Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1877-12-05
THE BATTLE OF ERZEROUM.
Vivid Description OF the Charge on the
HEIGHTS Of DeNebOyun.

The London Telegopl's special cor
respondent at Erzeroum gives the fol-
lowing vivid description of the capture
of the heights of Deveboyun;
After the surprise of Bassan kaleh,
reported in my previous dispatches,
Mukhtar Pasha,. having splendldly eff
fected, under circumstances of great
difficulty, union of the greater part of
his scattered forces, fell back in good
order upon the strongly fortified posi-
ton of the pass of Deveboyun, which
forms the only road from the plain to
Erzeroum This narrow detile leads
up the face of a mountain, and every
inch of it is commanded from the sides
of the hill. Thus strong by nature, it
had been placed by art in a state of
almost impregnable defense, under the
personal superintendent of Gen. Col
mann, IA German officer better known
as Fazi Pasha The roadway itself con-
shutting the pass is only wide enough
to allow two wagons to travel abreast
On this stronghold Mukhtar and Ismail
Pasha fell back with their reunited
forces They had been beaten, but
were by no means disheartened; and
as | telegraphed to you at the time, the
GhaZi was confident of being able soon
to retrieve his position. The Turkish
army was disposed in the following
manner: Its extreme left held Gurgee
Boghaz the centre occupied the Deve-
boyun pass; while the right extended
to the end of the ridge of Soghilhar
Dagh. Thus
ERZERoUM WAS COMPLETELY COVERED.
and every point was, to all appearance,
utilized for stern and successful de-
Tense. Speaking of myself | saw no
reason to doubt that this would mark
the extreme limit of the Russian ad-
vance, and that they would again be
compelled to retire eastward to winter
quarters On the morning Of Oct. IS
Mukhtar personally inspected the stu
alton along the whole line. Ismail
Pasha's men were on his left, while his
own soldiers held the detlc. Under the
personal encouragement and direction
of Mukhtar, the most strenuous efforts
were made TO complete preparations
for great battle. The Russians, we
knew, were following up their advan-
tage rapidly. They had occupied, as
we uwere successfully informed, Olti
Koprikoi, Dehbaba, and finally Hassan
kaleh in force,
On Saturday, Nov 3, the enemy were
within ten miles of Erzeroum, and had
even pushed reconnaissance to the foot
Of Deveboyun pass. 1t was evident,
therefore, that the attack was not far
distant, and that no time could be
spared if the capital of Armenia was
to be saved. On our side scouts were
actively employed i'll ascertaining the
Russian strength and the movements of
their advancing corps; and 1t resulted
from the information, thus obtained,
that we had at least thirty thousand
Russian infantry, supported by vast
masses Of cavalry and one hundred and
! fifty guns, Immediately in our front.
THE ENEMY APPROACH.
On the morning of Monday, NOV. ., Il
great movement of the enemy was
visible from the Turkish left in the
direction of the villages of Khandies
and Sogbirlu. The Russians could be
discerned advancing with n consider
able force Of infantry and artillery,
/ against the positions intrusted to lsmall
| Pasha. The Turks remained in their
trenches, and calmly awaited the as
sault The usual result followed. The
attack was iruitless; again and again
the Russians, Notwithstanding their
numbers, were repulsed by the steady
/ fire of the defenders in the trenches,
and about II o'clock they were COM
PEELED to retire, having suffered heavy
losses, without having taken an inch of
! Turkish ground. The Ottoman COM
manders were led to believe that the
main part Of the Russian army was
concerned in this movement, with the
intention Of turning their unassailable
( position in the Dcveboyun Pass. Such
an Inference was only natural, mas
much rs it was moral, if not ply
steal impoSsibiity, humanity speaking,
/ to make IA direct assault on the irCnt-of
Mukhtar Pa3ha's position. And so,
! indeed, if the defense had been rightly
managed. it would have been. No
number of men could successfully adj
vance up the pass in front Of the fire of
Mnkhtars infantry and artillery. 1t Is
/ true that his whole force was largely
outuumbered by that Of the assailing
army; but he had thirty battalions of
fairly good infantry-fatigued, no doubt,
/ by long marches and hard work, more
or less dispirited by two recent defeats,
but yet enough to hold the splendid posi-
I ton which his army occupied against
the force which the Russians could
bring to bear upon them.
A MAsTERLY RUsE.
( While, however, the attack on the
left had been calamity thwarted IN the
way have described, the enemy be
gan, to our surprise, to develop move