Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-05-21
HER ADLEs1. LEADER
Russia Places Most Reliance
in Gen. Dragomiroff.
rs HELD INssREsERVE
ts+2s
WILL GO TO TIE EAST IF KURo-
PATKINa FAILS.
Has the Confidence Of the Government
and the Army-Popular With
All Glasses.
rs HELD INssREsERVE
Written for The Evening Star.

the Russian army who stands in 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 the soldiers and the nation. That man
is Gen. Dragomiroff, who was a general
officer In command of division as long
ago as the Russo Turkish war.
"Dragomiroff is our general in reserve"
said former officer of the Russian army
now residing in New York. "Just as Lord
Roberts, England's most trusted veteran,
was sent out to the Boer war when Butler
failed. so Russia will send Dragomiroff to
the far east If Kuropatkin does not sue
ceed In the meantime, he has been re-
called to st. Petersburg from his governor
ship at kief in order that he may be at
the right hand of the car and the war
council. You may be sure that the strategy
of the great campaign which is sure to open
in the spring will be largely devised by
him. In Russia the men who hold great
omclai positions are not always, or even
usually, the men who possess the real
power. For example, Count Lamsdorff
although foreign minister, had until re-
Gently far less to do with Russian foreign
policy than the unofficial M. BezobraZoff.
Similarly, General Sakharoff, the minister
of war, may be regarded as a subordinate
OF General Dragomir ifs at the present
time.
Men who served with Dragomroff during
the Russo-Turkish war tell thrilling stories
of his courage and fine generalship.
Brave in Action.
During the hottest fighting in the Shipka
pass, where SO many gallant Russians and
Turks fell, the leading battalion of his d.
vision recoiled before a hailstorm of Turk
ish bullets. The general was at that time
a very stout person-he has grown thinner
since then. He wore spectacles, had the
general appearancecof peaceful German
professor, and looked as if he could never
grow excited over anything. But when he
saw his men recoil, he rode to the firing
line like streak of fame dismounted
from his horse, and walked slowly to and
fro along a ridge swept by the enemys
bullets. He was hundred yards in adj
vance of the men, occupying the position
they had abandoned.
After staying there for while without
being touched, although many bullets
whistled by him, he shouted back to the
amazed battalion: saa2
What are you doing, you geese? Did
you think there was danger here?
don't find any
They responded with a roar of cheers,
doubled up to him, and charged so fiercely
under his leadership that the Turks had to
retreat.
One Of Dragomirof's greatest achieve
ments was the forcing of the passage Of
the Danube at SimnitzaEin the face of a
strong Turkish army. The late Archibald
Forbes, the famous English war cOrre-
spondent who was present at the time,
told the writer that 1t was the bravest and
coolest deed of arms he ever Witnessed
A Daring Deed.
'Dragomiron did not do as most generals
would have done under the circumstances"
said Forbes. He did not stand on the
bank, surrounded by his staff and direct
he r,
position. No. he stood for an hour or more
mud and Icy water, exposed to the hottest
fire of the enemy's sharpshooters, and ac-
lively leading every now and then an at
tack upon the opposite bank.
He well deserved the reward which he
received soon afterward from the car in
front of the whole army. Dragomiroff
tried to salute and kneel to his monarch
when he was called up to receive thanks
hand, greeted him as brother and stopped
his attempted obedience by folding him in
lis arms in hearty embrace"
Dragomirom has always shown a remark
able capacity for leading men. The Russian
soldiers idoliZe him. They might say of him,
as they used to say of Skobeleff, I'VE would
rather fight and die with Dragomirofr than
fight and live with another general" His
deeds Of personal bravery in action are too
numerous to record, for he is the hero of q
hundred desperate fights and has won all
the decorations which the car can bestow
In reward Of heroism including the coveted
Cross of st. George
A Good Fellow,
Personally, he is kind-hearted. genial
old man, and fine type of the Russian
gentleman. Like most Russian officers he
prides himself on being a good fellow"
There is no phrase more commonly used in
the Russian services, no ideal which Rus
sian officers are more anxious to live up to.
Even veterans like Dragomiroff and Kuro-
pa tkin are prouder of being able to sing
good song and tell good story than of
their military exploits and their drawerful
of medals and decorations
Dragomirof, although SO knd-hearted
personally-he has taken leading part in
organizing societies to repress cruelty to
children, and dumb animals in Russia-be-
lieves, with General Sherman and most
Russian officers, that war is hell" He
used form erly to lecture to the cadets in
training at st. Petersburg. and he was fond
of telling them that the speediest and most
humane way to finish campaign was to
strike hard and ruthlessly. He has put
himself on record as approving General
Kaufmann's notorious order, in one of the
Central Asian campaigns, to give quarter
to no Turccmans-man, woman or child.
Would Fight Hard.
A war conducted by Dragomiroff would
undoubtedly be ruthless, but his troops
would not get out OF ndnd. Iney WOulQ not
loot or massacre any more than he consid-
cred desirable. During athe Russo-Turkish
war his division entered Bulgaria and oc-
cupied the town of Sophia. He gave strict
orders that there was to be no looting. un-
der penalty of death. as the Bulgarians
were allies of the Russians and it would be
bad policy to antagonizel them Looting
had been winked at in Turkish territory,
and one unfortunate sCessack did not APP
preciate the force OF the change of policy.
He wanted chicken, sand he took it, as he
had been accustomed to do. He was caught
in the act and brought before Dragomiroff,
who ordered drum-head court-martial
and had him hanged inside of half an hour.
The Cossack officers were furious. They
protested that the enemy and the enemy's
property had been reckoned fair game by
them from the earliest times when they
fought under the Russian flag. and that. in
any case the theft of a chicken was triv-
ial offense.
THAT is So" replied Dragomiroff. Il
don't care If the men steal all the chickens
in Bulgaria, provided they have my leave
to do so. But disobedence of my orders
at the present time Is a capital offenso,
and you had better let your men under
stand that"
They did understand it. and there was no