Durango semi-weekly herald., 1905-01-26

omclai historians VINO accompany
every military division for the pur
| pose OF collecting notes concernin,
men and events for histories that are
| 10 be published at the close of tn,
| war
Every Japanese soldier carries his
Identification with him in the form OF
a little brass tag suspended by cord
from his neck On this tag is inscribed
his number, company and regiment
and the records OF that regiment will
give MS name. Therefore it is not nee
essary for those who collect the
wounded and burn the bodies OF the
dead to find persons TO indentify
them. 1t is only necessary to make a
note of the number on the tag OF a
wounded man: but when dead body
! is found and burned the tag is re.
| moved before the body is burned and
is placed with the ashes to Identity
them There is special corps of men
10 do this sort of work, and they have
no other duties. II there has been
terrible slaughter squads of private
soldiers are detailed 10 assist them.
but under ordinary circumstance
they are able to take care of any OF
the wounded and dead Hence the
Japanese records show the military
history and the fate of every soldier
The Russians keep scarcely any ce-
lords
The Siege of Sebastopol continued
eleven months; the siege of Port Ar.
thur began on May Is, 1904 Crimea
Is the peninsula in southern Russia
extending into the Black sea and Sc
bastopol. its chief city and military
stronghold. commands the navigation
of that sea, The population of Cri-
mea is very much mixed. being com
posed of Tartars. Turks. Russians,
Armenians, Jews. Greeks, Italians,
Austrians, Magyars and several bran
ches of the Slav race. Sebastopol has
a population of about 10000 and is
surrounded by a chain of mountains
forming semi-circle with beauti
full bay as its base. The highest peak
Is 1880 feet The object of the Cri
mean war was the control of the hos
porus and the best account OF that
struggle may be found in Kinglake's
History OF the Crlmean War, pub
lished in London in 1863. Kinglake, an
Englishman. was present at the siege
for several months as a guest at the
Headquarters of Lord Gaglan, com
mander OF the allies. Turkey, In Its
effort TO retain control of the Bospor-
Is, was supported by France. England
Gnd the kingdom of Sardinia. and the
rnited armies had total of 65. 900
infantry and artillery and 5000 cav
clry. Within the fortress the Russians
had about 10000 foot and 5000 cav.
airy.
The allies arrived in the harbor
Sept. IA. 1854. and the seige began
Oct. 9 following. Al first the Russians
made frequent sorties and several
desperate battles We're fought, includ-
ing those of Balaklava, where was the
Charge of the Light Brigade" and
Inkerman, but they were so much re
duced In numbers by these fierce en-
gagements that they were compelled
to act entirely on the defen-
sive. The siege terminated al
most exactly eleven months
"i''l ~ b'Ehhs "h'iif ou lUt ON VI
September, 1855, the allies stormed
The tortihcations and desperate
struggle ensued The Russians were
compelled to abandon their fortress,
but blew them up first and retreated
to a town on the opposite side of the
bay. The allies. having secured the
citidal. did not appear concerned about
the troops that had evacuated them.
md remained in Sebastopol for near
iy year, when they blew up the
docks, shipyards, arsenals barracks.
classmates and everything that was
destructible, and then withdrew In
their ships on the eth of July, 1856.
The losses on either side were
never published officially. but unof-
put the death loss of the allies at 27 :
600 and that of the Russians nj &c.
900. including those killed in battle
and those who died of accident,
wounded was very large also. and
when the allies finally withdrew both
armies had been cut down to a few
thousand men. For example. during
the final assault the French lost 1886
killed and 1000 wounded, including
FIVE general officers and twenty-four
others of high rank. The English lost
865 killed and 1900 wounded. includ-
ing thirty officers Of high rank.
The guns at Sebastopol were by no
means SO formidable or destructive
as those OF Port Arthur, but the
slaughter was quite as great. consider
| ing the number of men engaged The
most reliable estimates fix the garri
son of Port Arthur at the beginning
of the siege at $4,000 soldiers, mostly
| Siberians. and 5000 sailors on the va
rlous cruisers and battleships. At one
| time the Japanese had more than 150.
| 900 men engaged around the fortifica
| tons, and is probable that they have
rarely had less than 100 900 Las
summer General Baron kodama tolc
me at Toxic that they expected Il
sacrifice 5000 men in the capture o.
Port Arthur He was as matter OF fac
as II he had been speaking of sheeI
or cattle. and there is not the slight
est doubt that the butchers bill
has been even larger than he antici