The Sunday herald., 1881-03-13
A BRILLIANT CAMPAIGN.
The Story of Gen. ShobeicT's Victory
over the TurkOWnus.

The Story of Gen. ShobeicT's Victory
over the Turkomans.
Sr. PETERSBURG, Jan. 2S.-Skobelef has
been promoted again, and is now iu general OF In,
iantry. lie was addressed &c High ENceency''
or the FIRST timeio day. Ia the Car sdcpach conerr
ngupon him the coveted decoration Uf the order OF 81
George ot the second class only seven other men
have it; the Czarewitch, Prince Mirgorodsky Counts
MIutn, Meikon, and Todleben, ana Gems Kant
man and Gourko.
Wishing to know the real that had Induced
the Cars government to undertake the hazardous
trans Caspian expedition In the teeth Of famine and
lack Of money, and In spite Of the pcrous results OF
Is In tho employ Of the Minister OF War The Colonc
said
"Invaslon, pilage, and murder, constantly COM
mtted 10y the Turkomans In our trans. Caspian terri
tory constantly given us an occasion FOR war. But
these hot the real explanation Of Gen. Skobecrs
expedition. In 1879 we suffered crushing defeat 1T
the hands Of the nomad tribes; they almost annihl-
lated our army, took our canhons, which they
mounted at Geok-Tepe and some other forts, and
seized our small arms which since they have used In
their assaults our trade caravans, and which re-
Gently did such murderous execution upon Gen,
Skohclen's soldiers Since our defeat In 1873 the
Turkomans have become more rapacious and boldef
than ever before. grave alternative presented IT.
self TO our government either to give w our trans
Caspian trade to destroy the nest OF the desperate
nonads, While this was being discussed, Gen.
SkobecH, being straightforward and bold In all his
ways, numerically censnred the Turkoman campaign
Of 1879, and made some very ypowerfuenemes These
thought that the best way to revenge themselves was
to give gen. Skobclel handful OF soldiers and send
him against the Tnrkolnans And so the present war
was brought about At first everybody here believed
that GEN Skobele too rash and atdacious to sue
cecd-beyond the Caspian. Happily he proved to he
his enemies mortified at his unexpected victory
The rurkomans are regarded rs the most warlike
and the boldcst Of al the natlcns OF Asia; Their
| hala, and khlya. Their number Is estimated at one
million They are divided into many different tribes,
ruled by the khans, or rather by their ancient GUS
tom, tddai,) which they hold higher than any law,
OWL or religious. They accept the Mohammelan
religion OF the SUM sect, and hate the Persans from
| the bottom of their hearts. The Turkomans lead
haf-nonad life They cultivate the soil In their
GASES At Geokrepe they raise cotton, rice, grapes,
and silkworms, and manufacture carpets. They lave
good pastures where they raise excellent horses,
move with their herds in order ind better pasture.
Their horses are very swift and tough enough to
| dure long journeys IN the desert.
Geol-1c and Merry are their principal oases and
fortresscs, being defended by thick clay walls from
fifteen to twenty feet high and about seven feet thick,
| surrounded by a wide ditch seven feet deep. They
are exceedingly fond of plage which they regard as
y mark of bravery, The Russlan, Persian. and
and the merchants murdered. 1t Is very hard, next
20 impossible, topurs,e and punish them. for the
wide desert provides them with safe retreat and
cape. But when their homes (kiJittd8) are threat
cncd with danger the nonads rush like desert storm
on their enemies, engage them in fight hand to hand,
and often remain victorious. So In 1861 they captured
the whole of the Persian army of %, 900 men, with
thirty three cannons, sent to seize the Nierv oasis
| They usually ensave their prisoners
| The political relations between Russia and the
rukolnans date back far as the timo of Peter the
iaans, tie Tinkomans applied to Russia for protec.
| tion, even showing readiness to be annexed to the
Gar country. But AS soon as the danger over
the nomaus would rob and murder the Russians who
| had come to their assistance.
The Geok-Tepe oasis Is Inhabited by about 200, 600
Iieopfc, OF whom about So 600 are grown males. No
| doubt 1t was hazardous undertaking for Gen. sko-
belief, with his ., 600 men and ify-iwo cannons 30
| meet such an enemy. But the Russian hero
equal to the emergency. lie knew well that In hand
hand fight his small army would be annlhilated.
rifle range. once before the fortress of Tepe,
the General relied npon ear,hworks under protection
of the sand sacks his men dug the mines on their
In hpt .pl. nnunt utnlt tn Ia vary
nest of the rapaclois nomads. one mastery stroke,
and one of the two stronghods OF the rurkomans fell
| under the Cars sceptre.
Nobody here denies the fact that all the trans. Cas-.
plan possessions of Russia as yet bring her only loss of
money and lives; yet 1t is evident that the Cars gov
ernment has made Its mind mp to hold on to them.
Lately trans Caspian cable has been laid from Baku
to Krasnovodsk. ON the eastern coast of the sea a
number of tor,sare garrisoned by Russian troops.
telegraph and railroad stretch one hundred yersts
from the There are hospitals, too provided with
costly steam machines for making Ice and disilling
water, for there is fresh water good for drinking.
Everything goes TO show that the Russians intend to
made a long stride toward India. No wonder, then,
that the German press has again taken up its task of
raising difficulties between Russia and England The
| National Zritung, for instance, again reminds Eng
land of the alleged saying of the Car that Russia
has no boundaries In ASIA
It is generally believed here that the Russian govern
ment desires to establish strong fortress In the
centre of the Tnrkonan territory In order to insure
the safety of the Russian merchants trading with Per-
sia, Iokhara, and khiva.
The reports of the Russian war correspondents are
fnll of alteration of Gen. skobelen lie achieved his
itsh III sHht vi Time ana Will u Sial
loss of life. He led his army through desert took
fortress, and dispersed An enemy ehfod his strength,
at the cost of fifteen officers killed and forty five
| wounded, and 223 men killed and 535 wounded
| Among the Russian generals there is dash
Ing and yet more prudent soldier than Gen. SkObe-
leK
| The provisioning of the army was very dincult
matter. The camels We're the only means of trans
| portaion. Several hundred Of them were bought
200 rOubes head and others hired (25 roubles per
month"; month Under such circumstances, the General
thought 1t would he AN inexcusable luxury to have
special provisions for himself and stalf, and he
subsised on the soldiers food. The General is a re-
| markable horseman; while reconnoiing he used To
| ride about seventy miles per day.
| The telegraph and the steam machine for making
Ice inspired the rurcomans with superstitOus awe
even more than the Berdans and the ARTILLERY. They
had many opportunities to destroy the telegraph and
yet they dared not touch 1t account of their fear
offending Shaytan tSatan, whom they believed to
work through u. They could not admit that any man
could make Ice by means of fire, and yet careful
examination of the ce-makng apparatus they could
not deny the fact. ''Shaytan Shaytan - they re-
peated with horror. Yet they drank the Ice water
when 1t was offered to then the temptation was too
strong TO be resisted.