[1] “The War in the Far East, 1904–1905,” by the Military Correspondent of the Times. JohnMurray.

[2] P. 68, Volume II., of this book.

[3] With a small portion of the third volume in Chapter XIII.

[4] As adopted in the “Official History of the Russo-Japanese War,” now being published by the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence.

[5] [Of these only portions of the Introduction and Conclusion of Volume III. have been translated.—ED.]

[6] The motives of those who started writing upon their return to Russia, also, were not entirely above suspicion.

[7] The money put aside by the Treasury for the War Department is not allotted annually, but for quinquennia periods.

[8] [Chapters I. to XII. in the following translation.—Ed.]

[9] On the north-west, from Varanger Fiord to Pskoff (about 1,350 miles), we marched with our powerful neighbour Sweden, who possessed an army of 100,000 men. At this disturbed period she was mistress of the country round the Baltic coasts and of the present province of St. Petersburg, and possessed in the fortresses of Finland and in the Baltic littoral an enveloping base for a gradual movement on our Pskoff and Novgorod provinces. On the west, from Pskoff to Tchigrin (about 1,000 miles), we marched with Poland, the frontier re-entering like a wedge near Smolensk to a distance of 300 miles from Moscow. Poland, the ally of Sweden and Turkey, was Russia’s natural enemy, for she was in occupation of our soil in White and Little Russia. On the south, from Tchigrin to Azov (about 400 miles), the boundary ran practically undefined, shared with the Tartar hordes subject to Turkey, who then possessed an army of some 500,000 men, and a strong fleet on the Black Sea. From Azov to the Caspian (about 400 miles) our neighbours were Tartars and nomadic Caucasian mountaineers, who were continually raiding our borders. Lastly, in Asia our frontier, which was here also only vaguely defined, marched with that of the Kirghiz tribes and races subordinate to China.

[10] [In 1792.—Ed.]

[11] In the year 1800 the weakest portions of our frontiers, which had increased since 1700 to a total length of 11,333 miles, were: On the side of Finland (Swedish), from Neyshlot to the mouth of the Kumen (about 200 miles), owing to the proximity of this boundary to St. Petersburg; from Grodno to Khotin (about 130 miles), due to the absence of natural obstacles and strong fortresses, and to the propinquity of Prussia and Austria; on the Caucasian side only a portion lay within our sphere of influence, and after the annexation of Georgia conflicts became frequent with the Caucasians; on the Central Asian side, because the annexation of the Kirghiz tribes, in the time of Anne Ivanovna, had brought Russia into immediate contact with the Khanates of Khiva, Bokhara, and Khokand, whose inhabitants looked upon our approach with no friendly eye.

[12] The troops of Suvoroff, Rimskov-Korsakoff, Herman, and those afloat in the fleet of Admiral Ushakoff.

[13] The armies of Lassa (about 65,000; headquarters, Grodno) and of Gudovitch (about 65,000 to 70,000; headquarters, Kamenetz-Podolsk).

[14] “Memoirs of a Sevastopol Man” (N. S. Maloshevitch, 1904), chaps. ix., x.

[15] In this fight our weapons had a range of 300 to 450 yards, as compared with the enemy’s (MiniÉ) rifle, which had a range of 1,200 yards. Our Rifle battalions, of which we had one per army corps, were alone armed with rifles.

[16] [? Tchernaya.—Ed.]

[17] Only fourteen men were left of the company in whose advanced trench the standard was. The officer commanding the battalion, the company commander, and company subaltern, were all killed.

[18] [An affair of outposts on the Afghan frontier, which caused a considerable stir at the time.—Ed.]

[19] [In the eighteenth century, 1,500,000; in the nineteenth century, 1,700,000.—Ed.]

[20] [This is apparently extracted from General Kuropatkin’s report of 1900.—Ed.]

[21] The frontiers with Norway and Sweden were settled by the Treaty of Friederichsham in 1809, and the St. Petersburg Convention of 1826.

[22] [Written before the partition.—Ed.]

[23] In Trans-Caucasia the frontier along the Rivers Araks and Astara was fixed by the Treaty of Turkmanchai in 1828, and in Trans-Caspia along the Artek and the Kopet Dagh ridge by the Agreement at Teheran in 1881.

[24] The Trans-Caucasian frontier has held good for seventy years.

[25] [The line to Nushki is evidently referred to.—Ed.]

[26] [Sic.—Ed.]

[27] [This view is interesting in the light of more recent events.—Ed.]

[28] In 1897 the chief exports were: Cotton-stuffs, £344,100; naphtha and its products, £100,800; and wool, £40,400. The chief imports were: Tea, £3,210,900; cotton goods, £170,200; woven materials, £165,800; live stock, £78,700; and leather, £72,300. Total exports, £640,000; total imports, £3,920,000.

The central and largest section of the Chinese frontier was fixed by the Nerchinsk Treaty of 1687, and the Burinsk and Kiakhta Treaties of 1727; the most western by the Treaties of Chuguchag in 1864, and St. Petersburg in 1881 (after the pacification of Kuldja); the most eastern, along the Rivers Amur and Sungari, by the Treaties of Aigun in 1858, and Peking in 1860; and our last acquirement of territory in China—the southern part of the Kuan-tung Peninsula—was ceded to us in 1898.

[29] The route through Manchuria shortens the line of the Great Siberian Railway, and is therefore of great commercial value, but is dangerous for military reasons. The route along the Amur would be better, for it traverses Russian territory only, and is covered by that river.

[30] To enable us to provide sufficient units in Kuan-tung, the War Department was obliged to weaken the establishment of troops in the Odessa and Kieff Military Districts by 6,000 men.

[31] The recent arrivals are composed chiefly of Japanese, with a few Chinese. Their number is always greater in the warm weather, when they come to Korea on business (fishing, timber-cutting, etc.).

[32] [Sic. General Kuropatkin seems to have written this by an oversight.—Ed.]

[33] [The Pri-Amur is the Russian Amur Province situated on the north side of the Amur River.—Ed.]

[34] [This evidently refers to the Orenburg-Tashkent Railway, completed in 1904.—Ed.]

[35] Our troops on that occasion numbered 2,000. It was an insignificant affair, in which we only had forty-three casualties.

[36] Seventy-three miles from Kushk fortified post.

[37] [Sic. ? Pan-Islamic.—Ed.]

[38] [Galicia.—Ed.]

[39] [So-called Chinese Turkestan.—Ed.]

[40] Not far from Lake Lob Nor (discovered by Prejevalski), into which the River Tarin flows.

[41] [This is not the generally accepted view.—Ed.]

[42] We had three rifles—the Berdan, the Krink, and the Karl; most of them were Krink, converted from the “six-line rifle.” The Turks’ Peabody was a far more perfect weapon.

[43] [As chief of the Headquarter Staff.—Ed.]

[44] [Russia is divided into thirteen military districts.—Ed.]

[45] Besides the allotments for artillery re-armament and house allowance.

[46] 96 battalions, 57 squadrons, and 236 guns.

[47] [Of the thirty-six East Siberian Rifle Regiments in the Far East when war broke out, all had two battalions except those of one brigade, which had three.—Ed.]

[48] [Sic.—Ed.]

[49] The proposals as to Kronstadt were approved before I became War Minister.

[50] Of this number, 8 East Siberian Rifle Divisions, 96 battalions; 1st, 2nd, and 3rdSiberian Reserve Divisions, 48 battalions; independent reserve battalions, 12; 2 brigades, 31st and 35thDivisions, 16 battalions—total, 172 battalions. All these troops were in April, 1904, in Siberia, in the Pri-Amur district, and in Manchuria. Of them, 27 battalions constituted the garrison of Port Arthur; 21 battalions the garrison of Vladivostok and the South Ussuri district; the 1stSiberian Division was kept in rear; while the independent reserve battalions guarded the railway. In April, 1904, of these 172 battalions, there were only 108 in the Manchurian army, distributed from the Ya-lu to Newchuang, and from Ta-shih-chiao along the railway to Omsk, as the 4thSiberian Corps was still on the way out.

[51] [See p. 121.—ED.]

[52] [In addition to the ordinary Quinquennial Budget.—Ed.]

[53] [M. Sergius de Witte.—Ed.]

[54] [Literally, “A man’s own shirt is nearest his own skin.”—Ed.]

[55] [August, 1900.—Ed.]

[56] [The German Field-Marshal commanding the Allied Forces of the Peking Relief Expedition.—Ed.]

[57] Which the occupation of Port Arthur had made of considerable military importance to us.

[58] [The Maritime Province.—Ed.]

[59] Ying-kou.

[60] [This ratio hardly seems correct.—Ed.]

[61] [The Royal Timber Company. For fuller details of this undertaking and Bezobrazoff’s connection with it, see AppendixI., p.615.—Ed.]

[62] [The Russian Minister in China.—Ed.]

[63] [The Russian Minister in Korea.—Ed.]

[64] “Decisions of the Council on the Manchurian Question,” No.10, July11, 1903 (Port Arthur).

[65] [On the Mekran Coast of Persia.—Ed.]

[66] [? Straits of La PÉrouse.—Ed.]

[67] [A Japanese steamship line.—Ed.]

[68] In addition to these there were 2,716 departmental officers—i.e., medical, veterinary, and supply, etc.

[69] By January1, 1901, in the reserve and territorial army there were 2,737 officers, and it was necessary to add in war-time, without the reserve troops, 2,619 officers; thus the establishment of officers of the standing army and territorial forces could be fully completed, and 138 officers were left for reserve units. This was insufficient—i.e., there were about 1,000 officers short.

[70] 145,000 in the reserve, and 120,000 in the territorial army.

[71] Some of the regulars were undersized recruits.

[72] [An obstacle formed of rows of conical pits, with a sharpened stake in the centre, and usually a wire entanglement across the top.—Ed.]

[73] [A Russian brigade usually consists of eight battalions. Those of the E.S.Rifle Divisions had six.—Ed.]

[74] [“A Staff Officer’s Scrap-Book,” vol.i., p.11.—Ed.]

[75] [A species of millet, which grows very high.—Ed.]

[76] [On March10, 1905, the battle of Mukden, which had lasted for several days, ended with the retreat of the Russians and the occupation of Mukden by the Japanese. On the 16th the Japanese entered Tieh-ling, and on the 21st Chang-tu Fu. The latter represents the furthest point reached in the northerly advance of their main armies.—Ed.]

[77] [General Kuropatkin’s country estate in Russia.—Ed.]

[78] “Scheme for the Strategical Distribution of Troops in the Far East in the Event of War with Japan,” November18, 1900 (Port Arthur).

[79] [Being a single-line railway, the number of trains in one direction depended on those travelling in the opposite direction; they are, therefore, alluded to in pairs. A pair of trains implies two trains, one each way.—Ed.]

[80] [? Eastern Chinese Railway.—Ed.]

[81] [An Échelon of troops consisted of the troops from a certain number of trains. See Footnote87.—Ed.]

[82] [The Eastern Chinese line was under the Minister of Finance.—Ed.]

[83] [A strategic line of railway in European Russia, some 700 miles long.—Ed.]

[84] [General Kuropatkin does not refer to mounted infantry.—Ed.]

[85] In his report to the War Minister, dated October 19, 1906, General Soboloff, the late commander of the 6thSiberian Corps, said: “The general concentration in July, 1904, of the 55th and 72nd Divisions, which composed my corps, was by no means instructive, as the War Minister refused to let us have any artillery or cavalry. In Tamboff and Morshansk masses of infantry, 16,000 strong, manoeuvred about without a single gun or squadron.”

[86] [“Three line” indicates the calibre of the rifle, a “line” being a Russian measure equal to 1/10 of an inch. Three lines = ·299 inches.—Ed.]

[87] [An Échelon is a collection of trains containing a unit or units despatched together. In South Africa these collections of trains were sometimes called “coveys.”—Ed.]

[88] [A Russian regiment generally contains four battalions, and equals a British brigade.—Ed.]

[89] [There is no rank of Major in the Russian Army.—Ed.]

[90] [Presumably with a percussion-fuse.—Ed.]

[91] [March7, 1904.—Ed.]