124 
SERVICES OE TWO RUSSIAN MOUNTAIN BATTERIES. 
The two batteries eventually marcbed on to Tirnova, where they 
were concentrated with the force about to make the remarkable march 
with Gourko through the Elena Balkans. This force in question con¬ 
stituted the advanced guard of that portion of the Bussian Army 
which had Adrianople as its objective. It was composed of 10^ bat¬ 
talions of infantry, 31 -b squadrons of cavalry, three Horse and the two 
Mountain Batteries (less the section lost in crossing the Danube). 
Gourko’s orders were to reconnoitre the surrounding country, gain 
possession of a pass in the Balkans by which the army could cross, 
and send his cavalry on when the force had arrived in the valley on 
the far side to cut the railroad and telegraphs leading to Adrianople. 
Having ascertained that there were no Turkish troops in any of the 
passes except the main one at Shipka, where there were about 3000 
infantry, some bands of Bashi-Bazouks, and a Mountain Battery, 
Gourko drew up the following plan, which w T as approved by the Grand 
Duke Nicholas. To cross the Balkans with the whole of his detach¬ 
ment, with the exception of six squadrons of Cossacks and two Horse 
Artillery guns, by the Hainkioi Pass, one of the defiles through the 
Balkans about mid-way between the Travna and Elena Passes, first 
sending on his pioneers to make the trail practicable for his Horse 
Artillery. Two squadrons and two Horse Artillery guns were to pro¬ 
ceed to Gabrova to watch the northern outlet of the Shipka Pass, and 
a small detachment of Cossacks was to proceed to reconnoitre the 
Elena Pass at the moment of starting, to make sure there were no 
Turks there. Only pack transport was to accompany the force. On 
issuing from the Pass, Gourko would turn to his right and proceed to 
Kazanlyk to the southern mouth of the Shipka, and, in conjunction 
with the detachment of the north, considerably augmented by a divi¬ 
sion under Prince Mirsky, attack it on the 17th July in front and rear. 
The pioneers moved forward on the 10th July to clear the road, and 
on the night of the 12tli the whole detachment moved forward from 
Tirnova (18 miles), and bivouacked at Yoinis. On the morning of 
the 13th the force moved on 15 miles to the northern mouth of the 
Pass at Parovtchi, where Gourko halted from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. to rest 
his troops. 
The Hainkioi Pass, as it is called, is a mere mountain path, leading 
from Kelifar to Hainkioi along the Kelifar defile. The ascent of the 
mountain begins at the village of Parovtchi, elevation about 1800 feet. 
In the next 18 miles the road ascends 1900 feet, crossing the summit 
at an elevation of 3700 feet. The road descends in 12 miles on the 
southern slope, 2300 feet, the elevation of Hainkioi being about 1400 
feet. The whole length of the defile, which passes through the wildest 
part of the range, is 24 miles, and the path narrow and tortuous, with 
precipitous rocks on both sides, impracticable for field guns owing to 
the narrowness .of the track rather than to the slope of the gradients. 
During the evening of the 13th, Gourko crossed the summit of the 
Pass, and bivouacked on the southern slope of the range at a point 
about nine miles from the village of Hainkioi. The portion of the 
detachment that arrived with him consisted of the greater part of the 
infantry, four squadrons of cavalry, and the two Mountain Batteries. 
