Colonel Markosoff's expedition was defeated by 149 degree heat and lack of water, they turned back 120 miles from Khiva.

203

" .. .the Orenburg and Kinderly expeditions. . .as will. .be seen.. .did the greater part of the fighting, and it was by them Khiva was really taken. To the presence of these columns in his territory is also to be attributed the fact that the Khan made so slight a resistance to the advance of Kaufmann.

"These detachments had already arrived before the walls of Khiva, while Kaufmann was still some ten miles distant; and it is not the least remarkable part of this remarkable campaign that four different columns, starting from as many different points of the compass, more than a thousand miles apart, should, nevertheless, have arrived before Khiva within a day of each other."

"General Krysanovsky, the governor of Orenburg only received the order to organize the Orenburg expedition during the first days of January...everything was ready...by the 27th of February.

"The troops...were assembled at three different points, Orenburg, Uralsk, and Orsk, and commenced the march about the 27th of February, to unite at the fort on the Emba river...about 400 miles from the different points mentioned.

204

"...The soldiers were provided with furs, and heavy furred boots; felt tents...had been placed along the road at intervals of a day's march; wood for fires, and hay for the horses and camels had been collected; and every precaution which experience had taught them had been taken to avoid a similar disaster to that which befel Perovsky in l840...There were thus assembled at Emba nine companies of infantry, about 1600 men; nine sotnias of Cossacks, 1200 men; together with eight pieces of flying artillery, a battery of rockets, and four mortars, provided with three times the ordinary supply of ammunition. The train consisted of 5000 camels...The soldiers only received their ordinary rations: two pounds of black bread and half a pound of meat a day, tea and sugar morning and evening, two glasses of vodka a week, besides vegetables, cheese, vinegar, and other this of antiscorbutic nature. Supplies were taken for two months and a half, and felt tents, each affording room for twenty men, were provided for the whole detachment.

206-207

This force was composed of 12 companies of infantry, one sotnia of 150 cossacks, and two sotnias of the Mountaineers of the Caucausus each contaning 120 men -- in all about 1800 men. There were ten cannons, and a battery of rockets.

It was calculated that 1300 camels would be required; but the number obtained was far below this. The Kirghiz of Mangischlak refused to supply the 600 required of them, and Major Navrodski had to be despatched to seize them. After a pursuit of some days and a small skirmish, the Major succeeded in capturing 380 camels, 110 horses, and about 3000 sheep and goats. Thus, with a very small supply of camels, with many even of this supply daily dying, the journey through the waterless desert seemed a journey to certain destruction.

During the first five days of the march, the troops had a foretaste of the horrors of the desert. The heat was excessive, and the sand blinding and scorching. The wind, instead of alleviating the heat, only added to it, for it came against the face like a blast from a furnace...The few wells that were found on the way were brackish, muddy, and full of insects. The soldiers bore all these hardships with cheerfulness; and although the camels and horses died by the hundred, the health of the men remained good.

208-209

The order of march was as follows: a sotnia of Cossacks formed the advance-guard, and on each side, at a distance of about 3000 feet, there was a patrol of two horses. Then came the staff, with an escort of a company of cavalry, four horses acting as a patrol on either side. A sotnia followed, also protected by flanking patrols. The rear was protected by a company of infantry, under whose charge were twenty camels loaded with forage for the horses of the staff.

The main body of the army followed at some distance behind. In this way from twenty to thirty miles were travelled daily. The march used to began at five or six o'clock in the morning, and was continued until noon. From twelve till three there was a halt; for during that time the heat was so great that it was impossible to attempt any movement, even the erection of a tent. At three the march was resumed, and was continued to ten or eleven, or sometimes even two o'clock in the morning. The horses were fed and watered once a day; sometimes they had to remain even thirty hours without water.

More Part 2: Russia in Asia

Kaufmann and Supplies
Surrender of Hazar-Asp Fortress
Col. Markosoff's Expedition
Gen. Verevkin's March to the Capital
Fort Siting
Large Map of Khiva area (slow: 158K)

Part 1: Russia in Asia (in Heliograph #102)

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