: i - Fighting Leaders of the Russians i ; '-" to '-v i I v I 1 P 1 GENERAL KOUROPATKIN, RUSSIA'S MOST FAMOUS FIGHTER, THE GRAND DUKE ALEXIS. HEAD OF THE RUSSIAN NAVT. (Copyright, 1904, by T. C. McClure.) M l.ln A Piilil tin 11 rnrhAB Vi ill t, I II lu 41 1 v III uiviu ui vrv i' , 1 1 v I I fatnouH war correspondent; used, I tit tin fnnrf tt tilMnir linur hn inpt Bkobeleff, tha greatest of Russian generals, after ono of tho fiercest of the many desperate fights before Plevna. "I was sitting in my tent writing a dis patch," said Forbes, "when the flup was suddenly drawn aside, and In stalked tho most terrible and awe-lnsplrlng object I have ever sewn In my life. It was Skobeleff, whom I knew well, but I had to look twice before I recogrized him. "Ills smart general's uniform was torn Into rhreds and stained with blood nnd gunpowder from head to foot. Ills sword, which ho held in his hand, was simply smothered In blood, and great drops of it fell on the floor of the tent as he greeted me. There was a terrible gash across the top of his forehead, and his eyes still biased with the fierce excitement of the hand-to-hand fight which he had Just had with hun dred n of Turks. "VVhllo he stood there telling me about the battle, his favorite captain, Kouropat kin camo up and called him away to de ride about the disposition of some of the prisoners. Kouropatkln looked even more like a god of war fresh from the scene of carnage. Ho was bleeding from half a dozen wounds, but he stood as steady as a rock when he saluted Skobeleff. The latter Buggcstcd that he had better go into tha hospital, but he curtly replied, 'No, gen eral. There is work to be done.' "I heard afterward that Skobeleff and Kouropatkln had fought side by side throughout that bloody day, and had slain tho Turks literally by dozens. Their ex ploits formed tho theme of many a story told beside the campflres of both armies throughout the campaign." Captain Kouropatkln, who was the right hand mnn of Skobeleff all through the Ruswo-Turklh war. as well as In the fight at Plevna, is now General Kouropatkln, the cznr'a mlnlMer of war, and the most noted of h11 tho Russian fighting men. He was trained in a harder school than most mod ern generals, and went through enough perils to satisfy the biggest glulton for ad venture. After one of the bloody flghts in the Phll'ka pans, ho was left for dead upon the field. All night lie lay there, sore wounded and unconscious. It was in tho Mtter cold of a Balkan night, and he might have frozen to death had he not been al most entirely covered by the body of a dying Turk, who hud fallen across him after he sunk to the ground with the agony of his wound. In the morning Kouropatkln recovered consciousness, crawled from underneath the Turk, and made his way, slowly and painfully, to the Russian camp, where his comrades received him as If he were a ghost. Kouropatkln became the hero of the Rus sian army, second only to his great leader fikobelcff, by his bravery and fine general- ft mm: 1 l V r ff 1 . t9 jt ; .-- J 1 h ) GENERAL RABRIKOFF. GOVERNOR-GENERAX. OF FINLAND AND A FAMOUS FIGHTER j ship at the capture of Geok Tepe In 1882. When the Russians, balked of tht-lr dream of winning Constantinople by the lierliu congress, were muklng 'their great swoop through Central Asia to tho gates of Herat, Wd Salisbury told the British jiulillo not to be alurmed for the safety of India. "They will not be able to con quer the Turcomans," lie declared. "The Turcoman barrier will last for our life time, at least." General Tergoukasoff, the Russian com mander In Central Asia, disagreed with Ixrd Salisbury. He told the ciar that the Turcomans might be conquered by three year's hard fighting. 'That Is too long," said the tsur. He recalled Tergoukasoff, nrd sent Bkobeleff to command the troops. Skobeleff promptly secured Kouropatkln for his chief lieutenant, and together they performed in a few weeks the task which the British premier declared would tako a lifetime. Geok Tepe, the great stronghold of the Turcomans, was carried by assault after a month's selge. Tho brunt of the at tack fell on Kouropatkln, who commanded a contingent of light troops from Turk estan. It was a great victory, but it sullied the reputation of both the Russian leaders. They ordered their troops to give no quar ter to the Turcomans of either sex, and all the horrors usual when such orders ore given .were perpetrated. Spectators say that even when the Tur comans fled in a disorderly mob across tho desert, men, women and children mingled together, no mercy was shown to them. Artillery and cavalry followed in their rear and mowed them down, until darknnss put an end to the pursuit. In that few hours' chase 1,000 pursuing Russians slaughtered 8.000 fugitives, while over 6,000 were mas sacred In the fortified camp of Geok Tepo, "The whole country was covered with corpses," said Samuel Gourovitch, an Ar menian Jew who acted as interpreter in the Russian forces. 'The morning after the battle they lay In rows like freshly mown hay, as they had been swept down by Ui mitrailleurs and artillery. Hundreds of women were sabred,' and I myself savr babies bayonetted or slashed to pieces. Many women were ravished before being killed. The troops, mad with drink and the lust of fighting, were allowed to plun der and kill for three days after the as sault." This is the single great blot on Gen eral Kouropatkin's record. It is true that he was not In supreme command, but his Turkestan troops played the leading part In the slaughter. He is a great leader of men. The march of his Turkestan contingent across tho almost unknown deserts of Central Asia, In order to join Skobeleff for the siego of Geok Tepe, was as fine an achievement as Lord Roberts' famous march to Caudahar. "Kouropatkln," Bold General Anneakofr, Who met him at the end of the march, "had been for twenty-six days marching over a sandy and waterless desert, yet his force inarched In clean and trim, and as fresh as a daisy." An English newspaper correspondent, who attended the funeral of Skobele'ff at Spasskoe Selo in 1882, was there thrown into company with many of the dead general's favorite officers. "More than once," he said, "I heard a controversy among them as to whether Kouropatkln was not almost as good a leader as their lost general. " 'Kouropatkln,' said a Turkestan officer to me, during one of these discussions, 'posseses all the characteristics of Sko beleff cast In a cooler mould. They worked admirably together, Kouropatkln imparting coolness and calculation to Skobeleff, and Skobeleff fire and enthusiasm to Kouropat kln. We are desolate now that Skobeleff Is gone, but it Is a consolation that we have still got Kouropatkln. He ia now the Skobeleff of RusBla.' "During the first few days succeeding Skobeleff's deatli a strong and angry feel ing prevailed In Russia against the govern ment. It was felt that the dead hero's merits had never been properly appreciated by the state, and I encountered various officers at Moscow who were persuaded he hud been poisoned. To appease the army the emperor felt that he could not do better than summon Kouropatkln from Central Asia and give him a high appointment at home. Since then he has been treated as a favorite at court, and if he has secured little notoriety abroad it is simply becauso he has always devoted himself to his pro fession and left politics alone. "Skobeleff had in him all the elements of a great statesman, as well as those of a great general. Ills political Influence was becoming positively embarrassing to tho czar's ministers when he died. Kouro patkln has never Bought to form a party In Russia he Is quite content to be a great general, and nothing more." This Judgment was pronounced away back in 1835. It does not hold good today. Gen eral Kouropatkln is now the unchallenged (Continued ou Togs Sixteen.)