Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-05-05

self OF that opportunity to dictate t
| Peter the terms upon which h
| wished to terminate the campaign
knowing that if he postponed th'
| treaty he would be compelled to re
new the war against the whole fore
of the Empire.
! HEAVY LOSSES BY BOTH ARMIES
The conditions the Car was forced
to accept We're sufficiently humiliat
ing. The Turks demanded the res
/ titution of AZof, the demolition o
the harbOr of TaganrOg, the re.
nOuncment of all further interfer.
ence in the affairs of Poland and the
| CoSsackS, a free passage for the
Swedish King back to his own coun,
1 try, and withdrawal from the Black
Sea. The battle of the Pruth, sc
/ fatal in its results to the Gar, was
one of the most destructive in the
annals of history. Ifthe statements
of Peter be correct his army ON the
first day of the engagement consist
! ed of 81 900 infantry and 1000 cav
airy, and was reduced on the last
/ day to $4,000 men, which would
make his loss amount to over 5000
men. The loss sustained by the
Turks was still greater in conse-
quence of their irregular and scat
tered method of attack. There can
be no doubt that the Gar fought at
great disadvantage, and perhaps
were it not for the timely assistance
he obtained from the Empress Cath
arine the campaign would have
proved an almost fatal blow to Mus
covite power in Europe.
ANOTHER DISASTROUS CAMPAIGN.
The result of the campaign upon
the bank of the Pruth, by which
Peter surrendered many important
advantages which he had previous
ly obtained by conquest, the annoy
ance caused by frequent incursions
of Crimean Tartars and the naughty
refusal Of the Porte to recognize the
Cars imperial title, led PetertO me-
ditate a new war against the Turks.
He made ample preparations for the
project, but his death arrested its ex-
ecutiOn, which was entirely laid
aside by Catharine /. and Peter II.
The Empress Anna determined to
renew the design, and found no OPP
position in obtaining a preteXt for
breach. The Russian army in 1856
severely punished the offending Tar
tars, but the latter on their flight
laid their country in ashes, and it
was impossible to find subsistence for
the troops, and they were cOnse-
quently obliged to retire. General
Lascy now laid siege to Azof and re-
duced it, taking its Turkish garri-
son prisoners. The Sultan was even
now unwilling to commit himselfto
a war with Russia, content with the
advantage he had gained by the
treaty of the Pruth; and even now
that Russia had gained one of the ce-
ded forts and was prepared to follow
up the victory he preferred to seek
terms of accommodation. Austria
was invited to act as mediator, but
that Power was bound to furnish
Russia $4,000 troops and decided to
throw her whole strength on the
MuscOvite side, greatly to the con-
sternatiOn of the Turks. The Sui
tan lost no time in preparing for the
campaign. He raised new levieS
and equipped fleet for the protec-
tiOn of the EuXine. The Russian
army, strengthened by 10000 re-
cruitS, was separated into divisions,
one of which, under the command
of Count Munich, proceeded in 1857
to Otchakoff, on the Euxine, while
General Lascy, with the other, en-
tered the Crimea. The objects pro-
posed to be attained by the eXpedi-
tions were not adequate to the eX-
penditure that attended them. Otch-
akoff submitted, and the Crimea
was again desolated. This was all
Russia gained by the sacrifice of 50,-
600 of her veteran troops. The war
continued three years, but nothing
of substantial advantage was gain
ed. Discussions sprang up between
the German and Russian command
ers, and Austria made a separate
peace with the Turks. This caused
great dissatisfaction at st. Peters
burg, where it was not considered
prudent to continue the war single
handed. A treaty was consequent
ly entered into between the bellig-
erents. 1t was agreed that Azof
should be evacuated and the sur
rounding country to remain uncOn-
ciliaaed as a mutual boundary be-
tween the two empires, and other
conquests of the Russians were sur
rendered. Russian fleets were not
allowed to be kept in the Palus
M9otis or the EuXine, and in the
latter sea the commerce of Russia
was to be conducted only in Turk
ish bottoms. Such was the result of
q war which had cost the CZarina
Anna upward OF one hundred thous-
and men, and which entailed upon
the Empire an enormous eXpendi-
ture of money. After some years q
profuse outlay and lavish sacrifice
of strength all that Russia gained
was the satisfaction of desOlating the
Crimea without exterminating the
Tartars, who still continued to infeSt
the borders, and some slight COM
mercial advantages which never
would repay the cost at which they
had been procured. It was true that
if RUSSIA failed tn'pnssfss herself Of
AZOf she had succeeded in dismant-
ling it and rendering it useless to the
Turks but this was a loss to both
parties. The war, on the whole,
therefore, must be considered to
have been In tho last degree disas=
trous to the Empire.
THE FORTUNE OF WAR CHANGES.
During the reign of Catharine II.
there were frequent wars between
Russia and Turkey, resulting in
many important advantages to the
former. Urged by the French Am-
basSadOr, who sought to divert the
attention of Catharine from the par
tition of Poland, the Porte declared
war in 1863 against the Empress.
The Russians commenced hOstilitieS
by the invasion of the Crimea. Azof
and Taganrog were soon taken, Mol
daVia was entered, Servia was clear
ed of the Tartar allies. In the fol-
lowing year, 1770, under ROmanOff,
the reduction of JasSay and BrailOff
were preparatory to two great victo-
ries which rendered the name of
RQmanoff forever memorable in the
annals of his country, The first was
on the banks of the Pruth. The
Turks, in number $4,000, under the
Khan of CTimea, were entrenehed
on a hill in a position too strong to
be assailed; but after three weeks
they became wearied of their mac
tivfty, and he believing from feint
Of the Russian general that he was
about to retire, 20, 600 Of them rush,
cd down the hill. They were re7
pulsed with terrible loss; the re-