Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1893-07-29

mand of troops on the battlefield to be
equal to any demand upon his cour-
age, but to avoid merely foolhardy dis
plays of valor. On occasions, however,
if he believes that nothing else than
an unnecessary risking of his own life
will nerve his men to do their duty,
brave officer will undoubtedly resort
to such an expedient. A Russian
officers remarkable exploit of this
nature has lately been put on record
in the Memoirs OF Gen. Kurapatkin.
At the siege of Plevna by the Rus
slams and Roumanians, in the Russo
Turkish war of 1878, the attacking
army was composed largely of raw
recruits and young men, whereas the
besieged Turks were, for the most
party, veterans and excellent soldiers.
Besides defending their works well,
they made many intrepid saliies upon
their assailants.
The Turks had discovered a weak
point in the Russian lines, whare a
trench was defended by battalion of
raw recruits. They opened a heavy
fire of shot and shell upon this trench,
and massed their forces for an assault
uDon it.
The battalion was under the com
mand of young captain. The missiles
were dropping into the trench, killing
and disabling many. Terrorstricken,
the troops were wavering, and evil
IDENTIFY on the point of fight.
At this moment the young captain
looked at his watch. why, it's din
ner-timer' said he. Ivan, gather
some of those sticks and put on the
camp kettle here!"
With this he jumped out upon the
ground outside the trench, in full
range of the Turkish infantry fire,
and completely exposed also to the
artillery fire which was going on
heavily.
His terrified servant obeyed, and be-
gan to cook the captains dinner.
Meantime the Turkish infantry sailed
forth, and began an advance.
/ Fire. the captain commanded his
men in the trench. Aim lower: that's
it. Ivan, what are you letting that
kettle boil over for?"
The man handed the captain food,
and he ate coollv. The Turks charged
up within hundred PAGES. The cap
tain, his mouth half full of food, gave
orders to his men which concentrated
their deadly fire upon exactly the
right spot. But he never left his ex-
posed post outside the trenches, and
did not cease to eat deliberately.
All this time the bombs were drop
ing mercilessly into the trench; but
the recruits kept their places well, and
repulsed the assault.
When the Turks had withdrawn
completely, and the fire had ceased,
the Russian soldiers found that Ivan
had cooked large kettleful of soup,
of which they all partook, the captain
eating his share with the men.
Goodness" he said; those fellows
thought they were going to interfere
with our dinner, but they didn't"
Another kind of bravery, and one
which perhaps makes a severer test OF
the moral qualities, was that which
the troops of Gen. Gourko displayed in
their famous winter march over the
Balkan Mountains in the same war.
In temperature which daily fell To
five degrees above zero, over ice and
snow and sharp rocks, these embattled
peasants had marched until theii
shoes were worn to pieces. Some
lucky few among the soldiers were
able to lind sheepskins and calfskins
pieces OF which they wrapped about
their feet. The rest dragged on with
bare feet, leaving a trail of blood or
the frozen earth.
There were no rests. II was neces
sary to press on. At night, the mer
lay down in the snow, under the shell
ter of rock if they could find one. In
the morning, those who had not frozer
to death over night rose and pressed OF
again, not dreaming of complaint.
IN this state they met the enemy
and had good deal of hard fighting
to do. Who can doubt that they vel
coined death in battle, even though
their bodies were left unburied, il
heaps, on the mountains side?