ACHIEVEMENTS OF FIELD ARTILLERY. 
3 
In Armenia the Turks used the same guns as in Bulgaria, but, 
according to Mr. C. B. Norman, late Times correspondent at the seat 
of war, the Russian field guns in Armenia were of the Krupp pattern, 
made of bronze, either 4 or 9-pounders, the Horse Artillery being 
armed with the lighter weapon, whilst infantry divisions were supplied 
with an equal number of each calibre. 
The 4-pr. had a calibre of 8’69 CTU , while that of the 9-pr. was 10’67 cm , 
so that it was really a siege piece. Three projectiles were fired by 
these guns, common shell, shrapnel, and the “round-headed” shell. 1 2 
The weights in the case of the lighter gun being 9f, 11J, and 14 lbs. 
respectively, while in the larger one they weighed 27, 29, and 32 lbs. 3 
After the Russian defeats at Plevna on the 20th and 30th of July, 
when they fought against superior odds, the strength of the Turkish 
positions were fully recognised, and the third assault was delayed until 
considerable reinforcements appeared to render success certain. Especi¬ 
ally was the force of artillery strengthened, and since it was recognised 
that previous failures had been largely due to an inadequate preparation 
for the assault by means of guns, it was determined to shatter the 
Turkish defences by a prolonged bombardment ere the infantry were 
again sent forward. 
According to the account of Prince Kouropatkin, the Russo- 
Roumanian force which was got together at the beginning of September, 
for what was hoped would prove the final enterprise, numbered 82,000 
bayonets, 11,000 sabres, with 444 guns, of which 20 were siege and 48 
Horse Artillery guns, or, counting the artillery detachments, some 
100,000 men and 20,000 horses. 3 This gives a proportion of guns to 
the total strength of 4*4 per 1000. A battalion of sappers was also 
added to the force. 
The army under Osman Pasha on the 5th of September has been 
placed by the same authority at 49 battalions, 26 squadrons, and 60 
guns, or about 35,000 men with 60 guns, while there is reason to 
believe that during the engagements Osman Pasha received reinforce¬ 
ments amounting to several thousand men. The proportion of artillery 
on the Turkish side was not more, therefore, than two guns per 1000 
men, a circumstance which placed them at a great disadvantage. 
Speaking generally, it may be assumed that at the third battle of 
Plevna, therefore, 40,000 Turks with 60 guns in a strongly entrenched 
position were opposed to 90,000 Russians and Roumanians, supported 
by an artillery numbering at least 400 pieces, of which 20 were 24-prs. 
of 6-inch calibre, and of the remainder, half were 9-prs. and half 4-prs. 
Besides which, there were 4 siege guns taken from the Turks at 
Nikopolis and 48 Horse Artillery guns. 
How came it then that in a series of engagements extending over 
five days so vast a preponderance of guns to which the solution of the 
problem was entrusted failed to accomplish that complete success 
which had been looked for, or even such a measure of it as can be 
termed creditable ? 
1 A sort of segment shell with a round solid shot in the top. 
2 “ Armenia and the Campaign of 1877,” by C. B. Norman. 
3 “ Kritische Riickblicke auf den Bussisch-Turkischen Krieg, 1877-78,” nach aufsatzen von 
Kuropatkin bearbeitet, yon Krahmer, Oberst und Kommandeur, etc., etc. Vol. I. 
