Military Observations of a British Officer on Erzurum-Kars-Ardahan Trip on the Eve of the "93 War" and the Implications of These Observations

Mehmet Alper Demirer

Makale detayları

Military Observations of a British Officer on Erzurum-Kars-Ardahan Trip on the Eve of the "93 War" and the Implications of These Observations

Yazarlar:

Mehmet Alper Demirer

Yayıncı:

Ataturk University

Ana Başlıklar:

Genel Türk Tarihi (Diğer)

Dergi:

Tarih ve Tarihçi Vol.2 Issue 2, pp.157-171

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

12/2023

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001308281

pISSN:

2822-4930

Anahtar kelimeler:

Özet:

 On the eve of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, British officer Frederick Burnaby, who wanted to see what is happening in Anatolia in person, had covered more than 3200 kilometres in five months travelling around Anatolia on horseback. Burnaby reported that during his travel he saw Turkish battalion and regiments while training. The commanders personally showed him most of the barracks, forts, position of the cannons, and the fortified emplacements with the information of how many there were. Burnaby, in his travel book, mentioned the geographical location of Erzurum, and the link roads from this city to Kars, Ardahan, Van and Erzincan. In his travel book he not only mentioned the fortified positions that should be done in the passages of Erzurum and its surroundings and referred to the elements of current defences but he also gave information about the city. Besides, he gave detailed information about conditions in bastions of Kars including the amount of soldiers, weapons and ammunition after visiting many of them, like Kanlı Bastion, Karadağ Bastion, Veli Paşa Bastion, etc. Moving from Kars to Ardahan, Burnaby stated that Ardahan was a bad place in terms of defense purposes; an enemy who seize the Ramadan Hill would easily dominate the Manusa Castle, the most powerful defensive position of the city, and so, would capture Ardahan city.

 On the eve of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, British officer Frederick Burnaby, who wanted to see what is happening in Anatolia in person, had covered more than 3200 kilometres in five months travelling around Anatolia on horseback. Burnaby reported that during his travel he saw Turkish battalion and regiments while training. The commanders personally showed him most of the barracks, forts, position of the cannons, and the fortified emplacements with the information of how many there were. Burnaby, in his travel book, mentioned the geographical location of Erzurum, and the link roads from this city to Kars, Ardahan, Van and Erzincan. In his travel book he not only mentioned the fortified positions that should be done in the passages of Erzurum and its surroundings and referred to the elements of current defences but he also gave information about the city. Besides, he gave detailed information about conditions in bastions of Kars including the amount of soldiers, weapons and ammunition after visiting many of them, like Kanlı Bastion, Karadağ Bastion, Veli Paşa Bastion, etc. Moving from Kars to Ardahan, Burnaby stated that Ardahan was a bad place in terms of defense purposes; an enemy who seize the Ramadan Hill would easily dominate the Manusa Castle, the most powerful defensive position of the city, and so, would capture Ardahan city.

 On the eve of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, British officer Frederick Burnaby, who wanted to see what is happening in Anatolia in person, had covered more than 3200 kilometres in five months travelling around Anatolia on horseback. Burnaby reported that during his travel he saw Turkish battalion and regiments while training. The commanders personally showed him most of the barracks, forts, position of the cannons, and the fortified emplacements with the information of how many there were. Burnaby, in his travel book, mentioned the geographical location of Erzurum, and the link roads from this city to Kars, Ardahan, Van and Erzincan. In his travel book he not only mentioned the fortified positions that should be done in the passages of Erzurum and its surroundings and referred to the elements of current defences but he also gave information about the city. Besides, he gave detailed information about conditions in bastions of Kars including the amount of soldiers, weapons and ammunition after visiting many of them, like Kanlı Bastion, Karadağ Bastion, Veli Paşa Bastion, etc. Moving from Kars to Ardahan, Burnaby stated that Ardahan was a bad place in terms of defense purposes; an enemy who seize the Ramadan Hill would easily dominate the Manusa Castle, the most powerful defensive position of the city, and so, would capture Ardahan city.

 93 harbi arifesinde, Anadoluda olan bitenleri kendi gözleriyle görmek isteyen İngiliz subayı Frederick Burnaby, 1876 yılında, Anadoluyu at sırtında baştanbaşa dolaşarak beş ayda yaklaşık 3200 kilometre yol kat etmiştir. Burnaby, seyahati sırasında Türk tabur ve alaylarını eğitim yaparken gördüğünü anlatmaktadır. Çoğu kışla, tabya, top mevzii ve istihkâm mevzileri bizzat komutanlar tarafından kendisine gezdirilerek sayıları hakkında bilgi verilmiştir. Burnaby seyahatnamesinde Erzurumun coğrafi konumundan, Kars, Ardahan, Van ve Erzincan gibi illerle yapılan bağlantı yollarından söz etmektedir. Seyahatnamede; Erzurum ve civarındaki geçitlerde yapılması gereken istihkâm mevzilerinden, mevcut savunmayı oluşturan unsurlardan bahsederek, şehir ile ilgili bilgiler vermektedir. Ayrıca Karstaki Kanlı Tabya, Karadağ Tabyası, Veli Paşa Tabyası, vb. birçok tabyayı gezerek, tabyaların durumu, buradaki asker, silah ve mühimmat hakkında da detaylı bilgiler aktarmaktadır. Karstan Ardahana geçen Burnaby, Ardahanın savunma amacı bakımından kötü bir yer olduğunu, Ramazan adlı tepeyi ele geçiren düşmanın, şehrin en güçlü savunma mevzii Manusa Kalesine kolayca hâkim olacağını ve Ardahanı ele geçirebileceğini ifade etmektedir.

Makale detayları

Military Observations of a British Officer on Erzurum-Kars-Ardahan Trip on the Eve of the "93 War" and the Implications of These Observations

Yazarlar:

Mehmet Alper Demirer

Yayıncı:

Ataturk University

Ana Başlıklar:

Genel Türk Tarihi (Diğer)

Dergi:

Tarih ve Tarihçi Vol.2 Issue 2, pp.157-171

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

12/2023

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001308281

pISSN:

2822-4930

Ottoman

Russian

Erzurum

Kars

Ardahan

Bastion

MilitaryOsmanlı

Rus

Erzurum

Kars

Ardahan

Tabya

Askeri

Sayı

Makale detayları

Yazarlar: Mehmet Alper Demirer

Yayıncı: Ataturk University

Ana Başlıklar: Genel Türk Tarihi (Diğer)

Dergi: Tarih ve Tarihçi Vol.2 Issue 2, pp.157-171

Belge Tipi: Makale

Yayın Tarihi: 12/2023

Belge Dili: Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.): 2001308281

pISSN: 2822-4930

Sayı

Yazarlar:

Mehmet Alper Demirer

Yayıncı:

Ataturk University

Ana Başlıklar:

Genel Türk Tarihi (Diğer)

Dergi:

Tarih ve Tarihçi Vol.2 Issue 2, pp.157-171

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

12/2023

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001308281

pISSN:

2822-4930