The Turks were greatly alarmed by these successes of the
Russians, and by the formidable preparations of the other powers allied
against them.
The emperor hoped that fortune, so long adverse, was now turning in his
favor. He collected a large force on the frontiers of Turkey, and
intrusted the command to General Seckendorf. The general hastened into
Hungary to the rendezvous of the troops. He found the army in a
deplorable condition. The treasury being exhausted, they were but poorly
supplied with the necessaries of war, and the generals and contractors
had contrived to appropriate to themselves most of the funds which had
been furnished. The general wrote to the emperor, presenting a
lamentable picture of the destitution of the army.
"I can not," he said, "consistently with my duty to God and the emperor,
conceal the miserable condition of the barracks and the hospitals. The
troops, crowded together without sufficient bedding to cover them, are a
prey to innumerable disorders, and are exposed to the rain, and other
inclemencies of the weather, from the dilapidated state of the caserns,
the roofs of which are in perpetual danger of being overthrown by the
wind. All the frontier fortresses, and even Belgrade, are incapable of
the smallest resistance, as well from the dilapidated state of the
fortifications as from a total want of artillery, ammunition and other
requisites.
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