Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 
 
 https://archive.org/details/vassiliverestchaOOvere 
 
VASSILI VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
REVISED EDITION 
 
 VASSILl VERESTCHAGIN 
 
 PAINTER, SOLDIER, TRAVELER 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN AND THE FRENCH 
 BY 
 
 F. H. PETERS, M.A 
 
 FELLOW OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, OXFORD 
 
 With Illustrations 
 After Drawings by the Author 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 THE AMERICAN ART ASSOCIATION 
 P U B LI SHER S 
 1888 
 
 \ All rights rese7"i'ed^ 
 
Copyright, 1888, by 
 
 THE AMERICAN ART ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Press of J. J. Little & Co 
 Astor Place, New York. 
 
AUTHOR’S PREFACE. 
 
 As it would take too long to give a complete account of ail 
 my travels and experiences, I have selected certain charac- 
 teristic episodes here and there and put them together in a 
 book of sketches. The reader must understand that this is 
 but a collection of notes without any pretensions to literary 
 style — studies, not pictures. 
 
CENTRAL ASIA. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. Samarcand 1 
 
 RUSSO-TURKISH WAR. 
 
 II. On the Danube 40 
 
 III. The Passage of the Balkans 78 
 
 IV. The March on Adrianople — Strukoff 12 
 
 V. M. D. Skobeleff 171 
 
 VI. S. Turgenieff 182 
 
CENTRAL ASIA. 
 
 SAMARCAND. 
 
 All we conquerors of Samarcand, following the example of 
 General Kaufman, took up our quarters in the palace of the 
 Emir ; the general in the main building, which consisted of a 
 few very large and lofty rooms, and the rest of us, who com- 
 posed his staff, in the huts that surrounded it. It was the 
 lot of my friend. General Golovatchof, to be awarded the 
 premises hitherto held sacred to the harem of the Emir, the 
 beauties of which the sturdy and gallant warrior could only 
 reflect on, as the birds had all down from the cage before 
 our advent. 
 
 Genera] Kaufman’s rooms and our own huts communi- 
 cated with the celebrated throne-room of Tamerlane, a 
 court surrounded by a cool and lofty gallery in which was 
 placed the very throne itself, a block of white marble with 
 beautiful ornamentation in relief. To this court the sov- 
 ereigns and ambassadors of Asia and part of Europe had 
 eagerly thronged to do homage and bring presents. Seated 
 on that throne Timur- Lyang (literally lame Irj/i) had 
 received his numerous vassals. I often paced that gallery 
 with General Kaufman and talked of the place we now occu- 
 pied, the travelers who had preceded us, and the books that 
 had been written upon it. We were surprised at the inac- 
 curacies of Vambery, vrho has maintained, for instance, that 
 the throne, Koktash, was green, and that there was an inscrip- 
 tion on an iron tablet behind the throne, whereas the throne 
 is really white and the inscription is on stone. Indeed, 
 General Kaufman, in view of these glaring inaccuracies, ex- 
 pressed it as his opinion, that Vambery had never been to 
 Samarcand at all. 
 
 I rode about the town and outside of it every day, inspect- 
 ing the mosques, bazaars and schools, especially the older 
 mosques, among which some remarkable specimens still 
 remained. There was so much material for study and sketch- 
 ing that it was difficult to decide which I should begin with ; 
 
2 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 the scenery, buildings, costumes, faces and manners, were all 
 new, original and interesting. 
 
 sj: * 
 
 Rumors reached us that the Emir of Bokhara was march- 
 ing on us with an army of 30,000 men to recapture his lost 
 capital. Kaufman prepared to march against him, and sent 
 detachments in all directions to quiet the population in the 
 vicinity of the newly acquired city — the gorgeous, incompar- 
 able, divine Samarcand — a city, the glories of which have 
 been sung by the ancient and modern poets of the East, 
 whose metaphors must of course be taken cum gram salts, 
 for Samarcand itself, like all Asiatic centres, is foul and mal- 
 odorous. 
 
 General Golovatchof was sent to occupy the fortress of 
 Kati-Kurgan ; I accompanied him on this small expedition 
 in the hope of seeing a little real fighting at close quarters, 
 but was wofully disappointed : with the exception of dust, I 
 saw nothing. The fortress surrendered without a blow, to 
 the intense disgust of the officers of the expedition. Strand- 
 mann, who commanded the cavalry, was so indignant at the 
 pacific turn of events, that he entreated the general to hand 
 him over the messengers who had been sent to inform us of 
 the surrender of the fort, with a view to inculcating the 
 rudiments of courage in them. The action which our expe- 
 dition so ardently longed for slipped through our fingers, 
 and with it all the rewards, distinctions and promotions — it 
 was most provoking. 
 
 We laughed heartily at the method resorted to by this 
 same cavalry officer to get meat for his Cossacks. As the 
 inhabitants drove their cattle away from every part of our road, 
 and as it was consequently impossible to get anything, this 
 gallant officer determined to take energetic measures. He 
 called a troop-sergeant and asked him : “Why do our oxen 
 pasture so far off ? ” The troop-sergeant was astounded. 
 “What oxen, your honor?” “Our oxen, I tell you. Can’t 
 you see them ? ” And he pointed toward some oxen pastur- 
 ing on the rich and extensive plain of Zaryevshan. “No, I 
 cannot, your honor.” . . . “ Don’t answer me ! Drive 
 
 them up here at once.” A few oxen were driven up to the 
 men, and were eaten up so quickly and entirely, that when the 
 owners came to complain to the general, neither bones nor 
 
SAM ARC AND. 
 
 3 
 
 hides could be found. The general, however, understood the 
 trick and paid up. 
 
 Pistolkors, a gallant Caucasian officer, was sent from a de- 
 tachment to hght a mass of Usbek troops, from Shah-Ris- 
 yabz and Kitab, who wxre advancing from the southwest. 
 He was successful, and then, according to the custom of 
 victors, slept on the held of battle. But as soon as he turned 
 to march back, the enemy attacked him again, and came to 
 Samarcand, as the saying is, “on his shoulders.” General 
 Kaufman, followed by us, went out to meet the returning 
 detachment, but we had scarcely reached the suburbs of the 
 town before we were met by bullets, and from the surround- 
 ing gardens so lively a musket-fire opened on us, that we 
 were compelled to send a few of the Cossacks who formed 
 our escort to attack the enemy. To get our commander-in- 
 chief out of danger, we were obliged to turn back, somewhat 
 chagrined. Many of the officers of the detachment expressed 
 their disgust at this victory which looked so much like a 
 defeat, and I heard that Colonel Nazaroff, a gallant officer 
 and a jovial soul, openly called the march back to Samar- 
 cand a rout, for which he was put under arrest by Kaufman, 
 and forbidden to take part in the future military operations. 
 
 This apparent defeat gave the natives courage. The 
 enemy not being cut down, but only soundly thrashed, rallied 
 quickly and made their presence felt, as is nearly always the 
 case in the East. However this might be, rumors kept 
 reaching us that the towm was surrounded by the enemy. 
 
 We did not trouble ourselves much about that. The idea 
 did not even occur to me that the entire expedition might be 
 in peril, or I, myself, in imminent danger. Every day I rode 
 about the bazaar, attended by a Cossack, and into all the 
 alleys and by-ways of the town ; it was not until afterward 
 that I understood how great a risk I had run. Even before 
 the departure of the commander-in-chief, in riding through 
 the streets, my attention was attracted by knots of people, 
 chiefly young and middle-aged, who had assembled to listen 
 eagerly to the harangues and sermons of their mollahs. On 
 the day of Pistolkors’ return with his detachment, these ser- 
 mons w'ere particularly lively ; it was quite clear that the 
 people ^vere being summoned to a holy war against the infi- 
 del. On one occasion, when it occurred to me to make a 
 short cut from the bazaar to the citadel through some by- 
 
4 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 streets, 1 found myself opposite the large court-yard of a 
 mosque full of people, who were being addressed by a man 
 in a red robe, manifestly an emissary from the Emir of 
 Bokhara. I finally met my old friend, the mollah of the 
 mosque, Shirdar, walking through the bazaar and exciting the 
 people by gestures and speeches. 
 
 How are you, Mollah ? ” I shouted to him. He seemed 
 much confused, but answered me politely, and was compelled, 
 apparently much against his will, to press my outstretched 
 hand. 
 
 As soon as General Kaufman had marched out of the town, 
 rumors began to reach us of an intended rising among the 
 population. But I had so long moved about among the 
 natives with complete confidence, both by day and by night, 
 that the very idea of a possible change in my relations v/ith 
 them was repugnant to my mind. At that time I left town 
 on the way to Shah-Zinde, the former summer palace of Tam 
 erlane, where I sketched one of the mosques which contained 
 some of the wonderful tile-work with which it had at one 
 time been covered. ^ 
 
 ❖ % 
 
 I became so disgusted with the sand and continual dust 
 which met me everywhere instead of action, that I deter- 
 mined to seize the first opportunity of leaving Samarcand, 
 and to take a journey to Kokand, for which purpose I took 
 leave of General Kaufman. However, on the very day after 
 his departure, I discovered that an opportunity would not 
 speedily present itself, as the town was supposed to be sur- 
 rounded by the enemy, and it would have been necessary to 
 send a large escort to protect us. Unfortunately, the entire 
 force at our disposal for the defence of the fortress and man- 
 ning of the walls, which were about two miles in extent, did 
 not amount to more than 500 men. 
 
 The next day, early in the morning, Major Serroff, the 
 Cossack officer who had been left in charge of the native 
 population, came to my tent and entreated me to discontinue 
 my expeditions into town, which he assured me was full of 
 armed men already openly hostile to us. Shahriszab’s men 
 were said to be marching against us, a revolt was to be 
 expected at any moment, and probably an attack on the 
 citadel. ‘M^or God’s sake,” he implored me, “do not set 
 your foot outside the fortress. You are sure to be killed if 
 
SAMARCAND. 
 
 5 
 
 you do. All trace of you will be lost, and we shall be unable 
 even to discover your murderers.” I must confess that I did 
 not even then believe in the existence of any real danger, 
 and would have ridden out of town again if it had not been 
 for a sitting promised me by a Persian from an Afghan con- 
 tingent, whom I was then sketching, and whose portrait I had 
 begun only the day before. 
 
 AN AFGHAN. 
 
 The report with reference to the approach of the enemy 
 from the direction of the khanates was confirmed on the fob 
 
6 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 lowing day. On leaving my hut early in the morning I saw 
 all the officers of the fortress on the roof of the palace, with 
 glasses in their hands. They invited me to look, and I per- 
 ceived clearly with the naked eye that the heights of Tchopan- 
 Atta, which commanded the town, were completely covered 
 with troops, all apparently well armed, for their well-polished 
 guns gleamed in the distance. Along the lines I could see 
 their commanding officers riding up and down, and orderlies 
 being sent off on different missions. Some of the officers in 
 our group expressed the opinion that the enemy would 
 shortly storm the fort, but others did not believe that this 
 could be possible ; I was among the latter. Among us was 
 Major Stempel, the commandant of the fortress, Serroff, 
 whom I have already mentioned, and Colonel Nazaroff, who 
 had been left behind at Samarcand in punishment for his 
 unbridled tongue, and whom I did not as yet personally know. 
 
 I had nearly sketched my Afghan, the legs being all that 
 were still wanted, but apparently it was not destined that 
 I should finish him. In the evening, I remember, I went, on 
 the invitation of an officer of sappers, to see how the earth- 
 works were being thrown up around that part of the fortress 
 which faced the town. Before his departure. General Kauf- 
 man had intrusted to this officer the important duty of 
 repairing those sections of the fortress walls which had grown 
 weak and crumbling from old age, and had rendered an en- 
 trance easy ; but the engineers probably doubted the possi- 
 bility of a serious attack, for they worked indifferently and 
 showed but little energy ; it was not until the enemy made 
 their appearance on the heights of Tchopan-Atta that they 
 began work in earnest at their mole-like task. We had reason 
 to be grateful to them that at least the largest and most 
 important breach in the fortress had been repaired. If this 
 had remained as it was until the attack had begun, the cita- 
 del would have fallen into the hands of the enemy in half an 
 hour’s time. ^ 
 
 On the following day, I had just sat down to drink the tea 
 brought by my Cossack, and was about to finish the sketch of 
 my Afghan, when I suddenly heard a terrific shouting, which 
 was kept up unceasingly, of ‘‘ Urr ! Urr ! ” together with the 
 sound of musketry. I understood the seriousness of the 
 situation : They were storming the fortress. I seized my 
 
SAMARCAND. 
 
 7 
 
 revolver and ran in the direction of the shots, toward the 
 Bokhara gates. I saw Serroff standing pale and wan, before 
 the gate of his house, nervously twisting his mustaches, the 
 usual gesture of this gallant Cossack in difficulties. “ Here’s 
 a nice mess ! Here’s a nice mess ! ” he kept repeating. 
 
 Why, do things look bad ? ” I asked. “ Not as yet. But 
 what are we to do? Do you know we have only about 500 
 men in the fortress, and, according to my information, they 
 must have at least 20,000 ? ” 
 
 I ran on farther, and arrived at the Bokhara gate. On the 
 rampart above soldiers could be seen running up and down 
 in the smoke exchanging shots with the enemy. I ran out 
 to them, and seeing the small number of defenders, I seized 
 a gun from a dead soldier, filled my pockets with cartridges, 
 also taken from the dead, and remained for eight days wuth 
 my soldier comrades, helping to hold the fort. It is as well 
 to point out that I did not do this from any particularly 
 heroic impulse, but simply because our garrison was so very 
 weak. Even the convalescent had been summoned from the 
 hospital to augment the number of bayonets. Under these 
 circumstances it would have been a disgrace for a hale and 
 hearty man like myself to hang back. 
 
 On the first attack the gates were hastily closed so that 
 the enemy was thrown back from the walls, and, retreating on 
 the huts that almost adjoined them, opened a most deadly fire 
 upon us. Their guns seemed to be inferior ; their bullets 
 were large, but their aim was exceedingly good. It was diffi- 
 cult to respond to their firing promptly, as they shot at us 
 from behind small loop-holes eut in the walls of the huts. We 
 had no embrasures, and had to fire under the cover of the half 
 broken ridges of the walls, which involved the exposure of 
 our men and caused considerable loss. I saw a soldier 
 adroitly seize the opportunity of firing, and sueceed in pieking 
 out an incautious Uzbek who had shown himself at a hut. 
 He also managed to send a bullet right into an embrasure 
 so cleverly that he injured the gun and probably damaged 
 the nose of its proprietor, for the firing from that quarter 
 ceased for some time. This feat greatly pleased the soldier. 
 He worked with renewed vigor, joked, and suddenly fell 
 down like mown grass with a ball in his head. His unused 
 cartridges I seized as my heritage. 
 
 Another soldier was hit in the ribs by a bullet, he dropped 
 
8 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 his gun, ran up and down the battlements in a sort of circle, 
 screaming : ‘‘ Oh, brothers ! They have killed me ! Death 
 has found me out ! ” “ What are you shouting for, my good 
 
 fellow?” his next man asked him. “Lie down.” But the 
 unfortunate man could not hear him. He described another 
 circle, staggered, fell down and died. His cartridges also 
 found their way into my wallet. 
 
 Soon Major Albedil arrived and took the command from 
 his junior officer. He inspected the position the enemy had 
 taken up, made a few dispositions, but did not command us 
 very long. I remember I was talking to him when he was 
 suddenly doubled up and exclaimed : “ I am wounded ! ” I 
 took him on my shoulder, and with the aid of a soldier carried 
 him to the bandaging station, which was close to the palace 
 of the Emir and nearly a mile from the gates. Albedil gave 
 his last orders bravely and distinctly. He exhorted his dis- 
 concerted men to hold themselves well together and not to 
 give in ; he then grew so weak and helpless, that I had not 
 the heart to leave him to the soldier, but carried him to his 
 quarters myself. The wounded man felt sadly fatigued on 
 the way, but unfortunately there were no litters to be found. 
 He had to drag himself along, leaning on me. “ I feel,” he 
 said, “that my wound is fatal. My life is over.” I per- 
 suaded him, of course, that he would survive. “ The wound 
 is in the soft part of the leg,” I said. “ It will heal up ; you 
 will be all right soon, and dance again.” And indeed it did 
 heal up, and Albedil did dance again, but the Bokharian 
 bullet did more damage than I expected ; it did not break 
 the bone, but grazed it, and caused the victim much pain and 
 trouble for months and even years. 
 
 Having consigned Albedil to the care of a doctor, I ran 
 back to the gates, where the bring and roar were as bad as 
 ever. In a turn of the wall, a little to the left, I came upon 
 a group of soldiers huddled up together, cheering in a feeble, 
 undetermined sort of way, and firing desultorily in the 
 direction of the battlements, where one could see the heads 
 of the attacking force peeping over every now and then. 
 “We shall all die here,” the soldiers were muttering gloom- 
 ily. “ Oh ! God ! we are punished for our sins ! How are 
 we to get out alive ? Thanks to Kaufman, who has deserted 
 us and left the fortress unrepaired.” I did my best to 
 encourage them. “Are you not ashamed to cave in like 
 
SAMARCAND. 
 
 9 
 
 that ? We will hold out. Can it be that we shall allow our- 
 selves to be taken alive ? ” 
 
 The men were much frightened by certain fiery bodies 
 which the enemy threw at us over the walls, much resem- 
 bling Greek fire. 
 
 A little further on I saw an officer arrive at the walls with 
 a small contingent of men. This was Colonel Nazaroff, whom 
 I have mentioned before, and who, in view of the imminent 
 peril to which the fortress was exposed, had very sensibly 
 forgotten all about his being under arrest, and had collected 
 all the convalescent soldiers of his battalion in the hospital 
 who were able to hold a gun, and appeared where the danger 
 was greatest. The men ran up to him quite lost. “ Your 
 honor, the enemy is breaking in ! ” Don’t be afraid, my 
 comrades, I am with you,” he answered with an air of calm- 
 ness and confidence that at once soothed the men, who had 
 completely lost their spirit from the incessant storming and 
 terrific shouting of the enemy. From that moment the colonel 
 and I were inseparable, during the whole of that eight-day 
 siege so memorable in the chronicles of Central-Asian warfare. 
 
 Again we heard renewed shouts of “ Urr ! Urr ! Urr ! ” 
 coming nearer and nearer, and above us we could see the 
 heads of a few of the attacking party, apparently preparing 
 to jump into the fortress. Our men, without waiting for the 
 w^ord of command, fired a volley, and the heads disappeared, 
 and all was quiet again. The mob had evidently retired on 
 finding so warm a reception where they had hoped to effect 
 an unresisted entrance. It appeared that a fc-otpath led up 
 to this place at the wall, and that the battlements being 
 broken, the footpath was continued on our side. There had 
 not been time to dig up this pathway, and it was evident that 
 the townspeople, who knew all these unofficial entrances to the 
 fortress, were conducting the attacking force along this path. 
 
 At this juncture a section of our men was sent from this 
 part of the wall to another, a little to the right of the gate, 
 but messengers soon returned to Nazaroff pale as death, 
 shouting : “ Over there, your honor ! Over there ! They 
 are breaking in, your honor ! ” AVe ran off in the direction 
 they pointed to and found several Usbeks hard at work at a 
 breach that had been imperfectly stopped up with small trunks 
 
lO 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 of trees. They were fine, strong chaps, with sunburnt faces, 
 but they did not wait for our bayonets, nor even our bullets, 
 but ran away at the very sight of us. 
 
 This weakened fortress, two miles in circumference, was 
 in ruins everywhere. There was no point at which an en- 
 trance could not have been easily effected, and as there was 
 a perfect labyrinth of huts inside, it would have been exceed- 
 ingly difficult to exterminate even a small party of the enemy 
 if they had once succeeded in effecting an entrance. 
 
 USBEK FROM SHAHRISYABZ {Slave Trader'), 
 
SAMARCAND. 
 
 1 1 
 
 It is with mixed feelings of amusement and pain that I 
 remember how, when we returned from the last adventure, 
 and Colonel Nazaroff suggested this would be a good oppor- 
 tunity for discussing a basin of soup, some soldiers came 
 running to us from our old position shouting : ‘‘ Your honor, 
 please come here ; they are breaking in.’’ We ran off again. 
 There was a tremendous noise, but as yet we could see no 
 one. The noise grew louder and louder, and we could at 
 last distinguish the shouts of separate voices. It was clear 
 that they were making for the breach that was close to us. 
 We went over there, hid ourselves behind the wall, and 
 waited. ‘‘ Let us mount the ramparts and meet them there,” 
 I wTispered to Nazaroff. “Hush,” he replied, “let them 
 get in.” This situation I have since made the subject of a 
 picture. We heard shouts over our very heads, and could 
 see the enemy crawling up to the ridge of the ramparts ; 
 suddenly a loud cheer rent the air from our side, and such a 
 volley was poured into them, that this time also our bayonets 
 had no work to do. The enemy ran from the bullets. 
 
 'Fhese incessant attacks had a very discouraging effect on 
 our men. We could hear them repeat that they knew they 
 would have to “ lay down their bones and die.” It needed all 
 Nazaroff ’s energy and humor to keep up the men’s spirits 
 and make them laugh now and then. On the whole I v;as 
 much impressed by their serious demeanor during action. 
 Even in the intervals between the attacks the enemy gave us 
 no peace. They crept up to the ramparts in small detach- 
 ments, and would fire off their guns before we caught sight 
 of them, and get under cover before our soldiers, taken un- 
 awares, had time to respond. They thus did us considerable 
 damage, injuring many men, whereas our return shots 
 scarcely did more than tear up the earth of the earthworks. 
 This made me furious, and I stood for a long time, gun in 
 hand, waiting for the appearance of a sunburnt head, and 
 unable to contain myself, used some pretty strong language. 
 Immediately the soldiers stopped me. “It is wrong to 
 swear now,” they said ; “ this is not the time.” At first the 
 men used to call me “Worthy Sir,” but when Nazaroff called 
 me by name, Vassili Vassilievitch, they all took it up, and 
 soon the whole garrison, even the inmates of the hospital 
 followed his example. 
 
 It was at this period that Captain Mikhnevitch, a fine, 
 
12 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 gallant fellow who commanded the garrison artillery and 
 was almost everywhere at once, served out hand-grenades 
 to throw over the ramparts into the enemy’s midst. In the 
 mean time, however, the shouting had ceased and we did not 
 know in what direction to throw them, besides feeling that 
 the enemy might be meditating some new move. It was 
 absolutely necessary to look over the ramparts to discover 
 where the enemy were, and what they were up to. The 
 officers ordered several soldiers to mount, but they did not 
 seem to care about going, one pushing another in front of 
 him — it looked like certain death. “Wait,” I exclaimed, “ I 
 know gymnastics,” and before Nazaroff had time to shout : 
 “What do you mean? Don’t do it! Come back,” I was 
 high up. “ Come down ! com_e down ! ” Nazaroff implored, 
 almost in a whisper, but I did not come down. I was ashamed 
 to, though I must confess I did not like my position. I 
 stood there under the battlements bending down so as not 
 to be seen, and reflected on what I was to do. I felt that if 
 I bent over those battlements and showed myself, I should 
 be killed. I stood thus and thought. These reflections in 
 times of great peril pass through one’s brain in rapid succes- 
 sion, and in the course of one or two seconds, I was stand- 
 ing bolt upright ! Before me I saw a vast crowd of people 
 close up to the ramparts and distributed among the huts, 
 and a little to one side of it a knot of men, in large turbans, 
 who were evidently holding a sort of council of war. All 
 these people lifted up their heads when they saw me appear 
 and seemed for a time to be quite aghast at the unexpected 
 apparition. This saved me. When they had recovered 
 themselves, they shouted : “ Mana ! Mana ! ” “ there ! 
 
 there I ” and I had only time to stoop down when the bullets 
 began to rain on the ramparts and imbedded themselves in the 
 walls. A perfect fire was poured upon the spot where I had 
 appeared. “ Come down at once ! ” shouted the brave Naz- 
 aroff ; and I need not say there was no occasion for him to 
 repeat the request. I pointed out the place where the crowd 
 was thickest, and our hand-grenades soon played terrific 
 havoc, making thereby an unearthly noise : Our object had 
 been gained ! 
 
 ❖ * 
 
 As Nazaroff was his own commanding officer, and could 
 move about from one place to another as he thought fit, we 
 
SAMARCAND. 
 
 13 
 
 went off to an angle in the fortress from which both lines of 
 ramparts could be seen for a considerable distance. I may 
 mention by the way that the citadel walls of Samarcand were 
 exceptionally high and massive, so that if it had not been for 
 the ravages of years, or rather centuries, we need have had 
 no fear. The drawback was that owing to the many breaches 
 it resembled a sieve more than anything else, and had 
 to be defended at too many different points at one and the 
 same time ; and as I have already stated, we had only 500 
 men to do this with, besides the sick and convalescent, all of 
 whom were utilized as much as possible. Many were so weak 
 that they could not even cheer, and it was as much as they 
 could do to keep their muskets in their hands. Sometimes 
 when a comrade was wounded or killed, one was tempted to 
 lose patience with them and shout angrily: What do you 
 
 mean by standing like that ? Give us a hand to carry him 
 off ; don’t you see the poor fellow is shot ? ” But the only 
 reply was a languid, “ I can’t. I — am — one of — the — weak 
 ones.” “ Then why did you come here if you can’t move ? ” 
 ‘‘ Don’t know. We were all ordered to the ramparts.” 
 
 We made ourselves very comfortable at our new post of 
 observation. My Cossack, who had found me out and had 
 refused to leave his master, was sent off to fetch my cigars, 
 and Nazaroff ordered some bread and vodka (whiskey). We 
 ate and we smoked. Wdiat a luxury ! The cigars produced 
 such an animating effect, that I bought another box, and 
 distributed its contents among the men in our vicinity, 
 h^verybody commenced smoking. Some cabbage soup was 
 then brought us, and we fortified ourselves. After my tea in 
 the morning, which I had not had time to hnish, this was 
 especially acceptable. Nazaroff and his entire force dis- 
 posed themselves in the shade of the huts ; but I, with a few 
 volunteers, kept on the ramparts, and found relaxation in 
 sharp-shooting. Every now and again we spotted a man. 
 It was like having the satisfaction of knocking over a rabbit 
 or a hare. I remember how a man next to me knocked over 
 a fellow, but did not kill him. The soldier wanted to give 
 him another dose of lead to settle him, but his comrades 
 would not let him. “ Leave him alone,” they said ; ‘‘don’t 
 hurt him.” “ But he will run away,” the soldier replied. 
 “ Never mind,” said his comrades ; *‘ he is a non-combatant 
 now.” The wounded man did indeed succeed in getting away. 
 
14 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 But he managed to do so most artfully, probably fully con- 
 vinced that he had succeeded in cheating us. He had fallen 
 across the road near the ramparts, and so he commenced to 
 roll slowly from side to side so as not to excite our suspicions, 
 and thus slowly rolling along, he rolled himself into cover, 
 where he was pulled in by several hands, the owners of which 
 were no doubt quite convinced he had played a very smart 
 trick, for of course they would never have thought of accus- 
 ing a Russian of acting on the principle of not hitting a man 
 when he was down. 
 
 With the exception, however, of one or two similar in- 
 stances of sentimentality, our fellows gave no quarter, nor 
 did we receive any ourselves. The shots all came from the 
 huts, and all from guns placed in loop-holes, and aimed 
 straight at any of our fellows who showed themselves. Fre- 
 quently the bullets hit the embrasures that our sappers had 
 cut. Once I remember a bullet of this kind tore up the earth 
 in an embrasure elose to which I was sitting, and just as I 
 was going to pull the trigger. The sand and stones flew about 
 my face and I could not contain myself, but put my hands to 
 my head. “ Take him away,” Nazaroff shouted, thinking I was 
 wounded. On another occasion while taking aim, I was 
 talking to a soldier near me, when I suddenly heard a blow 
 against a soft substance, I turned round and saw my neighbor 
 had dropped his gun, was foaming at the mouth, and then 
 suddenly turned a somersault over the wall. 
 
 Nazaroff and two young officers, whose names I have 
 forgotten, made themselves thoroughly at home. He sent 
 around a double allowance of vodka, and cracked jokes with 
 the men in the most good-humored manner as was his wont. 
 Indeed, to judge by the sound of laughter and merriment 
 that reached my ears, one would not have supposed that 
 there was anything like danger near us. 
 
 However, this little fortress idyl did not last long. Soon we 
 heard near the Bokhara gate the well-known sound of shouts 
 of attack coupled with firing, and then a soldier ran up and 
 asked for assistance, as the enemy were pressing them 
 closely, Nazaroff left some men to keep a look-out at his 
 point of observation, and ran off to the gates. The officer in 
 command here willingly put himself under Nazaroff, and so 
 
SAMARCAND. 
 
 15 
 
 did Captain Tcherkasoff with his sappers. The attack was 
 again repulsed. It was now getting late. A copper tea-pot 
 was brought, and we commenced drinking tea, but we were 
 not destined to enjoy it. A fresh attack was made on us. I 
 involuntarily remembered my morning tea, which was still 
 perhaps standing unfinished m my room, and my Afghan, 
 whose legs I had not drawn in, but whom I hoped to com- 
 plete.^ This time the enemy somehow retreated very 
 quickly, but soon after their departure smoke was seen rising 
 from the gates. Confound them ! they had set the gates on 
 fire ! Such was indeed the case. Soon a strong flame could be 
 seen rising in the darkness. As soon as the gates burst, a 
 fresh attack was made, this time a long and obstinate one. 
 We fired at each other nearly muzzle to muzzle. The noise 
 and tumult were diabolical. In the midst of this uproar I 
 shouted to the men, who were firing wildly in the air : Don’t 
 
 fire at the sky! Whom are you aiming at there ? ” *AVe 
 are frightening them,” was the perfectly serious answer. 
 
 I succeeded in shooting two of the attacking party. 
 “Take your time in firing,” I said to myself, “put your gun 
 band here and wait.” I put my gun on the ridge of the wall, 
 and just then one of the enemy ran across the road, under the 
 gates, with his musket slung over his shoulder. I fired, and 
 he fell dead. The shot was at so short a distance that my 
 unlucky victim’s wadded cloak (kaftan) caught fire and 
 kept burning slowly, until the poor fellow was charred all 
 over and turned into coal. He had moved his hand to his 
 mouth at the time he was shot, and this hand remained in 
 that position. This black mass remained lying about for a 
 whole week until our men returned ; the entire garrison 
 marched over it. 'hhe other fellow was shot in much the 
 same manner. The men said : “ Look at Vassili Vassilie- 
 vitch, what pains he is taking for us ! ” 
 
 There is a silver lining to every cloud. As soon as the 
 gates were burned, Tcherkasoff erected an excellent barri- 
 cade with sacks, behind which a gun loaded with grape was 
 placed. Here our conversation was somewhat different. 
 
 It had grown dark, the fallen beams and boards of the 
 gate were still lightly glowing. Nazaroff had disposed his 
 
 ^ This Afghan is at Mr. J. N. Terestchenko’s Gallery, in Kief, with- 
 out his legs. 
 
i6 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 men so that they could not be seen by the enemy, only their 
 bayonets were visible, glistening in the dark. All that could 
 be seen in the centre were the guns and the man to serve 
 them with their officer. Iffieir white shirts and tunics stood 
 out boldly in the light of the flames. And now we could hear 
 a noise approaching by degrees, which turned into a sort of 
 hoarse roar of many thousand voices shouting : Allah ! 
 
 Allah. 1 ” Presently we saw figures advancing ; none of them 
 fired; they carried their scimitars and muskets in their hands. 
 Like sheep, with their heads well down, they threw them- 
 selves on the gates and the gun. The loud voice of Lieu- 
 tenant Slujenko could be heard clearly giving the word of 
 command : No. i. The next sound was the terrific thunder 
 of the gun, followed by a complete silence. Nothing could 
 be distinguished in the smoke. The stillness lasted for about 
 a minute, and then voices were heard again in the distance. 
 The enemy had been driven back and were probably com- 
 paring notes, quarreling amongst themselves and abusing 
 each other, much to our delight. These attacks were con- 
 tinued for a considerable time ; each descent was made with 
 increased impetuosity. It was clear that the enemy was 
 determined to storm the fortress at any price. But the 
 undisciplined crowd of Asiatics were unable to stand the 
 grape-shot and always retired. They had good reason to 
 retreat, for although we could occasionally catch sight of how 
 they quickly seized and carried off their killed and wounded, 
 on the following day we found so many dead under our very 
 ramparts, from whence it was impossible for the enemy to 
 carry them away, that they caused a terrible odor under the 
 burning sun, and it is a marvel that no epidemic broke out in 
 the fortress in consequence. 
 
 ❖ 
 
 As soon as all was quiet we made a sortie, mainly directed 
 against a mosque which lay near us, and from which all the 
 attacks of the enemy seemed to have emanated as though it 
 were a fortress. Having assured ourselves that the enemy 
 had retired, we quietly sallied out at night and made straight 
 for that abominable mosque ; we quickly got some dry wood 
 together, placed some sticks around it, and set it on fire. We 
 did the same to several huts in our immediate vicinity which 
 we had found specially undesirable. In one of these we 
 
SAMARCAND. 
 
 17 
 
 found a Turcoman chestnut horse ; it was decided to present 
 it to me, but I declined the honor and gave it to the m.en, 
 paying them forty roubles. 
 
 Here we also set hre to everything that would burn. We 
 talked in whispers, in the dark. All that could be heard 
 was : “ Nikolay Nikolayevitch ! ” “ Vassili Vassilievitch ! ” 
 
 ‘‘Come here ! ” It was remarkable that Nazaroff had come 
 out on this expedition in slippers, not so much, I believe, 
 through absent-mindedness as because he was thoroughly 
 calm and indifferent to danger. Was it worth while taking 
 the trouble of putting on boots, when he had already taken 
 them off for the night ? 
 
 When the tongues of flame showed themselves in the air, 
 we retired ; it was time, indeed. The fire had been noticed, 
 and we could hear excited voices. Apparently the enemy 
 were trying to put it out, but their efforts were of no avail, 
 and the flames only gained on them. 
 
 They again commenced an attack on us, but this time 
 with even less success, for the entire neighborhood was 
 lighted up and we could clearly see them coming. 
 
 That night our gun and its charming commander, Slu- 
 jenko, worked wondrous hard ; I went to sleep to the reso- 
 nant sound of his commands. Provided with boards, we laid 
 ourselves to rest in the sand, in the streets, anywhere, with 
 our muskets by our sides, and, notwithstanding the hardness 
 of my improvised couch, and the terrible number of military 
 fleas, I slept the sleep of the just. 
 
 * * 
 
 Long after midnight a loud and continuous noise awoke 
 me. It was the mosque that we had set Are to going to pieces. 
 We went on the ramparts to feast our eyes on the work of 
 our hands ; it was a beautiful night ; the air was charmingly 
 still, and the sky filled with stars. As the sentries were all 
 at their posts and keeping a sharp look out, we again went to 
 sleep after chatting awhile. 
 
 With the early morning the attack upon us was resumed. 
 The enemy advanced on the place where we had been the 
 day before, and even as far as the principal entrance to the 
 town. Here at the gates there was also a gun, but in an 
 incomparably more advantageous position than ours, and 
 as it was impossible to enter the fortress except across a 
 
 2 
 
i8 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 bridge over the moat, a surprise became entirely impossible. 
 If I am not mistaken these gates were called the Djuzak 
 gates ; here Captain Stchemetilo was in command, a thor- 
 ough Ukrainian and a splendid fellow. To both these 
 places Nazaroff had sent reinforcements on one occasion 
 hen they were in a bad way. 
 
 We could see how the attack on the place we had occu- 
 pied the day before was progressing, how numbers of the 
 enemy at a run and shouting “ Ur ! ” rose to the ridge and 
 then, after losing a few men, surged back again. 
 
 All grew quiet again. Nazaroff got me to join him in 
 eating some sour-stuff,” as he called soup of beet-root, 
 cabbage and bacon, which was provided by our merchants, 
 who had informed us long ago that dinner would be ready 
 whenever we wanted it. He also gave instructions to be 
 called the moment any fresh danger arose. 
 
 Our Russian merchants, who had come to Samarcand with 
 a view to opening commercial relations, were of course any- 
 thing but pleased at finding them participating in such a 
 row. One of them, Trubtchaninoff by name, the repre- 
 sentative of the firm of tea merchants, was, however, braver 
 than the rest, and even once joined us on the ramparts in a 
 red shirt and with a fowling-piece in his hand ; but the 
 others shirked it, and as soon as the firing commenced, 
 lighted their candles and fell down on their knees before 
 their “ ikons ” (holy pictures). As the bullets came through 
 their door they were obliged to change their places of wor- 
 ship from one corner to another, and when a few large 
 shrapnels of the calibre of small shells broke through the 
 roof, they had to change about again. 
 
 They fed us and gave us to drink, sent the men some 
 vodka, as well as a few boxes of cigars, with which I after- 
 wards made a circuit of the ramparts, distributing the wel- 
 come weeds among those who wanted them. They con- 
 fessed to us that the firing and shouting sounded very 
 terribly in their ears, and made them expect the advent 
 of unwelcome guests at every moment. 
 
 Our sick and wounded were put in the throne court, but 
 occasional stray shots from the fortress hit a good many 
 among them and nearly killed the doctor, so that some of 
 them were transferred to huts close to the unfortunate mer- 
 chants, who were thus completely robbed of any rest they 
 
SAMARCAND. 
 
 19 
 
20 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 might have had left. The groans of the wounded day and 
 night were heart-rending, so Trubtchaninolf told us. 
 
 I found a whole family of Jews on the throne of Tamer- 
 lane itself, and I asked Nazaroff whether they had not bet- 
 ter be removed from so historically venerable a place, but he 
 was callous to such profanation, and seemed to think that 
 the throne might well be utilized for even baser purposes. 
 Of Jews we had a great number, including children and 
 servants ; the sensation of freedom experienced by the 
 advent of the Russians led them to give themselves airs ; 
 they commenced wearing sashes instead of ropes round their 
 waists, and to ride on horseback, all of which had been for- 
 bidden them before, and they would, therefore, have all been 
 massacred if they had remained in the town. I was told that 
 these Jews when the firing was very severe raised the most 
 frightful hullabaloo, prayed, beat their cheeks and tore the 
 long curls that hung down from their temples. Beside Jews 
 we had Persians, Afghans, Hindoos, and Tartars. All these 
 rushed at us when we came in and asked how the fight was 
 going on, thanked us, and kissed the hems of our garments. 
 
 Nazaroff was informed that fresh hordes were assembling 
 and another attack was expected, so we hurried back ; but the 
 attack turned out a very poor one, and we took heart again. 
 
 As our men did not undress, but lay about on the sand 
 in their clothes, and were nearly eaten up by insects, Naz- 
 aroff ordered them off in detachments to bathe in the pond 
 of a mosque. “ Wash yourselves well,” he added, and then 
 followed a phrase little current in polite society. The men 
 received this order with shouts of laughter, and replied with 
 the regulation “ Glad to please you, your honor ! ” 
 
 Our detachment was now augmented, for as our gates 
 were the most important point, the commandant sent us all 
 the men he could scrape together. Beside convalescents, 
 we had Cossacks and all sorts of irregulars, who cheered 
 loudly enough but got behind the huts when the fighting 
 began. Besides two or three regimental officers, Nazaroff 
 had two officers of sappers with him, Tcherkarsoff and 
 Voronetz, the latter a fat, green youth, who had just left 
 school. As we were all more or less young, the time passed 
 away merrily with jokes and laughter, only to be interrupted 
 
SAMARCAND. 
 
 21 
 
 now and again by the news that so-and-so had been killed 
 or wounded. Among others our charming artillery officer, 
 Slujenko, was mortally wounded. I was not present at the 
 time, but Voronetz told me that this brave soldier rode up 
 and down the ramparts in a white tunic and mounted on a 
 black horse, offering an excellent target to the enemy, against 
 which he was accordingly warned. “ I saw that he was 
 rather doubled up on his saddle,” said Voronetz, ‘‘and so I 
 asked him what was the matter, but he did not answer me. 
 When we took him. off his horse, we found a bullet in his 
 stomach.” 
 
 I thought I would take advantage of the comparative 
 calm to try my new acquisition, the Turcoman chestnut, 
 which had been captured during our sortie. But I had not 
 ridden 200 yards when hell seemed set loose. A fresh attack 
 by the enemy was being made, the most desperate of all. 
 
 I confided my horse to the custody of the nearest Cos- 
 sack, and rushed into the fray. The Uzbeks had crept up 
 to the defences along the huts, up to the very gates, and had 
 climbed the walls so quietly that we did not hear the least 
 noise, and then thrown themselves on our guns. Besides 
 bullets, we w^ere saluted from the huts by a perfect hail- 
 storm of stones which had been collected for the purpose. 
 
 The first salutation accorded me was a blow from a stone 
 on my left leg. I thought my leg was broken, but it was not. 
 Everybody was cheering, but no one advanced. In the cen- 
 tre I saw Nazaroff, crimson with rage, thrashing the soldiers 
 on the back of their heads with the flat of his sword, urging 
 them on, but they kept shuffling backward. “ Tcherkasoff,” 
 he shouted, “ give it those cowardly beggars ! ” At such 
 moments thoughts flash through the brain with lightning 
 rapidity. My first impulse was to show the men the Avay. 
 Then the thought came that I would be sure to get shot, but 
 im.pulse urged : “ Go on ; it’s all right ; you won’t get shot 
 yet ! ” These reflections did not take up as much as two 
 seconds. Before me lay some beams or timber of some sort. 
 Musket in hand, in my unimposing costume, consisting of a 
 gray overcoat flying open, a gray beaver hat on my head, 
 I jumped on these beams, turned to the men, shouted 
 “ Follow me, brothers ! ” and threw myself into an adjoining 
 hut, in the very midst of a horde of the enemy. They at 
 once evacuated the hut and retreated. 
 
22 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 I remember well my actions and can correctly analyze 
 them. The first thing I did on entering the hut was to 
 stand in the space between the windows, for the enemy 
 was firing into them, and thus escape their bullets. Naz- 
 aroff, who followed me, did the same, having success- 
 fully cleared the fatal distance between the ramparts and 
 the hut ; but many of the men who followed suit were lost, 
 some were killed, more wounded, and a few, carried away by 
 the excitement of pursuing the enemy, were taken prisoners 
 and had their heads cut off. One man nearly knocked me 
 down. He was shot in the head and fell against me, com- 
 pletely covering my coat with blood. He gave a groan, and 
 I carried him out, but he died very soon, throwing me a 
 reproachful look which seemed to ask me, “ Why did you 
 lure me to my death ? ” Those glances of the dying remain 
 engraved on the mind forever. 
 
 I remember when General Kaufman visited the wounded 
 after the action of Tehopanata on May ist, otherwise known 
 as the first battle of Samarcand, which resulted in our taking 
 the town, and how he went up to a young officer dying 
 from a ball in the head. Standing close by I heard the 
 wounded officer answering the kind and sympathetic inquiries 
 of the general quietly and courteously. But when Kaufman 
 told him that the principal work had been done, the enemy 
 routed and the town taken, the wounded man did not reply, 
 but only returned a most peculiar, fierce, evil look ! 
 
 The enemy retreated, but continued to worry us with 
 continual firing to such an extent that I persuaded Nazaroff 
 to assume the offensive. We jumped over the earthworks, 
 and with a hearty cheer charged the enemy’s flank, but turn- 
 ing around to look, I saw that no one was following me. The 
 men were huddled together in a heap, like so many sheep. 
 They kept cheering and firing, but not a man moved. Naz- 
 aroff’s thrashing them with his sabre was entirely fruit- 
 less ; he called them cowards and poltroons, but even that 
 was in vain. In vain I shouted : “ Follow me, brothers, 
 follow me !” No one followed me. I was quite hoarse, and 
 my patience exhausted, so I turned to Nazaroff : “ They 
 won’t move, Nieolay Nicolaievitch ; let us beat a retreat ! ” 
 The drummer sounded a retreat and we returned. Why 
 did the men refuse to advance ? We were fairly numerous, 
 there were about one hundred and fifty of us, and the 
 
SAMARCAND. 
 
 23 
 
 enemy was not in force ; we could see perhaps a few hundred 
 scattered about, evidently retreating ; nevertheless I have a 
 lively recollection how our foremost men slipped behind, and 
 how pain was written on every face. I can only explain it 
 by the supposition that our men were afraid that by leaving 
 the fortress they would be cut off and get lost in the innumer- 
 able streets and by-ways. However, the enemy had been 
 completely driven out, and our last sortie had not been 
 without its effect, for the enemy ceased firing. 
 
 I may here mention that in my opinion so-called presenti- 
 ments of death are merely a mdld form of cowardice, excus- 
 able and easily understood, which disposes us to expect the 
 worst. If what we were afraid would happen actuelly occurs, 
 then we say : “ I had a presentiment of this.” If it does not 
 happen we promptly forget all our fears. A young officer 
 during this action looked at the throng with evident alarm, 
 and sought refuge from the bullets and stones under a neigh- 
 boring hut. When I got near him, he whispered to me : “ I feel 
 that I shall be killed to-day.” ‘‘ What nonsense ! ” I replied. 
 “You don’t believe me? Well, you will see ! ” I had no 
 time to argue with him, but I remember being struck by the 
 confidence with which he spoke. “ Poor fellow,” I said to 
 myself, “ what a strong presentiment ! Perhaps he will 
 really be killed.” But what happened ? The young fellow 
 far from being killed was not even wounded ! 
 
 During the whole of this affair we lost a large number of 
 men. I loaded in heaps two cart loads of bodies. Some 
 were stone dead, others were still breathing, or foaming, the 
 latter being principally those who had taken iwdka before going 
 into action. We all noticed that our gun did not act any 
 more. Nazaroff made inquiries, and discovered that our 
 brave gunner in charge had succumbed to temptation and 
 prematurely celebrated our victory, the result being that his 
 bleared eyes could not see as straight as before, and that he 
 had jammed in a shell in loading the gun. The tube of the 
 shell had got caught and could not be moved backward or 
 forward. It was lucky that we got out of our scrape as we 
 did ! AVe were all so tired that no one cared to undertake 
 the removal of the killed and wounded. 
 
24 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 The bodies of those soldiers who had pursued the enemy 
 too far, and whose heads had been cut off, were fearful to 
 look at ; their heads had been cut down to the shoulders, so 
 as not to miss, probably, any portion of the trophy. The 
 men stood round these bodies and speculated as to whom 
 they belonged to. It was only by particular marks on their 
 persons, and special distinctions that the men could be iden- 
 tified. It is known that a reward is given for every head 
 of an enemy, generally in the form of clothes, and this cus- 
 tom is not only peculiar to Central Asians, but to Turks, Alba- 
 nians, Montenegrins, and others as well. This ghastly cir- 
 cumstance suggested a small picture in which I have repre- 
 sented the collection of these severed heads in a sack. 
 
 This action cost me my cap, which was shot off my head, 
 and an injury to my musket, which was hit in the barrel close 
 to my breast, so I came off cheaply. Nazaroff came our 
 perfectly whole and untouched. That man’s bravery was of 
 a peculiar kind ; the men called him a ‘‘ dare devil.” 
 
 The attacking force came up so close to us that they had 
 even driven a standard into the ground and fastened it to 
 one of the huts, near the gates. It was a large red standard 
 with letters on it, probably the name of Allah. It was diffi- 
 cult to take it down, because the enemy were lodged in the 
 houses in the street opposite, and were firing at us. I deter- 
 mined to haul down this flag which was a disgrace to our 
 fortress, and, notwithstanding Nazaroff’s opposition, suc- 
 ceeded in securing it, although the bullets rattled round me 
 while I was unfastening it. I carried my trophy in triumph 
 on its long pole and handed it over to our father, Nazaroff. 
 What did he do with it ? Did he give it to the commandant ? 
 Did he place it in our military church ? Nothing of the kind. 
 To my horror he gave it to his men to make leggings of. 
 When I afterward had occasion to inspect the flags and 
 standards round Kaufman’s tent, I did not see any as big or 
 as handsome as this one. 
 
 What annoyed me more than anything, however, was 
 to find that my horse, when I went to look for it, was tied up 
 with a rope. This meant, that while I was fighting for my 
 country, one of the Cossacks, probably, who had been driven 
 out to aid us, had stolen my bridle. This I had not ex- 
 pected. 
 
SAMARCAND, 
 
 25 
 
 OOaNIH 
 
26 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 When all was over, Nazaroff called me to come and have 
 some ‘‘ sour-stuff ” again. When we came into the palace 
 of Tamerlane every one flocked to thank us — Jews, Tartars 
 and Persians, even our own wounded, crawled out to hail 
 Nazaroff. I can imagine how awful the rattle and roar of 
 musketry and cannon must have sounded to them, in momen- 
 tary dread lest the flood-gates should give way and the deluge 
 swallow them up. Of course at a distance the noise seemed 
 much more terrible than it did to us who were in the thick of it. 
 
 Our friends, the merchants, embraced us ; they confessed 
 they had never heard such a din before, and that they had 
 been praying all the time. You are wounded,” said one 
 pointing to the blood-stains on my coat, and I had to explain 
 how a comrade had decorated me with those spots. On look- 
 ing at my damaged leg, I discovered that blood was running 
 out of a small wound in the ankle. Trubtchaninoff came up 
 quite horrified, and wanted me to see the doctor, but as 
 neither clothes nor linen were torn, it was clear that my 
 wound was a simple bruise, and I was ashamed to say that I 
 had been wounded by a stone. 
 
 We v/ent to see Slujenko. I think he recognized us, but 
 could not speak. We were told he was in horrible agony, 
 and a day later he died. 
 
 Returning to the gates, we found several officers who had 
 come to obtain particulars of the action. They heard how I 
 had fought without sparing myself, and heartily congratu- 
 lated me, declaring that I would receive the first cross, 
 thinking thereby to please me. But I strongly protested 
 against it, for I must confess that mixed with a certain 
 amount of vanity which this adulation called forth there 
 was also a strong feeling of disgust. Perhaps the finest 
 moments of my life were experienced during those two days 
 which 1 passed in a friendship, almost a brotherhood, with 
 people whose energies were all directed toward one common 
 object, recognized by all and dear to all — the defence of the 
 fortress. 1 can honestly say that the idea of any kind of 
 reward never entered my mind, while our people were reckon- 
 ing services, tattling over what had been done, and calcu- 
 lating the decorations, and the probabilities of their being 
 bestowed. ‘‘ Good heavens, spare me, gentlemen ! ” In my 
 disgust I seized my musket and ran up into the tower near 
 our gates, to see if I could bag a hare or two. 
 
SAMARCAND. 
 
 2; 
 
 In the evening two officers came to see us from the other 
 gates, to hear how we were getting on. As everything was 
 quiet, I invited them to walk beyond the gates along our 
 boulevard — that is, along the street that we had burned down, 
 among the dead. Taking their arms, I led them out beyond 
 the earthworks, Nazaroff, Tcherkarscff, and the other officers 
 following us. To be candid, the extreme quiet was rather 
 wearisome. Nowand then a dog howled, or the fire crackled 
 in a house that was not yet quite destroyed ; the whistling of 
 bullets about a yard from where we w^ere, gave us to under- 
 stand that we were being watched, and the sound of approach- 
 ing voices quite convinced us of the wisdom of getting home 
 as quickly as we could, for we had come out unarmed. 
 
 As soon as it became quite dark, Nazaroff made another 
 sortie. We burned many more houses that stood along the 
 walls where we had originally taken our stand. When the 
 light of the flames attracted the attention of the besiegers 
 we discreetly retired, without losing a single man. 
 
 Nazaroff was again in his slippers and nearly burned 
 his feet, which, however, did not cure him. Cemfort was 
 dearer to him than his feet. 
 
 * 
 
 On the following day, the third of the siege, the attacks 
 were less severe, although the firing was not discontinued, 
 sometimes growing very warm, and then again quieting 
 down. 
 
 Nazaroff made a sortie a little further into the town, to 
 burn down the whole of the second street around the wall — 
 an elementary precaution which the commander-in-chief 
 should have taken before, but which he had avoided from 
 kindness of heart, not wishing to subject the inhabitants to 
 more privations than he could help ; the result being that we 
 lost a large number of men, and were nearly compelled to 
 evacuate the fortress, the fall of which would have been 
 the signal for a general rising in Central Asia. If a regular 
 space had been cleared all round the fortress, an attack upon 
 it, if not rendered impossible, would at least have been more 
 difficult. 
 
 The detachment ordered for the sortie, after leaving a 
 section of officers and men at the Bokhara gates, marched to 
 the Djuzak gates. After firing from the gun and giving a 
 
28 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 hearty cheer, Nazaroff jumped like a cat over the ramparts. 
 I followed him and ran ahead, and on arriving at a turning 
 in the first street of shops, I stopped and called others. Be- 
 fore me I could see running in great disorder a large number 
 of people, some of whom turned and fired, but the majority 
 were without muskets, and had nothing but clubs with spiked 
 balls attached to them by chains, and swords. They were all 
 fleeing for their lives. With loud cheers we ran along the 
 streets. 
 
 I was rushing on in front, and, carried away by the chase 
 of a couple of fellows, I turned a corner to the right ; the 
 fugitives turned to the right again, and I followed them. 
 The first ran into a court-yard, but I overtook the second. 
 He leaned against a corner, and waited for me with his club. 
 I charged him with my bayonet, but his heavily wadded 
 overcoat protected him ; he threw himself desperately on the 
 bayonet, warded off the blow, and assaulted me with his 
 weapon. We now set to with our fists. I could find nothing 
 better to do than to beat him about the head. My hands 
 were full of matches for setting fire to the houses ; these 
 matches ignited and burned my hand. Finding himself 
 attacked in so primitive a manner, my opponent, a strong 
 fellow with gray hair, took courage, let go his weapon, and 
 proceeded to disarm me. At this juncture the other fellow, 
 who had fled into a court-yard, came to his assistance. I 
 knew that I should be immediately killed, there was no one 
 near, but I shouted with the energy of desperation though 
 without hope of deliverance : “ Brothers, to the rescue ! ” 
 
 and the men heard me. One of our fellows came running 
 up, his musket at his hip, ready to thrust his bayonet into 
 my adversary, who, however, threw himself upon the soldier 
 and seized his bayonet. The soldier, with an upward jerk, 
 freed the bayonet and thrust it through his opponent’s body. 
 I was grateful for this deliverance, and promised the man ten 
 roubles for saving me, but even this lesson did not cure me, 
 and I got into a worse scrape immediately afterward. 
 
 There was a fresh cheer, and, chasing the fleeing foe, 
 some of whom had jumped into a shop, I ran after them, 
 again leaving my comrades far behind. Suddenly these fel- 
 lows set upon me, several of them at once, one of them 
 showering blows upon me, while the others tried to wrest my 
 musket from me. I had only one idea in my mind at the 
 
SAMARCAND, 
 
 29 
 
 time : I thought what a disgrace it would be if they took my 
 gun away ! Again my comrades came to the rescue, and 
 killed my adversaries. 
 
 From time to time we stopped to set fire to the shops 
 and bazaars. Soon the whole street was in flames, and the 
 smoke obscured everything. 
 
 Although here there were nothing but shops, the men 
 behaved remarkably well, and did not even think of plunder. 
 They killed every one who fell in their path, but committed 
 no acts of cruelty. Once only did I see a soldier put his 
 bayonet into a dead man’s eye and turn it round so that it 
 gave a peculiar squeak. I was just going to rebuke him for 
 what he had done, when I heard a smack, the resonant sound 
 of a box on the ear, and the voice of Nazaroff saying : You 
 
 coward! pulling a dead man about!” We proceeded to 
 the Bokhara gates, losing but two or three men, and these 
 only wounded. 
 
 On our return we were met by the commandant and sev- 
 eral officers lie seemed much alarmed at the news that 
 Nazaroff with his handful of men should have risked an 
 attack, but on hearing how small our losses had been, was 
 reassured. We diew ourselves up, I standing at the right 
 wing. Stempel, in the most charming and flattering manner, 
 thanked us lor repelling the enemy and for our sortie. I 
 received for my share a few highly flattering words which 
 brought tears to my eyes. It appeared that the gallant 
 Stempel had been told that Nazaroff had made all his men 
 drunk and run away into the town with them. Such news 
 might well alarm any one, and so he had hurried to the 
 spot, and found it was untrue. 
 
 My adventures created a good deal of amusement and 
 laughter. The first was told by my rescuer ; the others had 
 not witnessed the combat. “ 1 heard shouts of help,” he 
 said, “ and ran to the spot, and there I saw Vassili Vassilie- 
 vitch as white as a sheet, wrestling with an old Sart.” The 
 second adventure took place in the open street ; the officers 
 saw it, and chaffed me unmercifully. “Tell us, Vassili Vas- 
 silievitch,” they said, “ how it was that your gun was nearly 
 taken away.” or “ I say, Vassili VassilieviLch, they called 
 you into the shop, didn’t they ? ” 
 
 I tormented myself with the question why I did not pull 
 out my revolver. I can confess now that I had a small 
 
30 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 Smith and Wesson in my pocket, and though it had not a 
 large bore, I could have killed my man with it at so short a 
 distance ; but I had forgotten all about it. But afterward, in 
 the hours when one reviews one’s mistakes and faults, I fre- 
 quently went over every incident of those encounters, and 
 pulled out my revolver and shot it off once or twice, or did 
 as the soldier did, jerked the bayonet out of my adversary’s 
 hand and ran him through. Although I consoled myself 
 with the reflection that this was easier for the .soldier to do 
 than for me, as I held my opponent with one hand, still I 
 could not forgive myself for my awkwardness, and have only 
 recently soothed my mind on the subject by the reflection 
 that even the simplest thing requires practice. 
 
 It was as before frightfully hot, and towards the end of 
 May. The sun shed its rays with terrible fierceness, and the 
 bodies lying round our gates began to affect the air notice- 
 ably. But we had to bear it while we were being continually 
 attacked ; as it had been impossible to leave the fortress 
 without risking the lives of our men. Now that things were 
 getting more quiet, Nazaroff determined to make another 
 sortie for the purpose of burying the dead. We were pro- 
 tected by a chain of skirmishers while engaged in this 
 duty. 
 
 The greater portion of this work fell on me, and although 
 I am exceedingly averse to such odors, it made the men so 
 sick they were unable to do the work. Tcherkasoff could 
 stand it but poor Voronetz, after a few attempts, went 
 away with tears in his eyes. There was nothing for it but 
 to plant my bayonet in the corpses and drag them to the 
 ditch. Near the walls lay the carcass of a gray horse that 
 had fallen on the first day during one of the attacks. I saw 
 it then, a fine handsome animal, ridden by some leading 
 officer, who was galloping at the head of a horde up to a 
 shrapnel which blew master and horse to pieces. He was 
 carried away by his men, but the horse was left blown out to 
 extraordinary dimensions. As soon as we moved it from its 
 place the carcass fell to pieces. Then a scene ensued that is 
 difficult to describe. We all collapsed — not literally of 
 course, but we crept off thoroughly nauseated, and as to tack- 
 ling that carcass again, it seemed impossible. However, a 
 
SAMARCAND. 
 
 31 
 
 few men managed to cart it away, and thus get rid of the 
 fragments that lay about. 
 
 Among our men, it must be confessed, there were few 
 who advanced cheerfully into certain danger. But, on the 
 other hand, some of them were remarkably brave fellows. 
 For instance, Ivanoff, a muscular, thick-headed, fair fellow, 
 who went everywhere without seeming to know that such a 
 thing as danger existed. Whether he had anything on his 
 mind I am unable to say, but he appeared to be always calm 
 and equable. He went through those days at Samarcand 
 without a scratch, but I was told that he was killed in a later 
 expedition. 
 
 Thanks to the awkwardness of this brave fellow, about 
 fifteen or twenty of us, who were in the tower shooting, 
 were very nearly lost. The attacking force were working at 
 something close to the ramparts. We suspected they might 
 be digging a mine under the walls ; consequently, as we did 
 not wish to risk the lives of our men by a sortie, we were 
 compelled to throw down a few hand-grenades. Ivanoff 
 undertook to throw them. He climbed onto the beams on 
 the top, and there carried on a whispered conversation with 
 his comrades. What are you standing there for ? Give 
 them to me ! ” “Take them and go up higher ! ” “ How 
 
 am I to go up higher? go higher yourself!” “And so I 
 will ! ” He took a grenade, swung it about, and threw it, 
 but it fell in our midst. We were all transfixed, myself among 
 the number. I then jumped out of the tower and shouted ; 
 “ Save yourselves, brothers ! ” All followed my example, 
 Ivanoff among the number, and had just time to get out 
 when a roar was heard, which was all the more terrible for 
 being in so narrow a space. A mass of bricks and stones 
 was lifted and thrown about. Poor Ivanoff caught it from 
 his comrades. He did not know what to do for shame, 
 so I took his part and told them to leave him alone ; but a 
 few minutes later I heard them again chaffing him. “ So 
 you wanted to kill us all, did you ? ” 
 
 Hi ‘ 'f: 
 
 We learned that on the very first day of the attack the 
 commandant had sent a native orderly to General Kaufman 
 with orders to return with an answer. As he was promised 
 one hundred roubles if he successfully brought back the 
 
32 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 message, besides various exemptions, it was surmised that he 
 had been killed, for he did not return, and this was found 
 afterwards to have been the case. Every day Major Serroff 
 sought out reliable men, who undertook for a remuneration 
 to carry to the commander-in-chief news of our unenviable 
 condition. The commandant wrote little notes in German, in 
 which he stated that the attacks did not cease ; that we were 
 beginning to suffer from want of water and salt ; that the 
 number of killed and wounded was large in proportion to the 
 garrison, and that in a word our position was critical. But 
 there was no answer ! Later we discovered that after the 
 fierce attack of the second day the commandant called a 
 council of war, in which it was decided to fight to the last, 
 and that if we were beaten — that is to say if the enemy 
 effected an entrance into the fortress — Vv^e were to collect in 
 the court-yard of the Emir’s palace, there to fight as long 
 as possible, and then to blow ourselves up ! This was a 
 pretty decision ! Nazaroff, I subsequently learned, was 
 opposed to it, and offered in the event of the fortress being 
 taken from us, to fight his way with the remainder of the 
 garrison to the main body of the army. Although his propo- 
 sal was not accepted, he told me afterward that he would 
 nevertheless have carried it out on his own responsibility. 
 As for Stempel, this feeble, careworn, charming but taciturn 
 Russian -German, who, by-the-by, could scarcely speak even 
 German, would have carried out the decision of the council, 
 and unhesitatingly dispatched us to that bourne from whence 
 no traveller returns. 
 
 We young people knew nothing of all this at the time, 
 and were far from thinking that such bloodthirsty decisions 
 had been arrived at by our commanders. On the third day 
 it was ascertained from information obtained by Serroff that 
 General Kaufman was coming to raise the siege. By way of 
 encouraging the garrison, the commandant informed us of 
 the news, but it contained only a small particle of truth. 
 We afterward learned that the real state of affairs was as 
 follows : None of the orderlies whom we had dispatched to 
 Kaufman actually reached him. They were all caught by the 
 enemy and had their throats cut, notwithstanding that they 
 all went on foot, or more properly speaking, crawled away. 
 Kaufman, however, after defeating the Bokharians at Zera- 
 Bulak, did not push on any further, and this was, as usual. 
 
SAMARCAND. 
 
 33 
 
 carried more rapidly than the wind to the ears of the natives 
 at Samarcand, and considerably diminished their courage. 
 
 After defeating the Emir, Kaufman called a council of 
 war to consider whether he should push on or return. My 
 friend General Heins strongly advised a march on Bokhara 
 at once and the destruction of the town, from whence terms 
 could be dictated to the Emir. But General Golovatcheff 
 held a contrary opinion. He pointed to the fact that no 
 news had been received from Samarcand, and to the obsti- 
 nate rumors that the town was in revolt, and that the fortress 
 by some accounts was being stormed, and according to 
 others had already been retaken by the insurgents, assisted by 
 reinforcements from Shah-Risyab’s men. General Kauf- 
 man, who was himself much concerned at not having heard 
 from us, adopted Golovatcheff s view, and this saved us ; for 
 had Kaufman gone on to Bokhara, we should have been 
 unable to hold out. Speaking for myself, one of the most 
 ardent and indefatigable of the defenders of Samarcand, I 
 began to feel too exhausted from the effects of the fierce 
 attack of the second day, and could not help asking myself 
 the question, ‘‘ Supposing this goes on much longer, have 
 you strength enough to hold out ? ” And I felt compelled 
 to reply that it was exceedingly doubtful. 
 
 It has been truly said that God has given wisdom to 
 babes and sucklings. One general was clever and talented ; 
 the other was brave, but had no great qualities nor much 
 intelligence. The first, however, made a mistake, whereas 
 the other discerned rightly. He deserves our gratitude for 
 that, and may God rest his soul, for he died not long ago, 
 and in very straitened circumstances, too. 
 
 Notwithstanding the information that the main body of 
 the army was marching to our rescue, the days passed and 
 there was no sign of help arriving. As before, we exchanged 
 shots from morning to night, and now and again attacks 
 were made on us, but they were none of them so desperate as 
 the former ones. We could see that the attacking force was 
 less numerous, but it was not until later that we discovered 
 that Shah-Risyab’s forces, dreading the vengeance of Yarim- 
 Padishah, the half Tsar, as they called the governor-general 
 (Kaufman), had been gradually withdrawn. 
 
 * * 
 
 3 
 
34 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 Our merchants screwed up their courage to such a height 
 during this period that a whole crowd of them, under the 
 escort of a commissariat officer, appeared on the ramparts, to 
 see and be seen. But alas ! their commanding officer, the 
 official, was instantly killed by a bullet, and his whole com- 
 pany at once turned and ran home again, convinced it was 
 wiser to restrain their curiosity for the future. 
 
 We made no further sorties, for we had lost a very large 
 proportion of our men as it was, and our commandant did 
 not like to risk more lives. Nevertheless, we used to sally out 
 and burn the neighboring houses. Nazaroff burned everything 
 in the vicinity of the Bokhara gates in the direction from 
 which we expected the main body to arrive. In this he was 
 perhaps actuated by a somewhat malicious motive, as he him- 
 self confessed he wanted to show the commander-in-chief 
 the precaution he ought to have taken for the security of the 
 fortress before leaving it. 
 
 Kaufman, however, beside his many other estimable qual- 
 ities, was a man of great kindness of heart. He would not 
 allow our men to lay a finger on the inhabitants when he 
 occupied Samarcand, and so he could not of course find it in 
 him to destroy a third of the town round the citadel and 
 leave so many people homeless who had as yet done nothing 
 officially to bring down upon them such a punishment. 
 This is the only explanation possible for his having left the 
 citadel in so defenceless a condition. 
 
 We had enough bread ; the salt, as already stated, was 
 running short ; there was also enough meat, but the horses 
 were badly off for hay, and so we had to organize foraging 
 expeditions, according to the rules of warfare. We sallied 
 out through secret passages under the ramparts, which were 
 generally m the ruins, and lay down in a chain of skirmish- 
 ers pouring a continual fire into the neighboring gardens, 
 while our fellows mowed a respectable quantity of hay. We 
 then retreated quietly into the fortress, scarcely losing a 
 man. 
 
 With the expectation of a speedy release, the officer in 
 charge of our artillery determined to punish the mosque from 
 the minaret of which the enemy had fired on our wounded. 
 The trader, Trubtchaninoff, knowing my weakness for 
 mosques, informed me of this. ‘‘ Vassili Vassilievitch ! ” he 
 exclaimed, they are knocking off the plaster ! ” This was 
 
SAMARCAND, 
 
 35 
 
 his euphemism for the tile-work with which the mosque was 
 decorated, and which he knew I greatly admired. I rushed 
 
 TOMB OF TAMERLANS. 
 
3 ^ 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 off at once and implored the officer to spare the minaret. He 
 acceded to my request, although several shots had already 
 been driven into it. 
 
 ^ ❖ 
 
 On the fifth or sixth day of the siege, a man appeared at 
 the gates waving a piece of paper in his hand. Nazaroff gave 
 orders not to fire, and called him up. A strong, bearded fel- 
 low he was, and apparently no coward, for he came right up 
 to our guns. He showed us the manuscript he had brought, 
 but it was in a language we could not understand, and Naz- 
 aroff confided him to me to be escorted to the commandant. 
 I took his paper, slung my musket over my shoulder and 
 conducted the messenger, who carried himself with great 
 dignity, to the Emir’s court, where our wounded were 
 camped. 1 bound up his eyes with my handkerchief, and 
 told him in his native language not to be afraid. “ I am 
 afraid of nothing,” he answered. Putting my hand on his 
 shoulder, I led him to headquarters, where I removed his 
 bandage. Serroff, who knew the native language well, was 
 just at that time with Stempel. He took the paper, read 
 it over, and then commenced swearing at the man. It 
 appeared that he had brought us a proposal of surrender. 
 
 You have no chance of rescue,” the leaders of the revolt 
 had written ; “ surrender the fortress, and we will let you go 
 free.” “Is that all ?” I asked of the colonel. “ That is 
 all; you may go ! ” I returned, and informed our fellows of 
 the nature of the proposal that had been made us, and the 
 very ungracious reception accorded it by our commandant. 
 
 The men had so often heard that they were going to be 
 rescued, that, as no rescue had yet arrived, they recommenced 
 grumbling. “ Wc shall have to winter here,” they said. “ It 
 is clear they have forgotten all about us.” At last, earl}^ 
 in the morning of the eighth day, there arrived at the Bo- 
 khara gates, from whence we expected the troops, a young 
 native orderly, who had successfully reached General Kauf- 
 man, and had returned with an answer. We looked on him 
 as our deliverer, and his uninteresting dirty faee, wrapped 
 round with still dirtier rags, seemed to us to be almost in- 
 spired. However, he appeared to recognize the importance of 
 
SAMARCAND. 
 
 37 
 
 his mission, and beside the pleasure he must have felt at his 
 achievement, the reception of 300 roubles as reward, and of 
 the soldiers’ St. George’s Cross (if I am not mistaken), must 
 have caused him a still more agreeable sensation. “ Hold 
 out,” General Kaufman wrote to the commandant, “ to- 
 morrow I shall be with you.” What a tremendous cheer rang 
 through that fortress when the contents of the letter were made 
 known ! Of course the rebels understood that their game 
 was up, and, with the exception of a few desperate characters, 
 they did not annoy us very much more. It appeared after- 
 ward that this was the only messenger who succeeded in 
 reaching the main body, which wms then already on its way 
 back ; the other six or seven had been caught and killed. 
 
 The exchange of shots was still kept up as before, and that 
 night the alarm was given and an attack made, but it was 
 evident that our siege had come to an end. 
 
 That night the main body of the army, which had halted 
 within an easy distance, could hear our bring. General Kauf- 
 man in particular was made very anxious by the shots from 
 our cannon. He told me afterward that he was kept awake 
 all night by fear that the fortress might be taken after all. 
 
 ❖ 
 
 'I' jfc 
 
 The next day, notwithstanding the entreaties of Nazaroff 
 and the other officers that I should go out to meet the troops, 
 I went into my hut, undressed, and lay down for the first time 
 for eight days between a clean pair of sheets. I tried to get 
 to sleep, but could not; my nerves were at too great a tension. 
 I was lying in a half waking, half sleeping condition, wdren 
 Nazaroff rushed into my room. “ Vassili Vassilievitch ! ” he 
 shouted, “ I have got a fresh battalion ; let us go and burn 
 the town ! ” don’t want to go,” I said. Won’t you ? ” 
 ‘‘ No,” I repeated. “ Well, then I will go alone. Let it be 
 said that Nazaroff burned Samarcand ! ” Soon an enormous 
 cloud of smoke told us that Nazaroff had not lost any time : 
 he had set lire to the greatest bazaar of Central Asia. 
 
 The tender-hearted Kaufman, who felt that a severe ex- 
 ample should be made of the insurgents, had intentionally 
 passed the previous nights a few miles off from Samarcand, 
 so as to give the inhabitants time to escape, especially the 
 women and children. But now he gave orders that the town 
 should be exemplarily punished, and that no one should be 
 
38 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 spared. A commissariat officer, who was one of the volunteer 
 avengers, told me the following incident : He ran into a hut 
 with a few soldiers and came upon an old woman, who re- 
 ceived them with the words, “ Ahman ! ahman ! ” (good 
 health). “ We saw, ” he said, “ that the sacks upon which she 
 was sitting were moving. We looked, and found a boy of 
 about sixteen. He was dragged out and killed, and his old 
 grandmother, too ! ” 
 
 The soldiers were allowed to inspect the shops, and what 
 wonderful things they brought away with them ! It was most 
 mirth-provoking to see them arrayed in all the gorgeousness 
 of native dresses, which they selected at random, vying with 
 each other as to who should wear the most glaring colors. 
 For a few roubles a perfect ethnographical treasure could have 
 been purchased from them. As for the wealth of old work, 
 carved doors, and columns that must have perished in the 
 flames, I feel miserable when I think of it. 
 
 Nazaroff diverted himself by paying the town with usury 
 for all the discomforts and trouble it had given him during 
 those eight days. He especially vented his spite against 
 the mosque of Shirdari with the minaret, from which such 
 good aim had been taken at our wounded, and our artillery 
 park. have killed every one in that infernal mosque,” 
 
 he said proudly. As I knew the mollah of that mosque, 
 whom I confess I secretly suspected of aiding and abetting 
 the killing of our wounded men, but in whose fate I took a 
 great interest, I asked one of the officers who had assisted 
 Nazaroff in this butchering expedition, whether he had found 
 many people in the mosque. “ No, not many,” he replied, 
 “ the cowards ran away ! ” I breathed again. Only one 
 old mollah was caught,” he continued. “ Would you believe 
 it, he ran like a cat up to the very top of the minaret.” — 
 “ Well ? ” — ‘‘ Well, of course they threw him down from there 
 with bayonets.” Uff ! 
 
 * 
 
 I can still picture in my mind’s eye the figure of General 
 Kaufman sitting in our court-yard dealing out, after all that 
 preceded, justice and punishment to all sorts of people who 
 been taken prisoners for carrying arms or other nefarious 
 practices. The General, surrounded by his officers, was sit- 
 ting on a camp-stool smoking a cigarette, and was pronounc- 
 
SAMARCAND. 
 
 39 
 
 ing in a tranquil dispassionate voice his sentences. “ Shoot 
 him, shoot him.” I accidentally stopped to watch the process, 
 and 1 saw among those who were brought up, my friend the 
 messenger, who liad come up to the gates with the conditions 
 of surrender. ‘‘ Is it possible that even he is going to be 
 shot?” I asked General Heins, who was standing close by. 
 “ I know this man to be a brave and decent fellow ? ” Tell 
 General Kaufman,” he said, ‘‘he will perhaps let him off for 
 your sake.” My ilbfate bade me apply to the commandant 
 before appealing to the General. “ Major, why are they 
 going to punish this messenger ? You will remember that 
 he behaved remarkably well.” “ On the contrary, he was 
 insolent. You will allow me to know my own business.” I 
 saw that my interference was distasteful to Stempel, and 
 went away, thinking that one more or less did not signify. 
 The messenger had in the mean time received the fatal sen- 
 tence, “ Shoot him,” which he probably understood, for it 
 brought the perspiration to his brow. On leaving the court- 
 yard the poor fellow asked for something to drink. They 
 give him some water which he gulped down ; he wiped his 
 mouth with his robe, and then marched away submissively 
 toward the road which leads to the land “ where the wicked 
 cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest.” 
 
RUSSO-TURKISH WAR. 
 
 II. 
 
 ON THE DANUBE, 
 
 1877. 
 
 My good friend General Hall introduced me to Generals 
 Nepokoitchitski, Levitski, and others ; and also, to my great 
 astonishment, to General Skobeleff the younger. “ I knew a 
 Skobeleff in Turkestan,” said I. “ I am he.” “Is it possible 
 you have aged so much ? We are old acquaintances, then.” 
 Skobeleff had, in fact, changed very much ; he had acquired 
 a more manly appearance, and had adopted the bearing of a 
 general, and to some extent a general’s authoritative tone. In 
 talking to me, however, he soon fell into the old friendly man- 
 ner. He had just arrived. The two Crosses of the Order of 
 St. George wdiich he had won in Turkestan were the subjects 
 of many witticisms, and some one said that he must now show 
 that he deserved them. This phrase, I remember, met with 
 general approval and passed from mouth to mouth, as did 
 also the assertion that the boyish Skobeleff could not be 
 trusted with even a company of soldiers. When Skobeleff 
 heard that I was going with his father, he bade me tell him 
 that his son would soon join him. He had been appointed 
 chief of staff to his father, Dmitri Ivanovitch Skobeleff, 
 who was in command of the advance guard, — an appoint- 
 ment which was an intentional disgrace, considering his rank. 
 
 The detachment commanded by the elder Skobeleff was 
 composed of two brigades, the first of Vv^hich consisted of a 
 regiment of Don Cossacks and a regiment of Kuban Cossacks, 
 while the second v/as made up of Vladicaucasians, Ossetes, 
 and Ingushes. The first brigade was commanded by Colonel 
 Tutolmin, a prudent and excellent man, but excessively fond 
 of the sound of his own voice ; the second by Colonel Wulfert, 
 
 40 
 
ON THE DANUBE. 
 
 41 
 
 who had been made Knight of the Order of St. George for 
 his distinguished services in the storming of Tashkend. 
 Wulfert was as silent as Tutolmin was loquacious. 
 
 The following were the officers in command of the several 
 regiments : — Of the Don Cossacks, Denis Orloff, a lively, sym- 
 pathetic fellow and a good comrade ; of the Kuban Cossacks, 
 Kucharenko (son of the General Kucharenko, who is well 
 known in the Caucasus), an officer who had all the look of a 
 bold Caucasian, though, as it turned out, he was in a bad 
 state of health ; of the Vladicaucasians, Colonel Levis — half 
 Kussian, half Swede—a stout, florid, good-humored, and 
 brave soldier — a typical military man, in short ; of the In- 
 gushes and Ossetes, an officer who was Russian in appearance 
 and in name — Pankratieff, if I remember rightly. 
 
 I usually lodged in some peasant’s house with the elder 
 Skobeleff. He possessed a two-wheeled taj^ataika (small cart) 
 and a couple of horses. In the morning, after the troops 
 had started, we drove after them ; when he had caught them 
 up, Skobeleff put on his \mg^ papakha (Cossack cap), mount- 
 ed a horse, rode round the regiments, greeting the officers 
 and men, and then took his seat again in the tarataika, laid 
 the papakha under the seat, and put on once more his red 
 convoy-cap. He had years ago commanded the imperial 
 convoy, and still wore the convoy uniform When we came 
 near a village he never forgot to throw open the flaps of his 
 overcoat so as to show his smart tcJieiPesska embroidered with 
 broad silver lace. The Roumanians were everywhere much 
 impressed with the general’s stately and characteristic appear- 
 ance. I remember well how at a review which the com- 
 mander-in-chief held at Galatz Skobeleff’s splendid figure 
 filled me with admiration. He was a handsome man, with 
 great blue eyes and a full red beard, and sat his little horse 
 as if it were a part of him. 
 
 ❖ 
 
 On the way we told each other stories, or Skobeleff 
 talked with Mishka, the coachman, about the bad shoe- 
 ing of the near horse, or the rottenness of the reins, or the 
 bad state of one of the tires, etc. Generally he would wran- 
 gle, scold the coachman, and threaten to send him away, 
 and after we had crossed the frontier he would promise him 
 a sound thrashing now that the ordinary law was no longer 
 
42 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 in force.” But Mishka knew well enough that these were 
 but idle threats. Later on, when the younger Skobeleff, 
 Michael, had joined our party, it was often difficult to 
 determine which the elder Skobeleff was speaking of or 
 which he was calling — his son Misha, or his coachman 
 Mishka. 
 
 We ordinarily drove far ahead of the troops and chose a 
 good place for the midday halt ; here we would await them, 
 trying in the interim to discover if there were a house or an 
 inn near us at which to procure milk, fresh or sour. When 
 the officers came up, we would take a cold breakfast. 
 
 I must mention still a few more persons who were gener- 
 ally of our party. These were Staff-Captain Sacharoff, who 
 was now acting as chief of staff to this detachment — a 
 very clever fellow ; Captain Derfelden, a cavalry officer 
 serving with our detachment, who, in spite of his German 
 name, was a true Russian ; and, lastly. Captain Lukasheff, of 
 the Gatshina Cuirassiers, who, if I remember aright, was 
 temporarily acting as aide-de-camp. 
 
 The detachment included, beside the troops already 
 mentioned, a battery of Don Cossack artillery ; but their 
 commander kept aloof from us and associated only with his 
 own officers. The officers commanding the regiments of the 
 second brigade, as well as Wulfert himself, were seldom 
 with us, as they marched behind, and only appeared in Sko- 
 beleff’s presence when they overtook us every other day 
 during our midday halt. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to say that our breakfast parties in 
 a meadow, under shady trees or under the projecting roof of 
 a Roumanian cottage, were very animated and merry. When 
 we had rested, the signal would be given to resume our 
 march, and we would mount our tarataika once more and 
 set off, followed by the detachment. 
 
 Often we would ask questions of the peasants, male or 
 female, whom we met on the road ; and our efforts to make 
 ourselves understood on these occasions gave us no little 
 amusement, “ You can’t manage it,” Skobeleff would say ; 
 “let me question him.” Sometimes he did actually succeed 
 in getting an answer. Once we turned off the road to speak 
 to a Roumanian who was minding a flock of sheep, and who 
 was almost frightened out of his wits at sight of the general. 
 Skobeleff wanted to buy a small sheep for breeding. He 
 
ON THE DANUBE. 
 
 43 
 
 Stretched out his hands and bleated feebly. The peasant 
 understood what he wanted, sold him the sheep, and looked 
 after us, smilingly, for a long while. We took the animal 
 
 into our vehicle, but presently had to banish him to the 
 baggage-wagons, as he was too dirty to be a pleasant travel- 
 ling-companion. 
 
44 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 On the arrival of the detachment at the place where, 
 according to our marching orders, we were to halt for the 
 night, dinner was prepared in the house which the general 
 chose for his quarters. We had agreed among ourselves 
 that Skobeleff should provide the substantial viands, Tutol- 
 min the wine, Sacharoff the tea and sugar, and I the requi- 
 site sweets — such, for instance, as almonds and raisins, 
 nuts, etc. Skobeleff always dressed the salad himself, and, 
 as he constantly tasted it, his beard would become covered 
 with green leaves. 
 
 He used often to send out his cook to one of the neigh- 
 boring gardens to steal young vine-leaves to put into the 
 soup. 
 
 When, for some reason or other, we were kept waiting for 
 dinner, we tried to kill time with all kinds of absurdities and 
 jokes. We indited odes to the cook on the dinner, or, 
 according to circumstances, on the campaign, the weather, 
 etc. I still recollect some verses which General Skobeleff, 
 Colonel Tutolmin, Captain Sacharoff, and Captain Derfelden 
 composed jointly. 
 
 My doggerel lines remained unfinished, because Dmitri 
 Ivanovitch (the elder Skobeleff) begged me to add something 
 on the order and discipline of the detachment, which naturally 
 rather cooled my inspiration. My verses ran as follows: 
 
 Jests and laughter fill the air, 
 And songs in chorus shouted. 
 All’s alive and merry, 
 
 All’s alive and merry. 
 
 ’Tis Skobeleff with his battalions 
 And his Don Cossacks, 
 
 Marching ’gainst the Turks, 
 Marching ’gainst the Turks. 
 
 Here they tramp, the brave Kubantsi 
 And the ragged Ossetin 
 Men of mettle all, 
 
 Men of mettle all. 
 
 Here the guns come lumbering: 
 In battle perhaps they’ll help us. 
 But who can prophesy ? 
 
 But who can prophesy ? 
 
ON THE DANUBE. 
 
 45 
 
 In the rear the hangers-on, 
 
 Surgeons, clerks, and Lord knows who, 
 
 In a motley throng, 
 
 In a motley throng. 
 
 The proposal to continue these verses was not carried out. 
 After dinner, until tea was brought, there was more chatting 
 and joking, and often songs, in which the general did not dis- 
 dain to join with his bass voice. Tutolmin especially was 
 fond of singing ; he would hold some of the notes with 
 care, often closing his eyes with pleasure, particularly when 
 his favorite song was sung — the soldiers’ air : 
 
 or— 
 
 Live and drive dull care away. 
 And be thankful to the Czar : 
 
 Let us live and banish care 
 And swear eternal friendship. 
 
 We went to bed in good time, as we had to be up early. 
 
 * 
 
 * * 
 
 At one halting-place we had just lain down to sleep when 
 shots were heard, and a general tumult ensued. While 
 dressing myself I asked Skobeleff what it could be. “ The 
 Turks,” he thought. In a few minutes the whole detach- 
 ment was on the move ; unfortunately my bridle had been 
 lost, which made me later than the others in starting. 
 In the impenetrable darkness I rode through hedges and 
 ditches, and in consequence nearly fell from my horse. When 
 I reached the division, already ranged in rank and file, I 
 heard orders given in an undertone ; “ Where is the artillery ? 
 Let the artillery come here. The Kubantsi to the right.” 
 Then the general’s voice reached me : ‘‘ Vassili Vassilievitch! 
 Where is Vassili Vassilievitch?” I quickly took my place 
 among the staff. 
 
 A patrol was sent out, and it was found that a Jewish sutler 
 who was taking his night’s rest here, and had become thorough- 
 ly frightened in the dark, had taken it into his head to fire 
 a few shots from his revolver in order to restore his courage. 
 The Cossacks, especially Orloff, begged for permission to give 
 this Jew, who had deprived the whole detachment of sleep, a 
 sound beating ; but I interposed on his behalf, and suggested 
 
46 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 that for each shot fired he should receive a cut with the 
 nagaika. This was done. The Jew received three lashes only, 
 but they were good ones. 
 
 * 
 
 ^ * 
 
 In the large villages the Cossacks were quartered in houses, 
 but in the intervening country in tents. On the whole the 
 troops behaved well, though there were some complaints 
 against them : in one place a Cossack had carried off a goose ; 
 in another a sheep had been stolen, and consumed with such 
 skill that neither skin nor bones were to be found. Com- 
 plaints were also brought, but only once, of a woman being 
 attacked by Cossacks. 
 
 We marched on with great caution, as if in an enemy’s 
 country, with patrols, which Skobeleff called ‘‘eyes,” on our 
 flanks. Although some of the officers laughed at these precau- 
 tions, they were probably not unnecessary ; for one could not 
 be sure that some wandering party of Tcherkesses might 
 
 HE ATTACKED A WOMAN. 
 
ON THE DANUBE. 
 
 47 
 
 not cross the Danube on a dark night, do mischief, and 
 alarm the neighborhood. Although we were still quite a 
 distance from the Danube, the inhabitants all round us were 
 in the greatest excitement in consequence of the constant 
 rumors that the enemy were about to cross the river — now at 
 this spot and now at that. 
 
 The officers, as well as the Cossacks of the detachment, 
 led a quiet life ; there was neither hard drinking nor high 
 play, d'he only thing I can remember is a little entertainment 
 given by the colonel of the Kuban regiment, Kucharenko, 
 who celebrated his birthday with a feast. Colonel Orloff 
 appeared with a half-dozen of Don champagne — the last, as 
 he assured us ; presently another half-dozen appeared, which 
 was said to be quite the last ; however, yet another half- 
 dozen followed ; was it really (?) the last. 
 
 The chief interest of the feast was centred in the roast 
 foal, of which notice had been given long before. Although 
 in Turkestan I had eaten horse-flesh, I had never tasted foal. 
 
 The roast was served. Gentlemen,” cried Kucharenko, 
 who stammered violently, “ will you be pleased to partake of 
 roast foal ? ” — the dish contained huge chops and steaks of 
 rather bluish meat. All tried it. I liked the meat, the 
 majority did not ; some ate a little, others none at all. 
 
 Now the second dish was served. “Gentlemen, here is 
 mutton for those who do not care for roast foal ! ” The 
 guests fell to, and were heard to exclaim : “ That is quite a 
 different thing ; this is real meat ! ” When all had laid 
 down their knives and forks, Kucharenko stammered out 
 again : “ Do not be angry, gentlemen : both dishes were 
 foal ! ” 
 
 * 
 
 I possessed neither horse nor carriage, and was therefore 
 obliged to provide myself with both. It was settled that 
 Sotnik W., who commanded a sotnia (hundred) of Kuban 
 Cossacks, and always knew how to get everything every- 
 where, should procure me both. The general introduced 
 me to him. “ All right,” said W. ; and the very next day I 
 received a chestnut horse, which, to be sure, was blind of 
 one eye, but good-tempered and quiet, could see well with 
 the sound eye, and (most important of all ) cost only seventy 
 rubles — not a high price under the circumstances. 
 
48 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 Later on, at Bucharest, W. procured for me a new horse 
 and a carriage from a Russian settler, a Skopets, for 400 
 francs. For my carriage Skobeleff gave me a Cossack foot- 
 soldier from the Don, called Ivan, and for my horses a young 
 Ossetin named Kaitoff. 
 
 Shortly after this the younger Skobeleff arrived. His 
 horses had preceded him. One, which his father had given 
 him, was an English thoroughbred, for which 14,000 rubles 
 had been paid ; the second, a white stallion of Persian race, 
 had, I suppose, some good points, but in most respects 
 was not well formed ; the third, a yellow chestnut of Tur- 
 coman blood from Khiva, did not seem to be one of the best 
 horses of that country. 
 
 The young general had been already talked of in the 
 division, and I, being acquainted with him, was often ques- 
 tioned about him. I told everybody that he was a brave and 
 excellent officer. 
 
 The relation between the elder Skobeleff and his son was 
 a friendly one ; but it seemed to me, nevertheless, that Dmitri 
 Ivanovitch was a little piqued that his son had received the 
 Cross of St. George of the third class while he had only the 
 fourth. Moreover, the father alluded sarcastically to his son 
 Michel’s military service in Turkestan (partly, no doubt, 
 because he was himself an old Caucasian), and laughed at 
 the engagements there as child’s play. Once, at table I was 
 obliged to stand up warmly for the young general, and the 
 old man was quite annoyed. Altogether, it must be con- 
 fessed that young Skobeleff to a certain extent distuibed the 
 orderly patriarchal conditions of our camp life by his martial 
 stories and his plans and proposals for the coming campaign. 
 
 He had at that time a number of plans ready, not only for 
 taking the whole army and its several divisions across the 
 Danube, but also for surprising the Turkish pickets, bat- 
 teries, etc. He communicated his plans in confidence first 
 to one and then to another of the older officers of the 
 detachment, to the great astonishment of many. “ He is 
 mad,” said S. to me ; ‘‘a fresh plan every hour. He takes 
 one by the arm, with ^ I say, do you know ’ — and begins to 
 talk sheer nonsense.” 
 
 As I was sincerely attached to Skobeleff, I advised him to 
 
ON THE DANUBE. 
 
 49 
 
 be more reserved and cautious. He asked with much 
 interest what impression he had made on the detachment. I 
 replied that his youth and figure, his Cross of St. George, 
 and other points had undoubtedly made a certain impres- 
 sion ; but that he must take care not to efface it by his 
 schemes, which, however practicable and easy of execution 
 they might appear to him personally, bored everybody else. 
 Skobeleff thanked me warmly, saying, “ That is the advice 
 of a true friend.” 
 
 * 
 
 ❖ Hs 
 
 We came within a short distance of Bucharest, but did 
 not enter the town, on account of the agreement which had 
 been made at the convention. 
 
 Our former agent in Constantinople, Colonel Bobrikoff, 
 accompanied by several Roumanian officers, rode out from 
 the town to meet us ; they led us round through the 
 suburbs, and in one of these, by the Danube, we took up 
 our quarters. This proceeding caused great discontent 
 in the detachment ; the. condition that we should not march 
 through the town was termed humiliating, but quite unjustly. 
 
 When the troops had been billeted, the elder Skobeleff 
 was informed that the commander-in-chief had stopped at 
 Bucharest on his way and was lodging in the house of Consul 
 Stuart. The worthy Dmitri Ivanovitch was highly delighted 
 at this news, and as he sat on the bed threw his legs up 
 in the air. Presently he rode off to the Grand Duke dis- 
 playing the flag, of blue silk with a large white cross, 
 which was carried before the detachment on the march 
 through Roumania. 
 
 Accompanied by young Skobeleff, I drove through the 
 town. I must confess that I was ashamed of my companion, 
 for he put out his tongue at the ladies we met, particularly 
 at the pretty ones. 
 
 Skobeleff felt his inaction painfully. It was evident that 
 a separate command was not to be intrusted to him, and he 
 deeply regretted having left Turkestan, where, it was 
 rumored, a demonstration against England was preparing. 
 The thought of a campaign in India gave him no peace. 
 “We were both fools to come here,” he said to Captain 
 Masloff, who had come with him from Turkestan, and, like 
 him, was longing to be back. I advised Michael Dmitrie- 
 4 
 
50 
 
 VERBSTCIIAGIN. 
 
 vitch to have a little patience, whereupon he replied “ Let 
 us wait, Vassili Vassilievitch. I understand waiting, and 
 shall be sure to take what comes to me.” Masloff I advised 
 to join fortunes with Skobeleff, who, it was certain, would 
 find his right place. It is a pity that he succeeded in doing 
 so too late, that his youth was so long a stumbling block, 
 and that this fiery spirit was not allowed free scope. The 
 result of the campaign would then have been very different. 
 
 I he elder Skobeleff gave us a dinner in the Huk Hotel, 
 where I also had taken rooms. The inn was good and not 
 expensive, and drove a roaring trade, it was said. But, in- 
 deed, there was scarcely a person in Bucharest who did not, 
 somehow or other, get profit from us Russians. The owners 
 of inns and hotels must really have made their fortunes. 
 
 * 
 
 * * 
 
 As I had to provide the sweets for our common table, I 
 ransacked all the shops in the town, but could find nothing 
 except some inferior raisins and hard dried plums ; everything 
 else was sold out. It was much to my annoyance that I had 
 to offer my good comrades these rather untempting articles. 
 
 After two days’ rest we marched on in our old order. One 
 day the Don Cossacks led the van, the next day the Kubant- 
 si, for the most part singing and playing Cossack music, 
 which, if not always harmonious, sounded at any rate loud 
 and bold. I remember one officer in particular who con- 
 ducted the music in the Kuban regiment — a fine, well-built, 
 handsome man. As he conducted he beat a Turkish drum ; 
 and how he did beat it ! One could only listen to it at a 
 respectful distance. The troops were disposed of as before 
 — partly in cottages, if there was room ; if not, in tents as 
 near as possible to the water. For ourselves, we always found 
 some house — now a peasant’s, now a landowner’s. I some- 
 times went with Dmitri Ivanovitch to the farms by the way, 
 where, if the owner was absent, they willingly showed us 
 everything, and offered us dultchas — i.e. fruit-syrup — with 
 the usual glass of water. Once we lodged in a large, very 
 roomy house belonging to a landowner. But that night our 
 detachment did not fare well ; though they searched care- 
 fully, no dry place could be found, and the Cossacks were 
 obliged to pitch their tents on swampy ground ; moreover, 
 the weather was damp and cold ; rain fell the whole time. I 
 
ON THE DANUBE. 5 1 
 
 remember that our commanding officer was then accused of 
 making his troops encamp too near his own quarters. 
 
 While there, the elder Skobeleff received orders to appear 
 at headquarters, and, evidently uneasy, he set off. The fact 
 was, that during our stay at Bucharest the Ingushes belonging 
 to our detachment had had a fight — such, at least, was the 
 story — and officious people thereupon reported in influential 
 quarters that the Mussulmans among the Ingushes, and some 
 of those among the Ossetes, had expressed their dislike of 
 the campaign ; nay, these busybodies actually pretended that 
 they had seen the so-called malcontents throw away their 
 cartridges, saying that they would not fire on their fellow- 
 believers, the Turks. 
 
 All this proved later to be mere nonsense, but gossip did 
 not fail to spread the report that there was a want of dis- 
 cipline in the detachment, and even went so far as to hint 
 that it was almost in a state of mutiny. The commander-in- 
 chief, disquieted by these rumors, summoned Skobeleff, on 
 whose advice it was decided to send back the Ingushes and 
 the Ossetes to Russia. A harsher and, under the circum- 
 stances, a more unjust measure could scarcely be imagined ; 
 and these rough soldiers shed tears as they tried to move 
 their commanders from their purpose and to establish their 
 own innocence ; but all in vain, for their return to Russia 
 was definitely decided upon. They were obliged to start 
 for Odessa on their way home, returning afterward to the 
 seat of war. 
 
 During Skobeleff’s absence his son took his place. How 
 pleased he was to be able to ride along the ranks of the Cos- 
 sacks and call out to them, ‘‘ Good-day, children ! ” Even at 
 that time, when I dissuaded him from attempting to obtain 
 permission to return to Turkestan, he said to me sadly, “Do 
 you think Vassili Vassilievitch, that I do not find it hard to 
 be unable to greet the men, when I have led regiments into 
 battle, and governed a province ? ” 
 
 The Cossacks recognized the difference between father and 
 son ; you might hear them say, “We could do with a com- 
 mander like that.” When the elder Skobeleff learned this, 
 later, he was annoyed. “ He cannot have this post,” he said 
 to me, “because I have it.” The old man was called Pasha 
 — I do not know why ; Sacharoff called him Rygim Pasha, 
 because he often hemmed loudly to clear his throat. The 
 
52 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 Cossacks frequently sang a parody of the well-known soldiers’ 
 song, “ There was a battle at Poltava,” which began with the 
 words “ At Junis was a battle fought,” in allusion to the Rus- 
 sian volunteers in the war between Turkey and Servia. 
 Among the rest the following lines — 
 
 Our mighty Emperor — ■ 
 
 God keep his memory — 
 
 were parodied as follows : — 
 
 Our mighty M . . . — 
 
 May the devil take him — 
 
 Only in the rear was seen, 
 
 Writing telegrams. 
 
 The elder Skobeleff heard this song often without taking 
 any notice of it ; but the younger, on the very first day of his 
 short command, said to the men, “ I beg of you, brethren, not 
 to sing that song, because it ridicules our brothers who 
 fought bravely for the cause of the Slav.” 
 
 He made inquiries about the men’s food and about various 
 other matters concerning the detachment : and this, becoming 
 speedily known to the privates, procured for him great popu- 
 larity. 
 
 In everything that related to the health of the troops the 
 elder Skobeleff trusted completely to the integrity of the 
 brigadier-generals, who in turn relied on the colonels of the 
 regiments ; and the result was that in reality there was no 
 control whatever. An active young doctor reported that the 
 regiment commanded by K. was insufficiently provided with 
 medical appliances, and that in addition the food was bad. 
 The officer in command of the division acted in an extremely 
 autocratic and original fashion, for he questioned the colonel 
 of the regiment, and in consequence removed the doctor from 
 his post, ascribing his damaging statement to his personal 
 dislike for his colonel. 
 
 “ What a mean fellow that doctor is ! ” said the colonel to 
 me. “ When he came into the regiment, he had nothing ; I 
 gave him a Cossack, I gave him a horse, and one thing and 
 another ; and now just see how he repays me.” 
 
ON THE DANUBE. 
 
 53 
 
 We soon reached Frateshti, near the railway station of the 
 same name, whence there is a view of the Danube glittering 
 like a silver band in the sunshine. As the detachment was 
 to take a position along the bank of the river, and there was 
 no talk of crossing, I thought I would seize the opportunity 
 to go to Paris for a short time. Some of my painting 
 materials had suffered severely on the way, so that it was 
 necessary either to send for new ones or to go myself. I 
 preferred the latter, told Skobeleff of my intention, and set 
 off the same day, via Bucharest, for Ploieshti, which was then 
 our headquarters. 
 
 Twenty days later I was back again. There was a great 
 deal going on at headquarters then, because the Emperor was 
 with the army. In the evening of the same day I went to 
 Giurgevo, where Skobeleff was stationed with his division. 
 The next morning the thunder of cannon awoke me, and a 
 Cossack brought me the following message by order of the 
 commanding officer : The Turks are bombarding Giurgevo. 
 
 Come and look.” 
 
 I rode down to the bank of the Danube. The day was 
 fine and bright, and Rustchuk, with its forts, its white 
 minarets, and the distant camp, lay before me as if in the 
 palm of my hand. The elder Skobeleff with his staff sat 
 under the projeeting roof of a house which overhung the 
 river. The Turks, as it turned out, were bombarding, not 
 the town, but the trading-vessels which lay between the 
 shore and a little island, and whieh they thought were 
 intended to take our troops across. They were strangely 
 built barks, reminding one of the last century ; and any one 
 who believed that the Russian troops proposed to make their 
 way to the Turkish shore in these galleys must have had a 
 very poor opinion of our facilities for crossing the Danube. 
 
 Several shells had already fallen among the houses on the 
 extreme edge of the town, and the confusion which followed 
 was a sight to see : the inhabitants snatching up the most indis- 
 pensable of their belongings and flying to the other side of 
 the town. I went on board the vessels, and took my station 
 on the middle one in order to observe on the one side the 
 hurly-burly in the houses, and on the other the falling of the 
 bombs into the water. Just at that moment a shell fell into 
 
54 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 a long government building, which was probably some kind 
 of magazine, but at that time served as quarters for half a 
 sotnia of Kuban Cossacks ; a second followed immediately. 
 When the first shell struck the wall, the Cossacks began to 
 collect their things ; but when the second broke through the 
 roof, they crept out like cockroaches, hanging their heads, 
 and, with dagger in one hand and cap in the other, ran 
 quickly into the streets, hugging the walls as they went. 
 
 Some of the shells, plunging into the sandy shore and 
 there bursting, threw up the sand as if by magic in the form 
 of a bouquet or a cauliflower head, from the centre of which 
 solid clods and stones flew into the air, while above it rose a 
 thick column of white smoke. 
 
 The shells fell near the spot where I was ; a few only 
 reached the shore — most of them fell on the ships, or into 
 the water between or in front of them. Twice the bark on 
 which I stood was struck. The first shot struck the bows ; 
 the second pierced the hull and turned everything between- 
 decks upside down. The explosion was so violent that I 
 cannot call it anything but hellish, though my knowledge of 
 hell does not rest on personal experience. The crash, I 
 remember, drove two puppies on deck, where they began to 
 play ; the explosion merely startled them and made them 
 prick up their ears, and then they set at each other again. 
 
 It was most interesting to see how the bombs fell into the 
 water and made fountains rise high into the air. Each time 
 the smoke rose I felt rather queer, and thought, ‘‘ Now the 
 place where you are standing will be struck ; you will be 
 thrown down and hurled into the water, and no one will know 
 what has become of you.” 
 
 The Turks threw fifty shells and then ceased. The result 
 of this bombardment was very trifling. 
 
 ‘‘ And where were you ? ” I was asked ; “ how could you 
 miss such an interesting performance, done gratis, too?” 
 “ Oh, I saw it better than you, for I was on that ship the 
 whole time.” ‘‘Impossible! ” they all cried with one accord. 
 “ Let us go and see what havoc they have made,” said 
 Skobeleff. We went on board all the vessels, saw what dam- 
 age had been done, but could not find the dogs. Had they 
 got frightened and crept away to hide themselves, or had 
 they been hurled into the water ? 
 
 I did not get many compliments for having made my ob- 
 
ON THE DANUBE. 
 
 55 
 
 PICKET ON THE DANUBE, 
 
56 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 servations from the ship. Some simply refused to believe that 
 I had placed myself in the middle of the target; others called 
 it useless bravado ; it did not occur to any one that these 
 very observations were the object of my stay. If I had brought 
 a paint box with me, I should have painted some explosions. 
 
 * 
 
 Hi Hi 
 
 The detachment placed pickets along the Danube for a 
 great distance. On the left flank, in Malorosh, were stationed 
 Orloff’s Don Cossacks ; in the centre, stretching as far as the 
 village of Mali-Dijos, the Kuban Cossacks ; and beyond 
 them, reaching to the village of Petroshain, the Ossetes. I 
 first rode to the Don Cossacks at Malorosh, who had built 
 themselves a model watch-tower. The Turks, enraged at 
 this, fired upon the Cossacks, which Orloff did not like at all. 
 The shells falling among the horses, terrified them and drove 
 them away, so that it was difficult to find them again. The 
 Cossacks made an attempt to reply with their little field guns, 
 but soon had to give it up in order not to disgrace them- 
 selves. 
 
 H< ^ 
 
 Batteries were being erected close by Giurgevo, and I 
 went with the two Skobeleffs to look at the works. The elder 
 Skobeleff observed to the engineer officer that he was mak- 
 ing the boarding of the platform much too thin. The rather 
 dandified young officer who was doing the honors replied : 
 “ It is thick enough for the Turks, your Excellency.” A little 
 further from the town, at the first village, Slobodsei, another 
 battery was being erected, of siege-guns, apparently, which 
 were to carry nine versts. There the energetic Colonel 
 Pliutchinski was at work. 
 
 The little town of Giurgevo had undergone no change, 
 except that here and there greater activity than usual pre- 
 vailed. Certainly many of the inhabitants had been fright- 
 ened away by the bombardment and the houses on the shore 
 in particular stood empty ; but within the town, in the squares 
 and streets, there were great throngs of people, and trade 
 was brisk. The hotels and inns were filled with officers 
 carousing — some alone and some in groups, some with women 
 
ON THE DANUBE. 
 
 57 
 
 and some without them ; and their merriment was not always 
 restrained within the limits of propriety. One evening, when 
 I entered an inn with S. and other officers to have supper, 
 we found a half-drunken company there, who had taken 
 off sabres and caps, some even their tunics, and had put 
 them on the girls who were drinking with them. And all 
 this took place in the public room ! 
 
 The younger officers of our detachment — the above-men- 
 tioned S., L., and others — frequented a certain garden, to 
 which they were attracted by the charms of the damsels who 
 sang and played the harp there, and made Skobeleff so eager 
 by their account of the pleasures of the entertainment, that 
 the old man, who feared to compromise himself by visiting 
 the place openly, decided to take a peep secretly. He was 
 once seen stealing along by the garden and looking through 
 a hole in the fence, which exploit brought upon him well- 
 merited raillery. 
 
 * 
 
 At Bucharest, through M. D. Skobeleff, I had become 
 acquainted with MacGahan, the well-known correspondent of 
 the Daily News ; later, at Giurgevo, I met Mr. Forbes, when 
 he came with some communication to the staff of the detach- 
 ment. I was the only one there who could speak English, 
 and therefore acted as interpreter, endeavoring at the same 
 time to soften the excessive coldness with which he was 
 received and his questions answered. In order to escape 
 reproaches for my indulgence to the deceitful English,” I 
 avoided entering into conversation with Mr. Forbes in our 
 casual meetings. I must confess that I did not hnd it easy, 
 as one could see that he felt the general mistrust entertained 
 toward him as an Englishman, and exerted himself to be 
 pleasant. 
 
 ^ * 
 
 The officer in command of the division lived in a little 
 house on the river bank, where we met every day at dinner. 
 Here we were joined by Prince Tserteleff, formerly secretary 
 to the ambassador at Constantinople, who had entered the 
 Kuban regiment as a subaltern (uriadnik), and was now serv- 
 ing in Skobeleff’s detachment. The younger Skobeleff, who 
 was chief of the staff of the detachment, rarely associated 
 
58 
 
 VERESTCIIAC^N. 
 
 with us; but he passed most of his time at Bucharest, whither 
 he was chiefly attracted by the women of all nationalities 
 who gathered there from every part of Europe. The feast- 
 ing and carousing in that town were a sight to see. From 
 the ensign who for the first time had three hundred roubles 
 in his pocket to the commissariat official who threw away his 
 thousands, all showed their Slav nature ; all rioted, and ate 
 and drank, but especially drank. Michael Skobeleff at this 
 time had not a farthing in his pocket ; so that he was ready 
 to take anything he could get ; from his father especially, 
 who was not exactly generous, he tried to squeeze money. 
 Once, when Skobeleff asked his father for money, the latter 
 sent him four gold pieces. The son was beside himself. 
 “ Why, I give every lackey a larger present than that ! ” he 
 cried indignantly. During that gay time, in fact, the largest 
 sum would scarcely have been enough for him. 
 
 ^ He 
 
 I used often to walk with the elder Skobeleff in the ave- 
 nues on the boulevards. “ Let us see how a spy is disposed 
 of,'’ he said one day. We sat down on a bench opposite a 
 house into which Colonel Parentsolf and the aide-de-camp 
 to the commander-in-chief had gone. In front of the steps 
 stood soldiers, two to the left and two to the right. We sat 
 some time, I should have gone in to be present at the trial if 
 Skobeleff had not held me back. 
 
 But out they came at last on to the steps, the spy in front, 
 his hands in the pocket of his jacket, as if the matter did not 
 concern him, because he felt he was innocent. But when he 
 saw the soldiers he seemed to realize that the affair was seri- 
 ous ; he stood still a few seconds, heaved a deep sigh, and 
 then went down the steps. 
 
 It was a certain Baron K.; I do not know whether he was 
 really a spy ; but probably compromising papers were found 
 on him, for he was sent to Siberia. After two months, how- 
 ever, he was allowed to return. 
 
 Before my departure to Paris I had met at headquarters 
 Lieutenant Skrydloff of the naval guard. He was then going 
 on a reconnoitring expedition on the Danube, and invited 
 me to Mali-Dijos, where the Danube division of the naval 
 
ON THE DANUBE. 
 
 59 
 
 SPY. 
 
6o 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 guard was stationed. He told me that he intended to attack 
 a Turkish ironclad with his torpedo boat, and wanted me to 
 go with him. I was quite willing, but made him give me his 
 word of honor that I should see an explosion. I could not 
 afford to miss so rare an opportunity. 
 
 Soon after my return to Giurgevo I paid a visit to the 
 naval officers, who lived in a village some distance from the 
 river bank, because the dynamite and pyroxiline with which 
 the torpedoes are charged had to be protected as far as pos- 
 sible from the Turkish fire. 
 
 Skrydloff and I had been comrades long ago as naval 
 cadets, though he was my junior by two years ; and we had 
 been through a campaign together on the frigate Svetlana.” 
 When I was sergeant in the naval cadet corps he was under 
 me, and more than once I had had to reprimand him severely, 
 particularly for constantly talking and whispering at the 
 front. 
 
 I quartered myself on him and his comrade Podiapolski in 
 their little house, which was situated in a large, dirty square. 
 Sometimes we dined at the officers’ mess, but more often 
 cooked ourselves something at home, on which occasions the 
 denchtchik (officer’s servant), a good fellow, gave us a help- 
 ing hand. We slept on the staircase under curtains, because 
 the gnats (it was then the end of May) were very trouble- 
 some. 
 
 On the very first day I was initiated into the great secret 
 of the two chums. When the naval guard left St. Peters- 
 burg, the head of the well-known Einglish firm which con- 
 tracted for them presented the division with a case of sherry 
 to take with them, which Skrydloff undertook to convey to 
 the Danube. So far he kept his word ; but no one beside 
 Podiapolski knew anything about this case, and so the friends 
 partook of the sherry, which was very good, and entertained 
 guests with it occasionally, until at last the truth became 
 known, and the case, now somewhat lighter, was carried off 
 to the mess-room. 
 
 The commander of the whole torpedo squadron, Post-Cap- 
 tain Novikoff, was living in the same square — a very brave 
 officer, who had been decorated for his services at Sebastopol 
 with the small cross of St. George. When I met him for the 
 first time, at the table of the commander-in-chief, our host 
 asked him what he had received the cross for. “ I blew up a 
 
ON THE DANUBE. 
 
 6l 
 
 powder-magazine,” replied N., in such a deep bass that 
 everybody was startled. The same bass voice, though some- 
 what subdued, was heard in the cottage in which he lived. 
 When we had tea with him, we tried to gather from his talk, 
 and from the arrangements he was making, whether the lay- 
 ing of the torpedoes would soon begin. The object of this 
 operation (which had been long expected) was to protect the 
 passage of the Danube, which was to take place immediately 
 after. 
 
 Novikoff was indefatigable. Brave and cool-headed, he 
 had only two noticeable faults — first, he deafened every- 
 body with his voice, and secondly, he would speak of the 
 torpedoes as bombs. Nevertheless he received a ready par- 
 don for both these offences, on account of his kind and 
 simple ways. 
 
 I went frequently with Skrydloff when he had instructions 
 to carry out. We rowed about the river (by night, of course,) 
 placing buoys to mark the course the torpedo boats were to 
 take in laying the torpedoes. The Danube was still much 
 swollen, and some torpedo boats of rather deep draught 
 could not pass everywhere along the low flooded bank. The 
 channel of a little river flowing into the Danube had to be 
 sounded and marked with buoys ; torpedoes were to be laid 
 there also. 
 
 As express orders had been given not to alarm the Turks 
 and arouse their attention, bu<- rather to lull them into secur- 
 ity as far as possible, we did not set to work until after 
 nightfall. By morning the buoys were fixed ; but the clear- 
 ing of the channel, which was barred at the mouth with 
 solid posts, gave us a great deal to do, and we could not get 
 the work done in that short time. When we had made a little 
 temporary passage for the sloop, we rowed into the Danube, 
 partly to show our courage, partly to ascertain whether there 
 were Turks at the sentry box on the island. Using the oars 
 very softly, scarcely dipping them into the water, we passed 
 along a dense bed of willows. Every sudden noise — the 
 splashing of a fish, the call of a night-bird — made us shudder. 
 We landed at the little island, walked around, and convinced 
 ourselves that the Turks had evacuated it, although they had 
 been seen mowing grass shortly before. We had come down 
 
62 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 with the stream ; the Turkish bank was quite close. The 
 current was so strong that it was difficult to make any progress 
 against it. In order not to tire our men and attract the atten- 
 tion of the Turks, we soon turned back. By morning we 
 were at home. Skrydloff’s assistant, Midshipman Niloff, who 
 had made the night trip with us, cleared out the little river 
 completely the following night. 
 
 Another time we went on a secret mission to all the troops 
 posted on the Danube. We rowed on past the Kuban Cos- 
 sacks, the Vladicaucasians, and the Osettes to Simnitza, where 
 some hussars — I forget which — had placed outposts. 
 
 At Parapan I became acquainted with General Dragomi- 
 roff, who was intrusted with preparations for the passage of 
 the river. When he was assured that I was not a correspond- 
 ent, he spoke so freely, rationally, and logically about the 
 course of affairs, that we — />., Skrydloff, I, and Wulfert, 
 with whom we were staying — were quite astonished. Dra- 
 gomiroff enjoyed then, and still enjoys, great popularity, and 
 since Skobeleffs death he remains one of the best generals 
 of our army, if not the very best. 
 
 The officers with whom we dined were extremely pleasant ; 
 they fed us well, and provided us promptly with the neces- 
 sary horses. Skrydloff, however, would have been better 
 pleased if a little care in the choice had been added to the 
 promptitude ; for such Rosinantes fell to his lot, almost it 
 seemed intentionally, that on the ride from the hussars to the 
 Cossacks he had to whip his tall brown horse constantly, and 
 (what was more unpleasant still) in spite of his efforts to 
 ride in the English fashion, namely, to rise in the stirrups, he 
 grazed himself in a certain part severely. 
 
 ❖ if: 
 
 I made a sketch of the Danube and a Cossack picket on 
 the bank, but on the whole painted very little. I rode to 
 Giurgevo, went to the Cossacks, looked on at the sappers’ 
 works, or went with Skrydloff to try some machinery 
 on his torpedo boat “Shutka. ” In order not to alarm 
 the Turks, we were obliged to go after sunset or in bad 
 weather, and the funnel could not be allowed to smoke 
 nor to throw out sparks, so that we had to use only the best 
 steam coal. The Turks did not know, and were not to know, 
 that we had a whole fleet of small steamers. 
 
ON THE DANUBE. 
 
 63 
 
 We once started at a rather late hour in very stormy 
 weather. The wind became so strong that the “ Shutka ” 
 could hardly make her way back. The muddy Danube 
 was roaring terribly ; heavy rain wrapped everything in thick 
 darkness. This suggested to Skrydloff the idea of carry- 
 ing out a long-intended attack on one of the Turkish 
 ironclads which were lying before Rustchuk. We knew that 
 one ironclad was lying in front of the forts, another more to 
 the right behind the little island. As, from the hammering 
 that had been going on for the last few days, it was to be 
 supposed that they had been furnishing the latter with a 
 crinoline or some similar means of protection, we could only 
 count on getting near the first ironclad. In such weather it 
 was possible to get close to the ironclad almost unnoticed. 
 
 Shall we try it ?” asked Skrydloff. “I am ready.” But 
 we did not go after all. Skrydloff said finally, ‘‘ It is not a 
 question of destroying a superfluous Turkish ironclad, but of 
 laying torpedoes and making the passage of the river possi- 
 ble for our army. With such an important object in view, 
 it would be imprudent, nay, even wrong, to risk one of our 
 best torpedo boats, of which, as it is, the number is not very 
 large. What do you think ? ” “I dare say you are right,” 
 I replied. 
 
 We decided to land, but in consequence of the bad 
 weather, mistook our direction, put in at the wrong place, a 
 very long way from our village, and did not reach home till 
 night. On the promontory where we landed there was a 
 picket of three Cossacks ; and these fellows, wrapped in 
 their burkas (Caucasian for “ cloaks ”), were so sound asleep 
 that we had to wake them by force. If a party of Tcherk- 
 esses had come they would have been slaughtered like sheep. 
 I did not conceal the occurrence from the commander of the 
 sotnia, but first exacted a promise that the Cossacks should 
 go unpunished this time. 
 
 * 
 
 * ^ 
 
 The commander of the sotnia stationed at Mali-Dijos was 
 K. P. V., the same omniscient and ubiquitous officer who at 
 Skobeleff’s request had bought me my horse and carriage. 
 I became rather intimate with this peculiar person, and often 
 visited him. His first question when I came was if I did not 
 want some borshtch (beet-root soup). “ Well, then, tea at any 
 
64 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 rate,” he would call out, and without waiting for my answer 
 order it to be got ready. From what plantations he procured 
 his tea I do not know, but remember very well that it only 
 just colored the water, and that K. P. considered it good. 
 There were no teaspoons, although the host told his dencht- 
 chik every time to bring teaspoons. The latter would then go 
 to the hedge and cut a switch neatly wuth his dagger. K. P. 
 drank tea in economical fashion, taking the sugar into his 
 mouth ; if he did not use a piece quite up he threw back the 
 rest of it into the sugar-basin. His conversation with me, as 
 probably with every other person, began with the stereo- 
 typed question, “Well, do they say we are going to cross 
 soon ? ” Then he passed on to the rumors of peace, which, 
 arising from unknown sources, flew about even before the 
 war operations began, and he never forgot to inquire, more 
 or less confidentially, how money could be sent home in the 
 best, safest, and most advantageous manner, and whether 
 gold could be sent. 
 
 Kusma Petrovitch was evidently very fond of his home, 
 and the more the campaign was protracted, the more fre- 
 quent and obstinate were the rumors which reached him, 
 through unknown channels, of the speedy conclusion of 
 peace. He talked a great deal of his farm near Stavropol, 
 of his eldest son Kusmitch and his precocious intelligence 
 and early development. He also described the hare and fox- 
 hunting when the first snow fell, for which he had purchased 
 his sporting dog Milka. Every time I visited him, he offered 
 me the dog as a present. He would also talk about the bat- 
 tles with the mountaineers on the Kuban, without represent- 
 ing himself as a hero ; on the contrary, he confessed quite 
 openly that he saved his life by running away in such and 
 such an engagement, which act the Cossacks do not consider 
 dishonorable, as they hold that as long as one is superior to 
 the enemy one must kill and defeat him, but that in the oppo- 
 site case one must save oneself, and the quicker the better. 
 
 I also discovered that Kusma Petrovitch was a musician. 
 
 I went to his quarters once by invitation, with Skrydloff 
 and two other naval officers, and found him dressed in a fur 
 beshmet (jacket), with a violin in his hand, conducting a chorus 
 of singers. I am bound to admit that the hand which guided 
 the bow was more bold than practiced ; but, as the saying 
 goes, you can’t expect a man to do more than his best. His 
 
ON THE DANUBE. 
 
 65 
 
 speech was always calm and tranquil, and so were his eyes, 
 which sometimes had an absent look. He had a very calm 
 manner, too, in dealing with his men, and never abused them 
 except in extreme cases. 
 
 He also worshipped his horse — a little black animal from 
 Kabarda — and fed and coddled it so that it got quite round 
 like a juicy apple ; but for riding he used another horse. 
 “A horse like that,” he used to say of his favorite, “is no 
 longer to be found even in Kabarda ! ” and he would then 
 declare that he would not sell it at any price. This did not, 
 however, prevent his selling it to me later for three hundred 
 roubles, although it was scarcely worth more than a hundred 
 or a hundred and fifty. In a word, one found him a typ- 
 ical Cossack, who had risen from the ranks, who was no cow- 
 ard, though not particularly brave (both bravery and cow- 
 ardice being equally rare among the Cossacks); a man 
 without any cultivation whatever, but with the capacity to 
 make himself at home in any position, to find provisions 
 and forage where they seemed absolutely not to exist, to pur- 
 sue the enemy boldly, when he retreated, and, when he 
 attacked, to retreat before him without loss of honor. 
 
 * 
 
 Skr}^dloff told me, in confidence, that he had seen at Novi- 
 koffs house a paper from headquarters which expressed 
 the dissatisfaction of the commander-in-chief at the backward 
 state of the preparations, whereby the laying of the pontoons 
 (which were quite ready) and the passage of the whole army 
 were delayed. This, of course, meant that the passage 
 would take place during the next few days, although coals 
 and other things were still wanting. He also told me that 
 he and Ch. had been appointed to attack the enemy’s iron- 
 clads, in case the latter should attempt to interfere with our 
 operations. He had learned further that Novikoff did not 
 wish any one to accompany the expedition who did not 
 belong to the division, so that if I wanted to go I ought to 
 speak to the captain in good time. 
 
 At first Modest Petrovitch seemed inexorable, and 
 answered by repeatedly advising me to look on from the 
 bank— it was only about three versts ; but at last he gave in, 
 and we began our preparations for the campaign against the 
 5 
 
66 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 Turks. We cooked several chickens, took a bottle of sherry 
 (the case of which everybody knew had already been taken 
 away), and provided ourselves with bread and other supplies 
 for nearly a week ; and beside drawing-paper I took my little 
 paint-box, which, however, was not destined to be used. 
 
 The evening before our expedition I received through 
 Skobeleff the following telegram from headquarters : “ The 
 artist Verestchagin is to join the rifle brigade immediately. — 
 oKALON.” At first I was puzzled, but when I got to Giur- 
 gevo I understood how it was. Some time before I had 
 begged Skalon, the commander-in-chief’s secretary, to give 
 me an opportunity of witnessing the passage of the river, 
 and to attach me temporarily for this purpose to the most 
 advanced troops. The rifle brigade had now moved out 
 toward Simnitza, so that the passage was to be made some- 
 where in that direction. As the troops marched only at 
 night (remaining quiet during the day in order not to arouse 
 the Turks), not less than forty-eight hours would be required 
 for the march ; I therefore hoped to arrive with the blue- 
 jackets in good time for the laying of the torpedoes, and then 
 to overtake General Tsvetsinski with his brigade. 
 
 I went into the little house where my things were, in order 
 to select what was absolutely necessary. While thus engaged 
 I did not feel quite comfortable ; I reflected that the Turks 
 would not watch Skrydloff blowing them up quite so quietly 
 as I intended to watch the explosion, and that our torpedoes 
 in all probability would hurl us into the air first. I left my 
 lodgings, saw to my horses (among them a new white am- 
 bling nag, which cost five-and-twenty gold pieces), called on 
 a few officers, and then went that very night to Mali-Dijos. 
 
 My younger brother, who had joined the service again in 
 the Vladicaucasian regiment, arrived that day and came to 
 me. I took him to his superior officers, and then went, with 
 my knapsack, to the blue-jackets. 
 
 After dinner the senior officer of the naval detachment 
 gave out brandy to the crews in the court-yard of the house 
 where the mess was held, and did it so solemnly and methodi- 
 cally that our departure was considerably delayed. It was 
 already nearly dark when we assembled on the shore of the 
 
ON THE DANUBE. 67 
 
 little bay where the torpedo boats lay, just getting up their 
 steam. 
 
 Quite unexpectedly, young Skobeleff appeared, took 
 Novikoff aside, and began to talk to him with great eager- 
 ness. He expressed his wish to be useful to the detachment, 
 and proposed that he should accompany the expedition ; but 
 Novikoff gave him a decided refusal. 
 
 I'he chaplain of the Minsk regiment, a very advanced 
 young man, offered a prayer for the journey. As I knelt I 
 looked with curiosity at the interesting scene before me. On 
 
 SAILOR. 
 
68 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 the right, the setting sun was shedding his last rays, and the 
 smoking torpedo boats stood out like dark shadows against 
 the crimson sky and water ; on the bank were the sailors in 
 a semicircle, the officers in their midst, all on their knees, 
 all praying fervently. Around silence reigned : the voice of 
 the chaplain alone was audible. 
 
 I could not at the time make any sketch of the torpedo 
 boats, which has prevented me from reproducing on canvas 
 this scene, which impressed itself deeply on my memory. 
 
 When the prayer was over, those vrho were going em- 
 braced those who remained behind. Among the latter was 
 Podiapolski, our friend and chum. When, on leaving, I 
 embraced Skobeleff, he whispered, “ Happy fellow, to be able 
 to go with them ! How I envy you ! ” 
 
 ❖ 
 
 % ^ 
 
 Skrydloff did not hurry to get up steam, and we had to 
 make use of the oars. When I reproached him for this, he 
 said reassuringly : “ You may be certain that we shall over- 
 take everybody, and reach the Danube sooner than the 
 others, who do not know the channel and will get aground.” 
 And so it was. The darkness was so great that the buoys 
 were not visible, and could not be seen even by the pilot on 
 the first sloop. As soon as our engines began to work and 
 we moved quickly, we saw to right and left dark motionless 
 masses. We hailed them, and they answered us ; they were 
 torpedo boats which were aground. Our “ Shutka ” set sev- 
 eral of them afloat ; but they must have run ashore again 
 later, for the progress made was slow. 
 
 According to our plan we were to reach the Danube before 
 dawn and at once lay torpedoes ; but it fell out differently : 
 daylight came, and no boat had yet reached the channel. 
 We found the spot where we had fixed the posts. Just as 
 Skrydloff had foretold, we were nearly the first in the channel 
 of the Danube : no one was before us except Ch. with the 
 second torpedo boat, which, as it excelled the others in light- 
 ness and speed, was the one fixed upon to carry out the 
 attack. In speed our “ Shutka took the second place. 
 
 We stayed for a long time in one place in order that the 
 others might come up with us, and then steamed along beside 
 a little island, whose thick trees concealed us from the 
 observation of the Turks. To approach secretly and lay a 
 
ON THE DANUBE. 
 
 69 
 
 torpedo by the Turkish bank, as had been planned, was evi- 
 dently out of the question ; besides, all the torpedo boats, 
 except ours and perhaps two others, smoked and snorted terri- 
 bly, so that our squadron would have been betrayed by that 
 alone. 
 
 We had scarcely come out from behind the first island 
 when smoke rose near the sentry-box on the opposite bank. 
 A shot fell ; then a second, a third, and more and more the 
 farther we went. The bank was not far off, and we could see 
 clearly the soldiers running hither and thither in confusion. 
 Fresh riflemen soon came up, especially Tcherkesses, who 
 rained upon us a regular shower of bullets. 
 
 Novikoff overtook us. He stood at the helm, resting his 
 elbows on the iron roof of the torpedo boat, and paying no 
 attention to the bullets, for which his stout figure, wrapped 
 in a mantle, presented a good target. 
 
 The quantity of shot that fell made it rather hot for us ; 
 the bank was literally covered with riflemen, whose bullets 
 made a noise like the continuous rolling of drums. The tor- 
 pedo boats moved on heavily and silently ; the first had 
 already begun their work by the bank when the last were just 
 entering the river. 'The sun had long since risen ; it was a 
 bright summer morning, with a gentle breeze ruffling the 
 water. Under a persistent fire the torpedoes had been laid ; 
 but the blue-jackets committed the great mistake of not going 
 at once straight to the right or Turkish bank, but beginning 
 from the left bank. The first torpedoes were laid quite cor- 
 rectly ; toward the middle, too. Midshipman Niloff laid his 
 torpedoes, but, being hurried, he did not lay them quite 
 properly, and so they came to the surface again. Further 
 than this, none of the officers ventured to go, and half of the 
 channel therefore remained passable. This mistake was rec- 
 tified by Podiapolski in the night. Nevertheless the Turks 
 might easily have broken through, and the fact that they did 
 not attempt to do so can only be attributed to the fear with 
 which they had been inspired by the previous blowing up of 
 their vessels by Russian torpedoes. 
 
 Our two torpedo boats in the mean time were concealed 
 behind the bushes of a small island which lies a little below 
 the spot where our operations were being carried on. We 
 
70 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 certainly heard a noise in the brushwood on the island, but 
 paid no attention to it. Suddenly two boats appeared and 
 made rapidly tOM^ard us. We were just preparing to receive 
 them with the little hand-torpedoes which Skrydloff had 
 ready in the event of a hand-to-hand fight, when the sup- 
 posed enemies disclosed themselves as Cossacks, who had 
 reached the island before us to cover our operations. Their 
 presence was due to Skobeleff, and, to say the truth, was not 
 of the slightest use. 
 
 From the direction of Rustchuk a Turkish steamer began 
 firing on our flotilla, but without doing any damage at all. 
 “ Nikolai Larionovitch,” said I to Skrydloff, “ why do you 
 not attack her? ” “ Why touch her, when she does not come 
 
 close^ and her firing does no harm ? ” The steamer soon 
 steamed away, probably to fetch assistance. Then Novikoff’s 
 torpedo boat was brought up to us. ‘‘ Nikolai Larionovitch, 
 why did you not attack that ironclad ?” ‘‘That is not an iron- 
 clad, but a steamer ; I thought you only ordered an attack 
 in the event of her coming near.” “ I ordered you to attack 
 in any case. Have the goodness to do it.” “ Very good, 
 sir.” Novikofl' went back again to the works. “ Now, my 
 good fellow,” I said to Skrydloff, “ you will see, if the torpe- 
 does are badly laid, you will be the scapegoat ; any failure 
 will be set down to you.” “ Now I shall attack,” he replied. 
 “ My orders are now plain and clear.” 
 
 Skrydloff gave orders that all should be made ready. He 
 took up his position in the bows, where he could keep his 
 eye on the helm and bow torpedo. To me he intrusted the 
 floating stern torpedo, in the handling of which , he had 
 already instructed me, and told me when I was to throw it, 
 and when to give the word “ Fire ! ” 
 
 To freshen up his men a little, he ordered them' to wash. 
 “ Won’t you wash ? ” he asked of me. “ Have done it al- 
 ready.” “ But you have no soap.” 
 
 't here was nothing for it : I was obliged to wash again 
 with soap. 
 
 We all put on cork belts, in case the “ Shutka ” should blow 
 up and we should fall into the water, which, indeed, would be 
 the most likely consequence of the explosion. We ate a little 
 chicken, took a sip of sherry, and then my friend lay down to 
 take a nap, and, by Heaven ! his iron nerves suffered him 
 actually to fall asleep ! 
 
ON THE DANUBE. 
 
 71 
 
 I did not sleep : I stood at the stern leading on to the iron 
 roof which covered the engines, and looked up stream toward 
 Rustchuk. “ She is coming ! ” announced one of the sailors 
 in a low voice. And, true enough, between the bank and the 
 tall trees of the little island which concealed the channel of 
 the Danube, smoke was rising and rapidly approaching. 
 
 “ Nikolai Larionovitch, get up : she is coming.” Skrydloff 
 started up : “Push off! Go ahead ! Full speed!” We flew 
 rapidly along. The Turkish vessels were not yet visible. 
 “Nikolai Larionovitch,” I called out to him again, “ a little 
 slower, so that we may meet her nearer this place; otherwise 
 we shall run onto the Turkish bank ! ” “ None of that, old 
 
 fellow. You heard my instructions. I shall go now even to 
 Rustchuk ! ” “ Well, go ahead ! ” 
 
 The steamer came on ; compared with the “ Shutka ” she 
 seemed to be enormously large. 
 
 Skrydloff steered straight at her, and with the speed of a 
 locomotive we rushed upon her. 
 
 What confusion there was ! — not only on board the ship, 
 but also on the bank. They, no doubt, guessed that the little 
 nutshell was carrying destruction to the steamer. 
 
 The riflemen and Tcherkesses on the bank rushed head- 
 long into the water, in order to fire from as short a distance as 
 possible. Tne bullets rained down upon us ; the whole bank 
 v/as wrapped in thick smoke. On the deck of the steamer 
 the crew were running about in great consternation. We saw 
 the officers rush to the helm and turn the ship to the bank ; 
 and at the same time they gave us with their heavy guns such 
 a salvo as made the poor “ Shutka ” stagger in her course. 
 
 “ Now you are in for it,” I thought to myself, “ and you 
 won’t get out alive.” I took off my boots, and advised Skryd- 
 loff to do the same. The sailors followed our example. 
 
 I then looked round. Not one of the torpedo boats was 
 following us. It was supposed that something had happened 
 to their engines. 
 
 Whatever was the cause, the “ Shutka ” was alone, abso- 
 lutely alone, and the squadron far behind. The fire became 
 unbearable. Our vessel trembled under the rain of rifle-bul- 
 lets ; the cannon shot shook her so that she seemed to be 
 going to pieces. There were already several holes in her 
 sides, and one at the stern, near the spot where I stood, was 
 almost on the water-line ; the iron roof that protected the 
 
72 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 engines had also been pierced. The sailors hid themselves 
 at the bottom of the sloop, and covered themselves with 
 whatever they could lay hands on ; so that nothing was to be 
 seen of them, except part of the face of one gunner, who was 
 holding a buoy in front of him for protection, but was other- 
 wise as motionless as a statue. Now we were quite close to 
 the steamer. The crashing and screaming made by the bullets 
 and shells as they poured into the “ Shutka ” became worse 
 and worse. 
 
 Suddenly I saw Skrydloff, who was sitting at the helm, 
 draw himself together, — he had been struck by a bullet, and 
 was almost immediately hit again. 
 
 Our engineer, looking very pale, had taken off his cap and 
 was praying ; but at this moment he took courage, and, 
 drawing out his watch, called to Skrydloff as we were on the 
 point of delivering our blow, Nikolai Larionovitch, five min- 
 utes past eight.” 
 
 In spite of the danger, I observed with curiosity the Turks 
 on the steamer as we came close up to her. They stood 
 there as if turned to stone, their hands raised and stretched 
 out, and their heads bent down toward us. 
 
 At the last minute our steersman got nervous ; he steered 
 to the right, and the current carried us away from the 
 steamer. Skrydloff turned sharply upon him : To the left, 
 
 or you are a dead man,” and seized the helm himself. The 
 ‘‘Shutka” turned, came slowly alongside the hull of the 
 steamer, and touched her with her torpedo-spar. At this 
 moment there was the deepest silence among us as well as 
 among the enemy ; still as death, we awaited the explosion. 
 
 “ Has she gone off? ” asked the gunner, who was crouch- 
 ing at the bottom of the boat. 
 
 “ Not yet,” I answered in a whisper. 
 
 “ Fire ! ” again cried Skrydloff ; but again no explosion 
 followed. 
 
 In the mean time the current had caught hold of us, and our 
 broken torpedo-spar became entangled in the steamer’s ropes. 
 The Turks recovered their presence of mind and poured a 
 worse fire than ever upon us from the bank. When the tor- 
 pedo-spar had been cut away at Skrydloff’s command, we at 
 length got free. The steamer turned broadside on, and 
 raised such waves that the “ Shutka,” which had been badly 
 injured, began to fill with water ; in addition to this misfort- 
 
ON THE DANUBE. 
 
 73 
 
 une, the engines worked slower and slower, so that we should 
 have made no way at all but for the current. 
 
 Supposing that we were going to the bottom the next 
 moment, I stood up and put one foot on the gunwale. I'hen 
 came a violent crash under me and a blow on my hip — such 
 a blow as might have come from an axe. I fell headlong, 
 but got up again directly. 
 
 The current carried us along very near to the Turkish 
 bank, whence the Turks now fired in close proximity. It 
 was truly a wonder they did not kill us all. They ran along 
 behind and fired at us, abusing us, as we could distinctly 
 hear, into the bargain. I tried to answer with a few shots, 
 
 SKRYDLOFF. 
 
 but soon gave it up, as I saw the uselessness of the attempt. 
 
 The current carried us a considerable distance away. In 
 our rear was a line of trading vessels which were at anchor 
 between the bank and the little island in the right arm of the 
 river. On the left stretched the same island with its large 
 many-branched willows ; the arm of the river at this spot 
 
74 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 is very narrow. The steamer did not pursue us, but from 
 the fort an ironclad was making toward us at full steam ; 
 the steamer had probably summoned her to its aid. 
 
 “ Nikolai Larionovitch ! ” I cried, as loud as I could (for 
 the firing drowned our voices), “Nikolai Larionovitch, do 
 you see the ironclad ? ” “ Of course I do.” “ What do you 
 
 mean to do ? ” “ ^Attack her with your torpedo : get it . 
 
 ready.” 
 
 For us, who were half sunk and borne along by the cur- 
 rent, an attack was a difficult matter ; but there was no other 
 course open. The ironclad came up and fired twice at us. 
 The rope which held the torpedo was cut through, and I 
 told the gunner to be ready to launch it. Then suddenly, 
 to our joy, the arm of the river came in sight at the end of 
 the island on the left, and by forcing our engines to a final 
 effort we just escaped. 
 
 Here at last we breathed freely. Large ships could no 
 longer follow us, and the ironclad had to be content with 
 firing a shot after us. 
 
 As the “ Shutka ” was sinking deeper and deeper, Skryd- 
 loff gave orders to wrap the hull round with sailcloth ; thus 
 we might hope to get home in safety. 
 
 Protected by the little island we examined our injuries 
 more closely. The “ Shutka ” was completely crushed by 
 the shots, and seemed as if she would be of no further use ; 
 she was pierced not only above but also below the water-line : 
 we threw overboard several handfuls of the enemy’s bullets. 
 Skrydloff had two wounds in his legs and a bruised hand ; I 
 had been wounded in the fleshy part of the thigh. When I 
 got on my feet after the blow, although I was able to stand 
 upright, yet I felt a discomfort in my right leg, and I began 
 to feel the part. My trousers were pierced in two places, 
 and my finger went right into the flesh. Oh ! am I really 
 wounded ? Such was the fact : my whole hand was bloody. 
 And so this is being wounded ! how simple it is ! — I had 
 always thought it was much more complicated. The bullet 
 or grapeshot struck the bottom of the sloop, and as it 
 rebounded pierced the muscle of the hip close to the bone. 
 
 If the latter had been hit, death would have been certain. 
 
 Not one of the sailors was wounded. Curiously enough, 
 
ON THE DANUBE. 
 
 75 
 
 it now came out that the terrible hre had cut the conducting 
 wire and had thereby prevented the explosion of the torpedo. 
 “ The conducting wires are broken, sir,” reported the gunner 
 to Skrydloff. “ Impossible.” “ It is so : will you kindly 
 look yourself.” Skrydloff was not a little pleased at this, for 
 now the accusation of ignorance, want of skill, or even of 
 carelessness, which his friends would certainly have brought 
 against him, could not be raised. As we left the steamer 
 behind us, Skrydloff only complained that the breaking of 
 the spar and the want of steam did not allow a repetition of 
 the attack with the bow torpedo. To be sure, we were then 
 running straight at the ironclad, and we could still have 
 made an attack with the stern torpedo ; but this prospect 
 seemed to interest him much less. My friend tore his hair, 
 and cried with such a voice of despair that I really pitied him : 
 “ So much work, trouble, and preparation, and all in vain.” 
 Do stop,” I called to him : “ what is the use of this lamenta- 
 tion ? It was a failure, but not from ignorance. ” And when 
 our Nikolai Larionovitch discovered that under the actual 
 circumstances an explosion was impossible, he became more 
 cheerful and his distress vanished. 
 
 The only question that remained to be decided was why 
 the second torpedo boat had not followed us when we made 
 our attack. We found no answer. We are justified in 
 believing that this was the first and the last occasion on 
 which an enemy’s ship was attacked by a single torpedo boat. 
 On the whole the result was satisfactory, for the steamer as 
 well as the ironclad turned tail. And therefore the object of 
 the attack had been attained. 
 
 * 
 
 I may here be allowed to say a few words about volun- 
 teers, who are declared by a specialist in Kronstadt to be 
 only an incumbrance in battle. My opinion is just the 
 reverse of this. If a volunteer understands discipline, and 
 also the affair in hand, he will as a matter of course be not 
 only brave, but (what is very important) cool also. When, 
 for example, the second torpedo had to be gotten ready, the 
 gunner was so timid that he unconsciously turned round and 
 round in confusion. I pulled out my knife to cut the cord. 
 Another gunner also seemed not to have all his wits about 
 him before the attack ; for without any cause he touched the 
 
;6 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 conducting apparatus which carries the current to the torpedo 
 when we were still at a considerable distance from the enemy. 
 And the helmsman already mentioned steered, in his nervous- 
 ness, in a wrong direction, and, moreover, turned to Skrydloff 
 and asked if it were not better to pass. All these instances 
 seemed to me to prove that a sailor or a soldier who is forced 
 to go forward does not do so with the same degree of com- 
 posure and presence of mind as the volunteer who wishes to 
 go forward. 
 
 After we had left our place of refuge Skrydloff went to 
 Novikoff to report. All the officers were standing on the 
 bank. They did not seem to know what had happened to 
 us, for the island had hidden us from sight during the 
 attack. 
 
 Did you blow them up ? ” they called out as we came 
 toward them. “ No,” replied Skrydloff; ‘‘their fire was 
 too heavy and cut the conducting wires. Vassili Vassilie- 
 vitch and I are wounded.” General silence followed, in 
 which disapproval was manifest ; only the kindly Novikoff 
 threw Skrydloff a kiss and thanked him for the unequal com- 
 bat. 
 
 Our men rested, breakfasted, and got ready to move on. 
 They dragged us up the Roumanian bank. A stretcher was 
 made of oars and Skrydloff laid upon it ; I went on foot. 
 During the excitement I felt neither pain nor fatigue, but by 
 the time we had gone a mile I was leaning nearly my whole 
 weight on the sailors who were supporting me. On the bank 
 we met Skobeleff and Strukoff, who had watched the laying 
 of the torpedoes from a distance. Skobeleff, who embraced 
 and kissed us, cried, “ What brave fellows, brave fellows ! ” 
 This bravest of the brave was evidently envious because he 
 had not been wounded. They took us into the village of 
 Parapan, where we were lodged in the house of a landowner ; 
 it was the house where Wulfert lived and where I had made 
 Dragomiroff’s acquaintance. 
 
 Soon after, a battery of horse artillery came at a gallop 
 from Rustchuk and began unlimbering their guns just oppo- 
 site to the spot where the bluejackets were resting. Strukoff 
 gave notice to the flotilla in good time, and it was able to 
 move away up stream to lay the other line of torpedoes. 
 The battery fired upon the boats and the things which the 
 sailors had imprudently left scattered about, and bombarded 
 
ON THE DANUBE. 
 
 77 
 
 our house. On this occasion I made the officers who were 
 present laugh, quite unintentionally. It happened thus : 
 They proposed that we should migrate to a peasant’s house 
 farther up the village, so as to be out of range. Skrydloff 
 assented ; but I objected, because staying in a peasant’s 
 house presented a prospect of flea-bites ; and I still think my 
 objection was not ill-founded. 
 
III. 
 
 THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS, 
 1877-1878. 
 
 In order to join Skobeleff’s detachment I left Plevna. 
 At Bogot, where our headquarters then were, I sent in my 
 name to the commander-in-chief, who received me at once 
 in the kindest manner. In the course of conversation I 
 sketched for him the outline of the Turkish fortifications at 
 Shandornik on the high road to Sofia, and a rough plan of 
 our positions. The Grand Duke was rather excited, because 
 Gourko was to come down from the mountains at that place 
 on that very day. “ Ah, if it only succeeds ! if it only suc- 
 ceeds ! ” repeated the Grand Duke Nicholas, passing his hand 
 over his forehead as if he would drive away his apprehensions. 
 I assured him there was no cause for fear ; Gourko’s trcops 
 would certainly leave the mountains without fail. “ Then 
 au revoir — there,” he added, pointing with his hand in the 
 . direction of the Balkans. 
 
 Owing to the lateness of the hour I could get nothing to 
 eat at headquarters, and was obliged to appease my hunger 
 in a sutler’s tent. It was very late indeed when I started on 
 the road to Loftsha, on my long-legged Caucasian horse. 
 
 To my great grief, I was soon obliged to acknowledge to 
 myself that the new horse I had recently bought was fit for 
 nothing. It could neither walk, nor trot, nor gallop. “Buy- 
 ing horses of Prince O. is to be discontinued in future,” said 
 I to myself ; for he had sold me a used-up nag. 
 
 ..it a Turkish village five versts from I oftsha I halted for 
 the night. As I was asking for admission into one of the 
 houses a soldier came running up to me. “ Please not to 
 knock, sir ; we are here to assign quarters.” “ Then show 
 me some quickly.” I was quartered somewhere at the end 
 of the village, but the cottage was clean. They brought me 
 a chicken, and gave my horse hay, and even oats, which 
 would have been scarcely obtainable in a Bulgarian village. 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 79 
 
 In the Bulgarian villages we did what we pleased and took 
 what we liked, but the Turkish villages were protected from 
 this treatment by the military authorities. The privilege we 
 exercised as friends and brothers was, as may be seen, not 
 exactly advantageous to the Bulgarians. 
 
 My stay in Loftsha was not long. I entered it in the 
 morning and left in the evening of the same day. The town 
 lies in a valley, protected by the steep bank of the Osma and 
 by surrounding hills, which were so strongly fortified that we 
 should scarcely have taken it but for Skobeleff. 
 
 The storming of Loftsha was bloody indeed ; the dead 
 literally filled the trenches, my brother told me. Skobeleffs 
 composure on that day, he said, struck him as most astonish- 
 ing. Among other incidents, my brother m.entioned the 
 following : Skobeleff gave me orders to lead a battalion to 
 
 a certain point. We marched on as long as there were 
 buildings to shelter us ; but when we came to the open 
 ground advance was quite impossible. Whoever tried it fell 
 dead or wounded. I dismounted and halted the battal- 
 ion, seeing that a further advance meant its annihilation. 
 But just at that moment what did I see but Skobeleff riding 
 calmly at a walk across the fatal space, with shot and shell 
 whistling round him ! When I saw him I reproached my- 
 self bitterly for my cowardice. ” 
 
 On leaving Loftsha I fell in with the commander-in- 
 chiefs drunken coachman. The inebriated charioteer was 
 noisy, and quarrelled with everybody on the high road. 
 When I requested him to leave me room to pass he replied 
 with abuse. I struck out with my whip and gave him a cut. 
 This proved effectual, but the drunken fellow threatened 
 to complain to his master ; to do which I also urged him, 
 in order that the Grand Duke might learn what a bad coach- 
 man he was, and get rid of him. 
 
 % 
 
 * 
 
 I reached the town of Selvi, whither my brother had been 
 sent immediately after the passage of the Danube. The 
 Bashi-bazouks had threatened to plunder and burn the town, 
 and the terrified inhabitants had sent a deputation to the 
 Grand Duke to beg for assistance. 
 
 My brother, who had sent off his brigade to reconnoitre, 
 happened to be at hand, and the Grand Duke dispatched 
 
8o 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 him with his half-sotnia of Caucasian Cossacks against the 
 Turks. He easily accomplished his mission. The inhabit- 
 ants of the town presented him in consequence with a very 
 curious address of thanks, which enumerated his deeds. 
 During my stay in Selvi I had an opportunity of discovering 
 in the bazaar that his name was very popular. On making 
 a purchase, it was sufficient to order that the goods should 
 be delivered to “ Alexander ” ; the merchants at once knew 
 who was meant ; the whole town, in fact, knew that Selvi’s 
 deliverer was back again. 
 
 When Skobeleff arrived at Selvi, I found him engaged with 
 the divisional commanders. When I gave him a message 
 from the Grand Duke, he observed, ‘‘ Radetski will not go to 
 the rescue ; he says, ‘ Go if you like ; I shall not stir.’ Well, 
 we will go and, if necessary, die gloriously.” That was 
 Skobeleff’s favorite phrase. But I hoped that it would not 
 come to that, for I did not so much want to die gloriously as 
 to witness the passage of the troops over the snow-covered 
 mountains, and the decisive battle which now seemed inevi- 
 table. 
 
 The plan of crossing the Balkans by turning the enemy’s 
 position at the Shipka had been projected long before by 
 General Radetski, or, to speak more correctly, by the chief 
 of his staff, Dmitroffski. The plan had been approved at 
 headquarters, but the serious state of affairs at Plevna pre- 
 vented its execution. Now Plevna had fallen, and the plan 
 which had been laid aside was taken up again. Two col- 
 umns, commanded respectively by Generals Sviatopolk- 
 Mirski and Skobeleff, were fitted out to conduct this flank 
 movement, and Radetski received corresponding orders. 
 
 Radetski was alarmed. “ I certainly proposed this plan,” 
 so ran his answer, “ but at a time when there was no snow on 
 the mountains. It is no longer practicable.” Dmitroffski 
 was extremely perturbed : in his opinion the columns would 
 inevitably be swallowed up in the banks and drifts of snow. 
 The Grand Duke, however, kept to his purpose, and the col- 
 umns were dispatched under Skobeleff and Sviatopolk- 
 Mirski. When Radetski saw that his protests were unheeded, 
 he washed his hands of the matter. “Let them go,” he 
 said ; “ I shall not stir, for I have not taken leave of my 
 senses.” 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 8 
 
 Skobeleff and Kuropatkin (the chief of his staff) had no 
 small trouble in procuring the necessary means of transport 
 for the division. Skobeleff, with that thoughtfulness and 
 prudence which always characterized him, had long before 
 prepared saddles and everything necessary for his division 
 (the i6th), and had had them sent to Selvi and Tirnovo. 
 But Sviatopolk-Mirski’s division, passing through these places 
 before him, took these supplies in requisition without further 
 ceremony. So everything had to be procured afresh. Kuro- 
 patkin hastened to Tirnovo. With the support of the gov- 
 ernor, Stcherbinski, he succeeded in a few days in acquiring 
 what was necessary. 
 
 We soon advanced toward Gabrovo. The commander- 
 in-chief and his staff were to take up their quarters in Selvi. 
 Gabrovo was very lively : the whole place was in commotion. 
 At Skobeleff’s dinner-table new faces appeared, the divisional 
 commanders of his detachment, some of them — for instance, 
 a colonel of the rifles — very original characters. Skobeleff, 
 among other matters, bade us remember that during the pas- 
 sage of the Balkans he should not keep open table — not very 
 pleasant news for us, though, for myself, I had a little store 
 of preserves and necessaries for cooking. 
 
 In the town there was ceaseless stir, noise, and confusion. 
 A vast mass of people of all kinds rolled continuously 
 through the streets. It is really wonderful that spies did 
 not slip in among them, who might have betrayed to the 
 Turks our preparations for turning their position. As it was, 
 the Turks were taken completely by surprise ; it had never 
 occurred to them that danger could threaten them on their 
 flank at such a season. 
 
 I had ridden out with X., one of Skobeleff’s orderlies, to 
 see some of his Bulgarian acquaintances. On our return I 
 met the general in the square. “ I am looking for a horse,” 
 he said, praising my ambling nag. ‘‘ Take this one.” “ No, 
 thank you,” Skobeleff replied ; “ I must have a gray. Is 
 there not a gray?” “I have a gray,” said I, “but it is 
 small and will scarcely carry you.” From the dragoons he 
 got a handsome white horse. Later, as I was riding to the 
 Shipka to visit some old acquaintances, I met Skobeleff com- 
 ing back from there at a gallop through deep snow. “ The 
 new horse,” thought I to myself, “ will not hold out long.” 
 
 Skobeleff had seen Radetski again, received orders from 
 6 
 
82 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 him, and heard again from his own lips that he would not 
 stir. That same evening, when I paid a visit to my old Tur- 
 kestan acquaintance, General Dmitroffski, at Gabrovo, I 
 found him much excited. He could not accustom himself to 
 the idea of a winter campaign at all, and far into the night he 
 talked to me of the imprudence, not to say folly, of our 
 advance. 
 
 Skobeleff, on the other hand, was convinced that the 
 undertaking would be successful. When we started for the 
 village of Toplish the troops were already beyond that place. 
 
 * 
 
 * ^ 
 
 My Cossack, Kurbatoff, was, of course, not ready at the 
 time of departure, and I was imprudent enough to leave him 
 behind at his request till the following day. He was to over- 
 take me ; but to my no small vexation, several days passed 
 by, and there were no signs of my Cossack. On the way I 
 had to do without several things, and I was therefore glad 
 when I reached Toplish. Night had set in. I was soon 
 obliged to give up my hopes of a night’s lodging, for every 
 room in the village had been filled to overflowing since .the 
 morning. I forced my way into Skobeleff’s quarters, but he 
 had already retired to rest, and lay in that deep sleep which 
 he generally enjoyed before the commencement of an import- 
 ant undertaking. I endeavored in vain to reconcile this 
 power of sleep with Skobeleff’s highly strung nerves. 
 
 At the quarters of the chief doctor of the division (with 
 whom, if I remember rightly, I had become acquainted at one 
 of the ambulance tents at Plevna) I was fortunate enough to 
 get a glass of tea. I passed the night on the floor of a cot- 
 tage ; my fellow lodgers were unknown to me. The next 
 morning my Cossack had still not arrived with my things. I 
 promised myself never to leave him behind again. 
 
 The troops were already marching up the mountains in 
 long lines. In order to reach Skobeleff I had to force my 
 way past them, which it was not easy to do without almost 
 impaling oneself on the bayonets. For nearly four-and- 
 twenty hours previous the sappers had been at work shovel- 
 ling away the snow ; but a good deal still lay on the road, 
 while on each side it was piled up in walls as high as a man. 
 It was therefore impossible to leave the road. The soldiers 
 laughed and joked as they marched. Raise your bayonets ; 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 83 
 
 hold your bayonets out of the way,” rank after rank called out 
 when a horseman appeared, “ or else he will poke his eyes out.” 
 One had regularly to practice gymnastics in the saddle in 
 order to avoid the bayonets of the soldiers as they climbed 
 the steep ascent, and to keep one’s knees from knocking 
 against their knapsacks. As it was, I bruised my knee finely. 
 
 The hardest work fell to the lot of a sotnia of Ural Cos- 
 sacks, who were marching at the head with guides. They 
 had to wade through masses of snow, and their horses often 
 sank altogether. They were commanded by Sotnik Kirilin, 
 whom I had known in Turkestan. These Cossacks were fol- 
 lowed by the sappers already mentioned, one company 
 strong, under the command of Laskofski, aide-de-camp to 
 the commander-in-chief. 
 
 A sad sight met us at one spot on the road. A group of 
 musicians were resting on a mound of snow just beside 
 the road, huddled together, shivering with cold. The instru- 
 ments in their cases, some of them of huge size, lay round 
 about in the snow. Poor musicians ! 
 
 We halted rather early on a high plain opposite the moun- 
 tains called the ‘‘Pillars of Marcus.” Under some trees to 
 the right a resting place was made for Skobeleff m the snow ; 
 our camping-place was close by, near the road. A small 
 supply of preserves, coffee, and chocolate was produced from 
 my stores and immediately consumed, as no one else had 
 brought anything. We fed the horses too with preserved 
 fodder, but they did not seem to care about it. The troops 
 encamped round about us, and their camp-fires blazed up 
 up in all directions ; for though the light of these fires might 
 have betrayed us to the Turks, Skobeleff thought that human 
 enemies were not so much to be feared as the frost, which 
 was very severe. It was most fortunate for the detachment 
 that there was no snowstorm, not even wind. It must also 
 be mentioned that Skobeleff’s care extended to everything : 
 all the soldiers had waist-belts, and on their feet bandages 
 soaked in tallow ; moreover, each soldier had with him tea 
 and cold meat. Finally, in order to ward off the danger of 
 freezing to death, the order had been given that the soldiers 
 were not to let each other sleep. 
 
 I covered myself with everything I had — a felt cloak, a 
 
84 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 rug, and a fur cape ; and yet I felt, although I lay close to 
 the fire, that 1 was beginning to get numb with cold. How- 
 ever much I twisted and turned, it was of no use ; I was 
 obliged to renounce the comfort to slumber. I rose, lighted 
 a cigar, and awaited the coming day by the fire. 
 
 A portion of the troops resumed their march while it was 
 yet dark, and we followed them at the first sign of dawn. 
 I was just sketching the trenches which had been made in 
 the snow on the side facing the Turkish position, when Sko- 
 beleff overtook and passed us, making his horse gallop even 
 on this road. 
 
 The astonishment of the Turks as we came out of the 
 woods on the open slope of the mountain facing them may 
 be imagined. They tried to fire a few shots at us, but could 
 not hurt us, as we were not yet within the range of their 
 guns. 
 
 From the point we had now reached the positions of the 
 Turkish troops, as well as of our own, were clearly visible. We 
 saw Mount St. Nicholas, on which our brave soldiers were 
 awaiting with impatience the result of the march by which 
 we were turning the Turkish position, for it would bring 
 them release from their wearisome sojourn in the snowy 
 mud-huts of the Shipka Pass. There was the Turkish posi- 
 tion on the “ Bald Mountain,” as it was called, the Turks 
 standing in large groups, and probably talking of what fate 
 had in store for them. They were no longer able to hinder 
 our march ; in this snow an attack on our flank was not to 
 be thought of ; it would be very un-Turkish, for the Turks 
 do not like the snow. They might have prevented our 
 descent, but we were already in the act of descending. 
 
 At the top, where it began to descend, the road ran 
 between two considerable heights. Being an old soldier, I 
 at once observed to Kuropatkin that both these heights 
 ought immediately to be strongly occupied. “ What are you 
 saying ? ” asked Skobeleff, who was at that moment riding 
 just in front of us. “ I said that these heights which com- 
 mand the descent ought in any case to be occupied.” “Yes, 
 yes. Alexi Nicholaiewitch,” turning to Kuropatkin, “ that is 
 right ; have the heights occupied at once, and let the men 
 intrench themselves.” “ Very well, sir,” replied the colonel, 
 not altogether pleased ; for military men do not like listen- 
 ing to the advice of a civilian — although I, perhaps, had a 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 85 
 
 better claim to call myself a soldier than most of the officers 
 of the detachment. Skobeleff, however, was above that sort 
 of thing, and was always ready to follow sensible advice, 
 from whomsoever it might come. 
 
86 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 Colonel Kuropatkin is undoubtedly one of the best offi- 
 cers in the army : small, and with a not particular!}^ good 
 figure, but clever and cool-headed. In many traits of his 
 character he was exactly the opposite of Skobeleff, who 
 esteemed him very highly, although he constantly found 
 himself at variance with him. In such discussions the chief 
 of the staff, with his cool and calculating spirit, was generally 
 more in the right than the fiery general who was so easily 
 carried away ; but this was only the case in details and sub- 
 ordinate matters, for Skobeleff s view of large questions was 
 certainly keener. For instance, with regard to the possibility 
 of a winter march over the Balkans — a question on whose 
 decision the whole issue of the war largely depended — Kuro- 
 patkin was of the opinion of Radetski and Dmitroski ; i.e. 
 he was entirely against this expedition, and called it a mad, 
 ruinous proceeding, etc. Skobeleff, on the other hand, was 
 in favor of the expedition, and was firmly convinced that it 
 would have a successful termination. ‘‘ i\nd if we do not 
 get across, we shall die gloriously,” he would say, repeating 
 his favorite expression. 
 
 “ He has only one idea : let us die, let us die ! ” Kuro- 
 patkin once said to me, as early as Plevna. “ There is no 
 difficulty in dying ; only one must be sure that it is worth 
 while to die ! ” 
 
 News soon came from the advance guard of sappers that 
 the Turks were moving toward us. I saw the color come 
 in Skobeleffs cheeks. He turned immediately to the sol- 
 diers with the words, “ I congratulate you, brothers ; the 
 Turks are coming ! ” The soldiers answered as usual — ‘‘ We 
 will do our best. Excellency ! ” Dukmassoff, one of the 
 orderlies, was sent to the assistance of the sappers with two 
 companies. 
 
 The descent was almost more difficult than the ascent ; 
 in some places the horses sank up to their necks in the snow ; 
 and most grateful I was to my brave steed for the desperate 
 efforts with which he carried me out of the holes without 
 even stumbling ! In many places, however, it was absolutely 
 impossible to ride ; one had to slide down. The soldiers slid 
 down, chaffing and joking as if they were enjoying a holiday 
 on the ice-slopes at home. I am no longer able to say how I 
 came down a certain steep place with my horse ; we probably 
 both slid down on our haunches. To have made a good road 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 87 
 
 would, of course, have required much time ; on the other 
 hand, it was beyond measure difficult (there is no such thing 
 in the world as an impossibility) to get the cavalry down, and 
 still more the artillery. 
 
 We were already on the southern slope of the Balkans. 
 Skobeleff had remained on one of the furthermost heights, 
 and surveying for a long time the valley of the Tunja and the 
 Turkish positions which stretched out before us. On the left 
 lay Mount St. Nicholas with the Shipka. The positions of 
 our troops were sharply defined in black lines. There, on 
 the rock of Mount St. Nicholas, is Mesherski’s battery ; 
 there I sketched the guns and the country around, bending 
 my head first to one side and then to the other, in order to 
 avoid the bullets, shells, and bombs which came whistling 
 from the Turkish batteries behind the mountains. (On the 
 Shipka the bombs were christened ‘‘ crows.”) There stood 
 the ruins of a Turkish block-house, from the window of which 
 I wanted to make a sketch of the Tunja valley ; but I was 
 simply driven out by three shells. The first buried itself in 
 the wall ; the second flew on to the roof and covered me with 
 sand and all kinds of things, although I was sitting on the 
 other side of the house ; the third monster struck and pierced 
 the roof close to me with an outrageous noise, and threw 
 such a mass of earth and rubbish upon me that 1 went away 
 without finishing my picture ; the colors on my palette had 
 received such a strong mixture of foreign particles that I was 
 obliged to throw them away. A little farther there rose from 
 the hill the round central battery, and in between were the 
 mud huts of Minski’s regiment, with whom I had spent some 
 days as the guest of my friend N. Beyond was a succession 
 of well-known points : on that side of the hill, the Turkish 
 “ Nine Scale ” battery ; further on, the “ Crow’s-nest ” and 
 “ Sugarloaf ” batteries. Below the Russian positions came 
 the Turkish mud huts and batteries again. Right down in 
 the valley, from the ruins of the village of Shipka to the vil- 
 lage of Shenovo, stretched fortified hills, which formed the 
 centre of the Turkish position. To the right was a thick oak 
 wood belonging to the village of Shenovo, which seemed also 
 to be strongly fortified. Still more to the right, i,e., just in 
 front of our path, stretched the chain of the Little Balkans. 
 Across the valley, to the right, lay the village of Imetli, after 
 which the path is named. Finally, quite to the right, the 
 
88 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 Tunja Valley stretched away. Skobeleif sometimes gazed 
 earnestly in that direction, for from that quarter it was 
 rumored that Turkish troops were coming to the relief of the 
 Shipka. 
 
 * 
 
 * * 
 
 The troops halted in the ravine, but Skobeleff as usual 
 went on in front to reconnoiter the way. He wanted to go 
 on horseback, but the Turks opened such a hot fire from a 
 short distance that we were all obliged to dismount. With 
 him were Kuropatkin (the chief of his staff), Count Keller, 
 myself, and a few Cossacks. The Turks had established 
 themselves on the rocks nearest the road, and poured upon 
 us a regular shower of bullets. Our men tried to dislodge 
 them, but our wretched Krenke rifles would not carry so far. 
 I halted in order to make a sketch of the scene. Sko- 
 beleff had gone on a little in front, when suddenly I saw 
 Kuropatkin coming back towards me pale as death, and sup- 
 ported by a soldier on each side. He stopped to take breath 
 behind the same jutting rock under cover of which I was 
 drawing. A ball had struck him in the left shoulder, and, 
 after grazing the bone, had passed out through the back. 
 The poor fellow had quite collapsed, and begged that we 
 would examine his wound and tell him whether it was fatal 
 or not. Skobeleff also now rejoined us, and we all began to 
 make our way back, Kuropatkin, of course, being carried. 
 
 I have often been under heavy fire, but never before had I 
 experienced such a murderous storm of bullets. Even at the 
 torpedo attack on the Danube, when our boat was fired upon 
 by the Turks and Tcherkesses and by the Turkish ships, does 
 not seem to me to have been so heavy. The Turks fired 
 upon us at close range, and one bullet chased another, 
 whistling past our ears, striking the rocks there, here falling 
 or rebounding at our feet. My horse and Skobeleff’s were 
 uninjured, but my Bulgarian’s animal was killed, and over a 
 hundred men and brutes fell besides. I walked at Skobeleff’s 
 left hand, and I confess that the clatter of the firearms (which 
 sounded something like the rolling of drums) and the whist- 
 ling of the bullets made one rather anxious. One could not 
 help thinking, “ You will be knocked down directly, and then 
 you will learn what you wanted to learn — the meaning of 
 war.” I remember, however, that in spite of this I could not 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 89 
 
 refrain from watching Skobeleff. I wanted to see wheiher he 
 would not involuntarily bend his head, affected by the whist- 
 ling bullets ; but no, he does not bend — not in the least. Is 
 there no involuntary movement perceptible in the muscles of 
 the face or of the hands? No: his face is quiet, and his 
 hands buried, as usual, in the pockets of his overcoat. Is 
 there not a certain unrest in his eyes, which I should have 
 detected even if he had wished to hide it ? No — at least it 
 seems not ; a certain passionless look betrays at most a 
 deep-buried inward excitement. I still see him before me, 
 striding along with his customary careless walk, his head bent 
 a little on one side. ‘‘The devil take it ! ” I thought ; “he 
 seems to go slower and slower : does he do it on purpose ?” 
 There was really a hellish din : men and horses falling on all 
 sides. Kuropatkin, the brave Kuropatkin, calls out from the 
 rear : “ Let those who are sound run ; we shall all be anni- 
 hilated.” Count Keller and one or two others rushed ahead ; 
 I, who had been in many a rain of bullets before, stayed with 
 Skobeleff. “ Well, Vassily Vassilievitch,” said Skobeleff to 
 me presently, when a turn in the road at last gave us shelter 
 from the Turkish balls, “now we know what running the 
 gauntlet means.” 
 
 I was interested in learning what Skobeleff’s feelings were 
 in face of great danger, and I asked him afterwards : “Tell 
 me honestly : have you really so accustomed yourself to war 
 that you no longer fear danger ? I confess that I am always 
 inwardly a little alarmed when a shell falls near me, or a bul- 
 let whistles past the tip of my nose.” “ Nonsense ! ” he 
 rejoined ; “ they think that I am brave and that I am afraid of 
 nothing ; but I confess that I am a coward. Whenever I go 
 into action I say to myself that this time there will be an end 
 of me. When a bullet grazed me on the Green Mountains 
 and I fell, my first thought was : ‘ Now, brother, thy play is 
 ended.’ ” It pleased me to hear such a confession, for after it 
 my own character seemed less timid. Not that I ever set a 
 particularly high value on courage, but I had an extreme aver- 
 sion to cowardice — a quality which I had occasions of observ- 
 ing. As I felt very uncomfortable, and was generally afraid, 
 each time that I came under heavy fire, that a ball would lay 
 me low at once, I was glad that Skobeleff also by no means 
 faced death with indifference, but understood how to conceal 
 his feelings. “I have made it a rule,” he said, “never to 
 
90 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN* 
 
 bend down under fire. If you once permit yourself to do that, 
 you will be drawn on further than you wish.” 
 
 I am now of the opinion that no man ever is quite tran- 
 quil at heart under hre. 
 
 Kuropatkin was bandged, and then carried back on a litter, 
 over the Balkans, to the hospital at Gabrovo. He said to us : 
 “ Listen to my last advice : make haste and drive these Turks 
 from their position, at any cost, or they will make terrible 
 havoc among our troops.” 
 
 Skobeleff gave orders to storm the position ; but Colonel 
 Paniutin, to whom the orders were given, begged leave to 
 try first to dislodge the enemy by a fusilade. He had a bat- 
 talion armed with Peabody rifles, which had been taken from 
 the Turks at Plevna. Two companies with these weapons 
 poured a perfect shower of bullets on the Turks, and after a 
 few minutes not a man of the enemy was to be seen — not a 
 shot more was fired by them. I have never seen a more strik- 
 ing proof of what good weapons can do. It was not without 
 reason that at Plevna our soldiers, driven to despair by the 
 behavior of their clumsy converted muskets, whose locks 
 v/ould not work, seized them by the bayonets and dashed them 
 to pieces against stones or trees, exclaiming : “ If you are of 
 no use, you shall not exist.” 
 
 Paniutin with his Peabodies had undoubtedly saved the 
 lives of many soldiers ; for an assault on the Turks, who were 
 firmly ensconced behind jutting rocks, could not have taken 
 place without heavy loss. How many human lives would 
 have been saved on our side altogether if we had had good 
 rifles at the beginning of the war, or if, even later, our troops 
 had been armed with the rifles taken at Plevna ! There were 
 some tens of thousands of them, v/ith millions of cartridges ! 
 This measure had actually been talked of, but, as I heard, we 
 v/ere ashamed to do it ! One can only wonder how anybody 
 can have been ashamed to admit what the whole army knew, 
 and talked of loudly, namely, that our converted rifles, com- 
 pared to the Turkish weapons, were good for nothing. In 
 the same way our troops crossed the Balkans with nothing 
 but Krenke rifles in their hands, while tens of thousands of 
 Peabodies lay in piles in the snow all the time that I was at 
 Plevna (nearly a fortnight), with boxes full of cartridges. 
 Vast numbers of the latter were strewn on the road and be- 
 side it for a distance of several miles, and, as nobody thought 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 91 
 
 of collecting them, they exploded in quantities as the bag- 
 gage-wagons passed over them. 
 
 At the halting-place in the ravine we parted from Kuro- 
 patkin. The poor fellow, as I have said, was conveyed over 
 the same terrible roads back to Gabrovo. It seemed as if a 
 tear glistened in Skobeleff’s eye, but he pulled himself to- 
 gether quickly — “ Colonel Count Keller, you will undertake 
 the post of chief of the staff?” ‘'Very good. Excellency.” 
 “ There is promotion at once,” said Kuropatkin dryly, as he 
 was carried away. His loss was deeply felt by us all. To 
 Skobeleff it was, as he said, irreparable. 
 
 It is strange how a wound will often change a man sud- 
 denly and completely, sometimes imperceptibly to himself 
 or others. Kuropatkin is carried in a litter over these 
 impracticable roads through the pass ; he is, of course, con- 
 stantly shaken — thrown first to one side, and then to the 
 other ; sometimes even he is dropped right into the snow, 
 so that his strong nerves can scarcely endure it. He meets 
 the cavalry on their march, and in conversation with their 
 colonel he says, ammng other things, “ It is a devilish road ; 
 I do not know how you will get across.” The colonel of the 
 regiment, impressed by these words, forgets that he is not 
 speaking to the chief of the staff but to a wounded man ; he 
 halts his regiment and sends Skobeleff a report of the insur- 
 mountable difficulties of the road. But Skobeleff gets angry, 
 and is beside himself at the long delay of the cavalry. He 
 naturally at once gives orders that the march is to be con- 
 tinued at any price. 
 
 If a wounded soldier brought from the battle-field is asked 
 how matters stand there he generally answers ; “ Badly, sir. 
 We are getting the worst of it ; they are giving us a beating ; 
 they are too many for us.” He is worsted, he\^ beaten, and 
 it seems to Jiim that everything is lost. It appears to me that 
 it ought to be a rule that no wounded man, from the private 
 to the commander-in-chief, should be allowed to remain at the 
 front, extreme cases, of course, excepted. 
 
 'Is 
 
 ^ Ms 
 
 Skobeleff seemed, as it were, thrown off his balance by 
 Kuropatkin’s wound. Taking me aside, he constantly asked : 
 “ What do you think of my arrangements, V. V. ? Is it all 
 right ? Count Keller is a good officer, but inexperienced. I 
 
92 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 am afraid that there may be some confusion.” I tried to 
 calm him by saying that it seemed to me that at present 
 everything was going on as it ought. Have you occupied 
 the heights which command the pass ? ” ‘‘ Yes, the men 
 
 have marched off already.” “ Have you given them orders 
 to entrench themselves ? ” Yes.” “ Be sure that they carry 
 out the order.” It still makes me laugh when I think how the 
 brave orderly, X., who was dispatched with this order, on see- 
 ing soldiers on the heights, took them for Turks. 
 
 But Skobeleff with his nervous nature could not be easy. 
 
 You have been with Gourko, Vassily Vassilievitch : tell me, 
 on your honor, was there greater order under him than under 
 me ? ” “ No, I think not ; but he was calmer.” “ Am I, 
 
 then, so very impatient ? ” “ Oh, just a little ; see how you 
 
 have sent several orderlies to one and the same place with 
 the same orders. ” 
 
 I remember another scene at Plevna. Just after I had re- 
 turned from the guards’ quarters, in friendly conversation 
 with an officer, I was defending Gourko against various un- 
 just attacks. Skobeleff was present at this conversation. 
 Very jealous of Gourko’s independent position, for the latter 
 had nearly a whole army under him, he caviled at my impar- 
 tiality, and growled sarcastically, “ Well, now you have found 
 a great warrior.” 
 
 Not long after, Laskofski, the commander-in-chief ’s aide- 
 de-camp, was slightly wounded. 
 
 The general had ordered Colonel Paniutin to drive the 
 Turks out of the trenches which they held below the road 
 which led from the pass ; in the evening General Stoletoff 
 took the village of Imetli. We passed the night in our ravine 
 round a fire which we were scarcely able to keep alive with 
 the damp twigs. Here were Skobeleff, Stoletoff, Laskofski, 
 myself, and Skobeleff’s aides-de-camp ; I do not remember 
 whether Count Keller, who had a great deal to do that night, 
 was present or not. 
 
 Our gallant correspondent, M. D., was not there ; he was 
 probably down in Imetli. I do not know whether Skobeleff 
 slept — perhaps he was able to sleep even here ; but as for 
 myself, though fatigue overpowered me from time to time, 
 I never really slept. We did not eat anything, but only 
 drank a glass of tea each. Laskofski with his wound was 
 particularly badly off, for although he was wrapped in a fur 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 93 
 
 cape he lay on the snow without any blanket. In the morn- 
 ing he got up with us to view the Turkish positions ; but I 
 obliged him, by main force, to go to Gabrovo to the hospital 
 tent. 
 
 The morning was wonderfully beautiful ; the little Turk- 
 ish detachment at first stood at the foot of the hill, as if it 
 would prevent our descent ; but presently it retired — the 
 enemy, it seems, was by no means distinguished for decision. 
 Now the Turkish cannon were pointed at us, and opened 
 fire. We could not reply, for we had no guns with us. Sko- 
 beleff was informed that it was impossible to bring up our 
 artillery over these roads. I advised him to order that one 
 piece at least should be brought down at any cost ; the others 
 might be left on the top. In the meantime an attempt was 
 made to answer with our little mountain-guns ; and though 
 their fire apparently did little execution, it doubtless pro- 
 duced a moral effect, by reminding the enemy of their pres- 
 ence in our detachment. 
 
 Skobeleff begged me to make a sketch of the scene, that 
 he might add it to his report. As a good deal was hidden 
 from me at the spot where we stood, I went down a little 
 way ; but the bullets whistled round me in such great num- 
 bers that I made my sketch in a great hurry, merely dashing 
 in the outlines. The Turkish detachment was again drawn 
 up down below. I should have liked to draw several things, 
 but I suddenly found that I had not my note-book with 
 me — a book which was full of notes and sketches from the 
 time of Plevna and Gorny-Dubnia down to the last few 
 days. Pondering in my mind where I could have lost it, it 
 occurred to me that the last time I had had it in my hands 
 was when I saw Kuropatkin after he had been wounded ; 
 his wound had so upset me that I had left the book lying 
 in the snow. I rushed to the spot, but found nothing ; 
 which was scarcely to be wondered at, as a great number 
 of infantry and cavalry had passed over the place. Now 
 I saw what a number of men and horses had fallen at this 
 spot yesterday, chiefly during Skobeleff’s memorable recon- 
 noissance. One soldier had been knocked off the road, 
 and the shell-splinter had gone through his body and chest. 
 My note-book, however, was not to be seen anywhere. 
 “It is probably crying, with all its notes,” was the idea that 
 passed through my mind. 
 
94 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 At this moment I met an aide-de-camp of the Vladimir 
 regiment whom I knew. “ Do you know,” he said, ‘‘ that 
 they have found a note-book belonging to your late 
 brother? The Turks must have taken it from the body 
 and brought it here to Imetli.” ‘‘ It is most likely my 
 note-book, for which I am looking,” I cried. In whose 
 hands did you see it?” He named an officer of the Don- 
 Cossack regiment. I rode off at once to find him out. 
 The regiment had already descended in its full strength, 
 and was being drawn up by Skobeleff. At last I regained 
 possession of my precious book. It turned out that a soldier 
 had picked it up on the spot where I had dropped it, and 
 had taken it with him to Imetli, but had dropped it again by 
 a well in the village ; there it had been found by a Cossack, 
 from whom it passed into the hands of the officer. 
 
 ❖ ^ 
 
 I returned to the place of our bivouac. It was very hot, 
 and the snow was thawing. The soldiers stopped to drink 
 tea ; I sat down by one of them, who kindly offered me 
 some — not indeed out of a cup, but out of the lid of his 
 cooking-pot. I learned from talking with him and others that 
 the soldiers were very badly treated in the matter of tea, and 
 still more of sugar ; they did, indeed, receive for a certain 
 number of days the regulation number of pieces of sugar ; 
 but these pieces were so microscopically small that they 
 could just be seen and nothing more. Before this, when I 
 was with Gourko’s Guards, I had been astonished at the lav- 
 ishness with which the commanders of the different divisions 
 and the hospital authorities supplied this or that general, or 
 officers’ mess, with whole poods and loaves of sugar — often 
 as many as three and four loaves. I had intended to tell 
 Skobeleff about it, and to ask him to turn his attention 
 to the matter ; but, to my great vexation, I had quite for- 
 gotten to do so. On the whole, under Skobeleff, every- 
 thing which concerned the care of the troops was arranged, 
 comparatively speaking, in the best possible manner. He 
 had spoken strongly to some of those who had the chief 
 authority in these matters, and they on their part had dis- 
 missed some of their subordinates for failing to make proper 
 provision ; and if I had not forgotten at that time to tell 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 95 
 
 him about it, the soldiers would probably have received 
 more sugar for the rest of the campaign. 
 
 I found Skobeleff in conversation with Prince V., com- 
 manding one of the divisions of the Bulgarian militia ; he 
 brought the news that even to bring one field-piece over 
 that road was impossible ; he said, further, that the advanced 
 guard of Prince Mirski’s detachment had come down into 
 the valley from the other side of Shenovo, and that it could 
 be seen from the pass. We could perceive in the distance, on 
 the white expanse of snow, little black lines — regiments which 
 were moving towards Shenovo, i. c., marching against the 
 Turks ; the booming of the guns could also be heard. 
 
 Skobeleff inquired of Prince V. what troops he had met 
 on the way. Two regiments of the infantry division had 
 already come down ; the third regiment was in the act of 
 descending ; the whole of the cavalry, with the exception of 
 one Cossack regiment, was still on the way. 
 
 “How soon do you think, Vassily Vassilievitch ?” asked 
 Skobeleff of me, “ will Mirski’s detachment reach Shenovo ?” 
 “ Within two hours, or two hours and a half, if the Turks let 
 them.” “ Then ride to Paniutin and tell him to advance to 
 the trenches.” I galloped off so quickly that my poor nag 
 must have thought I had gone mad to ride at such speed on 
 such roads. While still a long way above I shouted down, 
 “ Colonel Paniutin, advance ! ” He was delighted at the 
 order, took off his cap, crossed himself, and exclaimed, 
 “ Thank God ! ” and went forward so rapidly that by the 
 time I reached him by the very winding road he had already 
 passed the trenches. “ The General gave orders to advance 
 only as far as the trenches at present,” I called out to him : 
 
 “ We have already passed them.” 
 
 Suddenly Skobeleff came riding up to me at full gallop. 
 “Vassily Vassilievich, you have told the troops to advance ? ” 
 “ Yes : shall I call them back ? ” 
 
 “ No, no ; I was just going to push them further forward. 
 Go on ; I will give you the signal to halt presently.” 
 
 A terrible load of anxiety was taken off my mind. The 
 shots from the direction of Mirski’s detachment followed 
 each other more and more quickly ; the hurrahs of our men 
 could be heard in the distance, mingled with the Turkish 
 cries of Allah ! The battle had evidently begun, and we had 
 to hasten to give assistance. 
 
96 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 Skobeleff was enraged that so few troops had yet come 
 down. In spite of his dispatching one orderly after another 
 to bid them hasten, the cavalry came down very slowly, and 
 barred the way to part of the infantry. The nature of the 
 road, however, made it impossible to blame them. 
 
 As part of the detachment was to be kept in reserve. Sko- 
 beleff had as yet but a ridiculously small force (in fact, no 
 more than one regiment of infantry) available for an attack. 
 Anxious, therefore, as he was to render help, he was obliged 
 to wait. In order, however, to divert the enemy by a demon- 
 stration, he put his men in position, and pushed forward the 
 mountain artillery, whose fire fell just short of the mark. 
 The back wheels were sunk a little into the ground, and the 
 shot now fell directly down upon the enemy’s batteries. I con- 
 fess that I persuaded Paniutm to let our single regiment salute 
 this success with two vigorous cheers. Three Turkish guns 
 replied to our fire : the enemy was evidently preparing for 
 the attack expected from our side, and a chain of mounted 
 Tcherkesses was pushed forward along the whole village. 
 
 We were now quite close to Shenovo, and thus naturally 
 diverted half of the enemy’s force, and proportionately dimin- 
 ished his power of resisting the other detachment. Skobe- 
 leff resolved to assemble all his forces before delivering a 
 decisive blow the next day. 1 his resolution seemed not to 
 please the detachment. When Skobeleff told Paniutin that 
 he would attack the Turks the next day, the latter answered, 
 “Alexey Nicholaievitch (Kuropatkin) is no longer here. Your 
 Excellency ; it is not likely that any good will come of it.” 
 “ That does not sound very complimentary,” said Skobeleff. 
 “ Have patience ; you will find another opportunity.” For 
 myself, I was convinced that this was the most sensible plan. 
 
 It was already growing dark. The General had given 
 orders that at nightfall the troops should retire ; and I 
 advised that fires should be lighted along the whole line 
 of the ground they had occupied, in order to make the 'Furks 
 uneasy by the apparent proximity of our advanced guard. 
 
 The other detachment also kept perfectly quiet. We learnt 
 afterwards that there had been a fierce engagement in the 
 course of the day. Skobeleff felt that it must be so, and, as 
 I was with him the whole time, I saw what it cost his nervous 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 97 
 
 excitable nature to restrain himself on that day and not to 
 rush into the fray. We were often alone ; he constantly drew 
 me aside, animated by the desire to tell me his feelings 
 frankly. “ What do you think ? Was it right to postpone 
 the assault to-day ? I know they will blame me for it ; they 
 will say that I purposely did not hasten to give help. Very 
 well ; I will retire from the service : as soon as the war is 
 over I will immediately retire.” 
 
 ‘‘ Why do you talk of retiring ? ” I said, trying to calm him. 
 “You have done what you had to do — what you were able to 
 do. You have diverted part of the enemy’s forces ; to risk 
 an assault with only one regementwas not to be thought of.” 
 Stoletoff came up, and concurred in my opinion that it would 
 have been extremely rash to have attacked such a strong posi- 
 tion with the force available. Skobeleff seemed to be some- 
 what reassured ; but his military spirit whispered continually 
 to him that when fighting was going on, one ought to rush 
 into it. He recurred several times to the same topic, and 
 said, “ that he could not, and ought not to have acted other- 
 wise,” and “ that he should throw up his commission if they 
 blamed him for it,” &c. I advised him to send an aide-de- 
 camp at once to Radetski to report what had been done, and 
 what remained to be done to-morrow, and to ask for his in- 
 structions, if they were needed. “ But it is impossible to 
 ride off now to Radetski and to be back by the morning.” 
 “ It is quite possible : send Dukmassoff — he is a gallant offi- 
 cer ; tell him that he must be back to-morrow early. If he 
 accomplishes his mission, give him a decoration ; if he does 
 not put him under arrest.” 
 
 I went in quest of Dukmassoff, and told him he was to 
 prepare at once for a ride over the mountains ; and the brave 
 Rllow, without the slightest sign of reluctance, went into his 
 tent to get ready. In the course of twelve hours to ride 
 twice over the Balkans, and, moreover, to climb up to Radet- 
 ski’s position, was, to say the truth, almost impossible ; but 
 Dukmassoff accomplished it in sixteen hours. 
 
 Skobeleff made the rounds of his troops, and ordered 
 them to entrench themselves well, as if a serious attack were 
 in prospect. 
 
 We returned to Imetli to take up our quarters for the 
 night. Bivouac fires were burning brightly along the whole 
 line of our former position in front of the enemy. 
 
 7 
 
VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 The village furnished plenty of hay, but was badly off for 
 dwelling-houses ; all the houses had been knocked to pieces 
 and destroyed. Unfortunately for me, the mounted Bulga- 
 rian who acted as my attendant, and whose horse had been 
 killed, getting tired, I suppose, of dragging my things after 
 me, had either sold them cr thrown them away. The former 
 is the more likely, as I never saw either him, or my revolver, 
 or my field glass, or my other belongings. I most regretted 
 the revolver, as it was one of the few things that I had been 
 able to secure out of the effects of my brother, who had been 
 killed at Plevna. 
 
 After I had wandered about a little on the heights between 
 the fires, in search of my Bulgarian, I went tired and hungry, 
 to Skobeleff’s cottage. He was not there. I strolled about 
 for a time, and then went again to him. Still he was not 
 there. I will wait for him, at any rate,” thought I, ‘‘for 
 there is nothing to eat anywhere else.” “ He rnust soon 
 come,” said the Cossack ; “ his supper is waiting for 
 him.” 
 
 At last I hear Skobeleff’s step by the fence. In the dark- 
 ness he knocked against the Cossack, and being out of tem- 
 per (owing, I suppose, to the occurrences of the day), gave 
 him a violent blow, that felled him to the ground. “ Why 
 do you come running between my legs, you clumsy brute ? 
 What ! ” as his eyes fell on me, “ is there somebody else there ? 
 Oh, it is you, Vassily Vassilievitch ! Well, forgive me, old 
 fellow : embrace me, and don’t be angry. Come, V. V., let 
 us have a chat over our supper. And you boy,” to the Cos- 
 sack, ‘‘bring us a bottle of champagne.” 
 
 Skobeleff was no tippler, and I never saw him the worse 
 for drink, but he was very fond of champagne. In Plevna he 
 assured us, as I well remember, that the bottles we were then 
 drinking were the last, and that he would not drag a single bot- 
 tle with him over the mountains ; but this was evidently only 
 a stratagem of war, for now there was another bottle after all 
 and to-morrow there will probably be yet another if we give 
 the Turks a good beating. My comrade, however, was a 
 little out of humor : on the one hand, because he was haunted 
 by the thought that he had not checked the Turks, and that 
 he would be accused of purposely causing Mirski to fail ; and, 
 on the other hand, apparantly, because I had been an invol- 
 untary spectator of his assault upon the Cossack. Our talk 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 99 
 
 turned again on the folly of attacking with an insufficient 
 force, &c. 
 
 I did not know where I should pass the night, when by 
 accident I came upon a cottage which was occupied by Sko- 
 beleff’s orderlies. I found a bright fire on the hearth, before 
 which we laid ourselves down, without any ceremony, and 
 slept soundly. They were young fellows, by no means fash- 
 ionable, and not to be compared, as far as appearance went, 
 with the dandies of Gourko’s staff ; but, to make up for that, 
 they were brave and gallant men, who had stood many a 
 shower of bullets. 
 
 The next morning, before daybreak, I went to the ad- 
 vanced guard. The weather was misty. The bivouac fires 
 began to die out. Skobeleff was in no hurry to begin the 
 struggle ; he was perhaps waiting for Dukmassoff and 
 Radetski’s orders. It was already bright daylight wTen I 
 ascended one of the neighboring heights with Charanoff, who 
 had been told off to observe the enemy’s movements ; every 
 quarter of an hour I wrote reports for him to Skobeleff on 
 what we saw in front of us. The mist began to clear, but the 
 mountains were still half-shrouded, and the Shipka was not 
 visible at all. Now, as also during the whole night, single 
 shots, at longer or shorter intervals, were heard from the 
 valley and from the Shipka. As on the previous day, the 
 Tcherkesses formed a chain round the village ; the guns were 
 silent. Both sides were evidently in a state of expectation, 
 and preparing for the coming battle. 
 
 Presently, on the farther side of Shenovo, where Mirski 
 lay, the firing began to grow sharper. On our side every- 
 thing was quiet. We had a good laugh with Charanoff over 
 our fears of being cut off by the Tcherkesses. There were 
 three or four of us. We had ventured out a long way in 
 front ; the mist had not quite cleared away, wdien we saw ten 
 or twelve dark bodies, who approached us from the Shenovo 
 side, stood still, looked round, and then strode off in a direc- 
 tion which would soon place them between us and our 
 friends. We were already preparing to retreat, in order not 
 to be cut off from the main body, when the mist lifted and 
 we saw — some large dogs, who were seeking the remains of 
 the soldiers’ meals. 
 
 It was as well that I had refrained from reporting to Sko- 
 beleff that a party of mounted Tcherkesses, &c. ; he would 
 
100 
 
 VERESTCHAGTN. 
 
 have had a fine laugh at our expense. His laugh was loud 
 and clear, with a curious gutteral sound — Kha ! kha ! 
 kha ! ” 
 
 On the further side the firing steadily increased. It was 
 evident that another fierce struggle was beginning there ; 
 and I had scarcely had time to write to the General and sug- 
 gest reconnoitering in the direction of Shenovo, when his 
 orderly appeared in the distance. He sent us orders to 
 retire, and at once began the battle. 
 
 Of our heavy field-pieces not a single one had arrived ; 
 the Bulgarian militia put forth all their strength, but yet 
 could not accomplish anything, though I think that, under 
 Gourko, one or two guns would nevertheless have been 
 brought up ; he would have given orders to pull them up by 
 the teeth. We had to confine ourselves again to our moun- 
 tain guns. On the other hand, the whole of the cavalry 
 had come down — /. e. a regiment of Moscow dragoons, a 
 regiment of St. Petersburg Uhlans, and two regiments of 
 Don Cossacks. Of infantry there had come down one rifle 
 brigade, the Bulgarian militia, and the Uglitch, Kasan, 
 Susdal, and Vladimir regiments of the i6th division. The 
 two last-named regiments had suffered great losses at Plevna, 
 and remained this time in the reserve. 
 
 The rifle brigade and the Bulgarian militia advanced first, 
 in order to fall on the right flank of the enemy. A terrible 
 fusilade began. 
 
 Dukmassoff also appeared soon after with a cheery smile 
 but a badly damaged face. He had had a fall on the way 
 and had knocked his face against a tree. “ Radetski approves 
 of all that I have done,” said Skobeleff to me with an air of 
 satisfaction, showing me a letter he had just received. 
 
 Here too came an orderly from General Mirski with the 
 news that he had fought a severe battle, and that he had 
 taken the village of Shipka, but that no one was supporting 
 him. I was particularly astonished at the news of the taking 
 of the village of Shipka, which was evidently added to 
 improve the story ; for one of Skobeleffs orderlies had been 
 there that very morning with a sotnia of Cossacks, and had 
 not found a soul. I drew Skobeleffs attention to this point. 
 “Ah, Vassily Vassilievitch,” said he, “that is it, of course ; 
 but, nevertheless, I am bound to accept the statement when 
 I have it in writing from an adjutant-general of H. M. the 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 lOI 
 
 Czar.” The cavalry were commissioned to turn the enemy’s 
 position, and cut off its communication with Kasanlyk. 
 
 ❖ ‘ ❖ 
 
 From the left flank, which had opened the attack, a num- 
 ber of wounded were moving to the rear. Soon, however, it 
 was evident that the others also were beginning to retire. I 
 could not believe my eyes. Hundreds of soldiers are forced 
 back ! they turn, they flee — the whole detachment begins to 
 waver— it is no longer possible to doubt it ; they are 
 repulsed ! ‘‘Michael Dmitrievitch,” said I to Skobeleff, “our 
 men are utterly routed.” “That does sometimes happen,” 
 he answered with a strangely playful smile. He at once 
 called Paniutin with the Uglitch regiment. “Advance, in 
 God’s name ! ” he commanded. Paniutin answered, “ Very 
 good, sir,” took off his cap, crossed himself (the whole regi- 
 ment following his example), and did not wait to have the 
 order repeated. “ His fingers have been itching for a long 
 time,” said Skobeleff tome ; “and if Paniutin is beaten back, 
 I will lead the men into action myself.” 
 
 I have taken part in many battles, but I must confess that 
 I had never seen a fight carried on with such precision. 
 “ Jews to the front ! ” commanded Skobeleff (which meant : 
 “ Music here ! ” because almost all the musicians were of the 
 Jewish race). To the sound of the music, with colors flying, 
 and with a step as regular as on the parade ground, one bat- 
 talion of the Uglitch regiment followed another, cheerfully 
 responding to Skobeleff ’s greeting. This Valley of Roses 
 might have been taken for the Field of Mars at St. Peters- 
 burg on a parade day. To the sound of the marches pla}"ed 
 by the regimental band, the troops advanced to the attack, 
 while the reserves played the national hymn and an evening 
 prayer resembling a chorale, just as if it had been some mili- 
 tary festival ! I remember that one battalion of the Vladi- 
 mir regiment was marching with a furled banner. I rode 
 up to the aide-de-camp and begged him, in the General’s 
 name, to unfurl it. 
 
 Skobeleff afterwards said that he had been “ clever” that 
 day because he had kept out of the fire ; but that was one of 
 his peculiar expressions, for, as a matter of fact, shells and 
 bullets fell in showers upon us. The Turks directed their 
 projectiles chiefly at the reserves and at our group. About 
 
102 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 five shells fell so close to Skobeleff that he could not refrain 
 from turning impatiently upon the Cossacks who had col- 
 lected together near us with, “ Why the devil don’t you sepa- 
 rate ? You will all be killed ! ” 
 
 The indefatigable Count Keller had ridden off to deliver 
 some order or other, and I in consequence had to write down 
 some of Skobeleff’s orders. I remember that he directed me 
 to alter the concluding sentence of an order addressed to the 
 commander of the cavalry — a sentence in which I instructed 
 him to advance boldly. “ He is an old general ; I cannot WTite 
 to him like that,” said Skobeleff. I had been moved to add 
 that sentence by the fact that we had seen how one of the 
 cavalry regiments, in the midst of which a shell fell, turned 
 aside and moved on at a slower pace. I further remember 
 that in an order to General Mirski I forgot to put down the 
 date and hour, at which my friend wa^ very angry. Fortu- 
 nately Count Keller came up at this moment. “ Why are 
 you never here when you are wanted ! ” cried Skobeleff. 
 “Write quick.” I was glad to have gotten off so easily, and 
 began to draw energetically, which was much more to my 
 taste than writing. 
 
 When Skobeleff sent X. to Paniutin with the order to 
 begin the assault, I, who was standing by Skobeleff, added, 
 “ And tell him to draw the reserves closer to him.” Skobe- 
 leff turned upon me again. “ I cannot possibly teach him 
 his business just when he is going into action,” he said. But 
 I thought to myself, Why not ? Later, about a year after- 
 wards, I met Captain K. of the rifles, and asked him why 
 they had been driven back. He answered me exactly in the 
 following words : “ Because the reserves were too far off. The 
 soldiers went into action well, but met with strong resistance, 
 and, looking round, missed their supports and began to 
 waver.” 
 
 It is worth noticing that this mistake is often repeated, 
 and can naturally only be attributed to the reluctance of 
 commanders to expose their reserves to a heavy fire. On 
 the part of Skobeleff, who, when the state of affairs needed 
 it, never spared his men, it was simply inadvertence. 
 
 Paniutin went boldly at the enemy : he approached the 
 Turkish trenches in close order, without firing, merely from 
 time to time ordering his men to lie down. “Just look at 
 Paniutin ! ” I said to Skobeleff : “ I thought he was better 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 103 
 
 at talking than acting, and now he proves himself a regular 
 hero.” 
 
 “ Let me tell you,” returned Skobeleff, taking his field- 
 glass for a moment from his eyes, “ that Paniutin is a tem- 
 pestuous soul.” 
 
 I can still distinctly see Skobeleff as he stood that day in 
 the snow, in his open overcoat, following the course of the 
 battle attentively with his field-glass. From time to time, 
 without changing his position, he gives this or that order, or, 
 if the shot whistle too sharply round him, sends the Cossacks 
 with their horses to the devil ; his general’s guidon attracts 
 the particular attention of the enemy, and the guidon also is 
 sent to the devil. 
 
 I made a little sketch of the general position of the troops 
 engaged on either side, and remember that while 1 was draw- 
 ing a fragment of a shell rolled close up to the chair on 
 which I sat. 
 
 In front of us, like a blue line, stretched the oaks of the 
 village of Shenovo, from which the smoke of the cannon and 
 musketry fire rose continually. On the Oft heavy white 
 clouds concealed the Shipka ; but the booming of guns and 
 the crackling of muskets were to be heard from that quarter 
 also. It was evident that Radetski too had made up his 
 mind to attack. 
 
 The Kasan regiment hastened to the support of the 
 Uglitch ; they had to attack the Turks in the center, to the 
 left of Paniutin. “ Go on, brothers, in God’s name, and make 
 no prisoners ! ” called Skobeleff to them. “ We’ll do our 
 best. Your Excellency,” was the reply. 
 
 “Make no prisoners” meant, in plain language, “Cut 
 everybody down without mercy.” I reminded Skobeleff of 
 those words the next day. “ Did I really say that ? ” he 
 asked. The Uglitch and Kasan regiments drove the Turks 
 completely from their positions. It is common enough, in a 
 picture of a battle, to see the commanding officer lead a regi- 
 ment with the colors in his hand : this Paniutin actually did, 
 and it was m.ainly through his efforts that the battle was ulti- 
 mately decided in our favor. 
 
 It is worthy of notice that this same Uglitch regiment, 
 on the day of the assault — on August 30 — during the third 
 attack on Plevna, established itself so firmly in the vineyards 
 that it could not be induced to leave them. To such a 
 
104 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 degree does the bravery of the soldiers depend on the cour- 
 age of their leaders. 
 
 The battle was evidently won. Skobeleff now seemed 
 less nervous ; he laughed and joked. When General Stole- 
 toff came up to him, I whispered to Skobeleff that he ought 
 now to make friends with him ; and although the elderly 
 Stoletoff at first laughingly refused to conclude a treaty of 
 peace, they nevertheless finally embraced each other. Stole- 
 toff had come up to Skobeleff while the fusilade was still 
 going on, and had said something to him, upon which the 
 latter had answered impatiently : Leave me alone ! ” “ What 
 
 reason had you for being so brusque to him ? ” I asked Sko- 
 beleff afterwards. “ He was not in his right place,” answered 
 Skobeleff ; “ when his troops are attacking, his place is with 
 them and not with me. I do not like that kind of thing.” 
 On that day, however, my friend N. D. fared still worse. On 
 his making some remark, Skobeleff said to him, “ Vassily 
 Ivanovitch, please go away.” N, D. stepped back a little. 
 ‘‘ No — quite away, quite.” 
 
 About two o'clock a Turkish officer who had been taken 
 prisoner was brought in. He told us that all was lost on 
 their side — that their whole force was in flight. This officer 
 rode for several days afterwards in Skobeleff’s suite, evi- 
 dently much pleased at liis treatment. 
 
 About three o’clock a Cossack galloped up to Skobeleff 
 — “Your Excellency, the Turks have hoisted the white 
 flag.” Skobeleff and all of us mounted our horses and rode 
 at full speed towards Shenovo. The nearer we got to the 
 village the greater was the number of the dead we saw ; the 
 Turkish batteries were full of dead. The Turks had evi- 
 dently remained to the last moment at their posts, and our 
 soldiers had carried out Skobeleff’s order to the letter— none 
 had escaped with their lives. The Turkish trenches were 
 likewise filled with bodies. It was strange that so very many 
 dead were found in the trenches. The Turks had evidently 
 been too eager, and had awaited our men in front of their 
 fortifications. 
 
 After we had ridden through a portion of Shenovo we 
 turned to the left towards the hills. N. D. was very nearly 
 caught on a tree and thrown out of his saddle ; but he was 
 in the best of spirits in spite of it. A talented author, in 
 war he was an indefatigable reporter, and contrived to be 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 105 
 
 present at everything that was going on. Though he was 
 rather stout and solid in person, he rode quite a small moun- 
 tain horse, which, according to him, possessed some peculiar 
 qualities, one of them, and certainly not the least in import- 
 ance, being the ability to carry a man of his figure. 
 
 IToops of prisoners met us. Skobeleff had been informed 
 that the cavalry had taken prisoners six thousand Turks, 
 who were retiring towards Kasanlyk. We also met troops of 
 Russian soldiers, whose commander received a sharp reproof 
 for their irregular marching. 
 
 We rode about looking for the Turkish commander-in- 
 chief with the white flag. On the way we saw Paniutin, who 
 had shouted himself quite hoarse, but nevertheless was mak- 
 ing even more noise than usual ; in fact every one, from the 
 highest rank to the lowest, was hoarse that day as if by orders. 
 
 All about us lay vast numbers of dead bodies and aban- 
 doned weapons. 1 was riding by Skobeleff, and I said to 
 him : Do you remember how you doubted whether you 
 
 were doing right in waiting to collect your forces ? Now 
 you see what you have accomplished — what a brilliant victory 
 you have won. And yet, for all that, I must say that you 
 were rather nervous.” “Do you think so?” “ Certainl}q 
 although less than usual.” 
 
 At last a colonel of rifles came with the sword of the 
 Turkish commander-in-chief. “Where is he himself?” 
 “ There, by that large mound.” This mound was occupied 
 from top to bottom by Turkish soldiers, who sat there in a 
 state of apathy after throwing away their arms and ammuni- 
 tion. Down below there was a little wooden barrack, at the 
 door of which stood, with a large suite, a Turkish general, 
 not yet old, his brown hair tinged with gray and a serious 
 expression of countenance. It was the Turkish commander- 
 in-chief, Vessel Pasha. Skobeleff ordered them to come up to 
 him. With a gloomy countenance Vessel Pasha approached, 
 followed by other pashas and forty or fifty officers of different 
 ranks. Skobeleff tried to comfort him with a few kindly words 
 about the bravery of his soldiers ; but he listened with a sad 
 face, and answered not a word. The whole suite looked on 
 with equal dejection. 
 
 “ Vassily Vasselievitch, ride quickly to General Tomilof- 
 ski,” said Skobeleff to me in a low voice, “ and tell him to 
 disarm the prisoners at once, without delay. I have intelli- 
 
io6 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 gence that Suleiman Pasha is hastening up from Philippopo- 
 lis, and I am afraid lest the Turks, on the first news of it, 
 might snatch up their arms again.” 1 conveyed the order, 
 with the explanation given by Skobeleff, and on my way 
 back hastened to the top of the great mound to take the 
 white flag as a remembrance ; it was a large piece of striped 
 cotton-silk. I gave it to the Cossack X. to take care of, but 
 he lost it. The Turks looked on with some apprehension 
 while I took away the white flag : they probably thought 
 that when it was gone they would all be cut down. 
 
 “ Will the Shipka surrender ! ” Skobeleff asked of Vessel 
 Pasha. ‘‘I do not know. ” ‘‘What! You do not know ? — you, 
 who are the commander-in-chief ? ” “ Yes, I am commander- 
 
 in-chief, but I do not know whether they will obey my orders.” 
 “ If that is the case, the Shipka shall be attacked at once,” 
 cried Skobeleff, and ordered the Susdal and Vladimir regi- 
 ments to move forward in the direction of the high road 
 which led to the pass. 
 
 Hereupon there was some stir among the Turkish offi- 
 cers ; a few words were exchanged in Turkish, and then 
 Vessel Pasha turned to Skobeleff, saying : “ Wait, wait ; I 
 will send the chief of my staff over there.” A Turkish 
 colonel was sent off on this mission accompanied by General 
 Stoletoff from our side. Meantime, however, the brave 
 Charanoff had already undertaken to inform General Radet- 
 ski of the results of the battle. 
 
 Skobeleff was seriously afraid that the Turkish com- 
 mander would perhaps offer resistance, especially as Bulgari- 
 ans were bringing intelligence from all sides of a movement 
 of Suleiman Pasha in this direction ; which proved later to 
 be correct, though not exactly in the way we imagined. 
 Suleiman did, in fact, move from Philippopolis ; but in so 
 doing he was not taking the offensive, but was retreating 
 before Gourko’s detachment. 
 
 To say the truth, we scarcely regarded Skobeleff ’s threat to 
 attack the Shipka as serious, nor, probably, did Skobeleff him- 
 self. The Turks must have been very much depressed if they 
 really believed it. Our reserve brigade, consisting of two 
 regiments, was not a force sufficient to inspire much respect 
 in an attack on such fortified and snow-covered points, at a 
 height of 6,000 feet. 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 107 
 
 SHIPKA. 
 
io8 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 Skobeleff had sent out his orderlies on various missions, 
 and some of them remained rather a long time away, so that 
 I again had to convey several of his orders. When we rode 
 towards the hills, Vessel Pasha began to move also, with his 
 large suite, behind our brigade and behind us. At this mo- 
 ment there were with Skobeleff only a Cossack with the gen- 
 eral’s standard, N. D., and my insignificant self ; and the 
 Turkish officers were not a little puzzled at seeing the Rus- 
 sian hero, before whom they had laid down their arms, with 
 such a miserable suite. They could scarcely believe that this 
 was really the “ famous white general ; ” at least the chief of 
 the staff questioned me about Skobeleff’s rank and distinc- 
 tions. It seemed to astonish him very much that Skobeleff 
 was only lieutenant-general, and not full general. I remem- 
 ber that this officer, when I delivered some order of Skobe- 
 leff’s to him, looked at my half-military, half-civil costume, 
 and turned to me with the words, “ May I ask who you 
 are?” ‘‘ I am the General’s secretary,” I replied. I was 
 then wearing a large Cossack cap, a short Roumanian fur 
 coat with long hair ; my feet were encased in huge boots ; a 
 sword hung over my shoulder. The officer’s Cross of the 
 Order of St. George was the only thing which a little 
 counterbalanced the excessive picturesqueness of this cos- 
 tume. 
 
 While we awaited the answer of the commander of the 
 Shipka the troops moved on to the hills to the sound of music, 
 and were there drawn up. Skobeleff rode through the ranks, 
 and spoke to the soldiers in the tone of a friend rather than 
 of a commanding officer. “ Now, you see, brothers, I always 
 told you to obey your superiors. To-day you carried out 
 your orders excellently, and have done your work well ; let 
 it be so in the future.” 
 
 The Shipka surrendered, but the answer arrived late, and 
 we rode away without waiting for it. On the way a comical 
 sight presented itself. Dukmassoff, who had disappeared 
 without leaving any traces some time before, was leading two 
 large gray Turkish horses belonging to the artillery across the 
 road. When he caught sight of Skobeleff he was embarrassed, 
 and pulled the horses with all his might ; but they, as if to 
 spite him, did not obey. Skobeleff turned his eyes aside. 
 We laughed. 
 
 The. General took possession of Vessel Pasha’s little 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. I09 
 
 wooden hut. I rode to Imetli for my night’s lodging, with a 
 commission from him to take a greeting to the wounded 
 commander of the first brigade of his division, General X. 
 The command of the brigade had been taken temporarily 
 by Paniutin. Count T. also was wounded in the hand ; he 
 filled the post of colleague to Stoletoff, who commanded the 
 Bulgarian militia. All our troops had suffered severe loss. 
 Paniutin lost out of his regiment, if I am not mistaken, about 
 350 men. The ranks of the Bulgarians, too, had been greatly 
 thinned by the enemy. The Rifles, who had fought very 
 bravely, lost still more. With regard to the Rifles, it must be 
 observed that they form separate battalions and advance at 
 the beginning of the battle, and consequently are at the front 
 at the time of attack. Their losses are therefore always 
 greater than those of other portions of the troops. This pro- 
 portionately large loss of the Rifles in Gourko’s Guards 
 roused the Emperor’s displeasure. It was decided to spare 
 the Rifles more, i. e. to let them march to the front at the 
 beginning of the battle, but only take part in the actual 
 attack in case of necessity ; though tliis is surely impractica- 
 ble. The moment of attack is seldom decided exactly 
 beforehand, but each commander generally chooses the 
 proper moment, which is partly determined by the position 
 of the enemy, and partly by the temper of his own troops. 
 To withdrav/ the troops stationed in front at the very moment 
 when they are getting keen is likely to have a very bad 
 effect. 
 
 On the way to Imetli I saw in one place some soldiers 
 busy with a big Turk. They were turning his pockets inside 
 out and tearing out the lining of his coat Now they took 
 something up, and now threw it down again on the ground. 
 The Turk was not yet dead : muffled sounds broke from his 
 throat. What a strong Turk ! If he had had strength, how 
 he would have paid out the soldiers ! 
 
 The battery on the nearer flank of the enemy is literally 
 filled with bodies. My horse shies at the awful sight. In the 
 trenches round the battery Russians and Turks lie mingled 
 together, the number of our men being considerable. One 
 body attracted my attention ; the face, which was young 
 
I lO 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 showed him to have been what one calls a raw youth. He 
 was a volunteer. The body lay apart from the rest, the arms 
 and feet stretched out, the eyes open. His boots — that most 
 important article of clothing in a campaign — had been taken 
 off, his pockets turned out, and a large number of letters lay 
 about — the enemies who robbed him were not likely to care 
 for these letters. But they had left him also the golden cross 
 round his neck, t took up the letters and glanced at them to 
 discover the name of the fallen youth. He was the son of a 
 noble family in the south of Russia. All the tenderness of a 
 mother v/as expressed in these letters ; she blessed him over 
 and over again, besought him to spare himself, told him of 
 packages sent off with his favorite fruit-syrup, &c. 
 
 The figure of a soldier often appeared near me. He went 
 to the bodies of the officers one after another, bent down, 
 looked at the dead man’s face, and went on. I followed him 
 with my eyes. At last he bends down over a body and 
 arranges and cleans the dress, puts the head straight, folds 
 the hands on the breast and kisses them. 
 
 It was an officer’s servant, who had found his dead master ; 
 for the last time he arranged his dress. 
 
 * 
 
 Late in the evening I entered the cottage where our young 
 fellows were quartered ; it was full of harness. The practical 
 Dukmassoff had chosen out a complete team of three from 
 among the horses taken from the Turks, and was now endea- 
 voring to procure the necessary harness. “ Where are you 
 going to take that? ” “Home to the Don,” was his answer. 
 I bought a small horse from a Turk, because mine, after the 
 toils of the last two days, was not up to his work. Besides 
 that, I got a complete Turkish equipment ; it was to have a 
 place in my pictures. 
 
 I forgot to mention that soon after Vessel Pasha had sur- 
 rendered Skobeleff rode to Sviatopolk-Mirski, who had com- 
 mand of the other division. I rode v/ith him, and saw that 
 although the generals embraced and kissed each other there 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 1 1 1 
 
 was constraint between them. Skobeleff was evidently not 
 pleased with the little comedy acted by Mirski on receiving 
 him. We found the General siting in the open air at a 
 table, which was, I am sure, put there to give a touch of 
 solemnity to the reception, as if he had been about to hold a 
 trial. 
 
 They told us there that the division had lost on the first 
 day 2,500 men, and on the second day, as nothing was to be 
 seen of Skobeleff, they were about to retreat (!). But just 
 then music was heard, followed by loud cheering, musketry 
 fire, and the thundering of cannon. It was Skobeleff’s attack- 
 ing column. So, although Mirski had to endure the first 
 onset of the Turks and experienced a hard fight, his fate was 
 evidently decided by Skobeleff. 
 
 * 
 
 On the following morning I came to Shenovo. They 
 told me Skobeleff was looking for me. I found him on 
 horseback, just ready to inspect the troops. We rode slowly 
 apart from the others. Tdie General observed that he had 
 a favor to ask of me, and 1 must promise him first 
 to grant it. “With pleasure.” “ T'he matter is this,” 
 he began ; “ gossip and slander are beginning. It is said 
 that I purposely allowed the Turks to almost overwhelm 
 Mirski, purposely refrained from giving help the first day in 
 order to appear as a deliverer the second. Mirski is intrigu- 
 ing. He is simply a thief ; for, do you know what he did ? 
 He went into my hut when I was away, demanded from my 
 servant, Kurkofsky, Vessel Pasha’s sword, and carried it off 
 to give it up to Radetski. Is not that stealing ? — for the 
 pasha surrendered and gave up his sword to me. Mirski is 
 older than I am, but only in years, not in rank ; we are both 
 commanders with equal rights, both under Radetski, not one 
 under the other. You know, Vassily Vassilievitch, what hap- 
 pened : you remember that I made every effort to come to 
 his assistance, but I could not imperil the success of the 
 expedition to procure laurels for Mirski. Ride to headquar- 
 ters, and tell his Imperial Highness the facts of the matter.” 
 “This commission is, I confess, very disagreeable to me,” I 
 answered. “ I was always very cautious in my behavior at 
 
1 12 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 headquarters ; and although the Grand Duke was always 
 friendly to me, he might say the matter was no concern of 
 mine.” Do not refuse my request,” said Skobeleff ; do it 
 forme: you promised.” “Very well,” I assented, “I will 
 ride off.” I advised that meanwhile Tchaikofski, the officer 
 from headquarters who v/as with Skobeleff, should be sent 
 with the official announcement. I knew he was an honest 
 fellow, incapable of slander. 
 
 During this conversation we had left the village. The 
 troops were drawn up with the left flank towards Mount St. 
 Nicholas, and the front towards Shenovo. Suddenly Sko- 
 beleff drove his spurs into his horse’s flanks and dashed along 
 at full gallop, swinging his cap high in the air and calling out 
 to the soldiers, In the name of our country, in the name of 
 the Emperer, I thank you, brothers.” I observed that there 
 were tears in his eyes. The enthusiasm of the soldiers is 
 difficult to describe. Caps flew into the air ; they cheered 
 as if they would never stop. Skobeleff said to me later that 
 he had very nearly made a faux pas. i\s he uttered the 
 words “ In the name of our country,” it fortunately occurred 
 to him to add “ in the name of the Emperor ; ” otherwise he 
 might have been accused of Nihilism. 
 
 Soon after I rode through the mountains to Selvi. I was 
 given a number of telegrams which I was to dispatch to 
 Russia to relatives of the senders. I proposed to Vessel 
 Pasha to send a telegram to Constantinople, and the chief of 
 his staff gave me a piece of paper on which he had written in 
 French, “After many bloody struggles to save the army, I 
 have surrendered with the pashas and the whole army. — 
 Vessel.” 
 
 N. D. started with me ; he wanted to make observations 
 on the Shipka in order to be able to send his newspaper as 
 complete a report as possible of the course of affairs. I have 
 seldom laughed as much as I did then. N. D. did not 
 appear on his own horse, which was in need of rest, but on a 
 tall thin Cossack horse from the Don, which Dukmassoff had 
 placed at his disposal. “ Where on earth did you get that 
 animal from ? ” “I want to try it : Dukmassoff wants to sell 
 it ; it is a real Don horse,” N. D. answered from his lofty 
 perch. At the first step which the reputed Don horse took 
 his character was gone ; for when N. D. urged him to greater 
 speed he began to kick ; and the further we went the worse 
 
SKOBELEFF AFTER THE BATTLE OF SHENOVA. 
 
VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 I 14 
 
 it got. I laughed until I cried, but N. D., in a rage, lashed 
 his horse and exclaimed, “Just wait ; I will teach you, I will 
 do for you. What a rascal that Dukmassoff is ! He would 
 sell me this horse, would he ? We shall see.” His generally 
 good-natured face was quite disfigured by his vexation. His 
 steed began to turn round under his lashes ; with head down, 
 it turned about, moved its tail up and down, and kicked. 
 
 ❖ 
 
 Hi ^ 
 
 In the village of Shipka everything was destroyed except 
 the church ; not one house remained entire. We rode along 
 the road up the hill. 7'he deserted cannon stood on the 
 Turkish batteries. The Turks were seeking out the m.ost 
 valuable of their possessions and putting them into their 
 knapsacks, preparing to begin their toilsome march into cap- 
 tivity. At the highest trench, which was strongly fortified, 
 I was startled by the terrible number of Russian bodies. 
 None lay by the breastwork ; which proves, contrary to 
 the official report, that our men did not storm the Turkish 
 fortifications themselves, but only advanced up to the broad 
 ditch which had been made some little distance from the 
 entrenchment, and there planted themselves. 
 
 From thence I sent my horse on to the road again, but 
 began myself to climb up the rock at the same spot where in 
 September, Suleiman Pasha undertook his fierce attack on 
 the Shipka. The whole path was now thickly strewn with 
 bodies. The stench was unbearable, for the snow scarcely 
 covered the scene of horror. Progress was here so difficult 
 that I admired the bravery of the Turks, who had climbed 
 the steep ascent, obliged as I was to cling to the remains of 
 bushes and regularly crawl through the ranks of the dead. I 
 did not want to turn back, but I could not venture to go on ; 
 creeping over the bodies on all fours was hard enough, and 
 there was such an odor .that 1 felt quite ill. Fortunately a 
 soldier appeared at the top of the rock. 
 
 “Brother,” I called in a voice of despair; “help me.” 
 He came down, gave me his hand, and pulled me up to the 
 rock, where I breathed freely. 
 
 In N.’s mud hut, with whom I was already acquainted, I 
 found General Molski, and we opened a bottle of champagne 
 to celebrate the victory. N. was not there, he had to take 
 over muskets, guns, and flags, from the Turks. 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. II5 
 
 In the evening I went into the mud hut occupied by Gen- 
 eral Petrushefski, also an old Turkestan acquaintance. I 
 found with him Brigadier-General Biskupski, the chief of 
 Radetski’s staff, Generals Dmitrofoski and S. , the latter an 
 officer on the general staff, who was with Mirski during our 
 flanking movement. The conversation was very lively. 
 Although they were evidently cautious in my presence, I 
 found that Skobeleff was severely criticised there for his vic- 
 tory over Vessel Pasha, although those present were his 
 friends. S., who was with Mirski, was particularly vexed at 
 Skobeleff, probably because he was his particular friend. I 
 have often observed that after a battle, when the time comes 
 for rewards, the best friends fall foul of each other. Skobe- 
 leff, besides, had incurred the censure of his friends for a 
 long time because he had outstripped them. I took up 
 Skobeleff’s defense. 
 
 “ Do you think that our attack led to nothmg ? ” Dmit- 
 rofski finally asked me. ‘-I do not think that. Your attack 
 must have greatly alarmed the Turks; to be attacked on 
 three sides mast have driven them to despair. I believe that 
 each day accomplished its work.” 
 
 I had not time to visit General Radetski, for which omis- 
 sion he afterwards reproached me, and drove in a sleigh, 
 which had been put at my disposal most kindly by Biskupski, 
 to Gabrovo. A drive to Selvi would have been fruitless, 
 because the commander-in-chief had moved his headquarters 
 to Gabrovo. He was expected there that very morning. 
 As soon as the Grand Duke arrived, I went to him. Skalon 
 and Skobeleff’s father met me. “ You come from the detach- 
 ment, from Misha ! ” they called out as they saw me, and 
 took me to the Grand Duke. I related what I knew of the 
 battle in the most conscientious manner. In order to dis- 
 cover what impression my incomplete narrative produced, I 
 added that Skobeleff was blamed because he had not made 
 the attack a day earlier ; to attack with half our strength 
 would, however, have been a great risk, apart from the fact 
 that, even in the event of success, the greater part of the 
 enemy’s troops would have retreated and escaped, as we had 
 no cavalry to hold them. 
 
 “ That is certainly true,” replied the Grand Duke. 
 
 I then told the elder Skobeleff that I had come to the 
 Grand Duke at his son’s request. “ You ought to have told 
 
ii6 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN, 
 
 the Grand Duke how many guns and colors have been taken; 
 you only told him how they attacked to the sound of music.” 
 “ I narrated the affair as I understood it ; the Grand Duke 
 will hear about the guns, and that sort of thing, which is so 
 dear to you, without my assistance.” 
 
 I learned later, in the course of conversation with Skalon, 
 that the immediate conclusion of peace was contemplated. 
 “ Impossible ! ” I said. ‘‘ I will tell the Grand Duke at once 
 that it is impossible. Was it worth while to shed so much 
 blood ?” Well, then, go and tell him.” 
 
 I went again to the commander-in-chief, with whom 
 Prince Tcherkaski was sitting. Your Imperial Highness, I 
 have a few words to say.” “ Certainly,” replied the Grand 
 Duke. Tcherkaski withdrew. 
 
 “ Is it true that you are about to conclude peace ? ” 
 
 Not I, my friend ; but St. Petersburg intends.” 
 
 Evade the order somehow.” 
 
 “ It is impossible. If the order is given I make peace.” 
 It is not possible ! In that case the war ought not 
 to have been begun.” 
 
 What is to be done ? I will do what I can ; but I am 
 afraid they will not ask me at all.” 
 
 “ Cut the telegraph wires : commission me : I will inter- 
 rupt the communication. A peace which is not concluded in 
 Constantinople is not to be thought of ; at least it should be 
 a peace in Adrianople.” Skalon, who had come in with me, 
 supported me. 
 
 “ I will go as far as possible, be assured. ” With these 
 words the Grand Duke dismissed me. 
 
 The Grand Duke ordered his horse, to go and visit the 
 wounded officers in the hospital. As the hospital was quite 
 close and the stre(;t was covered with ice, I persuaded 
 him to go on foot ; the people greeted him enthusiasti- 
 cally. 
 
 It must be confessed that the Grand Duke, in spite of 
 numerous defeats and mistakes, was very popular. Besides, 
 it was known in the army that he had to contend not only 
 with the Turks, but also with various private interests. 
 
 I told him that I had ordered a number of Turks who 
 had made a disturbance to be taken out of the hospital. He 
 gave his approval. He talked for a long time with Kuropat- 
 kin and Laskofsky in the hospital. The following day he 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 II/ 
 
 had to cross the mountains to inspect Radetski’s, Skobeleff’s 
 and Mirski’s troops. 
 
 H: ¥• 
 
 I passed the night with my brother, who was detained in 
 Gabrovo by a wound in the foot, and then I started on my 
 way back to Skobeleff. 
 
 On the Shipka there was such a snowstorm as it would be 
 difficult to imagine ; whirling snowdrifts threw us down and 
 obliterated the paths. Petrushefski and Biskupski begged 
 me to spend the night with them ; but I would not listen to 
 them, drank my tea, and continued on my way — a decision 
 which, to confess the truth, I afterwards regretted, for the 
 snowstorm was so violent that it was impossible not only 
 to ride but even to walk. The wind was so strong and 
 the road so slippery that I fell down continually. My 
 Cossack also fell several times, and, worst of all, broke my 
 paint-box in doing so. We descended the whole night, 
 and early in the morning I reached Shenovo. 
 
 Count Keller, whom I met later, told me of an amusing 
 incident concerning General Mirski. The story was only 
 credible because it came from the lips of such a modest and 
 brave officer. General Radetski, who was in command of 
 an army corps, and had the chief direction of the whole 
 Shipka army, was about to come down from the pass. 
 Count Keller sent out a Cossack with orders to bring him 
 word the moment the general left the mountains, in order 
 that a guard of honor might be drawm up in proper time. 
 When Radetski arrived. Count Keller, who received him 
 wich the others, saw that the men who formed the guard 
 of honor did not belong to Skobeleff’s division, which was 
 the nearer one, but to Mirski’s, wdiich was the more distant ; 
 he also saw the Cossack whom he had sent standing by the 
 guard of honor. Why,” he called out to him, “ did you 
 not summon our guard of honor, which was in readiness ?” 
 “ His Excellency did not give the order,” he answered. 
 It turned out that General Mirski had met the Cossack and 
 learned from him what he was sent to do. He thereupon 
 detained him, and in the mean time ordered a guard of honor 
 of his own men to be drawn up. 
 
 I found Skobeleff busy with preparations for the recep- 
 
Ii8 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 tion of the commander-in-chief. He told me, among other 
 things, that he had told Radetski how General Mirski got 
 possession of Vessel Pasha’s sword, and that Radetski had 
 observed : “ Do let that alone. How can you care about 
 such trifles ? ’’ 
 
 It gave me great amusement to watch Skobeleffs prepa- 
 rations for the reception of the Grand Duke, and to see how 
 fearful he was of committing some mistake. He had no idea 
 of what military etiquette required in the matter of sentries 
 and parades. Believing that the Grand Duke would make 
 the troops march past in line, he racked his brains as to how 
 he should behave, how he should give his orders, where he 
 should stand, etc. His only deliverer was his orderly, Hom- 
 itchefski, an officer belonging to a regiment of the Yang 
 Guards. “ Tell me quicker ; where must the sappers stand ?” 
 “ At the head. Your Excellency.” “ Well, then, how have I 
 got to give the word of command?” ‘‘Your Excellency 
 will then say,” etc. When I saw with what seriousness he 
 allowed himself to be instructed how to command, where to 
 stand, etc., I could not help laughing aloud “ What are you 
 laughing at, Vassily Vassilievitch ? ” Skobeleff asked, like an 
 injured child. “ How can I help laughing ? A general, be- 
 fore whom the Turks have laid down their arms, is learning 
 a set of words like a school-boy ! ” 
 
 Several times Skobeleff took me aside and asked, “ Vas- 
 sily Vassilievitch, tell me ; did the Grand Duke listen to your 
 account attentively ? How did he answer you ? ” and so on. 
 
 ❖ 
 
 ❖ * 
 
 High up on the mountain a long line of dots became vis- 
 ible coming towards us ; it was the Grand Duke with his 
 suite. Skobeleff’s perplexity became more and more evi- 
 dent ; he looked quite miserable. I observed that he always 
 had a very troubled expression when he had to receive peo- 
 ple of high rank. Such a situation was evidently very dis- 
 agreeable to him, because he was uncertain what would be 
 said to him and how he would be received. 
 
 The Grand Duke arrived at the foot of the mountain 
 where General Radetski awaited him. When he was still at 
 some distance, the Grand Duke swung his cap in the air and 
 called out, “ Fedor Fedorovitch, hurrah ! ” He embraced. 
 
THE PASSAGE OF THE BALKANS. 
 
 1 19 
 
 kissed and congratulated Radetski on his promotion to the 
 rank of general of infantry, and decorated him with the 
 Cross of St. George of the second class. Then the Grand 
 Duke rode up to Skobelelf, gave him his shoulder to kiss, 
 and — that was all. 1 looked at Michael Dmitrievitch. It is 
 painful to me even now to recall the miserable, I might say 
 helpless, expression in his face ; sadly he rode behind the 
 Grand Duke and gave confusedly the necessary orders. I 
 was sorry for him and 1 was ready to say to the Grand 
 Duke : “ Look at Skobeleff. Either he has failed, or you 
 do not understand what it costs a man like him to be passed 
 over before everybody. At least have some pity for him ; 
 say aloud that he has done good service.” The soleliers also 
 seemed to feel the painful situation, for they receiveel the 
 Grand Duke with such a small show of enthusiasm, shouted 
 hurrah so feebly and unwillingly, that the Grand Duke him- 
 self must have noticed the coldness of his welcome. I do 
 not know whether he understood the situation. He rode 
 through the lines and presently took his departure. 
 
 Skobeleff accompanied him, spoke some time with him, 
 and then seemed more tranquil. 
 
 Skobeleff defeated and took prisoners a Turkish army. 
 His immediate superior received for this act the Order of St. 
 George — the highest military distinction ; his colleague, the 
 commander of the second detachment, although his attack 
 was not a successful one, received the same order ; but Sko- 
 beleff himself did not receive this distinction, because he was 
 too young for the second class. Promotion was denied him 
 for the same reason. Much later he was given, in common 
 with many others, a sword for bravery ; but, as he already 
 possessed two such weapons, he had to choose between keep- 
 ing the sword in its case, or wearing all three swords on sol- 
 emn occasions, which would have been equally uncomfortable 
 and unusual. 
 
 The Grand Duke expressed displeasure at several matters; 
 among others, that a large number of our dead belonging to 
 Mirski’s force had not yet been buried. 
 
 The commander-in-chief rode to Kasanlyk, whither head- 
 quarters were transferred. I rode to Skobeleff, with whom I 
 was to dine. His father was there ; also General Struckoff 
 and some one else. When I was leaving him in the evening 
 I observed that he had not received the Grand Duke in a man- 
 
120 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 ner worthy of him. That annoyed him. What do you ex- 
 pect me to do ? I shall not make the soldiers artificially en- 
 thusiastic, and order them to throw their caps in the air. He 
 was coldly received because they did not want to receive him 
 warmly. Do you think I am. a ninny ? Am I to salute Rad- 
 etski with cheers ? He has the honor : very well ; but he 
 might have found a kind word for me — he did not even 
 thank me.” 
 
IV. 
 
 THE MARCH ON ADRIAN OP LE—STRUKOFF. 
 
 1878. 
 
 When I spoke to the commander-in-chief at Gabrovo of the 
 importance of capturing Adrianople, he gave me as one of 
 the reasons against it, the fact that the commissariat sent in 
 no provisions. 
 
 “ We have no biscuits ! ” he said. 
 
 I forgot to tell him that Skobeleff had seized 450,000 
 pounds of excellent Turkish biscuits, beautiful and white, 
 capitally baked and far superior to our own, and that it 
 would be well to requisition them at once, as Skobeleff had 
 allowed his men to take as much as they liked, so that cart- 
 loads of biscuits had already been fetched away. When the 
 Grand Duke left, I remembered the incident and told it to 
 the chief of the staff, Nepokoytchitsky. He was so delighted 
 at the news, that he would not believe me, but put spurs 
 to his horse, and galloped off to find out for himself. As 
 soon as the information was confirmed, the commander-in- 
 chief was informed, and orders were given to advance. In 
 the evening I dined with Skobeleff and Strukoff and Skobe- 
 leff’s father. Strukoff invited me to join him on a cavalry 
 scouting expedition to Germanli, whither he had been 
 ordered by the commander-in-chief. I accepted, but was 
 unfortunately prevented from joining him at once, that is the 
 next day, because my Cossack had broken my box of colors 
 in the Shipka Pass, the night before, during a storm that 
 nearly knocked us off our feet, and I had sent it to Gabrovo 
 to be mended ; so I had to wait. 
 
 I rode off to headquarters, which were then at Kazanlik, 
 and found them in the most miserable condition. Although 
 the town had been almost burnt down, quarters were to be 
 found, but there was absolutely no food. I thought of the 
 plenty that reigned in Skobeleffs division, especially as 
 regarded sweets, and I told General Stein that I hoped to be 
 
122 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 able to send him some remnants. “ Is it possible ! ” exclaimed 
 with delight this worthy custodian of order and stomachs at 
 headquarters, ‘‘ Could you manage to do so at once ? I 
 will give you an escort of Cossacks.” I rode back to the 
 village with two Cossacks and gave them a pailful of apple 
 jam, a pot of cherry jam, and half a sack of almonds. At 
 this last item Skobeleff’s orderly, Baranoff, demurred, for he 
 was very fond of them, but at headquarters my consignment 
 caused great joy. At last there was something to eat. I 
 was told that at dinner the appearance of jam-pancakes 
 produced a sensation. 
 
 ❖ 
 
 ^ * 
 
 I called on my friend Skalon, military secretary to the 
 commander-in-chief, and begged him to let my brother Alex- 
 ander, who was wounded on the 30th of August, and had 
 not yet recovered, remain away from his regiment a little 
 longer. The Grand Duke very kindly allowed him to be 
 temporarily attached to his staff as orderly officer. 
 
 When I called on Skalon I found him busy with the dis- 
 patches for the Emperor concerning the latest military 
 operations, the capture of a Turkish army, etc. Skobeleff 
 was very anxious to send his chief of the staff, the gallant 
 Count Keller, with the dispatches, and offered to do so, but 
 as it was felt that if this officer were sent, the entire merit of 
 the achievement would be ascribed by him to Skobeleff, S. 
 was selected, an officer of the staff attached to Mirsky’s 
 division, Mirsky being very jealous of Skobeleff and more 
 inimical to him than any of the other generals. I pointed 
 out to Skalon that the report to the Emperor might, under 
 these circumstances, assume a very partial character, and so 
 Skalon, although by no means well disposed to Skobeleff, 
 told S. : “ Mind, my friend, remember that every word of 
 your report will be made known to the Grand Duke ; besides, 
 another officer will be dispatched in addition to you, and he 
 may make an entirely contradictory report to the Emperor, 
 so don’t allow yourself to be carried away.” S. warmly 
 protested against such suspicions of partiality to his incapa- 
 ble commander, but I am convinced that he did exactly as 
 was suspected, and represented everything topsy-turvy, for 
 Skobeleff received but a paltry recognition of his brilliant 
 victory at Shenovo, and that only a long time afterward and 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE — STRUKOFF. 1 23 
 
 in common with a great many other officers. Trivial as the 
 circumstance may seem, Skobeleff felt it deeply. 
 
 When we learned that Suleyman Pasha had been defeated 
 by General Gourko and was retreating to Adrianople, Skobe- 
 leff was ordered to intercept him by forced marches. His 
 division marched through Kazanlik, passed the Grand Duke, 
 as if on parade, but with such giant strides that the men nearly 
 tore their legs to pieces ; the rear ranks were very much broken 
 up, and the transport animals were still more straggling, the 
 whole getting hopelessly clubbed. 
 
 The Grand Duke asked Skobeleff whether I was going 
 with him. “ I hope so,” was Skobeleff’s reply. I soon 
 afterward took my leave of the commander-in-chief, and, in 
 answer to his “ au revoir,” said, “at Adrianople.” My 
 prophecy was afterward fulfilled. 
 
 Hs * 
 
 We marched on very rapidly, but accomplished the 
 transit of the lesser Balkans with mmch difficulty ; for the 
 road along the pass was very narrow, and the least stoppage 
 of a transport wagon entailed a halt on all the troops behind 
 it. However, I believe the transit was a success ; we lost 
 neither men nor baggage. 
 
 In the evening we arrived at the town of Eski Zagra, 
 situated at the end of the pass, and so battered to pieces by 
 the Turks after the retreat of Gourko’s division, that hardly 
 any habitable houses had been left. It was nearly dark when 
 I rode into the streets, which were lined on each side by a 
 melancholy row of ruins. I had no idea where I was to pass 
 the night, and much less where I was to dine. I looked into 
 Skobeleff’s quarters, and could see him through the lighted 
 window, walking to and fro like a caged tiger, evidently in 
 a rage about something ; beside he had Colonel A. with him. 
 Fortunately I met General T., a most charming man, who 
 had the reputation, in Skobeleff’s division, of being an arrant 
 coward. At the present juncture it was more important 
 to me to learn that he had a bench for me to sleep on, some 
 native wine, and a fair supper. We spent a very jovial even- 
 ing and had many a hearty laugh together. 
 
 T.’s brigade had orders to march immediately behind the 
 cavalry, but as the officers dawdled away a few minutes, the 
 cavalry marched on, and the infantry, not following imme- 
 
124 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 diateiy, lost it : simply lost it — the darkness was so intense. 
 There were several roads, but as numbers of horses had 
 travelled over all of them in the course of the day, it was 
 difficult to know what to follow. Poor T. was frightfully 
 alarmed when he was informed that the time for starting had 
 long since passed, but that no one could discover which road 
 the cavalry had taken. With his food in his mouth he jumped 
 up, buckled on his sword, and rushed out in the dense dark- 
 ness to find the cavalry. To tell Skobeleff of this misadven- 
 ture and ask his advice could not even be thought of ; as for 
 such a slip he would have taken T.’s command away from 
 him at once. In half an hour’s time T. returned in triumph ; 
 he silently took off his sword and sat down to resume his 
 mutton. Well, did you find theni ? ” “Yes.” “ How did 
 you manage it ? ” He looked at me compassionately, tapped 
 his head with his forefinger, and said : “ Quand ceci appele 
 tete tout — faire ! ” 
 
 A statement which, of course, I did not dispute. T. was 
 very fond of French, and spoke it very badly ; indeed, the 
 above was far from being the worst specimen of his attempts 
 in this direction. 
 
 As I said before, T. was considered a coward in the 
 division, and this opinion was partly correct. At Plevna he 
 commanded the Ouglitch regiment, which lay down in some 
 vineyards during the third attack on Plevna and would not 
 move out of them, owing, of course, to the want of courage 
 of its commander, for at Shenovo this same regiment, under 
 the leadership of the gallant Paniontin marched to the attack 
 with distinguished heroism. Overcome by fear during this 
 attack, T. reported himself on the sick list, and did not get 
 well until Plevna fell. Skobeleff, who hated cowards, would 
 have got rid of him, if he had not been such an accomplished 
 flatterer. To his face and behind his back T. always and 
 everywhere spoke of Skobeleff as “ the bravest of men,” as 
 “an unprecedented hero,” etc.; so that Skobeleff could not 
 find it in his heart to be angry with him long. “ What a 
 coward that fellow T. is ! ” he would say, “ how sick I am of 
 him ! ” But nevertheless he bore with him, and even secured 
 for him promotions and rewards occasionally, and that was 
 all T. wanted. ^ 
 
 Early in the morning of the next day, on leaving my 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE — STRUKOFF. 12 5 
 
 quarters with T., I met General Dokhturoff, who commanded 
 the cavalry, and whom I had not previously known. He 
 brought news from the front from my friend Strukoff, who 
 stated that the bridge over the Maritza had been captured 
 with several guns that protected it, and that a tabor (bat- 
 talion) of Turks, holding an intrenched position, had been 
 routed. The General was angry that the report came from 
 Strukoff, who had been attached to the division by the com- 
 mander-in-chief, and not from his own colonel of dragoons, 
 who was in the van. “Just fancy that fellow, Strukoff,” he 
 said to me almost before he knew me ; “ he gets on every- 
 where. He has carried off the victory even here. It’s too 
 disgusting ! ” 
 
 * ^ 
 
 By daylight we could see still better how completely the 
 town of Eski Zagra had been destroyed. Had it not been 
 for an occasional pillar of smoke obstructing the view here 
 and there, one could have looked across from one end of 
 the town to the other. The Turks had wreaked their piti- 
 less vengeance on the unfortunate Bulgarians who had given 
 Gourko’s army a hearty reception, in true Turkish fashion. 
 
 The road from here to Germanli was strewn with strag- 
 glers from the regiments ahead of us. As orders had been 
 given not to drive the men on by force, but to allow them to 
 rest whenever they felt tired, they were sitting about in 
 couples, holding most mind-improving converse. But in the 
 end Skobeleffs indulgence was justified ; they all overtook 
 their regiments in the evening or on the following morning ; 
 and thanks to their rest, the men were not ill on the march. 
 
 I was riding quite alone, my Cossack had lagged behind 
 as was his wont. There was still a good deal of snow about, 
 from underneath which, here and there, sheep were nibbling 
 the grass. As our provisions had been very deficient, and as 
 I did not know how they might turn out later on, I got off 
 my horse, picked out the fattest sheep I could find, tied 
 it to my saddle, and then pursued my journey. I was soon 
 overtaken by Skobeleff, who called out : “ What have you got 
 hold of there ? ” “ As you see, a sheep,” I replied. “ I am 
 
 afraid there will be nothing to eat.” “There will be plenty 
 to eat in the front,” he replied, “ don’t bother yourself with 
 it; let it go.” However, I did not feel reassured, and did 
 
126 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 not let my booty go, although I afterward discovered that 
 there were plenty of provisions in the front. ‘‘I say, Vassili 
 Vassilievitch,” said Skobeleff, “ do you know Suleyman 
 Pasha is marching on us ? ” 
 
 Where did you learn that ? ” I asked. 
 
 I have received most reliable information to that effect. 
 We shall soon be going into action, don’t lag behind ! ” And 
 with these words he galloped off. Knowing that Skobeleff 
 often took for facts what he wished to believe. I did not 
 place great faith in this supposed advance of Suleyman’s and 
 rode on leisurely, keeping my sheep in tow, w^hich was con- 
 tinually darting sideways, nearly pulling off my saddle and 
 seriously hampering my horse’s movements. I did not give 
 up the hope of viewing the whole campaign comfortably 
 with my fat booty by my side, but on arriving at the next 
 halting station I saw so many sheep running about, that I 
 gave mine its freedom at once, after all my wasted trouble ! 
 Our halt was at the railway station of Tirnovo-Semenli. 
 The surprise that awaited me here made me think I was 
 dreaming. On asking for the General I was shown into the 
 waiting-room of the station where I found most of our offi- 
 cers sitting around a well-laid table, at which they had evi- 
 dently enjoyed an excellent dinner, and where they were now 
 drinking their coffee and smoking cigars. I was at once 
 invited to join them, and dinner was brought me. Strukoff 
 was particularly glad that I had at last overtaken him, and 
 made me promise that I would stick to him in the future. 
 
 He told me after dinner all about his engagement. 
 When he arrived with the dragoons the Turks set fire to the 
 bridge, but his men extinguished the flames and occupied 
 the bridge, securing it as a means of crossing the idver. 
 The reinforcements who came up and opened fire on the 
 dragoons, did not distinguish themselves, they simply ran 
 away after spiking their own guns. Thus a battalion of 
 infantry fled before two squadrons of cavalry, and did not 
 even succeed in burning down or blowing up the bridge 
 committed to their charge. If they had burned down that 
 bridge we should have been delayed in getting across the 
 river, wffiich was covered with floating ice, and Suleyman 
 Pasha would have had time to retreat on Adrianople by 
 means of the railway from Germanli. Of course it was 
 to Skobeleff’s rapidity of movement and Strukoff’s gal- 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE— STRUKOFF. 12/ 
 
 lantry that the army owed the capture of this important 
 point. 
 
 ❖ ❖ 
 
 We subsequently discovered that Suleyman kept sending 
 off telegrams for railway carriages to convey his troops to 
 Adrianople. These dispatches fell into Strukoff’s hands. 
 From them we gathered that the Turks, who were being 
 pursued by Gourko from Philippopolis, did not expect us from 
 that side also, and of course did not expect to find their re- 
 treat cut off. It must, however, be remembered that Skobe- 
 leff’s infantry marched on an average about fifty miles a day ; 
 and Strukoff had covered nearly the same distance, two days 
 earlier, with the Moscow dragoons. 
 
 In the course of our day’s halt for rest all the strag- 
 glers returned to the ranks ; there was scarcely a single case 
 of sickness. Skobeleff was in excellent spirits, and ordered 
 np the Jews to the bridge, for in the Russian army the 
 bands are mostly composed of Jews. All were well fed for 
 there was an abundance of provisions. Some of us, like 
 Dukmassoff for instance, a Cossack of the Don and one of 
 Skobeleffs orderly officers, celebrated the capture of the 
 bridge with much festivity, he was so overcome that he had 
 to be carried to bed. 
 
 Occasionally misunderstandings occurred. The hostess of 
 the restaurant and station-hotel complained that her geese 
 had vanished. I lost a beautiful Circassian scimitar, for which 
 I should have been consoled had I thought its services would 
 be enlisted against the enemy, but I fear it was sold for a 
 few roubles to some commissariat official. I had to borrow 
 a sabre from H. It was far from being as sharp as mine, 
 which had additional value in my eyes, from the fact that 
 my dead brother Serge had used it, and cut open a few Turk- 
 ish heads with it whilst I was laid up wounded. The room 
 in which I had placed my things, with the intention of sleep- 
 ing there, was subsequently occupied by General D., and my 
 cloak and sabre were carried off and so carefully put away 
 that I had great difficulty in finding the former, but the sabre 
 never turned up again ; probably some officer’s servant took 
 a fancy to it. 
 
 The following day Strukoff marched out early, leaving 
 
128 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 Skobeleff behind ; having promised to accompany Strukoff, I 
 went with him. Soon we descried the little town of Ger- 
 manli on the heights. A squadron or two of dragoons had 
 been dispatched to this town the night before, but had been 
 very badly received by the Bashi-bazouks, and had in return 
 treated them with little ceremony. 
 
 The important news was brought us that Turkish emis- 
 saries from Constantinople had arrived at Germanli to open 
 peace negotiations ; and that they wanted a safe-conduct to 
 headquarters. Strukoff at once informed Skobeleff of this 
 and asked him to send up some infantry as quickly as pos- 
 sible, delaying his reply to the emissaries, until the infantry 
 arrived. It was well that the infantry were not slow in com- 
 ing, for our dragoons were getting it rather hot, as the town 
 was full of the enemy, among whom there were a large num- 
 ber of rediffs from Suleyman’s army, which Gourko had 
 routed. 
 
 * 
 
 * ^ 
 
 When we arrived the engagement was nearly over, and 
 soon the enemy retired. We were at once led to the railv/ay 
 station, where we found, huddled up in their carriages, the 
 worthy Turkish emissaries, Namik and Server Pashas, who 
 had probably spent anything but a pleasant night amidst the 
 yelling and shooting that was going on. The locomotive 
 of their train was adorned with a white flag. Namik Pasha 
 was an old friend of the Russians, for he had been to see 
 us in the days of the Emperor Nicholas. He was not 
 only an accomplished diplomat, but, as Minister of the 
 Household, one of the intimate associates of the Sultan. The 
 other, who was Minister for Foreign Affairs, was a compara- 
 tively young and evidently nervous man. Namik, a thin, 
 dried-up old man, with a sharp nose, and eyes whose fire had 
 gone out, a painted beard and most dignified deportment, 
 wore a long, loose Turkish coat, and the inevitable fez. 
 Server had a broad and animated face and a slight cast in 
 his eye ; he was dressed in a worn-out sort of home-made 
 black ulster, and had on india-rubber galoshes. He kept 
 jumping up and plunging his hands in his pockets, or walk- 
 ing up and down the saloon carriage. Now and again he 
 stopped short and fixed his eyes on us, moving his jaws 
 nervously ; he gave constant evidence of excitement. 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE— STRUKOFF. 
 
 129 
 
 The arrival of a Russian general was announced and we 
 w^re asked into the saloon. Strukoff represented himseff as 
 commanding the vanguard of the division, and introduced 
 me as his secretary. We w^ere both in coarse gray Cossack 
 overcoats, and must have appeared savage enough, in spite 
 of our PTench, in which language the conversation was con- 
 ducted. Strukoff, with great tact, complimented the pashas 
 on the courage of the Turkish troops, without saying 
 a word of our victories. Besides, he gave expression to a 
 perfectly just idea, when he told them that the more wx 
 were brought in personal contact with individual Turks, the 
 more we respected their characters. Namik Pasha, that clever 
 old man, easily led the conversation on to the battle of Shen- 
 ovo, which had been so decisive for the Turkish army, and 
 when Strukoff told them that I was present at it, turned to 
 me with his questions. But Server Pasha could no longer re- 
 strain his impatience, and asked me : “ Now frankly, honestl^q 
 is it really true that Weyssel Pasha could not have held 
 out ? ” 
 
 “I can assure you, Pasha,” I replied, “ that he could not,” 
 and I took out my note-book and drew himi a plan of the 
 village of Shenovo, and of the positions of Weyssel, Ra- 
 detzky, Skobeleff and Mirsky. I showed them how the two 
 latter had turned the enemy’s flank, attacked them, and 
 compelled them to lay dowm their arms. i This sketch is still 
 in my note-book.) A sort of groan involuntarily broke 
 from Server Pasha, and he turned away to hide his tears. 
 
 The emissaries manifested a strong desire to continue, as 
 quickly as possible, their journey to headquarters. ‘‘ The 
 train by which we have arrived, you will, of course, at once 
 send back?” said Namik Pasha. 
 
 “ I must first ask for instructions from my command- 
 ing ofiicer. General Skobeleff,” Strukoff replied. 
 
 ‘‘ What do you want instructions for ? The train arrived 
 and is now under a flag of truce, and cannot, and must not 
 be used for military purposes.” 
 
 “ I shall await my instructions,” was the only answer. 
 “But I entreat you,” implored the Pasha, “we are ex- 
 pecting the arrival of another train every moment, with pres- 
 ents of horses and carriages for the commander-in-chief from 
 
VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 1 30’ 
 
 His Majesty the Sultan, surely you are not going to detain 
 that also ? ” 
 
 “ I must ask for instructions.” 
 
 I whispered to Strugoff that, as the train was indeed pro- 
 tected by a flag of truce, we had no right to detain it. “ We 
 don’t want the carriages — we have some already — but we 
 have no locomotive,” he answered in a rapid whisper. “ For 
 a time, at least, I must detain them, till we are told what to 
 do.” These last words he pronounced aloud, assuring his 
 auditors that after the receipt of instructions, he would not 
 detain the train a minute. Alas ! Skobeleff sent word to say 
 that the trains were not to be allowed to return on any con- 
 sideration, and it must be confessed that they subsequently 
 carried our troops most excellently. But the pashas knew 
 nothing of this, for by that time they had already left for 
 headquarters, which were at Kazanlik. In the evening I 
 called on them again, to warn them to keep a sharp look-out, 
 as there were plenty of marauders about, Bulgarians as well 
 Bashi-bazouks. On the following day we rode out to see 
 them off. The pashas were in a closed carriage, to which 
 we rode up to take leave of them, and to wish them a good 
 journey and success in their negotiations. Let us hope,” 
 said Strukoff, ‘‘ that your journey will result in a speedy 
 peace,” and he shook hands with them in reply to their 
 friendly but sad farewell. ‘-And do not forget,” he con- 
 tinued, “ that we have a eommon enemy ; I mean the one 
 that led you with false hopes into your present difficulties, 
 and then left you to your fate.” 
 
 That is true,” Server replied, the tears again coming to 
 his eyes. 
 
 The pashas drove off between two rows of soldiers drawn 
 up in lines and spared from our very small force, who shouted 
 out songs at the top of their voiees, with a whistled 
 accompaniment. Poor pashas ! Skalon afterward told 
 me that when the news arrived of the taking of Adrianople, 
 in spite of the lateness of the hour, the pashas were im- 
 mediately informed of it. These worthy people had fre- 
 quently during their negotiations insisted on the faet that 
 Adrianople had not yet been taken, and would not be easily 
 taken, so it was decided to lose no time in letting them know 
 of it. ‘^We were on the best of terms with them, and when 
 they were awakened in the night, they were very much aston- 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE— STRUKOFF. 1 3 
 
 ished, and asked what was the matter.” “ We have come 
 to announce to you the fall of Adrianople,” was the answer. 
 They nearly wept— poor pashas ! 
 
 ❖ ❖ 
 
 GENERAL STRUKOFF. 
 
 I had a good deal to do. Strukoff received the command 
 of a small detachment, which constituted the vanguard of 
 Skobeleffs main body. As this appointment was made 
 unofficially by Skobeleff himself, there was no officer of the 
 general staff told off to him, and so my friend asked me to 
 do all sorts of things, and I became his volunteer chief of 
 the staff. I collected information and news from the natives, 
 
132 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 and reported to Strnkoff. Our principal scout was a Bulga- 
 rian, Khristo by name, who had enormous mustaches like a 
 tomcat, was very fat, and handsome ; he wore a jacket 
 covered with lace and embroidery, enormously wide trowsers, 
 and a gigantic sword, which had unfortunately never seen 
 the enemy. He had formerly served as kavass, or guard-inter- 
 preter, to General Ignatieff at the Russian embassy in Con- 
 stantinople, and had subsequently, during the war, been 
 attached to headquarters, and had now begged to be allowed 
 to accompany Strukoff as his interpreter. We learned that 
 the army of Suleyman Pasha, having been beaten by Gourko, 
 and finding it impossible to reach Adrianople by railway, 
 had taken to the mountains and was retreating, without 
 halting, in small parties of five, ten, and twenty men, and was 
 completely demoralized. Had the energetic Suleyman suc- 
 ceeded in throwing himself into Germanli with the 30,000 
 men that he must have had at least, before our arrival, and 
 had he had time to get to Adrianople after destroying the 
 bridge at Tirnovo-Semyonli, Mustapha-Pashaand other places 
 of minor importance, our progress to Constantinople would 
 have resembled a little less a m^ilitary promenade than it did. 
 Here I cannot help saying that Strukoff’s services, his 
 remarkable, energetic and rapid descent, and his exemplary 
 cavalry raid, have not received the recognition with us that, 
 in my opinion, they deserve. I have, for instance, myself 
 heard from officers of Gourko’s army, that it was an easy 
 matter for Strukoff and Skobeleff to march on in triumph 
 when all serious opposition had already been broken down. 
 But they completely forgot that, in the first place, all serious 
 opposition was anticipated and prevented, and in the second, 
 that Strukoff pushed on nearly to the walls of Constantinople, 
 with only three incomplete regiments of cavalry and one 
 battery, and that along the whole of his route he was con- 
 tinually pestered by Turkish infantry. Now, when it is all 
 over, I cannot help reflecting with amusement on how our 
 triumphal progress might have turned out, if we had run 
 against one or two battalions of rediffs ! 
 
 However, while awaiting Skobeleff ’s arrival, we found 
 excellent accommodation at Germanli, plenty of wood and 
 provisions, and our table was always excellent, that is to say, 
 our soup was always good and hot — what could one want 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE — STRUKOFF. 1 33 
 
 I was requested by Strukoff to undertake two duties ; to 
 keep the men from pillaging, and to disarm the inhabitants 
 as we passed along. Unfortunately one of our dragoons had 
 the luck to find 500 Turkish gold pieces, and as soon as 
 this became known many others were seized with a desire 
 to follow his example. Although we were stationed out- 
 side the town, the men slipped away into the houses on 
 all sorts of pretexts, and looked for, and even demanded 
 money. They pulled the feathers out of the feather-beds 
 and pillows, and broke into a few wine cellars. Many com- 
 plaints were reported, but the commanding officers rather 
 shut their eyes to these offences, and did not punish them 
 severely. I then went about the streets, and must confess 
 that I soon got thoroughly tired out. I used to drop into a 
 house by chance and find a lot of our men prying about in 
 the corners, inspecting, and rummaging amidst the terrorized 
 occupants. “ What are you here for ? ” “ We have been 
 
 sent to look for quarters, your honor ! ” At first I believed 
 this, but on discovering that it was all nonsense and only a 
 pretext for getting hold of money and valuables, I drove 
 them out without ceremony. 
 
 That they should carry things off, and drink what they 
 :ould find, was not surprising, but some of them destroyed 
 things from mere wantonness. On one occasion I remember 
 seeing a crowd of fellows standing at the door of a vault. 1 
 came up, and found it was a vinegar cellar. The vinegar 
 had been set free from a few barrels and w^as running all 
 over the floor, and had flooded the cellar to a depth of about 
 a quarcer of a yard. In the centre of this lake stood a 
 soldier bare-footed, his trousers rolled up, holding in his hand 
 a plug which he had pulled out of the last barrel, from which 
 the vinegar was spouting in a torrent. ‘‘ What are you 
 doing that for ? ” “ Just to see how it runs ! ” 
 
 Guided by the complaints of the inhabitants, I went into 
 different quarters of the town, and stopped disorders of all 
 kinds. Sometimes even I heard the screams of women and 
 children. I boxed the men’s ears, knocked their heads 
 together, and drove them out, only to find that the same kind 
 of thing had commenced somewhere else. 
 
 The persons of the women were, however, respected. In 
 a sort of open square I came upon some fifty or sixty Turk- 
 ish women, old and young, huddled up together like chickens 
 
134 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 with their heads close to each other, evidently praying. 
 Strukolf ordered them to be placed in a separate building 
 by themselves, and had them protected by sentries. 
 
 As regards my other duty, disarming the natives, that 
 went along swimmingly, with less trouble than I had ex- 
 pected. Dreading the responsibility of carrying arms, the 
 inhabitants brought me their weapons with reasonable hon- 
 esty. And what extraordinary weapons they were ! Arab 
 guns, with long, thin bits of metal, and purely Turkish ones 
 inlaid with mother-of-pearl and ivory, pistols, scimitars, and 
 yataghans. I made a collection of the most interesting of 
 these as material for new pictures, and some I destined for 
 Strukoff, who had promised his friends to bring them some- 
 thing of interest from the war. But alas ! I lost these 
 things as easily as I got them. The cart on which our 
 trophies were packed was robbed at the next station in the 
 night, and so thoroughly, that within the cart not a particle 
 of its contents could be found. It was evident that some 
 one else wanted them more badly than we did. The Cossack 
 in charge, who had carelessly dropped his gun, was shot 
 through the body. 
 
 * 
 
 Skobeleff having received and sent on the emissaries of 
 the Sultan, now arrived at Germanli. It was clear that he 
 was tormented by the desire of finally crushing the remnants 
 of Suleyman’s army, or in other words, completing what had 
 been left undone by Gourko, who, having beaten Suleyman 
 in a few engagements was driving him before him. But 
 Skobeleff deceived himself, inasmuch as Gourko had prac- 
 tically already defeated Suleyman, much more thoroughly 
 than we had supposed, and the remnants of his army, as we 
 had already been informed, hearing that we had cut off their 
 retreat at Germanli, had fled to the mountains in small sec- 
 tions, and were quite demoralized. 
 
 Skobeleff was seriously thinking of marching to Khaskioy, 
 to meet Suleyman. 
 
 “Strukoff tells me you are going with him, Vassili Vas- 
 silievitch ? ” he said. 
 
 “ Yes, I am,” I replied. 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE— STRUKOFF. 
 
 135 
 
 “You had better come with me,” he said ; “you know 
 Suleyman is upon us.” 
 
 “ I assure you that you are mistaken. Suleyman has 
 taken to the mountains.” 
 
 “ Well, now, fancy disputing with me, when I assure you 
 that I have most reliable information. Panyoutin tells me 
 that he has already had several outpost skirmishes with bat- 
 talions of Turks.” 
 
 I was somewhat disconcerted at such detailed informa- 
 tion, but nevertheless replied that I would go on with 
 Strukoff. 
 
 “ Well, do as you please,” said Skobeleff, but he evi- 
 dently disliked my refusing to join him. I did not know 
 then to how great an extent I was right, and how greatly 
 Skobeleff had erred. He here committed one of the great- 
 est mistakes a general can make, and mistook a crowd of 
 Turkish emigrants, with their carts and luggage, — wTom 
 Suleyman in his fury had ordered to leave their homes and 
 escape to Constantinople, — for regular troops and had at- 
 tacked them. This mistake was brought about as much by 
 Skobeleff’s jealousy of Gourko as by the fact that these 
 enormous caravans of Turkish families were escorted by the 
 male population, the brothers, etc., and these, seeing them- 
 selves threatened by the enemy, very naturally formed into 
 columns to defend their womankind. These columns were 
 the battalions of Turks that Panyoutin and the Cossack 
 commanders had reported to the general, and upon which he 
 marched. 
 
 I was with Skobeleff when the colonel of a Cossack 
 regiment reported to him that the enemy was “ advancing.” 
 
 “ Ail right,” said Skobeleff; “ receive the attack ! ” 
 
 “ We have already some killed and wounded, and thirty 
 horses have been shot.” 
 
 “ All right. Wait till you have lost three hundred.” 
 
 The colonel went away with his hand to his cap, but I 
 could see it trembled. Practical Cossacks hate losing men 
 and horses. I remember Kouharenko, who commanded a 
 Cossack regiment, giving me his reasons for this. He was 
 complaining to me at Plevna of the light-heartedness with 
 which Skobeleff sacrificed his men. “ Why, when I get back 
 home with my regiment, the wives of the dead men will 
 make me reponsible for their husbands. They will ask me 
 
136 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 what I have done- with them, and will reproach me for not 
 having taken better care of them. Yet Skobeleff tells us to 
 keep our column formation, and does not allow us to form 
 into extended order. ‘‘ Impress,” he says, “ impress the 
 enemy ! What is the good of impressing the enemy, if your 
 men are mown down ? ” 
 
 On the road to Khaskioy the engagement began. After a 
 fierce exchange of volleys, the cavalry and infantry charged, 
 cheering. Here a most shameful scene ensued, which Skobe- 
 leff arrived too late to prevent. The gallant Panyoutin did 
 not clearly distinguish whom he had engaged, and the 
 enormous wagon-loads were charged with the bayonet. For 
 a distance of some miles the road was covered with killed 
 and wounded, not so much men, but principally women and 
 children. Our fellows threw the people down from their 
 wagons, and plundered their luggage and money, and when 
 Skobeleff arrived he was horrified at the mistake he had 
 made. His general orders to his division after this “action” 
 were, of course, the sternest he had ever given. But it is 
 perhaps as well not to dwell upon this incident. 
 
 Skobeleff came out to see us off on our way to Adrian- 
 ople. Taking me a little on one side, he said : “ Vassili 
 Vassilievitch, see that Strukoff pushes on.” 
 
 “ Don’t be afraid,” I answered ; “ we won’t waste any 
 time.” sj. 
 
 ^ He 
 
 And here I may say that I have never met an officer more 
 attentive to discipline than Strukoff. He was the type of 
 what an exemplary, methodical cavalry officer ought to be. 
 He had a small head and thin face, so that his skin seemed 
 to cover nothing but bone and muscle. He looked, in the 
 words of one of his friends, who wanted to pay him a com- 
 pliment, like a thoroughbred Arab steed. He had enormous 
 mustaches, which he was continually nervously pulling, 
 although he had the most perfect self-control, and scarcely 
 ever lost his equable temper, which is of great importance in 
 a commanding officer. In the army he was laughed at for 
 being always everywhere, and for pushing himself. The wits 
 used to say, “Wherever you spit there is Strukoff.” But 
 this witticism lost much of its point, from a saying of the 
 retreating Turks, that wherever they retreated, there was 
 Strukoff with his cavalry. 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE — STRUKOFF. I 37 
 
 I was completely astonished at the energy and agility of 
 this man, who looked as though it was as much as he could 
 do, to keep his soul and body together. He used to rise 
 very early in the morning, and always made his own bed. 
 He drank no wine and did not smoke, and looked after his 
 men and his horses as though they were his children. At 
 night he would jump out of bed to receive the reports that 
 were brought in, personally, and he would always have a 
 kind word for the officer who brought them, and for the 
 private, a tip from his own pocket. I can even now see in 
 my mind’s eye, my dear and gallant comrade, wrapped in a 
 cavalry cloak, his hood on his head, mounted on his lean 
 English horse — he had two English thoroughbreds during 
 the campaign — his profile, in the dim light of a cold morning 
 between the hours of four and five, bends down a little, the 
 hood drops lower and lower, and at last bumps against his 
 horse’s mane. Sometimes T could not restrain myself, but 
 burst out laughing at this process of going to sleep. He 
 would then suddenly open his sleepy eyes and ask, 
 “ What ? — what has happened ? Oh ! ” And he would go 
 to sleep again. 
 
 ❖ 
 
 Our advance guard consisted of a little less than three 
 cavalry regiments; the Moscow dragoons, the St. Petersburg 
 Uhlans, and an incomplete regiment of Don Cossacks, wuth 
 only one battery of horse artillery which was always getting 
 stuck in the mud, and considerably impeded our movements, 
 but which gave us authority and prestige. 
 
 The dragoons were under the command of Colonel Y., 
 as charming and genial an officer as one could wish to 
 imagine, who moved his portly figure on his magnificent 
 ambling white charger, as comfortably as though he were in 
 his arm-chair ; and he loved his charger better than his own 
 soul. Y. was much older than Skobeleff, who had served as 
 a cornet in the squadron which Y. commanded. Now Y. had 
 got a regiment, but his former cornet commanded the van- 
 guard of the entire army. Their relations remained as 
 friendly as ever, and Y. would have done anything for Skobe- 
 leff, except part with his ambling charger. Skobeleff, who 
 had a weakness for white horses, soon noticed his magnifi- 
 cent animal, and approached Y. diplomatically through the 
 
VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 138 
 
 intermediary of Strukoff. “ Skobeleff tells me you could do 
 him a great favor.” Indeed ! Whatever is in my power I 
 shall be delighted to do for him.” “ Your white charger ” 
 . . . On no consideration whatever. It is not worth 
 
 your while to talk about it.” 
 
 The Uhlans were under B., who, I was told, had once 
 been a dashing officer and brilliant man of the world, but 
 who was now a melancholy, soured, languid man, who dis- 
 trusted every one. The recent and dramatic death of his 
 beautiful wife just before the beginning of the war, was, they 
 said, the cause of his strange transformation. Y. generally 
 kept us company, that is Strukoff and me, but B. was more 
 frequently alone or with some of his own officers. 
 
 L. commanded the Don Cossacks, and, although an aide- 
 de-camp of the Emperor, resembled most Cossack commanders 
 in the care of his horses. He was very smart at foraging, 
 and understood discipline according to his own peculiar 
 lights, for his men were continually implicated in some 
 marauding scrape, and even in open robberies, but this did 
 not prevent them from being capital scouts. 
 
 The commander of the battery I don’t recall well to my 
 mind. He was an officer of a venerable age, who served his 
 country honorably in the present instance and in the absence 
 of more warlike duties by dragging his guns from morning to 
 night out of terrific quagmires. 
 
 Besides these V., a charming, broad-shouldered officer of 
 dragoons, used frequently to come from his regiment to write 
 general orders for Strukoff, and sometimes reports to his 
 Imperial Highness, the commander-in-chief, from my dicta- 
 tion. And finally, to complete this description of the staff of 
 our flying column, the Bulgarian, Khristo, whom I have 
 already referred to, should not be omitted. He was one of 
 those mustached and gilded kavasses in whom all Eastern 
 embassies and consulates revel. Those wonderful mustaches 
 and magnificent gold lacings secured him the awe and 
 reverence of all he approached during the whole period of 
 the campaign, and of course a portion of this respect w^as 
 also reflected on us, and shed splendor and magnificence on 
 the entire force which had in its midst so great and brilliant 
 a luminary. 
 
 We had scarcely arrived at Mustapha-Pasha, after a suc- 
 cessful day’s march with only one halt, and had gotten off 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE — STRUKOFF. 1 39 
 
 horses when Strukoff was informed that emissaries from 
 Adrianople wanted to see him. He ordered them to be 
 brought to him at once. They turned out to be a Greek and 
 a Bulgarian, who represented the population of their respect- 
 ive nationalities, and who invited us to come and occupy 
 the town. The Turks, on hearing of an approach, had left, 
 and had blown up the Imperial castle on the outskirts, which 
 had served as an arsenal. (The explosion had been heard 
 even by us, I subsequently learned that many beautiful 
 memorials of ancient art had perished with this castle, among 
 which was a celebrated hall, whose walls were tiled with 
 blue crockeries.) They told us that Circassians were loafing 
 about the neighborhood and causing great apprehension lest 
 they should break into the town and sack it. As to the mag- 
 nificent line of forts that defended the town, and which had 
 cost the Turks such enormous sums, they had been deserted 
 because they were not quite ready, and there was not a 
 sufficient number of men for their defence. 
 
 Strukoff called a council of war composed of his regimental 
 commanders and myself. He explained in a few words 
 the state of affairs. There could be no doubt that the 
 inhabitants of the town, afraid of being marauded, would be 
 glad of our arrival, and we could take advantage of the 
 panic and easily capture the town. But on the other hand, 
 we had no infantry, and the approach of one or two, and 
 especially a larger number of tabors or battalions of Turks, 
 would place us in a very critical position, and might jeopard- 
 ize our guns. The Bulgarians had informed us that an 
 Egyptian prince had just marched past the town with a 
 well-equipped body of African negro infantry of about 2,000 
 men. Besides this, the remnants of Suleyman’s army were 
 on the march to Constantinople, and were in the neighbor- 
 hood in fairly large numbers, though in small detachments. 
 Having explained all this, Strukoff asked the opinion of his 
 officers. Being the junior in rank it was for me to speak 
 first, and I advised advancing. Y. did not see his way 
 give a decisive opinion, but seemed also to favor of an 
 advance. But B. was most decidedly opposed to anything of 
 the sort. “ It is all very fine for those who have no respon- 
 sibility to say we should advance, but what would we do if 
 we should be attacked in the town ? If we came upon 
 infantry ? And if, after having occupied the town we should 
 
140 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 be suddenly compelled to evacuate it again ? It is absolutely 
 imperative that we should wait for General S'kobeleff/’ The 
 Cossack colonel did not give an opinion, but I still main- 
 tained that we ought to advance. Strukoff did not express 
 his views either one way or the other, and the council was 
 dissolved without our having accomplished anything. 
 
 Soon another messenger arrived from Adrianople, another 
 Greek, armed to the teeth, and apparently under the influence 
 of liquor. He informed us that he had been sent by the new 
 governor of the town to ask the Russians to invest it. 
 “What new governor?” asked Strukoff. 
 
 “ Well, when the military governor blew up the castle and 
 went away with his garrison, the Sultan appointed Mr. Fass 
 to be governor. What more do you want ? ” 
 
 This emissary of the governor behaved so insolently 
 that I asked permission of Strukoff to talk to him a little 
 more severely. Strukoff granted it, and so I gave my Cos- 
 sack whip the swing of my arm, and sent it down on the 
 blackguard’s shoulder. He was taken completely by surprise, 
 and for the first time stood quietly and assumed an attitude 
 of respect. “ How dare you talk to a general like that, eh ? 
 Go and tell your new governor that the General does not 
 recognize him, and that he will come himself and appoint a 
 governor of his own. And now be off ! ” 
 
 “How very severe of you,” said Strukoff and the officers. 
 
 “ It does not pay to speak in any other language to such 
 cutthroats,” I replied. 
 
 The next morning when I woke up I found Strukoff sit- 
 ting on my bed. He had apparently been up some time. “ I 
 have decided,” he said, “ to advance on the town.” “Bravo ! ” 
 The emissaries had not yet departed, and so the General 
 ordered them ahead with the news of our advance, and taking 
 them aside, he demanded the villain ! that they should 
 bring him in token of submission the keys of the town, which 
 he woiiid have to forward to the commander-in-chief. “ But 
 there are no keys !” they exclaimed in dismay. “Then let 
 keys be found. Not another word ! ” was the General’s 
 stern decision. They started off, but the insolent Greek re- 
 mained, he was afraid of being waylaid and killed if he 
 travelled by day, and so determined to wait until our departure 
 — apparently his courage was an abstract quantity. 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE— STRUKOFF. 141 
 
 The day we arrived before Adrianople was fine and 
 sunny. We were met by several people on horseback, 
 among whom were two Armenians, the brothers Abdulla, a 
 well-known firm of photographers to the Sultan at Adrianople 
 and Constantinople. In front of the town itself, a dense 
 crowd was moving about, whose animation increased as we 
 drew nearer. At last they could restrain themselves no 
 longer and ran towards us to meet us. Their enthusiasm 
 knew no bounds and cannot be described. With shouts and 
 groans they threw themselves on their knees before us, kissed 
 the ground, and, crossing themselves, they kissed not only 
 our hands, but our knees, boots and stirrups, as though we 
 were holy images. It was impossible to prevent them, and 
 we had to submit to it. The figure of Y. was exceedingly 
 comical, with his beaming countenance, and his hands out- 
 stretched to be kissed, like a Madonna’s, and literally covered 
 with the tears of the enchanted crowd. Strukoff was nearly 
 torn to pieces ; if it had not been for the height of his English 
 horse he would probably have suffered much. 
 
 ❖ * 
 
 We were informed that the clergy were coming to meet 
 us with crosses and banners, and we were just preparing to 
 enter the streets of Adrianople when I stopped Strukoff, and 
 said : ‘Mt is simply foolhard)^ for us to enter the town.” 
 
 ‘‘Why so?” “ Look at those narrow streets. Every shout 
 of a coward, every chance shot would produce a panic. We 
 are perhaps not quite so badly off, but our guns would le 
 entirely useless, they could not even be turned around ! ” 
 
 “ But then what shall we do ? ” 
 
 “ Do not let us enter the town. Let us keep outside 
 somewhere.” 
 
 “ Impossible ; the clergy have turned out to meet us.” 
 
 “ Let them come, in God’s name ; they can always go back 
 again.” 
 
 Strukoff hesitated. But where shall we halt ? ” he 
 asked. I looked round. “ On that hill to the left ; let us 
 wheel round and go there.” Strukoff was still in doubt, but 
 felt that there was no choice of plans, and so, “ one, two, 
 three.” and we turned off sharply to the left and rode up a 
 steep hill, followed by our men and the crowd. When we 
 arrived at the summit our breath was taken with astonish- 
 
142 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 ment. We could not have selected a better spot. The 
 position was an ideal one. The top of the hill was a flat 
 plain, and commanded the whole town which was spread 
 out before us as though we held it in the palm of our hands. 
 Our position here was not only practically impregnable, but 
 we could threaten the town with our battery. 
 
 We had scarcely gotten to the top and looked round when 
 we saw a great procession of the representatives of various 
 churches and religions approaching us from the Bulgarian 
 quarter of the town. The Greek Metropolitan (Dionysius) 
 was at the head, and was followed by the Armenian Arch- 
 bishop, the Bulgarian priest, the Jewish rabbis, and the 
 Turkish mollahs, followed by a tremendous rabble. The 
 entire plain was covered with people ; I think there must 
 have been about thirty or forty thousand. This mass sur- 
 rounded and hemmed us in to such an extent that while we 
 were dismounting I was separated from Strukoff. Soon I 
 heard him shouting, “Vassili Vassilievitch, come here 
 quickly.” He stretched out his hand, and by the kindly aid 
 of the crowd I pushed my way to his side. We embraced 
 the crosses, and kissed the plump, soft hand of the Metro- 
 politan, who was evidently highly pleased at such a token of 
 respect. 
 
 And now the 7iew gover7ior^ referred to before, jumped up 
 on a sort of bench to address us. He was a fat Greek, with 
 the star of the Mejidich on his breast. In high-flown French 
 he made us a speech of welcome, and did not forget to 
 mention that he had been appointed to maintain order, and to 
 finish his speech with “ Vive la Russie ! ” and a cheer which 
 was taken up by the multitude. He then handed Strukoff the 
 keys of the town on a salver (three in number and very large 
 in size). I afterwards inquired where these keys had been 
 obtained, and was informed that they had been bought at the 
 bazaar. Attached to a ring, two bunches of small keys had 
 been added to these three enormous one. It may be as well 
 here to record the ultimate fate of these keys. The biggest 
 of all I took to crack nuts with, which were very common 
 and very cheap and exceedingly good eating. The other two 
 were sent off to the commander-in-chief, who dispatched 
 them to St. Petersburg, where they are probably hanging in 
 the cathedral. Before their dispatch Strukoff begged me to 
 give him the third and most imposing of them, but I stuck 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE — STRUKOFF. I43 
 
 to it, and 1 have it now in my studio, where it hangs beside 
 Skobeleft’s flag. 
 
 But to return to Adrianople. I advised Strukoff to 
 inform the self-elected governor that he did not recognize 
 his authority, and that he would take the government of the 
 town into his own hands until the arrival of his commanding 
 officer. This Strukoff did, and much disconcerted the Greek, 
 who, however, promptly recovered his presence of mind, 
 thanked the General and again cheered the Russians. I then 
 spoke my mind to the General and he repeated my v/ords at 
 the top of his voice, to the people, telling them how we 
 intended to provide for our men whilst maintaining the invio- 
 lability of the houses of the inhabitants. “ Let,” said the 
 General, “every nationality elect two representatives, and let 
 a council of these representatives, presided over by the Greek 
 Metropolitan, be intrusted with the duty of providing our 
 men and horses with food and forage. On that condition, 
 and that condition alone, will we refrain from making 
 requisitions and keep our men outside the town. But if we 
 are not supplied with all that is necessary, they will them- 
 selves go and get what they want. All that you bring us 
 will be paid for at headquarters.” All were evidently 
 delighted at this decision, and were relieved of their fear of 
 having to quarter our soldiers, a fear perfectly justifiable. 
 The Greek, Fass, and the whole crowd with him, again 
 cheered us and the Tzar Alexander, and this time they must 
 have been perfectly sincere, for they shouted so loudly that 
 the noise was deafening. 
 
 When the clergy had departed, we started for the church 
 of the Bulgarian quarter, which was of course crammed full 
 of people. The service began with the most frightful Greek 
 singing, in complete contrast to the usually harmonious choral 
 services of our own churches. I had heard this before, but 
 had never experienced anything more depressing than this 
 whining, and, although it was exceedingly stupid, I was con- 
 vulsed with a spasm of laughter which I had very great 
 difficulty in concealing. It happened that Strukoff stood 
 beside me, and his laconic, “ What a singing — Eh ! ” nearly 
 set me off. He probably lost his patience, for when the 
 priests had finished the short service and were preparing to 
 celebrate mass, he sent Khristo to tell them that he had no 
 
144 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 time to wait and to bid them finish quickly. The prospect 
 was by no means pleasant ; they were only about to begin. 
 
 Having embraced the cross we left the church, mounted 
 our horses, and rode back to the hill. Here Strukoff drew 
 his men up in a square, inspected them, thanked them for 
 their services and congratulated them on investing the 
 second capital of Turkey, the famous town of Adrianople. 
 
 * 
 
 ^ * 
 
 The men bivouacked, and we occupied a corner house on 
 the plain. We soon received news to the effect that Circas- 
 sians were plundering the opposite extremity of the town. 
 Strukoff gave me half a squadron of dragoons and told me 
 to ride through the streets with them and to calm the 
 populace and find out at the same time how much truth 
 there was in the rumor. I pounced upon an old Bul- 
 garian or Greek, I forget which, who spoke excellent Turkish 
 and fairly good Russian, and made him proclaim in a loud 
 voice as we rode along, that the people need fear nothing, as 
 we were strong enough to defend them. The noise of our 
 horses’ hoofs on the paved streets nearly caused a panic at 
 first, but on becoming convinced that we were their deliverers, 
 the women in the houses stretched out their arms weeping, 
 and those who were in the streets nearly threw themselves 
 under our horses’ feet crying : ‘‘ We are being robbed ! we are 
 being robbed ! ” “ Where and by whom are you robbed ? ” 
 
 “Over there, by the Circassians ! ” I could not believe that 
 such a panic could be without foundation, and rode all over 
 the town, even to the very spot where the reported marauding 
 was supposed to be taking place, but could find no trace of 
 anything of the sort. Everywhere I found perfect peace and 
 tranquillity, and everywhere I was assured that the Circassians 
 were further on, plundering. What a strange thing is a 
 panic ! 
 
 The regimental commanders were very much displeased 
 that the provision of food and forage had been intrusted to 
 the natives. As I was the cause of this arrangement, their 
 wrath fell principally upon me. Besides which I amazed 
 them still more by bringing before Strukoff a few dragons 
 whom I had caught marauding in the Bulgarian houses of 
 the neighborhood. The General had them flogged as an ex- 
 ample to the others in front of their regiment, and the punish- 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE — STRUKOFF. I45 
 
 merit was severe. I thought even the amiable Y., was angry 
 with me, and that when I left Strukoff’s room., he went in 
 and frightened him with the prospect of our not getting any 
 food for horses and men. I saw that Strukoff worried and 
 regretted having allowed me to take such humane measures. 
 As evening approached we kept sending messengers into the 
 town to tell them to hurry up. We invariably received the 
 same answer: ‘‘All will be sent.” But nothing came. It 
 was clear that nothing but the dread of offending the general 
 prevented the officers from swearing at me to my face ; but 
 what was worse I felt myself really guilty. At last, when it 
 was dusk, enormous hampers arrived full of everything, abso- 
 lutely everything that the heart could wish. There was bread, 
 soup, meat, wine ; even the tobacco was not forgotten — there 
 was a large hamper full of delicious Turkish tobacco. Every 
 one brightened up. Only one thing was wanted. There was 
 not enough hay for the horses ; they had to be fed on oats 
 and barley. 
 
 This system of making the population supply the provi- 
 sions many did not consider practical. Nevertheless I still 
 firmly believe it was the one best suited to the circumstances. 
 If the general had let his men go off into the houses to get 
 the various articles of food required, there can be no doubt 
 that this wealthy town would have been picked as dry as a 
 bone. It was indeed fortunate that the cool-headed Strukoff 
 did not allow himself to be dissuaded from his original 
 arrangement. The consequence was that no robberies were 
 committed, and that we maintained the best relations with 
 the townsfolk. When the main body of the army came up, 
 all this was changed, disorders commenced, and one or two 
 of our men were even murdered by the people. 
 
 ❖ 
 
 ❖ Hi 
 
 On the morning of the next day the Austrian consul 
 called on us in full uniform, attended by our old friend the 
 Greek, Fass. This last gentleman was. taken into another 
 room and asked to wait, as we had no intention of having 
 official relations with him of any kind ; but the Austrian 
 consul was at once received by Strukoff. He plunged 
 immediately into the business that had brought him, and told 
 us in French that we had deposed the only authority there 
 was at Adrianople, and that by so doing we had imperilled 
 
146 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 public order, for a riot was fomenting. Strukoff was at first 
 rather confused at this accusation, and seemed to think that 
 if a revolt was really brewing the situation was decidedly 
 awkward. He was apparently hesitating, and began to say 
 that as far as he was concerned he had nothing against the 
 Greek. But here I interposed : Your Excellency,” I said, 
 
 ‘‘ will you allow me to answer the consul in your name ? ” 
 Strukoff assented, and so I turned to the consul and said : 
 The general is much obliged to you, Mr. Consul-General, 
 for your advice, which he accepts as the advice of a sincere 
 friend. As Mr. Fass has already been told, the general will 
 himself watch over the town until the arrival of General 
 Skobeleff, on whom all further arrangements will depend. 
 As to the revolt which you dread. General Strukoff assures 
 you that the whole thing is an invention. He will undertake 
 to maintain order, and will cut down any one who proves 
 unmanageable. Once more allow me to thank you for your 
 kindness in warning us.” According to the custom of diplo- 
 matists to put a good face on a bad game, the consul 
 appeared to be much pleased with the result of his visit, and 
 having come for wool went back shorn. Strukoff and Y. 
 thanked me warmly for getting rid of him. “ Frankly,” said 
 Strukoff, his prophecy of a revolt rather frightened me.” 
 
 * ^ 
 
 Strukoff sent me to inspect the storehouses of the town. 
 Everyv/here I found pillaging going on. All who could were 
 carrying off whatever they could lay their hands on, in arm- 
 fuls and in carts. I cleared out the thieves and locked the 
 doors, notwithstanding the assurances of the Turks that they 
 were gtiarding the places. I placed sentries over these stores, 
 but cannot guarantee that they kept their hands clean when 
 my back was turned. 
 
 The storehouses, however, were so large and numerous 
 that it was impossible to inspect them all, still less to go over 
 every one carefully in so short a time. We afterward dis- 
 covered that in one of these storehouses there was a splendid 
 collection of bamboos for javelin shafts, which the com- 
 mander-in-chief presented to the regiment of Uhlans of the 
 Guard. Strukoff, who was himself an Uhlan, regretted that 
 he did not make the present, and reproached me in a friendly 
 manner for having overlooked these javelins. 
 
r 
 
 
 !• 
 
 i 
 
 
 ! 
 
 I*' 
 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
148 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE — STRUKOFF. 149 
 
 Beside the storehouses I inspected a large number of 
 mosques, among which one, the chief mosque, was most 
 beautiful and magnificent. 
 
 I had only just returned from this inspection when a fire 
 broke out in our camp. The Cossacks, who had plenty of 
 dry wood, had lighted an enormous fire in their kitchen, and 
 it was consequently not surprising that the house was in 
 flames. Fortunately only one house was burned ; the others 
 were some distance off and escaped. 
 
 * 
 
 Strukoff discovered that the pj'otege of the Austrian 
 consul, the Greek Fass, who had set his heart on being made 
 governor, was plotting against us and trying to create dis- 
 turbances and riots. The general wanted to arrest him, but 
 on reflection thought it better to let him off with a reprimand. 
 So I rode out early in the morning, accompanied by a few 
 dragoons, and surrounded the Greek’s house. I entered and 
 saw frightened faces behind every door and crevice. The 
 master came out pale and trembling and looking like a 
 corpse. He evidently expected, judging from Turkish prece- 
 dent, that his last hour had come. I had to call up all the 
 diplomacy I was possessed of, and ask after his health, the 
 number of his children, etc. I then turned the conversation 
 on the absolute necessity of his holding himself aloof from all 
 intrigues, which might bring him into serious trouble, and in 
 conclusion told him that the general had commissioned me 
 to make this communication, and to convey to him the gen- 
 eral’s hope that there would be no necessity to resort to 
 extreme measures. Fass was nearly beside himself with joy, 
 and gaving a sort of jump, assured me of his devotion, his 
 wish to be useful, etc., etc. 
 
 * 
 
 He He 
 
 Two Albanians were brought before Strukoff, most des- 
 perate robbers by the accounts of the Bulgarians, who had 
 cut children out of their mothers’ wombs and committed other 
 atrocities. The general ordered them to be bound together 
 firmly, and so the dragoons put the fellows back to back and 
 pulled out and tied up their elbows so tightly that they 
 became quite black in the face. Thrown on the ground, they 
 glared like a couple of tigers at the Bulgarian crowd which 
 
VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 150 
 
 surged around them, mainly composed of women and chil- 
 dren who abused them, spat into their eyes and threw lumps 
 of earth and dirt at them. The dragoon who was placed on 
 guard over them did not, of course, interfere, but permitted 
 them to be kicked and cuffed to the heart’s content of the 
 mob. 
 
 I asked Strukoff to have them hung, but he would not 
 allow it. He told me he did not like fusillading and hanging 
 in time of war, and would not have these two fellows on his 
 conscience, but would hand them over to Skobeleff, who 
 could do with them as he liked. 
 
 “That is all right,” I answered. “ I will ask him ; there 
 will be no delays with him ! ” 
 
 “ What makes you so bloodthirsty ? I did not know that 
 was a trait in your character.” 
 
 I was obliged to confess that I had never seen a man 
 hung, and was much interested in the process. 
 
 When I went to look at the two Albanians the next day 
 I felt sorry for them ; it would have been more merciful to 
 have hung them. They were lying on the ground swollen 
 out and quite blue from being bound up, and were shouting, 
 “ Aman ! Aman ! ” Their turbans and fezzes had been 
 knocked off their heads, and their faces were battered and 
 bloodstained by the stones and chumps that the throng kept 
 continually throwing at them. The sentry marched dispas- 
 sionately up and down without spoiling the sport. 
 
 Skobeleff arrived in the evening. We went to meet him 
 at the railway station, and he was subsequently escorted 
 to our headquarters by a cavalry guard of honor. On the 
 way the entire population turned out to meet the gallant 
 general, and a scene ensued similar to that which took place 
 on our own arrival, only it was perhaps not quite so enthusi- 
 astic, for such scenes do not repeat themselves as a rule. The 
 windows were studded with Greek women, who kept peeping 
 out as we passed, and some of whom were remarkably beau- 
 tiful. I rode behind Skobeleff, and kept giving him the 
 word of command. “ Eyes right ! Eyes left ! Hold your 
 head higher ! ” An ardent admirer of female beauty, Sko- 
 beleff kept his eyes fixed on the pretty faces, and it seemed 
 to me that the women on their part looked after him with 
 special interest. 
 
 Suddenly our old friend Fass turned up again. He was 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE — STRUKOFF. 151 
 
 riding behind the general to show the people that he was in 
 our good graces. He v/as at once requested to take himself 
 off ; but instead he rode on to the front, shouting right and 
 left, Bow to the general, welcome the general ! ” He was 
 ordered to clear off altogether, and then at last he disap- 
 peared. 
 
 I asked Skobeleff to hang the two robbers referred to 
 above, and he answered, “ Very well.” He called the colonel 
 of a battalion of rifles and bade him hold a court-martial 
 over the fellows, adding, ‘‘ And please be so good as to 
 have them hung.” “ All right, your excellency ! ” was the 
 reply, and I considered the business settled, thinking I 
 should yet see an execution before leaving Adrianople, and 
 be able to put it on canvas. But it was not to be. Shortly 
 before our departure I found my two friends still in same 
 unenviable position, and inquired whether they were not 
 going to be hung, but received in reply the monosyllable 
 No.” Having heard that a court-martial had been called, 
 Strukoff had begged Skobeleff not to kill the malefactors, for 
 his sake, and it is very probable that even now these two 
 knights of industry are hale and hearty, full of gratitude 
 for the clemency of the Russian generals and still disem- 
 bowelling Christians. I have painted them bound up. 
 
 ❖ 
 
 * * 
 
 Toward night, on the third day of our sojourn at Adrian- 
 ople, we marched out on the road to Constantinople It was 
 so dark that our division was broken up, and we lost track of 
 the cavalry in the van. This would have been an excellent 
 opportunity for the enemy, either to cut us to pieces or to take 
 us prisoners, and it is probable that the Circassians who were 
 hovering about would have done so, had they not degener- 
 ated from mountain panthers to jackals, good for nothing but 
 plundering. We called a halt in the middle of the road near 
 some small hovels. 
 
 Our next halting place was at Havsa, which we reached 
 on the following day. Here we found a prison and the most 
 complete apparatus for torturing and chaining up criminals. 
 1 made a small collection of these Turkish toys, comprising 
 irons for the neck, hands and feet, of very respectable weight, 
 and a still heavier chain with which convicts, chiefly Bulgari- 
 ans, v/ere fastened when they were sent to Adrianople in irons. 
 
152 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 Here a few Bulgarians came up to us from a neighboring 
 farm, and told us that some Turks had passed the previous 
 night at their house, and had held a perfect orgy and 
 outraged the women. Strukoff gave me Khristoand sent me 
 with a small body of Uhlans to punish the miscreants if 
 possible. When we arrived at the farm, which was about 
 three miles off, at full gallop, we were shown the retreating 
 figures of three Turks who were running to the mountains as 
 fast as their feet could carry them. Khristo, seized with 
 martial ardor, asked permission to pursue them with the aid 
 of an Uhlan, but this was absurd, as they had already the 
 advantage of over a mile, and could easily either get away or 
 hide themselves from their pursuers ; so I preferred returning 
 without carrying off the victory. But Khristo could not 
 sheathe his sword without giving an outlet to his valor, and 
 so he cut off the head of a goose that belonged to the farm. 
 This decapitated savior of Rome, along with the other mem- 
 bers of his flock, and some pickled cabbage and curds and 
 whey, we carried off with us. They reminded us a little that 
 day at dinner of our distant native land. The women who 
 had been molested by the Turks were pointed out to me. 
 “You have been ill-treated?” I asked. “Yes,” they re- 
 plied, blushing, and hid their heads in their aprons. It was 
 clear that further particulars were not to be gained from 
 them. 
 
 ❖ ❖ 
 
 On the road from Havsa the people had deserted their 
 homes and sought refufie in the forests and underwood in 
 the neighborhood. At first we mistook them in the dis- 
 tance for the Turkish marauders, and they themselves did 
 not apparently feel quite safe in leaving their encamp- 
 ments to meet us, not being quite certain that we were 
 really the orthodox Christian Russian army of the advance 
 of which they had heard. But when they had once made up 
 their minds on this point, they gave vent to their joy most 
 unmistakably, and threw themselves on their knees before 
 us, kissing the hems of our garments when they could get a 
 chance, weeping and shouting, “ Long live the Tsar Alex- 
 ander ! ” They all complained of the treatment they had 
 received at the hands of the Turkish army as well as from 
 the Turkish population, who had emigrated to a man to Con- 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE— STRUKOFF. 
 
 153 
 
 stantinople. Before leaving they had robbed the Bulgari- 
 ans of all they could carry with them, and had seized, with 
 the aid of the Turkish authorities, not only the clothes and 
 domestic furniture they could lay their hands on, but even 
 the horses, cattle and carts. We were told that these emi- 
 grants had only just departed, and that they were still within 
 marching distance, and they implored us to overtake them 
 and wrest from them at least some of the stolen property. 
 
 As we approached Baba-Eski the evidences of robbery 
 and violence grew more and more marked. We could hear 
 sobs and lamentations, and it was clear that the pillaging had 
 taken place quite recently. On entering the place our eyes 
 were greeted by the sight of the Bulgarian priest, a man of 
 advanced years, lying under a fence with his throat cut. 
 The neighbors told us that the miscreants had insisted on 
 the old man confessing where he had hidden his money, and 
 when he had sworn that he had no money they had killed 
 him. Here and there the sound of women’s voices reached 
 us from the houses. The Turks had left only the night 
 before, and were believed to be still close by. 
 
 Here, as at Havsa, we made a halt. Strukoff advanced 
 steadily, stopping nowhere and resting only every third day. 
 We used to march out very early, while it was still dark, halt 
 to rest and have dinner, and then march on until nightfall, 
 when we slept. The following day we did the same, and on 
 the third we rested for twenty-four hours. The general paid 
 special attention to the horses, which were fresh and strong 
 and in good condition ; as for the men, that goes without 
 saying ; they were all as jolly as sand-boys. 
 
 ❖ ^ 
 
 Before reaching Loulli-Burgas we began to overtake the 
 hindermost wagons of the Turkish fugitives. Fearing they 
 might be searched and accused of theft, they tore off the 
 Bulgarian embroidery and fancy work from the goods they 
 had stolen and threw them away ; they also threw away 
 their swords and muskets, having previously broken them. 
 Strukoff ordered them to halt, for which purpose we had to 
 send men far in advance, as the line of wagons extended to an 
 enormous length. Some of them stood in front of the bridge 
 that led into the town, others were drawn up on the road, 
 others again on another road, and another lot had crossed 
 
154 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 the bridge and were on their way on the other side of the 
 river ; these of course we could not overtake, but had to allow 
 them to escape. The number of wagons was enormous. I 
 remember that Strukoff was accused in the papers of exag- 
 gerating the number of emigrants. In spite of his request, I 
 declined to take part in a newspaper war ; but I may here 
 mention that the fact of the Turks proceeding by different 
 roads refutes the attacks of the papers, and I may add that 
 the statistics of the reports sent to the commander-in-chief, 
 which I compiled myself, were, of course approximately, 
 correct. 
 
 As these people did not themselves know why they were 
 going to Constantinople, where nothing but ruin and starva- 
 tion awaited them, I asked the general to allow those who 
 felt so inclined to return whence they came, and he agreed to 
 my proposal. Taking Khristo with me, I had all the elder 
 of the emigrants called together, and informed them that at 
 Rum,* where they were going, there was already a famine, 
 and that they would simply be ruined if they went there. 
 “ Would it not be better, therefore,” I said, “ to return at 
 once. The Russian general, so far from interfering with 
 your movements, is your well wisher and advises _you to 
 adopt this course.” They had many discussions on the sub- 
 ject. It was clear that some of them, who probably had less 
 on their conscience than the rest, desired to return, but to 
 others the idea was repugnant. They were given leisure to 
 arrive at a decision, and were told to send in their reply at a 
 stated time. 
 
 In the mean time I rode around this lively encampment 
 of emigrants and ordered all arms to be piled up in a heap, 
 adding that any concealment of weapons would be severely 
 punished. Soon a perfect mountain of weapons of all descrip- 
 tions was formed, and I again made a selection for myself of 
 a few particularly good specimens, some of them were taken 
 by officers, but the rest were carried away and put under 
 guard. 
 
 A number of the Turks decided to return if we gave them 
 a convoy to protect them from the vengeance of the Bulga- 
 rians. This was provided, and they soon started off escorted 
 
 This is another name for Constantinople in use among Mussulmans 
 and Asiatics generally. 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE — STRUKOFF. I 55 
 
 by a few Uhlans. The Bulgarians feeling their power, 
 hovered about like jackals, and some even had the impu- 
 dence to carry things off from the Turkish wagons under our 
 very eyes, assuring us that they had been stolen from them. 
 I drove a good many away with my Cossack whip ; but as 
 a matter of fact, it was very difficult to decide who were the 
 robbers, and who the robbed. 
 
 Riding among the crowds of Turks and their wagons I 
 noticed that many of the women were very good looking and 
 some beautiful. Strukoff spoke to a few of these who had 
 come to him with petitions, and one, a very pretty ycung 
 woman, talked very boldly, and insisted strongly on the fact 
 that as her husband was dead she was free and could now 
 do as she liked ; but the good-humored general smiled and 
 said, “ What a frisky matron ! ” 
 
 The majority of the Turks, however, decided to go on, 
 and in this they were not hindered. When the wagons 
 began to move, I rode on to the front to see how order was 
 being maintained, and was horrified to hear the shrieks of 
 women. I galloped in the direction of the cries to see what 
 was the matter, when I discovered that some Cossacks had 
 stopped a wagon ; two of them had jumped in and one wms 
 holding a woman wdiile another was searching her. The 
 moment they saw me they released their victim and disap- 
 peared with the rapidity of lightning. Nevertheless they was 
 found, and on the next day before the entire force, which was 
 drawn up in a square, these two fellows w^ere severely 
 flogged with rods as an example for all who had eyes to see 
 to profit by. Strukoff thanked me, but the regimental comi- 
 manders, especially the colonel of Cossacks, was much dis- 
 gusted. ^ 
 
 In the evening of the day of the departure of the Turk- 
 ish emigrants I wrote, at Strukoff ’s request, a report to the 
 commander-in-chief in which I pointed out the importance 
 of representing to the authorities at Constantinople the 
 frightful privations their subjects had to suffer owing to this 
 enforced emigration, which was more ruinous to the country 
 and the population than the war itself, and was only occa- 
 sioned by the fanaticism and foolishness of Suleyman Pasha. 
 
156 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 On our march we had a false alarm. Strukoff, myself, and 
 a few others, by way of avoiding the dust caused by the 
 Turkish carts, were riding on a separate road which followed 
 the river, on the opposite bank of which was a long proces- 
 sion of wagons and a crowd of ragamuffins. Suddenly a 
 number of these got into boats and began rowing over to 
 where we were. To tell the truth, all of us, Strukoff not 
 excepted, felt rather nervous at this circumstance, for we 
 were completely separated from our main body and were 
 practically unarmed beyond a revolver and a Cossack car- 
 bine or two. Of course the thought of being killed or 
 wounded did not frighten us so much as the idea that we 
 might be taken prisoners, like half a dozen sheep, without 
 being able to offer any material resistance. As it turned out, 
 these people had peaceful intentions. They were Bulgarians, 
 who came over to give us information of the movements of 
 the enemy, and to complain of the treatment they had received, 
 etc. We laughed very heartily at our mistake. 
 
 We were now approaching the town of Tchorlou, where, 
 from information received from the natives, we expected to 
 find Turkish troops. A young officer. Prince D., was sent out 
 with half a squadron of dragoons to scout. But as he did not 
 send messengers for some time, and we were told that the 
 Turks had infantry and guns, the general became very uneasy 
 about him. At our last halting-place before reaching the 
 town, Strukoff not having heard from D,, asked me whether I 
 thought it would be advisable to march straight on the town 
 without waiting for news. I proposed that he should send me 
 on in front with a hundred Cossacks to draw the enemy’s fire 
 and send him a plan of their position. Strukoff at once agreed 
 to my proposal and ordered a captain of Cossacks to escort 
 and protect me with his troop. As it turned out this saved 
 the dragoons ; nor need they have suffered any loss at all 
 had it not been for the extreme cunning and obstinacy of the 
 Cossacks. Having been told to protect me from the Turks, 
 that is to say, to expose themselves and their horses to danger, 
 they were very slow in carrying out their orders. I rode off 
 at a trot, but they followed me at a walk, I increased my pace 
 and sent one of the two orderly Cossacks I had with me to 
 ask them to keep up with me, but they replied that their 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE — STRUKOFF. IS7 
 
 horses were very tired, and by way of demonstrating the fact, 
 they proceeded to dismount, and led their horses by the 
 bridle, as much as to say, “ there is no need to hurry.” 
 
 On arriving close to Tchorlou I heard shots, the inter- 
 change increasing in rapidity. Apparently a warm fight was 
 going on. I now sent my last Cossack off to the captain of 
 the troop to ask him to bring his men up at double quick, and 
 told him that if he disobeyed the responsibility would be 
 on his shoulders. I myself remained waiting. Before me 
 lay the river flowing in a deep valley and beyond it I could 
 see the town, d'he sound of shouting and shooting from 
 thence came nearer and nearer, at last I could see emerging 
 from the hills first one horseman then a second and a third — 
 these were our dragoons coming along at full speed pursued 
 by Turks. The blood rushed to my head. I rode to meet 
 
 them and shouted : “ Stop, stop you /’ and lifted my 
 
 Cossack whip to strike one of them, but on seeing his face I 
 restrained myself. “I am wounded,” he muttered through 
 perfectly green lips, and galloped on not having strength to 
 stop his horse. At this moment the Cossacks came up, and 
 the Turks, seeing reinforcements were arriving, stopped the 
 pursuit. 
 
 The dragoons had been completely demoralized. They 
 had gotten as far as the higher bank of the river, but as this 
 was the first time they had been under fire, they were appar- 
 ently quite unable to conquer their surprise. I said to D., 
 “ Are you not ashamed of yourself for running away like 
 that ? ” But he replied : “ What could I do ? The men 
 were all young and untried, and did not obey orders.” But a 
 little later he lost his temper, and turning round to me said : 
 ‘‘ And what business is it of yours ? ” ‘‘I am ashamed of 
 
 you, that is all ! ” I answered. However, it was very diffi- 
 cult for him to do anything with his untried men after having 
 been surprised by the Turks. All he could do was to follow 
 their example, and, accompanied by the other officers, to hold 
 off the Turks with revolvers. 
 
 The affair was brought about in this way. D. got safely 
 to Tchorlou, but neglected to pay attention to the fact that 
 the Bulgarians did not come out to meet him, which, alone, 
 was a sure sign of the presence of the enem}^ On reaching 
 
158 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 the river and the valley along which the permanent track of 
 the railway is laid, and where there is a station, he inquired 
 whether there were Turks in the town. The assistant station- 
 master replied : “No, they have all gone.” So D. ordered 
 his men to dismount and commenced inspecting the sta- 
 tion. 
 
 In the mean time the Turks, of whom there were about 
 two thousand, had really left the town, and their main body 
 was already far away, but the rear guard which consisted of 
 cavalry of the Sultan’s Life-Guards, and who were splendidly 
 equipped and armed with the Peabody rifle, had only just 
 marched out. Hearing that a small number of “ Muscovites ” 
 had arrived, and that they had most comfortably established 
 themselves at the railway station, about two or three hundred 
 turned back and attacked our fellows. The dragoons had 
 scarcely time to mount and get to the bridge when the Turks 
 were pouring lead into them. Our men replied with the 
 same, but as they had no more than twenty cartridges apiece 
 they exhausted their ammunition in a few minutes, and then, 
 seeing that the Turks were fording the river to cut off their 
 retreat, they galloped off as hard as they could, the Turks 
 following them, cutting down about fifteen men ; and if the 
 troop of Cossacks had not arrived all would have been exter- 
 minated. 
 
 We were standing on the very ridge of the hill which 
 flanked the valley. Before us an extremely picturesque view 
 presented itself, bounded by the town which was on an oppo- 
 site elevation. Below was the railway, with its station and 
 the bridge, across which the enemy were languidly retiring, 
 looking round with apparent regret at being balked of their 
 prey. Arrived on the opposite bank of the river they joined 
 their main body, and seemed to expect us to come and attack 
 them. Knowing that Strukoff, to whom I had dispatched 
 the same Cossack who had sent on the troop, would order 
 up reinforcements, I proposed to the Cossack captain that 
 we should slowly descend the hill, and shouted to D. to join 
 us in case we wanted him. But D. cried to me, “ Do not 
 go ! there are too many of them ; ” and the Cossack captain 
 declared that he could not undertake to lead his men, who 
 were in such small numbers. Of course if you order me ! ” 
 “ I have no right to order you, but if you refuse the respon- 
 sibility, I will order you. Forward, easy, close up ! ” We 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE — STRUKOFF. I 59 
 
 leisurely advanced, the dragoons bringing up in the rear, and 
 the Turks retired before us slowly. They were about five 
 hundred yards off, so that we could clearly distinguish every 
 individual soldier. They were all in magnificent uniforms, 
 with crescents on their caps, picked men evidently, and 
 mounted on excellent hardy little horses. 
 
 In my report to Strukoff I asked him not only to send us 
 reinforcements, but to send two other detachments by a 
 detour, which he did, and so, as soon as we had crossed the 
 bridge, we were joined by a squadron of Uhlans coming up at 
 full trot under the command of the adjutant of the regiment, 
 a charming officer, who was met by a number of Greeks and 
 Bulgarians, and was, with myself enthusiastically welcomed as 
 the deliverer of the town (at which we laughed heartily), 
 and, of course, our hands and feet had to be kissed. 
 
 Just then the air was rent by fearful shrieks. We dis- 
 covered that D. was chastising the station master for having 
 misinformed him, and as the punishment was executed by the 
 dragoons who had suffered from his false news, it is more 
 than probable that his howling was perfectly sincere. 
 
 We received orders from the general not to enter the 
 town, but to await his arrival. Strukoff soon joined us, and 
 brought with him Captain Prince Vassiltchikoff, who had been 
 dispatched with the news that the truce had been signed. 
 Our troops were drawn up, and the Bulgarian priests offered 
 thanksgivings, after which Prince Vassiltchikoff conveyed to 
 the men the gratitude of His Imperial Highness, the coiti- 
 mander-in-chief, for their services, and informed them that a 
 truce had been concluded, and that this would probably be 
 shortly followed by peace. He and Strukoff, who had also 
 thanked us for our short engagement, were greeted with loud 
 cheers. 
 
 We found quarters, and our company was now increased 
 by the addition of Prince Vassiltchikoff, a very simple- 
 minded, broad-shouldered and agreeable fellow. Our meat 
 and vegetables were good, and the cream and butter excel- 
 lent, while the almonds and raisins were so cheap and so 
 good that my Adrianopolitan trophy, the enormous key 
 which had probably once turned the lock of some warehouse, 
 was in constant requisition for the nuts. My Cossack, Kur- 
 batoff, a roguish fellow but not of a bad sort, who had 
 
i6o 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 formerly served as cook, was no longer allowed to make our 
 soups, although he assured us that he could do it as well as 
 anybody. To him was intrusted the important duty of 
 preparing the coffee, of which a large quantity was consumed, 
 and which was consequently made in a colossal copper kettle. 
 Whether the coffee was really superior, or whether the vio- 
 lent exercise we had taken had made us particularly appre- 
 ciative, it is difficult to say, but we all praised it highly, and 
 put Kurbatoff in such conceit of himself that he would never 
 afterward allow anyone to prepare coffee for us, and often 
 was on the point of fighting for the honor. 
 
 It is curious that my Cossack owed his St. George’s Cross 
 for valor to this coffee. Why don’t you recommend your 
 Cossack for the St. George’s Cross ? ” asked Strukoff. “ Why 
 should he be decorated ? He has never once been under 
 fire with me,” I replied. What does that matter ? That is 
 clearly not his fault ! I am certain that if the occasion pre- 
 sented itself he would not desert you.” “ That is true 
 enough,” I said; “if you like, recommend him.” And so 
 Kurbatoff decorated his manly bosom with the “order of 
 military distinction and valor.” 
 
 Here it is as well to note that soldiers’ crosses were 
 bestowed with a remarkable light-heartedness. Among the 
 combatants some kind of justice obtains, inasmuch as a cer- 
 tain number of crosses are awarded to the men of each 
 company after an engagement, and they are allowed to elect 
 the actual recipients. Of course, under this system, the non- 
 commissioned officers always get the lion’s share, still the 
 men have some chance, and glaring partiality is avoided. 
 But the good-for-nothings, such as young cadets and cash- 
 iered officers, invariably get decorated with one or two, or 
 even three or four (the fourth is in gold with a ribbon) St. 
 George’s crosses, even if they only happened to have been 
 present at an engagement. The staff officers’ servants, and 
 the servants at headquarters, all people with more or less 
 influence, always receive the cross, even if they have never 
 so much as heard the whistle of a bullet, and have limited 
 their heroic achievements to carrying their master’s luggage 
 from one baggage wagon to another. S. had a Cossack, 
 Parshin by name, who received two crosses, and showed his 
 gratitude by taking with him to the Don, as a souvenir, two 
 of his master’s rifles. 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE — STRUKOFF. l6l 
 
 Our Khristo, who already possessed one St. George’s 
 Cross, but who was animated by an indomitable desire to 
 hang several on his breast, at last begged me to say a good 
 word for him to Strukoff, and of course enumerated to me 
 all his arguments, services, and claims, Alas ! I must con- 
 fess that I fell and promised to help, and did indeed ask 
 Strukoff. At the time of the coronation of the Emperor 
 in Moscow I subsequently saw Khristo, walking with the 
 solemnity of a trained poodle behind the Prince of Bulgaria, 
 with three crosses of St. George in his button-hole. I con- 
 sole myself with the reflection that I was not the only sinner, 
 and that he used all his influence at headquarters to back his 
 petition ; and no doubt the gallant Khristo repeated to all 
 his other benefactors the story of his bravery. 
 
 ❖ 
 
 I suppose the Cossacks were delighted at the truce, for 
 they lighted a trem.endous fire. I had occasion to pass the 
 building in which they were quartered and could not help 
 saying to myself : “ What if there should be a conflagration.” 
 I was not far wrong ; the entire house was soon in flames 
 and I had the greatest difficulty in getting my own horses 
 away. Fortunately no one was burnt, although this occurred 
 at night, and nobody lost anything in the flames, but the 
 large building was entirely destroyed. This was the second 
 house that suffered by sheltering us and our heroes, the 
 officers’ servants. It was late at night when we turned out 
 and, standing on the opposite side of the square, directed 
 the extinction of the flames and the isolation of the house. 
 We afterward removed to the house of a Greek, where we 
 were very well accommodated. 
 
 Here we were perpetually besieged by the inhabitants 
 with complaints of the treatment they had received, not alone 
 from the Turks, but from our men as well, who persisted 
 in seeking their fortune in other people’s houses. Once 
 Strukoff and I went together to catch the marauders at night, 
 for he had lost all patience and wanted to see for himself 
 whether these complaints were well grounded or not. More 
 frequently I went alone with a Cossack, but it was like try- 
 ing to catch a Jack-o’-lantern. These seekers after hidden 
 treasure were remarkably active fellows, and used to jump 
 over palings and get onto roofs with the most praiseworthy 
 
VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 162 
 
 agility. It was at least gratifying to rout them out and 
 frighten them. 
 
 Strukoff had a frightful amount of work to do. In the 
 daytime I assisted him as much as I could, and so did the 
 officer of dragoons of whom mention has been made, and who 
 copied documents, but at night I slept conscientiously, and 
 only saw occasionally, with one eye as it were, how Strukoff 
 received dispatches from the numerous small detachments 
 that had been sent out in different directions. Here a railway 
 station had been seized with an attack of government corre- 
 spondence. There a band of marauding Circassians had been 
 caught, or a Turkish flag, hidden in a wagon, detached 
 from its flagstaff that it might be more easily stowed away, 
 had been captured, etc., etc., etc. Like the police official in 
 the French play Les Charbonniers.” who never gets to his 
 breakfast, but is continually pestered with new arrivals, 
 Strukoff could never get a wink of sleep. He had scarcely 
 read one telegram, and answered it, blown out the candles 
 and laid down, before there was a knock at his door and 
 another one arrived. 
 
 ❖ ❖ 
 
 Skobeleff arrived on the third day by railway, at night. We 
 went out to meet him, but as he was late we had nearly given 
 him up, and were going to return home when he came. The 
 general had shaved his head, which, truth to tell, did not 
 suit him remarkably, especially as his cap, having become too 
 big for him, had slipped down to his ears. Skobeleff was in 
 perpetual fear of becoming bald like his father, and it was 
 enough to tell him that he was losing his hair to make him 
 have his head cropped like a convict’s. In the present instance 
 it is possible that the “ White Pasha ” was not above court- 
 ing popularity with the Mussulmans by means of his shaven 
 crown, but the expression of involuntary surprise of all Rus- 
 sians at the sight of it did not apparently put him in a good 
 humor. 
 
 Soon after the arrival of the commander of the vanguard 
 of the forces, we marched toward Tchataldja, where, accord- 
 ing to the conditions of the truce, we were to stay. These 
 were our last marches. The officers and men were delighted 
 both at the truce and at the imminent prospect of peace, 
 for which their wives and children in their distant homes had 
 long been praying. However, the probable contingency of 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE — STRUKOFF. 1 63 
 
 an occupation ” alarmed some of them and tempered their 
 joy. 
 
 What beautiful ruins we met with here ! On our left was a 
 hill covered with the remains of buildings. I went to 
 inspect them, and found myself surrounded by columns and 
 Capitols, bas-reliefs, etc., of beautiful work of the Greco- 
 Byzantine period and of pure white marble. From the summit 
 of the hill 1 beheld a sea on either side of me. A shepherd 
 was sitting on this hill, which was stuffed like a pillow with 
 the magnificent relics of former grandeur, and was tending a 
 flock of sheep that grazed round about. It was clear that 
 nobody took the slightest interest in these marbles. Un- 
 fortunately we were quite as unsympathetic. I suggested to 
 Skalon afterward that it would be a good thing to collect 
 some of the most interesting specimens of this ancient archi- 
 tecture and send them off to Russia, but he only said : “ We 
 can’t be bothered with them. How are we to cart them 
 away ? ” The whole of this country was covered with ves- 
 tiges of antiquity, of the Byzantine period of Greek art, and 
 nearly all the mosques have splendid specimens taken mostly 
 from ruined churches. The bases of the columns in the 
 mosques were invariably ancient capitals taken from churches 
 and turned upside down ; they were frequently of beautiful 
 workmanship, and always worn on the side nearest the 
 entrance, where the shoes of the faithful had been wiped 
 against them. 
 
 At this place we met a telegraph official from Constanti- 
 nople. He had been sent to inspect the wires, on the effi- 
 ciency of which the quickness of the treaty negotiations 
 largely depended. Strukoff let him pass, although he had no 
 regular passport. 
 
 Silivri is a charming little place on the very shores of the 
 sea. Not a single Greek or Bulgarian came out to meet us, 
 a sure sign that it was occupied by Turkish troops, and so it 
 turned out to be. I rode a long way in front of the main 
 body. In the streets were crowds of people and Turkish 
 cavalry, the very same fellows with whom we had come to 
 conclusions at Tchorlou. They all fixed their eyes upon me. 
 
164 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 the people with evident sympathy, to which, however, they 
 dared not give expression, and the soldiers fiercely and with 
 hatred. I was taken to Ideat Pasha, who commanded these 
 cavalry outposts. 
 
 Presenting myself as the secretary of the Russian gen- 
 eral, I explained that the Turkish troops must immediately 
 evacuate the town, and make room for us. He replied that 
 he had not as yet received instructions, that he had sent off 
 inquiries, and was awaiting a reply, and he added that he 
 hoped we would allow him to remain until his instructions 
 arrived. “ Perhaps the general will allow it, but only for 
 a very short time.” Strukoff himself soon arrived, and I 
 explained the situation to him. It was so clear that the 
 Pasha was trying to cheat us, and wanted to make the de 
 facto boundary between us Silivri instead of Tchataldja, that 
 Strukoff insisted on his clearing out at once. “ But is there 
 not room for both of us ? You could occupy one part of the 
 town, and I the other.” “ That would not do,” said Strukoff 
 who was beginning to lose patience and repeated his demand. 
 “ But your secretary has already given us permission to await 
 a reply.” No,” said Strukoff; “ he only spoke of giving you 
 a short period of grace.” But we cannot possibly march 
 out without receiving instructions.” ‘‘Then we shall clear 
 you out,” was Strukoff’s grim rejoinder. “ Will your excel- 
 lency order up the guns ?” I asked. “ Let us wait a little,” 
 said Strukoff ; “ perhaps he will go away of himself.” Hav- 
 ing ordered our men not to occupy the whole town, so as to 
 avoid coming in contact with the Turks, the general waited 
 a minute or two, during which time we drank a cup of coffee, 
 but as we got no answer, and saw no signs of evacuation, the 
 Turkish troops still standing about the streets and glaring at 
 our own, we asked again whether they would clear out or not. 
 “Until they received a reply from Constantinople they could 
 not,” was the answer. Strukoff went out into the hall, and, 
 in a voice that would have done honor to a much bigger 
 chest than his, shouted : “ Bring up the guns ! ” Several 
 men ran off, shouting: “The guns! the guns!” Ideat 
 suddenly changed his demeanor and became extremely fussy. 
 “ We shall receive an answer at once,” he said, “at once.” 
 “ Not another word,” said Strukoff. “We have received an 
 answer. We will evacuate at once.” The Turks actually 
 got on their horses and left, and we took possession of their 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE — STRUKOFF. 1 65 
 
 headquarters, which they had left in a filthy state and full of 
 vermin. In the evening Ideat turned up again, in the most 
 cheerful frame of mind; evidently he was desirous of assuring 
 us that we could well live side by side without quarrelling. 
 He gave me a most friendly slap on the back with the famil- 
 iarity of an old friend, to which I replied by a vigorous 
 thump across his shoulders in an equally friendly spirit, know- 
 ing that in the East external ceremonies, especially between 
 people, are more strictly adhered to and have more import- 
 ance than anywhere else. 
 
 Strukoff turned a deaf ear to all further Turkish dodges. 
 The pasha informed us that he had received orders from 
 Constantinople to evacuate the town, but not to retire any 
 further, also asserting that, owing to new conditions made 
 with our headquarters staff, we were not to go beyond Silivri. 
 “ I know the arrangements of my headquarters staff better 
 than you do, and if I shall go on and if you do not retire 
 before me, I shall attack you,” was Strukoff’s blunt answer. 
 “Very well, attack us ; but the responsibility for such an act 
 of injustice will lie upon your own shoulders.” “ That will 
 be decided afterward ; take care it does not fall on yours.” 
 “ But how is that possible when we have just received the 
 most imperative orders. May I show you the telegram.” 
 “ There is no occasion. I have my instructions in my pocket, 
 and I shall carry them out.” We had some difficulty in get- 
 ting rid of this obstinate pasha, who kept assuring us of the 
 devotion henceforth of Turks to Russians, of his personal 
 friendship for us, and of the injustice of attacking him the 
 following day, etc., etc. 
 
 * 
 
 ^ * 
 
 Thus I have always pictured to myself the treaty negotia- 
 tions in the old days between Poland and Russia. The one 
 proposing the cession of Smolensk, the other demanding 
 everything up to Warsaw, and finally, after much sweating 
 and disputing, screaming and shouting, the strongest and 
 most obstinate of the two had its way, and the boundary line 
 was drawn to its satisfaction. 
 
 ❖ ^ 
 
 Marching out the next morning we found the Turks had 
 started at the same time we did, and moved so slowly that 
 
VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 1 66 
 
 we had to halt continually to keep ourselves from running 
 into their horses’ tails. Strukoff, after remonstrating in vain, 
 rode round the Turks, whose rear guard was far behind us, 
 and when even that had no effect he grew angry and ordered 
 our guns to be placed in position. The Turks moved a little 
 more quickly, but Strukoff was not satisfied with this, and 
 riding up on the rising ground which bordered the highway, 
 shouted out with the same tremendous voice which he 
 apparently reserved for exceptional cases : “ Double-quick ! 
 march ! ” The Turkish cavalry, the majority of whom were 
 Arabs, probably did not understand the command, but some 
 of them must have known what it meant, for they galloped 
 off, followed by the rest, and rode before the Russian general 
 as though marching past at a review. It was amusing to see 
 these Arabs with their bournouses flying in the wind, with 
 silken tassels to their shawls, and carrying their long lances. 
 In some cases the saddles, not prepared for a gallop, slipped 
 round and the men were shot over their horses’ heads. But 
 with the agility of cats they overtook their steeds and 
 remounted them while at full gallop ; and all this amid the 
 roars of laughter of our fellows, who were literally holding 
 their sides. 
 
 When we reached our halting place we again stumbled 
 across these Turks. A colonel from the Turkish head- 
 quarters staff was with them. He had been dispatched by 
 Mukhtar Pasha, who commanded the remnants of the Turkish 
 army. This colonel had very probably been enlisting the 
 sympathies of the Austrian and American military representa- 
 tives, and most likely complained of us and begged for their 
 intervention, for on entering the house where Strukoff 
 received him, this officer (who had been educated in England) 
 asked rather curtly whether there was any one in the place 
 who spoke English, as he did not know French. “I shall be 
 pleased to translate for you,” said Green, the American. 
 
 Very well,” replied the delighted Turk, who now com- 
 menced a long tirade, but Strukoff cut him short. “ If you 
 please,” he said, “I do not understand English. Kindly tell 
 Mukhtar Pasha to send us an officer who can speak either 
 French or German, or else address yourself to General 
 Skobeleff.” Arguments were not listened to, and the Turk 
 was obliged to retire. 
 
 Skobeleff determined to dispatch an officer to Ghazi (the 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE — STRUKOFF. l6/ 
 
 invincible) Mukhtar, and we continued in the mean time to 
 push on to Tchataldja. There we comprehended why the 
 Turks had tried so hard to keep us back. The forts which 
 composed the celebrated Tchekmendji lines for the defence 
 of Constantinople from the land, were not yet completed and 
 men were still busily engaged on them. In some places even 
 the earthworks were not completed ; and though in others 
 the forts themselves were ready, their guns had not yet 
 been mounted. It was clear that the Turks had relied upon 
 their early victories in Europe and Asia, and had turned their 
 attention too late to the protection of their capital, or rather 
 capitals, for both Adrianople and Constantinople proved to 
 be undefended at the last moment. 
 
 ❖ 
 
 I rode with a few dragoons to inspect the lines which 
 were situated a few miles from Tchataldja, and came to the 
 conclusion that for horses they would be very difficult to pass 
 at that time of the year, and for artillery practically impossible. 
 The road was simply a quagmire, wherein it seemed to be 
 only natural to get stuck and die an impenitent sinner. 
 
 The officer whom Skobeleff had sent to Mukhtar Pasha 
 returned, having accomplished his mission. But I was horri- 
 fied when I heard how he was treated. By way of a joke, 
 Mukhtar, while talking to him, pulled his beard, one side of 
 which had a slightly different color from the other. The 
 elegant and refined Russian officer did not, however, resent 
 this insult — did not knock down the invincible Mukhtar, 
 nor even betray his feelings. My fingers itched when I 
 heard it ; for no greater insult can be paid an enemy 
 according to Mussulman custom, than to pull his beard. I 
 can imagine how Mukhtar and his cronies must have laughed 
 over this little incident when they related it. 
 
 Skobeleff was somewhat sombre and out of sorts when he 
 arrived. "When we were alone he said ; 
 
 “ Vassili Vassilievitch, do you think the war is over ? ” 
 
 “ I believe it is,” I answered. 
 
 ‘‘You think peace will be made ? ” 
 
 “ I do ; and I mean to be off on the strength of it.” 
 
 “ Wait a bit. Perhaps peace will not be made quite so 
 soon. We may yet march on Constantinople,” 
 
VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 1 68 
 
 “ No ; I am sure peace will be made. I am going olf to 
 paint pictures.” 
 
 Lucky fellow ! ” 
 
 ❖ 
 
 ❖ ^ 
 
 Skobeleff told Strukoff and me at luncheon that when the 
 
 division of cavalry of the guard under General E. 
 
 marched on Rodosto, the inhabitants kept him waiting out- 
 side of the town on some pretext or other. When he was at 
 length admitted; he discovered that a vessel laden with the 
 town treasure, which represented a very considerable sum, 
 had just left the harbor for Constantinople. To do myself 
 justice, I had frequently asked Strukoff to send me with a 
 small detachment to the wealthy town of Rodosto, to levy a 
 small ransom of a million roubles or so and then come back. 
 Strukoff liked the idea, but, being a very careful man, he did 
 not wish to risk sending too small a detachment, lest it should 
 be cut to pieces, and on the other hand did not want to weaken 
 his own forces to too great an extent by sending a large one. 
 Later, when we were officially informed of the truce, all 
 schemes of that kind had to be given up. Now that I heard 
 that there really had been large sums of money in the treasury 
 of Rodosto, I nearly jumped off my chair. 
 
 Did not I ask you, General Strukoff, to let me levy a 
 subsidy from Rodosto ? ” 
 
 Skobeleff laughed and said : 
 
 “ What a soldier you are, Vassili Vassilievitch ! ” 
 
 At Adrianople the commander-in-chief received me very 
 graciously. “ I thank you,” he said ; “you are a good all- 
 round man, and do everything well” “ Glad to serve you,” 
 was my dutiful reply. I explained to His Imperial Highness 
 our reasons for permitting some of the Turkish fugitives to 
 return to their homes ; there can be no doubt that they would 
 not have found rest for the soles of their feet, and would have 
 returned starving and ruined. It was clearly better to let 
 them go back with their goods and chattels, than to have 
 them return as paupers. A diplomatic official who has since 
 been made ambassador, Nelidoff, did not take my view. 
 “ You have made a grave political blunder,” he repeated 
 several times. In the course of events, however, we were 
 perfectly vindicated. All the Turks who had escaped were 
 afterward permitted to return to their former abodes, by 
 
THE MARCH ON ADRIANOPLE— STRUKOFF. l6g 
 
 conditions of the treaty, but they were so completely ruined 
 in the streets and purlieus of Constantinople that they were 
 reduced to utter destitution and were for a long time after- 
 ward the terror of the population. 
 
 Our headquarters at Adrianople were very lively now. 
 Crowds of people arrived as though bidden to a feast ; some, 
 animated rather late in the day with a thirst for military 
 glory, and others to do business^ for which there was a 
 splendid opportunity. The military agents had also collected 
 here, so that our former cheerful but modest party resembled 
 a noisy court. As the table in the dining-room was not 
 remarkably large, there was quite a scramble and almost a 
 fight for seats every day. The streets of the town looked 
 like a continuous bazaar. From General Ignatieff, who was 
 shaking hands right and left, and knew bow to make himself 
 popular with every one even here, down to the newly-arrived 
 ensign glad to find at last a chance of spending his accumu- 
 lated wealth, all were feasting and celebrating the victory. 
 
 I had .to go to Tchorlou to make a few sketches, for which 
 I had had but little time before, owing to other less artistic 
 occupations. The railway was in our hands, and those who 
 liked were allowed to avail themselves of it. At Tchorlou I 
 found many changes. At the little buffet in the station there 
 was such a crowd of people that I would have had great 
 difficulty in getting my wants supplied if the master had 
 not rushed up to me and treated me with the most ceremoni- 
 ous and effusive politeness. I remembered that when we 
 were all-powerful in these parts he had entreated us to 
 protect him from the Bashi-Eazouks, and had asked us to 
 help him recover his stolen property and sheep and cattle. 
 With Strukoff’s permission, I had given him a few dragoons 
 to convoy his flocks. It is quite possible that he managed 
 by the aid of this escort not only to protect his own flocks, 
 but to assume proprietary rights over a few of those that had 
 been left to roam at large by the Turks after their flight. If 
 this was indeed the case, there was nothing very remarkable 
 in his gratitude, which took the practical form of a tough 
 piece of leather, intended to represent a beefsteak, and a 
 bottle of his best home -made “ Lafitte.” 
 
 There was no train to take me back, as regular traffic had 
 not yet been re-established, and no one knew when there 
 would be one. I had to order a special train for myself, 
 
I/O 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 which was actually provided for me. Here an interesting 
 incident occurred. Just as we were about to start, a Bulga- 
 rian came running up waving a letter in his hand and shout- 
 ing : Letter from Prince Reuss to Adrianople ! ” Knowing 
 
 that Prince Reuss was the German ambassador at Constanti- 
 nople, I instantly stopped the train, and made the Bulgarian 
 get in and sit beside me, warning him at the same time not 
 to speak to the railway officials, who were all Austrians, and 
 who had pricked their ears at the mention of Prince Reuss’s 
 name. When we arrived I sent the Bulgarian to an inn, but 
 went myself to Ignatieff with the letter. Ignatieff was com- 
 ing in arm-in-arm with Nelidoff. The Bulgarian I com- 
 mitted to the care of Skalon, who dined him and wined him, 
 and presented him to the commander-in-chief. 
 
 The letter turned out to be a very important one. It was 
 a confidential communication from Prince Reuss informing 
 us that the English iron clad fleet had entered the bay. We 
 instantly decided to march on to San Stefano, and to enter 
 Constantinople if the English came any farther. 
 
 * 
 
 When I was about to take my departure on the following 
 day, the good-natured Skalon informed me that His Imperial 
 Highness wanted me to accept as a memento a golden sword 
 (which is only given for great personal valor), but I laughed 
 and thanked him and bolted to the railway station. 
 
 Honi soit qui nial y pense ! 
 
 V. V. VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
V. 
 
 M. D. SKOBELEFF. 
 
 I REMEMBER as if it had been yesterday the occasion on which 
 I first made acquaintance with Skobeleff in Central Asia in the 
 year 1870. It was at Tashkend, in the only inn of the town. 
 A Frenchman, named Girarde, who was tutor to the children 
 of the governor, General Kaufmann, pointed out to me a 
 young Hussar officer of pleasing appearance, and begged 
 leave to introduce ‘‘his former pupil, Skobeleff.” I shook the 
 young man’s hand ; he replied with a courteous bow, and 
 with some rather extravagant expressions of his esteem for 
 me and his happiness in making my acquaintance. I felt my- 
 self immediately drawn towards the young man (he was a 
 year younger than myself) ; but I must confess that I did 
 not show very much warmth in talking to him, on account of 
 a very unpleasant affair in which he had lately been con- 
 cerned. He had been exploring the frontiers of Bokhara, and 
 on his return made a report upon the suppression of brigand- 
 age in those parts —forty brigands killed, and so on, though, 
 as afterwards appeared, there were no brigands at all. This 
 gave rise to a grave scandal. The governor of the province. 
 General Kaufmann, sent for Skobeleff, and, in the presence 
 of a number of officers, rebuked him in a loud voice and in 
 strong terms : “You have told lies, and covered yourself 
 with disgrace.” Skobeleff was challenged by two of his 
 brother officers, wounded one of them, and had to leave 
 Turkestan. 
 
 Ten years later, the young lieutenant had risen to the rank 
 of general, and had a command-in-chief in the war against 
 the Turkomans. It must be allowed that he showed himself 
 quite worthy of his advancement ; but in 1873, during the 
 campaign of Khiva, he committed another error, which, 
 though not so gross as that of 1870, was still serious enough : 
 contrary to the orders of his superior officer, he led his men 
 to the assault of Khiva at the very moment when a deputa- 
 
1/2 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 tion was starting in order to surrender the town and to make 
 complete submission to the Russian commander. 
 
 It was in this campaign, however, that Skobeleff made his 
 reputation, and distinguished himself by an act of chivalrous 
 daring. Of the three divisions which had been sent against 
 Khiva, one, the Caucasian division, commanded by General 
 Markosoff, was unable to reach its destination ; in attempting 
 to advance too rapidly, the men exhausted their strength and 
 rode their horses to death, and when they were only fifty 
 miles from Khiva they were obliged to turn back. This piece 
 of the road, consequently, had still to be explored, and a 
 small expedition was to be sent out for the purpose. Skobeleff 
 volunteered to explore it himself. He disguised himself as a 
 Turkoman, and, with only two guides, actually explored and 
 mapped out the road, to within nine miles of the well where 
 the Caucasian division had turned back, and where a strong 
 body of Turkomans was now said to be encamped. I asked 
 Skobeleff afterwards whether he had not met anybody on the 
 way. “Yes,” he replied ; “but, whenever I saw people on 
 the road, I sent my two guides on in front ; they would begin 
 to talk about anything that came into their heads, principally 
 about the Russians, and meantime I would ride quietly by. 
 Of course we rode chiefly at night and in the twilight.” For 
 this feat Skobeleff received the long-coveted St. George’s 
 Cross of the fourth class. General Kaufmann told me that as 
 he handed Skobeleff this token of gallantry he added these 
 words : “ In my opinion you have now atoned for your for- 
 mer error ; but you have not yet won my esteem.” Bitter ! 
 
 But Skobeleff won General Kaufmann’s esteem in the 
 campaign against Khokand, which soon followed. When the 
 rebellion broke out, he escorted the Russian embassy from 
 Khokand to the frontier of Russia, and at the same time se- 
 cured the safety of the Khan, and laid his plans so well that 
 he accomplished his purpose without the loss of a single man. 
 One false step, one shot fired by the fugitives, who were a 
 mere handful of men, would have been enough to bring on a 
 bloody struggle, in which the rebels, with their overpowering 
 numbers, must have been victorious. In the war which fol- 
 lowed, General Kaufmann annihilated the forces of Khokand 
 at Mahram, and Skobeleff, as commander of the cavalry, was 
 ubiquitous, and worked terrible havoc among the enemy, on 
 one occasion repeating the stratagem by which Gideon the 
 
M. D. SKOBELEFF. 
 
 73 
 
 Israelite, and Akbar the Great Mogul, had won renown. 
 When he heard that the enemy’s cavalry were in the neighbor- 
 hood, he stole up to them at night with a picked body of Cos- 
 sacks, threw himself upon them as they slept, with loud cries 
 of “ Hurrah ! ” and put a great number to the sword. Skobe- 
 leff told me that they picked up 2, coo turbans on the field 
 next day. 
 
 At the time of the Russo-Turkish Avar Skobeleff had 
 already risen to the rank of major-general and Avon the 
 St. George’s Cross (third class), and although Avhen the Avar 
 began his fame AAms lighly esteemed, and no command Avas 
 given to him, yet his behaAuor in the course of the Avar Avas 
 such that at the end of it he AA^as universally regarded as one 
 of our first fighting generals, as the popular hero, and the 
 bravest of the brave. 
 
 But at the beginning of the campaign, being tired of inac- 
 tivity, he took it into his head to do an extremely silly thing, 
 Avhich might have had serious consequences. He persuaded 
 his father, AA^ho Avas at that time in command of a division of 
 Cossacks, that it AA’as possible for his troops to SAvim across 
 the Danube. The river Avas in flood at the time, and at 
 least two miles Avide. The elder Skobeleff, being a cautious 
 and prudent man, called the regimental colonels together and 
 asked them their opinion. My friend. Colonel Kucharenko, 
 commanding the Kuban regiment, gave his opinion first, Avith 
 his usual stammer : “ It is imp-p-possible, quite imp-p-p-possi- 
 ble ! ” The brave Levis, commanding the Vladicaucasians, 
 said it might perhaps be attempted, but that probably the 
 greater part of the troops Avould be drowned. Then Skobe- 
 leff invited volunteers, and a few ofhcers and men actually 
 offered themselves. But they all turned back ; some gave 
 up as soon as they found themselves out of their depth, others 
 after SAvimming five or six hundred yards ; none got farther 
 than the real bank of the Danube, which rose out of the 
 floods and formed a kind of island. IMichael Skobeleff alone 
 SAvam on, Avhile his father stood on the shore and cried con- 
 tinually, “ Misha, turn back ; you Avill be droAvned ; turn 
 back, Misha ! ” But he Avould not turn, and SAvam on till he 
 almost reached the further shore. He was picked up by a 
 boat Avithin a short distance of the land. His horse made 
 the passage in safety ; but the Cossacks, Avith their short, 
 heavy horses, Avould have fared much Avorse, and Avould cer- 
 
174 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 tainly have found a watery grave — though, indeed, Skobeleff’s 
 horse was not a remarkably good one, but only a very ordi- 
 nary mare, and not a gray (his favorite color), but a sorrel. 
 
 This was neither the first nor the least feat of the kind 
 that Skobeleff performed. Not long before his death, when 
 he was in command of an army corps, he ordered his cavalry 
 to cross a river. The men had no heart for the business ; 
 the colonel declared they would all be drowned. Thereupon 
 Skobeleff jumped upon the back of the nearest troop-horse, 
 and, though the animal showed great reluctance, compelled 
 it to swim to the opposite shore and back again. “ You see, 
 brothers, that it can be done,” said he to the regiment ; 
 “ now follow my lead.” And the regiment actually crossed 
 the river and came back again without the loss of a single 
 man. This river, however, was not two miles broad. 
 
 When the Russian troops were crossing the Danube, Sko- 
 beleff, who had not received any appointment, begged per- 
 mission of General Dragomiroff to act as one of his orderly 
 officers. He excited universal admiration by his fearlessness. 
 Moving about under fire as calmly as if he were walking on 
 the boulevards, he carried his orders always to the right 
 quarter, inspired every one with fresh courage, and behaved 
 like a fighting officer who knows his business. How strongly 
 was he reprimanded afterwards by the commander-in-chief 
 for meddling with matters that did not concern him ! 
 
 In the second attack on Plevna Skobeleff was entrusted 
 with a battalion — and what was the result ? With this single 
 battalion and the Cossacks he actually saved our beaten 
 troops : Prince Shahofskoi plainly states in his report that 
 nothing but the gallant conduct of Skobeleff saved his corps 
 from destruction. With a mere handful of men he advanced 
 right up to Plevna, forced the Turks, who had no idea that 
 their assailants numbered only a few hundreds, to concentrate 
 themselves, drew the whole force of the enemy’s attack upon 
 himself, and enabled our disorded regiments to retire in 
 safety. My younger brother, who fell afterwards in the 
 third assault upon Plevna, was with Skobeleff just at this 
 time, and seeing the General’s horse killed under him for the 
 second time, dismounted and offered him his own. “ I 
 won’t take your horse,” said Skobeleff ; “he is not a gray.” 
 But the storm of bullets and shells became so heavy, and the 
 Turks were advancing in such force, that he was obliged to 
 
M. D. SKOBELEFF. 
 
 175 
 
 accept my brother’s horse after all, and though it was a sor- 
 rel it carried him out of the fire as well as his gray could 
 have done. 
 
 At the battle of Lovisha, Skobeleff for the first time com- 
 manded a division, which numbered 20,000 men. He was 
 chief of the staff to General Prince Imeritinski, who put the 
 conduct of affairs entirely in his hands, and was a spectator 
 of the battle from a hill at some distance. After the capture 
 
 SKOBELEFF. 
 
 of the forts, which assuredly no other Russion general would 
 have taken. Prince Imeritinski in his report called Skobeleff 
 the hero of the day, as indeed he was. 
 
176 
 
 VERESICHAGIN. 
 
 There is no doubt whatever that Skobeleff might have 
 taken Plevna on August 30. But what could he do ? When, 
 with scanty forces of the left wing, he had, after three days’ 
 continuous fighting, taken the Turkish redoubt which com- 
 manded the town, and begged for reinforcements, the authori- 
 ties sent him, out of spite probably, a regiment which had 
 been beaten and demoralized the day before. Osman Pasha 
 threw himself upon “ the white general ” with overwhelming 
 forces, beat him, and drove him beyond his previous position. 
 Hotii soit qui mal y pense, 
 
 ^ * 
 
 Skobeleff was always very busy, and both wrote and read 
 a great deal. His reports to the commander-in-chief, treat- 
 ing of the behavior of our officers and soldiers in the course 
 of the Russo-Turkish war, and the real causes of our tempo- 
 rary disasters, show wonderful powers of observation and 
 contain many acute remarks. When I was with Skobeleff at 
 Plevna, I read a number of these reports, and learned from 
 him that they were not at all Vv^ell received in high quarters. 
 
 Skobeleff was master of French, English, and German, 
 and had a remarkably thorough knowledge of the country 
 which was the theatre of the Russo-Turkish war. He had a 
 great admiration for the military genius of Napoleon among 
 men of the past, and of Moltke among his contemporaries. 
 He had a poor opinion of Totleben’s abilities, and once, I 
 remember, he was quite enraged because I spoke in praise 
 of Gourko ; he could not help laughing when he remem- 
 bered how that General once ducked under cover to avoid a 
 Turkish shell. The other heroes of the Russo-Turkish war 
 he called cowards and dotards. What do you think, Vas- 
 sily Vassilievitch ? ” he said to me once on coming out of a 
 council of war, held just after the third attack upon Plevna, 
 in which our great captains had been deliberating whether 
 we should maintain our positions or not. What name do 
 such creatures deserve ? Imagine an artist who should 
 besmear his canvas continually with reds and blues and 
 greens and other colors, without producing, and without the 
 smallest faculty of producing, any intelligible result ! ” 
 
 It is impossible for any one who has not actually seen 
 
M. D. SKOBELEFF. 
 
 177 
 
 Skobeleff under fire to imagine the calmness and coolness 
 which he displayed in a storm of bullets and shells. Not that 
 this calmness meant insensibility. I have already mentioned 
 that Skobeleff, according to his own testimony, was full of 
 apprehensions, and at the beginning of a battle always fancied 
 that that day would assuredly be his last. How great, then, 
 must have been his strength of will ! What an effort must 
 this calmness have cost him ! Indeed, he was always in a 
 state of internal excitement. When he was talking it was 
 almost impossible for him to sit still ; he would pace up and 
 down like a caged tiger. When he was obliged to sit still at 
 table, he would take bread or anything else that was within 
 his reach and knead it betw^een his fingers. I often used to 
 take him by the hand and tell him that he really must sit 
 quiet for a little. 
 
 For all his courage under fire, he was a regular coward at 
 headquarters and in the presence of high personages. Before 
 his troops he always appeared in smart dress and with his 
 hair neatly trimmed and scented ; but -when he appeared 
 before his superiors it wms always in a wmrn-out coat, wdth a 
 cloak hanging all awry, and a cap crushed down on the back 
 of his head, as if he w^ere afraid that his elegance might give 
 as much offense as his gallantry. On my second journey 
 from Paris to the Danube, I visited Skobeleff s mother, who 
 begged me to take a small case which her son much needed. 
 When the luggage was being examined at the custom-house 
 on the frontier I had to open the case, and found it to contain 
 only cosmetics. In the company of persons of high rank 
 Skobeleff was embarrassed, and wmre an air of humility 
 that w^as almost pitiable, the result, evidently, of embarass- 
 ment. It is the custom in Russia to kiss the hand of the 
 Czar and the Grand Dukes, or, if you wash to be particularly 
 courteous, to kiss the hand and the shoulder ; but Skobeleff 
 went so far as to kiss three times, and performed this cere- 
 mony so rapidly that it was impossible to stop him. 
 
 This triple kissing, how-ever, he did not reserve exclusive- 
 ly for these exalted personages. Once, whenw^e w*ere break- 
 fasting together in a separate room of a gargote in Paris, he 
 could not refrain from bestowing three kisses on the hand of 
 the waitress, though she wms a girl of quite ordinary appear- 
 ance. On this occasion, how^ever, he did not hurry himself, 
 but performed the ceremony with feeling and with appro- 
 
;8 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 priate intervals. He actually wished to make this same girl 
 a present of a hundred francs simply because she had changed 
 a note of a thousand francs for him, and though I dissuaded 
 him from this extravagance, he still insisted on giving her 
 twenty francs. This reckless squandering of money is a 
 genuine feature of the Slav character. He was good-natured, 
 but his good-nature almost bordered on inconsiderateness. 
 For instance, if he met poor people, he generally ordered 
 one of the subalterns who accompanied him to give the 
 poor man a gold piece ; but as he often forgot the outlays 
 made for him, and often had no money, it naturally fol- 
 lowed that meeting poor people was more alarming to his 
 orderlies than meeting the enemy. Latterly I noticed in 
 him an inclination to do justice. I remember, for example, 
 that after the battle of Shenovo I found him busy with a 
 letter of apology to an officer commanding a battalion 
 under him to whom he had been unjust. A general in 
 command of a detachment who confesses a fault to a major 
 is a rare, if not a unique, phenomenon in any army. 
 
 Skobeleff gave me as a memento his banner, which he had 
 carried in twenty-two engagemicnts. The list of these en- 
 gagements, drawn up carefully by himself, 1 have deposited 
 in the Imperial Library. The banner hangs in my studio ; it 
 is a piece of red silk, with a yellow cross, on a Cossack’s pike, 
 showing many bullet-holes, and much tattered by all the ser- 
 vice it has seen. When he was starting on his last campaign 
 against the Turkomans, he remembered the banner, and said 
 I must give it back to him, or else give him a new one in- 
 stead. I did not wish to give him back the old one, and for 
 a long time could not make up my mind to give him a new 
 one, as I knew that if he did not like it he would give it to 
 the men to wrap their feet in. At last, however, I presented 
 him with a very handsome new banner. It consisted on one 
 side of a fringed Indian shawl, and on the other of a piece of 
 red Chinese satin, with a St. Andrew’s cross in blue, Skobel- 
 eff’s initials, and the year. I cut out the banner myself, and 
 my wife embroidered it. I heard from my brother, who was 
 then serving as one of Skobeleff’s orderlies, that the flag was 
 much admired by the General and by the friendly Turkomans, 
 and that they were never tired of looking at it. But presently 
 
M. D. SKOBELEFF. 
 
 179 
 
 began a series of misfortunes and failures ; the enemy made 
 sallies from Geok-Tepe, killed many of our men, and took a 
 quantity of arms, a flag, and two guns. Skobeleff was in 
 despair. Give me back my old banner,” he cried ; “this 
 new one is unlucky.” I refused. The enemy made another 
 sally, and our army again endured heavy loss. He repeated 
 his demand : “ Give me back my lucky banner, and take your 
 unlucky one.” ‘‘ I won’t give it up,” was my answer. At 
 last Skobeleff took Geok-Tepe by storm, inflicting severe loss 
 on the enemy, taking a great quantity of arms, &c., and 
 gaining a triumphant success : so that the reputation of my 
 banner was quite re-established, to the delight of the General 
 and the Turkomans. This beautiful, lucky and unlucky flag 
 now waves over Skobeleff’s grave. 
 
 This lovable and sympathetic nature was deeply tinged 
 with superstition. Skobeleff believed in lucky and unlucky- 
 days, in lucky meetings, in omens and forebodings. Nothing 
 would have induced him to sit down with thirteen at table ; 
 the spilling of a little salt was enough to make him start or 
 even to jump up from his seat, and he could not stay in a 
 room in which three candles were burning. 
 
 ❖ 
 
 ❖ ❖ 
 
 One day Skobeleff said to me, “ Vassily Vassilievitch, 
 what do you take to be the purpose of these Nihilists and 
 Anarchists ? I am free to confess that I do not under- 
 stand what they are about.” “ Their views,” I replied, “ are, 
 as I understand them^, first, that there is to be no more 
 war, and secondly, that all painting is humbug ; so that if 
 they cam_e into power, you, with your generalship and your 
 victories, and I, with all my pictures, would be sent to the 
 devil.” “Now I, understand,” said Skobeleff, “and from 
 this moment I am their determined foe.” 
 
 Skobeleff, however, like so many others, failed to under- 
 stand that the springs of that violent revolutionary movement 
 which goes by the name of Nihilism lie deep down in the 
 present state of society in Russia, and that it is not to be 
 suppressed by any conceivable police regulations. “ I am 
 afraid that something terrible is going to happen,” I said to 
 Skobeleff shortly before he started for Turkestan in 1880, 
 when the attempts upon the life of the late Czar were becom- 
 ing more and more frequent. “ My belief is,” he replied. 
 
i8o 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 “that they will all be trapped like so many mice.” “I 
 believe, on the contrary,” said I, “that they will achieve their 
 purpose and kill the Czar.” After the assassination of Alex- 
 ander II. Skobeleff said to my brother at Geok-Tepe : “ Vas- 
 sily Vassilievitch told me some time ago that this was going 
 to happen.” 
 
 I remember Skobeleff telling me that on his way through 
 Odessa he met Privy Councillor Panutin, whose business it 
 was to superintend the deportation of Nihilists to the island 
 of Sachalin. There were some seven hundred young people 
 ready to be shipped off, some charged with serious, others 
 with trifling offenses, a certain proportion probably being 
 quite innocent. All were brought to the place where, as the 
 Russian proverb says : “ Makar never yet drove his cattle.” 
 “ When are you going to try all these cases ? ” asked Skobe- 
 leff ; “ it will take a terribly long time.” “ What is there to 
 try ? ” answered the councillor ; “ it does not take long to 
 sentence them. We just send them off — God may judge 
 them there.” 
 
 * 
 
 Skobeleffs figure stands before me now, the figure of a 
 beloved, sympathetic man and highly gifted soldier, with all 
 the merits and faults of the Slav character. 
 
 It would be out of place here to repeat what Skobeleff 
 said in the circle of his friends ; it is enough to say that he 
 was always an advocate of the normal development of Rus- 
 sia, of progress, not of retrogression. 
 
 But it seemed to me that he had no fixed point of view in 
 regard to these questions. I often told him that he might be 
 bribed (not with money, of course, but with honors). He 
 disputed this very warmly, and put on the appearance of 
 being injured ; but I believe that I was not mistaken. 
 
 Skobeleff was very ambitious, and would hardly have 
 endured even a temporary loss of his command. I attribute 
 the change in his views within the last few months of his life 
 to his ambition. When I attacked him at our last meeting in 
 Berlin for his violent speech at St. Petersburg, he tried to 
 justify himself. When, however, I pointed out to him thar 
 he had done no one any good, and showed into whose hands 
 he was playing by forcing Russia into a war, he looked round 
 to see that no one heard us, and said angrily : “Then I will 
 
M. D. SKOBELEFF. 
 
 I8l 
 
 tell you the truth, Vassily Vassilievitch. I could not help 
 myself ; they forced me into it ! ” 
 
 As to who the persons were, I keep silence. 
 
 Ele moreover gave me his word of honor not to m^ake any 
 more such speeches. He promised — and spoke again in 
 Paris. 
 
 ‘ ❖ 
 
 P.S. — Skobeleff’s last attacks on Germany were not made 
 without definite grounds. 
 
 On his return from the manoeuvres of the Prussian army, 
 he seemed to me extremely excited ; everything that he had 
 seen and heard in Germany pointed, he thought, to a speedy 
 war with Russia : even in the words which the German 
 Emperor addressed to him at his parting audience, words 
 that seemed to me completely innocent, Skobeleff heard a 
 threat. I remember that he imitated the way in which the 
 Emperor William sat there on his horse, and the tone in 
 which, surrounded by a numerous and brilliant suite, he 
 entrusted him with a greeting to the Emperor of Russia. 
 “You have subjected us to the closest scrutiny” (“Vous 
 venez de m’examiner jusqu’a mes boyaux ”), the German 
 Emperor is reported to have said to him. “ You have only 
 seen two corps, but tell his Majesty the Emperor that all the 
 fifteen corps do their duty equally well when occasion 
 requires.” 
 
 These words must be authentic, for Skobeleff noted them 
 down at once. I found nothing in them, as I have already 
 said, which intimated a threat, but Skobeleff thought differ- 
 ently. Still more hostile feelings were roused in him by an 
 expression used by the late Prince Frederick Charles. The 
 Prince, known not only as a brave cavalry officer, but also as 
 an honest and upright man, tapped Skobeleff on the shoulder 
 in a friendly manner and said : “ My dear friend, do what you 
 like, Austria must go to Salonica.” 
 
 These words also were at once noted down by Skobeleff, 
 and he could not think of them later with coolness. “ So it 
 is a settled thing,” said he, stalking from one corner to the 
 other of his little room like a tiger in a cage. “ So Germany 
 helps them, and we are to be silent, and look on calmly ! ” &c. 
 
 The speeches he made after this may have been precipi- 
 tate, but they were not uttered under the influence of wine, 
 as was maintained at the time. This is proved by the above 
 reminiscence. 
 
VI. 
 
 /. TURGENIEFF. 
 
 1879-1883. 
 
 I WAS not intimately acquainted with Turgenieff until the 
 last years of his life, of which I now give a short account. 
 
 Our acquaintance dates from the time when I was in the 
 lower class of the naval cadet corps (in 1855), to which he 
 brought his nephew, also a Turgenieff. I then knew nothing 
 of his works, but remember that both we cadets and our offi- 
 cers looked at Ivan Sergeievitch with curiosity. In fact, he 
 was worth looking at. He seemed a giant, especially by con- 
 trast with little half-developed creatures like us. I can still 
 see him, as if it were yesterday, with his hands crossed behind 
 his back, walking about among our beds. 
 
 His nephew, a little fellow, with a face like a pug, was 
 given the very first day his nickname of Madcap ; ” he soon 
 ran away from the corps, but Ivan Sergeievitch brought him 
 back again bound. I forgot to inquire after this nephew ; if 
 he was not the Mishka of whom Turgenieff afterwards wrote 
 about and described, he was at any rate very like him. 
 
 ❖ 
 
 * ^ 
 
 Many years passed. I read and re-read “ The Sportsman’s 
 Diary,” and then all Turgenieff ’s stories and novels. It hap- 
 pened that I read Antonovitch’s critique on ‘‘ Fathers and 
 Sons ” before I read the novel itself, and remember very well 
 that it seemed to me partial. But when I read the novel I 
 was much struck by the narrowness and one-sidedness of the 
 critic’s judgments. The effect this novel had upon me was 
 immense. I have read it more than once since, discovering 
 each time new beauties, new master-touches, and wondering 
 each time at the author’s impartiality and his skill in conceal- 
 ing his likes and dislikes. Not only the chief characters, but 
 also the secondary personages drawn with merely a few 
 touches, were living beings, created by a highly gifted artist. 
 
I. S. TURGEXIEFF. 
 
 183 
 
 “Virgin Soil ” 1 did not like at all. In the first part there 
 is much that is natural, and the types are true ; but the sec- 
 ond part is evidently not the result of observation, but 
 founded on information and conjecture which Turgenieff re- 
 ceived at third hand. I used bad language, I confess, when 
 I read the second part ; not that the subject shocked me — 
 not at all ; for I am of opinion that in the hands of a great 
 genius anything can be the subject of artistic representation, 
 
 TURGENIEFF. 
 
 assuming that this great genius is acquainted with the sub- 
 ject on which he writes. 
 
 To illustrate my meaning I will take the well-known 
 French novelist Zola. Some of his novels, e. g. “ L’Assom- 
 moir,” move in an atmosphere of truth, and are remarkable 
 for the correctness of the t}q:)es ; others, like “ Nana,” are 
 weaker. The author is blamed for the filth described in the 
 latter ; but I am far from agreeing to that, because in my 
 
1 84 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 opinion the representation of certain strata of society is im- 
 possible if certain explanations are not made and certain pict- 
 ures drawn ; at any rate, it is important for the history of the 
 development of the human race that all sides of contempo- 
 rary life should be examined and described. What I find 
 fault with in Zola is that he did not know the stratum of so- 
 ciety which he describes in Nana ” at all ; and, as he only 
 grasped its more superficial and prominent features and 
 coarseness, he was not able to investigate and reproduce the 
 internal connection of the phenomena ; he piles one deform- 
 ity on another, and astonishes the reader, but does not con- 
 vince him. 
 
 Passing from these observations to Zola’s means and ma- 
 terials, I must observe that it was impossible that he should 
 knov/ the so-called demi-monde. He leads a very retired 
 life, and only once looked into the boudoir of a luxurious 
 cocotte^ while she was absent, in order to be able to describe 
 her bedroom. Ivan Sergeievitch told me that he noticed at 
 a party, where the author of “Nana” was to read, how his 
 friend became more and more nervous and pale as the num- 
 ber of the guests increased, and that he even trembled. 
 “ What is the matter with you, my dear friend ? ” asked Tur- 
 genieff. “I confess,” answered Zola, “that I have never yet 
 had an opportunity of being in a circle of ladies in whose 
 presence one has to be circumspect.” Now, is it conceivable 
 that an author who knows the world so little should be able 
 to describe the private life of the aristocracy, their manners, 
 their society, etc. ? 
 
 I return to “ Virgin Soil ” to observe that a similar igno- 
 rance of the society described, only in quite another sphere, 
 struck me in the second part of this novel. Here nothing is 
 from nature, nothing is founded on observation : everything 
 is out of his head, as artists say. 
 
 * ^ 
 
 It was in the year 1876, if I am not mistaken, that I took 
 rooms in a small hotel in Paris belonging to a Russian, W. I 
 do not know whether he knew Ivan Sergeievitch, or wanted 
 to make his acquaintance when occasion offered, but he once 
 asked me if I was acquainted with Turgenieff. ‘‘By name,” 
 I said, “ I have certainly known him a long time, and have a 
 high opinion of his works.” A few days afterwards W. 
 
I. S. TURGENIEFF. 
 
 85 
 
 showed me a letter. “ Do you know the handwriting ? ” 
 “No, it is not known to me.” “It is a letter from Turg- 
 enieff, in which he says that he would be glad to make your 
 acquaintance ; go and see him when you like.” I replied 
 that I should certainly not go, as I did not like begging for 
 acquaintance with celebrated people. 
 
 * ‘ ❖ 
 
 After the Turkish war the painter Bogoliuboff remarked 
 casually : “ There is a man who wants to know you very 
 much indeed.” “Who is it?” “ Ivan Sergeievitch Turgen- 
 ieff.” I was heartily pleased, and sent a request that he 
 would visit me at any time that suited him. When this cher- 
 ished guest came to Maisons-Laffitte, I frankly confess that I 
 wanted to fall on his neck and tell him how deeply I admired 
 and respected him. But it was not to be. I was obliged to 
 introduce a friend. General S., who was present, and we only 
 exchanged a few commonplace, friendly words. Turgenieff 
 looked at my work with great interest. Two or three pict- 
 ures of the Turkish war were already begun. He was par- 
 ticularly pleased with my picture of the transport of the 
 wounded, and he gave a name to each of the soldiers repre- 
 sented in the picture. “That is Nikifor, from Tamboff; 
 that is Sidoroff, from Nijni,” etc. 
 
 Ivan Sergeievitch paid me two more visits afterwards, 
 and brought with him his friend, Oniegin, who visited the 
 author during his last illness more frequently than the rest 
 of us. 
 
 I also went to see Turgenieff several times. At the time 
 of my first visit he was suffering from gout. Even then the 
 attacks of the malady were evidently very violent, as could 
 be seen from his extremely exhausted and weak appearance 
 after each attack, 
 
 Turgenieff treated his visitors with remarkable amiabili- 
 ty and kindness ; inquired sympathetically, even during his 
 illness, after the works which were in hand, and those which 
 were to come, and spoke modestly and sincerely about him- 
 self, in a refined voice, and with a good-natured smile on his 
 face. 
 
 It rather seemed to me, and I think I was not mistaken. 
 
i86 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 that after the ovations which were given him in Moscow and 
 St. Petersburg, Ivan Sergeievitch became a little more self- 
 conscious. In his letters he now wrote “ Dear ” instead of 
 “ Honored,” but he always remained friendly and ready to 
 aid as far as lay in his power. When I exhibited my works 
 in Paris, he first assisted me to find a place for the exhibition, 
 and then introduced me to the Paris public by a few lines in 
 the “XIX. Siecle.” 
 
 He helped, moreover, not only with advice, but with ma- 
 terial assistance, all who applied to him. He gave money 
 to many young men who were forced to leave Russia and 
 “Nihilized,” as one of them expressed it, in Paris. (I drew 
 Ivan Sergeievitch’s attention to this characteristic expression, 
 and he laughed heartily at it.) 
 
 The assistance which he gave to the emigrants, his free 
 and independent way of thinking, and, above all, the publica- 
 tion in the “ Temps ” of the narrative of a youth who, owing 
 to a misunderstanding, spent four years in prison, caused 
 Turgenieff to be considered a Red Republican in the upper 
 circles in St. Petersburg. In 1880 he took an opportunity of 
 telling me, with evident uneasiness, that Prince Orloff had 
 visited him and brought him an order to return to Russia. 
 I was sincerely convinced that there was nothing in it, and 
 that there could be nothing, and told him so with confidence, 
 but I remember that his anxiety did not disappear. In fact, 
 nobody at St. Petersburg molested him, and the order he 
 had' received was probably only intended as a warning. 
 
 ❖ 
 
 * 
 
 The fact that Turgenieff was intending to write a great 
 novel, and had already begun it, I first learned from his 
 friend, the well-known German critic Pietsch, and afterwards 
 from himself ; after his death I was told that he had 
 sketched a novel which treated of the intellectual movement 
 among the Russian youth of modern times. Its purport was 
 said to be as follows : A cultivated young Russian lady be- 
 comes acquainted in Paris with a young Frenchman, a Radi- 
 cal, and is intimate with him, but afterwards leaves him to 
 join a representative of Russian Radicalism, whose views and 
 convictions are opposed to those which the Frenchman holds 
 on the same questions. 
 
I. S. TURGENIEFF. 
 
 187 
 
 Judging from his last works, not excepting ‘‘ Clara Mil- 
 itch,” one is forced to the conclusion that the talent of the 
 author of “ Fathers and Sons ” can hardly have risen to its 
 former height. Certainly even in his last works we meet 
 with many beautiful thoughts and masterly sketches, but as 
 a rule his characters no longer have their former quiet attract- 
 iveness nor their former freshness and life. 
 
 The impression left by his smaller works, e. g., by the 
 “ Poems in Prose,” is for the most part a depressing one. 
 They constantly remind me of the phrase with which he once 
 answered me when I asked how he was : “ I am beginning 
 to feel the gloom of death.” 
 
 Even such reminiscences as the story of “ Mishka ” are, 
 as far as type of characters go, far behind “ The Sportsman’s 
 Diary.” The former tale (“Mishka”) I heard from the 
 author’s lips, and it then made an incomparably greater im- 
 pression upon me than when I read it later. 
 
 I knew that TurgenielT recited well, but latterly he was 
 always tired, began to speak lazily and against the grain, and 
 only grew slightly more lively when he threw himself into his 
 part. On this occasion, when, in reciting the story of 
 “ Mishka,” he came to the passage where Mishka leads a 
 whole company of dancing beggars, Ivan Sergeievitch got up 
 briskly from his chair, made gestures with his hands, and 
 began to dance a Russian trepak — and how he did dance it ! 
 He bent his knees and sang, “ Tra-ta-ta-ta-ta ! Tra-ta-ta ! ” 
 He seemed forty years younger as he bent himself ; and how 
 he moved his shoulders this way and that ! His gray locks 
 fell over his face, which was rosy, beaming, and happy. I 
 was delighted with him, and could not refrain from clapping 
 my hands and calling out, “ Bravo ! Bravo ! Bravo ! ” He 
 did not seem in the least tired, for as long as I sat with him 
 he continued his lively recitation. And yet that was shortly 
 before disease clutched him in its claws, as he expressed it. 
 Now, when I know that already at that time two vertebrae 
 were attacked by cancer, I cannot think of that hour without 
 astonishment. 
 
 * 
 
 I was myself suffering from a severe attack of illness in 
 the spring of 1882, when I learned that Turgenieff was seri- 
 ously ill. As soon as I could get up, at the beginning of the 
 
i88 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 summer, I drove to see him. I called out to him from the 
 stairs. “ What is the meaning of this ? How can anybody 
 be ill so long ? ” Entering the room, I saw the same kindly 
 smile and heard the same refined voice. “ What is to be 
 done ? Sickness holds me fast, and will not let me go.” 
 There was no decided change in Ivan Sergeievitch since the 
 day I had seen him dance, and that misled me : I was firmly 
 convinced that he would recover, and told everybody so who 
 asked me. 
 
 Turgenieff was very lively, and although he complained 
 of constant and very severe neuralgic pains in his chest and 
 back, yet he begged me to stay with him, told stories with 
 animation, raising himself up in bed and laughing a great 
 deal. Among other things, we talked of literature and his 
 own writings. Ivan Sergeievitch expressed his great respect 
 for Leon Tolstoi’s talent, but added : “ What Tolstoi lacks 
 is poetry : it is completely wanting in his productions.” I 
 did not refrain from expressing my opinion, which was the 
 reverse of his, and mentioned as examples the highly poetical 
 creations of “ The Cossacks,” “ Polikushka,” and others. 
 Turgenieff seemed to keep to his own opinion, but did not 
 discuss it further. 
 
 Lavroff, a well-known character, who had been lately 
 banished from France, was in the room when I came to 
 pay my visit. When he had taken his departure, Turgenieff 
 asked me not to tell anybody that I had seen Lavroff, and 
 told me a curious little piece of French administration. L. 
 was banished from France, but, after much protesting, the 
 prefect of police summoned Turgenieff and asked him about 
 L. Turgenieff could only tell him that L. was the most 
 harmless of men, although an idealist who was easily carried 
 away. ‘‘ We believe you,” said the prefect, and L. received 
 secret permission to come to France, one might almost say 
 through Turgenieff ’s mediation. 
 
 ❖ 
 
 * Hs 
 
 I still believe to-day, as I did then in talking to Turgenieff’ 
 that he was wrong in assigning himself a too modest place 
 among Russian authors. Bielinski, to be sure, did not think 
 highly of him ; but that may be explained by the fact that 
 Turgenieff had not then attained maturity and had too much 
 scientific cultivation for a Russian genius ; while Bielinski, 
 
I. S. TURGENIEFF. 
 
 189 
 
 who well knew the want of finish in the native diamonds, did 
 not quite understand the combination in one person of a lit- 
 erary genius of the first rank and a serious Hegelian. In 
 cultivation Turgenieff certainly stood above all our authors. 
 As regards power, he is perhaps behind some others ; but in 
 the fullness and loftiness of his creative genius he ranks next 
 to Pushkin and Leon Tolstoi. The plot of a story — a matter 
 which many think unimportant, but which, in my opinion, is 
 the most difficult part of the work of creation, and in which 
 but few succeed — is almost always good in Turgenieff. It 
 seems easier to sketch characters than to make them act 
 according to life, and die naturally. Gogol, for instance, has 
 a great gift for delineating character, but is weak in invent- 
 ing plots ; and expressive as a large number of his characters 
 appear when taken singly, the whole course of the action is 
 correspondingly weak ; only children and half-educated peo- 
 ple can treat seriously the story of the “Dead Souls ” which 
 are to be transported to the government of Chersson or some 
 other country, or the deeds of “ Revisor,” &c. Moreover, 
 the fact must not be disregarded that such talent, if we 
 take the above-mentioned Gogol as an example, is one-sided : 
 by the side of a negative type of character, which is strik- 
 ingly powerful and true to nature, he places a positive type 
 which is absolutely false and perfectly worthless. 
 
 With Turgenieff it is different. To be just it must be 
 confessed that the characters in the “ Diary of a Sportsman,” 
 though they show great penetration, nevertheless rank lower 
 than those astonishing characters of Gogol’s ; but they live 
 and act in a rational manner — no invisible power forces them 
 into actions and vaudeville intrigues, which are repugnant 
 to a healthy human understanding. Further, Turgenieff, as 
 has been said before, is successful not only with this or that 
 favorite type of character, but all his personages, insipid and 
 sensible, clever and stupid, fathers and children — all are 
 equally true, and defined with equal clearness. 
 
 I repeat — in the completeness and the elevation of his gen- 
 ius he has, in my opinion, very few equals besides Pushkin and 
 Leon Tolstoi ; none perhaps, except Lermontoff, in his prose. 
 The characters in the latter's poems are indistinct and not 
 natural. 
 
 But let us return to Turgenieffs illness. During the last 
 
VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 190 
 
 visit I paid him (the one mentioned above) he complained 
 sadly that he could not travel to Russia. “ Why,” 1 asked, 
 “ do you want to go to Russia now ? You ought first to get 
 well, quite well, here.” Quite true, but there I could go 
 on with my work ; I have something in my head which can 
 only be written there.” He shook his head significantly. 
 
 Turgenieff was ill all through the autumn and winter. I 
 had no opportunity of speaking to any of the doctors who 
 were attending him, and thought that his illness was not 
 fatal. 
 
 Once, when I was in Rue de Douai, I wrote a few words 
 asking about his state, and sent the note up to him ; but the 
 servant brought it back. M. Turgenieff was lying down, 
 and was unable to read. The blinds were drawn down. He 
 asked for my name. I understood that his condition was 
 serious, and went away so as not to disturb him. 
 
 On my return from my second tour in India I inquired 
 again. He was very ill, and no one was admitted. When 
 I came back from Moscow I met Oniegin, whom I have 
 mentioned before, and learnt from him that not only Ivan 
 Sergeievitch’s months but his days were numbered. I drove 
 to Bougival, where he then was. On the way, his figure as 
 it had formerly been rose up before my eyes ; but when I 
 entered the room, intending to begin the conversation with 
 a joke as of old, the words stuck in my throat. On the 
 couch, his body contorted with suffering, lay Turgenieff, but 
 apparently not the one I had known, not the majestic figure 
 with the beautiful head, but a little man, emaciated, as yel- 
 low as wax, with sunken eyes, and sad, lifeless expression. 
 
 He seemed to perceive the painful impression he made, and 
 immediately began to talk of dying, saying that there was no 
 hope, etc. “ We two,” he added, “ are different in character. 
 I was always weak ; you are strong and decided.” Tears 
 came into my eyes ; I tried to contradict him, but Ivan Ser- 
 geievitch interrupted me irritably: “For God’s sake, leave 
 off trying to console me, Vassily Vassilievitch : I am not 
 a child, and can estimate my position. My malady is 
 incurable ; I suffer to such an extent that I call upon 
 death a hundred times a day. I do not fear parting from 
 life, and regret nothing ; one or two friends, whom one 
 does not exactly love, but to whom one has grown accus- 
 tomed ” 
 
I. S. TURGENIEFF. 
 
 I9I 
 
 I took up his tone a little ; but when I admitted that he 
 had got worse, I heard Oniegin, who was present, hastily 
 correct me — “ How could one help looking worse after such 
 a long illness ? ” I comprehended that caution was to be 
 used, and maintained that where there was no directly fatal 
 disease death was not unavoidable, and that he was not yet 
 of the age when one must die. “ You are only sixty-five, 
 are you ? ” ‘‘ Sixty-four,” he corrected me, and began again 
 
 to oppose what I said, but received my words of consolation 
 more calmly ; one could see that they were not unpleasant 
 to him, and that he himself had still some hope. 
 
 He asked me about my work, where I was, and where I 
 intended to travel. I told him that I was going to take the 
 waters, and should reappear again in a month — “ I give you 
 a month’s respite ; if you do not recover in that time, beware : 
 you will have to reckon with me.” Ivan Sergei evitch smiled 
 at this threat. “ If you come in a month, in three or six 
 months, you will still find me in the same condition.” 
 
 I took the liberty of warning him against the frequent use 
 of morphia ; if narcotics were absolutely necessary, he should 
 at any rate use it alternately with chloral. “ I should be very 
 glad ; but what is to be done ? When the pains are excru- 
 ciating one is ready to take anything in the world to lessen 
 them.” 
 
 That day Turgenieff was dressed, as he had tried a drive ; 
 but driving over paved streets tired him. He soon came back, 
 and was then intending to retire to his bed. That was the 
 last time he went out of the house. 
 
 Oniegin, with whom I went away, told me as we went, 
 “ Turgenieff does not know that he will not live even as long 
 as he says. I have heard from Doctor Bielogolofy that all 
 his blood-vessels are giving way.” 
 
 ❖ ❖ 
 
 About a month later I returned. Ivan Sergeievitch lay 
 in his bed. He had grown yellower and more withered ; 
 there was no doubt that he was dying. I had read in the 
 Russian papers that he was better and drove out, and in that 
 belief I went to him. 
 
 He introduced me to his old friend Toporoff, who was 
 sitting by his bedside. “You are better, I hear? You 
 take drives?” 
 
VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 192 
 
 ‘‘ Oh,” groaned the sick man, “ what kind of improvement 
 is this, and how can I, chained to my bed, think of drives ? 
 Who told you that ?” ‘‘I read it in the paper.” “Can one 
 believe what the papers say ? See how I look ! ” 
 
 “ I know,” he began, when we were alone, “ that I shall 
 not live to see the New Year.” “ How do you know that ? ” 
 “ I see it in everything, feel it myself, and gather it from the 
 doctor’s words also ; they intimate that I should put my 
 affairs in order.” It seemed odd to me that the doctors, who, 
 as far as I knew, constantly gave him hopes, as well as all 
 those around him, should say that to him. Turgenieff did 
 not make that remark without cause, as I learnt later. 
 
 I was just going to reply to him with “What can we do ? 
 
 We must all come to that ” but when I saw how his dying 
 
 eyes looked penetratingly at me awaiting my answer I sup- 
 pressed these words and said, “ Even doctors can be mis- 
 taken.” I quoted Count Chambord as an example, to whom 
 the doctors foretold a certain death, and whose condition 
 improved — an example which was, to be sure, a very unfor- 
 tunate one, as Count Chambord actually did die soon after- 
 wards. Turgenieff, however, listened attentively : one could 
 see that he had by no means lost all hope, and that he wished 
 others should hope also. He regretted that he had not been 
 able to do all that was necessary. “ You say you have 
 not done anything ? ” “ Not that — you do not understand 
 
 me : I am speaking of my affairs, which I did not put in 
 order at the right time. ” “ But that can be easily remedied.” 
 
 “ No, that is impossible. My estate,” he continued in a low 
 voice, “ has not yet been sold. I have always been meaning 
 to sell it, but was always undecided and put it off.” Of 
 course it was hard for you to part with it.” “ Yes, it was 
 hard ; but if I die now the estate will go to God knows 
 whom,” and he shook his head sadly. 
 
 I thought he was troubled about his daughter whom I 
 had once met at his house and become acquainted with. She 
 is a pretty woman, a brunette, very like her father, and mar- 
 ried to a Frenchman, whose circumstances had not been very 
 brilliant latterly. As I learned afterwards, hov/ever, he was 
 troubled because it was not possible for him to bestow all 
 his property on the person for whom he had cherished a 
 special affection all his life. 
 
 Ivan Sergeievitch inquired with the greatest interest 
 
I. S. TURGENIEFF. 
 
 193 
 
 about my family, my wife, my late parents, and my brothers. 
 At the beginning of our conversation he asked his attendant, 
 Madame Arnold, to make an injection of morphia. She did 
 it, and asked him if he would not have breakfast. ‘‘ What is 
 there?” ‘‘Salmon.” He seemed to consider, raised his 
 hand to his head, and thought a long time. 
 
 “ Well, give me some salmon, at any rate, and some soft- 
 boiled eggs.” One could see that he still had some appetite. 
 “ How is your digestion ? ” “I digest nothing, so I will eat 
 this salmon and take the consequences.” 
 
 I again spoke of morphia and begged him not to inject 
 too much. “ It does not matter,” he said ; “ my complaint is 
 incurable, I know.” After mentioning the scientific name of 
 his complaint, he added : “ Take a medical dictionary : look 
 it up. There you will find it put down in plain terms as 
 ‘ incurable.’ ” 
 
 “ In a week’s time I shall pay you another visit.” “ Come ; 
 but take care : if you come in two weeks’ time they will be 
 carrying me out feet foremost.” 
 
 As I left him I held up my finger threateningly and called 
 out, “ Beware of too much morphia.” With a smile he 
 nodded his head in sign of agreement, and followed me with 
 a sad look, which stayed in my memory. It happened as he 
 said : almost exactly two weeks later he was a corpse. 
 
 And how much he wished to live ! 
 
 The impression I received from my last visit was so sad 
 that I went again in four days. 
 
 It was afternoon, and Ivan Sergeievitch was asleep, hav- 
 ing just had an injection of morphia. I sat in the next room, 
 a modest, comfortable apartment arranged in bachelor fash- 
 ion — a writing-table, a Turkish divan, many pictures on the 
 walls, chiefly by Russian artists, and a not particularly suc- 
 cessful portrait of Turgenieff himself. 
 
 I conversed with Madame Arnold, who had taken care of 
 the invalid for a long time. She said that they still hoped 
 for his recovery, that the doctors had different opinions about 
 the disease, and that she personally was made most uneasy 
 by the fact that the gout had totally disappeared from the 
 feet, and consequently must have gone higher. I had heard 
 the patient himself talk about that even at the beginning of 
 
194 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 his illness ; he said plainly that he felt the gout already in 
 the region of the heart. At my last visit he said, complain- 
 ing of the diminution of his strength, ‘‘ If you were only to 
 see my feet — just look — nothing but bones.” I decided not 
 to look, for my late father came into my mind, whose feet 
 had completely withered before his death. Madame Arnold 
 declared that nobody had ever advised Turgenieff to arrange 
 his affairs, and that it was only a stratagem on his part to 
 discover my opinion of his condition, because he suspected 
 that the people round him had agreed to soothe him by con- 
 cealing the truth. However, it is improbable that his regret 
 was quite unfounded ; he had probably been urged by some- 
 body or other to arrange his affairs more quickly. Madame 
 Arnold also told me that many Paris celebrities visited Ivan 
 Sergeievitch, among others Emil Augier. “ C’est un auteur 
 dramatique tres-connu,” she added by way of explanation ; 
 ‘‘he came lately to read a new piece.” 
 
 I will here mention that I seldom heard Turgenieff 
 express an opinion about either past or present celebrities. 
 He once spoke of A. S. Pushkin in a very reverent and seri- 
 ous tone ; the expression of his face at that moment was very 
 like the portrait which is prefixed to the complete edition of 
 his works ; he wrinkled his brow and raised his fore-finger 
 significantly. I remember, among other things, his telling 
 me a story about Victor Hugo, which shows that the poet 
 was not very well read — “ We were talking of Goethe ; Hugo 
 disagreed with me, and attacked Goethe for his ‘ Wallen- 
 stein.’ ‘But, Maitre,’ I said, ‘“Wallenstein” was not writ- 
 ten by Goethe, but by Schiller.’ ‘Oh, well, it's all the 
 same,’ answered Hugo, and began to talk at random, to con- 
 ceal his mistake.” 
 
 Madame Arnold also told me that Turgenieff was much 
 agitated by a letter which he wrote from his deathbed to 
 Leon Tolstoi, begging him not to lay down his pen, but to 
 continue to use it in the service of his country — “ I was sit- 
 ting by the table when he called me ; he gave me a piece of 
 paper on which he had written in pencil, and said : ‘ Please 
 send this off at once : it is very, very urgent.’ ” 
 
 Hi 
 
 I was laid up by a very violent cold, and went into hos- 
 
I. S. TURGENIEFF. I95 
 
 pital, so that I was not able to drive to Bougival for eight or 
 ten clays. 
 
 “ M. Turgenieff is very ill,” the concierge said as I 
 entered the house ; ‘‘ the doctor has just gone ; he thought 
 my master would not live through the day.” Was it possi- 
 ble ? I went quickly into the little house— not a soul any- 
 where ; I went up the stairs — no one there either. The 
 whole Viardot family were sitting in their room ; there was 
 also a Russian there — Prince Meshtchersky, who sometimes 
 visited Turgenieff, and had been sitting by him for the last 
 three days with the Viardots. They came round me and 
 told me that the invalid was hopelessly ill and that the end 
 was not far off. 
 
 Go and see him.” “ No, I will not disturb him.” 
 “ You will not disturb him, for he lies in the death-agony.” 
 I entered the room. Ivan Sergeievitch lay on his back, his 
 arms stretched out and pressed close to his body, his eyes 
 almost closed, his mouth terribly wide open ; and his head, 
 sunk far back, a little tunnel to the left, rose at each breath ; 
 something evidently was choking the sick man ; he wanted 
 something ; he could not breathe. I could not bear the 
 sight, and burst into tears. 
 
 The death struggle had begun some hours before ; the 
 end seemed near. The other members of the household 
 went to breakfast, and I remained by the bedside with 
 Madame Arnold, who constantly moistened the sick man’s 
 dry tongue. 
 
 The sitting-room wore a desolate aspect ; a servant was 
 bustling about the room, dusting and sweeping without 
 pity, and talking loudly with the other servants as they went 
 to and fro. One could see that there was no longer any 
 reason for consideration. 
 
 In a low voice Madame Arnold told me that Turgenieff 
 had taken leave of everybody the evening before, and imme- 
 diately after began to wander. I had already heard from 
 Meshtchersky that the delirium probably came on when Ivan 
 Sergeievitch began to talk Russian. Nobody, of course, 
 among those round him understood him, and they all asked, 
 Qu’est-ce qu’il dit ? ” “Farewell, my dear ones,” mur- 
 mured Turgenieff. “My ” “I cannot at all under- 
 
 stand that last expression,” observed Meshtchersky ; “ it 
 seems to me as if Ivan Sergeievitch thought himself a Rus- 
 
ig6 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 sian paterfamilias taking leave of his family and house- 
 hold.” _ 
 
 Twice a sad moan came from Turgenieff’s lips ; he 
 turned his head a little and moved it straight His hands 
 did not stir once during a whole hour. His breathing 
 became slower and weaker, I intended to stay till the last 
 moment, but Meshtchersky begged me in the name of the 
 Viardot family to go to Doctor Brouardel and tell him what 
 I had seen, or, in the event of his absence, to leave a letter 
 describing the patient’s condition. I took the letter, and 
 touched for the last time Ivan Sergeievitch’s hand, which 
 was already growing cold. 
 
 ❖ 
 
 Hi Hi 
 
 An hour later Turgenieff was dead. 
 
 Not finding Doctor Brouardel at home, I left the letter 
 for him ; the doctor did not come till the third day. I tele- 
 graphed to two intimate acquaintances of the deceased, 
 Oniegin and Prince Orloff. I wished also to send the news 
 to our distant home ; but as I could not count myself 
 among the friends of the deceased, I did not think I was 
 justified in sending news of this national grief in my own 
 name. 
 


 
 
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