The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1904-09-25
Divergent Opinions
On Eastern Strategy
KurOkTS Movement
Like Gen. Lees al
Manassas.

The battle Of Lao Yang. which ended
m the fall Of that city and the Rus
san retreat 10 Mukden, has been the
I event OF the japanese Russian war most
10 the Pubic eye recently. Usually II
mas osen regarded as struggle between
'oi,11ieSe ana Russian strategy-a con-
test OF Tartar ideas and slav.
This opinion Of the conditions Is not
that OF Gen. Fitzhugh Lee. who was a
major general in the Confederate serv-
Ice ana is now a retired brigadier gen.
cral of the United States Army.
General Lee. who is pursuing tho
peaceful avocatlon Of president OF the
Jamestown Exposition Company at Nor
-oiA' MADE this statement, likening the
operations Of Oyama TO those of Gen.
Robert Z. Lee:
nave been carefully scanning the
reports from Manchuria since the first
ueHilIe reports began coming to cur
newspapers. and 1 am impressed with
the remarkable similarity between the
campaign Of Field Marshal Oyams.
~Iouhd Liao-Yang and Gen. Robert T.
Lee strategy before the second battle
Of Manassas.
Adopts Lees Tactics.
1t is not unusual for officers com
manning armies to study the campaigns
Oh the great commanders. and the knowl-
SuSe so acquired is frequently invaiu-
aDie' especially where the topograph-
ical features are similar and the pro-
pOruoh between the opposing forces
Dears q resemblance. To give an in
stance Just before the first battle Of
-'lalaaSas. being \ young stam officer
al the time, l visited General Reaura-
saIu' IN MS tent. ] found him bending
oYeI the Campaign of Napoleon OF
curse. 1 do not know whether or not
ne gained any hint Of value bv his
own wy; r put this instance fell under NY
II Is no discredit TO Oyama there
-, 10 assume that he has studied
,T 's,isI al Lee strategy and land tactics
Diance that it would be dinicult to ex-
pam them by the theory of coincI-
utence. General Lee paid much atteu-
1eS. - ms enemy's TANKS. and. IN
80 ne was hghting a defensive battle
ne always assaulted the right or left
81 MS opponent In mis- first battle a fter
99etgng placed in command Of the troops
delending Richmond he so r1ana,t--e-aaJ
as 10 crush McClelIan's right II ~
next ngnl, the second battle of Ma
nasSas, he turned the right FAM, ~
tope army. Oyama has been adOptins
90 S SsIHe tacucs against Kuropat6in
anu has met with the same success.
Admires oyama's Strategy.
was particularly impressed with the
strategy displayed by Field Marsbo1
Oyama in his maneuvers on the FRONT
and flank Of KurOpatkin's army N Lao
yang. It is almos- an exact reDroduc-
uon Of Lees movements in front of
Pope on the Rappahannock River i'm
mediately before the second battIe ~
Manassas. The Federal and Southern
q. INES were lying opposite each other
WIN the river flowing between them
Lees army was divided into two $3.50 -.
uHueF Longstreet and Jackson. Ovama's
army seems 70 have been Divided fDto
'i!ree, under Oku. Nodzu and KuroIIf.
Leaving LOngstreet on PoDo's front
as Oyama left Oku and Nodzu on KUro
patkln front, Leo directed Jackson 70
move up the river. cross il and bring
NJ ms whole corps, II possible. in the rear
VI L Ope army Concerning this march
am well informed. because I accom-
panied jackson with my cavalry After
crossing the river Jackson moved al
most az right angles TO IL until Re reach
- GoIheSVllie' where he camped for
sly miles 's'i'S
The next day he turned exactly ar
FlgEt angles passed through THOROUGH
ARE. .are Gap and struck the railroad be-
tween Pope's position and Washinpto,
at place called Bristow Station
tWentY-si. miles in the rear OF PODe's
center, where he bivoUacked for the
nlght, having marched in chose two hot
days In August fifty-six miles.
Kuroki Repeats Maneuver.
ION just about the same day Of the
same month. forty-two years later mn
der very similar conditions. Oyana dis
patched kuroki on an Identical mission
Kuroki, circling Kuropatkin's left
crossed the Taitse and proceeded at
right angles to the river about twenty
hllies. Ms King a sharp turn 70 the left
ne pissed the 1entat hills TO the town
or 4entai on the road # Mukden. d.
rectly in the rear of Kuropatkin.
BeI9re Manassas, Pope was con-
IronIed with these alternatives-to cross
the Rappahannock and throw his whole
force on LOngstreet and destroy him
IL possible, or about face counteruarc1
anu concentrate his army on Jackson
VINO was mterrupting railway and tele-
graph communications with his base
Alexandria and Washington
The Plan Effective.
Just what marching and counter
marching was done by Kuroki is not
entirely clear from the published ac-
counts. but II is evident that his posi-
ton in the rear Of Kuropatkin's army
with the main body of the Japanese
army in front and concentrating at the
same objective point was effective and
probably contributed In the largest re
gree to the victory Of the japanese
"huroh is the 'StonewalI Jackson Of
oyama army for, while Oyama was
I'm front cf Kuropatkin. Kuroki planted
himself at the rear Oyama evidently
had the same idea that General Lee
had-namely, that his opponent would
be Obliged 10 leave the river and that
huroki would be in a position TO attack
and check him should he retreat to
Mukden, as Jackson checked Pope until
LOngstreets division could arrive. ard
the two under General Lee. could make
battle"
RIOTlNG IN CORSICA;