American Rifle - Alexander Rose [97]
Winchester, as usual, did very well for himself out of these arms deals.
Not only was a lavish commission undoubtedly involved for arranging the Peabody contract, but in the early 1870s his ammunition division had been embroiled in an expensive patent-infringement battle with its main competitor, Hartley’s UMC. Planning to give Hartley one in the eye, the Winchester company acted as a covert cutout for the British government (which was unofficially backing the Turks against the Russians) and supplied 280 million empty but primed rimfire cartridges to the Sublime Porte between 1874 and 1877. However, Winchester and Hartley each soon realized that if their rivalry turned so bitter that third-party competitors saw an opening and entered the fray, they would both lose, so the two firms soon came to terms on their patent problems. For all concerned, the sensible thing to do was to cooperate and ensure that the UMC-backed centerfire—which Winchester first integrated into the Model ’73—became the standard form of ammunition here and abroad.97
While Winchester and UMC were making peace, the Turks bravely awaited the Russian onslaught. In the trenches outside Plevna, Osman Pasha had placed thin lines of skirmishers as a decoy to lure the enemy closer. When 7,500 Russian infantry advanced on July 18, they quickly put the Turks to flight. Assuming the town was lightly defended, they pushed forward into Plevna. All was quiet. But behind each door and on each roof and below each window lurked a Turk armed with a Winchester. The Russians, armed with dated but serviceable single-shot rifles, plodded forward. At Osman Pasha’s signal, every man broke cover and poured in round after round at point-blank range. The two Russian commanders were among the first to fall. Within twenty minutes, in a horrific scene reminiscent of Braddock’s defeat and of Custer’s last stand, no fewer than 74 Russian officers and 2,771 of their men were slaughtered in the crowded alleys. Turkish losses were twelve killed, 30 wounded.
Stunned by the defeat, Grand Duke Nicholas, supreme commander of the Russian forces, ordered his generals to attack or die. When they explained that the Turks, having received reinforcements, now outnumbered them 50,000 to 26,000, Nicholas dismissed their fears. On July 30 the Russians were again ready to force the issue with a hopeless plan to attack from the north and east simultaneously. Quite how the two distant wings were expected to communicate and coordinate with each other was never discussed. Meanwhile Osman Pasha had distributed his men in three staggered lines on the reverse slopes of hills and ridges overlooking open plains. Carefully dug in, they would have ample opportunity to fire at the enemy as he crossed the country toward them.
In the north, the extreme left of the Russian advance, General Mikhail Skobelev’s Cossacks reached within six hundred yards of the Turkish positions but came under withering long-range rifle fire and withdrew. On the inside left Prince Schachowskoi’s lancers and infantry managed to occupy the lightly held village of Radisovo. The emboldened prince decided to press on and lined up his two brigades to assault the Turkish lines. To the Russians’ surprise, men began dropping at about 2,500 yards’ range, with Peabody-Martini rifle bullets embedded in their torsos. Since no shoulder arm could achieve that range,