=Source.=--_The Times_, December 15.
_From Our Special Correspondent.--Plevna, December 11._
As I rode up the slope of the hill east of Plevna towards the
redoubt defending the road between the town and the village of
Radicheve, a ghastly scene was presented. Hundreds of Russian
skeletons lay glistening on the hillsides, where they had fallen
during the assault of September. The bones were generally
completely bare. Those nearest to the earthwork had been covered
with a few inches of earth, which had been washed off by the first
shower, and now they lay as naked as the others. The Moslem outpost
pits were among these skeletons, many of them not being more than a
yard distant. Singular as it may seem, many of these skeletons had
distinct expressions, both in the attitude in which they had fallen
and in the position of the fleshless jaws. I could distinguish
those who had fallen without suffering from those who had died in
agony, and the effect was such as I shall never forget. The Russian
soldiers who marched into Plevna in the rear of Osman's sallying
force passed among these remains of their unburied comrades.... On
entering the town I was surprised to find it so little injured by
the cannonading....
Within a short time after Osman's surrender at the bridge over
the Vid, on the Sofia road, the 16,000 prisoners were turned back
into the town, with the artillery and transport trains.... The
Turks were well fed in appearance, but were generally ragged, and
were all wearing sandals. No boots were to be seen, though most of
them had overcoats.... The contrast between these tatterdemalion
battalions and the well-dressed men guarding them made the war
appear a one-sided affair, until the reflection came that a ragged
man shot as well as one perfectly equipped. Later in the day,
standing on the Sofia road, in the Gravitza valley west of Plevna,
I surveyed the whole basin forming Osman's position. The herbage
and all other growing things had so effectually disappeared that
the earth's surface looked as if a conflagration had swept over
every square foot of it. The colour was a dull brown, and I never
gazed upon a more dismal-looking region. The sides of the basin
were serried by ravines, all centering in the valley where I stood,
and upon the surrounding edges of the basin were the Turkish
and Allied batteries planted in irregular line, but commanding
every vantage-point of the neighbourhood.... Where the Gravitza
_chaussée_ crosses the elevation the Turkish redoubts were weakest,
and here the Russian artillery fire had been chiefly concentrated.
The front and rear of the earthworks were ploughed up by shells,
and in truth there was scarcely a square yard which had not been
struck. Thousands of such missiles, varying from 3 inches to 6
inches in diameter, lay unexploded upon the surface of the earth.
In a previous telegram I said that these redoubts were battered to
pieces; but I now discover that this was a curious error of vision.
The works are practically uninjured. So far as the earthworks are
concerned, the Russian artillery ammunition has been absolutely
wasted, and from an inspection of the trenches I do not believe
that the garrison has suffered more than their defences. Neither
do I believe that any artillery could have accomplished more. The
fact is that shells against earthworks are useless at a greater
distance than 500 or 600 yards, and then the guns cannot be worked
on account of the enemy's sharpshooters. The Turkish soldiers
in the redoubts had bomb-proof abodes in the back walls of the
pits.... I was very much surprised to find the Turkish lines of
fortification so weak, as far as the quantity of earthwork is
concerned. The redoubts are much smaller than I supposed them to
be.... There are no double lines of infantry trenches--in fact,
no interior lines of any sort; neither are there trenches on the
hillsides below the redoubts. There are no lines of intrenchments
for the reserves; indeed, there were apparently no reserves.
When I saw this technically weak line I could not but admire the
efficiency of the weapons with which it had been defended, and
the stubborn tenacity of the men who could hold it against such
assaults as the Allies have delivered against it. The Allies had
double and treble lines around Plevna. Their works are much better
constructed than those of the Turks, so far as finish is concerned;
but for safety I would rather trust myself to the latter.... The
Roumanian trenches, however, were well constructed and capacious.
The best trench is within 25 feet of the Turkish counterscarp [of a
redoubt]. From the bottom of this trench two shafts were sunk about
15 feet in depth, and from the bottom two galleries had been pushed
under the Turkish parapet, and the mines were nearly ready when the
Moslems evacuated their positions. But the strangest part of the
history of this siege is the fact that the Turks had also mined
the Gravitza redoubt opposite, and before leaving their earthwork
they had fired the mining fuse. The Roumanians, discovering their
departure, entered their ditches, found the gallery, and reached
the fuse in time to quench it before it had burned to the explosive
charge; so that each was prepared to blow the other up without
knowing, apparently, that counter-operations were in progress....
At noon to-day the Emperor arrived at the redoubt defending
the approach to Plevna by the Gravitza _chaussée_.... [After a
religious service] the whole party rode into Plevna, taking the
less frequented streets, lest some assassin might fire upon the
Emperor. In a small house, surrounded by a high stone wall, lunch
was served, after which there was a sudden hush, and Osman Pasha
was carried into the yard and through the portico by a Cossack
officer and one of his own attendants. As he passed through the
crowd of staff officers, every one saluted him, and shouted,
"Bravo, Osman!" He then passed into the presence of the Emperor,
who shook hands with him, and informed him that, in consideration
of his gallant defence of Plevna, he had given orders that his
sword should be returned to him, and that he could wear it.