The Sun. — 1854-09-12 (London, England)

THE BATTLE OF KURACKDERE.  The following interesting letters have been received from the seat of war in Asia :  " KARS, Ang. 7.—1 have at length to report a great battle and a shameful defeat.  " My last letter, containing only an account of some recent skirmishes and fresh illustrations of Zarif Pasha's utter unfitness for the post which he here fills as Commander-in-Chief of the army, was more than half written when an advance of the Russians towards our camp set everybody in motion, and myself among the rest. This was on Friday hat. On came the hostile battalions in formidable and imposing orders across the plain which separates the two camps, their artillery, infantry, and cavalry being clearly distinguishable as they rapidly. advanced. On reaching the mid distance between their• own and the Turkish outposts, they halted, in seeming. expectation that their apparent offer of battle would be accepted b s the Mushir, but, this being declined, after, an hoar P r two's delay they slowly returned to their own tents, aToi we in the Turkish camp added another to our already -numerous imprecations loud and deep' at this see,Aingly fresh instance of Zarif Pasha's cowardice. The interruption, short as it had been, put it out of my peaver to finish my half-written despatch and forward it ha time for Monday morning's post from Erzerount ; and accordingly, breathed a supplemental blessing' on the author of our disappointment, At that time, however, I knew not the special cause of the Turkish general's refusal to accept the proffered challenge ; but a few hours later I and the rest of the many' learnt that this time it had a justifying reason, and was to be followed forthwith by action on his own part. " For the sake of completeness in my narrative of what followed, it is necessary to mention that on the 3d inst. an aide-de-camp arrived from Bayazid with the double intelligence of the defeat of 8,000 Turks under Selim Pasha (do not confound him with the commander of the same name on the coastof Circassia), by asuperior force of 11,000 Russians, and of the advance of a body of the enemy 8,000 strong upon Erzeroum. With reference to the former piece of news, I may intuition that this defeat, which cost the Turks, 1,800 men in killed, wounded, and prisoners, resulted directly from the disobedience of the commander to certain ,explicit orders sent from this by Khourschid Pasha (Co syon). The latter general had directed Selim Pasha to stand entirely on the defensive till the occurrence of a specified and expected movement of the enemy; but " 'rise in his own conceit," the Turk—like many others of his fellows—set at nought Guyon's instructions, attacked the Russians, and suffered the predicted consequence of a defeat. But this news was of less moment than the reported advance apon Erzeroum, which was soon confirmed by the arrival of spies and scouts, who affirroed that the hostile division had already reached Toprakalti, and what was of greatest importance of all--Ras a portion of Bebutoff's army (our neighbours at Hadjiveiekey), which was intended to attack us in the rear, while Bebutoff himself fell upon us in front with thee remainder of his force. llere was startling news for Zarif Pasha and his fellow-imbeciles. Their flurry , 'and alarm were amusing to witness. What was to be done ? The Mushir himself, unable to conceive a step in any direction, called together his Turkish generals and besought counsel ; but their suggestive faculties were little clearer or more lively than his own. Pasha This proposed one thing, which Pasha That declared to be suicide and advised something else, which in its turn was overruled by Pasha The other, who denounced both plans as certain to end in defeat, and yet was unable to suggest a third. Orthodox advisers, therefore, failing to get him out of his difficulty, tie Mushir at last was driven to the unwelcothe necessity of falling back upon his fist-flier resBort —Guyon. Thls general had already seen at a glance the only courseieuggested by the circquee of Bebutoff ; and an immediate Tree rc.uttsnacsktaunpceosn, thane d onsnocwweeqaulecenntledy then, after its defeat, a similar coarse in reference to the column which was behind towards Erzeroum. Taken attack tmheakßeussians at dawn a night march thus in turn, there could be no reasoaable doubt as to the destruction of both. This was on the evening of ttlhiaet3ds.ameGunyiognh't, Guyon's planan wasto of the 4th. The nervous Commander-in-Chief, with a faint heart and sinking pulse, agreed to the proposal, but declared that its execution must be put off till the 6th, as the 4th and sth were unlucky days in the Turkish calendar, being in the sign of the Ram or Crab, or some equally fatal and not-to-be-thought-of conjunction. It was in vain that General Guyon endeavoured to override this superstitious objection. Zarif Pasha had made a wonderful concession in consenting to a fight at all ; but the Ram and Crab were considerations not to be yieded Sunday, the to any amount of argument or persuasion Khourschid Pasha. could call to his aid, and so the attack upon the 6Rtuhs. o Russians was finally Friday, sdaay , as already fixedfor thementioned, a tidoanwedn, of enemy appeared I were allowed to exhibit themselves to no purpose, "Accordingly, on the evening of the sth it became known in the camp that the Mushir had at length " screwed up his courage to the sticking place," and that sunrise on the following Morning would witness a trial of strength between the two armies. He himself rode through the camp personally to communicate his intention and encourage the men, who heard the news gladly. Ammunition was distributed, on the backs of mules, from the magazine to the various regiments; arms were individually " looked to," and little groups were assembled at all points in eager and seemingly confident discussion of the probable result of the coming fight. At the evening parade, the cries of "Long live • the Sultan" were given with such a strength of lung as the bills around Hadjivelekey had never eohoed before, and the men retired to their tents to eat their—to many their last—pilaff in spirits of uproarious satisfaction with the morrow's prospect. Khourschid Pasha's plan was, that the army should march an hour or so after sunset, so has to have the benefit of the moonlight en. 'Mae, and be ready to make the attack at early dawn. The importance of this was forcibly impressed upon the Mushir, but his evil genius--or, in plainer phrase, hie stupidity—could not sufficiently perceive it to secure his attention to it, and the appointed hour came, but brought no order for the troops to move. This was blunder No. 1, and its fruits will be seen in the sequel. "For a novelty during the last fortnight, the night wan c J 1 sad aloud**, and tile 010911 clew awl Way