Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-05-21
kUROkI'S CAREER.
Famous General Is of Polish ORR
ain.

Famous General Is of Polish ORR
gin.
To Gen. Itei Kuroki who has ar
rived in America as special represen-
tative of the Japanese government TO
the jamestown exposition, is ascribed
by friend and foe alike much of the
great tactical advantages attained by
the troops of the mikado in the late
war.
AS head of the Japanese first army
and until the arrival of Field Marshal
Oyama before Yiao-Yang the COM
mander-in- chief in Manchuria, he
showed his skill and expertness in su-
perintending the first debarkation Of
his troops. The quickness of the for
ward movement into Korea and on, his
infantry passing calvary records; his
assaulting force at the Yalu, where he
overwhelmed the Russian artillery by
the accuracy of his gun fire, outwit-
ting his foes by series Of skillful
movements which enabled him to
pave the way for a Russian defeat;
dashing up breastworks to annihilate
the enemy-these things have made
him the idol of his army and his ma
ton.
Although SO years old, he has the
appearance and agility of thirty, de-
spite the fact that his first fighting
took place almost forty years ago. In
that epochal war from which present
day Japan largely dates-the war for
the restoration Of the mikado-in 1868
he took the side of the emporer
against his own clan of the Samurai,
and many stories are told in Japan
of his achievements in hand to hand
combat. Ten years later he assisted
in suppressing the insurrection. In
the Chino-Japanese war he command
ed a division, a dozen Of forts defend
ing Wei-Hei-Wei. In the Boxer war
of 1900 he commanded that part of
the japanese force which distinguish
ed itself in the relief Of the legations
in Pekin.
Kurok is credited with being an
administrator of the first class. He
was a member of the war council in
Toxic before taking the field, and
from his previous campaigns had
gained an intimate knowledge Of the
topography of Korea and China, in
formation which gave him great ad-
vantages in his movements against the
Russians.
Ever since he began to excite ad-
miration for his military skill against
the Russians various accounts Of his
origin have been going the rounds Of
the press. They agreed that his moth
er was a Japanese, but variously
stated that his father was a French
man, a German and Pole. A German
newspaper which accepted the theory
Of the japanese generals French orr
gin has been put right by Yosati Osh-
ina, a nephew of Gen. Kuroki. who
is now studying in Europe and who
writes the following letter:
my uncle Kuroki is Of Polish ORR
gin. His father was a Polish noble
man by the name of Kourowski, who
fled from Russia after the revolution
of 1881. He first went to Paris, and
afterward to Turkey, and later join
ed the Holland troops at Borneo.
n !, RI
married a Japanese. From this union
was born Gen. Kuroki, who in the
family is teasingly called the Pole
His father upon his deathbed said to
him that perhaps some day he wguld
be able to take vengeance upon the
Russians AS the name Kourowski Is
difficult to pronounce in Japanese, my
uncle wrote and pronounced his name
Kuroki. My uncle is very proud of his
Polish origin"
The first serious land engagement
of the Russo Japanese war brought
Kuroki into prominence. This was the
battle Of the Yalu, fought on May /,
1904. With regard to this the mil
itary correspondent of the London
Times says: "As a model Of troop
leading the battle on the Yalu was a
very brilliant affair, proving that the
Japanese staff possesses military mer-
it Of the highest order. The men were
also splendid, and the whole military
machine moved like clock work. The
problem which Kuroki solved in dis
lodging the Russian forces was one
of considerable difficulty. At the
time Of the battle the Russians were
estimated at 10000 strong, with two
batteries, one of eight field guns and
the other of eight machine guns.
These troops were distributed along
a front of twenty miles, on the right
or Manchurian bank Of the Yalu river.
Kuroki. with the first army, had made
a fatiguing march of more than two
hundred miles from Seoul, only to find
the enemy protected by the Yalu. En-
gaging the enemy all along the line,
the japanese general sent one of his
three divisions to execute a long
thanking movement on the Russian
left, while with the other two he
threatened an attack on the centre.
Once their left was turned the day