Herzegovina; Or, Omer Pacha and the Christian RebelsArbuthnot, George
History
Herzegovina; Or, Omer Pacha and the Christian Rebels
Arbuthnot, George
Hercegovina (Bosnia and Hercegovina) -- History; Serbia
The night which followed our arrival at Bieliki was, I think, the most
sleepless I have ever experienced. So thoroughly tired was I, that the
deafening crashes of thunder, the forked lightning, and the deluge of
rain, which poured in torrents through the tent, might have passed
unheeded, but for the mass of minute life, which defied sleep. With
early dawn I wandered off, too glad to escape from my tormentors, and
went through the hospitals, surgery, and other buildings connected with
the permanent encampment. The irregular lines of tents gave a
picturesque appearance to the camp, which was heightened by the
configuration of the surrounding hills. Far off to the SE. rise the
rugged mountains of Montenegro, at the foot of which lies the plain of
Grahovo, a spot fraught with disastrous reminiscences to the Turks.
Important as that affair was, since Grahovo was ceded to the
Montenegrins in consequence, its details have been grossly exaggerated.
It is currently accepted that 7,000 Turks were cut to pieces by 4,500
mountaineers, the real truth being that the latter were probably nearly
as numerous as their opponents. The Turkish force consisted of two
entire battalions and a portion of a third, and, from the impracticable
nature of the country, it would have been strange had the result been
otherwise than it was. Hemmed in and mowed down from all sides by an
unseen foe, the Turkish soldiers lost all self-reliance, it is true, and
the panic which ensued must have tended considerably to increase the
magnitude of their loss. In justice to Hussein Pacha, the Turkish
General, it should be known that the operations which placed his army in
this false position were not of his planning, but were carried out in
deference to the wishes of the Civil Governor, and against his advice.
From the above remarks I would not have it supposed that I am desirous
of detracting from the well-merited praise to which the Montenegrins are
entitled for their long and successful resistance to the Turkish arms.
Their gloriously stalwart frames, and their independent spirit, both of
which they inherit with their mountain air, entitle them to admiration
and esteem; but an undue appreciation of these should not be allowed to
warp the judgement or prejudice the mind. Some there are who invest them
with almost supernaturally noble qualities, while they attribute every
conceivable enormity to their enemies the Turks. Each of these views is
incorrect. The Osmanlis, whether it be from a consciousness of their own
decrepitude, or some other cause, appear to have lost the spirit of
cruelty which characterised their more successful days; and it is a
matter of fact that the atrocities committed by their Christian
antagonists in the Greek War of Independence, during the incursion of
the Hellenic bands into Thessaly and Epirus in 1854, or in the present
_émeute_, equal, if they do not surpass, anything which they can lay to
the charge of the Turks.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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