[2] After Suleiman Pasha's defeat at Plovdiv, his scattered troops retreated through the Rhodope Mountains and down the Maritsa valley, accompanied by large and chaotic groups of Turkish refugees.

a reconnaissance Russian squadron east of Harmanli encountered a large column of 30,000 Turkish refugees accompanied by scattered Ottoman army detachments.

The column broke up and dispersed, the able-bodied portion of the caravan fled toward the mountains, the old, the sick and the very young who were left behind perished in the freezing weather.

A group of Muslims were overtaken at Sarambey (present day Septemvri) by Russian troops who seized all of their possessions and carried off the young women.

General Skobelev ordered a small Russian detachment to collect the remaining supplies and surviving refugees (including children) and bring them back to Harmanli.