Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1886-05-14
THE PERSIAN ARMY.
The Help 1t Could Give England In Wa
with Russia.


with Russia.
] have OF late been surprised ~ at the
orderly regularity of their camps; (2)
ut the fair show of discipline and neat
mess OF dress when on duty; (3) at the
cleanliness of their rifles, which in tho
regular army are all brcech-loadcrs
though not of the b"st and latest pat
terms; (4) at the intelligence and smart
ness Of some Of their officers. There il
now 4 military college ut Tcheran, at
which the superior class o, officers ars
instructed in branches of military edu-
cation similar to tloso taught ut most
European military academies. The in
terror cltss 81 officers is drawn in the
main from the middle or lower graccs
Of the Persian people, and is asa'ulc by
no means highly educated. Many of
them, however, ar1 capable and intelli-
gent; though others, and, | fear, the
majority, are the very reverse. This
class never, or hardly ever, rises above
the grade of Yawar or Major. There
are 50 battalions OF Persian infantry.
each nominally l,0J0 strong. Perhaps
we may be not far wrong IL we assume
the actual average strength of each TO
b. 800, thus making a total of 4J,OO0
The Shah has only three regiments OF
regular cavalry, drilled AMI disciplined
by Russian officers on the Cossack sys-
tom. He has ut Tcheran several bat
terics of artillery (guns of modern
make) also under European officers,
while scattered over his kingdom are u
collection of antiquatcd pieces OF ord
nance worked by artillerymcn more
or less proficient in the duties thcy are
allied on to perform. To the above
may be added an almost unlimited
number of irregular cavalry, but very
indiffcrently armed. Their arms are
their weak point. They are good
horscm.n, well mounted on horses
capable of enduring much hard work,
and are entirely Independent of trans
port and commissariat. Amore mobile
force couk not be found, and, COM
posed as it is of Kurds, Turks, Bakhti-
arts, Hazaras, Jamshidis, and all the
best and bravest lighting element Of
Persia, one not to be despised. But it
must be better armed in time of war.
That portion of the Persian army which
il under the Zill-us-Sult;rn at lsfahan
has good name for drill, discipline,
and general efficiency. All considered,
then, we should DO justified in placing
somewhat greater faith in the efficacy
of Persian military resources than most
recent writers have displayed. would
not argue that Il Russian corps darmee
marching on Teheran would be likely
to find the Persian forces more than q
match for it; but in the event OF u war
between England and Russia 1t would
be a great advantage to the former il
the latter were obliged to dctach a
corps darmec, whether to watch the
Persian frontier or to repel n Persian
attack. Moreover, with a hostile Persian
on her right flank, the operations OF
Russia from the Caspian via Askabad
and Sarakhs against Herat would be,
II not paralyzcd, at least seriously ham,
pered. Let not, then, England despisc
Persian allilnce. But, be it remem-
bercd, that alliance will be conditional
upon the successful debarkation OF a
British army in the Caucasus-which
means Turkish cooperation - and
probably, also on the presence Of q
powerful force from India at Herat.-
National ReUietD.