The War | AdventAI

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 31, 1878

The War.

The Russian armies have won great successes during the past fortnight, notwithstanding the rigor of a winter of exceptional severity. The occupation of Sophia, without resistance by the Turks, followed close upon the capitulation of Plevna. Then, amid incredible hardships, the armies of the Czar pressed on to the Balkans, and, in the Shipka Pass, captured the whole Turkish force which was defending it, consisting of forty-one battalions of infantry, ten batteries, and one regiment of cavalry. The passage of the Balkans was accomplished amid great suffering. Many soldiers were frozen to death. Half asleep with cold and fatigue, they dragged their cannon up vast ice-covered slopes, their overcoats stiff and white as sheets of tin. They have poured down into Roumelia, and the terrified inhabitants are fleeing before them. Civilians have been ordered to leave Adrianople. Thousands are crowding into Constantinople, destitute, homeless, and perishing with cold and hunger. Five little children were taken dead from a single train when it arrived. Mr. Layard, British Ambassador at Constantinople, has telegraphed an urgent request to England for means to relieve the sufferers, saying, “The Turkish Government is doing its best, but its action is almost paralyzed by the overwhelming magnitude of misery it has to deal with.” These dispatches reveal but a little of the inconceivable misery which overspreads the whole extent of those fertile and beautiful lands.

The Servian troops, too, are occupying important positions, the Turks retiring before them. The garrison of Widdin has been summoned to capitulate, but has demanded to be allowed to march out with their arms, which the Servians have refused.

Crete has risen in insurrection, and the Turks only propose to maintain their authority on the coast, surrendering the whole interior of the island to the insurgents. Everything points to the complete discomfiture of the Ottoman forces. Erzeroum in Armenia, and the four great fortresses in Bulgaria, cannot long resist the conquerors. The absorbing question now is, What will England do in the hour of Turkey’s humiliation? And, if peace is now proposed, what will be its conditions? The result of the pending negotiations for an armistice is awaited with breathless interest.—Christian Statesman.