TURKEY. 



731 



passes along Mount Olgar, and descends to Arda- 

 nan. The road runs through the village of Kanardel, 

 and, crossing the hills of Ardjan and the river Kara 

 Tchai, descends to Ardahun. At a distance of about 

 90 versts from Osurget to Datum there are two roads 

 ' one a carriage-road along the shore by the fortress 

 of Ziche Dsin, the other a mule-track by Kobuleti 

 and the fortress of Tchuruksu. Besides these, there 

 is another difficult mule-track from Akhaltzikh to Ba- 

 tum through Chul. The distance is about 50 versts. 

 The road from Kars to Erzerum, a distance of about 

 200 versts, goes by the village of Kotanli, and, hav- 

 ing ascended the Soghanli ridge, proceeds to Med- 

 gingert, Khorassan, Ardos, Kopnkoi. and Hassan 

 Kaleh, and farther on to Erzerum. Although this 

 road is habitually used by the carriages traveling be- 

 tween Alexandropol and Erzerum, it is very trouble- 

 some to pass, especially in spring. Another road 

 connecting Kars with Erzerum skirts the spur of the 

 Soghanli at Yeni Keff ; but this is very steep, and 

 though, perhaps, a means of turning the enemy's 

 flank on the Soghanli, will prove very troublesome. 

 Erzerum, toward which all the roads of the vilayet 

 converge, is a strategical point of the greatest im- 

 portance. Thence the only macadamized road in 

 the country, 280 versts long, runs to Trebizond. 

 The road is passable during the whole of the year. 

 Other roads from Erzerum proceed, first, toBayazid, 

 and farther on to Tabreez, in Persia (about 280 

 versts) ; secondly, through Khinis and Mush to Bit- 

 lis ; thirdly, to Erzengan ; and fourthly, to Kars, 

 Olti, etc. Telegraph lines connect Erzerum with 

 Erzengan and Trebizond ; with Sevas and Constan- 

 tinople, Kars, Mush, Bitlis, Van, and Bayazid. The 

 total length of the telegraph wires in the vilayet is 

 900 versts. The principal fortress in Asia, and that 

 forming the objective point of the Russian attack, is 

 Erzerum. which is surrounded bv a wall, but is 

 practically undefended. It stands in the centre of a 

 great parched plain which is swept by the bitter- 

 cold wind and storms of winter, and is equally ex- 

 posed to the burning heats of summer. The city is 

 commanded by heights that are crowned by an old 

 Turkish castle that offers a fair mark for the Russian 

 gunners in testing the range of their pieces. It 

 could not hold out an hour against modern rifled 

 artillery such as that with which the Russians are 

 provided. The houses in the city are flat-roofed 

 and are generally covered with soil on which grass 

 grows in summer. Goats and even cows graze on 

 these artificial and elevated pastures. The ap- 

 proaches to Erzerum are protected by a number pi 

 smaller fortresses ; the most important of these is 

 Kars, situated on the road from Alexandropol to 

 Erzerum. It stands at an elevation of about 6,000 

 feet above the sea-level. The castle commands the 

 town and also the plateau in front of it. Here the 

 desperate defense under General Sir Fenwick Wil- 

 liams was made in 1855, but which terminated in 

 the surrender of the place, with its entire garrison, 

 to the Russian General Mouravieff. Other fortresses 

 guarding the approaches to Erzerum, and situated 

 between this city and Kars, are Hassan Kaleh and 

 Bardess. Hassan Kaleh is situated at the base of the 

 mountains and contains about 800 houses. The cas- 

 tle is defended by a double loopholed and crenel- 

 lated wall, but the whole building is not cnpable of 

 defense against artillery. Bardess or Barduze is a 

 village on a pass in the Soghanli Mountains, where 

 the Turks made a stubborn defense of this road in 

 1828 against the Russians. Wood is plenty in the 

 vicinity of this pass. The whole line m this chain 

 is capable of being converted into one of immense 

 strength. Another strong point which would prob- 

 ably be an objective point of attack of the Russians 

 was Van, situated near the lake of this name. It is 

 a town of about 15,000 inhabitants, mostly Armen- 

 ians and Turks, with only a few Kurds. The strate- 

 gic value of the place lies in the fact that it forms the 

 junction point of what may be called the two great 



highways which here bifurcate the one westward 

 through Mush and Karput into Asia Minor, and the 

 other southward to Mosul and the whole of the Tigris 

 Valley. Northeast of it is Bayazid, an important 

 position near the Russo-Persian frontier, ana there- 

 fore of considerable strategic value. . It is com- 

 manded by a large castle standing on a rocky emi- 

 nence and built on a succession of stone terraces. 

 Batum, on the coast of the Black Sea, and near tie 

 Russian border, is a little town with an excellent 

 harbor, the Bay of Batum being inclosed east and 

 south by high mountains, and protected on the west 

 by hillocks pierced by the river Tchoruk. A mac- 

 adamized road from Batum to Ardahan and Kars is 

 in course of construction, and was to have been fin- 

 ished in 1876. The Russian troops in the Caucasus, 

 at the outbreak of hostilities, were reported to 

 amount to 140,000 men, and were under the command 

 of the Grand-Duke Michael, a brother of the Em- 

 peror. The Fourth Turkish Army Corps, stationed 

 in Asia Minor, under the command of Ahmed Mukh- 

 tar Pasha, was reported to amount to 64,000 r< gulars, 

 besides 6,000 militia, and 5,000 Kurdish irregular 

 cavalry. Simultaneously with the ndvance ot the 

 Russian armies in Europe, the Russian troops in the 

 Caucasus crossed the Asiatic frontier of lurkey in 

 three columns. The main force, coming from Alex- 

 andropol, marched upon Kars ; the Rion detachment 

 marched upon Batum ; arid the Erivan detachment 

 upon Bayazid. The Alexandropol corps, under the 

 command of Adjutant-General Loris Alelikoff, en- 

 tered Turkish territory in two columns, and, taking 

 the Turkish outposts prisoners, on the same day 

 reached Molla Musa and Bash Shuragel. On the 

 27th of April the greater part of the corps crossed the 

 river Kars Tchai, and passed the night at Kuruk 

 Dara, Hadji Vali, and Subotan. On the 29th the 

 corps reached Zaim and Angi Keff, dispatching 27 

 squadrons and sotnias, with 16 guns, to cut off the 

 communications between Kars and Erzerum. This 

 cavalry, under the command of Mnjor-General Tchav 

 tchavadse, in their successful reconnoitring on tl.e 

 28th, 29th, and 30th, destroyed the telegraph be- 

 tween Kars and Erzerum, and pursued a Turkish 

 detachment of 8 battalions marching from Kars to 

 Erzerum, and commanded, att the prisoners reported, 

 by Mukktar Pasha himself. To support the cavalry, 

 General Loris Melikoff ordered 12 battalions of gren- 

 adiers, without knapsacks, accompanied by 40 guns 

 and 5 sotnins, to turn the flank of the enemy at 

 Kars, and proceed rapidly to Visinkoi. At the 

 same time 8 Turkish battalions sallied forth from 

 Kars, and, with some artillery, took up a position 

 under cover of the fortress guns. The artillery 

 which accompanied the Russian cavalry, opening 

 fire, dismounted a Turkish cannon. After this en- 

 gagement, General Loris Melikoff, leaving the cav- 

 alry at Visinkoi, with his remaining forces returned 

 on the 1st of May to his former camp at Zaim. 

 The population everywhere showed the most friendly 

 disposition toward the Russians. On April 29th the 

 centre of the Russian army, about 40.000 strong, 

 under General Melikoff, attacked Mukhtar Pasha, 

 encamped 5 miles from Kars. The Turks fought 

 desperately, but the Russians, supported by power- 

 ful artillery, dislodged them from all their positions. 

 Mukhtar, calling out all the reserves of the Kars 

 garrison, attempted at six o'clock next day to re- 

 cover his ground with an army estimated by the 

 Russians at 60,000 men ; but the Russians, reen- 

 forced during the night by 2 divisions and 10 bat- 

 teries, beat the Turks all along the line, and drove 

 them under the guns of Kars. The losses on both 

 sides were considerable. On April 80th, the town of 

 Bayazid was taken by the vanguard of the KUBBU-.TI 

 division forming the southernmost column of 

 Russian army, which started from Erivan six da vg 

 before According to the Russian account, the 1 

 ish garrison, consisting only of 1,700 men, made 

 attempt to defend the place, but withdrew, abandon. 



