  The standing army of the Ottoman Empire is in
Every division comprises, three regiments of foot, two of horse, and one of artillery, with 32 guns, the whole amounting to 30,000 men. The soldiers in active service are called Nizam, and those in reserve, Redif. They are raised by conscription, and formerly used to serve all their lifetime, or as long as they were able, but by a commendable measure recently introduced by Riza Pasha, a military reform has been effected, by which they are now relieved at the end of five years, when they go to their respective homes, subject however, to certain military duties at stated times. By this measure, Turkey has been enabled to raise a reserve of no less than 400,000 Redifs. Both Nizams and Redifs are divided into two bodies, commanded by Feriks (or Lieutenant Generals) and Livas (Brigadier General), and the whole of every division by a Serdar or Field Marshal. The entire army is subject to the orders of the Ser-Asker or the Generalissimo, who is the minister of war. The famous Omar Pasha who was one of the Serdars commanding the Asiatic division, has lately been elevated to the post of Ser Asker. The rank and file of the Turkish army in composed of able-bodied and well-drilled soldiers; but they are badly officered by illiterate men, raised from the ranks, who are untarnished by modern reforms and imbued with a due share of the popular national conceit. It is only very recently, that a military school having been established, the army is supplied with well instructed officers, among whom may be found many of the sons of the grandees of the empire. There is, however, a constant jealousy between these more enlightened young commanders, and the old veterans of the ancien rÉgime; the latter regarding the former as mere upstarts and parvenus. The Rayas, or Christian subjects have hitherto been exempt from military service not because they are not fitted to become the defenders of their country, equally with their Mohammedan compatriots, but lest by coming into competition with them they should rise to high posts in the army, and rank even above their Mussulman subordinates. The Turkish navy is comprised thus:
Many of the Turkish vessels of war are noble specimens of naval architecture. For ever since the beautiful models built by Ekford and his successors, Magnificent men of war, vessels of the line, frigates, sloops, brigs, schooners, and cutters lie all along the Bosphorus, fully manned and equipped. But so seldom are they in action, or so rarely do they sail beyond the “ocean stream,” that the men are utterly without the incitement of any real engagements, and unused to rougher seas—so that if, perchance, they are called into active service, more than half of them are confined to their hammocks. Thus the lamentable occurrence at Sinope may be accounted for; the squadron having been obliged to anchor there on its way to Batoum, because nearly all the sailors were sea-sick. The officers themselves are illiterate, and ignorant of the science of navigation. It is true that some few have been educated in the British navy, who are now distinguished in the Turkish marine—and it is to be hoped that many of the scholars of the new naval academy will hereafter elevate the character of their nation on the seas; though there are not the same incentives to maritime emulation as exist in England and America, or even in France. The general staff of the navy contains,
The staff of a man-of-war of first rank, contains,
The entire naval force is under the command of a Captain Pasha or High Admiral, who is the Minister of the Navy. The men, subalterns and even captains, both of the army and navy, are most miserably paid. A common soldier at the rate of seventy-five cents a month, and a captain eleven dollars and rations—so that any deficiency in hospitality or style of living, is not to be attributed to indifference on their own part. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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