Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-05-26
Russia Places Most Reliance in
Gen. Dragomirof.
Will Go to the East if Kuropatkin
Fails.
Has the Confidence of the Government
and the Army.

ear armies III the ldT IIdSt, II tii1
greatest Russian soldier of today; but
sucn is not the feeling in Russia. There
is one man in the Russian army who
stands i'm relation to KurOpatkin very
much as Grant stood toward Sherman
"A man whose military reputation Is
higher than Kuropatkin's, and who is
even more thoroughly trusted by tire
soldiers and the nations. That man is
General DragOmiron, who WIS II gen.
eral officer in command of Il division
as long ago as the RussO-Turkish war.
"Dragomiroff is our general IN re-
serve" said former officer of the
Russian army now residing in New
York. lust as Lord Roberts, Eng
lands most trusted veteran was sent
ont 10 the Hocr war when Butler failed,
SO Russia will send DragOmiroff to the
far east if Kuropatkin does not sue
coed. In the meantime, he has been
recalled to st. Petersburg from lis
goyernorship at Kicff. in order that he
may be- at the right hand of the ear
and the war council. You may be sure
that tn strategy of the great cam
paign which is sure to open in the
sprjng will be largely devised by him.
In Russia the men who hold great
official positions are not always, or
even usually, the men who possess the
real power. For example, Count L;.lrs-
dorif, although foreign minister, had
until recently far less to do with Rus
sian foreign policy than the unofficial
NJ. BeZobrazoff. Similarly, General
Sakharoff, the minister Of war, may be
regarded as Il subordinate Of General
Dragomiroff ut the present time"
Men who served with Dragomiroff
during the Russo-Turkish war tell
thrilling stories of his courage and fine
gencralshp.
During the hottest fighting in the
Shirka pass, where SO many gallant
Russians and Turks fell, the leading
battalion of his division recoiled be-
fore Il hailstorm of Turkish bullets.
The general was at that time Il very
stout persOn--he has grown thinner
since then. He wore spectacles, had
the general appearance of a peaceful
German professor, and looked as if
he could never grow excited over any
thing. But when he saw his men re-
coil, he rode to the firing line like a
streak of flame, dismounted from his
horse, and walked slowly to and fro
along Il ridge swept by the enemy s
bullets. He was a hundred yards in
advance of the men, occupying the
position they had abandoned.
g After staying there for while with
QUE being touched, although many bull
lets whistled by him, he shouted back
to.the amazed battalion:
"What are you doing, you geese? Did
you think there was danger here?
4 don't find any"
They responded with Il roar of
| cheers. doubled up to him. and charged
/ SO ficrcely under his leadership that the
| Turks had to retreat.
One of Dragomiroff's greatest
| achievements was the forcing OF the
passage of the Danube at Simnitza in
| the face of n strong Turkish army. The
| late Archibald Forbes, the famous Eng
lish war correspondent. who was pres.
cnt at the time. told the writer that il
| WaS the bravest ana coolest deed OF
| arms he ever witnessed.
"Dragomirom did not do as most gen.
erals would have done under the cir.
! cumstanceS," said Forbes. "Hc die
not stand on the bank, surrounded by
his staff, and direct the movement
from II comparatively safe position
No, he stood for AN hour or more il
| the bed Of III" river. up to his waist il
| mud and icy water, exposed to tn.
hottest fir of the encmy's sharp
shooters. and actively leading every
now ana then an attack upon the op
positr ianl.
| He we'll deserved the reward which
he received soon afterward from th'
| ear in front of the whole army
! Dragomiroff tried to salute and knee
To his monarch when he was callet
up to receive thanks, but the CA
grasped him cordially by the hand
greeted him as brother and stopped
his attempted obedience by folding
him in his arms i'm Il hearty embrace
| Dragomiroff has always shown n re
markable capacity for leading mon
| The Russian soldiers idolize him
They might say of him. as they uset
to say of Skobeleff. We would rathci
fight and die with Dragomiroff thar
fight and live with another general.
His deeds of personal bravery in action
| are too numerous to record, for he /:
the hero Of n hundred desperate fight:
aud has won all the decorations which
| the ear can bcStOw in reward q
heroism, including the coveted Cross
OF st. George.
| Personally, he is kind-hearted
genial old man, and n fine type of thu
Russian gentleman. Like most Rus
sian officers. he prides himself on be
ing n good fellow" There is n,
phrase more commonly used in the Rus
sian services. no ideal which Russian
officers are more anxious to live up to
| Even veterans like Dragomiroff ant
kuropatkin are prouder of being abb
to sing a good song and tell goo,
story than of their military exploit:
and their drawerful of medals ant
decorations.
| Dragomiroff. although so kind
hearted personally-he has taken F.;
leading part in organizing societies t.
repress cruelty to children. and duml
| animals in Russia-believes. will
general Sherman and most Russian
officers, that war is hell" He aset
formerly to lecture to the cadets II
training at st. Petersburg. and he wa:
| fond of telling them that the speelieS