Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-17
COSSACKSFA TOSHINE
COWBOYS OF EUROPE DO NOT
COME UP TO REPUTATION.
japanese Cavalry Seems to Be Able
to Hold Their Own in
Manchuria.

From the New York Tribune.
| Although the Gar of all the Russias may
| proclaim his newborn son commander-in-
chief of all the Cossacks, signifying to his
gallant soldiery that 1.-The little father has
not lost confidence in his chosen troops, the
world, expert military critic and mere lay
man alike, has lost faith in the prowess of
these hordes of irregular cavalry. from
| which so much has been expected and so
| little realized in the present eastern con-
| fict.
| With the memory of the Boer war fresh
in the minds of military men, with the exc
| ploits of the irregular mounted farmers of
| the Transvaal but newly added to military
records, the general expectation was that
| the Cossacks, famed since the days of wild
| Mazeppa as terrible and relentless foes re-
| sembling those that fought under Botha
| and Cronje, would add to their luster. OF
| all fields of battle 1t was particularly APP
propriate that Asia should be their chosen
| fighting ground, for, following Skobelon
| and all the famous Russian leaders, the
Cossack cavalry has carried the Russian
empire from the Ural to the Pacific as the
| ancient pioneers of America bore a more
| peaceful rule from the Alleghanies to the
Pacific.
Military critics who study the history of
the Cossack find, however, that his exploits
! belong rather in the volumes devoted to
border warfare against unciviiiZed toes
tHdH 10 the RECORDS cavalry IN civilized
| war, established by generals like Murat,
| Sheridan and Forrest. From the beginning
| the Cossacks have seldom distinguished
| themselves against such foes as the jap
anese have proved themselves.
AS early as Poltava, the fatal battle
which ended the conqueSts of Charles All
| of Sweden and made Peter the Great mas
ter of the land of the Don Cossacks, their
battles in open field have been generally
unsuccessful. Not even the famous Ma
zeppa could lead his Cossacks to victory
here, and their independence was the price
exacted by the emperor.
Not until Napoleon started on the dread
full retreat from Moscow, when his splendid
army was reduced to wreck. did the Co.'S
sacks distinguish. themselves, and here
their tactics shone in fearful brilliance.
The charge of the light brigade at Balak-
lava, however, found no parallel in Co.'S
sack bravery or success in the Crimea, and
even for the Turk. when Osman Pasha held
Plevna, the Cossack held no terror. But in
Asia. where Skobeloff captured kingdom
| after kingdom, penetrating Turkestan and
crushing the Turcoman cavalry, the Co.'S
sack won great renown.
Where He is Invincible.
Operating against a foe less well armed
and equipped, if equal in gallantry, guided
| by well-trained leaders, the Cossacks proved
| invincible. Indeed, here their tactics were
SO successful that the American army in it's
fights against the Indians adopted many of
them, and the Cossack outpost still per-
SiSts in the Philippines, where an uncivil-
lied foe is met. "
But against General Kuroki the Cossack
has signally failed. Military critics assert
that this is due in part to the vast line of
communications General kurOpatkin has to
protect to the immense transport-guarding
necessary and also to the huge Russian
army, immobile and entirely unlike that Of
the Beers, for which the Cossacks must
continually act as a covering force in the
endless retreats. Be that as it may, how
ever. his gallantry may have persisted. but
| the little Japanese cavalryman. mounted on
| his dminutive pony, has not been over
| whelmed and destroyed, as the world be-
lieyed he would be, by his huge Cossack
| foe, who claimed kinship long ago to the
| rough riders of the Spanish-American war.
Russian in a measure by race, although
| having a strain of the blood of the great
Tartars who once overran Europe and OF
the blood of the Polish race, the Cossacks
are more of fighting race, living after
habits more suggestive of the North Amer
lean Indian than civilized community.
Seek Freedom to Roam.
Their very name, a survival of Tartar
| term for a light-armed warrior, indicates
| their character as well today as five CEN
| turtles ago. when they rode into the history
| of Europe Freedom has always been
passion with them, not freedom in broad
| sense but freedom as the cowboy inter-
| prets it, freedom to wander to live In the
| saddle, to plumber the country of the zoe,
| freedom from the restraints of ciylllZatlon,
and for such freedom they have sold them
| selves to many rulers frequently to lose
their special privileges for the time, and
| the Car of Russia, following in the foot
| steps of his predecessors. has honored TINS
| irregular cavalry, whose loyalty to him mas
been unfagging.
| the conqueror, but the Don Cossacks. in
habitants of the region lying between the
Volga and the Don, are loyal to the ruler
who grants them the opportunity TO I'VE
as they please in return for hghtlng MS
battles For the Romanoffs they have
overrun half Asia, with the spirit OF en-
terprise and endurance of which the ordl.
nary stolid Russian is incapable. First OF
all. these Cossacks are horsemen. Every
capital in Europe has at some time seen
chartered there the Slav cavalry, whose
feats of horsemanship have given them
the title of the cowboys of Europe.
Live and Die Soldiers.
Unlike the rest of the Russian popula-
ton, which serves its allotted time in the
army and returns to ordinary life. the
Cossacks live and die Russian soldiers.
They are regarded as military division
Of the population. and begin their mill
tary training in boyhood. AS infant Vene-
tians are taught to swim, so the youthful
Cossack mounts a real horse while his
American contemporary is still on a
hobby horse. At seventeen compulsory
service in the Stanitsa begins, and at
twenty comes field service, which lasts
for five years.
The Cossacks are divided into eleven
corps or voiskos. and each corps equips
its own men, receiving special grants
from the crown in return. Indeed, the
car himself now commands the Cossack
sotnias or regiments, Nicholas predeces-
sors having seized the Office Of hetman or
ataman once held by the far-famed Ma
zeppa, making him the sole authority
over the 1000, 900 Cossacks of Russia.
Having their own uniform OF dark
green, still carrying the famous lance SO
long their deadliest weapon. the Cossacks
are sort of imperial guard. worshiping
their car. finding in his favor the oppor-
tunity to enjoy the life they love and in
return serving him gallantly and loyalty.
1t was Cossack cavalry that penetrated
the Caucasus and overran Asia until the
great roof of the world alone interposed
between India and Russian Asia. Cossack
cavalry also carried the realm of the czar
to the Pacific coast.