The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1878-02-21
Review Of the War in che East.

{ the huSoidu Eli pre- I6QutSt6u IdNlch
Bey, the Turkish Charge d'Affaires al
St. Petersburg, to ''be so kind as to in
/ form y his Government that from that
/ day Russia considered herself in a state
/ of war with the Porte. The substance
/ of this polite notification was simulta-
neously communicated by circular to the
/ great powers. Without a moments de-
/ lay the Russian armies which, for some
months, had been gathering on the
/ frontier, crossed into Turkish territory.
And thus began the war which within
nine months has brought The Porte to
the feet of the Gar.
The diary of the war which follows
this article gives the sequence of the
main events Unable to put down the
Herzegovinan revolt or to satisfy Servia
with promises, the matters were, by
mutual consent, referred to a neutral
commission of inquiry, which accom-
plished nothing, and was followed by a
joint request known as the Andrassy
note, which was sent to the Porte by
the powers and elected the usual half
asserting renlv. Then came the fanat-
ical Moslem outbreak at Salonica, the
Bulgarian massacre, and open war with
Servia. 1t was speedily evident that
Turkey was more than match for the
Servians, and an armistice was arranged
through the Intervention of Russia
Further negotiations succeeded, ending
with protocol of the Powers, to which
the Porte testify replied in substance
that: Strong in the justice of her
cause, and trusting in her God, Turkey
had determined to ignore what had been
decided without her and for her."
Then was it that Russia came to the de-
cision of independent action, and gave
the order for the crossing of the Turkish
frontier.
The average familiarity of the reader
with the map of the confines of Europe
and Asia is sufficient for the understand
ing of the geographical outlines of the
war thus precipitated. The peculiar
geographical conditions determined the
plan and conduct of the campaign en-
tered upon by Russia, compelling her to
pursue two lines of advance instead of
One-to cross both the European and
Asiatic frontiers of Turkey; thus by one
way or the other to circumvent the
Black Sea barrier, and threaten the OBJ
jective point of Constantinople far to
the southwark. AS we now look back
over the conduct of the war, the Eu-
pean advance is plainly the one most
vigorously conducted, and the one
marked by the most important events.
The entrance into Asia has more the
appearance of feint on a large scale,
designed to draw Turkish attention in
that direction and to furnish some nee
essary occupation for a considerable
part of the Ottoman armies.
Three critical steps marked the cam
paign in European Turkey. The first
of these was the crossing of the Danube.
This majestic river, full of the aSsocia-
tons of romance and history, after
traversing large section of Turkish
territory nearly from west to east, turns
sharply to the north just before reach
ing the Black Sea, into which it finally
empties by several mouths. The
last Is miles or so of its course consti-
tutes the boundary between Turkey and
Russia. The long and narrow neck of
land formed between the later course of
the river and the Black Sea is called the
Dobrudscha. Along the river, above
this, and stretching westward almost to
the confines of Austria, is line of Turk
ish fortresses, the most important of
which are Widdin, NikOpol, Sisteva,
Rustchuk and Silistria. Further to the
southwark, and in quadrilateral rela-
lions with Rustchuk and Silistria, are
the fortresses of Shumla and Varna, the
latter lying upon the Black Sea. Rus
sia's first move was to get beyond this
immediate barrier of nature and mill
tary art. One army crossed into the
Dobrudscha, and took up a watchful
possession of that territory as far south
as the bend in the Danube. Thus sup
ported on the left, the remaining forces
crossed the Danube at Soninitza, oppo-
site Sistova. The crossing was made
the latter part of June, after long delays
and with much ti1seSSe, and not without
peculiar difficulty and some armed OPP
position; but on the whole far more
easily than was to have been expected
Immediately upon the passage of the
river an Army of Rustchuk was formed
to watch the fortresses of the quadri-
lateral. The Army of Rustchuk and the
Army of the Dobrudscha thus formed a
protection upon the left flank of the
main forces of the Russians headed to
the southwark.
The second critical step of the Rus
SLAMS was the passage of the Balkans
This was effected by cavalry, under
Gen. Gourko, in July, through pass
which the Turks had strangely left I'M
guarded. Had the Russian generalship
been better, the main army might prob
ably have followed Gourko, and subse-
quent events would have taken differ
ent turn, and led to speedier conclu-
sion. AS it was, Gourko was obliged to
recross the Balkans, and then, growing
out of the attempts of the Turks to fol-
low him, ensued the series of terrible
battles for the possession of the Shipka
Pass, which the Russians finally sue
ceeded in holding. This was in July,
August and September.
The third critical period of the cam
paign in Bulgaria was that of the bat
ties around Plevna. The Russians,
once fairly across the Danube, and
pushing somewhat eagerly onward
uOWu dCIOsS Du1SdTld 10 CROSS Gne Dirk
ans, overlooked the presence of a large
Turkish force at Widdin, on their ex-
IRENE right. As they advanced this
force advanced, and they soon found
themselves menaced by it in their right
rear. The first battle of Plevna was
fought with the Russian intent of de-
stroying this menacing force. 1t was
a defeat for the Russians. A second and
bloodier battle was fought with the same
result. And then third, in which the
Russians were again defeated, and with
sorer loss than ever This brought the
campaign well into September. Under
the direction of the famous engineer,
Todleben, regular siege was now laid
to Plevna, and its surrender at last fol-
lowed, the date being the 10th of De-
cember. $50
The general outlines of the campaign
are very family drawn, and include, of
course, an infinite variety of marchings
and countermarchings, of engagements
ranging from battles of considerable
iOonortapoa IN tho clifrb% el-;rvo;eboe of