The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-04-29
RUSSIA'S WAR HERO.
Exploits of General Kuropatkin
In Former Wars.
sKOBELEFFS RIGHT HAND MAN.

Incidents of His Service as the Flu
nous Russian Military Leaders
Chief Lieutenant In Central Asia
and at ~Pleynn-Hfs Qualifications
For Supreme Command In the Pres
emit War.
General AleXei Nicholaevitch Kuro-
patkin, the commander in chiei Of the
Russian land forces, is probably the
most trusted, most powerful and most
faithful servant of the car, says the
Chicago Chronicle. Long ago, when
Kuropatkin was a young man, he was
sent into Turkestan with the Russian
advance and spent his youth in high
adventure and in winning for himself
honors, decorations and promotion.
When he had served his apprenticeship
in the marches and bivouacs Of the
east he returned to Europe and resum-
ed his studies in the schools. At Paris
he won the Legion of Honor and was
the first Russian officer to do so. This
was in 1874. The year following he
went to Kokand, fought in the Pamirs
the roof Of the world'-and in the
country of Kublai Khan. He rode
$500 miles on horseback, came back,
wrote a book and won the gold medal
OF the Geographical society. He enter
ed the war with Turkey as a lieuten-
ant and emerged from it a colonel.
''For God, car and country" was the
motive Of all his deeds, and this faith
fulness was not without it's effect.
Slowly he o s on the ladder of adj
vancement until in 1898 he was made
absolute master, under the car, of
the armies of all the Russias.
Kuropatkin, who was the right hand
man of Skobeleff, the famous Russian
general, all through the Russo-Turk-
ish war, was trained in n harder school
than most modern generals and went
through enough perils to satisfy the
biggest glutton for adventure. After
one of the bloody fights in the shipka
pass he was left for dead upon the
field. All night he lay there, sore
wounded and unconscious. It was in
the bitter cold of a Balkan night, and
he might have frozen to death had he
not been almost entirely covered by
the body of a dying Turk, who had
fallen across him after he sank to the
ground with the agony of his wound.
In the morning Kuropatkin recover
ed consciousness, crawled from under
meath the Turk and made his way
slowly and painfully to the Russian
camp, where his comrades received
him as if he We're a ghost. kuropat-
kin became the hero of the Russian
army, second only to his great leader,
Skobeleff, by his bravery and fine gen.
eralship at the capture of Cock Tepe in
1882.
When the Russians, baked in their
dreams of winning Constantinople by
the Berlin congress, We're making their
great swoop through central Asia to
the gates of Herat, Lord Salisbury told
the British public not to be alarmed
for the safety of India. ''They will
not be able to conquer the Turcomans,"
he declared. "rhe Turcoman barrier
will last for our lifetime at least"
General Tergoukasoff, the Russian
commander in central Asia, disagreed
with Lord Salisbury. He told the car
that the Turcomans might be con-
quered by three years hard fighting.
''That is toe long" said the car. He
recalled Tergoukasoff and sent Sko-
belief to command the troops. Sko-
belief promptly secured Kuropatkin
for his chief lieutenant, and together
they performed in a few weeks the
task which the British premier had
declared would take a lifetime.
Cock Tepe, the great stronghold of
the ~Turcomans, was carried by assault
after a months siege. The brunt of
the attack fell on Kuropatkin, who
commanded a body of light troops
from Turkestan. 1t was a great vic
tory, but it sullied the reputation Of
both the Russian leaders. They order
ed their troops to give no quarter to
the Turcomans of either seN, and all
the horrors usual when such orders are
given We're perpetrated. Spectators say
that ven when the Turcomans fled in a
disorderly mob across the desert, men,
women and children Mingled together,
40 mercy was shown to them. Artil-
lery and cavalry followed in their rea
and moved them down until darkness
put an end to the pursuit. In that few
hours chase 1000 pursuing Russians
slaughtered 5000 fugitives, while owe
5000 were massacred in the fortified
camp of Cock Tepe.
"The whole country was covered
with corpses," said Samuel Gouro-
witch, who acted as interpreter in the
Russian forces. "The morning after
the battle they lay in rows like freshly
NOV hay, as they had been swept
down by the mitrailleurs and artillery.
Hundreds of women were sabered, and
! myself saw babies bayoneted or slash
ed to pieces. The troops, mad with
drink and lust of fighting, We're allow
ed to plumber and kill for three days
after the assault"