The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1905-03-21
GEN. kUROPATKIN
STARTS FOR HOME
St. Petersburg Alarmed Regarding
Fate of the Army.
suMoRED RAILROAD is CUT

No Pause In Japanese Advance North
and Russians Are Losing Heavily In
Rear Guard Actions - Reinforce
ments For General LineVitch.
81 Petersburg. March lS.-Decided
anxiety is felt here regarding the ia'e
of the army in Manchuria under us
new commander no news OF mlll'aIE
DEVELOPMENTS the last two days nav
ing been received here. The only ais,
matches from the front are the briei
announcements Yesterday that Zen
eral Llnevitch had assumed command
and that General Kuropatkin was de-
narting for st. Petersburg. which dis
poses of a rumor that the latter had
committed suicide. and the Associated
Press Changtufu dispatch filed the
morning of March 10, and written al
the station OF Kayuan, which was then
held bv the Russians In this cores
pondents opinion no pause In the
Japanese advance is probable Tor some
time The Russians are losing heavily
in the rear guard actions, and Japa-
nese columns are reported TO be push
ing northward as fast as possible to
complete the development OF the Rus-
sian forces General Lineyitch, how
ever. will have considerable aces
sion of fresh troops in a day or two,
the Fourth European Corps being now
at Hardin and departing southwark.
Military officials here declare that
there are now 26S.O00 men at General
I.ineyitch's disposal in Manchuria. and
il is believed that this force will be
sufficient to cause the Japanese To eX-
ercise greater caution in their pur-
suit.
Prince HilkOf, who will leave st.
Petersburg soon to prepare the SiDer-
ian railway for forwarding the new
leyies which have been determined
upon. said that there had been no
breakdown as vet. and that he hoped
as soon as navigation opened it would
be possible to transport One-fourth OF
the outgoing soldiers by the rivers and
relieve the railroad TO that extent
Although General KurOpatkin's
downfall was inevitable from the mil
itary standpoint, nevertheless 1t has
aroused sympathy in circles familiar
with the long campaign that has been
waged against him by the general
staff General Sakharofr was his open
enemy. and General Dragomirof his
most severe critic; and many OF his
own subOrdinates were jealous and
grudgingly Obedient Many epigrams
about General KuropatNn's shortcom-
lngs are being attributed to General
Dragomiroff and the suppression OF
the former AT such a critical moment
is directly attributed TO DragomiroGs
advice. Emperor Nicholas now giving
ear TO the veteran strategist in mill
tary matters.
General Linevitch is distinctiycly a
line officer. with long record as
fighter. He is almost as cordially dis
liked by the general stan as is his
predecessor. and there also is bad
blood between Kuropatkn and Line
witch. dating from a personal quarrel
in the days when Kuropatkin was com.
mander of the trans-Baikal army,
which led Linevitch TO demand salts
faction. Kuropatkin assumed the posi-
ton that he could not fight an officer
of inferior rank. The succession of
this officer will naturally increase Cen
eral Kuropatkin's discontinue.
There is a persistent report that
railroad communications have been
cut behind the Russian army. News is
awaited with intense anxiety.