523 
EXTRACTS 
PROM THE 
DIARY OF A RUSSIAN ARTILLERYMAN IN THE 
SHIPKA PASS, 18 11 . 
From the Russian, 
BY 
LIEUT. J. M. GRIERSON, R. A, 
The 2nd Battery of the 9th Brigade, which had held the position of 
Mount St. Nicholas in the first half of August, and had been engaged 
in the hard fighting of the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th of that month, 
became at length so enfeebled by heavy losses in materiel and men 
(about 50 killed and wounded, leaving hardly enough to serve the guns), 
that it had to be relieved by another battery. In consequence of the 
considerable number of rounds (about 5000) fired by the battery, out of 
eight guns only three remained fit for service ; of the others, two were 
so seriously damaged by the enemy's fire that it was impossible to use 
them, and the other three were rendered unserviceable by the scoring 
of the powder gases during the quick and powerful fire necessary to 
repulse the repeated attacks of those days. 
Replacing one battery by another was doubtless unfavourable for the 
defence. It was, however, decided by the consideration that it was 
better to have an intact battery in an important position, than one 
which, although its worth and steadiness had been proved in battles 
second to none in the war of 1877 - 78, had suffered so severely. 
In the first days of the defence the artillery had rendered most 
important services. In general it had completely prevented the 
enemy's masses from moving close up to our position to support the 
attack, and when these onsets were repulsed, it shattered the defensive 
positions which the enemy tried to maintain on the ground he had won. 
Having forced the enemy to withdraw from his advanced positions, 
and to act on the active-defensive, our artillery had now to sustain a 
duel with that of the enemy. The defence of the pass was conducted 
on the passive-defensive, for which artillery is the most important arm, 
while the works were being strengthened and added to. 
The precision of our 4-pr. guns was remarkable. Their effect on 
troops at the longer ranges (up to 1200 sagenes ) was satisfactory, but 
the same could not be said of the working of their breech mechanism. 
From the experience of the war, all were convinced of the superior 
utility of our heavier field guns. General praise was awarded to the 
9-pr. guns, which were much preferred to the 4-prs. Therefore for the 
more important batteries it was decided to use 9-pr. guns, while the 
