A POLYGLOT JUMBLE—WAR CUSTOMS OF THE MONTENEGRINS—DEATH
IN BATTLE—FORAYS FOR THE PLUNDER OF CATTLE—EQUIPAGE OF A
MONTENEGRIN SOLDIER—PILLAGE—MANNER OF FIGHTING—TACTICS—SIGNAL
CRIES—ON BOARD SHIP—DECAPITATION OF WOUNDED PRISONERS.
I now discovered what a terrible nuisance it is to know only three
or four languages, especially when one finds oneself in a country the
language of which is a complete mystery. The attendant I had, who had
been so thoughtfully provided for me by Mr. Matanovich, professed to speak
Italian, and he did in fact know a few Italian words, but in his general
conversation with me, as was subsequently discovered and explained to me
by Pero Pejovich, the language in which he spoke consisted pretty much of
the following happy mixture: six-tenths of Montenegrin, three-tenths of
Albanian and Turkish, with one-tenth Italian! With this polyglot jumble we
got on fairly well, as far as hot water, coffee, pipe, tobacco, pranzo;
and he learned to appreciate eventually the American word "skedaddle,"
but when our necessities required further intercourse, it was perfectly
hopeless—language was utterly useless, and gesticulation the only chance
of making oneself understood. But he was a willing poor beggar, and
not more dishonest than the majority of his fellows. He had a wholesome
terror of the Prince's rigorous punishment of theft. "_Niente ladri in
Montenegro_," he used to say, "_Principe terrible_," turning up his eyes
and distorting his countenance to a fearful degree.
Now whilst my attendant is preparing and setting out my lunch, I may
as well entertain my reader with an account of the customs in war, and
mode of fighting of the Montenegrins, by the pen of M. Broniewsky, which
is so graphic, and accords so literally with what the Commandant Pero
Pejovich related to me at different times, that I cannot think I could
do better than transcribe it.
"A Montenegrin is always armed, and carries about during his most peaceful
occupation a rifle (many of them now have breechloaders), pistol, or
yataghan, and a cartouche-box. The Montenegrins spend their leisure time
in firing at a target, and are accustomed to this exercise from their
boyish years. Being inured to hardships and privations, they perform
without fatigue, and in high spirits, very long and forced marches. They
climb the steepest rocks with great facility, and bear with the greatest
patience hunger, thirst, and every kind of privation. When the enemy
is defeated and retiring, they pursue him with such rapidity that they
supply the want of cavalry, which it is impossible to employ in their
mountainous country.
"Inhabiting mountains which present, at every step, passes where a handful
of brave men may arrest the progress of an army, they are not afraid of a
surprise, particularly as they have on their frontier a constant guard,
and the whole of their force can be collected within twenty-four hours
upon the threatened point. When the enemy is in great force, they burn
their villages, devastate their fields, and after having enticed him
into the mountains, they surround and attack him in the most desperate
manner.
"When the country is in danger, the Montenegrins forget all personal
feelings of private advantage and enmity. They obey the orders of their
chief, and like gallant Republicans, they consider it a happiness and a
grace of God to die in battle. It is in such a case that they appear as
real warriors; but beyond the limits of their country, they are savage
barbarians, who destroy everything with fire and sword.
"Their ideas about war are entirely different from those adopted by
civilized nations. They cut off the heads of those enemies whom they take
with arms in their hands, and spare only those who surrender before the
battle. The property they take from the enemy is considered by them as
their own, and as a reward of courage. They literally defend themselves
to the last extremity; a Montenegrin never craves for mercy; and whenever
one of them is severely wounded, and it is impossible to save him from the
enemy, his own comrades cut off his head. When at the attack of Clobuk,
a little detachment of our troops was obliged to retreat, an officer
of stout-make and no longer young fell on the ground from exhaustion.
A Montenegrin perceiving it (the Montenegrins were fighting with the
Russians against the French) ran immediately to him, and having drawn
his yataghan, said 'You are very brave and must wish that I should cut
off your head; say a prayer and make a sign of the cross.' The officer
horrified at the proposition made an effort to rise, and rejoined his
comrades with the assistance of the friendly Montenegrin.
"They consider all those taken by the enemy as killed. They carry out of
the battle their wounded comrades on their shoulders; and be it said to
their honour they acted in the same manner by our officers and soldiers.
"Like the Circassians, they are constantly making forays in small
parties, for the plunder of cattle, and consider such expeditions as
feats of chivalry, (just as the Scotch Highlanders one hundred years
ago). Being safe in their habitations, where nobody dares to molest
them, they continue their depredations with impunity, disregarding the
threats of the Divan, and the hatred of their neighbours. Arms, a small
loaf of bread, a cheese, some garlic, a little brandy, an old garment,
and two pair of sandals, made of raw hide, form all the equipage of a
Montenegrin. On the march they do not seek any shelter from rain or cold.
In rainy weather, the Montenegrin wraps up his head in his strooka, lies
down on the ground, and sleeps very comfortably. Three or four hours'
repose are quite sufficient for his rest, and the remainder of his time
is occupied in constant exertion.
"It is impossible to retain them in the reserve; and it seems they cannot
calmly bear the view of the enemy. When they have expended all their
cartouches, they humbly request every officer they meet with to give them
some, and as soon as they have received them, they run headlong into the
further line. When there is no enemy in sight, they sing and dance, and
go on pillaging, in which we must give them the credit of being perfect
masters; although they are not acquainted with the high sounding names
of contribution, requisition, forced loan, &c., &c. They call pillage,
simply 'pillage,' and have no hesitation in confessing it.
"Their usual manner of fighting is as follows: If they are in great
force, they conceal themselves in ravines, and send out only a small
number of shooters, who by retreating lead the enemy into the ambush;
here, after having surrounded him, they attack him, usually preferring
on such occasions swords to fire-arms; because they rely on their
personal strength and bravery, in which they generally have the advantage
over their enemies. When their numbers are inferior, they choose some
advantageous position on high rocks, where pronouncing every kind of abuse
against their enemies, they challenge them to combat. Their attacks are
mostly made during the night, because their principal system is surprise.
"However small their force may be, they always try to wear out the enemy
by constantly harassing him. The best French _voltigeurs_ in the advanced
posts were always destroyed by them; and the enemy's generals found it
more advantageous to remain under cover of their cannon, of which the
Montenegrins were not at all fond. However, they soon became accustomed
to them, and supported by our rifles, they bravely mounted the batteries.
"The tactics of Montenegrins are confined to being skilful marksmen....
In a pitched battle their movements can be ascertained only by the
direction of their standards. They have certain signal cries, which
are uttered when they are to join in a compact body for attacking the
weaker points of the enemy. As soon as such a signal is given, they rush
furiously onwards, break into the squares, and at all events create a
deal of disorder in the enemy's ranks. It was a terrible spectacle to
see the Montenegrins rushing forward, with heads of slaughtered enemies
suspended from their necks and shoulders, and uttering savage yells....
"The Russian commander-in-chief had much difficulty in persuading them
not to cut off the heads of their prisoners. He finally succeeded in
this (chiefly by paying them a ducat for every prisoner) but what he had
more difficulty, with the assistance of the Vladika, in persuading them
to do, was to embark for an expedition on board of ship—a thing which
they had never done before.
"Notwithstanding that they were treated with the greatest kindness,
they proved very troublesome guests. Whenever the captains invited their
chiefs to breakfast, they all entered the cabin, and having observed that
more dishes were served to the officers than to common sailors, they
wanted to have a similar fare. When the Fortress of Curzola was taken
the feast of Easter was approaching; they gave the captain no repose,
entreating him to return to Cattaro; but when it was explained to them
that the vessel could not advance against the wind, they fell into great
despondency.
"When at last the ship approached the entrance of Boccha di Cattaro
and they caught a sight of their own black mountains, they uttered
joyous exclamations, and began to sing and dance. On taking leave they
affectionately embraced the captain and the officers, and invited those
to whom they had taken a liking to pay them a visit. But when the sailors
told them they could not leave the ship without the permission of their
superiors, they were much astonished, and said, 'If you like to do a
thing, what right has another to forbid you?'"
Does not the foregoing read like a chapter in "Waverley," or in "Rob
Roy?" but though it is now a good many years since M. Broniewski wrote
the foregoing, the Montenegrin is still much the same, with the exception
of cutting off the heads of those killed in battle, which he has given
up, principally, I believe, because he has had no fighting of late. But
at the period of the last attempted invasion of Montenegro on the Grahovo
side, by the Turks in, I think, 1862, heads were cut off as freely as
ever, and were liberally paid for by the chieftains; the only difference
was that instead of taking them to Cettigne to hang in festoons upon
the round tower at the back of the monastery, they were allowed to rot
on the battle-field among the rocks of the Grahovo where scores of them
are to be seen lying about to this day.