Rensselaer Union, Volume 10, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 December 1877 — The Surrender of Plevna. [ARTICLE]

The Surrender of Plevna.

A London cable telegram of the morning of the 11th, to. the Chicago Tribune, says: Plevna has fallen—not by assault nor strategy, but by unconditional surrender. That the condition of Ostnan Pasha’s Army was known in Constantinople is now certain, and hence the recent effort of Suleiman Pasha to create a diversion to enable him to break out df Plevna. Almost simultaneous with Suleiman Pasha’s brilliant movement toward Tirnova. Orman Pasha made various struggles to break the Russian line in the direction of Widdin,while: Mehemet .Mi wae expected tomake a direct attempt to relieve him; but not only did the former have little effect in the withdrawal of the Russian troops from before Plevna, but Mehemet All wholly failed to cooperate, and he either has been or is to be immediately relieved of his command. On Saturday, after Osman Pasha had found his escape impossible, his army starving and perishing witn cold, and no hope of (success, he sent a parlementaire to the Russian headquarters, with a special letter addressed personally to the Grand Duke Nicholas as Chief of the Annv Investing Plevna. The Grand Duke declined either to accept the letter or to receive the parlementaire, and directed him to be escorted to the headquarters of Prince Charles as Commander-In-Chief of the allied armies besieging Plevna. The purport of the letter was "■ a, request for favorable terms of capitulation, and an especial request from Osman Pasha to be allowed to surrender his sword to the Grand Duke Nicholas. This being impossible, the parlementaire returned. On Sunday another desperate assault was made on. the Russian right, in which Osman Pasha, himself was wounded, and about 3,000 Turks put hon d» combat. Nothing remained but unconditional surrender, and thus closed one of the bravest defenses of modem times. At two o’clock on Sunday the Turkish bugles sounded the retreat. Firing ceased on

both tide*, and the moment of Ruiwlan triumph *u rtcoffnlxed on both nlde|.to be at hand. Aid for the wounded wae aßlen India cHiuinately to Turk and Russian while the negothitl<jua were in prognaaa, and by four o’clock tlw aurrender was complete. To-day a brief special informs me that the Russians are engaged in occupying the forts and batteries, and garrisoning Plevna. Suleiman Pasha, having spent Sunday in inspecting the Fortreaaea of Ruatchuk and Varna, has returned to Ahmedli, and has ordered all correspondents to the rear. It la, therefore, believed that he does, or did contemplate, another active aggressive movement, but the news of Plevna’s fall may cause him to fall back toward Adrianople. The release of 120,000 men under Prince Charles and the Grand Duke Nicholas for active field operations will make his position verv critical, for already it Is possible that Fuad Pasha’s Division will be cut off or forced to make a disastrous retreat through Elena Pass in the Balkans. Mcbemet AH is befogged to an extent which seems to prevent any movement whatever. Even Montenegro is gaining considerable victories from the Turks, and the surrender of Antivan is hourly looked for; and at Scutari the local Albanian authorltlec are thinking seriously of asking the intervention or mediation of Italy. Bpcaking of the situation, the London Times says: “ The Turks refused to accept the condition on which Europe, including ourselves, offered to continue our full recognition of their Empire, and they must be left to take the consequences. Those consequences must sooner or later tie the forfeiture of some of their authority, if not of their territory, in Europe. No European Power, and this country least of all, will interfere to prevent that consequence.”

DETAILS OF THE SURRENDER. A cable dispatch of the 12th, to the saihe paper, gives further particulars, as follows: Full particulars of the capture of Plevna are ■ent me by the Tribune correspondent at Beget. It appears that at a Council of War held on Saturday last it was decided that the moment had arrived to attack Plevna by storm. The following day a terrific bombardment began. At early dawn on Monday a general action commenced. Six columns of attack were formed, each mustering 12,000 men, the reserve consisting of no less than 50,000. The tire of the Russian siege-guns suddenly ceased, and the RussoRoumanian storming columns threw themselves against the advance Turkish redoubts. There they met with a desperate resistance. After exchanging volley after volley with telling effect, a hand-to-hand fight ensued. No quarter was claimed or given. When the first redoubt was captured, not a prisoner was taken. The storming columns then advanced on the inner lines, where the main force of Osman Pasha’s Army were massed. The Ottoman' Chief, seeing that further resistance would be useless, ordered a retreat northward toward Widln. At this critical moment, the Russo-RoUmanian field artillery reserve advanced as far as the heights immediately commanding the upper portion of Plevna, and opened an enfilading fire which inane terrible havoc among the Turkish troops in the valley below, who were proceeding-taattack the position just occupied by the enemy. The Russian batteries were attacked over and over again, but in vain, the object of these repeated onslaughts being to divert attention from the main body that was advancing in the opposite direction. In the heat of the fray, Osman Pasha placed himself at the head of his troops, and pressed forward as tar as Oponesch, situated about three miles from Plevna, with every hope of breaking through the Russian lines; but before lie could do so he was met by the Russian-Roumanian reserves. Oponesch lies on the right of the high road that borders the Vid, and a large reserve force had been posted there in expectation that Osman Pasha would attempt to retreat on Widin. This force was well supported by artillery that had been placed on the heights 4n front of Dolni-Etropol. It was in the plain between Oponesch and Dolni-Etropol that Osman Pasha and his brave followers met with’ their disaster. The Russian guns swept down .whole compantes, and the ground was soon covered with the dead and dying. Here, too, Osman himself was badly wounded in the foot and fell senseless from his "horse, receiving further injuries from his fall. Seeing their Commander hors de combat, and possibly supposing him to have been killed, the Turks began to lay down their arms. The Russians had already entered Plevna. Victorv vyis in their hands. Ten thousand dead and wounded Turks lay on the field. Not a vestige of provisions was anywhere to be found. The civil population had hardly enough food for the day, and the ambulance had barely accommodation for a few hundred wounded. The number of prisoners js estimated at 10,000. Four hundred guns were captured.