Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-07-21
MILITARY SITUATION IN EUROPE
AND ASIA.

oOd iiO AOiiSCt OSuidliNA Jul tNtShtlOAl3
the Russian troops are withdrawn
from those regions entirely, their
point of rendezvous being Alexan-
ropol, the point from which the in
vasion started last spring. This is
to an abandonment Of
active operations for this year. tits
said, indeed, that re-enforcements
are on their way to the Russian ar
my and that the campaign is to re-
commence with the siege of Batoum
shortly, to be followed probably by
that of Kars. This cuts out work
enough for the Russian army till
winter, and then operations must be
suspended, for the testimony of all
travellers goes to show that winter
in the whole region between the
Black and Caspian Seas is excessive
Iy severe. Virtually the Eastern
half of the Russian invasion must
be considered as abandoned for the
year.
Some excuse may be claimed both
for the blunders of the Russian gen.
erals and the slOwness of the Turk
ish leader to take advantage of
of them; this consists in the diff
Guilty of supplying armies in that
region. The whole country is likely
to suffer famine this fall and winter.
Now, large armies cannot move un-
less their cOmmissary supplies are
prompt and abundant, and Arme-
mia and its adjacent provinces seem
to match Charles V.'s description of
Spain, as a country in which large
army would starve and a small one
be cut to pieces.
We now transfer our attention to
the Danube and the Balkan range.
The conflicting reports of Russian
and Turkish dispatches, with the
aggravated confusion introduced by
the comments of partiZan journals
in this country, render it extremely
difficult to ascertain what has really
been done in European Turkey.
Accounts entirely irrecOncileable of
operations both in Bulgaria and
Roumelia render it impossible to go
much beyond conjecture in ascer-
tainining the truth.
Our accounts of last week left the
Russian lines established along the
Jantra from SistOva to TirnOva
(TernOw or Turnow-they spell it
all these ways and several others),
while the Turkish lines mainly COW
cred the railroad from Rutschuck to
Shumla. Since this we have had
several items of sensational intelli-
gence, none of which have stood the
test of subsequent examination.
The first was a Turkish dispatch
the Turks were represented to have
defeated the Grand Duke Nicholas
at a point beyond TirnOva with a
loss of $1,000 men. 1t is sufficient
refutatiOn of this canard that the
Russian army still exists there, for
if the Turkish army had established
itself between the Archduke and
Sistova, which is his base ofsupply,
the whole army must have surren-
dered. Then a Russian force was
to vepassed some one
of the Balkan passes and to be on
the march for COnstantinOple at
double quick. This force was repre-
scented as amounting to various
indefinite, then
10000, then 10000. The first sus-
picious circumstance leaked out on
that they had taken no
with them and only so
much commissary stores as could be
carried on pack mules. This alone,
without further dispatches, would
prove that whatever its numbers it
could not be intended for a regular
invasion of ROumelia, but was at
the utmost a reconnaissance in force
similar in character to
that which under J. f. b. Steward
round the rear of McClel-
lands army before the seven days
fight at Richmond; for however
rash their commanders may be, ar
mics do not invade fortified cOun-
try with no artillery and nothing
to eat but what they can carry on
but however that may
all be the whole force has been met
by the Turks and driven back
to the passes by which it adj
Vanced. So the events in European
so far resolved themselves
into Just the following: An attack
by the Turks upon the Russian out
posts on the Jantra, which failed,
and reconnaissance by the Russians
into the ROumelian territories which
was defeated. 1t is the safest to say
we know nothing more practically
of the dOings in European Turkey
than we did lastweek, all war CORES
pOndents and military editors to the
contrary Notwithstanding.
Since the above was written the
Russians have gained possession of
after a very sanguinary
conflict. This town is a few miles
higher up the Danube than Sistova,
which has been their base of opera
tons since they entered Bulgaria,
and must be a very important ac-
QUESTION to them. Their only COM
with their magazines |
North of the Danube has so far been |
the bridge constructed at Seminitz,
which was neither sufficient for the
purpose nor safe. A new bridge |
will now be constructed at NicOpOlis |
which viii supplement the one at |
@E11z-zzzlz====-=
Riot ut Guthrie.
We have to record a disgraceful
and fatal riot in Kentucky close to
the borders of our own State. The