The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1881-03-10
The Tekkes as Soldiers.

viii charge them extra. Pittsburgh
Leader.
The Tekkes as Soldiers. s'~
The Tekke is man of war. He is
as rule, tall, we'll built fellow, with
a swarthy face, beard as black as coal,
dark, shaggy eyebrows, small, glisten.
/ ing black eyes, with sword held in his
teeth and pistols in either hand. 1t is
counted sin for him to leave his dead
comrades behind him. The more he
carries from the battlefield the more
hours he receives in paradise. Often
he dashes himself upon the enemy and
uses his sword till he is killed. Often
he conceals himself in straw upon the
field and deals deadly bulletsal around.
When discovered and dragged out,
though already covered with wounds,
he starts up and fights till he is cut to
earth. His martial qualities were never
so thoroughly tested by the Russians as
on this very battle ground of Geek
Iepe. Rarely were soldiers more GER
tain of success than those whom Iona
kin had led to its walls in the autumn
of 1879. They had held a church pa
rade and performed mass in honor of
General Lazareff. They were full of
spirit and sang impromptu Russian airs,
one of them being about the Tekkes and
beginning All, you rascals; the Turks
we have threshed, and now we come to
pay you out ALSO The officers dis
cussed their plans and saw themselves
already in Merv. AT the word of COM
mand they marched in full fighting or
der, when dispatch was brought from
the staff that the Tekkes were showing
| themselves. Shouts were raised, rifles
were examined and revolvers loaded.
A troop of horsemen bore down on them.
Masses of Tekkes, many in white
turbans or huge black BUSHES, and
having a curved sword or double-b bar
relied gun in their hands, dashed Wild
ly upon the square. but gave way be-
fore the artillery and fled back to the
desert. The Russians advanced to the
high walls before which they are fight
ing to-day. In front of them was a
deep fosse, defended by hosts of Tekkes
Beyond were riflemen, aiming steadily
and well. To the left were Cossacks,
the mountain battery being behind and
firing at distance of less than six hum
| dred yards into the encampment. The
native women and children, on camels,
were trying by two roads to get away
| from the aoul. Men ran behind with
| children around their necks. The
mothers threw themselves at the feet of
Russian horsemen and taking the
| babies from their breasts begged pite-
ously that they might be spared. Their
screams made an awful medley with the
roar of the cannon and crack of rifles.
| They were turned back to the encamp-
ment by order of the commander.
Then the Fourth Battery signaled, the
trumpets sounded the attack and
the troops with officers in front,
| rushed on with cheers The
| troops hurried pelimell to. the, bat
teries, the enemy swarmed on the wall,
| the imam in the minaret of the mosque
summoned the faithful and the artillery
poured volleys into the aoul. The Rus
slams singing songs. crossed the six-foot
, fosse, and clampered on one another's
backs to get into the battery. At that
moment there started from the earth,
as though by magic, thousands of des-
perate Tekkes. The Russians were
stunned by the desperate onslaught.
Looking to the rear, they saw
not a single reserve behind them.
Giving way to the mass of
Tekkes, they fell back. From the
walls women threw stones and boiling
water upon them. The nomads, led by
that son of Nur Berdi Khan who leads
them to-day, encountered the pick of
the Caucasian army. A hand-to- hand
tight ensued. Not soldier or officer
remained unengaged. The Russians
fought desperately, using the sabre and
revolver. A sapper, disarmed by two
Tekkes, threw himself upon one, was
dragged to earth, and then only was
killed by the other. An ensign formed
ring about him of the nomads who
fell under his revolver. He was then
nearly cut to pieces. To the right of
him the commander, bearing the flag of
the Sheryan regiment, was killed by
bullet in the chest. The Russian bay
onets kept the Tekkes off. Seeing this
two of the latter threw themselves
against the line and drew the bayonet
towards their own bodies and thus al
lowed their comrades to slip in through
the broken formation and sabre the en-
envy. Many flung themselves upon the
mountain battery. Eleven were killed
in front of one Of the guns. How the
battle ended nobody exactly knows.
The attacking party was about 1900
men; the Tekkes Ii, 900. In the evening
all the Russians were gathered inside the
tdager and it was found that they had
lost l61 men killed and 272 wounded.
Among the Tekke slain was younger
brother of Nur Berdi Khan, and the re-
nowned warrior Kara-Batiri. They |
had not given their lives in vain. Be-
fore the end of the month the Russians
were retracing their steps toward the
Caspian, in the mood of Napoleon's |
troops retreating from Moscow. 90
A Wild Traveller OF the Skies.