126 ISLAM AT WAR
ments flowed into the Turkish lines, swelling their ranks to 20,000. Stead-
ily their hold on their positions around Plevna grew stronger and stronger.
On July 30 a new assault, led by General Krudener, was launched. The
Russian forces now totaled 40,000 men supported by 176 guns. The sec-
ond battle of Plevna began at 3:00P.M. as Russian columns marched
against the Turkish positions. The columns striking the north and northeast
were repulsed with heavy losses. Russian General Shakovskoi temporarily
occupied two Turkish redoubts but was driven out by a counterattack
launched by the Turkish reserves. Again the Russians withdrew, leaving
7,300 dead behind them, and the Turks lost another 2,000 men. Though
their victory was substantial, Osman failed to pursue the defeated Rus-
sians, letting the fruits of his victory slip away. The Russians were de-
pendent upon possession of an undefended bridge over the Danube a mere
forty miles away. Capturing it would have spelled the destruction of the
Russian army.
Unwilling to stop, the Russians concentrated every soldier they had in
the region and called on the Romanians to aid them. By the end of August
they had amassed 74,000 infantry, 10,000 cavalry and 440 guns before
Plevna. On August 30, Osman moved out of his works and on August 31
he attacked the Russians near Pelishat. The fight was indecisive, and he
left 1,300 dead on the field to the 1,000 Russians that lay amongst them.
The Russians then moved against Osman’s communications, broke them,
and turned back on Plevna.
The third battle of Plevna began when the Russians launched an attack
during the night of September 6. A heavy bombardment preceded the
attack, and parts of the Turkish fortifications were seized and held. On
August 12 the Turks recaptured some of the fortifications, but others re-
mained in the hands of Russia’s Romanian allies. The Russians’ losses in
the first six days of the battle exceeded 18,000, and Turkish losses were
estimated near 5,000. Using their superior numbers and overwhelming
artillery force, the Russians were steadily grinding the Turks into sub-
mission. Their losses, however, had convinced the Russians that a siege
was preferable to more bloodletting, and their assault ground to a halt. A
total investment was completed by October 24. Osman had earlier re-
quested permission to withdraw, but the Sublime Porte had refused.
Trapped by Russian guns and the stubbornness of the throne, Osman’s
fate was sealed and it was only a matter of the clock ticking down. When
his supplies were exhausted, Osman attempted one last futile sortie during
the night of December 9. When that failed, he and his army capitulated
and the 1877 Russo-Turkish war ended. Osman’s Turkish army had been
beaten, but not humiliated. This was a small ray of hope for the future.