New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-11-10
ASPECTS OF TIE: MAR.

reste of Catherine II, could venture this proud
appesl 20 his people At that period. indeed the
Russians had made giant strides. The whole Of
South, or New Russia from the Don to the Dnles'
ter. and the whole Of West Russia from the
Dpiester to the Niemen, were added TO the hui'
,ire. Odessa, Cherson, Charkoy, feksterinoslay'
and Seyastopol were founded; aud indeed so long
as tue great nation" of the East had no more
dangerous opponents TO fight than Turkish janis
ssries and Polish volunteers every march appeared
70 imply a conquest and every declaration of war
TO be a sure guarantee of speedy and glorious
treaty of peace 1t is true the Russian legions, on
yenturipg hey ond their fayore and ground
received a terrible lesson at Zorndo,f, and we're
saved from even a seyerer one at hunersdori by
the Intervention OF the Austrian Loudon only. IL
i. tine that in 1889 even suvarof found his
ma ch in Messena, and hsd to pay dearly for his
Italian victories with the defeat Of Zurich aud the
disastrous retreat scross the Saint GOthard But
fer all that the time of Catherine aud Suvarof
was the great and glorious epoch OF the Russian
arms. and never since then has a similar splendor
surrounded them At Austerlitz, at Friedand, the
in,eriority of the Russian army, as compared with
the French, was signally manifested; and II al
Eylau they were saved from similar disgrace, II
WAS because Lestocq, with the remnants OF the
Ptussian army, rendered them the same service
London had done at Kunersdorf At Borodino an
inferior number Of Frenchmen defeated them ana
had not Napoleon kept his guards in reserve the
defeat would have been decisive. The battles
fought by the Russians during the French retreat
from Moscow we're far more glorious to the latter
than to the former Aud in the campaigns OF 1913
and 1874, it was the Germans who had not only to
snpply the numerical force and to bear the brunt
of every battle, but to find the generals who
could plan them.
OF the campaigns against Napoleon, how
ever, it might be said that there was no dis
grace in being beaten by man who was IN
himself host; but when the campaign OF
1859, against the Turks, and OF 1881,
against the Poles showed again what superiority
Of numbers aud what great efforts and waste Of
tine it cost the Russians to overcome opponents
far less formidable than Napoleon and his well-sea-
soued troops the decline of Russian military glory
WAS evident 1t cannot be denied that at the very
time when Russian influence in European politics
WAS stronger than ever the actual feats of the
Russian army justified anything but such politi
cal position. Aud though Russia, in consequence
of the events Of 1850, wa; actually raised to
the position Of arbier and protector OF all Europe
east of the Rhine, the campaign which seemingly
elevated her to such omnipotence, the Hungarian
campaign, was positively dissraceful to Russian
peneraship, and did not add single laurel leaf to
the crown Of victory of the "inyincible Rus
sian army
This young, powerful, irresistible nation"
this people of the future" as the Russians mod
estly called themselves, in military sense at
least eliminated long ago, and was even declining
when the present war began The Russian army
was ranked as a respectable force from tue te-
racty and sodity Of its infantry, though with
many shortcomings which more than made up
for these advantages II appeared imposing
by its numbers proft ssedly ready for war at
any moment and by the implicit obedience
which held this vast machine together. But
alas what has become Of this mighy army, this
"steIn fact" which so frightened Western Europe.
Three of It's eight corps, on the Danube, were
che cked by what Turkey could find to oppose to
them; and when the Crimean campaign begao, divs-
ion after division corps after corps was drawn into
the Unsuitable whirlpool, never to dsentangle them
selves again. Indeed the army was drained to it's
very reserves and elite troops The innate bravery
as we'll as the innate clumsiness Of the Russian sol
diers was aided by the engineering skill OF
truly gift man, Todteben; it was favored by the
sins of omission aud commission of the allied
H.fa otnr
and even unparalleled of its kind, kept up full
eleven months but With all that, there was not
a single actual success, not single victory, and,
indeed, invariable and iDglOriOus defeat wherever
tee Russians attempted to take the initiative, no
matter against wat sort Of enemies.
Except the truly incredible bravery displayed by
the French and English soldiers, aud in some in
stances BY the Turks, also, the whole of this war
does OF afford to the Allies much matter for brag
giIg; from the Alma to the present day, their gen.
eralshp has been worse than Indifferent, and in no
single instance lave they ever seized time by the
forelock But such days as lnkermann and the Cher
maya prove irretrievaby the superiority of western
armies over the Russians, while the repealed as
sauts on Silistria and Kars prove that under GER
tain crcums,a nces even the Turks ale more than
match for item This war has been distinguished
By more hand TO haLd encounters than all the wars
of Napoleon together. Not an action but the
troops have actuAly closed, even in the open field
Everywhere the bayOnet ha, decided in the last in
stance. NoS the bayonet-Rssski styk-always
was the great boast Of the Russians. And pre-
cisely with the bayonet have the Russians been
bestan in every instance and by inferior numbers