CHAPTER XI.The European society in Erzeroum—The Russian Consul an energetic man—How to depopulate a country—Russian passports—Consul Taylor—The intrigues of the Russian Consul—The Armenian upper classes—How corrupt they are—The soldiers in Erzeroum—Discontent—Métallique—The military hospital—Recruits from the South—The head surgeon—The wards—A valuable medicine—A bad habit—Wasting ammunition.There was not much European society at Erzeroum. It was made up of the English, French, and Russian Consuls and their families; no other European, so far as I could learn, being in the town. The Russian official was an energetic man. A short time previous he had discovered that some Circassians had the intention to leave the Caucasus, and enter Turkey. He had telegraphed the news in cypher to the Russian authorities. Troops had been sent to the Circassianvillages. The inhabitants had been caught in the act of packing up their goods and chattels. Very strong measures had been taken. It was not likely that any similar attempt would be made by the inhabitants. There were now hardly any of them left.An empty house is better than a bad tenant; this seems to be the policy of the Tzar's generals in the Caucasus. It is undoubtedly cheaper to hang a prisoner than to imprison him. The Russian officers have great ideas of economy in this respect. The Russian Consuls at Erzeroum had been engaged for some time past in intriguing with the Armenians. Many Christians belonging to the higher monied classes were in favour of Russian rule—almost all of them being supplied with Russian passports. The traffic in such documents carried on in the Erzeroum district was very great. No large town in Armenia is free from pseudo-Russians. Consul Taylor, writing from Erzeroum to the Earl of Clarendon on March the 19th, 1869, remarks about the Russian Consul, who was then in that city, as follows: "The exaggerated pretensions, overbearing conduct, and ostentatious display of the Russian Consul in his relations with the local authorities, in which it is needless to say otherConsuls do not indulge, coupled with the unaccountable servility of the Turkish officials here in their intercourse with him, tend among an ignorant people to give a false value to his particular importance or rather to that of the country he serves—which by still further strengthening their belief (alluding to Armenians) that no other power than Russia is so able or willing to help them—makes them eager to apply to him in their differences, and to acquire DOCUMENTS that to them appear claims to the interference of a foreign power in their behalf. That the INTRIGUING, meddling conduct of the RUSSIAN CONSUL is approved, I may state that although in disfavour with the Embassy at Constantinople, he is SUPPORTED by the AUTHORITIES in the CAUCASUS, to whose diplomatic Chancery at Tiflis, he is directly subordinate. It is the POLICY of the RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT, and therefore of its AGENTS, to encourage such ideas—as also to exaggerate real existing evils, or trump up imaginary complaints, in order to keep up that CHRONIC DISAFFECTION so suitable to the line of conduct it has always pursued in the limits of Eastern countries."I now learnt that a very large sum of money had been nominally spent in throwing up some earthworksround Erzeroum. They were said to have cost a million of liras, nobody seemed to know how the money had been spent. I had not as yet visited the fortifications. From what I could gather, the defences were in a very bad state. It was stated that they would be utterly untenable in the event of an attack.One thing, seemed to be the unanimous opinion of all classes in Erzeroum—with the exception possibly of the Russian Consul, whose acquaintance I did not have the pleasure of making; this was, that should the Armenians ever get the upper hand in Anatolia, their government would be much more corrupt than the actual administration. It was corroborated by the Armenians themselves; the stories which they told me of several of the wealthier and more influential of their fellow-countrymen thoroughly bore out the idea.[9]The soldiers in Erzeroum were very discontented about the way in which they had received their pay, or rather, I should say, some of their back pay, as the amount owing to them was now more than twelve months in arrear. Where formerly they used to be paid inmétallique—a debasedcoinage of silver mixed with copper, but which always keeps its value of about 140 piastres to the lira—they were now being paid incaimeor bank-notes. Caime had depreciated enormously, a lira being worth at Constantinople 200 piastres. The Governor of Erzeroum had issued an order that a paper piastre was to be considered as equal to a metallic piastre. This did not prevent things from rising in value. The soldiers were not able to buy half so much with their caime as formerly with theirmétallique. They had petitioned the Governor on this subject, and were in hopes that he would let them be paid after the Constantinople rate of exchange.The following day I went to the Military Hospital, a large building in the middle of the town. Many of the patients were suffering from typhoid fever, and others from frost-bite. The men who had marched from the southern provinces of the empire had felt the extreme cold in Erzeroum. Their clothes, well adapted for the climate of Bagdad, were no protection against the low temperature on the mountains. There were also several cases of ophthalmia and pneumonia.The head surgeon in the hospital was a Greek, and one of his assistants a Hungarian.They both appeared to be intelligent men, and bewailed the lack of resources for the hospital."We have enough at present," said the Hungarian; "but it is the time of peace. When the war breaks out we shall require medicines and instruments, how the Government will be able to pay for them I do not know. Every para[10]will be required for the soldiers in the field. Notwithstanding the best intentions on the part of the authorities, the wounded will many of them be left to rot."The wards were well ventilated. But, owing to the dearth of accommodation, patients laid up with typhus were lying next to men suffering from ophthalmia. It was impossible to separate the different cases. The doors, too, did not fit. On opening one of them, a current of cold air cut through the room, and attacked those patients who were suffering from inflammation of the lungs. Hollow coughs could be heard from all sides of the apartment.The name of every inmate, and the nature of the case, was written in French over his pallet, and the sufferers seemed to be much attached to their attendants."One of the most valuable medicines in this hospital," remarked the Greek, as I finished my inspection, "is wine. The Turks who come from the south suffer from poorness of blood. They have never drunk wine before, their law prevents them; when they receive alcohol as a medicine the effect is marvellous."I now walked to one of the barracks, to see the cavalry regiment which had left Sivas whilst I was in that town. It had just arrived in Erzeroum. An officer accompanied me through the stables. They were large and lofty. The saddles, arms, and accoutrements were clean and bright, and the men appeared very particular about these matters; the colonel telling me, with a certain amount of pride, that notwithstanding the long march from Sivas, he had no cases of sore backs amongst the horses in his regiment.Unfortunately there was only one other cavalry regiment in that part of Anatolia. The Turks, in the event of war, would have to depend upon their Circassian irregulars for outpost duty. Now if there is one branch of warfare which requires study more than another it is outpost duty. The safety of an army depends upon this being well done. Intelligent cavalry officers are theeyes and ears of the commander of an expedition. A general who is not supplied with a numerous and efficient cavalry is like a deaf and blind man; he knows nothing of what is going on around him.[11]My companion was well aware of this. He regretted that there were not more cavalry regiments on the frontier."We shall do our best," he said, "but there are only 400 troopers; when we are killed there will be no one to replace us."He was not so sanguine about the result of the war as many of the officers with whom I had conversed."I fought against the Russians in the Crimea," was his remark on this subject. "They have very little money," he continued; "however, we have less. We shall have to buy arms from abroad. So long as we have gold, your manufacturers will supply us; when we have no liras left, there will be no more rifles and cartridges. We have plenty of men. We can recruit from the Mussulmans throughout Asia. We can put into the field quite as many troops as the Russians. The latter are not to be despised as soldiers, they will die in their places. Our men will do the same. Itwill be a question of money and the longest purse will win."From the cavalry barracks I proceeded to a large Khan, originally constructed for travellers, but now given over to the troops. Here a battalion of redifs (reserves) was quartered. They had just received their uniform—a blue tunic and trousers, very much like the dress worn by the red French infantry, and were armed with Martini-Peabody rifles—a quantity of these fire-arms having been recently purchased from an American firm.The rooms in which the troops were lodged had nothing to recommend them; they were dirty and low, besides being overcrowded. The officers' rooms adjoined the men's dormitories, and were equally filthy.A captain was drilling his company in one of the passages, and was making the soldiers go through the motions as if they were volley-firing. The moment the men had their rifles to the shoulder he gave the word "fire;" there was no time allowed for taking aim.The same fault I subsequently observed in a battalion which was ordered to form a square to resist cavalry. The band was placed in the middle of the square, the men, so soon as themusic struck up, commenced firing independently—the object of each soldier being to discharge his rifle as rapidly as possible, the officers encouraging them in this bad habit.[12]If the same system is to be carried on in a war with Russia, the Sultan's army in Anatolia will soon be without ammunition.
The European society in Erzeroum—The Russian Consul an energetic man—How to depopulate a country—Russian passports—Consul Taylor—The intrigues of the Russian Consul—The Armenian upper classes—How corrupt they are—The soldiers in Erzeroum—Discontent—Métallique—The military hospital—Recruits from the South—The head surgeon—The wards—A valuable medicine—A bad habit—Wasting ammunition.
There was not much European society at Erzeroum. It was made up of the English, French, and Russian Consuls and their families; no other European, so far as I could learn, being in the town. The Russian official was an energetic man. A short time previous he had discovered that some Circassians had the intention to leave the Caucasus, and enter Turkey. He had telegraphed the news in cypher to the Russian authorities. Troops had been sent to the Circassianvillages. The inhabitants had been caught in the act of packing up their goods and chattels. Very strong measures had been taken. It was not likely that any similar attempt would be made by the inhabitants. There were now hardly any of them left.
An empty house is better than a bad tenant; this seems to be the policy of the Tzar's generals in the Caucasus. It is undoubtedly cheaper to hang a prisoner than to imprison him. The Russian officers have great ideas of economy in this respect. The Russian Consuls at Erzeroum had been engaged for some time past in intriguing with the Armenians. Many Christians belonging to the higher monied classes were in favour of Russian rule—almost all of them being supplied with Russian passports. The traffic in such documents carried on in the Erzeroum district was very great. No large town in Armenia is free from pseudo-Russians. Consul Taylor, writing from Erzeroum to the Earl of Clarendon on March the 19th, 1869, remarks about the Russian Consul, who was then in that city, as follows: "The exaggerated pretensions, overbearing conduct, and ostentatious display of the Russian Consul in his relations with the local authorities, in which it is needless to say otherConsuls do not indulge, coupled with the unaccountable servility of the Turkish officials here in their intercourse with him, tend among an ignorant people to give a false value to his particular importance or rather to that of the country he serves—which by still further strengthening their belief (alluding to Armenians) that no other power than Russia is so able or willing to help them—makes them eager to apply to him in their differences, and to acquire DOCUMENTS that to them appear claims to the interference of a foreign power in their behalf. That the INTRIGUING, meddling conduct of the RUSSIAN CONSUL is approved, I may state that although in disfavour with the Embassy at Constantinople, he is SUPPORTED by the AUTHORITIES in the CAUCASUS, to whose diplomatic Chancery at Tiflis, he is directly subordinate. It is the POLICY of the RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT, and therefore of its AGENTS, to encourage such ideas—as also to exaggerate real existing evils, or trump up imaginary complaints, in order to keep up that CHRONIC DISAFFECTION so suitable to the line of conduct it has always pursued in the limits of Eastern countries."
I now learnt that a very large sum of money had been nominally spent in throwing up some earthworksround Erzeroum. They were said to have cost a million of liras, nobody seemed to know how the money had been spent. I had not as yet visited the fortifications. From what I could gather, the defences were in a very bad state. It was stated that they would be utterly untenable in the event of an attack.
One thing, seemed to be the unanimous opinion of all classes in Erzeroum—with the exception possibly of the Russian Consul, whose acquaintance I did not have the pleasure of making; this was, that should the Armenians ever get the upper hand in Anatolia, their government would be much more corrupt than the actual administration. It was corroborated by the Armenians themselves; the stories which they told me of several of the wealthier and more influential of their fellow-countrymen thoroughly bore out the idea.[9]
The soldiers in Erzeroum were very discontented about the way in which they had received their pay, or rather, I should say, some of their back pay, as the amount owing to them was now more than twelve months in arrear. Where formerly they used to be paid inmétallique—a debasedcoinage of silver mixed with copper, but which always keeps its value of about 140 piastres to the lira—they were now being paid incaimeor bank-notes. Caime had depreciated enormously, a lira being worth at Constantinople 200 piastres. The Governor of Erzeroum had issued an order that a paper piastre was to be considered as equal to a metallic piastre. This did not prevent things from rising in value. The soldiers were not able to buy half so much with their caime as formerly with theirmétallique. They had petitioned the Governor on this subject, and were in hopes that he would let them be paid after the Constantinople rate of exchange.
The following day I went to the Military Hospital, a large building in the middle of the town. Many of the patients were suffering from typhoid fever, and others from frost-bite. The men who had marched from the southern provinces of the empire had felt the extreme cold in Erzeroum. Their clothes, well adapted for the climate of Bagdad, were no protection against the low temperature on the mountains. There were also several cases of ophthalmia and pneumonia.
The head surgeon in the hospital was a Greek, and one of his assistants a Hungarian.They both appeared to be intelligent men, and bewailed the lack of resources for the hospital.
"We have enough at present," said the Hungarian; "but it is the time of peace. When the war breaks out we shall require medicines and instruments, how the Government will be able to pay for them I do not know. Every para[10]will be required for the soldiers in the field. Notwithstanding the best intentions on the part of the authorities, the wounded will many of them be left to rot."
The wards were well ventilated. But, owing to the dearth of accommodation, patients laid up with typhus were lying next to men suffering from ophthalmia. It was impossible to separate the different cases. The doors, too, did not fit. On opening one of them, a current of cold air cut through the room, and attacked those patients who were suffering from inflammation of the lungs. Hollow coughs could be heard from all sides of the apartment.
The name of every inmate, and the nature of the case, was written in French over his pallet, and the sufferers seemed to be much attached to their attendants.
"One of the most valuable medicines in this hospital," remarked the Greek, as I finished my inspection, "is wine. The Turks who come from the south suffer from poorness of blood. They have never drunk wine before, their law prevents them; when they receive alcohol as a medicine the effect is marvellous."
I now walked to one of the barracks, to see the cavalry regiment which had left Sivas whilst I was in that town. It had just arrived in Erzeroum. An officer accompanied me through the stables. They were large and lofty. The saddles, arms, and accoutrements were clean and bright, and the men appeared very particular about these matters; the colonel telling me, with a certain amount of pride, that notwithstanding the long march from Sivas, he had no cases of sore backs amongst the horses in his regiment.
Unfortunately there was only one other cavalry regiment in that part of Anatolia. The Turks, in the event of war, would have to depend upon their Circassian irregulars for outpost duty. Now if there is one branch of warfare which requires study more than another it is outpost duty. The safety of an army depends upon this being well done. Intelligent cavalry officers are theeyes and ears of the commander of an expedition. A general who is not supplied with a numerous and efficient cavalry is like a deaf and blind man; he knows nothing of what is going on around him.[11]My companion was well aware of this. He regretted that there were not more cavalry regiments on the frontier.
"We shall do our best," he said, "but there are only 400 troopers; when we are killed there will be no one to replace us."
He was not so sanguine about the result of the war as many of the officers with whom I had conversed.
"I fought against the Russians in the Crimea," was his remark on this subject. "They have very little money," he continued; "however, we have less. We shall have to buy arms from abroad. So long as we have gold, your manufacturers will supply us; when we have no liras left, there will be no more rifles and cartridges. We have plenty of men. We can recruit from the Mussulmans throughout Asia. We can put into the field quite as many troops as the Russians. The latter are not to be despised as soldiers, they will die in their places. Our men will do the same. Itwill be a question of money and the longest purse will win."
From the cavalry barracks I proceeded to a large Khan, originally constructed for travellers, but now given over to the troops. Here a battalion of redifs (reserves) was quartered. They had just received their uniform—a blue tunic and trousers, very much like the dress worn by the red French infantry, and were armed with Martini-Peabody rifles—a quantity of these fire-arms having been recently purchased from an American firm.
The rooms in which the troops were lodged had nothing to recommend them; they were dirty and low, besides being overcrowded. The officers' rooms adjoined the men's dormitories, and were equally filthy.
A captain was drilling his company in one of the passages, and was making the soldiers go through the motions as if they were volley-firing. The moment the men had their rifles to the shoulder he gave the word "fire;" there was no time allowed for taking aim.
The same fault I subsequently observed in a battalion which was ordered to form a square to resist cavalry. The band was placed in the middle of the square, the men, so soon as themusic struck up, commenced firing independently—the object of each soldier being to discharge his rifle as rapidly as possible, the officers encouraging them in this bad habit.[12]If the same system is to be carried on in a war with Russia, the Sultan's army in Anatolia will soon be without ammunition.