The Armenian campaign : a diary of the campaign of 1877, in Armenia and Koordistan

Introduction

. The time has not come for a history of the campaign of this year in Armenia and Kurdistan, but it is certain that the very outline of it is only imperfectly understood in England, owing to a number of accidental circumstances which interfered with the regularity of the greater part of the correspondence addressed to the chief journals of the United Kingdom — circumstances on which it is by no means necessary to enlarge. Only one series of letters, written in the camps at the front, reached England without a break, and that series is here — in a revised, amended, and in some respects extended form, presented anew to the public. That in a diary written currente calamo, never on a desk or a table, often on the field of battle, and generally either sitting on the ground or on the edge of a bed, without books of reference, or means of doing more than recording the impressions of the moment, there should be errors is not strange ; but here any that have been detected have been removed or corrected.

Doubtless much has been omitted that has had some bearing upon the progress of the struggle, for until many threads can be gathered up, when peace has once more smiled upon the Turkish empire, and when on the Russian as upon the Ottoman side notes have been compared, and accurate conclusions Lntroduction. VIII drawn, it will be impossible to present at one complete view the whole story of the varying fortunes of the two armies commanded by Ghazi Ahmed Moukhtar Pacha and His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke Michael. But an effort has been made to tell the whole tale, and to present in connection with it a number of hitherto all but neglected facts, which have an important bearing upon the causes of the war, a And what they killed each other for," as well as the probable consequences of Russian ascend ency in Armenia.

No pretence, it may save some misconception to say, is made at an impartiality, which, however desirable for journalists commenting at home upon the progress of events, is virtually unattainable by correspondents record ing the succession of those events among all the excite ment and all the myriad influences of life in a camp. The book is in one sense a partisan production, and yet it has not been written for any party purpose. But it may be doubted whether it is either the duty or in the power of a correspondent mingling daily and hourly with soldiers fighting for the integrity and independence of their nation — for their " hearths and homes " — to preserve that calm balance of mind which it is the duty of the leader writer, the editor, and the statesman to endeavour to cultivate. Consciously or unconsciously, he must be biassed — it may, as in my case, be in favour of the soldiers among whom he dwells, or, as in the instance of more than one of my confreres, against the people and the government which Lntroduction.

IX afford him the hospitality of their lines. For myself, I have seen much among the Turks that sorely needs re form ; but is this just the moment in which large reforms would be either possible or prudent ? And I have seen also much that has endeared to me for ever the Ottoman nation, and especially that portion of it which has entered upon the path of culture. That there have been among the soldiers serving under the orders of Ahmed Moukhtar Pacha very many monsters in human form is indubitably true. But their enemies have not clean hands either. Napoleon Bonaparte once declared, " the worse the man the better the soldier," and he may be admitted to have spoken with some authority. It is impossible at this time of day to maintain such a doctrine, but we need not expect angelic meekness from the dregs of any army ; and the cruelties, infamies, and reckless destruction charged against the irregular soldiers, generally called Koords, are no proof that the regular Ottoman troops are in any way responsible for what their officers have systematically done their ut most, in Asia at least, to stop.

Ahmed Moukhtar Pacha disbanded the authors of the Alashguerd atrocities as soon as the facts came to his knowledge, and this step had the concurrence of his whole army. Englishmen would be mightily indignant if the conduct of the native irregulars in the Peninsular war were laid at the door of the Duke of Wellington, merely because they happened to range them selves upon the same side. And it is certainly no more reasonable to say that the nizams and redifs composing the bulk of the 4th Ottoman Army Corps were in any way to blame because, many miles off, some predatory tribes, Lntroductwn. X which Turkey, fighting for her life, had been tempted to take into her service, wreaked upon helpless villages the vengeance they were too cowardly to inflict upon the enemy. But any stick is good enough, in the opinion of some Christians, to beat a Turk with, and the rule which they make so elastic in the case of a Muscovite, is very rigid indeed when it is brought to bear upon an Osmanli.

It is no part of the purpose of this book to deal with the origin of the mortal struggle in which, as I write, Russia and Turkey are still engaged — a struggle due, in my judgment, rather to what Virgil calls " scelerata insania bftlli," and to lust of a power that the Muscovite would be too feeble to wield, than to any real desire to help the Chris tians living among the Moslem population of Turkey. My own observations in Asia Minor concur so exactly with those recorded in his official report by Consul-General Nixon, dating from Baghdad on the 15th of June, 1877, that I cannot do better than quote the passage : — " I can safely assert that the Turkish authorities in this part of the Ottoman dominions are most tolerant towards their Christian and Jewish subjects, and I have not heard of one single case of ill-treatment or collision.

In fact, as far as I can judge, the Mahommedans are far more for bearing towards the Christians than the latter are towards the Mussulman. The Christians have the same rights and privileges as their Mahommedan brethren, and justice seems to be fairly administered, although not very prompt." I believe it to be strictly true that the Christians throughout Anatolia and Armenia are far better off in Introduction. XI point of privileges and personal security for their homes and property, in time of peace, than the followers of the Prophet. A brother of the quill, who served through the Bosnian campaign of 1876, told me that on one occasion when a murder had been committed, and clearly traced to the joint action of a Mussulman and a Christian, the local pacha hung the former out of hand on the nearest tree, but merely kept the Greek in prison for a few weeks.

Being asked why he made the distinction, he replied, " I know one is as guilty as the other ; but if I hung the Christian, I should be worried out of my life by half a dozen consuls, and held up to execration as the author of another atrocity by a hundred English newspapers." In like manner, the provincial rulers of Turkey in Asia are, not only now and recently, but commonly, far more tender in dealing with the property and the liberty of Greeks, Armenians, Protestants, and Nestorians, than with those who are of the profession of Islam. It is on the latter that the heavy burthen of finding, not only the men, but the bulk of the supplies for the army has been laid ; and, like Consul-General Nixon, I have observed that in their dealings with Mussulmans, the Armenian traders and population generally give themselves airs of superiority, which are not justified either by their intelligence, their culture, their honesty, their manliness, or their sincerity.

Captain Burnaby's opinion of these so-called Christians I thoroughly endorse, and I venture to add that they are not fit for the autonomy which is sought for them, and which would result, as regards the poorer among them, in lashing with scorpions instead of whips. The Christians Introduction. XII exercise the freest possible religious liberty in Armenia. Their churches bear on high the symbol of the cross, and no attempt has for many years been made to restrict in any manner the observance of their forms and ceremonies. Whatever it may have been in the distant past, Islam is not now given to proselytism ; and it tolerates the various bodies calling themselves Christians far more completely than the latter could ever be induced to treat each other. And be it also noted, that the Christians, though still given to occasional grumbling, and cherishing grievances that are little more than sentimental, dread nothing more than the permanent success of their self-constituted cham pions.

In every class and in every community of Armenians that I have met with, there is a horror of Russian annexation of Eastern Turkey. In Erzeroum, it is true, there exists a nest of Armenians who, having been corrupted for many years by the almost open bribery of Mr. Obermiiller's consulate, continue to work and plot and lie in the interest of their paymasters ; but they are not more than a few dozen in number, and in any country but Turkey they would have been hung or sent to exile long ago as foul traitors. The great mass of the Armenian population desires nothing better than to be let alone, and to continue to share in the administration of the empire without bearing any of its personal burthens. They declare, without hesitation, that they want no Russian annexation, because Russia would make them soldiers ; and if they have no great love for the Turks, they have still less for the hereditary foes of the Turks — especially those Armenians who, living in the eastern half of the Introduction.

XIII Province, know what Russian government in the Caucasus really is. If a plebiscite of the Christian population could be taken to-morrow throughout Armenia, without inter ference from Turkish officials on the one hand, and Rus sian agents on the other, I believe not five per cent, of votes would be given for annexation to the overgrown empire of the Czar. If this volume serves no other purpose, it will at least put before its readers the actual experiences, in a wild and geographically important country, of a journalist, who has for more than eighteen years been in the habit of watching little details of public interest, and producing from them on the spur of the moment descriptions of things as they have been seen by his eyes. There is no pretence of exhaustive military criticism, there are no deep theories of strategy, and there are no reservations, mental or other wise, in the book.

All that is claimed for it is, that it is a truthful narrative of one of the most interesting and event ful campaigns ever fought, from the pen of one who was not content to hang about Erzeroum, and there concoct telegrams and descriptions of battles he never took the trouble to see ; but who, even at the sacrifice of the daily ration of sensational telegraphy, remained almost entirely with the front of the army, thus being on several occasions the only correspondent who was present at engagements of historic importance. CONTENTS. Introduction pp. vii-xiii

Chapter I

Turkish Procrastination — Want of Preparation in Armenia — Ismail Pacha's Torpidity — Ahmed Moukhtar Pacha's Rapidity — Distribution of Turkish Troops — The Defences of Kars — The Invasion — The Declaration of War — The Investment of Kars, Bayazid, and Ardahan — Its Betrayal and its Fall — Moukhtar's First Defence — Exaggeration of the Russian Forces . pp. i-io

Chapter II

Mismanagement of Supply Service — No Resources — Guns in Difficulties — Human Teams — Slovenly Marching — Dirty Soldiers — Varied Armament — Bombardment of Kars — Tapping the Wires — Ottoman Indifference — A Shot at a Prophecy — Bazaar Rumours — Natural Defences — Good Stuff coming up — Picturesque Recruits — Born Soldiers — -The Bazaar and the Mushir — Armenian "Shaves" — No Ambulances — A Call to Christendom — Russo-German Tactics — Concentrating backwards . . pp. 11-31

Chapter III

On the Left Flank — Christian Curiosity — In the War Circle — A Difficult Pass and a Sublime Scene — Official abandon — A Head for Millais — A Telegraphic Wonder — A Natural Organ — Turkish Neglect — The Russian Advance — A Wild Ride with a Koord Guide — Mountain Grandeur and Bothering Snowfields — A Patriarchal Scene — Hassan Kaleh — Reinforcements — The " Swift Araxes " — A Visit to a Pacha — Another Illusion gone — The Omnipotence of Contents. XVI Pachas— A Morning Ride— The Defences of Erzeroum— Food v. Bullets— "Three Black Crows"— Masterly Strategy— Moukhtar's First Move— Oriental Chasseurs— A "Plump of Spears "—An English Revolver — An Interview with Faizy and Moukhtar — No Illusions— The Sevin Camp— Turkish Telegraphy— Hunger amid Plenty— Where is the Game ? — A Paradise for Botanists— Our Army Remounts— Russian Delays— Lost Chances— Turkish Felons PP- 32-60

Chapter IV

An Earthquake — A Lost Day — A Tcherkess Warrior — Wild Rumour — A Preliminary Skirmish — The Battle of Tahir — English in Danger — Waste of Cartridges — Turkish aplomb — Company Officers — No Ammunition — The General killed — Want of Foresight — A Cossack Massacre — Russian Hesitation — Kars' Rumours — A Parade for News — The Polish " Legion " — Paper Bullets — A General Pitching Tents — Rejoining Head-quarters — Men of Burthen — Patient Souls — A March Past — A Sortie from Kars — A Russian Atrocity — A Miracle of Science — A General at a Bound — Circassian Highwaymen ...... pp. 61-78

Chapter V

The Battle of Helias — Moukhtar's Activity — A Hot Fire — Ottoman Defects — Turkish Victory — Casual Shells — An Idle Day — Biscuit and Water — No Tents — The Attack on Sevin Camp — A Fiery Hurricane — Ten Assaults — Russian Pertinacity — The Russians Foiled — Heavy Losses — Russian Quarrels and Ambulances — Mutton at Last — English Interests — A Separate Peace — A Koord " Lark " pp. 79-96

Chapter VI

The Russian Retreat — Pistol Popping — A Reconnaissance — Muscovite Promptness — Loose v. Compact Formation — An Ottoman not a Russian — Changes of Temperature — A Koord Hut — A Pleasant Surprise — A Flank March — Recapture of Bayazid — Turkish Pursuit — A Cossack Camp — The Battle in the Pass — Proper Self-restraint — Modern Shell Wounds — Koord Ghouls — A Russian Contents. XVII Cemetery — Cigarettes and Sugar — No other Spoils — A Russian Redoubt — Leisurely Retirement — A Shell in a Camp— Capture of Stores — Waste of Food — Suspicious Villagers — A Thankful Elder — A Bow at a Venture pp. 97-112

Chapter VII

Rejoin Moukhtar — A Koord Atrocity — Horrible Spectacle — Mount Ararat — Where did the Ark Rest ? — A New Suggestion — God's Mount — Theological Shindy — A Run after Moukhtar — En Rottte to Kars — Ottoman Ecstasy — The Mushir and the Koords — An Intercepted Mail — All Clear to Kars — Al fresco Justice — English in Kars — Ardahan Battalions Reformed — Bridging the Kars Tchai — Our Field State — A Horrible Sect . . . pp. 1 13-124

Chapter VIII

Heavy Firing at Kars — Its Imperishable Story — Prices during the Siege — A New Mushir — The Armament of Kars — Atrocities at Bayazid — Suppression of Information — Regulars v. Irregulars — Position Drill wanted — Plundering the Privates — A Visit to Kars and the Russian Batteries — Heaps of Firewood — A Credit to Woolwich — Atrocities Inevitable — A Russian Diary pp. 125-138

Chapter IX

A Prisoner in Kars— A Haul by the Koords — Official Story of the Siege — A Hail of Projectiles — New Prismatic Powder— A Russian Spy — In the Kars Hospital — A Moscov Reconnaissance— The Turkish Field State pp. I39-J52

Chapter X

A New Series of Movements— Important Reconnaissance — Mixed Cavalry — A Carpet of Flowers — A Cossack Prisoner — A Night Adventure— Kindly Savages— A Change of Front— A Pretty Cavalry Affair— Cavalry Arms — Uncomfortable Activity — Nocturnal Festivities — A Turkish Farce — Turkish Generals : their Devotions — A Sham " Parlementaire " — Ancient Ani — Few Sick Contents XVIII —The Russian Camps— Help from Hindostan— Better Help- Runaway Tcherkesses— Deserters' Lies — Position on Alags dagh pp. IS3-I78

Chapter XI

Invasion of Russia — A Russian "Demonstration" — Eccentric Tactics — Yavash — Bashi-Bazouk Coolness — A Prisoner-deserter — His Story of Sevin — Four Days without Food — Ammunition Done — A Coup Manque on Kars — Count or Prince ? — Muscovite Muddling— The First Battle of Yahni— Mutilation of Dead. pp. 179-192

Chapter XII

Occupation of Ani — A Peep at the Russians — A Problem for Casuists — Hostile Courtesy —Turkish Sickness and Cookery — An Elysium for Mickey Free — A Mixed Thing in Dancing — Three Act Drama — Retirement of the Russian Left — A Pregnant Resolution — Timid Counsels at Stamboul .... pp. 193-205

Chapter XIII

A Comic Alarm — War and Peace — Swords and Ploughshares — A Pretty Manœuvre — A Demand for a Dead Man — Correspondents in Clover — Premature Confidence — The Second Battle of Yahni — Simple-minded Tactics — Buyuk Yahni — A Muscovite Atrocity — A Diversion — Ineffective Fire — Remiss Generalship — Cossacks and Circassians — With the Skirmishers — Among the Irregulars — Heavy Russian Losses — A Sullen Retreat — " The Butcher's Bill " — A Murder at Hadji Veli — Turkish Frankness — Winter approaches pp. 206-229

Chapter XIV

The Battle of Kizil T_p_ — Russian Movement — Our Dispositions — A Midnight March — A Morning Assault— A Brilliant Feat of Arms — Storming the Russian Works — Ammunition Failing — Cold Steel— Battle Array — General Engagement — Blow at our Centre —Long Ranges— A Muscovite Farewell to Kizil Tep<_ — A Royal Salute pp. 230-251 Contents. XIX

Chapter XV

English Doctors and Stores at Last — Their Hospital— Fortifying Kizil T_p_— The Kars Bazaar— Torpid Trading— Dirt and Cheating—Revived Activity — A Karapapak Chief— An Asiatic Rob Roy — Audacious Foray — The Turks and The Times— Ramazan — Moslem Prayer Meetings— Hospital Horrors . pp. 252-268

Chapter XVI

Preparing for a Reverse — A New Fuse— An Ambush — A Russian Salute— An Important Deserter — A Trick on Melikoff — Russians in the Turkish Service — Turkish Sanitary Arrangements —Keeping the Enemy Alive — A Fight in a Storm— Another Russian Atrocity — Shooting a Comrade — A Panic in Kars pp. 269-281

Chapter XVII

A Check — Rejoicings over Plevna — Russians "Chok fana" — Armenians hate Soldiering — Russian Goods Rubbish — Surgery by Sorcery — Neglect of Turkish Doctors — The " Capitulations " — Russian Reinforcements — Tit for Tat — A Correspondent Dismissed — Stafford House — Tcherkesses Withdraw — Polish Rapscallions. pp. 2S2-293

Chapter XVIII

Russian and Turkish Losses — Inaction on our Flanks — Russian Extension — A Surprise Fails — A Scapegoat — Our Tiflis Post — The Last of the Romans pp. 294-301

Chapter XIX

Third Battle of Yahnilar — A Silly Skirmish— Attack on Nadjivan — Gallant Defence — A Sad Contrast — A Wakeful Night — Russians on the Move — Attack on Alagsdagh — Buyuk Yahni Evacuated— Assault on Kutschuk Yahni — A Criminal Picket — Turks and their Prisoners — A Fearful Fire — An Aide-de-Camp's Imagination — Mysterious Manœuvres— A Quixotic Exploit — A Blow on the Flank — Marvellous Musketry — The Russians Retire— Farewell to Moukhtar Pacha ... pp. 302-317 Contents. XX

Chapter XX

Further Fighting— Kizil Te'pe" Abandoned— The Tables Turned- Forage and Food for Kars — Plenty of Ammunition in the Fortress — Turkish Money— Stumbling into a Camp — Erzeroum's Defences — English Hospital — Wood and Food for Kars — English Goods in Caravans pp. 318-329

Chapter XXI

The Battle of Alagsdagh — Unfulfilled Expectations — Moukhtar's Field State — The Russian Force — An Irreparable Mistake — Seven or Twenty-seven Battalions ? — Fight at Oghur — An Assault at any Cost — Olija T^p_ Taken — Six to One — The Turkish Right Isolated — Cutting through the Russians — -The Koord Ismail again — Prospects of Kars — Moukhtar's Retreat on Soghanly Dagh — ■ Ismail's Flight — Keuprikeui — Hassan Kaleh — The Camel's Neck — Possibilities of Turning pp. 330-338

Chapter XXII

Moukhtar at Gorgee Boghaz — The Russian Advance to Deven Boyun — Neglect of Night Outposts — A Russian Surprise — A Demonstration in Force — A Russian " Dodge " — Incompetence of Turkish Subordinate Officers — A Panic . . pp. 339-344

Chapter XXIII

Condition of Kars — An Assault Resolved upon — The First Attack — The Khanli Fort Taken — The Cavalry Fort Taken — The Hafiz Pacha Fort — Heroic Resistance of Turks — Russian Trophies — The Grand Duke — Surprise of Fort on Deven Boyun Road — Erzeroum to be Defended to "the Last Stone" . pp. 345-353

Appendix

. A. Our Commercial Interests in Armenia. . . .pp. 354-360 B. Extracts from Tables accompanying Vice-Consul Biliotti's Report. p. 361 C. Ghazi Ahmed Moukhtar Pacha pp. 362--,66 THE ARMENIAN CAMPAIGN. NEW MILITARY WORKS. Russian "Wars "with. Turkey. By Major Frank S. Russell. With Two Maps. Crown 8vo, Cloth, price 6s. The Duties of the General Staff. Vol. I. By Von Schellendorf, translated by Lieut. Hare. Demy 8vo, Cloth, price iaf, 6d. Tactical Examples : the Battalion. By Major Hugo Hetvig, translated by Colonel Sir Lumley Graham, with nearly 300 figures. Demy 8vo, Cloth, pace 15s. Tlie Begiment of Bengal Artillery. The History of its Organization, Equipment, and War- Services. Compiled from Published Works, Official Records, and various Private Sources. By Lieut.- Colonel F. W. Stubbs. With numerous Maps and Illustrations.

Two Vols. Demy 8vo, Cloth, price 32.1. ' The Officer's Memorandum Book for Peace and War. By Lie ut. -Colonel R. Harrison. Oblong 32mo, roan, elastic band and pencil. Price 2s. 6d. ; russia, 5J. C Kegan Paul & Co., 1, Paternoster Square, London. THE Armenian Campaign: A DIARY OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1877, IN ARMENIA AND KOORDISTAN. BY CHARLES WILLIAMS, ONE OF THE SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS ATTACHED TO THE STAFF OF GHAZI AHMED MOUKHTAR PACHA. LONDON : C. KEGAN PAUL & CO., i, Paternoster Square. 1878. " It is a melancholy of mine own, compounded of many simples, extracted from many objects, and indeed, the sundry contemplation of my travels, in which my often rumination wraps me in a most humorous sadness." The Melancholy Jaques. ' ' Let there be light,' said God, ' and there was light ! ' ' Let there be blood ! ' says man, and there's a sea !

The fiat of this spoiled child of the Night could decree More evil in an hour than thirty bright Summers could renovate, though they should be Lovely as those which ripen'd Eden's fruit ! For war cuts up not only branch but root." — Don "Juan. This Volume is Dedicated to Pis (&ml\mro (S^i fftauhlrtar ]$nthx, MUSHIR COMMANDING THE FOURTH OTTOMAN ARMY CORPS ; AND TO Pis €,ml\mt£ Sir fUn-frall, C.B., K.C.S.I., THE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT WITH THAT CORPS, SIMPLY AS A HEARTY RECOGNITION OF THEIR UNVARYING KINDNESS TO AND CONTINUAL CONSIDERATION FOR «fe* $utK December 6th, 1877. os 1877.

Chapter I

While Europe was protocoling in the winter of 1876-7, Russia was preparing for prompt action in Asia as soon as the snows had melted on the plateaux and run off the plains of Ottoman Armenia. Turkey, on the other hand, persistently, indeed almost fatuously, believed that peace would not be broken, and that some arrangement would be come to, either by an abatement of the demands of the Czar, or by the intervention of the guaranteeing Powers. It was only on the 25th March, 1877, that a telegram from London left no doubt on the mind of the young Sultan and his advisers that the worst must be prepared for. Until then, not only had no practical steps been taken to put the province in a state of defence — save that Kars had been victualled and provided with much siege ammunition — but the very Commander-in-Chief appointed to the Armenian, or 4th Ottoman Army Corps, had been kept in Constantinople to advise on some trivial questions of Mon tenegrin boundaries.

The principal military authority on the spot was the Governor of Erzeroum — an ignorant, illiterate, bigoted, fanatical, and yet torpid person named Ismail Pacha, who owed his strange elevation to one of the most difficult and delicate posts in all the realm of the Sultan to some strange and occult influence in Stamboul, and to the ab- E surd belief there entertained that, being by birth a Koord, — Hadji Veli gave him to the world, — he was more likely than a Turk to keep in order the wild frontier tribes among whom he had spent his boyhood. But the despatches of English officials before and during the campaign showed that, so far from this belief being justified by the facts, this pacha had really no weight with the Tcherkess settlers, or with the nomads, whether they are called Koords or Kara papaks, whose atrocities ultimately called for the strong hand of Ahmed Moukhtar Pacha himself.

He neglected the provisioning of Erzeroum ; he did little or nothing to strengthen its defences until after war had broken out ; he exercised no sort of control over the ex cesses of the Circassians who arrived in the city which contains his palace, from Sivas and from their settlements on the Sea of Marmora ; he did nothing, in point of fact, that he could help doing, until the commander-in-chief arrived, except shut himself up with his spiritual advisers the mollahs, and make to the consular body promises which he never intended to keep. Very different was the conduct of Ahmed Moukhtar Pacha. We have seen that his Excellency was yet em ployed at the Seraskierate when the fact forced itself on the Porte that war could hardly be averted. That evening he made an application for a vessel of war to take him to his command, and he started the next morning.

On the 30th he arrived at Trebizond, and after three days there employed in organizing transport and calling out the re serves of the pachalik, he went on to Erzeroum. The distance is 175 miles, and the roads were, for a part of the way, in vile condition from the melting of the snow on the hills ; but he reached the capital of Armenia on the 7th April, and remained there eight days, occupied from Turkish Force. 3 morning till night with all the ten thousand details of calling out the reserves of, and organising the supplies for, an army corps. When on the 16th April he went on to Kars to examine for himself the condition of that fortress, and to make himself acquainted with the frontier country which he had as yet never had an opportunity of visiting, he expressed himself to one of the consuls at Erzeroum in terms of modest confidence, if he only got time to carry out his plans.

But time he was not destined, at first, to have. About the period of his arrival at Erzeroum the follow ing figures were forwarded to the British Government as representing the state of the 4th Ottoman Army Corps in March and in April. They have not hitherto been published ; the Foreign Office has treated them as confiden tial. I do not vouch for their accuracy, but they are nevertheless a reproduction of the substance of an official communication. March. 23 Battalions, nizam or regulars . \ _ ,., _,. , 1 From Ardahan 47 „ redif, or ist line of reserve . „ 'I ,' , to Van, exclu 24 Squadrons regular cavalry . . . ) ' Z t, \a *3 sive of Batoum. 18 Batteries artillery I 5 Companies of engineers . . . . J The second return shows better the distribution of the infantry, as reported to the English Government.

April. 3 Battalions, nizam \ 5 „ redif (ist ban) . . . I Ardahan. 1 „ „ (2nd ban) . . . s 1 » » (3rd ban) . . . ) 1 Battalion, nizam Bardez. 12 Battalions, nizam \ 9 „ redif (ist ban) . . . I KARg 10 „ „ (2nd ban) 3 ,. ,, (3rd ban) . . . > Battalions, nizam \ 2 „ redif (ist ban) . . . I Erzeroum. 2 „ „ (2nd ban) . 3 » » (3rd ban) • • • > i Battalion, redif HASSAN Kai.eh. i Battalion, nizam 3 „ redif (ist ban) . . . I ALASHGUERD. 2 „ „ (2nd ban) . i „ „ (3rd ban) . . . j 1 Battalion, redif MUSH. 1 Van. 1 „ nizam Gaver (near Van). This classification does not account for one battalion of nizam, for the summary of this return gives twenty-three as the number of regular battalions. Of redif it is said there were forty-seven battalions, and allowing for one sent to Batoum, the above return shows no more than forty six.