Letter to Friedrich Engels, July 22, 1854

Author(s) Karl Marx
Written 22 July 1854


First published considerably abridged in Der Briefwechsel zwischen F. Engels und K. Marx, Bd. 2, Stuttgart, 1913 and in full in: Marx and Engels, Works, First Russian Edition, Vol. XXII, Moscow, 1929
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 39


MARX TO ENGELS

IN MANCHESTER

[London,] 22 July 1854 Dear Engels,

The alternative reason you suggest for my long silence[1] is the correct one. It would certainly have been preferable had swotting been the obstacle. I added another £3 to the 5 so as to pay the 'friend'[2] the first instalment and I also needed about £8 for my wife's trip, which could no longer be postponed and which called for all manner of new equipment, since she could naturally not arrive in Trier looking shabby. These extraordinary expenses again brought me into conflict with my permanent and 'decent' creditors AND SO FORTH. 'It's the old, old story.'[3]

Not a sign of life from Cluss for four weeks now.

Que dites-vous de l'Espagne?[4] 557

I must now quite definitely do something further on the military situation in Turkey. Firstly: The mess in Asia. Secondly: What I have been able to glean from the French Press concerning the latest developments on the Danube, though for lack of a map I have no idea whether or not the names are right: Between the 7th and the morning of the 8th there was a battle with the 30,000 strong Russian corps under Soimonov and Khrulov (or should it be e instead of o?). On the evening of the 7th, Khrulov had taken up position to the north of Giurgevo. During the night several Turkish corps passed above and below the town and advanced on the Russians from the rear, with the result that at daybreak Khrulov was compelled to break through, incurring severe casualties in the process. The Russians withdrew, though not in line. One element made for Frateshti, another for Calugemeni (?),[5]

another eastwards for the Argish. There they took up positions and on the 9th and 10th Selim Pasha and Iskander Bey are said to have carried out a successful attack on the Russians in Frateshti. On the 9th Gorchakov moved to Dzurdzuma (?) with 20,000 men and has been bringing in fresh troops daily. His positions: On the left bank of the Argish, the crossings over which have been fortified at Fulojci (?),Falastock (?),Korotzani (?) and Prczietsheni (?). Positions of the Russian army as a whole: Left wing from Kimpolung and Kimpina (?) along the Argish to Braila and Galatz. Turks: From Kalafat through Turna, Giurgevo to Oltenitza and (?) Kalarash. From Turna to Islaz. Here Selim Pasha in contact with Iskander Bey. Main corps at Giurgevo, corps above Giurgevo constitutes an advanced post on the left of the Argish, Oltenitza and Silistria. Thirdly: The total strength of the Russian army, from an article in The Morning Chronicle[6] ; but contrary to the article I estimate a battalion at no more than 550 men.

Infantry.

3 divisions of 3rd corps (Osten-Sacken) 3 " " 4th " (Dannenberg I) 2 " " 5th " Lüders

8 divisions=16 brigades=128 battalions Total approx. 71,000 men

Cavalry. 3 divisions of light cavalry

1 " " " dragoons

128 squadrons each of 120 men, over 15,000 Artillery. 46 batteries (each of 10 guns = 460) ([each of] 8 guns = 368) Servicing crews and drivers =12,000 (?)

In addition: 10 regiments of Cossack regulars with 40 guns, 3 battalions of sappers, train with pontoons or reserve parks, ALL IN

ALL:

128 battalions of infantry = 71,000

3 battalions of sappers 2,000

128 squadrons 15,000

40 pieces of artillery 13,000

train 3,000

Cossacks 8,000

Wall[achian] militia 6,000

Total 118,000

Fourthly: Items which cannot be treated humorously without a map: the hitherto snail-like progress of the French and English, who, it would seem, will not cross the Danube. For what purpose has St-Arnaud ordered his troops to march from Adrianople to Burgas in the present heat? The noble fellow would seem to be perpetually shuttling to and fro between Constantinople and this place or that, simply for the sake of the travelling expenses. What is the truth realiter[7] about the English commissariat in Varna, Devna, etc.?

If you no longer have time to write me an article for Tuesday,[8]

at least send me a few notes which I can use.

Apropos. About the poem.[9] It probably derives from Gottfried, hight Kinkel, or else from a Silesian poet of the school of Opitz, or was it composed by Fteise himself?

I enclose a manuscript snatched from a young writer; show it to no one but Lupus. Who is this young writer?

Salut.

Your

K. M.

  1. ↑ See this volume, p. 468
  2. ↑ Dr Freund. (Freund in German—friend.)
  3. ↑ Heine, 'Lyrisches Intermezzo', 39.
  4. ↑ What do you think of Spain?
  5. ↑ Should be Calugereni.
  6. ↑ 'Prussia. From our own correspondent', The Morning Chronicle, No. 27321, 21 July 1854.
  7. ↑ in actual fact
  8. ↑ 25 July
  9. ↑ See this volume, p. 466.