The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1904-10-07
MARSHAL OYAMA HAS
STUDIED R. I. lee
Tactics at Lao Yang Might Have
Been Borrowed From
Manassas.
KUROkI is LIKE JACKSON
lie is to the Japanese Campaign Whai
"Stonewall" Was to the Operations
in Vireina-Leaders Profit by
American Methods.


that city and the Russian retreat to
Mukden, has been the event of the
ia panese-RuSSian war most in the pup
lie eye recently. Usually it has been
regarded as struggle between Japa-
nese and Russian Strategy contest OF
Tartar ideas and Slav. This opinion
of the conditions is not that Of General
Fitzhugh Lee, who was major general
in the confederate service and is no"
a retired brigadier general of the
United States army.
General Lee. who is pursuing the
peaceful aToCation OF president OF the
jamestown Exposition company at
Norfolk, made this statement. llkenln.
the operations of Oyama TO those ol
General Robert f. Lee:
Il have been carefully scanning the
reports from Manchuria since the nrst
definite reports began coming 10 our
| newspa perS and | am impressed WIN
the remarkable similarity between the
| campaign OF Field Marshal Oyafna
around I-iao Yang and General ROBERT
F.. Lees strategy before the second pat
| tie Of Mana ssas.
Adopts Lees Tactics.
TT is not unusual for officers COM
manding armies to study the cam
| paigns of the great commanders and
the knowledge so acquired is frequently
invaluable, especially where the topo-
gra phical features are similar ana the
! proportion between the opposing forces
bears a resemblance. TO give an in
stance. just before the first battle of
| Manassas, being a young staff officer
at the time, l visited General Beaure-
gard in his tent. | found him bending
over the Campaign Of Napoleon OF
course, / do not know whether or not
! he gained any hint of value by his
| study, but this instance fell under my
own obervation.
/ 1T is no tilscredit to Oyama, there
| fore, to assume that he has studied
| General Lees strategy and land tactics
| There are so many points OF reSem-
blance that it would be difficult to eX-
plain them by the theory of coincidence.
General Lee paid much attention to his
enemy's TANKS, and, unless he was
fighting a defensive battle, he always
assaulted the right or left of his OPP
ponent. In the first battle after being
placed in command OF the troops de,
Tending Richmond, he so Unanswered
as to crush McClellan's right. In the
next fight, the second battle of Ma
nassas. he turned the right flank OF
Pope's army. Oyama has been adopt
ing the same tactics against kurOpat-
kin and has met with the same sue
cess.
Impressed With oyama's Strategy
Il was particularly impressed with
shall Oyama in his maneuvers on the
front and flank Of Kuropatkin's army
at Lao Yang. 1t is almost an exact
reproduction of Lees movements il
front of Pope on the RappahannocF
river, Immediately before the secont
battle of Manassas. The federal ane
southern armies were lying opposite
each other with the river flowing be
tween them. Lees army was divided
into two corps under LOngstreet ant
jackson. Oyamas army seems to have
been divided into three, under Oku
NadZu and kuroki.
Leaving Longstreet on Pope's front
as .>Nama left Oku and Nodzu on Ku
ron, Aims front, Lee directed Jackso,
to .nsve up the river, cross it and brini
his whole corps, IL possible, in the rea
of Pope's army. Concerning this marcl
l am we'll informed, because l accom-
panied Jackson with my cavalry. Afte
crossing the river jackson moved al
most at right angles to it until h
reached Gainesville, where he campo
for the night, after having marche
twenty-siX miles
The next day he turned exactly a
right angles, passed through Thorough
fare gap and struck the railroad be
tween Popes position and Washingto
at a place called Bristow station, tweI
ty-sX miles in the rear of Pope's Ger
ter, where he bivouacked for the nigh
having marched in those two hot day
in August fifty-siX miles.
kuroki Repeats Maneuver.
ION just about the same day of tn
same month, forty-two years later, III
Ger very similar conditions. Oyama dis
PATCHED Kuroki on an identical mission
kuroki, circling Kuropatkin's lief
crossed the Taitse and proceeded {
right angles to the river about tWent
RIFLES. Making a sharp turn to the le
he passed the Yentai hills to the tow
of Yentai on the road to Mukden. d
rectly in the rear Of kuropatkin.
Before Manassas Pope was col
fronted with these alternatives
cross the Rappahannock and throw h
whole force on Longstreet and destrc
him, if possible, or about face. coul
termarch and concentrate his army
Jackson, who was interrupting railwa
and telegraph communications with h
base. Alexandria and Washington.
Just what marching and counte
marching was done by Kuroki Is n
entirely clear from the published a
counts, but it is evident that his pos
ton in the rear of Kuropatkin's arm
with the main body of the Japane
army in front and concentrating at II
same objective point was effective al
probably contributed in the largest d
gree to the victory Of the Japanese.
"Kuroki is the 'Stonewall' Jackson
Oyama's army, for, While Oyama w
in front of Kuropatllin, Kuroki plant
himself at his rear. Oyama evident
!. had the same idea that General L
had-namely, that his opponent won
j. be obliged to leave the river and tn
Kuroki would be in a position to alta
and check him should he retreat
Mukden, as Jackson checked Pope u
til Longstreet's division could arri
and the two under General Lee cot
make battle"