Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1903-03-09

Besides. ~ lS KNOWN mat on account
of particular circumstances the brother
of the ear had been shut up in the
town since the commencement Of the
invasion
That situation must be given in de-
tail.
1t was a journey of political impor;
lance that had led the grand duke into
those distant provinces of eastern Asa.
The grand duke. after having visited
the principal cities of Siberia. travelling
In military rather than princely style,
without any retinue, escorted by de-
tachment of Cossacks. had gone even
as far as the countries beyond the Bal
kan mountains. Nicholaevsk, the last
Russian town which is situated on the
shores Of the sea of Okhotsk. had been
honOred by his visit.
Having reached the boundaries of the
immense Muscovite empire, the grand
duke was returning to lrKutsk, from
whence he would soon return to Eu-
rope, when the news reached him OF
that invasion, which was as sudden as
it was menacing. He FASTENED to re-
there communication with Russia had
been cut off He still received a few tel
grams from st. Petersburg and Mos
COW. He could even answer them.
Afterward the wire was cut under the
circumstances already known to the
reader.
Irkutsk was isolated from the rest of
the world.
The grand duke could do nothing but
organize resistance, a thing which he
did with that firmness and GOODNESS of
which he had given under other cir
cumstances incOntestable proofs.
News of the taking of Ichim, Of
Omsk, of Tomsk. came successfully to
Irkutsk. They could not count on be-
ing soon relieved. but they must pre-
vent at all price the occupation of the
capital of Siberia. The few troops scat
tered over the province of Amur and
those in the government of IrkutSk
could not arrive in sufficient numbers
to arrest the Tartar columns. Besides,
since Irkutsk could not possibly escape
being invested, it was of the utmost
Importance to put the town in a posi-
ton to sustain a siege of some length.
Those works were begun on the day
on which Tomsk fell into the hands of
the Tartars. At the same time as that
last news the grand duke learned that
| the emir of Bokhara and the allied
/ khans were directing the movement in
! person, but what he did not know was
! that the lieutenant of those barbarouS
| chiefs was Ivan Ogareff, a Russian Off
Ger whom he himself had cashiered.
From the first, as has been seen, the
inhabitants of the province of Irkutsk
had been ordered to abandon the towns
and villages. Those who did not seek
refuge in the capital were compelled to
retire beyond Lake Baikal, to where
! the invasion would not likely extend its
! ravages. The crops of corn and forage
were requisitioned for the town, and
that last rampant of Russian power in
the extreme east was prepared to re-
sist for some time.
Irkutsk, founded in 1911, is situated
at the confluence of the Irkut and the
Angara, on the right bank of the river
Two wooden bridges. built on piles and
so arranged as to open the whole width
of the river for the necessities of navi
CATION, Joined the town with it's out
skirts which extended along the left
bank. The outskirts were abandoned
the bridges destroyed. The passage OF
the Angara, which was very wide al
that place, would not have been posi-
BILE under the fire of the besieged. But
the river could be crossed either above
or below the town, and as q cOnse
quence Irkutsk was in danger of being
attacked on the east side, which NJ
rampant protected.
1t was, then, in works of fOrtificatioI
that the hands were first employed
They worked day and night. The gran(
duke found spirited population il
supplying that need, and afterward b,
found them most brave in it's defense
Soldiers, merchants, exiles, peasants
all devoted themselves to the common
safety. Eight days before the Tartar
had appeared on the Angara rampant
of earth had been raised. A moat
flooded with the waters of the Angara
had been dug between the inner an,
OultI NdI VI the lOTllHCdllOu. III
city could no longer be taken by a sud
den assault. 1t must be invested AM
besieged.
The third Tartar column-that whic
had assembled the valley of the YEN
sei-appeared in sight of Irkutsk on tn
oath of September. 1t Immediately oC
cupied the abandoned outskirts, O
which the very houses had been &c
, ! stroyed in order not to impede the az
| ton of the archduke's artillery, Whic
was unfortunately very insufficient.
The Tartars organized themselve
, while waiting the arrival Of the tw
other columns which were commando
by the emir and his allies.
, The junction OF these divers corp
took place on the Goth of September q
l the camp OF Angara, and all the arm!
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