736 



TURKEY. 



considerably. At Nicopolis, the Russian fire 

 was also very effective. The crossing continued 

 very slowly during the last week of June, ow- 

 ing chiefly to the partial destruction by a storm 

 of the bridge at Simnitza. The Russian head- 

 quarters were transferred to Simnitza. The 

 Emperor at the same time issued a proclama- 

 tion to the Bulgarians, in which, after stating 

 that the aim of Russia now, as formerly, was to 

 protect the co-religionists in the Turkish Em- 

 pire, he said : " Henceforth Russian arms will 

 protect all Christians from violence. No injury 

 shall be done them or theirs with impunity. 

 All crimes shall receive punishment " As soon 

 as the Russians had established themselves in 

 the captured city of Sistova, strong detach- 

 ments were sent out on the road to Tirnova, 

 which was captured on July 3d. The Russians 

 immediately established a civil government, 

 with Prince Tcherkasky as provisional gover- 

 nor. Biela was occupied on the 5th. On July 

 6th, about 120,000 Russians had crossed at 

 Sistova, comprising about 20,000 cavalry and 

 250 cannon. This army was divided into three 

 columns, the principal one of which, under the 

 command of the Czarevitch, marched on Rus- 

 tchuk, and the other two toward the Balkans 

 and Nicopolis respectively. 



GALLIPOLI. 



The Russian army in the Dobrudja by July 

 6th had cleared that section of Turks as far as 

 Trajan's Wall, extending from Tchernavoda to 

 Kustendje, and prepared to commence their 

 advance to the Balkans, so as to cooperate 

 with the army operating west of the quadri- 

 lateral. On July 15th they occupied Kustendje, 

 and on the 17th Medjidie. In the second week 

 of July the Turks retired from the line of the 

 Jantra, and the Russians occupied most of the 

 territory between the Jantra and the Lorn. 

 On July 16th Nicopolis, one of the strongest 

 points on the Danube, was surrendered to the 

 Russians after a severe bombardment, leaving 

 the town little more than a heap of ruins. 

 The Russians on this occasion captured two 

 pashas, 6,000 men, 40 cannon, and two gun- 

 boats. 



The retreat of the Russian army in Armenia, 

 and the raising of the siege of Kars, were ad- 

 mitted in an official dispatch from Alexan- 

 dropol, dated July 4th. The dispatch stated 

 that "General Melikoff, being apprised of a 

 movement of Mukhtar Pasha toward Kars, in 

 order to place the troops besieging Kars in a 

 position to move with greater readiness, sus- 

 pended the bombardment, sent the siege ar- 

 tillery to Kurukdara and Alexandropol, con- 

 centrated the greater part of the cavalry at 

 Hadji Vali to protect communications, and sta- 

 tioned the infantry at Zaim." The Russians 

 had hardly retired when the Turks appeared 

 in their place. Comparative quiet, however, 

 reigned along the entire lines until the close of 

 July, when the Russians again assumed the 

 offensive. General Oklobjio, commanding the 

 Rion detachment, had occupied since his re- 

 treat from Batum a position beyond the river 

 Tchoruk, forming the boundary between the 

 Russian and Turkish territory, and had been 

 left unmolested by Dervish Pasha. 



In the Caucasus, the revolt among the na- 

 tives had rather increased than decreased dur- 

 ing July. With the exception of Abkhasia, 

 where it had been aided by Turkish troops 

 and the Batum naval squadron, the revolt 

 was in all cases limited 

 to small territories, and 

 was readily suppressed 

 by flying columns. In 

 the Terek territory the 

 disorders were, accord- 

 ing to Russian dispatch- 

 es, of an alarming char- 

 acter. The Abkhasians 

 were opposed by the 

 Ingur Corps under Gen- 

 eral Alkhasoff, which 

 had originally consisted 

 of the Luchum and Ku- 

 tais columns. This corps 

 gained but little ground, 

 being harassed in its 

 flank by the Batum 

 squadron, and had mere- 

 ly guarded the road from 

 Kutais to Tiflis, and the railroad from Poti to 

 Tiflis. 



On July 12th, General Gourko, with ten regi- 

 ments of cavalry and some mountain batteries, 

 preceded by Cossacks, left Tirnova, moving 

 east as far as Helena ; thence he turned to the 

 south, leaving his artillery behind, and crossed 

 the mountains by a secret pass on July 13th, 

 debouching from the mountains at the village 

 of Hainkoi, whence he sent his Cossacks to 

 cut the railway and telegraph line at Yeni 

 Sagra, between Yamboli and Adrianople. On 

 the next day, moving westward, he carried, on 

 July 17th, the village of Kasanlik by assault 

 with small loss. Thus he had turned the best 

 pass in the Balkans the Shipka Pass through 

 which there is a very good road for Turkey, 

 over grades for the most part easy. On July 



