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This is how we, as Turks, defended Erzurum in 1877

Nene Hatun is neither the first nor the last hero of Erzurum. That land is a hotbed of heroes from top to bottom. Today, there is no Turkish and Muslim family in Anatolia, and especially in Erzurum, that has not lost one, two or even more of its sons in the battle of Muscovy. Nene Hatun was a living witness among us.

Who knows how many epics of a Russian battle each of which was handed down from father to son like a sacred relic. Here is one for you. Arif Bey, who was the chief clerk of Müşir Gazi Ahmet Muhtar Pasha, Commander of the Anatolian Army, during that battle, tells the story:

On the ninth night of November 1877, two hours before dawn. At the Aziziye fortification, located beyond Topdağı, there was a red uproar. The noise of cannons and rifles woke the soldiers and the people of Erzurum from their sleep. It was understood that a fierce battle was taking place at the Aziziye bastions. Gazi Ahmet Muhtar Pasha, who could not stand still, immediately took three battalions of soldiers with him and set off towards Topdağı with the agility of a young major. Meanwhile, the morning call to prayer was being recited from the minarets. Gazi Pasha ordered his old commander, Captain Mehmet Pasha, to take two battalions of soldiers and immediately go to the Aziziye fortification and throw out the enemy who had entered the fortification.

As soon as the valiant Captain arrived in front of the Aziziye fortification, bullets and flames rained down on him from the battlements. At the very first mouth, our soldiers were spattered. Despite this, Captain Mehmet Pasha continued his forward movement, and in front of the fortification, the hurrahs of the Muscovites could be heard. Soon the matter was realised. Aziziye had taken two of the three bastions with a very cunningly organised raid in the darkness of the night. The news came that the third bastion was fiercely resisting and its commander, District Governor Bahri Bey, was wounded.

In Front of the Bastions

The heroic children of Erzurum, who jumped out of their beds with the first noises of the battle that echoed in the city and ran to the streets with excitement, joined the "Female Lions" such as Mrs Şerife, Mrs Kara Fatma, Topal Gülizar, whose names have entered the history of warfare, and "Male Lions" such as Keyvanlı Hüseyin Ağa, Kantarcı Mehmet Efendi, the imam of Kavak Mosque, and retired Artillery Major, and started to march towards the Aziziye bastions. Those who grabbed a gun ran after these fearless men. Those who could not find a weapon threw themselves at the Muscovites with axes, pickaxes, bread knives and meat cleavers. Here, Nene Hatun of the Third Army was among those waving a meat cleaver. It is estimated that nearly five hundred men and women from Erzurum, excluding soldiers, were wounded and martyred in this raid. The losses inflicted by Nene Hatun and her peers on the Russians that night were more than eight hundred.

It was seen that the remnants of the enemy, who could not hold on any longer in the face of our soldiers' savres and the enthusiasm of the people of Erzurum, had to leave the bastions they occupied and fled down the mountain. Gazi Ahmet Muhtar Pasha, who was observing the surroundings with binoculars, sent the following news to Big Wolf Captain Mehmet Pasha, who was seen to be exceptionally heroic in this battle, with his aide: "In order not to allow the Russians to hold on with the force you have available, pursue them vigorously, regardless of the casualties."

Let's listen to this epic, which is unprecedented in the history of any nation, from the mouth of NENE HATUN:

"We woke up with the noise of the battle. My husband grabbed his axe and ran outside. A little later he returned:

- "Nene, the Russians have entered the bastions, you look after the child. Don't come after me. We will stop the Russians. If the enemy enters the city, you drown yourselves", he said and left.

Fifteen days before, we had travelled to Erzurum with a small child from Çeperli village of Pasinler because we could not tolerate the invasion of our village by the Russians. How can I stay at home today when the whole country is empty and everyone is going to meet the Russians and save their homeland? Entrusting my little child to Allah, I took the cleaver I had at home and started running towards the bastions, mingling with the crowd that was flowing like a flood.

When we crossed the Mecidiye bastions and descended to the lowlands, we rushed forward under the enemy's deafening rifle fire without caring about the wounded and the dead. Sometimes we hit with a cleaver, sometimes with a stone, and we were advancing towards the bastions by knocking down every Russian who came in front of us. Our soldier brothers entered the bastions from one side and we from the other. In the meantime, I saw my brother Hasan, who was wounded on one side of the bastion, and I rushed towards him crying. Your brother Hasan:

- "Sister, don't cry, our mother gave birth to us for this day. I had always wanted to rise to the rank of martyrdom like my grandfather. Now that we have expelled the Russians, I will not regret anything else", he said and closed his eyes.

Arif Bey, who did not leave Gazi Ahmet Muhtar Pasha's side even in the line of fire, says: "One of the most remarkable events that day was that many ladies from Erzurum were bringing bread, cheese, olives and some were bringing water in jugs to the soldiers fighting in Aziziye. One lady, who said that her son had been martyred in a Russian battle, was weeping bitterly in front of the barracks that had been taken back from the enemy. She asked to be shown a Muscovite, and I showed her the carcass of a Muscovite soldier among the corpses where we were. The wretched woman climbed on top of it and started stomping on the carcass with the love of her martyred child and a deep desire for revenge. We took her back from the corpse and consoled her with words such as "God willing, your revenge will not be left on the ground"."

If we think about it, in the two hundred and forty-one years between 1677 and Nicholas II, the last Tsar of the Romanofs, we came to bayonet to bayonet and neck to neck with Tsarist Russia thirteen times. Our national structure was so strong that we maintained our existence and independence in the face of these very cruel currents. We are ready for the fourteenth time without blinking an eye for the sake of national honour and honour. There are many more who will show heroism to our serhats like "Nene Hatun" and at least as heroic as her. They say there is no male or female lion. Erzurum is a bed of lions waiting for the frontier for centuries.

Military service is so ingrained in the noble spirit of the people of this land that today, if you ask an Erzurum citizen, "Where are you from?", he would say, "I am from the Fourth Army". In his understanding, the army is his fatherland. I wish they had not changed the historical name, if only it had always been "Fourth Army".

THIS IS HOW WE FIGHTED FOR TURKISH ERZURUM IN 1877 (Feridun Fazıl Tülbentçi)

Starting on 24 April 1877, the Muscovite war continued with the same intensity in Anatolia and Rumelia. In the Anatolian region, we were only able to establish a defence line of fifty thousand men on a 340 km front covering the areas around Beyazit, Eleşkirt, Kars and Ardahan. The fortifications of Kars, Ardahan and Erzurum were not in good condition. Nevertheless, the first battles were fruitful for us. On 19 June 1877, we had won the Battle of Haylaz , and on 10 July we had liberated Kars from the siege. However, the enemy far outnumbered us in terms of troops and ammunition. He had an army of two hundred thousand men under the command of Grand Duke Mihail. He was receiving plenty of war material by railway. We, on the other hand, could only bring very little ammunition from Trabzon on animal backs. With a thousand sacrifices, we won the First Battle of Gedikler on 26 August 1877 and the Second Battle of Gedikler on 3 October 1877. In these two battles, the Russians lost more than ten thousand people. However, with fifty thousand people, it was impossible to hold a huge defence line against four times the enemy. Winter was approaching and the soldiers could not be provided with winter clothes. Gazi Ahmet Muhtar Pasha decided to shorten the front by retreating between Kars and Erzurum. The retreat was very difficult (troublesome). At Deveboyn, we fought a bloody battle and finally retreated to Erzurum. At Deveboyn, the heroic people of Erzurum fought together with the army, shedding their blood and giving many martyrs.

Gazi Ahmet Muhtar Pasha appealed to the patriotism of the people and worked day and night to strengthen the fortifications. After the Battle of Deveboynu, an officer came to our forward line and left a letter. This letter, signed by General Loris Miklos, read as follows:

"Neither you nor your army has anything to hold on to. There is no possibility to fix it after this. Instead of shedding the blood of so many people in vain, surrender. If you oppose, our artillery will completely destroy the city and fortifications. Fear for the children."Ahmet Muhtar Pasha called the commanders in his organisation and read the letter to them as well:

- "Friends," he said. "The enemy is at our door. Fortune of war has not smiled on us. I know the answer to be given, but I wanted to get your opinion for once." The pashas dwelt on the defence of the castle. Ahmet Muhtar Pasha was pleased:

- "Thank you, friends. We will not surrender. We will defend the last fortress of the East until death."

That night, a reply was written to the commander of the Russian army as follows: "The material and spiritual strength of those defending Erzurum is above everything. Our hope in the grace of God is firm. We will defend the fortress until our last drop of blood."

Foreign elements (Armenians, etc.) and bigots were spreading bad rumours among the people on the pretext that the city would be ruined. In order to prevent this, the command published the following announcement addressed to the people. "It is possible for us to be under siege here and to fall into all kinds of necessities, but it is also possible to fight with the enemy and to be hit by cannonballs. Since such incidents would be a cause of alarm and excitement for the families of the children, it is necessary for those reasonable people to leave the country as of today."

Upon this notification, the scholars were divided into two groups. Some of them thought that the soldiers should leave the city and the war should be accepted outside and thus the city would be saved from being devastated. However, the truly patriotic people of Erzurum rallied round Ali Efendi's opinion and refused to agree to this.

- "No, they said. We will fight together with our soldier brothers for the defence of our homeland, we will join the battle with our blood, our lives and our children."

Ahmet Muhtar Pasha explained the situation in a telegram sent to the seraskerate and after repeating that the struggle would continue until the end, he said:

_"If the enemy closes us here completely and encircles us and there is no means of defence and the people are in a different state, I plan to strike from one side with the soldiers I will take with me and leave.

The reply to this telegram from Istanbul included the following lines:

- "Your present position is the most important point of Asia and the centre of attention of the enemy. This position is in a great battle. If Erzurum is invaded, you do not need to describe the ruptures that such an incident would cause in the material and spiritual body of the state. Therefore, today is the day when you will do the real work and fulfil your right and blessing on the state and create the work of patriotism that the nation expects from you. The state and position you are in, the inability to preserve it, will be a memory that will remain in our histories until the end of time and will give glory to our honour-u soldier."

When this telegram was read to all the army men and the dignitaries of the city, those who defended Erzurum swore again on their honour that they would fight until their death. Old grandmothers, young women, bridesmaids made their sons, husbands and fiancés repeat the same oath in their homes. If Erzurum fell one day, the enemy would only be able to enter the city by stepping on Turkish martyrs.

On the evening of 8 November 1877, after dark, a large enemy column, taking advantage of the guidance of five or ten ungrateful non-Turks from Erzurum (Armenians) and the fact that our soldiers were asleep, dressed their vanguard in fezzes and made a sudden raid on the Aziziye bastions. Bastions number two and three fell after a pitched battle. District Governor Bahri Bey, who was in the lone bastion number one, tried to take control of the situation with a quick decision, and by raising his artillerymen to bayonet charge, he attacked the five times more powerful Moscof with all his fury. Although Bahri Bey was wounded, he kept it a secret in order not to demoralise the troops and led the fight at the head of the troops until his last strength. He had written the following letter to Erzurum with one of his soldiers while he was weakened due to excessive blood loss:

"The second and third bastions have fallen. In the first bastion, the soldiers are fighting with a ferocity above all sacrifices. I am seriously wounded and the soldiers are not aware of this yet. The situation is very dangerous. However, I will fight until my last breath and will not give up the bastion until I receive the rank of martyrdom."

The fallout of the red hell that broke out at the Aziziye bastion located beyond Topdağı had reached the city. The people were awakened from sleep by the sound of cannons, and the coffins in the barracks were at arms. Ahmet Muhtar Pasha, who ascended Topdağı at dawn, was confronted with a terrible reality. Battles were taking place only in one of the Aziziye bastions. The other two had long since fallen silent. After a thorough examination with binoculars, it was realised that there were no Turks left in the silent bastions and that the enemy was in control of the situation. The fortifications of Erzurum consisted of Topdağı and Kiremitlik. These fortifications served as a curtain to the city. The day we lost Topdağı, Erzurum would be considered lost. Meanwhile, a letter from Bahri Bey revealed the situation in all its bitterness. Erzurum was silent. It was necessary to save it.

Gazi Ahmet Muhtar Pasha returned to the city with excitement. No, Erzurum would hold out. He appealed to the patriotism of the people. While the battalions were being prepared, muezzins were calling from the minarets for the defence of the homeland. A force of two battalions under the command of Captain Mehmet Pasha moved towards the Aziziye bastion. This was followed by the people with their axes, knives, picks and sticks.

- O Lord, don't make us the victims of Moskof...

- Allah, protect us, prayers were rising to the skies.

Gazi Ahmet Muhtar Pasha drew his sword like an old knight and fell in front of the people. He was walking towards Kars Gate. What was this march, O Lord? Which army could stand against this faith? Which enemy could show this courage? It was as if Erzurum had stood up. It had become a symbol of the defence of the homeland. In the front row, an old man with white hair and beard grabbed his hoe, on one side his wife of sixty, on the other side his bride of twenty who had martyred her husband. Behind them was a twelve-year-old boy carrying water. Müşirler, feriks and livas were going shoulder to shoulder with the people; mothers, fathers, daughters and young men were coming out of the Kars Gate together. Among the first to leave the gate was a young and beautiful Turkish woman named Fatma and three girlfriends of the same age. Erzurum was marching...

This is how we entered the Aziziye bastions. Until the evening of that day, we fought with courage and sacrifice unprecedented in the history of any nation, with women, young and old. We attacked with swords against rifles, axes against bombs. Oh, you should see Fatma there. She was jumping over the trenches in such a way that her black hair, which adorned her beautiful face, was blowing in the wind...

Towards evening, the enemy abandoned the Aziziye Bastions, which they had filled with corpses, and began to retreat. In the endeavours to completely crush the fleeing enemy, eye-opening incidents were taking place. Gazi Ahmet Muhtar Pasha, the Commander-in-Chief, was personally firing a cannon and Ferik Kurt İsmail Pasha was assisting him as the number one artilleryman.

As the sun was slowly disappearing, another sun was rising and the Turkish flag was being hoisted on the Topdağı bastions.

This is how we, Turks defended Erzurum