Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1880-03-10
GENERAL MELIKOFF.
From the New York Tribune.

FROM the New York tribune.
General Loris Melikof, is the son of an
American merchant, and began his mill
tary career as an officer in a Hussar regi-
ment in St. Petersburg. His talents were
recognized by Mouravief, the Governor
General of the Caucasus, but until the
opening of the campaign of 1877 he had
an opportunity to handle large body of
troops, or to learn the science of war in
the open field. He was selected, how
ever. as the commander of the principal
column which invaded Armenia from the
line OF the Caucasus, and in the end justi-
fled the sagacity of the Russian War
Office. The plan of the campaign which
had been adopted by the headquarters
staff was exceedingly brilliant, but it was
based upon the nominal rather than the
available strength of the army. IF the
10000 men called for by the estimates
had been ready for active operations the
concentric movement of three columns
upon Erzcrum would have resulted in a
speedy and overwhelming triumph. But
the nominal strength of the army was
scarcely 100000 men, and neither Nell
koH's patience nor Tergukassoff7 S courage
could compensate for the default in the
original estimates Ardahan was carried
by storm. Kars was invested, Mukhtar
was forced back to the mountains, and
the appearance of the Bayazid column on
the flank was anxiously awaited. The
Iurklsh commander at the critical mo-
nent took advantage of shorter lines of
communication, and by weakening his
1occaI Ii. Il
Russian left wing Melikoff attacked
the enemy in front, and after severe re-
pulse retreated toward Kars. The left
wing, after winning victory a Zaidikan
was forced to retire and reestablish it's
communications with Erivan. The in
vestment of Kars and Batum was aban-
doned, and Melikof's campaigns seemed
to have ended midway in disaster.
Although it was reported that Melikoff
had been removed from command in dis
grace the Grand Duke Michael was will
ing to give him chance to retrieve his
reputation. He resumed operations about
the middle of August, two months after
the retreat from the mountains and lost
one OF his advanced positions The Rus
sian forces were then concentrated and
heavily reinforced, and by brilliant gen
eralshlp Mukhtars army was cut in two
The battle of Aladja was an overwhelm-
ing victory for the Russians, and the vic
torious commander lost no time in follow
ing up his success. He pursued Mukhtar
to kars, and again defeated him at Dave
Boyun. The storming of Kars OF Nov
Is was the most brilliant achievement of
the war. Although a night attack on
Erzerum was repulsed, the town was
closely invested, and by this series of
successes the Russians were virtually
masters of Armenia.
Me6kod is handsome soldier, with
black curly hair, large dark sparlling &
eyes, a somewhat bronzed complexion,
and features which, without being quite
regular, are comely and refined, He is
of middle stature, of slight, nervous
structure, and spare in person. His man
ners are polished and extremely afable
while his conversation is lively and easy.
He has been one of the most successful
OF the military governors who have been
invested with supreme power in their dis
tricts during the last year. He is man
OF great and varied accomplishments. In
addition to his native language, Arme-
nian, he is familiar with and speaks Rus
sian, Turkish, Persian and French, but
is ignorant of German and English. He
was great favorite with his soldiers. He
visited them in their bivouacs, tasted
their soup and inquired after their COM
fort. He took especial care of the sick,
frequently inspecting the, field hospitals
and ambulances. At the same time he
was strict disciplinarian, and required
from al, and particularly from the nom
commissioned officers of his army,a punct-
ual performance of their duty. His age
is 81.