Heroic Defence and Honourable Capitulation.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 14, 19 February 1915, Page 3 (Supplement)

Heroic Defence and Honourable Capitulation.

After one of the most heroic defences on record, General Eenwick Williams, who was in command of the garrison at Kars —numbering 15,000. chiefly Turks —decided, ou November 25, 1555, that lie must capitulate to the Russians, who, under General Mouravieff, had l>e?n besieging the town since the previous June with an army of -10,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry. Had death from the enemy's guns been the only fear that the besieged had to face, the capitulation would probably never have taken place; but owing in a large measure to the negligence of the Turkish Governor at ErzJouin, starvation as well as death from extreme cold threatened the men and soldiers who would have perished bravely on the battlefield. They, however, quailed when called upon to die a lingering death from such causes as these. On top of all this there was a severs outbreak of cholera, and it was only by famine and disease that the bravs garrison was overcome. Weakened by exposure and want of food, a retreat across the mountains was out of the question. Every day the women &f the town brought their children to the Counc'l and begged for food. Two thousand men were in hcxspital, and quite a hundred men died every day. At last, despairing of obtaining relief that wa» promised them by Selim Pasha, tlia Council determined to give in on certain terms and on November 25 the negotiations were completed. Xofc only did the Russian commandef grant all the concessions demanded by General Williams, but he added others in token of his admiration for the bravery displayed by the garrison, saying: "General Williams, you have made yourself a name in history, and posterity will stand amazed at the endurance the courage, and the discipline which this siege has called forth in the remains of an army. Let us arrange a capitulation that will satisfy the _ demands of war without d : sgracing humanity." And such a capitulation was arranged, to the mutual satisfaction of all concerned. General Williams was detained in Russia as a prisoner of war until after peace had been declared, and on his ieturn to England was created a baronet, with the style of Sir William Fenw''ok Williams of Kars, and awarded an annuity of £I,OOO by the British Government.