[London,] 22 July 1854 
Dear Engels, 

The alternative reason you suggest for my long silence’ 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’” 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 anp so rortu. ‘It’s the old, old story.’* 

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

Que dites-vous de l’Espagne?*°*’ 

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 

4 See this volume, p. 468 - > Dr Freund. (Freund in German—friend.) - © Heine, 
‘Lyrisches Intermezzo’, 39. - 4 What do you think of Spain? 

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 0?). 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 (?),* 
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 Prezietsheni (?). 
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’; but contrary to the article I 
estimate a battalion at no more than 550 men. 

Infantry. 

8 divisions of 3rd corps (Osten-Sacken) 
3 my " Ath ” (Dannenberg [) 
2 a ” Sth ” Liiders 

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

Cavalry. 3 divisions of light cavalry 
1 aR » dragoons 

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

a Should be Calugereni. - > ‘Prussia. From our own correspondent’, The Morning 
Chronicle, No. 27321, 21 July 1854. 

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* about the English commissariat in Varna, 
Devna, etc.? 

If you no longer have time to write me an article for Tuesday,” 
at least send me a few notes which I can use. 

Apropos. About the poem.* It probably derives from Gottfried, 
hight Kinkel, or else from a Silesian poet of the school of Opitz, 
or was it composed by Heise 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.