Their local organization consisted of a small "inner ring," which had not more than a dozen members at most. Next to them came perhaps 600 "sworn soldiers," who were well armed with Mauser pistols, and had each of them taken an oath to fight to the death under the orders of the "ring," and never to surrender under any circumstances. Beyond these again were "adherents" in indefinite number (perhaps 3000 in all), for whom guns had been smuggled in, and stored in secret arsenals; with the idea that this force could be called to arms if ever an opportunity of open rebellion arrived. If the massacre they courted should begin, these arms could of course be of use for defensive purposes.
The guns were a "scratch lot;" the best being Mausers, but the majority Russian military rifles. It would seem that discipline in the Caucasus was benevolently slack, and that very few questions were asked if a soldier sold his rifle for vodka. They had also a good supply of bombs, the material for which was transported from the Caucasus, and made up locally by a chemist of the band.
In the summer of 1905, the Fedais at large attempted what might be called a guerrilla war on a fairly large scale in the district of Mush, to the west of Lake Van. They said they were interfering to protect the peasants from the troops. The troops said that they had been marched down to protect the peasants from the brigands. And the unfortunate peasants heartily wished both parties away! In any case, there were some 300 Tashnakists wandering in the land, having arrived in small parties from Russia; and they were levying open war on the Government, which had to reinforce the local garrison by some 6000 men to deal with the annoyance, and then failed to catch them. One may have one's own opinion of the cause and methods of the Fedais; but it must be admitted that their claim that Armenians proved themselves to be as good fighting men individually as any Turk was well substantiated.
In one case, a party of some twenty of these desperadoes were fairly caught by 700 Government troops, regular and irregular, upon an isolated and waterless hill. It did seem that these men were cornered, for there was not cover for a rat to escape by, and no man can fight against thirst. However, the Armenians did not wait for the next day's attack, but came down that moonless night, provided with the weapons they had--rifles, bombs, and electric torches. Obviously, they had a leader with a head on his shoulders, for their plans were regularly laid. They advanced in couples; and as soon as a challenge was heard Armenian A threw the flashlight from his electric torch on to the sentry, and Armenian B threw the bomb at him and annihilated him. The explosion roused the camp; but the band of Fedais rushed straight on, flashing their lights and throwing their bombs at anything that came in their way. Naturally, half trained troops were not going to face Sheitan himself in this style. They broke; and the band went through without the loss of a man, thanks to an ingenious combination of the tactics of Gideon with those of the modern anarchist.