The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-09-20
Copied Lees Manassas
Fight in Lao Yang.
FITZHUGH LEES VIEW
1t is Rather Odd That the Manchurian
Duplicate of the Virginia Battle
Should Occur lust Forty-TWo
Years Almost to Day,
After the Original.

The battle of Lao Yang, which
ended in the fall of that city and the
Russian retreat to MukIen, has been
one of the events of the Japanese Rus
sian war most in the public eye re
Gently. 1t usually has been taken as
a struggle between Japanese and Rus
sian strategy-a contest of Tartar
ideas and Slav. This opinion of the
conditions is not that of General FitZ-
hugh Lee, who was a major-general IN
the Confederate service and is now a
retired brigadier-general in the United
States army.
10 the Norfolk Virginian-P Pilot Gem
eral Lee, who is pursuing the peaceful
avocation of president of the James,
town Exposition Company in Norfolk.
said:
81 have been carefully scanning the
reports from Manchuria since the first
definite tidings began coming to the
newspapers, and l am impressed with
the remarkable similarity between the
campaign of Field Marshal Oyama
around Lao Yang and General Robert
T.. Lees strategy before the second
battle of Manassas.
1T is not unusual for officers COM
handing armies to study campaigns
of the great commanders and the
knowledge so acquired is frequently
invaluable. especially where the topo-
graphical features are similar and the
proportion between the opposing
forces bears a .mblance. To give
an ne ance, just before the first bat
tie of Manassas. when L was a young
staff officer, j visited General Beau
reugard in his tent. | found him
bending over the Campaigns of Ma
poleon. OF course, l do not know
h h., Ia al nt n
" Ills study. III. this instance fell
Under my own obs walton.
1T is no diScredit to Oyama, there
fore, TO assrm4 that he has studied
General Lees strategy and grand tao
tics There are 50 many points OF re-
semblance that it would be difficult to
exp ala item y the theory of colnc1-
den, es. Gen.ral Lee paid great at
tent.ph to his encmy's TANKS; and, un-
less he was fighting a defensive battle,
he Away. assaulted the right or left
of his opponent. In his first battle
after bel b,AceI in command of the
troo.s defenu,a richmond, he so
manoeuvreI as to crush McClellan's
ght. / &c leSt fight, the second
b-itle of Manassas. he turned the right
flank OF Pope's army. Oyama has been
doing tic same against Kuropdtkin
aud has mo, with me same success.
81 was particularly impressed with
tne strategy UlSplayeu by F1eld Mar
shall Oyama in his manoeuvres Oh the
front and flank of Kuropatkins army
at Lao Yang. 1t is almost an exact
reproduction of Lees operations in
front of Pope on the Rappahannock
river, just before the second battle of
Manassas The Federal and Southern
irmies were lying opposite each other
with the river flowing between them.
Lees army was divided into two corps
under Longstreet and Jackson.
Oyama's army seems to have been di-
vided into three, under Oku, Nodzu
and Kuroki. Leaving Longstreet on
Pope's front as Oyama left Oku and
NodZu, Lee directed Jackson to move
up the river. cross it and bring mis-
whole corps, if possible. in the rear of
Pope's army. Concerning this marcn
/ am well informed because l accom-
panied Jackson with my cavalry. At
ter crossing the river Jackson moved
almost at right angles to it until he got
to a place called Gainesville, where
be camped for the night, after having
marched tWenty-SiX miles. The next
day he turned exactly at right angles.
passed through Thoroughfare Gap and
struck the railroad between Pope's
position and Washington at a place
called Bristow station. tWenty-siX miles
i'm the rear of Pope'S center, where he
bivouacked for the night, having
marched in those two hot days IN
August fifty-siX miles.
"On inst about the same day of the