Herzegovina; Or, Omer Pacha and the Christian Rebels

by George Arbuthnot

The subsequent operations during 1861 were scarcely of a more decisive nature than those in the early part of the campaign. They consisted for the most part of slight skirmishes, which, though unimportant in themselves, tended to establish the Turks in their occupation of the country, and produced a good moral effect.

One event, however, deserves notice, as giving fair evidence of the respective merits of the belligerent parties. In pursuance of the plan which he had originally devised, Omer Pacha established a permanent fortified camp in Piwa. Twelve battalions under Dervisch Pacha were concentrated at this point; and at the time of the contest which I am about to describe, Omer Pacha was himself present. Reduced to the greatest straits by famine and the presence of the Turkish troops, and inspired doubtless by the knowledge of the Generalissimo's presence in the camp, the rebels resolved to make a desperate onslaught upon the entrenchments.

On the morning of October 26, a strong force was despatched from camp to procure forage, wood, and other necessaries. While thus employed, the enemy, favoured by the formation of the surrounding country, made a sudden and well-sustained attack upon this force, in conjunction with a consentaneous assault upon the entrenchments. With more judgement than is generally found amongst Turkish commanders, the foraging party was brought back to camp, though not before it had suffered a considerable loss. In the meantime charge upon charge was being made by the half-naked savages who formed the Christian army, against the enclosed space which was dignified by the name of an entrenched camp. Three times they forced an entrance, and three times were they driven out at the point of the bayonet, while the guns mounted on the works made wide gaps in their retreating columns. After several hours' hard fighting, in which both sides displayed exemplary courage, the assailants were compelled to withdraw, leaving many hundred dead upon the field. The Turkish loss was something under a hundred, owing to the advantage they derived from fighting under the cover of their guns and walls.

Shortly after this event Omer Pacha returned to Mostar, contenting himself with holding the various passes and other points on the frontier, which enabled him to keep an unremitting watch over the disturbed district.

Early in the spring of 1862 he returned to the frontier, which he will doubtless pacify before the extreme heat and drought shall have forced him to suspend military operations. With this view eighteen battalions of infantry and 3,000 irregulars have been concentrated at and about Trebigné, which he has this year made his base of operations. The judicious disposal of his troops, which he has effected, have driven Luca Vukalovitch and his band of hornets to take refuge in Suttorina, adjacent to the Austrian territory. This circumstance caused the Austrians at the end of last year to enter that district for the purpose of destroying certain batteries, which were considered to be too close to the Austrian frontier. The legality of this measure is doubtful; yet it may be believed that the step was not taken with any view to promoting hostilities with Turkey.

The final success of the Turkish arms can scarcely be long delayed, since starvation must inevitably effect all in which the sword may fail. The armed occupation of the country during the past year has at any rate so far worked good, that it has effectually prevented the rebellious Christians from getting in the crops which belonged to themselves or their weaker neighbours, while it has enabled such of the Mussulmans as chose to do so to reap their harvest in security. Should these expectations, however, not be realised, the result would indeed be serious to the Ottoman empire. In such case either her already rotten exchequer must receive its death-blow, or she will be compelled to evacuate the Herzegovina, a course which would be gladly welcomed by her enemies, since it would probably be but the first step towards the dismemberment of the whole empire.

Before quitting the army, I would fain pay a passing tribute to the good qualities of the Turkish soldiers. Having seen them under circumstances of no ordinary difficulty and privations, I found them ever cheerful and contented with their unenviable lot. Uninfluenced by feelings of patriotism—for such a word exists not in their language—unaffected by the love of glory, which they have not sufficient education to comprehend, the only motives by which they are actuated are their veneration for their Sultan and the distinctive character of their religion. It would be well for their Sultan did he appreciate the sterling military qualities of his people. With good management and honest reform, an army might be created which, if inferior in matériel to those of certain European powers, would in the matter of personnel be sufficiently good to render the Turkish dominions perfectly secure from hostile invasion, which is now very far from the case. At present, unfortunately, his whole attention is devoted to the manning and equipment of the navy, for the amelioration of which large sums of money are paid and heavy debts incurred. The visionary character of his ambitious projects on this head is apparent to all but himself, since the Turkish navy can scarcely be expected ever to attain more than a fifth or sixth-rate excellence. The recent changes in the dress of the army betoken that some attention has been devoted of late to the subject. Nothing can be more desirable than an assimilation of the uniform to the natural style of costume; and the loose Zouave dresses of the army of the Turkish imperial guard[R] are not only better adapted to soldiers who do not indulge in the luxury of beds and the like, than the tight-fitting garments heretofore in use, but present a far more workmanlike appearance, for the simple reason that they understand better how to put them on.

After a month's sojourn in the tents of the Osmanlis, the rapid shortening of the days warned me of the necessity for pushing on if I wished to see the more peaceable portion of the country, before the snows of winter should render travelling impossible. Already the day had arrived when the first fall of snow had taken place in the previous year.

Despite the hardships indispensable from the kind of life we had been living, it was with much regret that I bade farewell to my hospitable entertainers, and started once more on my solitary rambles. For the first day, at least, I was destined to have company, as the Pacha of Bosnia's private Secretary was about to return to Bosna Serai, having fulfilled a mission on which he had been sent to the camp of the Commander-in-Chief. My object was to return to Mostar by way of Nevresign, which, as well as being new ground to me, forms a portion of the projected line of defence. After waiting no less than five hours and a half for an escort of Bashi Bazouks, who, with true Turkish ideas of the value of time, presented themselves at 12.30, having been warned to be in attendance at 7 a.m., we at length got under weigh. These irregulars were commanded by Dervisch Bey, one of the principal Beys in that neighbourhood. Some twenty years ago his father, a devout Mussulman, and a cordial hater of Christians, whom, it must be acknowledged, he lost no opportunity of oppressing, built for himself a large square house flanked with towers, and otherwise adapted for defensive purposes. This is situated about six miles from Gasko, and here he lived in considerable affluence. Taken one day at an unguarded moment, he was murdered by the Christians, and his mantle descended upon his son, who, if he has not the same power or inclination to oppress, shows himself perfectly ready to do battle on all occasions against the murderers of his father. This individual, then, mounted on a good useful-looking horse, and loaded with silver-hilted daggers, pistols, and other weapons of offence, was destined to be our guide. Our road lay through a long narrow defile, which, like most parts of the Herzegovina, abounds with positions capable of defence. After five hours' travelling we arrived at Zaloum, a small military station situated at the highest point of the pass. I did not see any attempt at fortifications; but, as all the villages are built quite as much with a view to defence as convenience, these are hardly necessary. Every house is surrounded by a court-yard, in most cases loopholed. Taking up our quarters at the only house capable of affording the most ordinary shelter, we passed the evening, as far as I was concerned, pleasantly enough. The Secretary, a middle-aged and very affable Slave, was also somewhat of a bon vivant, and, with the help of sundry adjuncts which he carried with him, we made a very good meal. The habit of drinking rakee, eating cheese, and other provocatives of thirst before dining, is quite as rife in these parts of the empire as at Stamboul, and it frequently happens that the dinner-hour of a fashionable man is later than in London during the height of the season. Breakfasting at twelve, they do not touch food again till dinner-time, and even then their repeated nips of rakee taken in the hour previous to the repast renders them little disposed for eating. Shortly after we had commenced dinner at Zaloum, a great chattering and confusion in the court-yard proclaimed a new arrival. This proved to be Asiz Bey, an aide-de-camp of Omer Pacha, who was on his road to Mostar. Snatching a hurried meal, he once more mounted, and pushed on in the darkness, with the intention of not pulling rein again until his arrival in Mostar. Later in the evening an excited agriculturist made his appearance, and with much humility demanded the return of his pack-saddle, which he affirmed that one of my servants had stolen. It fell out in this wise: I had engaged a certain youth of the Greek faith, named Giovanni, to look after my baggage-ponies, which he invariably allowed to stray whenever most required. On the occasion of our leaving Gasko one of these was, as usual, absent without leave, and on his being discovered, the pack-saddle in which these long-suffering animals pass their existence had been removed. Giovanni, whose pilfering habits were only equalled by his disregard of truth, replaced the missing article in the simplest way, by doing unto others as they had done unto him, and appropriated the first saddle he came across. To allow the saddle to return to Gasko was impossible, as I could not have proceeded on my journey without it; so I induced the owner to part with it at a considerable profit, mulcting Giovanni of the same. The following morning we descended into the plain of Nevresign, one of the seven or eight large plains in the province.

The road approaching the town passes between two cemeteries—that of the Mussulmans on the right being the most pleasantly situated, for thus it was that, even in death, they were more regarded than their less-favoured Christian brethren. On the outskirts I noticed a very primitive movable house, strongly characteristic of the kind of life led by the people: it consisted of two skates, with a hurdle laid across for flooring and others for walls, the whole being thatched. In this the shepherd sleeps when he pens his cattle: this he does in a very small space, shifting his position every night, and thus practically manuring the country. The town itself has little worthy of notice, save the new fortified barrack which the Turks are constructing. No labourers were, however, engaged upon it at the time of my visit: it consists of an oblong work, with bastions at the angles, on each of which it is intended to mount three guns. It was proposed to build accommodation for 1,600 men, but the size of the work did not appear to me to warrant the belief that it would hold so many. There will be no necessity for the townspeople to take shelter within its walls in the event of an attack, as it immediately overhangs the town, and is itself commanded by the hills in its rear. The engineer officer who conducted me over it informed me that an earthwork would be thrown up on the most commanding position, and two block-houses built at other points. The arrangements for obtaining a supply of water appeared simple; and as it is the only attempt at modern fortification which I have seen in Turkey, I shall be curious to hear of its completion.