The march of General Gourko over the Etropol Balkans to
Sofia appears to have been a really marvellous feat. He abandoned the main road, and took a mountain-path from Orkhanie to the westward of Kaba Konak, and thence to Taschkesen. The road for the guns had literally to be made in the dark, for the sappers could only work at night, and the paths were so slippery, that steps had to be cut with the axe, as in ascending a steep snow- mountain. The men, ill-fed, and subjected for several days to intense cold, were almost worn out, and after doing their work in -the snow, dropped down asleep "like logs ; " but still the road was made, and the advance-guard, after thirty hours of incredible effort, scaled the ridge and slid down literally to the southern side. The whole force gradually crossed, and, as we know, Taschkesen was carried, and Sofia occupied on the 6th. The exploit was a most daring one, but its record will probably be forgotten in the face of the triumph in the Shipka Pass. It is easy, too, to attract attention to the bravery of the Turks, difficult to attract it to the equal bravery of the Russian soldiers. it is expected of the latter.
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