Morning journal and courier., 1882-03-31
Price Four Cents,

l cOulu uOt sbGH1 the lOle Qre or the me gen | tlemen of the guard, g and he left their socie- | ty for the Staff college about the time the | Pr1ssians were winning the battle of Sgdowa
 After two years dihgent study he was sent of | with a captains commission to the Caucasus where his grandfather had gained his lgur- els-the year before the Franco -Prussian war l broke out.
 He was then youngster of four and twenty. The first two or three years were 1 passed in guerrilla war iH the mountains-s service useful but uneventful. In 1873, when his upward career may properly be said to begin, he was transferred to TurkestaD, and took part in the famous expedition to Khivs as lieutenant colonel of Cossack regiment He displayed such daring and enterprise that when Khlva was captured he was dispatched 1 with couple of nomads to explore the des- ert region through which the Krasnovodsk column was to have advanced on the robber
 khanate of the steppes, but from which it
 had recoiled in dismay, after half its mem bers had died of want of water SkobeIef
 having discharged his difficult mission with
 brilliant success was decorated, promoted
 to a colonelcy, and attached to General kaufmann's staff. In 1875 he gained his
 maio or-generalship, in the first expedition against Khokand, and in 1876 he conquered
 that province at the head of I 1000 men. and
 was made Governor of the tract of 3O,OOO
 square miles which he had added to the Rus
 sian empire. As soon as the natives were
 defeated he waged such vigorous war on pee ulating contractors that they accused him of
 defalcation, and got him reported to the En- peror as being 8 million roubIes short in his accounts. Skobelef posted of to the capi- tai, demanded an inquiry, displayed his vouchers and, after an exhaustive investiga- tion, received a certificate that his accounts
 were all in order in every particular. No sooner had this been settled than the Russo
 Turkish war broke out, and Skobelef
 marched of to Bulgaria without a command. The story of his exploits in the Bulgarian campaign includes all that was most exciting in the war which brought the Russian army within sight of the minarets of Stamboul. From the day when, ito show the stuff he
 was made of" he swan his horse across ike
 Danube while General Dragomiroff was for
 cling the passage at Simnitza, to the time
 when he could with difficulty be restrained
 from marching into Constantinople as soon
 as the British fleet entered the sea of 8IarmO- "a, he was the most prominent actor in the drama He became the legendary hero of the campaign, and in the minds of the common
 people almost monopolized its glories- He was always Tn the forefront of the hottest battle;
 four horses were shot under him in 10 days,
 but he was only wounded once, and after be- ing in constant expectation of death for
 months he returned home safe and sound.
 His white uniform was 10 his soldiers as the white plume of Henri Quatre at the battle of nave heard the SOl1lers kEeak or him, says Lieut. Greene. as 8 general un- der whom they would rather fight and die than fight and live under another" They had often to die-sometimes % per cent of hls command perished; but he spared no er- ertion to minister to their wants and to sup- ply their needs. His division was the best fed and best clothed and best armed in the army. He was always with them in the most exposed positions in the fight, sleeping with them in the trenches and looking after all their necessities in the camp. In short, says Lieut.. Greene, 'he succeeded so thoroughly in making himself one with his division that his men responded to his thought as readily the muscles obey the will. I doubt if g more thoroughly ideal relation between 6 general and his men has existed since the days of Cromwell"
 His custom of wearing white, as if to court the bullets of his enemies, his reckless per sonal bravery and the strange custom of his always going into battle in his cleanest uniform and fresh underclothing covered with perfume and wearing diamond -hilted sword, in order that, ss he said he might die with his best clothes on, gained him the rep utation Of wild dare devil, which somewhat obscured his real capacity as a general. In reality they only showed how thoroughly he had divined that secret of power which lies in fascinating the imagination well as of appealing to the reason Of men. When he was sent to take Geok Tepe and subdue the Tekkes many shook - their heads and predicted that his impetuosity you'd be his ruin. So far from that being the case, he displayed the utmost caution, acted with the greatest dehberation, refused to move from July to December until he had made all his preparations, and after he had carried on camels to the trenches no fewer than l. 5T5. 900 rounds of ammunition. to say.nothing of several thousands Of heavy shot and shell, he laid siege to Geok fepe and captured that hitherto impregnable stronghold. He had 10000 troops against 40, 900 Asiatics, and he achieved the conquest of the Akhal Tekke country with loss of 93I men. Only once in that campaign did Skobelef display his usual recklessness. After the fortress had fallen he was riding through the country with his escort when he met several Tekkes. He asked who they were. They answered, Friendly Tekkss." How can believe your word" he asked again ''Tekkes never lie,' was their conf dent response. Well" replied Skobelef, If that is the case I will send my escort home and will return accompanied by you.n He was as good as his word, and his trust in the word of the nouads was not misplaced
 General Skobeleff is 8 Russian of the Rus. siaus His life has hitherto had only one se- rious cloud, due to alliance with one who was as cosmopolitan as he was Muscoyite, and it no longer exists As his recent speech shows. he is singularly undiplomatie, elusive and enthusiastic Five years ago he used to horrify English correspondents Tn Bulgaria by discussing plans for the invasion of Izdis, and he fully shares the national resentment against the interference of the congress of Berlin He has great career before him, but if NJ Aksakoff were to ask him to secri- flee his life as a volunteer in the ranks of the insurgents of Herzegovina he would go to death without hesitation to advance the interests of the cause. It Is not often that such enthusiasm Is linked to ''stupendous military genius" which leads Lieut. Greene to declare that should Skobelef live 20 years more "he will be commander in chief in the next war about the eastern question, and his tory Eill then speak of him as one of five great soldiers of the century, side by side with Napoleon, Wellington, Grant and Moltke.'' That may be but at present Gen Skobeletf would deserve better of his coun- try if he were to endeavor to emulate the taciturnity of Grant or the prudent reserve of Moltke.