Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1913-01-01
Character Of the Bulgarian Sol
der Is Revealed.
One Man Tells Of Victory Over Turks
Won by PrIvates Disobeylno an
Order to Retreat - Soldiers
Devoted to Their Officers.

Sofia, Bulgaria.-ln order to explain
the phenomenal exploits OF the Bulga-
rian armies in their battles against
the Turk in Adrianople and Macedo-
MIA one must become familiar with the
character OF the Bulgarian soldier.
says correspondent. 1t Is but short
time since the Balkan war began. yet
many are the incidents that have
come to light which enable one to
Judge as to the caliber Of 1.-The man
behind the gun"
As I was passing the postofflce one
day I met some twenty men In worn
out uniforms. Several had their arms
In slings, one had his head bandaged
and couple OF them limped little.
I Joined them the moment l had as
sured myself that they were wounded
soldiers apparently cured and Just dis
charged from the hospital. The men
were very cheerful, but this is q strik-
ing characteristic of nearly all those
who have received injuries in the re-
cent great battles.
asked If they we're all wounded.
Eyes. all of US, Of course" answered
three Of them at the same time.
Would we have left the battlefield
! otherwise?" l found out upon inquiry
that several had received severe bull
let wounds Two showed me the very
bullets that had been taken from their
! bodies.
They ordered US to 60 home" one
of them said, but we are good enough
for another trial with the Turk II the
king wants us!"
In one of the hospitals I have a
friend who belonged to one Of the first
regiments that took part In the en-
gagements south OF Lozengrad (Kirk-
Kilisseh). Here is little story which
he told me that is typical Of the Bull
garian warrior:
Our regiment went too far into
the enemy's intrenchments when sud-
denly we saw ourselves nearly sur
rounded. Our commander gave the
order toSretreat. For the first time
since have been a soldier l heard
an order from superior that was not
obeyed. The order was repeated by
other officers, but the men showed no
inclination to obey it. Suddenly a
deafening cry Of "Ooraah!' was raised
and then a platoon of reserves led by
a lieutenant dashed ahead and shout
ed: Forward. boys! A Bulgarian sol
der knows no retreat. Ma vote
[charge bayonets]. Ooraah!'
I'm moment the blades on the
Mannlicher guns shone in the light
as the men rushed at their opponents,
who for an instant were stupefied at
the unexpecte6ness Of the attack. We
were pretty sure we were going to be
killed, for we were too few in number.
But God was good to us. The Turks.
though bloodthirsty and fierce. with
the knife, are exceedingly afraid OF
It; at any rate, they we're afraid OF
our Ma vote charge. Their right
tanks gave way before our attack and
after leaving third Of our men dead
In the field, mostly killed by the Turk.
lsh rapid firers, thus remaining in
trenched themselves in an evacuated
Turkish fertilization. s
II never believed l could be SO bru-
tai with the knife. One does not think
Of it when engaged in battle. A man
never thinks OF death under these cir
cumstances. Our disobedience to the
orders was a very grave one, indeed.
but there is always an exception to
the rule. Had We obeyed the COM
mand to retreat our comrades back OF
US would have thought we were cow
ards and we would have caused de-
moralization among our own men,"
The other day met a wounded off,
Ger. Greatly Interested in the war. l
requested him to tell me something
about his experience. "The only thing
I can tell you is this: That we officers
fall far below our soldiers in point Of