Of the Byzantine Empire-it was
stormed by the Turks, the last By
zantine Emperor, Constantine XIII,
losing his life in the defense. The
taking of the city is thus powerfully
described by Kirchard Knollen in
his History ofthe Turk" published
in 1908, and a second edition IN 1910:
GA little before day the Turks ap
preached the walls and began the as
sault, where shell and stones were
delivered upon them from the walls
as thick as hail, whereof little fell in
vain, by reason of the multitude of
the Turks, who, pressing fast into
walls, could not see in the dark how
to defend themselves, but We're with
out number wounded or slain; but
these were of the common and worst
soldiers, of whom the Turkish King
made no more reckoning than to
abate the first force of the defend
ants. Upon the first appearance of
the day, Mohammed gave the sign
appointed for the general assault,
whereupOn the city was in a mo-
ment, and at one instant, on every
side most furiously assaulted by the
Turks; for Mohammed, the more to
distress the defendants. and the bet
ter to see the fOrwardness of the sol
diers, had before appointed which
part of the city every colonel with
his regiment should assail which
they valiantly performed, delivering
their arrows and shot upon the de-
PENDANTS so thick that the light of
day was Herewith darkened; others
in the meantime courageously
mounting the scaling ladders, and
coming even to handstrnkes with the
defendants upon the wall, where the
foremost were for the most part vio-
lently borne forward by them which
followed after. On the other side,
the Christians with no less courage
withstood the Turkish fury, beating
them down again with great stones
and weighty pieces of timber, and
so overwhelmed them with shot,
darts and arrows and other hurtful
devices from above, that the Turks,
dismayed with the terror thereof,
were ready to retire.
Mohammed seeing the great
slaughter and discontinue of his
men, sent in fresh supplies of his
emissaries and best men of war,
whom he had for that purpose re-
served as his last hope and refuge /;
by whose coming on, his faintlng sol
diers were again encouraged, and
the terrible assault began afresh. AT
which time the barbarous king
ceased not to use all possible means
to maintain the assault by name,
calling upon this and that captain,
promising unto some whom he saw
forward golden mountains, and unto
Others in whom he saw any sign of
cowardice, threatening most terrible
death by which means the assault
became most dreadful. death there
raging in the midst of many thous-
ands. And albeit that the Turks lay
dead by heaps upon the ground. yet
other fresh men pressed on still in
their places over their dead bodies,
and with divers event either slew or
were slain by their enemies.
In this SO terrible conflict, it
chanced Justinianus, the General, to
be wounded in the arm, who, losing
much blood, cowardiy withdrew him
self from the place of his charge, not
leaving any to supply his room, and
so got into the city by the gate called
Romano, which he had caused to be
opened in the inner wall; pretend
ing the cause of his departure to be
for the binding up of his wound, but
being indeed, man now altogether
discouraged.
The soldiers there present, dis
mayed with the departure of their
General, and sore charged by the
janissaries, forsook their stations, ,and
in haste fled to the same gate where
by Justinianus was entered with the
sight whereof the other soldiers, dis
mayed, ran thither by heaps also,
But whilst they violently strive to.
gether to get in at once, they SC
wedged one another in the entrance
of the gate that few of so great @
multitude got in-in which so great
a press and confusion of minds SOC
persons were there, by them that fol.
lowed, trodden under foot or thrust