Thomas W. Knox

“ Schahofskoy made better progress than did Krudener, the former being well up to the Turkish front, while the latter was still pounding away at the longest range of his artillery. Schahofskoy grew impatient and ordered an assault.
Away went the Russian infantry in a solid line, straight for the Turkish defences. The Turkish artillery plowed the advancing line with shells, and though numbers of men fell, the advance was steadily maintained. The Turkish artillery is supported by that of the Turkish infantry, to which the Russians reply, and the roar of the musketry is terrific and continuous. ”

“ There was nothing for the Russians to do but send for reinforcements, and wait until they arrived. The advance into Turkey had received a severe check, from which recovery was not easy. From the offensive the Russians were thrown upon the defensive, and all as the result of a single battle of six or eight hours' duration. Happily for Russia, the Turkish army had no competent leader, or the army of the Czar might have been captured or drowned in the Danube. The Turks had three armies in the field, with an aggregate strength of more than 150,000 ”

“ The cavalry of the Russians was superior to that of the Turks, both in strength and efficiency. A division of cavalry was attached to each army corps, and in every cavalry division there was a full regiment of Cossacks. The Cossacks are the same that they have been through all the wars of Russia, irregular troops serving without pay, their service being given in place of taxes. The men are the owners of the horses they ride, and also of their clothing and equipments, their arms being furnished by government. ”

“ The Russians retired to Nicopolis, and the Turks set to work to strengthen Plevna, as they realized that the Russians would speedily attempt its capture.
A few days sufficed to put Plevna in condition to resist attacks, as the Turks are adepts in the construction of fortifications. Careful students of the military operations in Bulgaria in 1877-78 say that the Turks far excelled the Russians in this line of work; the Turkish soldier fights far better behind entrenchments than in the open field, while the matter of protection does not make a great difference to the Russian. ”

“ Generally speaking, there were three lines of defence, one within the other, so that if the Turks should be driven from the outer line, they would by no means be conquered. The bastions bristled with guns and swarmed with men, and in the little plain at the edge of the town, Osman Pasha had a reserve of 20,000 men, which he could move in any desired direction. South of the town runs the road to Loftcha, and it was this road which Skobeleff was appointed to watch. ”

“ The Turkish fire was slow but steady; the Turks did not seem inclined to be in a hurry, and they evidently felt that they could afford to let the Russians pile tons and tons of iron inside their works, and add the solid masses of metal to the earth which formed the bastions and redoubts.
Since the repulse of Krudener and Schahofskoy on the 30th of July, Osman Pasha had greatly strengthened the defences of Plevna. When Krudener's assault failed there were no fortifications on the Grivitza knoll east of Plevna, nor on the Krishin heights a mile and a half southwest of the town. ”

“ The revolted provinces were overrun by Turkish troops, and though they fought bravely the armies of the insurgents were conquered. The most horrible reprisals were taken on the villagers throughout Bulgaria and Servia, especially in the former. Men, women, and children were ruthlessly slaughtered by the Turks or by their irregular cavalry, known as "Bashi-Bazouks." Hundreds of villages were wiped out of existence; the inhabitants, without regard to age or sex, being killed or driven away, and the houses burned to the ground. ”

“ Skobeleff was on the flank of the left attack with one brigade of Cossacks, a battalion of infantry, and a battery, to watch the line between Plevna and Loftcha, and prevent a movement of the Turks for outflanking Schahofskoy. General Lazareff occupied a similar position on Baron Krudener's right to prevent a flanking movement in that direction. The odds against the Russians were very great, as they were inferior to the Turks in number, while the latter had the advantage of fighting behind defences and their arms were superior to those of the Russians. ”

“ They are probably the finest light cavalry in the world, and the amount of marching they can do is something astonishing. Horses and men can undergo an amount of fatigue that would paralyze any other horsemen in the world with the possible exception of the North American Indians and the Guachos of South America. The Cossacks are fine riders, and their horses are trained to lie down at the word of command and remain perfectly still, while their owners fire over them in repelling a real or imaginary attack of the enemy. ”

“ If a Russian does not wish to tell you any thing he will be exasperatingly courteous under all your interrogatories, but the extraction of the information is far more difficult than the historical process of drawing sunbeams from cucumbers. ”

“ Russia has been for a century and more the champion of the Christian populations groaning under the Turkish yoke, and her wars with Turkey have grown out of her sympathy for the suffering Christians of that country and its dependencies. ”

“ With these reinforcements went 460 pieces of artillery with the necessary ammunition, and the railways were taxed to the utmost of their ability for the transport of provisions and material of war. The militia were incorporated into the old regiments to take the places of the men whose bodies were rotting on the slopes of Plevna, the Turks taking no trouble to bury their enemy's dead. General Gourko took up his position in the Shipka Pass whence Suleiman Pasha sought in vain to dislodge him, losing far more men than the Russians lost in the same time. ”

“ Russia is said to have lost nearly 100,000 men in the campaign of 1877-78, and to have expended not less than £120,000,000. The cost of the war on the Turkish side, both in men and money, is said to have been about three fourths that of the Russians, but the exact figures have never been published on either side. ”

“ It was taken about six o'clock in the afternoon, and Skobeleff sent immediately for reinforcements, but they never came. All through the night he retained his position, and in the morning he was heavily assailed by masses of Turkish infantry, who advanced under cover of the artillery fire from the Krishin redoubt. The Turks were repulsed, but they returned to the assault as soon as they could re-form and fresh troops could join them. Five times did they attack Skobeleff's rapidly diminishing forces, and five times were they driven back. ”

“ The night was very wet and the troops could not begin their advance before six o'clock in consequence of the ground being heavily soaked. In all there was an attacking force of about 32,000 infantry, with three brigades of cavalry, and 160 guns. Baron Krudener held the right, with the whole 31st division in his fighting line, and three regiments of the 9th division in reserve. He was to assault in two columns, with a brigade in each column, and fall upon the Turkish left flank from Grivitza towards the Vid River. ”

“ It was a useless slaughter of brave men, with scarcely a hope of success.
Meantime Skobeleff had pushed his reconnaissance towards the Loftcha road, getting possession of the Green Hills after considerable hard fighting. He obtained a position whence he could look into Plevna and see the force that the Turks still held in reserve, a force sufficient to take the offensive and follow up the Russians so vigorously as to make doubtful the escape of Schahofskoy's shattered battalions. ”

“ The Siberian regiment was almost annihilated, and had it not been for the promptness of the Russian generals, who immediately brought up the first brigade of grenadiers, the attempt to break the Russian investment might have succeeded. ”