The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1882-07-20
THE HERO OF RUSSIA.
sudden Death of General SkObe-
IeiF-A sketch OF the Pop
uIar Leader.

-
General Skobeleff removes one OF
the most picturesque and heroic
figures from the stage of cotempo-
rary history. Though but thirty
seven years of age he was the idol
of the Russian army and of the Rus
sian people, the representative OF
their most patriotic aspirations
and their brightest star OF
hope amid the clouds and dark
ness that surround them. Ii
is but a short time since his few
incautious utterances set all Europe
IN a ferment, and the Importance
that was everywhere attached to
them was an evidence of how strong
a hold this gallant soldier was known
to have upon the popular heart. The
son of one successful general officer
and the grand nephew of another,
Michael Dimitrievitch Skobeleff
was literally man of war from his
youth. Expelled from the univer-
sity at eighteen for his part in some
youthful disturbances, he had
already gained the reputation
of a great reader and the mas
ter of several languages, and
his passion for reading, which
he retained through life and pursued
at all times and seasons, Is a char
acteristic that his biographers dwell
upon with wonder. He joined a
regiment of guards, with which he
served during the Polish insurrec-
ton of 1868, but on the return of the
regiment to st. Petersburg
Skobeleff entered the Staff col
lege, where he studied hard tor two
years and then was sent off with a
captains commission to the Cauca-
sus, where Russia usually has sumo
work for soldiers TO do when there
is nothing going on in the west.
After a while he was transferred to
Turk estan, and here Skobeletf first
came prominently into notice, in
1873, in the expedition to Khiva. He
was then lieutenant colonel of n
Cossack regiment, and he displayed
such conspicuous enterprise and
daring that after Khiva was caplur-
ed he was sent off OH a perilous mis-
sion of his own among the wild
tribes, the result of which was his
decoration and promotion to colo
nelcy on General Kaufmann's
staff. Two years later, in
the first expedition against
Kholand. he gained ms major
generalship and in the following
year he subdued that province and
was made its governor. Here he
had rather less trouble with the ma
tives than with the contractors.
whose populations he stopped and
who endeavored to secuEe his re-
moval; but Skobeleff came out of
the fight triumphantly and his repu-
tation was already well established
when the Turkish war broke out.
The story of his exploits in the
Bulgaria campaign includes all that
was most exciting in the war which
brought the Russian army within
sight of the minarets of STEAMBOAT.
From the day when, "to show the
stuff he was made of" he swan his
horse across the Danube while Gen
eral Dragomiroff was forcing the
passage at Simnitza, to the time
when he could with difficulty be re-
strained from marching into Con-
stantinople as soon as the British
fleet entered the Sea of Marmora, he
was the most prominent actor in
the drama. He became the legen-
dairy hero of the campaign, and
in the minds of the common
people he almost monopolized
its glories. He was always in
the forefront of the hottest battle !;
four horses were shot under him in
ten days, but he was only wounded
once, and after being in constant ex-
pectation of death for months he re-
turned home safe and sound. His
white uniform was to his soldiers as
the white plume of Henri Quatre at
the battle of Ivry. 81 have heard
the soldiers speak OF him." says
Green, Gas general I'M
der whom they would rather fight
and die than fight and live under
They had often to die
fifty per cent of his COM
mand persisted but he spared no
to minister to their wants
and to supply their needs. His di-
vision was the best fed and best
and best armed in the army.
He was always with them in the most
positions in the fight, Sleep
ing with them in the trenches, and
looking after all their necessities in
the camp. In short, says Lieutenant
Green, che succeeded so thoroughly
in making himself one with his di-
vision that his men responded to his
thoughts as readily as the muscles
obey the will. L doubt if a more
thoroughly ideal relation between a
general and his men has existed since
the days of Cromwell"
Skobeleff's personal "dash" has
obscured the larger pro-
portions of his generalship. Daring
to recklessness when occasion de-
manded, he was, on occasion, a
model of caution, as when he waited
q whole half year before moving
into the Akhel Tekke country, but
when he did move, achieved the con-
quest against four times his force
with loss of only a few hundred
men. AS commander, not less
than as a fighter, he displayed the
highest type of military skill, and
even his personal peculiarities-like
his habit of arraying himself for
battle as though for review or a
ball-were made to contribute to his
power over the minds and hearts of
his men. He was a handsome man,
Of imposing figure, with most cour-
teous and fascinating manners, and
every one who came in contact with
him seems to have admired him ar
IDENTIFY. He was just the man to
feel and give expression to the
the aspirations of modern
Russians and Sclavs everywhere,
and it was at dinner given by Ser.
Wan students at Paris last winter
that he made that remarkable speech
that Russia would take the
part of the peninsular Sclays against
Austria. AT that time the Pan
sclavonic movement was apparently
force and there was some
question as to whether the reproof
to Skobeleff at court,
for his indiscretion, was really very
severe. He was sent of, however,
TO a command on the Asian frontier
and for some months has not been
heard of. Meanwhile, the German
party has gained control at court
and the prominent Sclavophiles, and
notably the recognized leaders of
the liberalizlng Russian party find
not only out of favor but
in some peril, Ignatieff
and Melikoff are retired; Makary,
he fearless archbishop of Moscow,
died suddenly" a few weeks ago,
and now the bravest and most pop
llar of them all, the leader most to
be feared by the dominant court