TURKEY. 



Bazouks, which represented the unorganized 

 Mii-t.-iti/ or l.iimlxtnriK. In addition to 

 tlu-M- toivi-x. :;ii,niiii regular troops had been 

 moved in May from Constantinople to sup- 

 PIV-H the Bulgarian insurrection, nf which 

 Abdul-Kei-im, tlie Minister of War, liad him- 

 self taken command. When the declaration of 

 war came, the Porte not only called out the 

 mlif of the first, but also that of the second 

 ban. and even drew a large number of troops 

 from all the Asiatic corps. The troops already 

 in Bulgaria were ordered to march still further 

 north, and Abdul-Keriin Pasha was mudecom- 

 niander-in-chief of all the troops operating 

 against Servia. 



In Servia, parts of the first ban had been 

 called out as early as April. In the latter part 

 of June the entire first ban was called out, and 

 early in July the entire second ban was also 

 ready for action. To these regular forces of 

 Servia there were added volunteer corps of 

 varying strength, which increased in time, of 

 these some, however, could be employed at 

 the outbreak of hostilities. These were most- 

 ly composed of Bosnians, Servians from Hun- 

 gary, Bulgarians, and members of other Slavic 

 tribes. Other countries were represented only 

 in a few cases ; even the Russians, who after- 

 ward took part in the war to such a consider- 

 able degree, were represented at the beginning 

 in a few isolated cases only. The first ban 

 was immediately moved to the frontier, and, 

 together with the regular army, was divided 

 into four armies, to which the second ban was 

 afterward added. In order to prevent the 

 Turkish gunboats on the Danube from attack- 

 ing Belgrade and other cities on this river, the 

 Servians intended to place torpedoes at the 

 mouth of the Timok. Austria, however, in- 

 terfered, and obtained from the Turks the as- 

 surance that they would not ascend the river 

 with their gunboats above the mouth of the 

 Timok, thus removing the necessity for the use 

 of the torpedoes. 



The four Servian armies were as follows : 

 1. The Army of the Drina, composed of the first 

 and second bans of the first division, and nu- 

 merous volunteer corps, principally composed 

 of Bosnians. It numbered about 20,000 men, 

 infantry and cavalry, and was under the com- 

 mand of General Alimpitch. 2. The Army of 

 the Ibar, composed of the first and second bans 

 of the division Western Morava, and volun- 

 teers from Southwestern Bosnia (Rascia), un- 

 der the Archimandrite Dutchitch ; this army 

 also contained about 20,000 men. 8. The 

 principal army, the Army of the South, was 

 placed under the command of General Tcher- 

 nayeff. It was composed of the first and sec- 

 ond bans of the division Southern Morava, and 

 of the first ban of the divisions Danube and 

 Shnmadiya, and had in all about 45,000 men. 

 4. The Army of the Timok was under the 

 command of General Lieshnnin, and consisted 

 of the first and second bans of the fourth divis- 

 ion, and several volunteer bodies, in all about 



20,000 men. This left available the second ban 

 of the fifth and sixth divisions (Danul 

 Shutnadiya) and the entire r<--i-r\r. On the 

 morning of July :Jd (Jem-nil Alimpiteh (-rouged 

 the Drina with fifteen battalions, leaxiiif.' the 

 second ban to guard tin; ri^rlit bank of the river 

 from its mouth to Liubovia, a distance of 

 eighty kilometres. The column of the right 

 wing landed at Popovo, put the Turkish ad- 

 vanced guards to flight, and was afterward at- 

 tacked in a neighboring woods. The column 

 of the left wing moved toward Janja, while 

 the centre marched directly toward Bielina, 

 soon encountering the Turkish fortifications, 

 against which it brought to bear the artillery 

 and infantry. The other two columns did not 

 arrive until two o'clock in the afternoon, when 

 the centre had been under fire for three hours. 

 The fire was kept up until five o'clock, when 

 the Servians proceeded to storm the town. 

 The right wing succeeded in entering the for- 

 tifications, and, without making any provisions 

 for holding the captured posts, pursued the 

 retreating Turks into the streets of the city. 

 Here the Servians were received by a well-di- 

 rected fire from the houses ; disorder began in 

 their ranks, and they in turn were driven out. 

 The disorder communicated itself to the cen- 

 tre, and Alimpitch was forced to retreat. He 

 succeeded in restoring order, however, and re- 

 tained a firm footing on the left bank of the 

 Drina. Here he began to fortify himself, and 

 gradually pushed his outposts nearer and nearer 

 to Bielina. He received in his camp large 

 numbers of fugitives from Bosnia, among 

 whom were a great many capable of bearing 

 arms. It was reported, although probably 

 with some exaggeration, that up to July 12th 

 he had organized 6,000 Bosnians. The Turks 

 at this time abandoned Little Zvornik, which 

 was immediately occupied and fortified by 

 the Servians, thus placing them in complete 

 possession of the right bank of the Drina. 

 Alimpitch remained quiet in his camp, and by 

 constant drilling succeeded in bringing his 

 division to a high degree of military useful- 

 ness. 



On the Timok, General Lieshanin assumed 

 the offensive on July 2d. The first ban of the 

 Timok division, and the " Holy Legion," a vol- 

 unteer body, were concentrated in and around 

 Saitchar, while the second ban held the entire 

 Timok line. On the morning of the 2d Gen- 

 eral Lieshanin crossed the Timok, with 6,000 

 men, into the Turkish territory, leaving over 

 7,000 men behind. He immediately took up 

 the line of march for Widin. In the neigh- 

 borhood of Karaul he encountered the enemy ; 

 and as his troops displayed great difficulty in 

 being managed, they were soon put to rout, 

 and in the evening he returned to Saitohar 

 with considerable loss. On the following 

 morning Osman Pasha crossed into Servian 

 territory, and immediately began to deploy 

 his troops. This the Servian cavalry sought 

 to prevent, but were forced to retire into Sai- 



