THE PORT ARTHUR COURT-MARTIAL.
EVIDENCE UNFAVOURABLE TO
GENERAL ftTOBSSEL
United Pm« AisociaUop—By Electrio Telegraph—Copyright ST. PETERSBURG, December 29. Evidence- at the Port Arthur courtmartial was aJmost uniformly unfavourable to General Stoeseel. The latter was unable to rebut the charge of unwarrantable interference with General Smirnoff, commandant of the fortress.
General Smirnoff (says the St. Petersburg correspondent ot the "Standard") alleged that General Stoesael had usurped authority never reposed in him, and had disobeyed tho orders of General Kuropatkin 'to leave Port Arthur and join tho Commander-in-Chief; that Stoossel was grossly incompetent and a coward; that ho displayed the most shameless disregard of the exigencies of the defence and resisted siny loan from his fnuds as commander of the military district to the depleted trens>nry of the fortification engineers; ! that lip devoted nearly nil his time and attention to intrigue against. Smirnoff; that he obtained promotion and decoration for his personal friends, regardless of merit; that hie house was a rendezvous for all the doubtful elements of the population; that he discouraged sallies and sorties and moved hie dwelling the moment that a shell burst near it; but, above all, that he and his clique deliberately got to work to break down the spirit of tho garrison, to inculcate tho belief that resistance was hopeleee. to bring about the abandonment of one position after another, and, finally, forced tho surrender against tho almost unanimous advice of the Council of Defence, as the result of which 100,000 Japanese, forming Nogi's army, were released to help to crush Knropatkin's armies at Mukden. General Stoessel's. answer must bo pronounced ineffective (says the correspondent;. It merely emphasises that impression of futile incompetoncy and ehecr inability to rise abovo the. commander of a line regiment or brigade which Stoeescl made upon mc and many others.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 13000, 31 December 1907, Page 7
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299THE PORT ARTHUR COURT-MARTIAL. Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 13000, 31 December 1907, Page 7
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