The preliminary bombardment of Plevna by 146 guns commenced on September 7, and continued throughout the night. Little or no damage was done by this cannonade, to which the Turkish guns only replied from time to time. Fire was again opened the following morning with 226 guns, chiefly concentrated against the Grivitza redoubt. About noon Prince Charles noticed that the guns of his Fourth Division were forced to retire before the fire of a Turkish redan some 900 yards to their front. The 13th Dorobanz Regiment, supported by the 1st Battalion of the 5th Line Regiment and a section of artillery, were ordered to take the redan. The attack was successfully carried out with a loss of two officers and 112 men wounded and 20 killed, about the same time that General Skobeleff gained possession of the Green Hill. A council of war on September 10 decided to undertake a general attack along the whole line at 3 P.M. the following day. The only dissentient vote was that of Prince Charles, who thought that the four days' bombardment had produced too little effect, but he gave way to the opinion of the majority. At eleven o'clock on the momentous morning of September 11 a hot musketry fire was heard on the left flank, but owing to the thick mist the cause could not be ascertained at once, and it was not until 1 P.M. that Prince Charles received a report that General Skobeleff had already been hotly engaged for the last two hours, suffering severe losses. In the meantime the mist had lifted, and at 3 P.M. the attacking columns moved in good order against the entrenchments. After suffering terrible losses, the columns were obliged to fall back, leaving innumerable corpses to mark the line of their advance. Twice the Roumanian infantry reached the ditch of the death-dealing Grivitza redoubt; twice, despite the utmost gallantry, they were forced back. Prince Charles could no longer watch this desperate struggle without taking share in it, and galloped down from his post of observation to the spot where the survivors of his gallant troops stood. Animated by the presence and the praises of their leader, the soldiers demanded to be led once more against the hitherto impregnable redoubt.