Since all things Turkish, Bulgarian, Roumanian  and Russian are being looked at so critically these days, what more fascinating than the battle of Plevna.

 

The Turks were great proponents of the defensive battle. They marked their ranges with rags and sticks.

 

Oliver Winchester gave certain officers presents of 1866 Winchesters. Being a slightly round shouldered weak and effeminate race,they were delighted to find they could fire the weak .44 rimfire round with no discomfort.  There

is a rumour which I am starting, that due to the bronze (not brass) frame the rifle was called the yellow boy (true) and when the Turkish Officers placed an order for an additional 8-11,000 Yellow Boys they thought they were getting 11,000 sloe eyed youths with honey coloured skins as a freebie (rumour). After the quartermaster was flayed alive the order was supplemented by 50,000,000 rounds of .44 rimfire.

Google tells us a whole German corps would only carry 4,500,000 rounds.

 

The Turks also had  the Martini-Peabody as general issue. This is to this day an incredibly accurate flat shooting rifle, black powder .45 or modern smokeless .303 in the Martini-Henry reincarnation.

 

 

The Russians on the other hand had an obsolescent copy of the Trapdoor Springfield made for them by Colt, the .6 Krnka, also known as the Berdan

  

 

(Made for them by Colt at Harford)

 

The Russians attacked on three separate days, losing 15,000 men out of a total of 150,000 to the Turks' 4,000. The Turks issued each man with the two rifles, one Martini 2,000-200 metres, the Yellowboys 200 metres in. On the fourth day the Turks trickled out, suffering badly from frostbite and wounds. deserters informed the Russians of their plans and the Turks by now short of ammunition were blasted by Russian and Roumanian artillry.The remaining wounded were allegedly slaughtered by Christians. On the other hand, the Turks killed all Russian wounded.

 

Who won?

 

America supplied all the weapons, Colt, Winchester, Peabody, (half Swiss) and the ammunition. The Russians claim to have recovered 500,000,000 live and fired rounds of all calibres.

 

As a matter of interest, several of these

1873 Winchesters were found in use in the area in WW2.

The Bulgarian users were shot by the Russians.