The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1878-01-02
OSNAN PASHA,S BRAyERY.
The Sort OF a Man il Was That We Once
Thought am American
London Telegraph's Correspondent at Plev-

al
Osman Pasha's example had, doubtless, a
great deal 10 do with the manner in which
The fight was maintained. He was always
with his men in the thickest OF the
danger when occasion needed his tent was
always in full view of the enemy, and very
frequently under shell fire. When they had
tobacco he smoked, and when they had not
he refrained. His tent was almost as cheer
less as their trenches-very little more com
fort do not think he ever slept more than
two or three hours at time. They were
sure he was up in the night as well as in the
day, but they never knew When he might
come among them. Not man ventured to
finch from his post except on those
occasions when, under very heavy fire.
officers threw themselves on the ground TO
avoid passing storm of shot and shell and
then Osman Pasha beat them with his own
hand in the presence of the troops. The
aides.de-camp were nearly all killed or
wounded; their work was extremely ar
duoUs and dangerous. During the fighting
which lasted from the 5th to the 18th of
September | saw five of Osman's staff
killed or severely wounded. and | am only
amazed that all were not equally unfor-
tunate. The commandments OF the tabias
were, in fact, nearly all killed or wounded.
Similarly with the pashas who commanded
various points of the position. Hassan
Pasha (now in ConstantinopleC was shot
through the leg. Ahmed Pasha was killed;
Safvet Pasha received bullet in the arm,
and Emin Pasha one in the head
Devoted and brave as a lion it often sur
prised me that Osman was not killed. Mind
tul always of his own duty as a responsible
general, he never forgot that the peril into
which he had brought his gallant troops
should at least be shared by himself. In
the most critical moments of the engage
ment he was always with his men, en-
couraging them to do their utmost: and
not only by word of mouth but by
actual entry into the fight, throwing the fine
spirit into the defenders which sustained
them so many months. l remember one
night-it was past IL o'clock, and all the
camp had retired some three hours to get
what rest we could, for we were in the habit
of snatching repOSe whenever we had an
opportunity fierce attack was made on
the Gravltza redoubt, which was not
then in the hands of the RoumanIans.
The firing was no sooner heard than
out came Osman, and with him Ahmed the
Arab pasha-a find old artillery general who
| hope is yet aliye-and away they rode TO
the fight. My duty was to accompany them,
but | was scarcely prepared for what they did.
Riding direct to the front they each formed
battalion for attack. and then led the two
lines to the charge against the place whence
blazed out the quick flashes of the Russo
Roumanian rifles The soldiers knew that
the foremost man was 6man, and they
cheered for the mushir with such heartlness
that the Russians did not wait to see what
sort of force was coming, but bolted away
in the darkness, leaving some five hundred
of their number on the ground. Then OSman
and his colleague came back and rode quietly
to their tents, the marshal cheeriully
remarIing that he thought the Rus
slams would not care to repeat
that experiment again. But every man
in the place had tale TO tell of Osman's
bravery. They say that when he led the
Turks against the Russians in those early
August days, before he had gained the posi-
ton he subsequently so calamity held, he
nerved his twenty-three slender battalions
against the enemy by displaying extraordi-
nary personal bravery. The fight, which
believe has been sensatiOnally de-
scribed from the other side as one in
which some 60,O00 turks were engaged. was
in reality maintained by mere handful of
men against couple of Russian army corps.
Hour after hour the enemy essayed to drive
0sman back, and at length, as the DAY wore
on and the pasha saw still fresh regiments
of Russians coming into the field, am
tod that throwing himself in the
thick of the battle he tired-as tears
of mingled rage and despair flowed
from his eyes-to gain an honorable death
in the midst of his gallant troops. He
thought they must all be killed, and he
wished to die with them. We know the re-
suit. How the startled Russians, unused to
such deeds of valor, broke and ran. For the
truth of this story had the word OF man
who did not live many moments after its
narration, and who may be said to have told
it with his dying breath.
Osman seemed to bear a charmed life.
Once or twice | was with him when furi-
Gus attempt was made by the Russians to
destroy him, they having evidently had his
tent pointed out by some Bulgarian spy; ana
| well recollect on one such occasion, when
| bouquets of six shells were thrown twice a
minute at the little hill, how, with quiet
smile. he took up the camp stool on which he
had been sitting and saying Ma maison, with
| a view to Indicate what he thought the enc
my were aiming at, walked slowly 10 an
| other little hill some 30 yards away, and
there, sitting down under tree, watched
the fall of the shells they came in and
burst. Once or twice, too, when l had been
| in the outer works and came back, learned
that some stray shell had either fallen close
| to the marshal and not burst
or had passed close by him and
killed one of his horses, or some such incl
dent as that. He has always been nearly
| killed. So many fortunate escapes led US to
hope that he would yet get through un-
harmed. for we had seen him in all kinds OF
| danger-now leading the foremost in charge
or quietly experimenting the fixing of
the uprights for some new earthworks,
the while that the enemy's shell plunged
and burst all round the little party that was
helping the marshal with his Notifications.
He was the handspring of their defense, and
| whatever they had achieved had been owing
to his splendid soldiershlp. more gallant
| defense was never made; IL was
| only by the most logged re-
sistance that the position was held
against the masses of men whom the Rus
| slams and ROumanians hurled against it;
| and when all is known of those later days OF
starvation and desperate fighting, story
will be told for which history produces no
parallel.
Richmond Independent: The street com
| missioner is required to make returns to the
/ CITY authorities in regard to the amount of