The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1878-01-31
THE GRAND sORTIE.
Graphic Account OF Osman PaAha's At
tempt to Force the Russian Zines at
Flevna-A Desperate EatfIe-The

surrender
The grey light of morning came. It |
was cloudy, and threatened more snow. |
Suddenly there was the booming of |
thirty or forty guns speaking almost to- |
gether, followed instantly by that steady, |
crashing roll we have learned to know SO |
well. The battle had begun. The giant,
after defending himself Jour months,
hurting thunderbol5 after thunderbolt
upon his enemies, was now struggling
through the meshes he had allowed to be
thrown around him, and was in his turn
attacking the trenches and earthworks
which he had taught his enemies well to
defend. A terrible and sublime spectacle
presented itself to view. The country
behind Plevna is wide, open plain, into
which the gorge leading up to Plevna
opens out like a tunnel. The plain is
bounded on the Plevna side by steep,
rocky bluffs or cliffs, along whose foot
flows the Vid. From these cliffs for q
distance of two miles, burst here and
there in quick, irregular succession, angry
spurts OF flame that flashed and disaD-
peared and flashed out again. 1t was
the artillery fire of the Turks and Rus
slams, which from our point of view
appeared intermingled. The smoke, run
ming round in circle toward the Vid,
rose against the heavy clouds that hung
right up on the horizon, while low on the
ground burst forth continuous balls of
fame that rent the blackness of the
clouds like flashes of lightning. Through
the covering of the smoke could be seen
angry spits of fire thick as fire-fies on
tropical night. Now and then through
an irregular curving stream of fire we
had indistinct glimpses of bodies of men
hT1r To md hnv-coa
riages running across the plain, and
above all, the internal crashing roll of
| the infantry fire, and the ceep booming
of more than a hundred guns.
| This is what had happened: Osman
Pasha had during the night abandoned
all his positions from Grivica to the
Green hill, and concentrated the greater
| part of his army across the Vid, over
which he passed on two bridges, one the
old and the other the new one lately con-
structed. He took part of his artillery,
some three batteries, and train of about
five or six hundred carriages drawn by
bullocks. He succeeded in getting his
army, the artillery and part of the train
over by day
Indeed, the first thing the Russians
perceived when daylight broke was line
of wagons Drawn by bullocks advancing
upon them in close order across the
plain.
The Turks advanced as far as they
could under cover of their wagons, while
the Russians poured in a terrible fire on
them from their Berdan bTeech-lOaders,
scarcely less destructive than the Pea
body, and opened on the advancing line
with shell and shrapnel. The Turks
then did splendid deed of bravery, only
| Ill l.. IL ~
two famous redoubts. Probably finding
their cover beginning to fail them, owing
to the cattle getting killed or frightened
and running away, they dashed forward
with shout upon the line of trenches
held by the Sibrersky or Siberian regi
!, ment, swept over them like a tornado
poured into the battery, bayoneted the
. artiilerymen, officers and men, who witt
desperate heroism stood to their piece
, to nearly a man, and seized the whole
battery. The Sibrersky regiment hat
been overthrow and nearly annihilated
The Turks had broken the first circb
that held them in. Had they gone on the
! would have found two more; but the,
, did not have time to go on. The Rus
slams rallied almost Immediately and
, desperate hand to hand light ensued MAJ
7 TO man, bayonet to bayOnet, which is
said to have lasted several minutes
ending in q rout of the Turks and tn
recapture of the Russian guns.
q 1t was about half-past eight, and tn
Turkish sortie was virtually repulged
o but the battle ragged for four hour
longer. The Losses inflicted from thi
time forward were not great on eithe
side, for both armies were under cover
o The Turks were evidently apprehensiy
q that the Russians would charge an
e drive them back in a mass into the gorge
t The Russians were resolved to proven
Is another sortie, and so both sides kept
e up. For four hours the storm of lea
/, swept on, as one hundred guns sent fort
/, flame and smoke and iron. During a
n this time we were in momentarv expet
It tatiOn of seeing one side or the othe
a rush to the charge. We could hardl
II yet realize that this was to be the la.
is fight we should ever see around Pievni
e and that when the guns ceased firing
o was the last time we should hear the
n here.
e About twelve O'Clock the firing beea
se to diminish on both sides, as if by n.l
n tual agreement. Then it stopped e.
&c tirely. The rolling crash of the infal
lie try and the deep-toned believing of tt
Y, artillery were heard no mole. The smol
ar lifted, and there was silence--a silen,
re-. that will not lie broken here for MANY
lg long year, perhaps never again, by ii
" sounds of battle. The firing had n,
lg ceased more tran half an hour when
b. white flag was seen waving from the ros
he leading around the cliffs beyond Il
Ia bridge. Plevna had fallen, and Osms
It's Pasha wss going to surrende2. II
as white flag being boisted some of Il
Turks on the bridge walked forward, al
e, came on to us, some with guns hung ov
Is their shoulders, others with guns in the
tic hands.
er We thread our way cautiously ov
or the bridge, through broken carriages al
dead bodies of horses and cattle, and fiji
in ourselves among the Turks There a
Its several dead lying in the ditch besi
lie, the road. Some wounded are limpil
co along with US, going heaven kno,
whittier, and there are two sentine
ID standing in a trench overlooking t.
IN river, keeping theirwatch as though tn
wei elooking for an attack at any moner
IN As we advance tie crowd gets thick
to The Turkish soldiers, with guns and ba
at, onets in their hands, men at whom '
ne have been shooting, and who were shoe
~ ing at US two hours ago, some with
" savage expression, gaZ3 at us with
scowl but there are pleasant, intellige
ty faces also, who look at US with stea,
clear, inquisitive eyes.
ISL So Osman Gbsz surrendered unco
OF ditionaliy the gallant army with viii
u he had held this now famous strongbC
ut for so long, and with which he upset (
81. whole Russian campaign. and with viii
ne be defeated, in three pitched battl
Is Russia's finest armies.
a
ed ,Cr,,I,r,vD ToUZS
Ly- LEU A''1A ~ 'On h''
1o' "Reminiscences Of Robert Dale Owes