Plevna March of Osman Pasha. The defeat of the Turkish army of Ottoman Pasha and the fall of Plevna
For the Turks, the “March of Osman Pasha” has the same patriotic meaning as the song “Varyag” for the Russians. This march is dedicated to the events of the last Russian-Turkish war 1877-1878, which, by the will of Allah, became successful for Russia and turned out to be a tragic test for Ottoman Empire. At the same time, the outstanding abilities of the Turkish military commander Osman Pasha earned him respect from his conquerors.
In the history of relations between Russia and Turkey, there were periods when the two states were at war. Historians count 3 wars in the 18th century and 3 in the 19th. The latter was caused by the rise of the national liberation movement in the Balkans and the aggravation international relations. Uprisings against Ottoman rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1875–78) and Bulgaria (1876) attracted support from the Tsarist government. Great Britain sought to pit Russia against Turkey and take advantage of the weakening of both countries. In June 1876, the Serbian uprising began. To help the Serbs, in October Russia presented Turkey with a demand to conclude a truce with Serbia, which Turkey accepted, but in December, under the influence of Great Britain, abandoned the agreement. international conference ambassadors in Istanbul for the project for a peaceful settlement of the eastern crisis. In January 1877, Russia entered into an agreement with Austria-Hungary, which remained neutral, for which it received the right to occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in March, an agreement with Romania on the passage of Russian troops through its territory. In April the Sultan rejected new project reforms for the Balkan Slavs, developed at the initiative of Russia, and Russia declared war on Turkey. Romania took the side of Russia.
Osman Pasha Nuri-Ghazi (1832-1900), mushir (marshal) of the Ottoman Empire, was born into a noble Yagci-oglu family in the city of Tokkat, in central Anatolia. His father was a civil servant and soon after Osman's birth he was appointed to new position to the capital. After graduating from the military academy in Istanbul in 1852, Osman enlisted in the cavalry and participated in the Crimean army in the corps of Omer Pasha. participated in the battle of Yevpatoria in February 1855, and then in the campaign to Abkhazia. In 1860, he took part in the pacification of the Druze in Crete, and in 1867 - the Candiots in Yemen. After Yemen, he received the title "pasha" and commanded the armed forces in Albania and Bosnia. In 1975, having received command of the corps, he suppressed the Serbian uprising, where he distinguished himself in the battles of Zajchar and Izvor. After this, Osman Pasha became a marshal.
After the declaration of war, the Vidin garrison, commanded by Osman Pasha, held a parade and began combat training. When news arrived that Russian troops had crossed the Danube and the fall of Sistovo, the Vidin army was ordered to go east and provide support to the threatened city of Nikopol. Having received the approval of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, on the morning of July 1, 1877, Osman Pasha moved part of his army east along the Danube. On the way, the army received news of the fall of Nikopol, which forced it to set a course for Plevna and speed up its movement. At dawn on July 7, Osman Pasha's army entered Plevna, where only 25 battalions, six squadrons, 58 guns and 150 Circassians were concentrated. The distance of 200 kilometers from Vidin to Plevna was covered in six days, 40 kilometers per day, without days.
Long forced march to summer heat, without sufficient supplies drinking water, was difficult, but when the Russian General Kridener finally approached Plevna, the units entrusted to him met the fire of mounted Turkish reconnaissance. Osman Pasha's troops had already settled on the hills surrounding Plevna and began to equip positions. Until July 1877, the city had no fortifications. However, from the north, east and south, Plevna was covered by dominant heights. Having successfully used them, Osman Pasha erected field fortifications around Plevna.
To capture Plevna, Kridener sent a detachment of Lieutenant General Schilder-Schuldner, who only approached the Turkish fortifications on the evening of July 7. The detachment consisted of 8,600 people with 46 field guns. The next day, July 8, Schilder-Schuldner attacked the Turks, but was unsuccessful. In this battle, called "First Plevna", the Russians lost 75 officers and 2,326 lower ranks killed and wounded. According to Russian data, Turkish losses amounted to less than two thousand people.
The presence of Turkish troops at a distance of only two days' march from the only crossing of the Danube near Sistovo greatly worried Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich. The Turks could threaten the entire Russian army from Plevna and especially the troops advanced beyond the Balkans, so the commander demanded that the troops of Osman Pasha, whose forces were significantly exaggerated, be defeated and take possession of Plevna.
By mid-July, the Russian command concentrated 26 thousand people with 184 field guns near Plevna. By the beginning of the second assault, Osman Pasha's forces in Plevna had increased to 22 thousand people with 58 guns. As we can see, the almost triple superiority in artillery did not play a decisive role, since the field artillery of that time was powerless against well-made earthen fortifications, even of the field type.
On July 18, Kridener began second assault on Plevna. The assault ended in disaster - 168 officers and 7,167 lower ranks were killed and wounded, while Turkish losses did not exceed 1,200 people. During the assault, Kridener gave confused orders, the artillery as a whole acted sluggishly and spent only 4073 shells during the entire battle. After the Second Plevna, panic began in the Russian rear. Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich turned to the Romanian King Charles with a request for help. . For this battle, the Sultan granted Osman Pasha the title of “ghazi” (victorious).
By August 25, significant forces of Russians and Romanians were concentrated near Plevna: 75,500 bayonets, 8,600 sabers and 424 guns, including more than 20 siege guns. The Turkish forces numbered 29,400 bayonets, 1,500 sabers and 70 field guns. On August 30th took place third assault on Plevna. The Turks repulsed the assault. The Russians lost two generals, 295 officers and 12,471 lower ranks killed and wounded; their Romanian allies lost approximately three thousand people. In total - about 16 thousand against three thousand Turkish losses.
Despite the successful defense, Osman Pasha was aware of the riskiness of his position in Plevna and asked permission to retreat until he was blocked there. However, he was ordered to remain where he was. From the garrisons of Western Bulgaria, the Turks urgently formed the army of Shevket Pasha in the Sofia region, as reinforcement for Osman Pasha. On September 8, Shevket Pasha sent the Akhmet-Hivzi division of 10 thousand bayonets and 12 guns to Plevna.
On September 15, General E.I. Totleben arrived near Plevna, summoned by a royal telegram from St. Petersburg. By the beginning of October, Plevna was completely blocked. By mid-October, there were 170 thousand Russian troops there against 47 thousand Osman Pasha. To relieve Plevna, the Turks created the 35,000-strong “Sofia Army” under the command of Mehmed-Ali, but on November 10-11 his units were thrown back near Novagan by the western detachment of General Gurko.
By mid-November, surrounded Plevna began to run out of ammunition and food. Then, on the night of November 28, Osman Pasha left the city and went to break through at Dolny-Netropol. The 3rd Grenadier Division, vigorously supported by artillery, stopped the Turks. And in the middle of the day the main forces of the Russian army approached the battlefield. The wounded Osman Pasha gave the order to surrender. In total, more than 43 thousand people surrendered: 10 pashas, 2128 officers, 41,200 lower ranks. 77 guns were taken. The Turks lost about six thousand people killed and wounded. Russian losses in this battle did not exceed 1,700 people.
The stubborn resistance of Osman Pasha in Plevna cost the Russian army huge losses in manpower (22.5 thousand killed and wounded) and a five-month delay in the offensive. At the surrender of the allied Russian and Romanian troops, Osman Pasha was given field marshal honors as a sign of respect. Russian Emperor Alexander II, as a reward for the general’s courage and valor, returned his saber. The captured Osman Pasha was transported to Kharkov on January 5, 1878, where he spent the entire war. He lived on Ekaterinoslavskaya Street, No. 6, in the Belle Vue Hotel until his departure on March 7, 1878. Upon his return to Istanbul, crowds of thousands were waiting for him to greet him. Osman Pasha wrote a book about the defense of Plevna. In the subsequent years of his life, Osman Pasha served several times as Minister of Defense and commanded troops in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897. He died in 1900 and was buried in the garden of the Sultan Fatih Mosque.
OsmanPaşaMarşı
Tuna nehri akmam diyor
Etrafımı yıkmam diyor
Şanı büyük Osman Pasha
Pilevne'den çıkmam diyor.
Düşman Tunayı atladı
Karakolları yokladı
Osman Paşa’nın kolunda
Beşbin top birden patladı
March of Osman Pasha
The Danube river says it will not flow
And it won’t destroy the area
Glory to the great Osman Pasha
He says he will not leave Plevna
The enemy passed through the Danube
Checked the border posts
And in the hands of Osman Pasha
Five thousand cannons exploded simultaneously
Osman Nuri Pasha(tur. Osman Nuri-paa, 1832, Tokat, Ottoman Empire - April 5, 1900, Istanbul), known simply as Osman Pasha- Turkish marshal and minister of war. For his military successes he was awarded the honorary nicknames “Gazi” (victorious) and “Lion of Plevna”.
Early biography
Born in 1832 in Tokat in famous family Yagji-ogly. Soon his father was appointed to a high post in Istanbul. In 1852, Osman Nuri graduated from the Ottoman General Staff Academy and enlisted in the cavalry.
Military career
He gained his first combat experience during the Crimean War. He served in the corps of Omer Lufti Pasha. He took part in the battle of Yevpatoria in February 1855, and then in the campaign to Abkhazia and Megrelia.
In 1860 he took part in the pacification of the Druze in Syria, and in 1867 - the Candiots in Crete, and was awarded the Order of Medjidiye, 3rd degree. In 1868-1871 he served in Yemen, from where he returned with the title of pasha. Then he was appointed military commander of the region in Bosnia. Having shown himself to be a talented officer, Osman-Nuri was transferred to General base with the rank of colonel. In 1874 he was promoted to brigadier general, and in 1875 to division general. In 1876, he was appointed to command a corps operating against the Serbs in the Vidin area. Successfully commanded Turkish troops in the battles of Veliki Izvor and Alexiatz. Promoted to mushiry.
During the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878, he became famous for his skillful and stubborn defense of Plevna. For the battles of July 8 (20) and July 18 (30), the Sultan gave him the honorary nickname “Gazi” (victorious). He was awarded the Order of Osmaniye, received an honorary precious saber, thank you letter Sultan and a golden plaque of honor from the residents of Istanbul. On November 26 (December 10), after an unsuccessful attempt to break out of besieged Plevna near Dolna Mitropolia, Osman Nuri Pasha, wounded in battle, was forced to capitulate. Russian Emperor Alexander II, as a reward for his courage and valor, returned his saber.
In 1877, after being captured in the Russian-Turkish war, he spent some time in Chisinau, then in 1878 in Kharkov. In December 1877, at the insistence of Skobelev, Osman Nuri Pasha sent a letter to the Minister of War of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed Rauf Pasha, demanding that Russian prisoners of war not be mistreated.
After returning from captivity, he received the honorary nickname “Lion of Plevna” from Sultan Abdul Hamid II. In 1878-1880, 1880-1881, 1881-1885 and 1891 he was Minister of War. During the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the active army.
Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire
 |
|
 |
 |
In 1860 he took part in the pacification of the Druze in Syria, and in 1867 - the Candiots in Crete, and was awarded the Order of Medjidiye, 3rd degree. In 1868-1871 he served in Yemen, from where he returned with the title of pasha. He was then appointed military commandant of the region in Bosnia. Having shown himself to be a talented officer, Osman-Nuri was transferred to the General Staff with the rank of colonel. In 1874 he was promoted to brigadier general, and in 1875 to divisional general. In 1876, he was appointed to command a corps operating against the Serbs in the Vidin area. Successfully commanded Turkish troops in the battles of Veliki Izvor and Alexiatz. Promoted to mushiry.
After returning from captivity, he received the honorary nickname “Lion of Plevna” from Sultan Abdul Hamid II. In 1878-1880, 1880-1881, 1881-1885 and 1891 he was Minister of War. During the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the active army.
He died on May 5, 1900 in Istanbul. He was buried in the Fatih Mosque cemetery.
Write a review on the article "Osman Nuri Pasha"
Notes
Literature
- Editorial board of the magazine.// Illustrated chronicle of the war. Supplement to the “World Illustration”: magazine. - 1878. - No. 53. - pp. 28-29.
Links
- Reshetnikov L.P.
Excerpt characterizing Osman Nuri Pasha
- Give me a cracker, damn it.- Did you give me tobacco yesterday? That's it, brother. Well, here we go, God be with you.
“At least they made a stop, otherwise we won’t eat for another five miles.”
– It was nice how the Germans gave us strollers. When you go, know: it’s important!
“And here, brother, the people have gone completely rabid.” Everything there seemed to be a Pole, everything was from the Russian crown; and now, brother, he’s gone completely German.
– Songwriters forward! – the captain’s cry was heard.
And twenty people ran out from different rows in front of the company. The drummer began to sing and turned to face the songwriters, and, waving his hand, began a drawn-out soldier’s song, which began: “Isn’t it dawn, the sun has broken...” and ended with the words: “Then, brothers, there will be glory for us and Kamensky’s father...” This song was composed in Turkey and was now sung in Austria, only with the change that in place of “Kamensky’s father” the words were inserted: “Kutuzov’s father.”
Having torn off these like a soldier last words and waving his hands, as if he were throwing something to the ground, the drummer, a dry and handsome soldier of about forty, looked sternly at the songbook soldiers and closed his eyes. Then, making sure that all eyes were fixed on him, he seemed to carefully lift with both hands some invisible, precious thing above his head, held it like that for several seconds and suddenly desperately threw it:
Oh, you, my canopy, my canopy!
“My new canopy...”, twenty voices echoed, and the spoon holder, despite the weight of his ammunition, quickly jumped forward and walked backwards in front of the company, moving his shoulders and threatening someone with his spoons. The soldiers, waving their arms to the beat of the song, walked with long strides, involuntarily hitting their feet. From behind the company the sounds of wheels, the crunching of springs and the trampling of horses were heard.
Kutuzov and his retinue were returning to the city. The commander-in-chief gave a sign for the people to continue walking freely, and pleasure was expressed on his face and on all the faces of his retinue at the sounds of the song, at the sight of the dancing soldier and the soldiers of the company walking cheerfully and briskly. In the second row, from the right flank, from which the carriage overtook the companies, one involuntarily caught the eye of a blue-eyed soldier, Dolokhov, who especially briskly and gracefully walked to the beat of the song and looked at the faces of those passing with such an expression, as if he felt sorry for everyone who did not go at this time with the company. A hussar cornet from Kutuzov's retinue, imitating the regimental commander, fell behind the carriage and drove up to Dolokhov.
The hussar cornet Zherkov at one time in St. Petersburg belonged to that violent society led by Dolokhov. Abroad, Zherkov met Dolokhov as a soldier, but did not consider it necessary to recognize him. Now, after Kutuzov’s conversation with the demoted man, he turned to him with the joy of an old friend:
- Dear friend, how are you? - he said at the sound of the song, matching the step of his horse with the step of the company.
- I am like? - Dolokhov answered coldly, - as you see.
The lively song gave particular significance to the tone of cheeky gaiety with which Zherkov spoke and the deliberate coldness of Dolokhov’s answers.
- Well, how do you get along with your boss? – asked Zherkov.
- Nothing, good people. How did you get into the headquarters?
- Seconded, on duty.
They were silent.
“She released a falcon from her right sleeve,” said the song, involuntarily arousing a cheerful, cheerful feeling. Their conversation would probably have been different if they had not spoken to the sound of a song.
– Is it true that the Austrians were beaten? – asked Dolokhov.
“The devil knows them,” they say.
“I’m glad,” Dolokhov answered briefly and clearly, as the song required.
“Well, come to us in the evening, you’ll pawn the Pharaoh,” said Zherkov.
– Or do you have a lot of money?
- Come.
- It is forbidden. I made a vow. I don’t drink or gamble until they make it.
- Well, on to the first thing...
- We'll see there.
Again they were silent.
“You come in if you need anything, everyone at headquarters will help...” said Zherkov.
Dolokhov grinned.
- You better not worry. I won’t ask for anything I need, I’ll take it myself.
- Well, I’m so...
- Well, so am I.
- Goodbye.
- Be healthy…
... and high and far,
On the home side...
Zherkov touched his spurs to the horse, which, getting excited, kicked three times, not knowing which one to start with, managed and galloped off, overtaking the company and catching up with the carriage, also to the beat of the song.
Returning from the review, Kutuzov, accompanied by the Austrian general, went into his office and, calling the adjutant, ordered to be given some papers related to the state of the arriving troops, and letters received from Archduke Ferdinand, who commanded the advanced army. Prince Andrei Bolkonsky entered the commander-in-chief's office with the required papers. Kutuzov and an Austrian member of the Gofkriegsrat sat in front of the plan laid out on the table.
“Ah...” said Kutuzov, looking back at Bolkonsky, as if with this word he was inviting the adjutant to wait, and continued the conversation he had started in French.
“I’m just saying one thing, General,” Kutuzov said with a pleasant grace of expression and intonation, which forced you to listen carefully to every leisurely spoken word. It was clear that Kutuzov himself enjoyed listening to himself. “I only say one thing, General, that if the matter depended on my personal desire, then the will of His Majesty Emperor Franz would have been fulfilled long ago.” I would have joined the Archduke long ago. And believe my honor, it would be a joy for me personally to hand over the highest command of the army to a more knowledgeable and skilled general than I am, of which Austria is so abundant, and to relinquish all this heavy responsibility. But circumstances are stronger than us, General.
Sergei Volodarsky, Kharkiv
Osman Nuri Pasha (Osman Nuri Pasha) also known as Ghazi Osman Pasha (1832–1900), Marshal of the Ottoman Empire.
Osman was born into a noble family in the city of Tokkat (according to other sources - Amasya), in central Anatolia. His father was a civil servant and soon after Osman's birth was appointed to a new position in the capital.
After graduating from the military academy in Istanbul in 1852, Osman enlisted in the cavalry and participated in Crimean War, where he is promoted and promoted for his merits.
In 1861, Osman successfully solves the problem of the Cretan rebels and calms the Yemeni unrest in 1864. After Yemen, he receives the title “Pasha”. The next stage of his service is the command of the armed forces stationed in Albania and Bosnia. A little later, Osman Pasha suppresses the Serbian uprising and becomes a marshal.
But Osman Pasha gained fame during the Russian-Turkish war of 1877–1878.
Plevna
The troops of Osman Pasha, making daily 33-kilometer marches, covered a 200-kilometer path in 6 days and occupied Plevna, while General Kridener failed to cover a distance of 40 km in the same time. When the units allocated to them finally approached Plevna, they were met by fire from mounted Turkish reconnaissance. Osman Pasha's troops had already settled on the hills surrounding Plevna and began to equip positions. Until July 1877, the city had no fortifications. However, from the north, east and south, Plevna was covered by dominant heights. Having successfully used them, Osman Pasha erected field fortifications around Plevna.
To capture Plevna, Kridener sent a detachment of Lieutenant General Schilder-Schuldner, who only approached the Turkish fortifications on the evening of July 7. The detachment numbered 8,600 people with 46 field guns. The next day, July 8, Schilder-Schuldner attacked the Turks, but was unsuccessful. In this battle, called "First Plevna", the Russians lost 75 officers and 2,326 lower ranks killed and wounded. According to Russian data, Turkish losses amounted to less than two thousand people.
The presence of Turkish troops at a distance of only two days' march from the only crossing of the Danube near Sistovo greatly worried Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich. The Turks could threaten from Plevna the entire Russian army and especially the troops advanced beyond the Balkans, not to mention the headquarters. Therefore, the commander demanded that the troops of Osman Pasha (whose forces were significantly exaggerated) be defeated and Plevna captured.
By mid-July, the Russian command concentrated 26 thousand people with 184 field guns near Plevna.
It should be noted that the Russian generals did not think of encircling Plevna. Reinforcements freely approached Osman Pasha, ammunition and food were delivered. By the beginning of the second assault, his forces in Plevna had increased to 22 thousand people with 58 guns. As we see, the Russian troops did not have an advantage in numbers, and the almost triple superiority in artillery did not play a decisive role, since the field artillery of that time was powerless against well-made earthen fortifications, even of the field type. In addition, the artillery commanders near Plevna did not risk sending cannons into the first ranks of the attackers and shooting the defenders of the redoubts at point-blank range, as was the case near Kars.
However, on July 18 Kridener began second assault on Plevna. The assault ended in disaster - 168 officers and 7,167 lower ranks were killed and wounded, while Turkish losses did not exceed 1,200 people. During the assault, Kridener gave confused orders, the artillery as a whole acted sluggishly and spent only 4073 shells during the entire battle.
After the Second Plevna, panic began in the Russian rear. Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich turned to the Romanian King Charles with a request for help. By the way, the Romanians themselves had offered their troops before, but Chancellor Gorchakov categorically did not agree to the Romanians crossing the Danube for some political reasons known to him alone.
On July 19, 1877, Tsar Alexander II, deeply depressed by the Second Plevna, ordered the mobilization of the Guards and Grenadier Corps, a total of 110 thousand people with 440 guns. However, they could not arrive before September–October. Until reinforcements arrived, they decided to confine themselves to defense everywhere.
By August 25, significant forces of Russians and Romanians were concentrated near Plevna: 75,500 bayonets, 8,600 sabers and 424 guns, including more than 20 siege guns. The Turkish forces numbered 29,400 bayonets, 1,500 sabers and 70 field guns.
On August 30th took place third assault on Plevna. The date of the assault was timed to coincide with the sovereign’s name day. Alexander II, the Romanian King Charles and Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich.
The generals did not bother to provide massive artillery fire, and there were very few mortars near Plevna; as a result, the enemy fire was not suppressed and the troops suffered huge losses. The Turks repulsed the assault. The Russians lost two generals, 295 officers and 12,471 lower ranks killed and wounded; their Romanian allies lost approximately three thousand people. In total - about 16 thousand against three thousand Turkish losses.
“Third Plevna” made a stunning impression on the army and the whole country. On September 1, Alexander II convened a military council in the town of Poradim. At the council, the commander-in-chief, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, proposed to immediately leave for the Danube. In this he was actually supported by Generals Zotov and Massalsky, while Minister of War Milyutin and General Levitsky were categorically against retreat. After much reflection, Alexander II agreed with the latter’s opinion. It was decided to go on the defensive again until new reinforcements arrived.
Despite the successful defense, Osman Pasha was aware of the riskiness of his position in Plevna and asked permission to retreat until he was blocked there. However, he was ordered to remain where he was. From the garrisons of Western Bulgaria, the Turks urgently formed the army of Shevket Pasha in the Sofia region, as reinforcement for Osman Pasha. On September 8, Shevket Pasha sent the Akhmet-Hivzi division (10 thousand bayonets with 12 guns) with a huge food transport to Plevna. The collection of this transport went unnoticed by the Russians, and when the lines of convoys stretched past the Russian cavalry (6 thousand sabers, 40 guns), its incompetent and timid commander, General Krylov, did not dare to attack them. Encouraged by this, Shevket Pasha sent another transport on September 23, with which he went himself, and this time the entire guard of the convoy consisted of only one cavalry regiment! General Krylov let both the transport and Shevket Pasha through, not only to Plevna, but also back to Sofia. Truly, even an enemy agent in his place could not have done more! Due to Krylov’s criminal inaction, Osman Pasha’s army received food for two months.
On September 15, General E.I. Totleben arrived near Plevna, summoned by a royal telegram from St. Petersburg. Having toured the positions, Totleben spoke out categorically against a new assault on Plevna. Instead, he proposed tightly blockading the city and starving the Turks, i.e. do what you should have started with right away! By the beginning of October, Plevna was completely blocked. By mid-October, there were 170 thousand Russian troops there against 47 thousand Osman Pasha.
To relieve Plevna, the Turks created the 35,000-strong “Sofia Army” under the command of Mehmed-Ali. Mehmed-Ali moved towards Plevna, but on November 10–11 his units were thrown back near Novagan by the western detachment of General I.V. Gurko (Gurko also had 35 thousand people). Gurko wanted to pursue and finish off Mehmed-Ali, but Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich forbade this.
By mid-November, surrounded Plevna began to run out of ammunition and food. Then, on the night of November 28, Osman Pasha left the city and went for a breakthrough. The 3rd Grenadier Division, vigorously supported by artillery, stopped the Turks. And in the middle of the day the main forces of the Russian army approached the battlefield. The wounded Osman Pasha gave the order to surrender. In total, more than 43 thousand people surrendered: 10 pashas, 2128 officers, 41,200 lower ranks. 77 guns were taken. The Turks lost about six thousand people killed and wounded. Russian losses in this battle did not exceed 1,700 people.
The stubborn resistance of Osman Pasha in Plevna cost the Russian army huge losses in manpower (22.5 thousand killed and wounded!) and a five-month delay in the offensive.
Long-range, rapid-fire rifles and effective shrapnel made it virtually impossible for infantry to attack fortifications without first suppressing them with artillery. A field guns physically unable to reliably suppress even earthen fortifications. For this you need mortars or howitzers of 6-8 inch caliber. And there were such mortars in Russia. In the western fortresses of Russia and in the siege park of Brest-Litovsk, about 200 units of 6-inch mortars of the 1867 model stood idle. These mortars were quite mobile, it was not difficult to transfer even all of them to Plevna. Finally, to fight infantry and artillery hidden in earthen fortifications, it was possible to use close combat weapons - half-pound smooth mortars, hundreds of which were available in fortresses and siege parks. Their firing range did not exceed 960 meters, but the half-pound mortars easily fit into trenches, and crews carried them to the battlefield manually (a kind of prototype of mortars).
The Turks in Plevna did not have mortars, so Russian mortars from closed positions could shoot Turkish fortifications with almost impunity.
In addition to the above, the true disaster for the Russian army in this war was the invasion of the “titled locusts.” Before the start of the war, the Commander-in-Chief, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, addressed a letter to Alexander II, in which he argued convincingly that the Tsar’s presence in the army was undesirable, and also asked not to send the Grand Dukes there. Alexander II answered his brother that “the upcoming campaign is of a religious-national character,” and therefore he “cannot remain in St. Petersburg,” but promised not to interfere with the orders of the commander-in-chief. The Tsar was going to start rewarding distinguished military personnel and visiting the wounded and sick. “I will be a brother of mercy,” Alexander finished the letter. He also refused the second request. They say, due to the special nature of the campaign, the absence of grand dukes in the army Russian society can understand how they are evading their patriotic and military duty. “In any case,” wrote Alexander II, “Sasha [Tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich, future Tsar Alexander III], as the future Emperor, cannot help but participate in the campaign, and at least in this way I hope to make a man out of him”...
...After his capture, Osman Pasha was transported to Kharkov, where he spent the entire war. He arrived in Kharkov on January 5, 1878. He lived on Ekaterinoslavskaya Street, No. 6, in the Belle Vue Hotel. On March 7, 1878, Osman Pasha left Kharkov. During his stay in Kharkov, he appeared in the city quite often, visiting clubs and theaters.
Upon his return to Istanbul, crowds of thousands were waiting for him to greet him. Osman Pasha wrote a book about the defense of Plevna. In the subsequent years of his life, Osman Pasha served several times as Minister of Defense and commanded troops in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897.
He died in 1900 and is buried in the garden of the Fatih Sultan Mosque.
Portrait of Osman Nuri Pasha. Kharkov, January-February 1878. Photographer Julius Karlovich Bildt. Private collection of S.E. Volodarsky.