GENERAL SIOESSEL'S LIFE STORY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2660, 8 March 1905, Page 79

GENERAL SIOESSEL'S LIFE STORY.

General Anatolii- M-ikhailovitch Stoessel, ■whose long 1 and spiriisd defence of Port; Arthur won for him universal fame, is a Russian of the Russians, although of German descent.

His ancestors migrated from the German. Baltic provinces to Russia in the troublous times of the Emperor Paul, and' hisgrandfather became a full-blown General. Ivan Stoessel, father of Anatolii, joined the Orthodox: Church, and fought in the war of 1812. It was in 1848 that Anatolii was born; his mother being a Russian lady of long descent. General Stoessel is therefore 56. years of age. He- served* wi£h> distinction in the B/usso-Turkish War, although as recently as 1909 he had? attained 1 no higher rank. Ulan a consjuander of a Sibsria-n rifte regiment. His- chance* canie vrit-lv the Boxer rising-, -vrhen. n^- was the first commander to enter .Tsen~tsin, and" rose to tE© ran£. of Major-ggnesaL for. dfesh displayed: in the attack on t Zi& - danese cagit-ait He- is. essentially aa.- engiagidr., and-- Kurogatkia once said- of hrm<. "Sfo&ssel' is a; bad* soldieru. Put hint wtfc ecpal forces against a SkobelefF or "as Qurko, ssxd. y-ou'll: fed- hi^ip, tricked and., crit- t<k pfc^es in twenty-four 1 hours. Bui. stick him- behind' one ofi.-his own earth-works, where; Caere's no- questJoH. of majiaeuvEJng, and' all the forces, of earth, ard hell will , not mow him." " When ih<£ war, broke out SJuropatkin' stood; out firmly tJia-t Stoessel; was the man to defend: Port AsrtikwE, an(jb his- opinion prevailed over thes Caatfs^. counsellors, who were in favour of lanievifech being appointed to tififi command oi the- garrison. The magnificent defence he has- made ajraiust overwhelming odds ha)? proved that Europatkin was right. No other oammander could have' dbre- Better, if as well 1 . — Personal* Appearance.

Genera! Stoessel" lacks mo§t of the ordinary physical and mental attributes of the successful soldier. Podgy, undistinguished, with sleepy eyes,, and" a trim^ bearded", somewhat commonplace face, he is the antithesis of. fcbe dashing and somewhat vain Muscovite -roarriGrr. In St. Petersburg, it, used- to- be said' that "S^oessel rose rapidly,- through. Ms. solemn manner and ias* dingus unifornr," and- these- waa. probably- -soitre^ tnitli? in- the snesr, for "Acatolii aUMi^bvJt-eli" had" the style and: manners of" tfie- »wiss militia, soldier, and the vivackms and immaculate- Rtsssiwit staff could" not. help suspecting; deptß beneath the studious officer's mwrazzlmg exterior.

— A, Hemosseless Man. —

Thos9 who dislike Stoessel — and thereare many — declare- that lie has no feelings. Certainly ha never snows any. Stolid^ taciturn, and' absolutely devoid of. humour^ Stoessel is a typical 'Teuton. Sis discipline' is as tcagh as his fortifications and as sharp as his bayonets.

"The man ia remorseless," wrote a Kus*ian officer shortly aJ£ter the Japanese landing a-fe Pit-se-wo, who had- seen a nineteen^year-old soldier shot and cast into a dishonoured grave for a breach of dajty in which there was more stupidity than, neglect. "Caspry out the sentence. It saves lives in. the end," is Stoessel's grim retorc to any court-martial that sends in recommendations of. msrey. And the drunkards,, the sleeping sentry, the culprit in some trivial act of in-subordmation is flogged or shot, or even hanged, without mercy, because with his Teutonic arithmetic and cold-blooded reasoning Port Arthur's defender has woi>ke*i ib out that shootingone man for a breach of duty may some way indireetlv "save the lives" of a whole battalion in the day of battle.

— A Stem: Disciplinarian. —

Many good anecdotes about Stoessel ace told. Tfiie story has often been related of how he exposed a drunken officer to the fire of thei Japanese- warships, forcing him meantime 'to hold a champagne bottl© in his hand.

Another story- of his liomeeopathi-e methods of discipline is told in the "Sibii-skive Viestnik." An. officer, described as "son of one of the- Czar's Chamberlains," was discovered in the company of a lady of doubtful repute, when he should have been at work on a fort. Stoesse 1 sent for him, reduced him to the rank of sergeant, and ordered him to parade the boulevard -for three days in succession in the company of the temptress. The officer begged for any other punishment, and failing, threatened to shoot himself. "All 'right, do!" said the General.

That such a man could be "popular" in the usual sense of that misused word is not to be expected. Before the fighting Stoessel's officers dteaded his rigid justice ■which spared nobody, and his men, having no experience of his prowess as a fighter

and knowing only that by origin he belonged to the hated "Aiemtsi" (Germans), regarded him without enthusiasm. Things have changed sines then-. The messages- that came through from the beleaguered fortress spoke ahnos* gushingly of the adoration which the garrison ielt for their commander. Both have come to know one another' on the field of battle, and the Russians have realised once mere that it is an "alien" who has again kept their flag from dishonour in face of the most tremendous tragedy in their history.