The Washington herald., 1919-04-28

pital IN the rear. was suuef-
ing from shell-shock. My hearing
was affected and. while 1 could un-
derstand when spoken to. was un-
able to talk. I was sent to Petro-
grad and was met at the station
by distinguished gathering. in
cluding many of my patronesses
and some high army officers. keren-
sky sent his adjutant- Gen Nasil-
kovsky, successor to PoloVtzeV, as
commander OF the Petrograd mill
tary district. was also present
was showered with flowers and kiss
es. But to all congratulations I
could not even reply with a sound.
lying motionless on the stretcher..
/ was taken to a hospital and
given a large, beautiful room. Ker-
ensky came to see me. kissed me
ON the forehead. and presented to me
handsome bouquet. He made
little speech. apologizing for the
trouble he had given me in the
controversy about introducing the
committee system in the battalion
and praised me for my bravery. de-
claring that ] had set a wonderful
example to the men all over the
front. He invited me to call on
him as soon as 1 got well.
President Rodzianko visited me
the following day. He was very
depressed and pessimistic over the
condition of the country.
Russia is perishing." he said land
there is no salvation in prospect for
her. Kerensky relies too much on
his own power. and is blind to what
is going on around him. Gen. Kor-
nilov requested that Kerensky grant
him the authority to restore dis
cipline in the army. but the latter
refused. claiming that he was able
to accomplish it himself in his own
manner
While j was in the hospital a dele
gate from the front brought me a
testimonial from my corps commit
tee, 1t appeared that two days aft
/ er was wounded the committee,
which usually comprised the more
intelligent soldiers, met in session
and discussed all night how they
could best remard my conduct. a
resolution was passed in which
praise and thanks were expressed
to me for leading bravely in an at
tack which resulted in the cap
ture of two thousand prisoners. The
testimonial was a record of the reso-
luton. signed by the members Of
the corps committee. Later the men
would have done anything to re-
woke their signatures. as they deep
~ regretted this tribute to me. an
implacable enemy OF the Germans.
from the entire corps. which was
permeated even then with the Boil
shevist spirit.
learned that Lieut.. Filippov took
charge of the battalion, gathering
the survivors from all the units with
which they identified themselves
during and after the retreat. How
ever. he did not remain with the bat
TALON. resigninE to join some avia-
ton detachment in the south. after
his reorganization of the remnant
of my unit. 1t was also reported
to me that the commander of the
corps had recommended me for a
cross.
Another week passed before I re-
covered my speech and poise. al
though the effects of the shock did
not disappear completely for some
weeks A woman friend of mine
told me that Kornilov was expected
to arrive in Petrograd on the NOR
row, and that his relations with Ker-
ensky were strained. on account OF
their differences as to the restora-
tion of discipline at the front.
telephoned to the Winter Palace for
an appointment, and the war minis
ter's adjutant reported my request
to Kerensky. who said that he could
receive me Immediately, even send
ing his car for me.
Kerensky welcomed me heartily.
expressing his gladness over my re-
covery. He asked me for the rea-
son why the soldiers would not
fight. In reply 1 told him in detail
the story of my abortive offensive,
how the men had called meetings
to deliberate for hours and days
whether to advance or not 1 told
only facts. as narrated above, and
Kerensky was deeply impressed. In
conclusion l said:
You can see for yourself that the
committees stand for talk. endless
talk. An army that talks is not a
fighting army. In order to save the
front II is necessary to abolish the
committees and introduce strict dis
cipline. Gen. Kornilov seems to be
the man for the job. believe he
can do it. Not all is lost yet. With
an iron hand the Russian army can
be revived Kornilov has such a
hand. why not give him the right
to use it?''
Kerensky agreed with me gem
orally. But" he said, ''KorniIoy
wants to restore the old regime. He
may take power into his own hands
and put the Tsar back on the
throne"
This I could not believe. and
said so to Kerensky. He replied
that he had grounds for believing
that Kornilov wanted the monarchy
re-established.
'Tf you are not convinced" Ker-
ersky continued. ''go over to gen
era1 headquarters, have a talk with
Kornilov. find out all you can about
his intentions. and come back to re-
port to me-"
realized Immediately that Ker-
ensky was asking me to act for him
in the role of a secret agent. but I
was interested. The thought occur
red to me again and again:
What IL Kerensky is right, and
Rornilov really wants the Tsar
back?"
My country was in bad shape. but
I dreaded to think of a return of
Tsarism. II Kornilov was for the
old regime, then he was an enemy
of the people, and KerensKy was