The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-02-28
Won HlNDENBURG, SAVIOR OF THE
KAlSERS ARMY IN EAST PRUSSIA

When the command in East Prus-
sia was turned over to Gen. Won Hin
dcnburg Joy was not the prevailing
sentiment among the younger genera
ton Of the army. and his soldiers were
morally hurt by defeat. From his con-
ference with the Kaiser he sped to
! East Prussia in a parlor car, which.
with the locomotive. constituted the
| whole train. and arriving at the head
quarters prepared for him he closeted
himself within four walls and spread
out HIS old maps and the data upon
which he had already marked en- route
the dispositions OF his own forces az
well as those reported to him Of the
enemy.
From that room. because OF his
mastery grasp of the theatre of
operations. this military genius di-
rected the corps at his disposal.
Physical disability kept him from the
immediate front and intense pains
racked his body repeatedly. but there
was JOY in his heart because he vas
fighting in fact the skirmishes lead
ing up hat battle for which he had
so long prepared. With his EYES shut
and with the continual reports of the
shifting battalions and batteries he
was able to play his great war game
az cerla.nly as a b~lindfo,ded master
Of chess. ont of "A discouraeing tangle
into which his predecessors had
manpuNrod their troops he VAS able
! TO evolve order and strength. for i'm
, mediateiy the tide began to urn and
his downcast soldiers were revived
r.g.l. a.. ,l..fn - -, 4 ,Fu ,g..
by the odd Mar Of the Lakes"
Latterly Field Marshal Won linden
burg has repeated impressively the
story Of his drubbing administered TO
i,ennenkampf and Samsonoff toward
the close Of August. and a brief sketch
NJ the battle IL T~annenberg will suf-
flee TO illustrate the capacity Of this
remarkable man and tho broad name
In which he has once again scored
against his Russian foe Here Is how
a distinguished German professor has
sketched the battle of Tannerberg:
This victory even surpasses tina. OF
the hitherto incompatible Hannibal at
the battls oS CanrR in the year 2l6
=. C.. in which he ~vanquished the
Roman legions. The theatres Of these
two widely separated battles are sub
sta alike in broad details. on
tho day Of battle Hannibal found his
position 20 be an unfavorable one;
! with his back near the coast. his right
| wing slanting toward the Adriatic and
his loft wing resting upon h River
Ofanto. he had no means of retreat.
n beaten he would be forced either
into the sea or the river. He was
Az su,tvH,NaVnd hv- bic H~a vrhA Md
80. 900 to his 10000 men.
such, in effect. was Won linden
burg's position on the Goth OF August
at H~ohensteln. His line OF retreat
toward Koenigsbcrg or Danzig lay
over a mario tractiess territory of
lakes. marshes and woodlands which
imper.lled his development. His right
wing was menaced by a possible at
tack from a second Russian army al
ready posted AT 1~nsterburg. which wa
ready 70 fall suddenly against the
German hank should Won Hindenburg
hesitate, He was outnumbered two
fold.
Contrary to Napoleons d4ctum,
The weaker force ehould never at
tempt TO encircle both nanks OF an
enemy simultaneously Von linden
burg dared 10 do just as Hannibal had
done so man, centuries before. with
a materially weakened centre the Ger
man army corps assailed the Russian
front, but by narrowing rho point OF
his wedge and massing the bulk OF
his troops to an appreclablc depth the
Prussian General drove his blows
home.
won Hindenburg knew that his
lake region offered him no wider foot
hold for his advance. but he knew that
path we'll, and this point he succeeded
in defending until his right and left
wings had completed their Ranking
movements simultaneously at Tan
ncnberg and Ortelsburg. Just az tho
Romans in vas numbers came 30
their death IN the waters of the
Ofanto. so whole regiments Of Rus
slams persisted in m watery regions
into which bS these skilful movements
Won Hindenburg was able to drive
them"
But defeat At ~TannenberN did not
daunt Grand Duke Nicholas. and
again recently the Russians strove to
break their way through the Ma
zurian Lake district, and once more
Field Marshal Won Hndsnburs has
rolled tho invaders back we'll into their
own territory. thanks TO his intimate
knowledge of the abandoned trt-
angle and the East Prussan network
Of railroads. Gu Of a nine days strug-
gle the old warrior won victory in
volving the capture OF 100, 900 prison.
ers, the taking Of more than seven-
score cannon and the seizing Of a vast
deal Of militar. booty. In short, the
odd Man OF the Lakes has dealt his
foes a hea blow than when he
halted Rennenkampf and Samsonon,
shattered their armies and sent them
in a panic oven the frontier.