The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1905-01-27
A Record Making Sieee.

that has expired since the siege Of
Port Arthur on sea and land was ac-
tually begun. Petersburg was the last
great siege in history previous to that
conducted on Liautong peninsula by
the Japanese and is the proper one to
consider in noting military progress or
the want of it. There was no complete
investment at Petersburg. neither at
Sevastopol, the next great siege Of
modern times preceding it. The Rus
slams evacuated Sevastopol. not being
surrounded by the besiegers, and the
Confederates marched out of Peters
burg after nine months of resistance
giving battle as they marched. Port
Arthur was virtually surrounded at the
end of May and cut off from the army
base on tie north The Russian de-
fense of an isolated fortress is not
alone marvellous; it is unique. Vicks-
burg fell forty days after its garrison
was cut off from outside supplies.
In another sense the siege of Port
Arthur is unique. The position was
primarily adopted for permanent de-
fense Vicksburg and Petersburg be-
came in the course of military opera
tions the refuge of their defenders ow-
ing to reasons of strategy, and their
occupants had to make the best of the
situation. Port Arthur is strong by
nature. like Gibraltar, and the siege
operations have proved how well the
Russians prepared their artificial de-
fenses. Yet in spite of its strength the
world was quite ready to believe
months ago that owing to the extraor-
dinary valor of the japanese. supple
mentcd Ey the most modern engines of
war, the fall of the fortress was only
question of days. But the result
proved that valor on the outside did
not count and that the oCds of mod
nrn appliances were on the side of the
defenders.
1t was military necessity for the
japanese troops to take Port Arthur
by storm at any cost and thus free the
army and navy for operations else
where But attempts TO carry the
works by sheer brute force failed after
the most frightful slaughter Wire ell
! tanglcments as distractions to charg-
ing columns proved of immense service
| to the Russians in repelling the furi-
GUS japanese assaults. While the ma
| terial is modern, the idea is very old.
/ i,,cf in IN civil
where entanglements of the kind were
| improvised from telegraph wire and
c~e very effective. But the troops in
| hc civil war always found the wooden
! batis and chevaux-de-frise extremely
lroub,csome to Chamber over and
| through. The ckevaux-Ge-frise could
| be removed by daring men willing to
expose themselves. Often gaps were
cut through with axes and wide sec
tons removed as readily as a picket
! fence. The abatis was fixed in the
ground and more difficult to displace.
Field fortifcations were often located
with standing timber in front. and this
was made impossible by telling trees
to overlap one another as they lay on
the ground.
The wire entanglements may be cut
with nippers. but at Port Arthur the
Russian scarchlights made the field at
night as light as day. and the wire
cutters were seen and shot down. The
searchlights also aided the Russian ri
femen and cannoneers in repelllng
charges This one modern device was
of incalculable service to the defend
ers. The assailants were literally
moved down as they closed in upon
the trenches, and but for the search
lights the carly assaults would doubt
less have been carried home. Like the
Spaniards IL the blockhouses at San
tiago. the Russian engineers had grad.
rated the range 50 a&ito sweep with
ire any given point reached by the
japanese columns.
We read of the "rushes" made at
Port Arthur by the intrepid japanese,
but there is nothing new in this, only
now it is the rule rather than the ex-
GRDllOn. II - luC IlOdClh ~ ohSih "a
formation for battle in contrast with
the old system of charging with solid
columns, from two to ten lines deep. !
This was the method used by Grant at
Petersburg and Vicksburg when he un-
lcrtook to carry the Confederate posi-
lions by storm in the preliminary |
stage of the siege. But the troops of |
their own accord. when halted by the |
abatis or other distractions even when |
the fire was so hot as to check the ad- |
vance temporarily. would rush forward |
in parties Of 30 and 100 or 200. Gain
ing an advanced position. they would !
epcn fire upon the c1cmy's trenches