Litchfield enquirer., 1879-11-06

the approach Of the SOiulerS Sne escaped to tle mountains by path which she pointed out,
 taking with her two of her own children and another little girl whose father and mother were afterwards massacred After wandering in the mountains for many days, she, too, dis covered that her husband had fallen victim. This was only specimen of the stories which
 we heard at every step. One woman, with tears in her eyes said :-''Thank God that the Christians have remembered that we, too, are Christians that we are suffering, and that they have brought us relief We are very poor, God knows, for our all was stolen from us or destroyed but we will work and trust in God and help each other" This woman had Also taken to her home two orphans, and,
 commenting upon the fact,i General ScobieleH told her that it was the duty as we'll as the
 privilege of the poor to help each other at time when God sent misfortunes upon them. s'True" replied the woman land we do what we can for each other. We are happy now that we are free and shall never see the F Turks again" . ...t
 Time pressed and, our carriage having been repaired, we bade the women be of good cheer, while the General comforted the hearts of the children by free distribution of sugar bought from neighboring store in half ruin
 ed house, and we, took our departure from ill., fated Kalofer. Clearing the mountain retreat
 we descended by. steep path to the plain of the Tundza. Here we passed long stretches of neglected rose gardens, maze fields untitled,
 and rich farms innocent of the plough. Eve
 rywhere were signs of a population thinned by murder and rapine;-a sad commentary on the rule of the Turks and the terrible atroci- l ties which dsgraGed their last days of occupa- tion of a land as beautiful and fertile astthe garden of Eden. When, one regards all this, and reflects on the "ower true tales" heard ot massacre and outrage, wonder ceases at the firmly and almost fercely expressed determl- l nation of the Bulgarians that they shall have | freedom from the presence Of the Turks, or death As we advance the beauty ot the val | lev increases. Trees and streams, and rolling downs of rich alluvial soil -all that can consti 1 ute magnificent country-are here; while the mountain slopes which hem in the valley i are clothed with waving forests. On the way we pass beneath several triumphal arches ! crowned with crosses These had been erected | during Easter-tide for the passage of religious processons from one village to another. Pro- hiblted for hundreds of years from the public
 display of the symbol of their faith, the Bull garians, now that freedom has come to them,
 have childish delight in everywhere erecting
 crosses. After fording stream called the Ak | Dere we leave the great chaussee which leads I to Kazanlik, and strike northward and east wards towards the base of the Greater Balkans. 1 Here and there we pass patches of cultivated grounds and at last, in the fast-approaching | twilight, we reach the village of Bercerli en-
 bosomed among trees and surrounded by rose gardens Senovo was, however our objective point, and onward we pressed. The General l now stood up in the carriage, scanning the country on either side, and consulting map 1 in his hand. In the waning light the flicker of flames was seen at different points, denot- | ing the small encampments of refugees or the watch fires of solitary shepherds An almost
 oppressive stiffness reigned, broken now and again by the hoarse croak of countless frogs as we drove alongside Q marsh At last the l General said, II come to Senovo to pray for l the dead, and to take my last look at battle- | field which, if it brought us some glory, cost
 us so much blood. 'l have not seen It, !" he continued, 'since the eventful 18th of Decem- Der, 1S77-five days before Gourko's battles at Philippopolis." Again he atood up in the car rage, and eagerly scanned the contour of the | ground few minutes afterwards he raised his cap and, looking around and upwards, be- gan to recite in his sonorOus but musical voice a Russian poem. -...... ..--.. ...
 Sinultaneuusiy with this action a lark sprung 1 up from the meadow land in front and con- | menced his evening song.} Was 1t a.symbohc hymn which rose from that ''field of freedom,
 fame, and blood?' Turning suddenly to me,
 the General said, ''Here in this wood 1 posted | nine regiments of Cossacks to cover up my
 right flank; and there is the plain over which
 my devoted men, without single gun, ad-
 vanced against an enemy which Outnumbered them, and which moreover had l2O pieces of artillery ?, "it Is with great emotion" he
 went on, ':that look again upon this battle
 field. Many thousands of lives were lost there
 upon my responsibility as general" Again
 he took his cap, sighed, and in solemn accents recited Russian poem about death, After
 wards he explained to me that the poet pie
 tured the entrance to the tomb as terrible to
 the imagination at a distance, but that when
 face to face with it in 8 holy cause it lost all
 it's terrors and became the entrance to, heaven
 itself His voice rang with emotion, and his gestures, as he continued to repeat the lines,
 were characterized by d treliulous yet graceful
 animation, which told of the deep feeling that stirred his noble heart. ''lt Was" he said,
 ''the bloodiest'battles0f the war; 10, 700 brave
 Russian soldiers net their death on this field,
 and l5, 900 TElks.' And, turning with start
 ling emphasis said 'ht, Are you afraid to sleep over the graves of 25,o0O menY"'' With
 out waiting for reply, he went on, There are thousands of men, even brave men, who
 would nothave the courage. But We have no belief in the old ballads which tell us that the
 dead rise at twelve clock at night and bemoan
 their untimely fate" With a'qnick turn of
 thought, pointing to spot 5sop 4our left he
 
 position before1the' attack, shell burst literal ly under my horse,, and the smoke coming up
 almost suffocated me. My steed reared, and I thought for a moment that the end had come but God was good-my work was not yet done-ands! strange to say, neither my
 horse nor myself was harmed,' Onwards we
 went towards wood. At every step the General pointed out the dispositions which the troops had taken during the progress of; the
 battle; but maesof this anon !" tho oalKen, M t, ing night Cassaok met the carriage, and led tl,o way into the wood where twinkling lights discovered small encampment. Descending 1 from the carriage at the outskirts of the wood, ] the General, pointing to several mounds quot- ing Byron, said, There Slaughter heap'd on high his weltering ra9isss and, for ctheft time | throwing aside the melancholy gloom which had sat upon him during the last hour, he ad- l vanced with cheerful stride to General Schnit- | nikoff and the members of his staff, who had come to the Senovo wood to meet him, and had formed the encampment. 3' 1,+ z, .- | The manner in which General Scobielef was surrounded by all his officers, young and old, the greetings with which he was received, and the earnest inquiries made as to news, told of two things the love and admiration with which the young but brilliant soldier is regard ed by all. He is only thirty -fve-apd was a general at thirty y-One, commander of corps d'armee at thirty -four, and the victorious lead- CT in one of the greatest and most decisive bat ties of the campaign. In the second place, it spoke of the eagerness with which all desired to hear the verdict "'peace or war; which they knew General iScobieleff to bring as the result of the message from the Czar to the Bulgarian people delivered at Philippopolis by General Obroutcheff 9'As the Generals aide de camp handed to the assembled officers copies of the I Czar's peaceful proclamation, there could be no questioning the disappointment which it had created! Later in Lthetevening one of the officers, condemning in emphatic language all ! diplomacy, and especially that of .perfidious
 Cannot you see how this policy should stir us SO? For9twos years we have deluged this land
 with our blood. Our brothers are slain, our country has made enormous sacrifices, widows mourn, children weep, and fathers lament the
 loss of promising sons All this we would have borne with the patience which God gives 1 had the full freedom which we had won for