Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 May 1877 — SIEGE OF KARS. [ARTICLE]

SIEGE OF KARS.

The reported fall of the almost impregnable fortress of Kars recalls vividly the memorable siege that occurred at that place in 1855. The Asiatic campaigns of 1853 and 1854 had been, in the main, unfortunate ones for the Turks. There was nothing but reverses for them after the capture of Fort St. Nicholas, the same point which a few days ago was bombarded by the Russian gunboats. The Turks, in 1854, were defeated at Akhaltzik, reduced to a demoralized condition, and cheated and starved by their officers. The troops returned to Kars more like a military rabble than a disciplined army. The enure army was in a wretched condition. No organization can be said to have existed. It may readily be supposed that an army in such a state of neglect and demoralization was but little skilled in drills of any sort; indeed, from the early part of August to the arrival of the British Commissioner, Col. Williams, at the end of September, the troops had never gone through the most ordinary exercises. CoL Williams was then regarded as a highly distinguished officer, and an able scientific engineer and diplomatist, since esteemed as one of the most meritorious heroes of that war. On the 24th of September, 1854, Col. Williams went from Erzeroum to Kars, which in past times was considered the key to Asia Minor, where he was received with all the honors due to his position; for the corrupt Turkish officials were by no means aware what a rigid military reformer and disciplinarian they had received among diem. Kars was a fortress partly in ruins. It was built by Armurath 111., in the latter part of the sixteenth century, and obtained in Asia a reputation for impregnability on account of the garrison within, it having in 1735 repulsed all the efforts of the famous Nadir Shah at the head of 90,000 Persians, after he had defeated 100,000 Turks in its vicinity. Kars, to-day, is one of the gates between Turkey and Persia, and opens to the invaders a road to the great route to Teheran on the southeast; toward Erzeroum and the Euphrates on the southwest; and, mdst important of all, to Trebizonde on the east—which could not be long defended by land, and which, once invested by the Russians, could render effective assistance to the Czar’s Black Sea squadron. ' Kars, is, in fact, the key to Russian success in Asiatic Turkey. Its fortifications cover an area of ten square miles. The town Is on a plain nearly 7,000 feet above theme, and is surrounded on three sides by rugged hills which form natural bases for defense. A little stream of the same name flows byon the southeast. The .population is about 12,000, chiefly Armenian, who make a scanty living out o the through trade between tlie East and •the West. The climate is so severe that travelers are glad to get on the road again, and the surrounding hills furnish hospitality for so large bands of robbers that armed guards accompany merchants’ stocks to the plains. The city was the capital of an Armenian kingdom, but Turkish conquest, Ottoman administration, and taxation by the Porte have reduced it to a mere half-way house. In the summer of 1855, following the arrival of Gen. Williams at Kars, the Turks began throwing up fortifications about the place, as Gen. Mouravieff, of the Russian Army, was threatening it. Early in June, the Russians made a short march from Gumri and appeared prepared to advance upon Kars in great strength. The position of the Turkish Army could nose be regarded without apprehension. The regular troops amounted to aboutfifteen thousand men, who had been familiarized with defeat and scourged by fever and the scurvy. In addition to this their provisions were insufficient to enable them to sustain a siege of any considerable duration, and their stock of ammuni. tion was very small. On the 9th of June between twenty thousand and forty thousand Russians encamped Within five leagues of Kars. The soldiers in the fortress slept at their poets' and double ‘lines of sentin Is were placed arottnd the works. On the 10th there was a great rising of the inhabitants of the town, who were desir-

aid its defense, and applied to Gen. Williams, or Williams Pasha, as he waa then termed, having been raised by the Sultan to the rank of Ferik, or Gen eral. The Russian troops made several sorties upon the City of Kara with the hope of capturing the place, but they were as repeatedly repulsed by the soldiers there, who displayed considerable gallantry. The Russians then turned their attention to destroying all the Turkish supplies they could find, and having a cordon of troops around the entire works were successful in keeping out all the stores which were intended for the place. The time passed tardily on for the defenders of Kars, and many skirmishes took place, in many of which the Russians were successful. On the 15th of July the place was fairly blockaded. The horses, being on short rations, fell sick, and great difficulty was experienced in keeping them alive. To put an end to the great mortality amongst these animals, Gen. Williams resolved to send away the greater portion of the cavalry. Accordingly, on the night of the 8d of September, twelve hundred of the regular cavalry, beside Bashi-Bazouks, were collected on the heights of Tahmsab, and a good feed given to each animal. Their riders then prepared to cut their way through the Russians and escape. Away then went a grim-looking force on their famine-smitten horses. The Russian report of the engagement that followed states that five hundred of the Turks were cut down and a large number captured. The dead bodies lined the road as far as the village of Kizil-Ghiadouk, and in the passes. Gen. Mouravieff learning that great supplies of provisions were collected at the villages of Otti and Peniaka, with intention of being forwarded to Kars, took steps to intercept them and was successful. He also swept off many of the Turkish cattle from before Kars, and thus considerably lessened the food supply of the straitened garrison. On the 29th of September the most severe battle took place under the leadership, on the part of the Turks, of Ismael Pasha (Gen. Kmety, a Hungarian officer, who kept the fortress with Gen. Williams), and the Russian troops. Simultaneous attacks were made on the heights at Tahmsab, Fort Lake and other points. The Russians were utterly routed, and had not starvation destroyed the cavalry of the Turks, the Russians might have been scattered and annihilated as an army. The battle lasted seven hours; the Turkish army lost 862 killed and 681. wounded, and 101 townspeople perished. The Russians carried 7,000 wounded off the ground and a great number of dead; yet notwithstanding this the Turks buried no less than 6,300 Russians left dead on the field. Amongst these were many officers of highest rank. The Russians themselves stated their loss at 6,517 killed and wounded, 252 of this number being officers. Such was the fearful slaughter of the battle of Kars. The fortifications proved to be impregnable. They could not be carried by assault. Then the Russians sat down to the task of starving the fortress out. , . Although severely beaten in this battle, the Russians were not put to flight. The Turkish cavalry had perished, and purAuit was impossible. Under these circumstances the Russians rallied, and were enabled to resume the blockade of the city with as much strictness as before.

A detail of the horrors suffered by the wretched soldiers and inhabitants of Kars from this period until, when exhausted by starvation, they surrendered to a foe whom they had so gloriously defeated, is appalling and hideous. The tortures of disease were added to the pangs of hunger. The cholera appeared with great virulence. The hospitals were crowded with sick and wounded troops—but that which they most needed, nourishment, could not be given them. No animal food, not even horseflesh, was cow served out to the troops; the rations of the soldiers consisted of nothing but a small supply of coarse bread, and a something called soup, but made of flour and water only. Some unhappy soldiers, overcome by sickness and starvation, and abandoned by hope, crept into deserted houses, and there died in hideous solitude. A terrible change was coming over the men; they were visibly emaciated; they tottered in their walk; their faces were gloomy and haggard, and their eyes bloodshot and wolfish. Some poor wretches were tempted by the high price of the bread in the city to sell their miserable rations; but those who did this sank and died at their posts. Grass was torn up in every open space where it could be found, and the roots greedily devoured. Outside the city swarms of vultures were to be seen preying on the mangled corpses which the hungry dogs had scratched out of their shallow graves. All this was borne in the hope that the Russians might be compelled to retire, or that the garrison at Kars might be relieved by Selim Pasha, who had landed at Trebizond with a considerable army, or by Omar Pasha, whom they supposed to be advancing to their assistance. These hopes were not to be fulfilled. The desperate wretchedness of the soldiers and townspeople was getting still more hideous. Cats were sold for a hundred piastres each, for the sake of food. The few horses that were left had their throats cut to prevent them from dying of starvation, ana the flesh of these emaciated brutes was regarded as a luxury. Soldiers were sent to the hospitals in large numbers, in a state of exhaustion from starvation. Frequentlv a hundred men perished in the hospitals during the day and night, while others went mad or became idiotic from the sufferings they had undergone. Still in the garrison the work of starvation went on with increasing grimness and horror. Children dropped and died in the streets, and every morning skele-ton-like corpses were found in various parts of the camp. The soldiers deserted In large numbers, and discipline was almoet at in end. At one time the poor fellows, who had almost worshiped Gen. Williams, now refused to salute him, and turned their eyes away when they saw him approach. 'Some of the towns people crowded around him as he rode out of his quarters, and entreated him to seek some means of putting an end to their misery. Wretched women forced themselves into his very room, and, laying their pallid, famine-smitten children at his feet, implored him rather to kill them than to let them perish from want. At length all hope of relief from either Selim Pasha or Omar Pasha had expired. Gen. Williams received a note in cipher from the English Consul at Erzeroum saying, “ I fear you have no hope but in yourselves; you can depend on no help in this quarter.” It vas useless to contend any longer against what was inevitaole. On the 25th of November Gen. Williams proceeded under a flag of truce to the Russian camp. He was received With great courtesyby the Russian General/Mouravieff. The English hero consented to surrender on certain condi-t-oha,. judging, vou do not grant these, every gun shall be burst, every standard burnt, and every trophy destroyed ; and you may then work your will upon the famished crowd.” A ca-

pitulation was' arranged that was satisfactory. The articles of surrender were drawn up and executed. On the 27th the capitulation took place. On the 28th the Russians took possession of the town. The. victorious army gained 180 cannon and a great stock of arms, besides 7,000 or 8,000 soldiers aa prisoners It waa remarked that the fall of Kan was a disgrace and a scandal to all who might have contributed to prevent it. It was a disgrace to Belim Pasha, with his 10,000 men at Erzeroum. It was a disgrace to Omar Pasha, who was passing away his time at Suchum-Kaleh, and it was a disgrace to the allies, who certainly ought to have relieved.it Thus ended the second siege of Kara. The first siege occurred in 1828, when the Russians obtained possession of the town by placing guns on one of the over looking hills which had been left unprotected, and they held it for two years, when, by treaty, it was restored to the Turks.— Chicago Timet.