ere might be some virtue in the commanders also; for
about September 1, or a day or two previously, they so far admitted
their superiority as to invite Prince Charles to take the
command-in-chief of the whole Russo-Roumanian army before Plevna, which
he did, with the Russian general Zotoff as chief of his staff and second
in command.

On this occasion he issued an address to the Roumanian soldiers,
reminding them that success for the Turks would mean pillage and
desolation in their fatherland, assuring them that, although their
numbers were few, he had confidence in their courage, and in their
ability to retain for Roumania the good opinion which she deserved and
enjoyed amongst the nations of Europe. He concluded by announcing, in
modest terms, his own appointment as Commander-in-chief of the allied
armies.

[Footnote 179: According to Col. Fife Cookson the Bulgarians, during
this war, were guilty of atrocities as deep-dyed as any that had
previously caused such indignation in Europe; but he also says (p. 23),
'In this war armed Bulgarians resisting the Turks were looked upon as
rebels, and received no quarter.']

[Footnote 180: _War Correspondence_, vol. i. pp. 131-132.]

[Footnote 181: _War Correspondence_, p. 82.]

[Footnote 182: _Ibid._ p. 390.]

V.

On August 31, Osman Pasha had made a sortie against the besiegers, in
which he was eventually repulsed with heavy loss, and then it was that
under the new command a fresh attack on Plevna was decided upon. In
order, however, to understand the events which followed, and the part
taken therein by the Roumanians, it is necessary that we should briefly
describe the position and constitution of the forces engaged, and refer
to the operations which preceded the assault.

[Illustration: DEFENCES OF PLEVNA.]

The scene of the long-continued struggle is an undulating country, and
Plevna, the centre of attack and defence, is in the hollow of a valley
running in a northerly and southerly direction. The ground adjacent to
this valley was described by one of the war correspondents as consisting
of great solid waves with their faces set edgeways to the valley of
Plevna. To describe it in detail here would be impossible, but the
positions of the attacking and defending armies were very simple. The
Turkish positions were, roughly speaking, 'a horseshoe, with its
convexity pointing east, and the town of Plevna standing about the
centre of the base.' Another writer compare