Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 November 1876 — Description of a Turkish Battle. [ARTICLE]

Description of a Turkish Battle.

The correspondent of flic London Dail& Telegraph at Alexidatz'gives the following account of the battle between the Turks and Servians pn the Morava: “ Then opened such a fire as can never be described. It was the meeting? of desperate men—of Serbs urged forward by reckless Russian leaders, of Turks longingto strike their enemy. The que*tion was which could be reinforced the longest and the quickest. Fresh Servian battalions were coming into actlsn dvery moment, and extending the line of attack; fresh Turks were coming down the slope, and, gaining the shelter trenches which, as I have before remarked, the Turks, with admirable • forethduglft, had Constructed. , \ / <. • “At first the men cbfild' not be persuaded to lje down;. tltqy wanted to go forward, and I expected every moment to see them charge with the bayonet. But they were gradually prevailed upon to avail themselves of cover’ and' hence the great disparity between their loss and that of the Serbs. Amongst these latter we, could see that great slaughter was taking place, for theirJine, although contiually guns were able to |hrow whol&volleys of shells in*among the ’tdue-coated soldiers. With what a yell went those terrible missiles on their way! They seemed to break, everyone of them, exactly where wanted, ana to strew the ground with dead and dying every , moment. . The rifles, quickly sc’(ffidfrignTeni, added to the carnage which tookqflace in-tbte valley. I will not pretend to say whether the Servians actually crossed the bridge" ewer the Moravti; by some who were oh the spot it is denied, by others admitted. I thought at the time that they did. Moreover, as the fight progressed our lines wavered as the Servians in increasing numbers were hurled, against.'out left .flank. But this was only for a while; the men were simply borne back, not disheartened, and fresh troops wefc huriyigg up to; suecor them, Hafiz Pasha himself being amongst the foremost in that gallant fight. It was a fearful struggle truly, and seemed to extend all along the line at this moment; indeed; it is believed that sixty Servian battalions were at that moment engaged; “ But all to no purpose: the steady courage of the .Turks prevailed agajust the newly found bravery of the Serbs, and was making itself more and more apparent every 'moment. How admirably the Snider acted theft, as always!. The ground was covered witq.disahled Serbs, and still roll of muskfcgy maintained itself along the Turkish front, tHer men firing each five or six shots a minute. At length'the crisis came. The Sertiaw made ane more great effort, there was a tremendous crash; a fearful roll as -of thunder, and then .the enemy began to give ground. With a wild shout the Turks rise and pour volley after volley into ffieis tjetpjatlngranks. fire shell, which burst over their heads, in front of and behind them, dealing death, and destraction dU around every moment. The Servians turn and fly; their effort has been in vajn; they must seek the shelter Of their guns, or lit? killed to a man. “Without further delay they rush to their hayen pf comparative safety, leaving their'dead and dying bn the ground, ana the Turkish'forces alone'ih their wel£