The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1855-10-30 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

THE WAR IN ASIA. DEFEAT OF THE RUSSIANS AT KARS. •  The special correspondent of the Daily News, writing from, Erzeroum, on the sth of October, says:—  Yesterday evening there arrived here an express with letters of the 30th of September, from Kars. The letters were written in the evening, and contained the intelligence, that on the morning of that day the Russians invested Kars on all sides in full force. The batteries at Kars opened a murderous fire on the besiegers. Three times did the Russians gain a footing in the Turkish entrenchments—and three times were they driven out by the Turks at the point of the bayonet, Colonel Lake distinguished himself in the contest, not only by his courage, but by his skill. It was he who drove the enemy from the Inglis Tabia. Eight hundred Russians were slain before a redoubt defended by four hundred Turks. The firing lasted seven hours and a half, when the Russians fled. The Turks performed prodigies of valour, and the European officers —Colonel Lake and Captains Teesdale and Thompson—distinguished themselves. Mr. Churchill, formerly attache of our embassy from Persia, and now secretary to General Williams, commanded at one of the redoubts, and showed himself a thorough Englishman. A postscript of a letter of the Ist instant, adds that the loss of the Russians is estimated at about eight or nine thousand killed or wounded. About four thousand corpses lie under the walls of Kars. The Turks are busied now in burying them. The enemy lost besides this a great quantity of stores, and about three hundred prisoners were taken, amongst whom were many officers. Four guns are said to have been taken. The loss of the Turks is reckoned at about 760 killed and wounded. This great battle, which had so fortunate a termination—thanks to the skill of the commander, General Williams—shows clearly enough that the Turkish soldier, when well led, is not only brave, but able to distinguish himself like the soldier of any other nation. At the same time, it must convince Europe in general, and the Turkish government in particular, that the latter has no good native officers, since, from the commencement of hostilities in Asia until the present moment, this is the only victory the Turks have gained, and this is owing to General Williams. When the Turks were under native commanders, they experienced nothing but defeats. I hope that by Tuesday we shall have other despatches from Kars. I will forward them without delay when they arrive. This evening I saw a letter written by a bey of Livana (Turkish Georgia). He says that Omar Pasha having concentrated his troops in Churuksu, had marched on Urzu;het, and that he had made himself master of the place without much difficulty. He received there a deputation from the Georgian nobility, who made their submission to the Porte in the name of the inhabitants of the district. According to this letter Omar Pasha was marching towards Akaltzick, for the purpose of making a diversion in favour of Kars, and of ultimately coming to the assistance of that city. This last news tallies with that contained in letters received the day before yesterday, which say that Omar Pasha has communicated with the Muchir in Kars, telling him to maintain his position for twenty days, at the expiration of which he would be at Kars with his army. He must be near there by this time; and it would be most fortunate if he should arrive in time to cut off the retreat of Gen. Mouravieff, and be able to invest Alexandropol.—P.S. Not one of the European officers at Kars was killed or wounded.