The Osceola times., 1877-08-11
THE BITER BITTEN.
BadIy Bitten-The Bussiau Piercing the
Ottoman Empire is Stuug 10 the Quick
-Graphic Description Of Tuesday's
Rattle aud the shattered Con.
ditiOn OF the WANG utshed.


-Graphic Description Of Tuesday's
Rattle aud the shattered Con.
dition OF the vansuished.
A correspondent sends from poredin,
near pevna, graphic account of Tues
days battle, which conveys vivid idea
of the extent of the Russian disaster.
The correspondent is with Prince
Schko.koyskis command, and says that
now all hope OF success anywhere was
dead, nor did the chance offer to make
the best of the defeat Prince Schkes-
retreat. The Turks struck without stint,
they had the upper hand for once, and
were determined to show that they knew
how to make the most of it. They ad-
vanced In swarms through the dusk upon
their ORIGINAL first position, and captured
the Russian cannon before the batteries
could be withdrawn. Turkish shells once
more began TO whiste over the ridge
above Ra1ishova and fall into the village
behind, now crammed with wounded
The streams of wounded vending their
painful way over the ridge were incessant;
the badly wounded mostly lay where
they fell. Later on in the darkness a
baleful sort of krankeutrager" swarmed
over the battlefield, in the shape of
Bashi- -Bazouks, who spared not. Linger.
ing there on the ridge until the moon
rose the staff could hear from below on
the still night air cries of pain
and entreaies for mercy, and yslls
OF blo0dthirsty, tanatical triumph. 1t
was indeed ain hour to wiring the sternest
heart. We stayed there to learn if it
might be what troops were coming out
of the Valley of Death below were there
indeed any at all to come. The Turks
had our range before dark, and we could
watch the fash of the fame over us and
then listen to the scream of the she'll as
it tore by us. The sound of rife-bullets
was inces.ant, and the escort and retreat
ing wounded were often struck. De
tauhments at length began 10 come
struggling up, but it will give an idea of
the disorganization to say that when a
company was told off to 20 and recover
some of the wounded in Radshova, it
had to be made up of men OF several
regiments. About nine o'clock the
staff left the ridge, leaving it Uttered
with groaning men, and moving gently,
lest we should treat on the PROSTATE
wounded, we lost our way as we had lost
our army. We could find no rest for the
soles of our feet, by reason of alarms of
the Bashi Bazouks swarming in among
the scattered and retiring Russians. At
length, at one o'clock in the morning,
having been in the saddle since o'clock
on the previous morning, we turned
into stubble field, and, making beds of
reaped grain, correspondent and Cossack
alike rested under the stars but we were
not even then allowed to rest before four
alarms came that the Bsshi- Bazouks
were upon us, and we had to rouse and
tramp away. The only protection of the
chief of what in the morning was a fine
army was now handful of wearied Cos
sacks. General Krudener sent word in
the morning that he bad lost severely,
and could make no headway, and had
resolved to fall back on the line of the river
Osma. There had been talk, his troops
being fresh, of reviewing the attack
to day, with his cooperation, but it is a
plain statement of fact that we have no
troops to attack with. The most moder-
ate esllilldt Is tudt we nave lOst TWO
regiments --ay five thousand men-out
of our three brigades--a ghastly number,
beating Eylau or Friedland. This takes
no account of General Krudener's losses.
We, too, shall retire on the Osman river,
about Bulgareni, and, TO the best of our
weak strength, cover the bridge at Sis
| toya. One cannot, in this moment of
hurried confusion, realize all the possible
results of this stroke 50 rsshly courted.
Not Russian soldier stands between
1irnova and the victorious Turks in Lo-
tia and Plevna, and only weak division
OF the eleventh corps stands between Tir-
nova and Shumla. The army look on
Schkokoyski's force as wrecked and no
longer for the campaign TO be counted on
as fighting material. 1t is not ten days
since the thirtieth division crossed the
Danube in the pride of its superb condi-
tion. Now, what of it is left is demoral-
ized and shattered. So on this side of
the Balkans there remains but the ninth
corps, already roughly handled, once at
Nikopolis and once at Plevna one divis-
ion of the eleventh corps, and the Rust
chuk army. Now, II the Rustchuk army
is marched 10 the west against Plevna,
then the Turkish army of Rustchuk is
let loose on the Russian communications
to Tirnova. One cannot avoid the con-
clusion that the advance over the Bal
kans is seriously compromised. The Rus
sian strait is so bad that scattered detach-
ments have been called up from out of
Roumania, and Roumanian division,
commanded by General Mauna which
crossed day or two ago at Nikopolis,
has been called up to the line of the Os-
ma river. An aid. de-camp of Grand
Duke Nicholas was present at
the battle, and at once started for
Tirnova with the evil tidings.
Weare just quitting this bivouac and
falling back on Bulgareni with all speed,