The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1916-01-15
Organization Which Count
ess Tolstoy Equipped For
Service Saves Many Lives
Under Fire.

Under Fire.
Headquarters of the Russian Army
or the Center, Jan. 15.-The follow
ing story of the Twenty-1rst Flying
Column of the First Siberian Corps
was related by Andrew alpaschnikoff,
former secretary of the Russian en-
bassy at Washington. Kalpasch-
nikon offered his service to his coun-
try at the outbreak of the war and
was related by Andrew KaIpaschnikoff
Cross He became identified with the
21st Flying Column and soon was
placed in command of that body
''The reckless daring of the First
Siberian Corps said REPRESENTATION,
lis we'll knoWon throughout Russia.
The flying column attached to such a
fighting organization has no easy task
In the first days of the war several
columns, attracted by the brilliant
achievements of that corps in the de-
tense of Warsaw, strove for the honor
of working with it, and especially
with the famous first division; but
they found the work too hard, or the
conditions too dangerous, and after
brief periods abandoned the task i
''The Twenty First Flying Column
which had been with the corps since
the end of November, 1914, has pro-
ven its worth. It was organized at
'the expense of the rich patroness
Countess Tolstoy, already famed for
the work she has done in the found
ingn of hospitals and feeding points
for the sick and wounded. Early in
October it did it's first work with one
of the European corps sent to the re-
lief of Lovitch. At critical mo-
mept, when the enemy had broken
through the Russian lines in two pIa-
ces, the column took up its task on
its own initiative. The commander
at that time Bashkiroff, dispatched
two sections to a neighboring village
in charge of Terotinin, son of the EN-
peror's physician, and myself.
"A diplomat and student neither
Of whom had even been in war be-
and we rode boldly into the village,
half of which had already been occu-
pied by the Germans. The latter
opened fire on our sanitary carriages |
with rapid fire guns. Part of the,
carriages were destroyed. We recall |
ed our men and started back as fast
as we could. The Germans she11ed |
the road over which we rode to our |
headquarters, but found that the road |
from Lovitch had been cut. With the |
we had picked up we had to |
make retreat of thirtyzf1ve miles in |
one night, most of the way under the |
sIse11 fire of the Germans, to Slxierni- |
vItze. There we found that the town
had been ordered evacuated by the |
Russian troops and we were practi- |
"A
hot fight was in progress outside the |
city, At the last moment a Russian |
success on one of the TANKS saved the /
city and enabled the Russians to re- |
pulse the Germans. Being the only /
Red Cross unit on the grouonds, as the |
result of a mere chance, we bound and |
fed, in two days, 31017 wounded.
1--WE were ordered then to move. on
with the corops of the famous General /
Mishenko, known as the Cossack
Raider of the japanese War. We
took up our work in his advance lines
just at the time the Germans made
their second dash on Warsaw. Our
corps stood firm, for nine days, repuls-
Ingn attack after attack. This nine
days among the Caucasian heroes was
at the same time the most instructive,
Of our experiences. In one night sew
EN- hundred wounded were found and
cared for, the greater part in the
trenches under heavy artillery fire.
Several santtars were wounded.
when new corps. came to the res
cue the Caucasians were ordered to
make rapid move back to join fresh |,
troops and begin an advance togeth-
er. The move was executed SO sud
denly and rapidly that the military
aide had no time to take out the
wounded lying in several villages near
by. The last section of the column
to creep into the village
and rescue the wounded who other
wise were threatened with being
burned, fire having broken out in sew
era1 places. Through the blackness
Of the night, lit only by the bursting
shells, we made our way into the viii
age and removed eighty men from
he danger zone. The staff consider +
I'd them lost and upon learning of +,
heir rescue General MiShenko called
,ut the heroes of that night thanked
hem for their work and made them
he subject of a hattering order to his
,egiment. Immediately after that
he commander of the column fell ill
ind L was left in command.
Among the troops whose gallantry
stopped the Germans a second time
rom coming to Warsaw were tn ose :
# the First Siberian Corps.
'sFor the first time having seen the
magnetic Siberian officers ssaiI Kali
Z decided to offer the ,
services of the column to that bril-
liant corps I went to the comman- {
Ter of the corps. General P1eshkoff; I
Who accepted my services. I was fas-
mated by him, and my impression of !
Tim, gained that day, as a man be-
owed by his soldiers, big hearted and {
ather1y, has never changed
During the long tenure of the line IL
# the Bsura river before Warsaw.