764 



TUEKEY. 



tchar. Lieshanin, who feared to have his line 

 of retreat cut off, finally ordered the fortifica- 

 tions on the right bank of the Timok to be 

 abandoned. The Servian loss on these two 

 days was said to have been over 1,800 men, 

 a great number of whom were killed, while 

 the loss of the Turks is estimated to have 

 been far greater by some as much as double 

 that of the Servians. But although Ostnan 

 Pasha continued to harass the Servians, even 

 as far south as Belgradshik, he did not intend 

 to, nor could he, follow up his victory in the 

 proper manner ; for the principal Turkish 

 army was as yet by no means in the condi- 

 tion to sustain him in any forward movements 

 that he might make, and, besides, he was ex- 

 pecting a. large addition to his forces. General 

 Lieshanin had received, as early as July 7th, 

 a full brigade as reinforcements. 



General Zach, on the Ibar, crossed the bound- 

 ary on difficult mountain-paths at Javor, in- 

 tending to march upon Sienitza ; on his right, 

 Dutchitch was to disturb the region of Nova- 

 Warosch, while on his left Colonel Antitch 

 was to capture Novibazar, and, if possible, to 

 threaten Mitrovitza, the terminus of the rail- 

 road from Salonica. On July 6th General Zach 

 encountered a Turkish brigade under Mehemet 

 AH Pasha, who occupied a very strong posi- 

 tion before Sienitza. He boldly attacked the 

 Turks, although having considerably less men 

 at his command than the latter; but his losses 

 were very great, and he himself was wounded, 

 so that he was finally forced to retire to Ser- 

 vian territory. Colonel Antitch advanced as 

 far as Novibazar, fortified himself opposite to 

 it, and then began to bombard the city and its 

 works, without, however, effecting much ; but 

 as Novibazar was but poorly garrisoned, he 

 succeeded in maintaining his positions. On 

 his left flank he had sent out a scouting-party 

 toward Mitrovitza. This party, although dis- 

 turbing the country considerably, was too weak 

 to capture Mitrovitza, or to prevent the dis- 

 embarkation of Turkish troops at this point. 

 Dutchitch had during this time accomplished 

 little more than taking a few old barracks 

 called forts, each containing but a few men. 

 General Zach took his disaster at Sienitza very 

 much to heart. Suffering from the effects of 

 his wounds, he fell dangerously ill, was re- 

 lieved of his command, and was replaced by 

 Colonel Tcholak Antitch. 



In the south, General Tchernayeff had left 

 the division South Morava at Alexinatz and 

 Deligrad under the command of Colonel Mi- 

 lan Ivanovitch, with directions to cross the 

 border on the left bank of the Morava and 

 to threaten the fortress of Nissa. With the 

 greater part of his army Tchernayeff marched 

 to the left, to Bania and Gurgussovatz, and 

 then, leaving Nissa on his right, intended to 

 cross the border and march on Ak Palanka and 

 Pirot. Ivanovitch, on July 2d, marched with 

 two brigades, in two columns, toward Mramor 

 and into the valley of the Toplitza. Here he 



had a short engagement with the enemy, and 

 seemed to have been successful in drawing the 

 attention of the garrison of Nissa. Tchernay- 

 eff moved the greater part of his army on the 

 road from Gurgussovatz to Ak Palanka, while 

 a small detachment was ordered to advance to 

 the right upon Nissa by way of Gramada, to 

 watch it also on the right bank of the Morava, 

 and thus impress the Turks with the idea of 

 an intended siege of this fortress. A detach- 

 ment on the left of the main army was ordered 

 to march toward Pirot. On July 4th Tcher- 

 nayeff appeared before Ak Palanka and Pirot, 

 and, after a short engagement before the for- 

 mer city, entered them on the 5th. As, how- 

 ever, he did not receive the aid from the Bul- 

 garians that he had expected, and as the mis- 

 fortunes of Lieshanin on the Timok had cast 

 a decided gloom over the Servian operations, 

 Prince Milan ordered him to return to Servia ; 

 and on July 10th he left Ak Palanka and 

 Pirot, and set out on his march back to Ser- 

 via. 



The Montenegrins, at the beginning of the 

 hostilities, were divided into two corps : the 

 one on the southern frontier, opposite the 

 Turkish positions of Medun, Podgoritza, and 

 Scutari, kept itself strictly on the defensi ve ; 

 while the other, on the Herzegovinian fron- 

 tier, and openly allied with the insurgents, 

 immediately took the offensive, and marched 

 upon Stolatz in several columns. One column 

 on the right, under Sotchitza, had marched 

 toward Gatchko, taken several works before 

 the city, and tried to surround it. Selim Pasha 

 left the necessary garrison in it, and then 

 marched with two battalions toward Neve- 

 signe, intending to go from there to Mostar, 

 where he was to meet Mukhtar Pasha. On 

 the llth he was attacked by a body of Mon- 

 tenegrins, and was only able, after several 

 hours' sharp fighting, to continue on his way 

 to Nevesigne, where he was reenforced. On 

 July llth the central column, said to have been 

 led by Prince Nicholas in person, appeared be- 

 fore Stolatz, and, after a short engagement, oc- 

 cupied it, as well as the surrounding forts. 



A very fortunate affair for the Montenegrins 

 occurred at this time. The Austrian Govern- 

 ment closed the port of Klek to the Turks, 

 thus cutting off their shortest route to the 

 Herzegovina. It helped them, however, but 

 little ; their forces continued to be scattered, 

 even more so than at first. On the 16th they 

 attacked Selim Pasha at Nevesigne, and forced 

 him to retire to Blagui, where they defeated 

 him again on the 17th. But now Mukhtar 

 Pasha came up from Mostar with reserves, 

 and on the 19th found before him but four 

 Montenegrin battalions, which he defeated af- 

 ter a brave resistance. After this event the 

 entire Montenegrin forces retired toward Gra- 

 bovo. 



With July 10th the offensive movements of 

 the Servians came to an end, and their forces 

 retired into Servia. The Turkish movements 



