On this page

• Text (1)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    Untitled Article

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Untitled Article

    Turkish corruption we have already cited , the reader will be prepared for some shocking things , but we think we can pass the limits of his anticipations . General Williams was forced to take into his own hands the provisioning of Kars . He had to get it done under the greatest difficulty . The Pachas were indifferent , and haggled over a bargain while their country was lapsing to

    rum , From Constantinople nothing was forthcoming—except advice from the Minister of War to the Mushir , as Dr . Sand with tells us , to abandon the frontier fortresses without a blow . At length ; the Russians are found to be on the move , and with such means as have been accumulated the battle must be fought . General Williams , Teesdale , and Sandwith rode into Kars on the 7 th of June . That very day they were informed , in confidence , that there were only three days' ammunition in store ; they learnt that a vast depot of corn , within a few miles of the city , had not been brought in , but left for the Russians ; they found that there were not more than 15 , 000 men to line most extensive positions . The medical stores consisted in great part of cosmetics and . obstetric instruments ! Thus , the reader will see , pretty distinctly , from the tenor of our remarks and statements , that one cause of the fall of Kars was the ingrained corruption of the Turkish authorities .

    JSrzeroum ; the French consul instantly took the matter up ; obtained armed aid from the Pacha ; proceeded to the spot in Lazistan ; harried the villages , and did some justice on the assassins and their accomplices . It so happened that the chief of the band , a sort of Robin Hood of the district , was in league with nearly all the little authorities about the place , and the well-disposed officials stood in awe of the exercise of a privilege which prevails in Turkey —a round robin from the principal inhabitants to the Government against officers who offend them . In pursuing the murderers of Belliot the French consul was assisted by the Mudir of Baibuirt , but secretly opposed by Ali Pacha and Ali Bey , two great men at Baiburt . When he returned

    toErzeroum , in the simplicity of his -heart , the French consul recommended the Mudir to the favourable notice of the Pacha , and expressed a hope that the other vagabonds would be punished . What happened ? The Pacha of Erzeroum promised that the rascals should eat dirt . Lo ! the Mudir was deposed soon after , and Ali Pacha , the friend of Belliot ' s murderer , occupied his place . We have told in a few words what is very humorously narrated at length by Dr . Sandwith , as " an illustration of the relative position Jof consuls and Pachas . " He has some admirable remarks on the great use that might be made of consuls in Turkey , which we trust he will instil into the mind of Lord Palmerston .

    We have cited some instances of local administration as a preface to the fall of KaTs . There are others in these pages that are darker than any we have mentioned . We take a few at random as we travel towards the catastrophe . At the outset of the campaign Ai ) di Pacha commanded the Kars army , and he won with it a neat little victory at Bayandir . His second in command , Ahmed Pacha , disobeying orders , and fighting his troops badly , got himself defeated at Akiska . Yet , by a profuse dispensation of gold at Constantinople , he procured the dismissal of Abdi Pacha , a poor but honest man . The consequence was that Ahmed Pacha contrived to ruin the army . - No fewer than 20 , 000 men died of hunger and disease ; yet " no great mortality marked the muster-rolls sent to Constantinople , for the pay , food , and appointments of the dead men went to fill the coffers of the Pacha and iis myrmidons . " Zarif Mustapha Pacha , originally a handsome barber ' s boy , succeeded Ahmed Pacha ; and we all know to what a conclusion he brought the campaign of 1854 . Let us take a near glimpse of the splendidly organised dishonest system—" the only thing well organised in Turkey : —"

    A merchant of my acquaintance , and a man of most -undoubted honour , told me himself that he lost a contract of great value , offered to Mm by one of the highest servants of the state , because he refused to sign his name to an amount of goods , only two-thirds of which were really purchased . The surplus was , of course , to go into the ministerial pocket , but the merchant would have had a handsome present for his connivance . He refused from principle , but it was not difficult to find others of far easier conscience in Constantinople . "When bags of money in gold and silver reached Erzeroutn , the Musteshar and Defterdar , officials equivalent to paymaster-general , accountant-general , and the like , took possession , of the coin and changed ifcinto bank-notes , ¦ which only passed at an enormous discount . With this money they paid the different purveyors , many of the latter being colonels of regiments , and generals of brigade , who would , from time to time , draw about a third more of rations for their regiments than they were entitled to ; they would hoard the surplus , an d aftera while re-sell it to Government ; or if they heard of a quantity of rice or corn for sale , they would buy it of the merchant and resell it to Government at a handsome profit . All who had

    anything to do with the victualling of the force were banded together in a brotherhood of fraud , that they might , by sharing the plunder , wrong the poor soldier with , impunity . There was not a single article of consumption that did not illustrate this . Take for example a loaf of bread . It was black and coarse to a degree which rendered it unfit for human ; moreover , it was heavy and sodden . The flour , in the first place , was mixed with sundiy artificial substances to increase the weight and bulk . It was , moreover , only half baked for the same reason ; had it been well baked , more wood would have been con-Bumed , and , each loaf being lighter , a larger bulk would he required to make up the weight . The head baker was required to make handsome presents to those in authority to gain their connivance ; these in return had their own reason for being silent ; and thus the poor soldier had no earthly protector . Can the reader fancy honest Colonel Williams coming down among these harpies j can he conceive the consternation ; the attempt to gloss it all over ; to cheat the commissioner ? Colonel Williams arrived in September , 1854 , and at once went to business . Here we see him at work : —

    For example lie would request a review . of a . certain regiment , which was accordingly drawn up ; the nauBter-roll was presented to him ; nine hundred men were there in figures , —he had the men counted , these were but six hundred . Thus the pay , rations , &o . j of the three hundred had gone to enrich the Colonel while the Mushir took his share , and the still higher authorities in Constantinople received a large per-centage . It is not for us to piy into official secrets , but the . above faots were notorious in Kars , and we may safely presume that all this vUlany was not kept secret from he * Majesty ' s Government , who would thus see how , whew the very existence of an empire was menaced by a most formidable foesuch

    , men as chiboukjis , barbers , and the like , were sent as Commandera-in-Wuet to plunder and rain on army . He called these corrupt officers to account , He told thorn of their villany in plain language , and told them moroovor , that he was reporting their misdeeds to head-quarters . Further he insisted on knowing the amount of rations issued , of forage consumed , and other details . Ho personally inspected tho kitchens of the camp every morning , and examined the food ot the troops . He regularly visited the hospitals , and did his utmost to learn how i ! P . atlout 8 W 01 ' 0 oared for- Lastly , at tho approach of winter , he examined in detail every house assigned aa wiuter-quavtora , and ohose the best of them in whion to > billot the soldiers .

    But we must not linger . Time passes . While the Pachas , in spite of the sagacity and resolution of General Williams , are growing rich on the ruin of their country , new English officers arrive whoso self-devotion has cast a brighter halo round the frontier towns of the Sultan than all the exertions of his subjects . Lake and Thompson joined Colonel Williams 5 they were sent f " * * P 5 «» d Captain Teesd « le , who had wintered there , rejoined his chief at trzeremm . Colonel Williams becomes a Lieutenant-General in the service of lurkcy-and » terror to Pachas , large and small . A respectable man is sent aa Muslin-. Tho Turks began to wonder at » Vceliams Pacha » —ho vms No end of a man , " they smdj lie worked as no Pacha had ever been known to work before ; abroad at tlio works in Bun , rain , and snow . Anon , there was the provisioning of the army ! From the specimens of

    " We have now arrived at that part of the volume entitled , Extracts from the diary ; and we feel that instead of attempting to build an imperfect narrative , the reader will be better pleased with some extracts . We onl y premise that previous numbers of this journal have made the reader acquainted with the rough outline of the siege . Take this as a prelude : — July 17 . —A most dismal discovery is made to-day ; it is suddenly found that we have no barley ; the keeper of the stores , Salih A . gha , announces that the

    stores are tmacccountably empty ; he makes a most confused explanation / and a very little inquiry into his papers brings to light enormous peculations and false returns . The General causes the state of our provisions to be rigorously investigated , and the most careful lists to be made of all who are receiving rations ; he also orders the men to be put on two-fifths rations of bread , and fed regularly with , animal food . For this purpose nearly all the oxen and sheep of Kars are purchased . He causes all the barley and grass within range of our heavy guns , and even further , to be cut and stacked for the consumption of the cavalry and artillery . This inquiry into the state of the rationa brings to light the most reckless extravagance , which he checks with a strong hand .

    The General shows that he can quell mutiny even in the savage natives of Lazistan : — ' August 4 . —Some skii-mishing of outposts , as usual . Bands of our Laz plunder the-village of Chorak , and return to camp laden with their booty : they are met by Thompson and Teesdale , who order their instant arrest , on which they present their rifles and draw their kanias ; they are , however , captured after considerable resistance , and , on the circumstance l > eing reported to the General , he insists on their being publicly flogged , which sentence is carried into execution before a thousand troops and a considerable body of their own people : moi'eover , their arms are smashed to pieces , and the offenders thrown into prison . We hear of no more Laz insubordination fox * the rest of the siege . Here is some biography , picturesque and acceptable . It is the 8 th August , and there are fears for the stores : —>

    Every one felt these facts weigh heavily on has mind , and all looked , to the General , to the " Ingleez Pacha , " for encouragement . No sign of despondency clouded that honest face ; his " Good morning" salutation was as cheerful as on the morrow of our first little victory . He was thin , certainly—he could not well be thinner : but , no wonder , for he never seemed to sleep . Long , ere daylight broke he was with the sentries of Tahmasp , the point nearest the Russian camp , and his glass learned every movement ; then he was by the side of the Mushir during the greater part of the day ; anon , he was encouraging the Bashi-Bozooks and settling their differences , or anxiously arranging some plan for feeding the townspeople ; and , in our little confidential gossips on the state of affairs , he would impress on us the duty of maintaining a bright and hopeful bearing , since all the garrison looked up to us for encouragement . Thompson lived altogether on the Karadagh , and his glass ranged , the horizon from early morning until night ; nor

    did he then go to a quiet couch , for , though he turned in . certainly , yet , after an hour ' s light slumbei * , he would visit each sentry round the whole works , and no part of our position was better , if as well , guarded as that where this Argus had talcen up Ms quarters . Often have I given him a call at midnight with Colonel Lake , whom I very frequently accompanied on his night duties . Teesdale lived with that gallant Hungarian and first-rate soldier , Kmety , on Tahmasp tabia . These two had formed a strong attaohment , based on mutual admiration ; there was the hero of many campaigns , and the young soldier , brimful of courage , hope , and noble aspirations . Teesdale acted as chief of his staff , and , besides his graver duties , he was constantly harassing ; the Cossacks with parties of riflemen , or

    menacing and attacking the Russian cavalry with a company of riflea and a couple of guns . The state of blockade to which we wore now reduced fretted hla ardent spirit not a little ; he wanted to attack almost against any odds j and , had each soldier and Turkish officer resembled himself , I verily believe we might have done bo . I find I have been biograplrising , if I may coin a word . But amid the sketches thus involuntarily falling from my pen , I have omitted Colonel Lake . The truth is , ho cannot be found either at Koradagh or Tahmaep ; he , like the General , is doing his best to wear out an iron frame ; has couch is Ids saddle , for all day long he is working at tho entrenchments , and all night lie is visiting the sentries . Tho Queen has had many a bad bargain during this war , but I doubt whether more admirable officers aro to bo found in tho English army than the

    four I havo mentioned . The siege advances ;*» false news arrives that Omar Pacha has landed at Trebizond ; tho garrison is compelled to send away its cavalry to be cut up by the enemy j cholera comes , alas , and famine hovers close upon them . Then we have a vivid description of the glorious victory of the 29 th Sept . ; followed bv the dismal days , when hone that tho Russians would raise the siege , or that friends would bring relief , alternated in the minds of our heroes . One extract , relating to the attack on the 29 th , we must make room for , and then pass sternly to sterner pages . Here it is : — Oct . 4 . —One of our wounded ltuasian ofliooa-a ia a Pole , who has had halt' hiH face earned away by a grupo-ahot . Ho regrets beyond measure tho loss of a ring on which ia ongravod tho name of Eloitso , and declares that tho recovery of this trinket , which ho valuoa beyond anything iu tho world , would at onco euro him . Mr . Ron « inou , our interpreter , hoaring of thiH , produces a ring , which ho has bought from a auldior , and which proves to bo tho identical ono bo nuwh desired . Tho poor follow loaiiH from Ihh bod , wild with joy , on tho recovery of Inn lowt treasure ,

    Untitled Article

    February 9 , 1856 . J THE LEADER , 13 ?

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 9, 1856, page 137, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2127/page/17/