The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1900-12-18


spising an enemy. Great as was Ma
poleon he had the sense to know that
all wisdom cannot be carried in one
head and that valor is not confined to
a single race. Said he: "lt is not
enough to kill Russian soldier. You
must also knock him down." In this
witticism he summed up the virtues of
the Muscovite warrior Soldiers of ten
der fiber, high intellect and fine mag
ination may be very brave, but at the
same time are more sensitive to hard
ship and pain than men of thicker skin |
and more sluggish minds.
The Russian soldier is amazed at
nothing. Nothing frightens him, moth
ing daunts him. In the passage of the |
Balkans in the war of 1877 General
q Gourko's troops suffered beyond meas
ure and endured the hardships without
flinching Says an eyewitness of this /
audacious feat, in every way equal to
Napoleon's crossing of the Alps:
"Theii: greatcoats were in tatters;
there remained but the threads of
them, already burned by fire. The la
pei, the sleeves and the, back Were OF
llHu DllSSlIlS. hey NSlC LUZ VI iioASS'
caused by the soldiers literally throw
ing themselves on the campfires to get
warm. Their coats and their trousers
We're rotten. The only linen they had
was for dressing wounds. Mittens and
gloves they had long since left behind
them. The skin of their hands in touch
ing metal would be sadly torn because
of frostbite. In the smoke of the camp
fire their faces had become black and
shiny Their eyes. red and watery,
were half closed from the smoke, blind
ed from the snow and prolonged wake.
fitness.
.sThus clothed, lost among the noun
tain peaks, far above the clouds, in the
midst of an intense frost and of fogs,
covered With snow and assailed by
storms, they lived many days, contin-
ually Oh the alert. struggling to haul
their guns into position, with little
means for obtaining subsistence, a
great number succumbing to fatigue or
frost, but the most marching straight
to the goal.''
Naturally the bulk of the recruits or
conscripts of the army of the car come
from the peasant class. Military sery-
iceis obligatory upon all, with few eS-
ceptions and if the law were enforced
Russia would have All army OF 1000
600 men in time of peace With hel
population of 130,O00,000 Russia should
be able to call out 20, 100000 ablebodieC
men for war. Under the present organ
ization. when all the soldiers are will
their colors, including with the regular
army the territorial army and the mill
tia, there are over 100000 soldiers
ready for the field.
The Russian army organization i!
that of regiments and corps d'armee
The strength of a corps is 10000 men
The subordinate corps of engineers
military trains, railroad electricians
torpedoists, velocipedsts, police, ant
so on, are we'll drilled and equipped
for service. The arms borne by tn
soldiers are of the newest pattern Q
repeaters, and the field, siege. noun
tain and horse batteries are suppie
with the best guns money can procure
The average Russian recruit is vi
lage boy, raw and ill disciplineG bu
he readily yields to army training, fo
in spite OF the class distinctions the o.
fcers cultivate spirit of comrader
with the men. The etiquette of til
camp is severe in the extreme, b.
when off duty the officers and soldier
talk and banter without reserve.
fighting, the Russian soldier prefer
the bayonet. 1t is saying anon
Russians that 1.-The bullet is clums.
the bayonet alone is the thing for IL
brave"
While the proud necked German
looked upon the American civil war ;
an affair of the mob, Russia Studio
every phase of it with critical eye, al
from the campaigns of the redoubtab
Forrest in the west they learned Il
proper use of cavalry. For fighting {
horseback Russia has in her Cossac
the finest cavalry in the world, wi
no end to the battalions she can mt
ter, but all mounted men in the RI
sian army are taught to maneuver a.
to fight on foot. using their steeds
Forrest used his-''to get thar fust wi
the mostest men" General Sherm
said that when in Russia he found
the officers we'll versed in the lesso
of the American campaigns. The {
idea of the dashing cavalry char
with saber had been given up, and
carbine came into favor instead. I
modern soldier takes to the long ran
weapon and one that strikes to k
The casualty lists of a mounted char
where there is great laundering
steeds and slashing Of men usua
turn out to be very small.
The two types of horseback fight
in Russia are the dragon and the G
sack, and the tendency is to make
Cossack more Of a dragon than M
rough rider. The Russians are g