Near the beginning of July, however, he again passed that river, and on the 13th attacked and defeated the van of the grand vizier's army, consisting of about 50,000 or 60,000 men. Of the fugitives 13,000 entered Choczim; which was next day invested by the Russians: but they were at last obliged to raise the siege and repass the Niester; which they could not effect without considerable loss. In the mean time both the Ottoman and Russian courts were displeased with the conduct of their generals. The Turkish grand vizier was deprived of his command, and afterwards beheaded; and was succeeded by Moldovani Aga Pacha, a man of a bold and enterprising spirit. On his first taking the command of the army, finding it impossible to subsist where he was, he attempted to force a passage over the Niester; but, being three times repulsed with great loss, he made a precipitate retreat towards Bender, at the same time drawing the troops out of Choczim, which the Russians immediately took possession of. Prince Gallitzin was now superseded by general Romanzow, who took the command of the army on the 29th of September. Soon after his arrival he received news of the success of general Elmpt, who, with a body of 10,000 men, had reduced the province of Yassy. He invested Bender, but, finding the season of the year too far advanced, he soon withdrew his troops, and put them into winter quarters. This first campaign had proved so unpropitious to the Turkish affairs, that the court would gladly have concluded a peace if they could have obtained it upon honorable terms; but the Russians insisting upon the entire cession of Moldavia and Walachia, as a preliminary article, the negociations came to nothing. A new campaign was therefore resolved on; and this proved still more unsuccessful than before. The grand Russian army under general Romanzow passed the Niester in May 1770; and, having assembled at Choczim on the 3d of June, marched towards Pruth; at the same time their second army, commanded by general Panin, arrived before Bender. The plan of operation was, that the latter should form the siege of Bender, and Romanzow should cover it. On the 18th of July, general Romanzow attacked an army of 80,000 Turks and Tartars commanded by the khan of Crimea, and strongly intrenched on an almost inaccessible mountain, forced their intrenchments, and obliged them to flee in the utmost confusion, leaving an immense quantity of ammunition and provisions, &c., in their camp; which they totally abandoned to the victors. After this victory, the Russian general pushed on towards the Danube; and on the 2d of August attacked another Turkish army, commanded by the grand vizier in person, and totally defeated it, making himself master of their camp, ammunition, 143 pieces of cannon, and above 7000 carriages, loaded with provisions. The loss of the Turks on this occasion was not reckoned less than 40,000 men, and some accounts raised it to 60,000. During the course of this summer, also, the fortress of Kilia Nova, at the most northerly mouth of the Danube, surrendered by capitulation; and likewise that VOL. XXII.

of Ackerman, or Bialogorod, near the mouth of the Niester. Bender was taken by storm on the 27th of November, and the Russians, enraged at the obstinate resistance they met with, made a terrible slaughter of their enemies. It was computed that 30,000 Turks perished on this occasion.

The fortress of Brailow, situated on the north side of the Danube, was invested on the 26th of September, and the garrison were so much intimidated by the taking of Bender, that they abandoned the place, and most of them were drowned in crossing the river. During this campaign, it was reckoned that the Russians took 1000 pieces of cannon from their enemies.

This year also a Russian fleet of sixteen or eighteen ships entered the Mediterranean, and landed a body of troops on the Morea. These being joined by the Greeks, committed great cruelties on the Turks, and made themselves masters of almost the whole country. At last, however, the Porte, notwithstanding their bad success in other parts, found means to send a force into the Morea sufficient to overpower the Russians. The Greeks now suffered in their turn; and the Russians, hearing that a Turkish fleet had passed the Dardanelles, abandoned the Morea, and sailed to meet their antagonists. A battle ensued, in which the Turks were defeated; and having imprudently retired into a neighbouring harbour, they were next day entirely destroyed by the Russian fire ships, except one ship of sixty-four guns, which was taken. This fleet consisted of fifteen ships of the line, from ninetysix to sixty guns, three large frigates, and seven large armed vessels, besides galleys. After this victory, the Russian fleet blocked up the mouth of the Dardanelles, interrupted the Turkish trade, prevented the carrying of provisions to Constantinople by sea, and raised contributions from most of the islands in the Archipelago.

In 1771 matters did not at first go on so successfully on the part of the Russians. On the side of the Danube, they were obliged to keep on the defensive. Another army, under prince Dolgorucki, had better success; they reduced the whole peninsular of Crim Tartary in less than a month, though defended by an army of 50,000 men.-During these transactions the Turks made themselves masters of the fortress of Giorgiow; which enabled them to become so formidable on the side of Walachia, that prince Repnin dursi not attack them. Upon his refusal to do so, he was deprived of his command; which was given to general Essen. On the 17th of August, he attacked the Turkish intrenchments; but, after a desperate engagement of four hours, was defeated with the loss of upwards of 3000 men. This was the only engagement of any consequence in which the Turks had proved victorious since the beginning of the war; and, after it, their usual bad fortune attended them. In consequence of their victory, they determined to winter on the north side of the Danube, which would have been of the utmost service to them; and with which view they considerably reinforced their army in Walachia. But general Romanzow, by a train of masterly dispositions, not only thwarted all their schemes, but surprised

T

them on their own side of the river. They had divided their army into two great bodies, which were stationed in the nearest and most important posts on the Turkish side of the Danube. On the 20th of October, one of these bodies was surprised at Tuliza by general Weisman, and another at Maczin by general Milarodowits. The event was the same in both places. The intrenchments were forced, the Turks totally routed, and their artillery, stores, and magazines, taken, together with their towns and castles. Next day general Weisman attacked the grand vizier himself, with the like success. The intrenchments were forced, a vast quantity of artillery taken, and likewise the town and castle of Babadagh; while the vizier, with the remains of his army, fled thirty miles to seek refuge at Mount Hemus. A few days afterwards general Essen defeated another body of Turks, and retook the fortress of Giorgiow, driving the enemy totally out of Walachia. The Russian fleet this year spread ruin and desolation through the defenceless islands of the Archipelago and the coasts of Asia, striking terror into the city of Constantinople itself. A dreadful pestilence raged this year in the Turkish army; and in autumn broke out at Moscow, where it destroyed vast numbers.

The affairs of the Turks were now in such a desperate condition, that they very eagerly sued for peace. The only conditions on which this could be obtained, however, were, that the Crimea, Budziac Tartary, and all that vast tract of country on the coast of the Black Sea, as far as the north shore of the Danube, should continue for ever under the dominion of Russia; that the Russians should enjoy an unlimited freedom of navigation on the Black Sea, together with the possession of the city of Asoph, on the mouth of the Don; and that a sum of money should be paid them by way of indemnification for the expences of the war. These terms, however, were rejected; and the negotiations, which continued through the whole year 1772, at last came to nothing. The commissioners on both sides retired from Bucharest, the place where the congress was held, on the 22d of March 1773.

For some time a desultory kind of war was carried on between detachments from the two armies. But as this was very prejudicial to the Russians, who could not be so easily recruited as the Turks, about the middle of June, Romanzow prepared for passing the Danube with the grand Russian army, consisting of 87,000 men : which, however, he did not accomplish till the 24th; when he marched with his army, in large divisions, towards the city of Silistria. He was terribly harassed on his march by large bodies of the Turkish cavalry, of whom the grand vizier had detached 27,000 for this purpose. At last, however, they arrived before the city, which was strongly fortified, and defended by a body of troops consisting of about 24,000 men. On the 29th of June, this body was defeated by general Weisman, who commanded the van of the Russian army, and forced to retire into Silistria. The grand vizier then detached 50,000 men to the relief of the place: upon this the Russians found it necessary to retreat; which was not ac

complished without very great difficulty and loss. In this retreat general Weisman was killed, and the army left all their magazines behind them.

Many other severe conflicts happened this campaign, which proved less glorious to the Russians than any of the former ones. In 1774, however, their arms were attended with better success. On the 11th of January 1774, the sultan Mustapha III. died in his seventeenth year, and was succeeded by his brother Achmet IV. the present sultan, although he left four sons, whom Achmet, with more than usual humanity, only kept in confinement. Romanzow's army was reinforced by 40,000 men ; and, on the night between the 16th and 17th of June, passed the Danube in spite of all opposition. A continued series of engagements then happened between the Russian generals and different bodies of the Turks. In these the latter were always defeated; and at last became so much dispirited, that a body of 40,000, or, according to some accounts, of 70,000 Turks, fled at the first sight of a body of their enemies greatly inferior in number, leaving behind them all their tents and baggage, with a fine train of brass artillery. From this time, disorder, mutiny, and dismay, seized all the Turkish armies, and they absolutely refused to face their enemies, and the ministers of state were obliged to furnish them with vessels for their transportation into Asia. According to some accounts, no fewer than 140,000 of the Turkish troops deserted in this manner. Even in the grand vizier's camp, at Schunla, matters went on in the same manner. He was abandoned by his whole cavalry; his European and Asiatic troops quarrelled, and cut one another to pieces before his face; and, in short, the vast army he commanded was reduced almost to nothing. The Russian general did not fail to take advantage of these misfortunes. He placed the different divisions of his army in such advantageous situations, that he totally cut off all communication between the Turkish camp and every mean of subsistence. The unfortunate vizier, therefore, was obliged at last to submit to the terms which Romanzow dictated to him. The principal articles were, the independency of the Crimea; the absolute cession of Kilburn, Kerche, and Jenickal, and all the country between the Bog and the Nieper; a free navigation in all the Turkish seas, in which was included the passage through the Dardanelles, with all the privileges and immunities which were granted to the most favored nations. Russia gave up all the conquests, except Asoph and Taganrock. There were, besides, several stipulations in favor of the inhabitants of Moldavia and Walachia, and the Greek islands which were restored by Russia.

Soon after this period an extraordinary alarm was excited at the Porte by the sudden appearance of a new prophet in Upper Asia. This man, whose name was Sheik Mansour, pretended that he was predoomed by the eternal and immutable decrees of Heaven to fill up the measure of divine revelation to mankind; and that, as he was to be the last, so he was the greatest of the prophets. The scene of his ministry was in the wide and desolate regions on the

borders of the Caspian Sea; and though the first rumor of his proceedings represented him as at the head of a multitude of armed enthusiasts, ready to overturn the established government and religion of Mahomet, it was soon discovered that all the military fury of his zeal was directed against the Christians. He had even influence enough to form a combination of all the nations of Caucasean Tartars against the Russians, which was certainly of some service to the Turks in that war which the empress Catherine was now meditating against them. In the mean time, while this war was impending, the most formidable rebellion broke out in Egypt, the granary of the Turkish empire (see EGYPT); but it was, after a long, bloody, and dangerous war, almost suppressed by the wise conduct and intrepid bravery of Hassan Bey, the Captain Pacha or grand admiral, who, at the age of seventy, fought with all the ardor of youth, and all the skill of the most consummate general. That veteran, however, was recalled before he was able to carry all his patriotic designs into execution, that he might aid the divan with his counsel, in the critical situation into which the empire was brought by the claims of the court of Russia. The result of the deliberation was a precipitate declaration of war against that court, contrary to the better judgment of the old Pacha. The war commenced in autumn 1787, and the hoardes of Tartars which were first brought into the field, headed by the new prophet, were every where defeated by the superior discipline of the Russian troops commanded by prince Potemkin. Some enterprizes which were undertaken by the Turks against the island of Tamen and the Crimea were attended with as little success as the attempts of the Tartars; while the emperor Joseph declared to the Porte that he would assist his ally the empress of Russia with an army of 80,000 men. Four Austrian armies were accordingly assembled; one at Carlstadt in Croatia, under general de Vins; another at Peterwaradin in Hungary, under general Langlois; a third on the borders of Lithuania, under general Febris; and the fourth in the Buccovine, under the prince of Saxe Cobourg. Two other generals, ten lieutenant-generals, and thirty major-generals, were all ordered to prepare for active service in the frontier armies. If any thing had been yet wanting to show the fixed determination of the court of Vienna, the sending general Alvinzi to act in and observe the conduct of the Russian armies during the war, and the receiving a Russian officer of equal rank to act the same part in the Austrian, would have been alone a sufficient explanation. The war between the Turks and Austrians was carried on with various success. At first the advantage was evidently on the side of the Ottomans, and Joseph II. acquired no warlike renown. His declared purpose was to get possession of Belgrade; from which, however, his enemies repulsed him with disgrace. The prince of Saxe-Cobourg in his department of the war displayed indeed prodigies of valor; but, being opposed to a superior force, he was long obliged to act only on the defensive. At length, being joined by a body of Russian forces under general Soltikow, preparations were made for

commencing in form the siege of Choczim, which was surrendered to the allied armies on Michaelmas day 1788, after a defence which would have done honor to the ablest general in Europe. Still, however, success seemed to lean to the Turks. The grand vizier made a sudden incursion into the Bannat, and spread consternation and dismay to the very gates of Vienna. The Austrian affairs seemed approaching to a very alarming crisis. The first campaign of an invasive war had already produced an impression on the territory of the invader.

In this situation of affairs Marshal Laudohn was with some difficulty drawn from his retirement to take the command of the army in Croatia; and under his auspices fortune began to smile on the Austrian arms. He quickly reduced Dubecza and Nevi, though they were both defended with the most obstinate bravery. He then sat down before Turkish Gradisca; but, the autumnal rains coming on with such violence that the Save overflowed its banks, he was compelled to raise the siege. During this period the war in the Bannat raged with the utmost violence; torrents of blood were shed, and much desperate valor, and many brave actions performed on both sides, while a great part of that unfortunate country suffered all the desolation that fire and sword could inflict. The inhabitants were objects of commiseration; but the injustice with which the emperor had commenced the war made his personal losses be considered as the just reward of his conduct. Hitherto the Russians had hardly entered into the war; but at last they began to act with vigor both by sea and land. They experienced however a very general coldness with respect to their claims, pretensions, and designs, in almost all the courts of Europe. The court of London prohibited British seamen from entering into foreign service, and declared its resolution to observe the strictest neutrality. The united provinces of Holland pursued the same line of conduct. In the mean time a vast Russian army, estimated at 150,000 men appeared on the banks of the Bog, adjoining to the confines of Poland, Turkey, Tartary, and on the way to the Black Sea, under prince Potemkin and general Romanzow; assisted by prince Reppin, general Soltikow, and other commanders. This great force was supported by a train of 137 pieces of artillery, besides a vast park of heavy battering cannon and mortars, destined for the siege of Oczakow; and furnished with an exuberance of powder, balls, shells, and military machines. After the most obstinate defence Oczakow was taken on the seventeenth of December 1788, and the govenor basha graced the triumphant return of prince Potemkin to Petersburgh. In the mean time Russia found herself attacked by a new and formidable enemy in the Swedish monarch, of whose exploits we have given an account elsewhere (See SWEDEN); and by his interference her conquests were certainly retarded.

Marshal Laudohn renewed his attempts upon Gradisca as soon as the season would permit, and after a brave defence it fell into his hands. This with some other successes roused the emperor from his inactivity, and made him seriously determined upon the attack which he had long