The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1881-05-31
The Tekkes AZ Soldiers.

Inc Iekkc Is u man of war. lie is, as
a rule, tall, well-bmlt fellow. with a
swarthy face, beard as black as coal, dark,
shaggy eyebrows, small, glstcning black
eyes, with a sword held in his teeth and
pistols i'll either hand. 1t Is counted sin
to leave his dead comrades behind him.
The more he carries from the battlefield
| The moro hours he receives in paradise,
| Often he dashes himself upon the enemy
and uses his sword till he is killed. Often
he conccals himself in straw upon the field
and deals deadly bullets all 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
ny the Russians as on this very battle
ground Of Gcok Tcpc. Rarely we're soldiers
more certain of success than those whom
Lomakln had led to its walls in the autumn
OF 1879. They had held a church parade
and performed mass in honor Of General
| lIazareff. They were full of spirit and
sang impromptu Russian airs, one of them
being about tho Tekkcs and beginning
"Ah, you rascas; the Turks we have
!hrcshcd, and now we come to pay you
out also. The officers discussed their
! plans and saw themselves already in Merry.
Al the word OF command they marched IN
lull lighting order, when disp itch was
brought from the staff that the Tekkes
were showing themselves. Shouts were
| raised, rifles were examined and revolvcrs
| loaded. troop Of hOrscmor bore down
on them. Masses Of Tekkcs, many in white
turbans or huge black BUSHES, and having
curved sword or double barrelcd gun IN
their hands, dashed wildly upon the square,
but gave way before the artillery and flcd
back to the desert. The Russians advanced
to the high walls before which they are
lighting to-day. In front of them was n
deep fossc, defended by hosts Of Tekkcs.
'eyohd were rltlcmcn, aiming steadily and
well. TO the left were Cossacks, the
the mountain battery being behind and
firing at Il distance of less than six hundred
yards into the cncampmcnt The native
women and children, on camcls, were try
| ing by two roads to get away from the
| aoul. Men ran behind with children around
| their nccks. The mothers threw them
selves AT the feet Of Russian horscmcn and
| taking the babies from their breasts begged
piteously that they might be spared. Their
screams made All awful medley with the
| roar or tho cannon and crack OF rifles
They were turned back to the encampnlcnt
ny order OF the commander. Then the
Fourth Battery signalcd, tho trumpets
sounded the attack and tho troops with
officers in front, rushed on with cheers.
| The troops hurried pcllmcll to the batteries.
| the enemy swarmed Oh the wall, tho imam
| III the minaret of the mosque summoned
the faithful and the artillery poured vollcys
into the aoul. The Russians singing songs.
crossed tho six-foot fossc, and clambcrcd
on one anothcr's backs to get into the
| battery. At that moment there started
from the earth, as though by magic, thous-
ands Of desperate Tekkcs The Russians
"o,o ot' 4, .cd Wy tho tho Loor o-ato -.,ol.u,,ht
Looking 10 The rear, they saw not Il SINGLE
reserve behind them. Giving way to the
mass of Tckkcs, they fell back. From the
walls the women threw stones and boiling
water upon them. The nomntIs, led by
| that son OF Nur Bcrdi Khan who leads them
| to-day, encountered the pick of the Cau-
| casslan army. a hand-tO. hand fight cnsucd.
Not soldier or officer remained unengagcd
| The Russians fought desperately, using
the sabre and revolver a SapDcr disurmed
by two Tckkes, threw himself upon one
was dragged to the earth, and then only.
was killed ty the other An ensign formed
q ring about him of the nomads who tell
under his revolver. lie was then nearly
Cut to pieces. TO the right of him tho
commander, bearing the flag of the Sbcrvan
regiment, was killed by bullet in the
chest. The Russian bayonets kept the
Tekkcs OF. Seeing this TWO of the latter
throw themselves against the line and drew
the bayoncts towards their own bodies and
thus allowed their comrades to slip in
through the broken formation and sabre the
enemy. Many flung themselves upon tho
mountain battery. Eleven we're killed in
front cf one Of the guns. How the battle
ended nobody exactly knows. The attack
ing party was about 1900 men; the
rckkcs $4,000. In. the evening all the
Russians were gathered inside the taugc,
and it was found that they had lost l6l
men killed and 272 wounded. Among the
Ickkc slain was younger brother OF Mar
Bcrdi Khan, and the renowned warrior
Carn-3aliri They had not given their
lives in vain. Before the end OF the month
the ltuss!ans were retracing their steps
toward the Caspian, in the mo od OF Napo-
Icons troops rcticatlng from Moscow.