740 



TURKEY. 



from Easgrad in a northwesterly direction tow- 

 ard Torlak. Mehemet Ali Pasha commanded 

 the Turks in person and repulsed the Russians 

 along the entire line. On the 30th, the fighting 

 was resumed. The main force of the Russians 

 was at Sadana, and opened fire on the advancing 

 Turks under Nedjib Pasha. Sadana soon 

 caught fire, and the Russians retreated to Kara- 

 san. Here a desperate engagement took place, 

 and the Turks were getting the worst of it, 

 when suddenly Baker Pasha, with a portion of 

 Subit's division, came to them, and, getting 

 well on the Russian right flank, compelled the 

 Muscovites to vacate their ground. At the 

 same time that Karasan was taken, Sabid Pasha 

 attacked Haidarkoi, which was also taken by 

 the Turks. Mehemet Ali now had his head- 

 quarters at Yenikoi, and, without pursuing the 

 advantage he had gained, simply retained his 

 position. On September 6th, Achmet Eyub 

 advanced from Rasgrad, and attacked the Rus- 

 sian positions at Kechlova. The Turkish forces 

 were greatly superior to the Russians in point 

 of numbers and were constantly receiving re^ 

 enforcements. The Russians fought with great 

 bravery, but were finally compelled to retreat 

 beyond the Lorn. On the 7th, the Russian 

 force at Kadikoi, which had served as a corps 

 of observation before Rustchuk, was also de- 

 feated and driven across to the left bank of the 

 Lorn, so that now the whole right bank of the 

 river was in possession of the Turks. On the 

 8th, Mehemet Ali crossed the river with three 

 divisions, and began to advance slowly toward 

 the Jantra. 



On the Russian right wing, fronting toward 

 Plevna, everything was quiet up to the close of 

 August; but on the 31st, Osman Pasha made a 

 determined attack on the Russian position at 

 Pelisat, and was repulsed with considerable 

 loss. At this point Baron Krudener had been 

 relieved from the command, and General Zo- 

 toff put in his place. On September 3d, Gen- 

 eral Skobeleff recaptured Lovatz, which had 

 been in the hands of the Turks since July 28th. 

 The battle was very severe and the losses on 

 both sides considerable. 



The operations on the Lorn and around Plev- 

 na during A.ugust were far exceeded in interest 

 by the fierce struggles for the Shipka Pass. 

 On August 16th, a Turkish detachment suc- 

 ceeded in entering the Hainkoi Pass, but were 

 so warmly received by a strong Russian corps 

 that it was forced to retreat. On the 20th and 

 21st Suleiman Pasha proceeded to the attack 

 of the pass, and not less than ten times did the 

 Turks assail the Russian fortifications at the 

 entrance, on these days. The conflict was 

 fierce ; but, although the Turks constantly re- 

 ceived reinforcements, they were repulsed 

 every time with great loss. On the morning 

 of the 22d the Turks renewed their attack ; but 

 when, at noon, the Russians received reenforce- 

 ments, they retreated. On the following morn- 

 ing the Turks again proceeded to the attack, 

 and so the fighting was kept up with great bit- 



terness till the 27th. After this date firing 

 continued, but the real conflict had ceased. 

 The end of this terrible struggle left the Rus- 

 sians in full possession of all the strong points, 

 although they were closely watched by the 

 Turks. The losses on both sides during this 

 week of battles, the most sanguinary week of 

 the campaign, was very great. A dispatch 

 from the Russian headquarters estimated the 

 total loss of both sides at 12,000, of whom fully 

 two-thirds were Turks. 



Since the battle before Plevna in the last days 

 of July, Osman Pasha, instead of following up 

 the successes gained on that occasion, had used 

 his opportunity to make of Plevna and its sur- 

 roundings a fortified camp of unusual strength, 

 which could only be taken by a regular siege, 

 and to reenforce his army with troops from 

 Sophia and Widin. The Russians had also re- 

 ceived considerable reenforcenients, among 

 them three Roumanian divisions, and the chief 

 command of the united forces before Plevna was 

 given early in September to Prince Charles of 

 Roumania, who took up his headquarters at Po- 

 radim. On September 7th, the Grand-Duke 

 Nicholas also arrived at this place with his 

 staff, and was followed a few days later by the 

 Czar. After a period of comparative quiet of 

 over a month, interrupted only by occasional 

 small engagements and the affair at Pelisat, the 

 united Russians and Roumanians again pro- 

 ceeded to attack Plevna. On September 7th, 

 the third battle began with a furious cannon- 

 ade of the Russians, which they continued un- 

 interruptedly until the llth, when a general 

 attack was undertaken against the Turkish 

 positions, which was unsuccessful until the 

 evening. After the Emperor had retired from 

 the field disheartened and tired out. the right 

 wing of the Russian army, composed mainly of 

 Roumanians, succeeded in taking the great re- 

 doubt of Grivitza by surprise, while on the left 

 wing General Skobeleff maintained himself in 

 two smaller earthworks, which seriously threat- 

 ened Osman Pasha's line of retreat. During 

 the night the Turks sought in vain to recover 

 their lost positions, but on the 12th they suc- 

 ceeded in regaining the two redoubts south of 

 Plevna, on which occasion General SkobelefFs 

 corps was almost annihilated in consequence of 

 a want of support. On the 14th, the Turks 

 also attempted to retake the Grivitza redoubt, 

 but were repulsed. After that date operations 

 rested, with the exception of an unsuccessful 

 attempt of the Roumanians on the 18th to cap- 

 ture the redoubt nearest the Grivitza. The 

 losses on both sides were very great, exceed- 

 ing even those of the terrible struggle in the 

 Shipka Pass. Up to the afternoon of the 14th, 

 the Russo-Roumanian loss was stated officially 

 at 16,000 men, while the Turkish losses, partic- 

 ularly during the struggles for their lost re- 

 doubts, were also very large. The deportment 

 of the Roumanian troops, who, on this occasion, 

 were under fire for the first time, was praised 

 by all observers. The allied armies on tlis 



