Arizona republican., 1914-05-01
TRIAL OF GENERAL STOESSEL

When General Stoessel made his gal lant defense of Port Arthur. in the Russo-Japanese war, the world looked upon him with universal admiration. This admiration was never lessened in spite of the fact that in the humiliation that came toNRussia in the disastrous ending of that war, it was necessary to find victims and the great hero was put to the humiliation of court martial trial, in which he was stripped of all the honors he had won and was sen- tenced to death.
 For many years Stoessel had cut an imposing figure in Russian military life. When the siege of Port Arthur was at it's height he was credited with the grim prophecy, Port Arthur will be my tomb His death would have been looked upon as glorious had it oc- cured before he was put to the humil- iation of surrendering. He had fought against terrible odds, thousands of miles from home, with an army in every way inadequate to withstand the Japanese, so it would be difficult to imagine how any general could have succeeded under such circumstances.
 When Stoessel was informed by company of soldiers that they could no longer hold their post, his reply was But you can die them Seven long months he held out, but surrender was inevitable. Honorably and properly the world thought So contending he returned wounded and ill to Russia to be judged. What was this judgment?
 Seldom has a nation been known to use one of her sturdy soldiers as Russia
 used Stoessel. His former associates
 in the clubs and drawing rooms did not notice him when they met He was
 no longer consulted on any matter re-
 lating to the government and troops.
 He was forced to resign from the army. If he is guilty let him die" said the emperor, once proud to call Stoessel friend If he is innocent, let him prove it." At the emperors initiative Stoessel handed in his resignation on September 27. 1906. This was followed by the appointment of a commission to | inquire into the equalization of the Asiatic stronghold. On February 26, | 1907. there was presented a secret re- port of affairs upon which was based | the indictment of Stoessel It was
 written by Lieutenant General Smir-
 noff, who accused the general of cow
 ardice and incapacity, and finally of | deliberate, reasonable hastening of the
 surrender to save his own life.
 It was not untily July 13 that this | document was made public, and not
 until December 10 that the trial was begun at St. Petersburg It was con- i tinued for a number of weeks with of Russia were evenly divided for and against the charges as stated.
 1 StoessePs court martial was conclud- | ed on February 20, when the verdict condemned him to death The czar, | however, was petitioned to reduce this
 sentence to one of imprisonment in a | fortress for ten years on the ground 1 that the forces against him which led | to the surrender of the fortress on
 January 13. 1905. were collosal; that | the men in Port Arthur under his lead
 ership repulsed several attacks and
 that he himself had gone through three campaigns.
 | The trial was received in St. Peters, burg with little satisfaction, for it was | felt that nothing had been accomplish : l ed by his conviction toward establish 1 ing the real responsibility for the fall l of the fortress. The newspapers ex- pressed sympathy with the general and declared that the death sentence would | have to be commuted. As General Voeder was reading the sentence Sto-
 essel maintained a rigid soldier-like 1 in1pa ssivity. General Smirnoff was
 also seemingly unmoved, but there were tears in the eyes of General Relss.
 On March q, 1908, Stoessel began to serve his ten years sentence in the | fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul. He
 persisted until the very last in hoping
 that the emperor would pardon him. | On May 19, 1909, on the birthday Of | the czar, he took advantage of the an niversary to extend to the old general | his pardon. As sStoessel emerged from | the prison gates he was warmly con- graduated by a large crowd. The hu-
 initiation Of failure is graphically illus trated in this story. Had the result of
 the war been different the name of
 Stoessel would no doubt be honored in stead Of hishonored in the Russian na | tional Hall of Fame.
 TomorroW-Trial of Modoc Jack.