The Trans-Caucasian Campaign of the Turkish Army Under Omer Pasha

First published 1855 and 1856. The arrival of a Franco-British fleet in the Black Sea in 1854 to aid Ottoman Turkey against Russian expansion was seen as a formidable danger to Russian rule in the Caucasus. Against the better judgement of the Allies, the Turkish army planned to advance on the Russian controlled cities of Kutaisi and Tbilisi. As a Times newspaper correspondent, Oliphant joined this campaign, advancing from Abkhazia to Mingrelia, where the conditions of winter forced a withdrawal before a major confrontation with the Russians. Oliphant's accounts are not only notable as living despatches from the front but also as significant studies in the psychology of the remarkable military commanders of the time. The volume also includes a reprint of Oliphant's pamphlet The Trans-Caucasian Provinces, written from the seat of war in Zugdidi, Mingrelia, which argues the strategic importance of the South Caucasus and presents an overview of problems posed by the religious make-up of the region.