whereupon the troop having picked up their dead and wounded, turn their
horses' heads again towards the mountains. When the Cossacks come in
with their reinforcements it is too late. They are only in time to
behold the stanitza in flames, the fort in ruins from the explosion of
its magazines, and the victors, their cruppers piled high with goods,
and women, just gaining the opposite bank, or crossing the hill-top, on
the other side of which lie both safety and freedom.
Sometimes the Circassians dash through between the forts without
stopping to attack them, and suffering, perhaps, somewhat from the
cross-fire, gain the country beyond the line, where they find more
abundant spoils and no resistance. But on their return, they are sure to
encounter the Cossacks drawn up at the ford, or some other point
convenient for disputing the passage to an enemy encumbered with booty.
These Russian hirelings, however, the freemen of the mountains despise,
and with superior horses ride them down. Only when the espionage which
is maintained among all the tribes on the border--for everywhere there
are souls which can be bought for gold--succeeds in procuring for their
enemies information of any incursion before it takes place, is the foray
rendered unsuccessful and the troop cut off.
XXIX.
RUSSIAN MODE OF WARFARE
The Russian mode of conducting the invasion of the Caucasus has been
different at different times. When the Emperor Nicholas, after the
treaty of Adrianople in 1829, revived the old war with Circassia in
order to compel by force of arms the acknowledgment of those pretended
rights of supremacy which by that treaty had been made over to him by
Turkey, he supposed that his Cossacks, aided by a small force of
infantry, would be sufficient to intimidate the mountaineers and to
accomplish his purpose. Earlier in the century, Russia had acquired from
Persia the vast provinces of the southern Caucasus, and had afterwards,
partly by the consent of the tribes and partly by force, succeeded in
keeping open the two great routes to these possessions, the one along
the Caspian, and the other over the centre of the chain by the pass of
Dariel. It remained therefore to subjugate only that portion of the
Caucasus not included in the territories adjacent to these two roads,
and lying the larger portion of it south of the Kuban, and the smaller
south of the Terek.
Nicholas accordingly sent his proclamations into the mountains saying,
"Russia has conquered France, put her sons to death, and made captives
of her daughters. England will never give any aid to the Circassians,
because she depends on Russia for her daily bread. There are only two
powers in the universe--God in heaven, and the emperor on earth! What
then do you expect? Even though the arch of heaven were to fall, there
are Russians enough to hold it up on the points of their bayonets!" At
the same time, while the Cossack colonies which had been planted in line
along the northern banks of the Kuban and the Terek were reinforced from
the hordes of their brethren on the Black Sea and the Don, the long
spears of these united horsemen were strengthened by the bayonets of a
few thousand infantry--the vanguard of hundreds of thousands who were to
come after them.
But the Circassians heard with incredulous ears the big words of the
lieutenants of the czar. They knew not, besides, why he should pretend
to rule over them. The Turks had indeed enjoyed the privilege of
establishing fortified places of trade on their coasts, and as most of
the tribes had been converted from paganism by Mahometan missionaries,
they looked upon the sultan as their spiritual head and Allah's
vicegerent, but they did not consider their free mountains as in any
sense his domain, nor liable by any treaty stipulations to be
transferred to another superior, much less to the unbelieving Padischah
of the "flax-haired Christian dogs," and their old enemies, the
Muscovites. Accordingly, like true and independent men and the sons of
sires who without let or hinderance had pastured their flocks in these
mountains since the days of the patriarchs, they refused to give up the
ancient freedom of their homes, built on the rocks, at the bidding of
the minions of the autocrat of the North.
The Cossacks who came galloping across the steppes on small, shaggy
horses, and armed with unwieldly lances, the mountaineers looked upon
with contempt. They sabred them and rode them down. As for the Russian
infantry, they were terror-struck at the sound of the yell with which
these centaurs of the mountains dashed into the thickest of their ranks,
shooting them down with pistols, striking back their bayonets with their
sabres, leaping from their saddles to poniard them, and the next instant
gone on a gallop with the wind. The soldier who had been at the retreat
from Moscow, and at the crossing of the Borodino, and who was a good and
true grenadier, sturdy, brave, obedient to the word of command, felt all
his forces desert him before the onset of such reckless riders and
accomplished swordsmen. Once across the Kuban or the Terek, he never
felt sure of his life, for there was always a Circassian lying in wait
for him. When the column was wending its way through the narrow valley
wherein nature held her supreme and silent reign, save that the tiny
brook ran with gurgling sounds over its rocks and pebbles, or the
nightingale made the thickets vocal with its song, or the bees flitting
from flower to flower diffused through the air a pleasing murmur,
wherein the oak spread its peaceful branches against the sky, the beech
leaning over the path shed a grateful shade, and the vine hanging in
festoons from elm to maple invited the weary soldier to refresh his lips
with their purple clusters, there lay hid in this sweet solitude a
hundred men and more armed for battle; and when the invaders no more
suspected danger from the peaceful hill-sides than the bird from the
snare of the fowler,
Instant, through copse and heath arose
Bonnets and spears and bended bows;
On right, on left, above, below,
Sprung up at once the lurking foe.
Then instead of the singing of the brook, the carol of the nightingale,
and the humming of the sweet-mouthed bees, were heard the rifle's sharp
crack and the rattling of the musketry; the brook ran red with the blood
of the slain; and the Russians, like the Roman legions cut off in the
woods of the Germans, were left with none to bury them.
Nor even within the walls of the forts was the Russian soldier entirely
safe from his wily adversary. For when silently beneath the moon the
sentry is pacing the narrow rounds of the krepost, suspecting no enemy
within a dozen leagues, but thinking rather of the hut on Polish plains
or shores of Finnish lake fondly called a home, some Adighé or Lesghian
who, unable to rest until he has slaked his thirst for vengeance in the
blood of an infidel, has stolen down from the mountains and lain hid a
day in the reeds of the river bank, creeps at nightfall like a wild
beast out of his lair, glides unseen by the guard-post of the Cossack as
the latter is taking perhaps a final pull at his bottle of schnapps, and
crawling up within sight of the very beard of the sentinel, picks him
off.
Accordingly the army of the emperor, instead of making an easy conquest
of the Caucasus, was obliged to remain for the most part shut up in the
chain of their miserable forts and kreposts. Here, when these fortified
places were not boldly assaulted and carried by storm, as often
happened, the troops fell a gradual prey to fevers and dysenteries, or
to the want of those supplies which the peculation of the officers in
charge of them continually either withheld or adulterated. The forts,
situated on the coast of the Black Sea, could be relieved only during
that half of the year which was suited for navigation; while those on
the Kuban and the Terek were dependent on the precarious supplies
conveyed overland at such times as the roads were passable. To keep up
the spirits of the imprisoned garrisons the men were made to sing by
word of command; and the dance was introduced as a military exercise.
The Caucasus in fact became a southern Siberia, where the average life
of the soldier was but three years.
Taught at length by repeated and disastrous failures that this method of
attacking the Circassians was a fatal error, the czar next adopted the
plan of sending into the mountains heavy masses of infantry supported by
powerful trains of field artillery. These with great labor penetrated a
certain distance into the interior for the purpose of opening roads from
one important fortress to another, and guarding them with chains of mud
forts or kreposts. They made reconnoissances in various directions,
succeeded in isolating and subduing some of the districts lying on the
Kuban and Laba rivers, and completed the subjugation of the more open
country of the Kabardan tribes, who were obliged to accept terms of
neutrality.
At the same time the invaders adopted the additional plan of blockading
the mountains both by sea and land. Besides the line of fortresses
commenced by Peter the Great on the Terek, extended by Catherine
westward, and now completed from sea to sea, similar establishments were
created on all the points of the Black Sea coast which could
conveniently be approached by water. Under pretence of carrying out a
rigid system of quarantine regulations and tariff laws, the object was
to cut off the Circassians from all foreign intercourse, and especially
from trade with the Turks, who were in the habit of supplying them with
arms, gunpowder, salt, and various necessary articles of manufacture. At
the same time, the Russians endeavored by making certain marts of their
own free to the mountaineers, to induce them gradually to exchange the
habits of war for those of trade and friendly intercourse with their
adversaries. Emissaries were sent among the tribes to attempt to win
them over to this change of policy; rank in the army was offered to the
chiefs; or they were tempted by pensions; and even by the introduction
of foreign brandy as well as foreign gold, efforts were made to spread
the fatal net of Russian influence along all the footpaths of freedom in
the mountains.
The Circassians liked the taste of the foreign liquor, and their eyes
were not insensible to the charms of coined gold, of which they had
before seen but little. The epaulettes also and stars and ribands were
such baubles as were well adapted to captivate the fancy of
semi-civilized chieftains; and the Russian fabrics were a temptation to
all, especially to the women; but to the honor of the Circassians, the
tribes with few exceptions disdained to sell their birthright of
independence for a mere mess of pottage. Relations of trade and amity
could be established only with the tribes whose position on the frontier
compelled them to be neutral. The chiefs in the interior, though often
jealous of each other, held themselves too high to be bought by the
common enemy for a price; and the intrigue of the czar was on the whole
as unsuccessful as his arms.
The Circassians at first made little or no change in their mode of
warfare to meet the new tactics of the invader. Still despising the men
who dwelt in plains notwithstanding their cannon "made the earth to
tremble and the fruit drop from the trees," they continued from time to
time to storm the kreposts sabre in hand. They leaped out of their
places of ambush upon the columns which attempted to penetrate into
their fastnesses; and attacking the more numerous enemy in dense masses
as formerly practised by the Turkish spahis, setting all modern tactics
at defiance, and bent on bearing down every thing before them by the mad
fury of their onset, they rushed upon the Russian squares and guns as if
they had been the mere branches of trees used in their own mock-fights.
For the most part they were victorious; but every victory cost them much
precious blood, a fresh supply of which could not so easily be obtained
as was the case with the viler sort which flowed in the veins of the
imperial serfs and peasants. They were therefore obliged in the end to
become less prodigal of it, and to adopt a system of guerilla warfare
better adapted to the comparative fewness of their warriors and the
extraordinary strength of their natural means of defence. To cut off
convoys, to surprise outposts, to hover about the march of the enemy's
columns, to lie in wait for them in the passes of the mountains, to pick
off their officers from behind rocks and bushes, to attack in numbers
only in cases of great moment and when the nature of the ground rendered
a successful dash practicable before the straggling column could form
square, and to undertake the storming of fortified places, and the
plundering of hostile districts only when these were left comparatively
defenceless, was finally the method of warfare which experience had
forced upon the tribes at the period when Schamyl appeared on the scene
as their leader.
XXX.
HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE.
Schamyl was thirty-seven years of age when he was raised to the rank of
a murschid and leader of the tribes. At that period in his prime, he had
outgrown the early delicacy of his constitution, and was a warrior as
distinguished in personal appearance as in character and intellectual
culture. He was of middle stature; had fair hair, since turned to white;
grey eyes overshadowed by thick, well-drawn brows; a mouth, like his
hands and feet, small; a regular, so-called Grecian nose; and a
complexion remarkable among his countrymen for its fairness and delicacy
of skin. He had the light, elastic Circassian tread, with little
movement of his arms walking, an erect carriage, and a naturally noble
air and bearing. Perfectly master of himself and of his countenance,
sternly self-collected even in moments of the greatest danger; holding
in perpetual balance the ardor of the warrior and the calm of the
prophet, he impressed with awe all who came into his presence. As he
regarded himself as an instrument in the hands of a higher power, and
held according to the doctrine of the Sufis that all his thoughts and
decisions were the immediate inspiration of Allah, so he condemned to
death the traitor and conferred the shaska of honor on a murid with
equal calmness, manifesting neither anger nor satisfaction, almost as
impassive and impersonal as fate itself. But while his ordinary manner
was thus calmly commanding, his eloquence was as fiery as it was
persuasive. "Flames sparkle from his eyes," said Bersek Bey, "and
flowers are scattered from his lips."
Schamyl is said to have put on a white mantle, indicative of his
priestly character as the second prophet of Allah; but his ordinary
dress and arms were the same as those in use, with trifling variations,
among all Circassians. They wear a surtout resembling a military
Polonaise, without a collar, closely fitting the body, descending to the
knees, and secured around the waist by a leathern girdle, which is
ornamented according to the wealth or fancy of the wearer. On either
breast of this garment are attached cartridge-pockets made of morocco
leather of different colors, usually containing twenty-four rounds of
ball cartridge, and at the same time decking the chest and protecting
it. Beneath is a tunic, often richly embroidered, and of a gay color.
The trousers are loose, excepting that from the ankle to the knee the
folds are confined to the leg by straps. The calpac or cap has a crown
similar in color to the cartridge-pockets, with a band of long, black
goat's hair or white sheep's wool, which hanging down about the brows
imparts a wild fierceness of expression to the dark, flashing eyes, and
boldly cut features. Sometimes a chieftain will also wind around his cap
a shawl in the form of a turban, his head being shaven after the manner
of the Turks, though the tuft on the crown is generally much larger. The
shoes are made of a single piece of leather, and neatly show the form of
the foot. Under the other garments is worn a shirt of either silk or
calico, besides that of mail sometimes put on in war; and over all is
thrown in cold weather an ample cloak called a _bourka_, woven of
sheep's wool or goat's hair, and impervious to rain.
This convenient and picturesque costume is also set off by much silver
lace, embroidery, and all the elegant artifice of needle-work, but still
more by the various arms without which no Circassian appears in public.
A rifle is slung across the shoulders by a belt, this weapon having
taken the place of the bow and arrows which are now seldom seen except
as an ornament and mark of distinction. The sabre, called a shaska, is
suspended by a silken cord in the Turkish fashion. In the girdle are
stuck a pair of pistols, and a short, double-edged cama, resembling the
sword of the ancient Romans. This latter arm in close conflicts with the
Russian infantry is particularly dreaded from the dexterity with which
it is wielded, a single stroke generally sufficing to sever a limb,
while recovery from its stab is almost hopeless. Attached to the girdle
also are a powder-flask, a small metallic box containing fat to anoint
the rifle-balls, a purse of skin for carrying flints, tinder, and steel,
and not unfrequently a hatchet, or knife in a sheath. The sabre is
silver-hilted, without a guard; and its scabbard, richly embroidered, is
composed of several pieces of morocco of different colors. The pistols
also are mounted with silver; the poniard has often precious stones in
its handle, and its sheath is inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Sometimes a
javelin in addition to other arms is carried, which is hurled to a
considerable distance with an aim that rarely errs. Having a groove at
the but-end, it is used also as a rest for the rifle, besides serving as
a pole in leaping among the rocks.
Coats of mail with casques of steel, cuirasses, cuisses, brassards, and
gauntlets, formerly much used and worth from ten up to three hundred
oxen, are now little esteemed; though chain armor, resembling that of
the ancient Persians, is still worn occasionally by the chiefs of
tribes. This is generally of considerable antiquity, exquisitely
wrought, of perfect temper, light, elastic, and fitting the body
closely. There are also still in use a good many swords, now diminished
by use a third or more in width, which have come down from the Genevese,
Venetians, Milanese, and Spaniards of the middle ages. Of these the
Toledan blade is the most common; and travellers curious in antique arms
have noted one possessing the genuine silvery lustre, and engraved with
the picture of a Spanish cavalier, together with the motto, _Ad majorem
gloriam Dei_; another which was dedicated to God, and marked, _Anno
domini_ 1664; another showing on one side an imperial crown, encircled
by a wreath of laurel, and on the other a globe surmounted by a cross,
with the inscription underneath in old English characters, _Viva
Espagna_; and others, finally, inlaid with gold, and having the head of
the Saviour, or some saint engraved over such inscriptions as, _Par my
Dey y par my Rey_, or, _Ne me tire pas sans raison et ne me remets pas
sans honneur_. Nor is the modern Circassian sabre one of metal inferior
to that of the ancient workmanship; but a blade as flexible as that of
Damascus, long and heavy, yet bending like a reed, and when inlaid and
ornamented with gold valued as high as three hundred roubles, or even
more.
The wealth of a Circassian consists very much in his arms and horses. It
may even happen that a chieftain may wear a coat which is out at the
elbows, and especially when going to battle,--for though he may fall
himself he always thinks it a pity to waste a new doublet and hose upon
"the dog of a Muscovite,"--and yet be the possessor of a balteus for his
bow as richly jewelled as was Diana's, and a corytos in the superb style
of the ancient Persians, as found represented on Persepolitan
bas-reliefs. The trappings of his horse also may be made costly with
Russian leather and chased silver ornaments. Nor in the case of a leader
less illustrious than Schamyl even, would it be a thing impossible for
his saddle to be covered with blue velvet, adorned with black enamelled
silver plates, stirrups of massive silver, and bridle no less
brilliantly ornamented, the work of the cunning artificers of Armenia.
In all these costly trappings of war does the Circassian leader take
great delight, nor did Schamyl himself disdain them; and when fully
arrayed in them, as on all festal occasions at least he is sure to be,
with brawny shoulders and thin flank, a peculiarly airy, winged gait, a
naturally unconstrained and noble air, a countenance displaying the
highest type of manly beauty, and eyes passionate even to an intensity
bordering upon fierceness, Murat was not a gayer horseman, Bayard not a
better knight, nor is the Apollo Belvidere more like a god.
XXXI.
BECOMES IMAM, AND CONTINUES THE WAR.
At the time of Hamsad Bey's death Mahomet-Mollah being no longer living
to select and consecrate a new leader of the tribes, that Schamyl
attained to the honors of the succession was very much owing to the
exertions of his venerable teacher Dschelal Eddin. For the latter was
then the most eminent murschid left in the eastern Caucasus, where his
sayings passed current among a large number of the tribes as oracles.
Schamyl's principal rival was Taschaw-Hadji, an influential chieftain
who resisted the supremacy of the new Imam, as he was called, until the
year 1837, when he formally gave in his adhesion. This opposition,
however, while it lasted, considerably hindered the growth of Schamyl's
influence among the tribes, and restrained the freedom of his action
against the Russians. The emissaries of the latter meanwhile did all
they could to fan the discord, so that several chiefs with their clans
were either won over to the side of the common enemy, or were at least
rendered unwilling to cooperate with the Imam in his efforts to extend
the new faith and prosecute the war.
Of this Russian party in the highlands Avaria still remained the
head-quarters; and during the first four years of Schamyl's imamship his
aims were chiefly directed towards the subjugation of this district.
Hadji-Murad, who after the assassination of the Avarian princes had
continued at the head of affairs in Chunsach, early foresaw that this
would be his policy. Accordingly he lost no time in sending to the
Russian commander-in-chief a request that he would despatch an armed
force to take possession in the name of the emperor of the khanate, then
vacant by the death of the youngest son of Pachu Biké, who had been
assassinated, as was said, by order of Schamyl.
Thereupon General Lasskoi being placed in command of a considerable body
of troops, was ordered to march on Chunsach, and to sweep the country on
his way of all opposition. Advancing accordingly in the autumn of 1834
against Himri, he captured the place after a slight resistance, its
population having been greatly reduced since the defeat experienced
there under Khasi-Mollah. But as the victor was about to proceed further
on his march, Schamyl arrived with his murids, took the aoul by storm,
and inflicted a severe loss upon the enemy, though greatly his superior
in numbers. When, however, this news reached the fortress of
Temir-Chan-Schura, Kluke von Klugenau, one of the bravest generals in
the Caucasus, instantly setting out for Avaria, collected on his way the
scattered troops of General Lasskoi, destroyed the aouls which refused
to receive him, and made his entrance in triumph into Chunsach. There he
set up as khan under the protection of Russia, Achmed-Mahomet-Mirza, and
after having taken possession of the principal passes leading into
Daghestan, returned without molestation to Temir-Chan-Schura.