LIFE WITH THE RUSSIAN ARMY.* LIEUTENANT GREENE has already an
established position as a writer on the Eastern Question. His elaborate work, The Russian, Army and its Campaigns in Turkey in 1877-78, is, and will long remain, the standard book for military men, historians, journalists, and, indeed, all who wish to gain a clear conception of the organisation of the Russian Army, and the successive steps of the campaign which ended with the Treaty of San Stefano. But that work was too technical for the general reader. It was written by a soldier for soldiers, and the author assumed on the part of his readers a tolerable acquaintance with military terms and the science of war. The excellent atlas, with its series of industriously-compiled maps, gave indeed a kind of bird's eye view of the campaign, which showed almost at a glance its principal features ; but the price of the book made it inaccessible to many. In the volume before us, Lieutenant Greene returns to his old subject. But he treats it now in a much lighter style. He has given an example of his accuracy, of his industry, and of his knowledge of his profession, and he now shows that he can be brilliant, stirring, and sympathetic. There is not a dull page in the whole book. It may be regarded as an amplified diary ; as the work of a man who, after the bustle and excitement of a protracted war, writes down in the quietude of his study not only the impressions left upon his mind, but the lessons derived from a study of them. The plan of the work is dictated by Mr. Greene's personal movements. He joined the Russian Army, as representative of the United States, at the Bulgarian village of Biela, on August 5th, 1877. Here the late Emperor had his head-quarters, and the first chapter deals with " the Tsar, who is at once the head and object of the whole organisation " of the Russian Army. " It is in Russia alone, of all civilised countries," says Mr. Greene, " that at this day we find the idea of personal allegiance existing in its primi- tive purity, undisturbed by the tendencies of modern represen- tative government," and this conception is the source of all the strength and all the weakness of the Russian Army. It makes the soldier ready to brave all danger, and to put up with every inconvenience ; but it makes him at the same time so dependent upon his leaders that he is absolutely lacking in self-reliance, and he will stand still and be shot, when no one is left to give orders, rather than look after himself, like the Englishman or Frenchman. Of the character of the late Czar, Mr. Greene formed a very high estimate, and throughout his work he makes no attempt to conceal an ardent sympathy with the Muscovite nature. This partiality one expects to find in the writings of an American on Russia, and both during his residence in St. Petersburg and the time spent with the Russian Army invad- ing Turkey, Mr. Greene received so much attention and kind- ness that he is bound to the Russians by a strong personal tie, in addition to the good-will that has so long existed between the United States and the great Northern Power.
The story of the winter campaign, of the passage of the Shipka Pass, and of the assault upon Plevna, is now well known, but it may be re-read with interest in these pages. Through all the crises of the war, Mr. Greene extols the char- acter of the Russian soldier, telling many an anecdote of his bravery, his good-fellowship, or his humour. The two chapters which command most attention are those on " Russian Generals" and " War Correspondents." Of the first, General Skobeleff is the hero, and Mr. MacGahan of the second. Of General Skobeleff, Mr. Greene writes with the enthusiasm which that remarkable man seems to arouse in the minds of all those with whom he comes in contact. As fortunate as he is brave, and as tender as he is resoluth, as well read and as accomplished in
* Sketches of Army Life in Russia. By F. V. Greene, Lieutenant of Engineers, U.S. Army. London : W. 13. Allen and Co. 18,31.
languages as he is skilled in the details of his own profession, of a personal bravery which often borders dangerously on bravado, it is small wonder that Skobeleff excites the admira- tion of his friends and the enthusiasm of his soldiers. The sketch of his early career in Central Asia is interesting in its bearing upon the recent campaign against the Turcomans, and we select the following passage from Mr. Greene's description
"He passed his whole time in the midst of his men, tasting their food, inspecting their arms, learning their every want with his own eyes, and supplying it with orders based on his own knowledge. He was always with them in their most exposed positions, and when he was slightly wounded he refused to go to the rear, but had a cot brought up and placed in the trenches, and remained on it there until he was able to mount his horse again. At the instant of going into' a fight he called as many officers as possible about him to explain the exact purpose and object of it, and the manner in which this object was to be gained ! and then he always made a short speech to his men, telling them what he expected them to do, and that he felt sure they would do it. In a word, he made himself and his division one— he representing the brains and they the body, and the heart being in common. He succeeded so thoroughly in accomplishing this union, that his men responded to his thoughts as readily as the muscles obey the will. I have listened in wonder at the enthusiastic admiration with which they spoke of him, and the no less enthusiastic way in which they obeyed him ; and I doubt if a more thoroughly ideal relation between a General and his men has existed since the days of Cromwell."
Some capital anecdotes of Skobeleff enliven the succeeding pages, and Mr. Greene, himself a soldier, and one whose opinion is well worth listening to, speaks of the young officer's " stupend- ous military genius." "I use the words advisedly," he says, " and firmly believe that should he live twenty years more, he will be commander-in-chief in the next war about the Eastern Question, and history will then speak of him as one of the five great soldiers of this century, side by side with Napoleon, Wellington, Grant, and Moltke." This is a bold prediction,. though not bolder than Skobeleff's brilliant career gives warrant for. A man of such magnitude as Skobeleff naturally dwarfs his fellows ; but G-ourko, Radetsky, the Grand Duke Nicholas, the Czar, and the veteran Todleben, each receive just notice. In writing of Mr. J. A. MacGahan, Mr. Greene again becomes enthusiastic, but there is no overpraise in these sen- tences :-
" No man of his age has in recent years done more to bring honour on the name of American, throughout the length and breadth of Europe, and far into Asia ; no man has more faithfully served the- English-speaking races, by telling them the truth about great events in an attractive form in their daily papers. His letters may be studied as models by those who propose to adopt his profession, and his sterling character, his pluck, and his energy, by every man who aims at honest success in any walk of life."
The two chapters on Constantinople and St. Petersburg add little to what has been said by other writers concerning those cities, but the descriptions are those of a keen observer of social life and manners. Perhaps one of the best-told incidents in the whole book is that of Mr. Greene's ride into Constan- tinople through the Turkish lines during the armistice. It was a plucky thing to do, and hazardous in the extreme at such a period of excitement, when the Russian uniform was yet un- familiar to the fanatical inhabitants of the city. With the chapter on Constantinople the personal narrative of the war comes to an end, and the work closes with a lengthy resume of the Eastern Question, the discussion of which, apparently so much outside the scope of the book, is defended on the ground that " the Russian Army exists, in a large measure, by reason of the Eastern Question." Apology is scarcely needed for this excellent chapter. It would be hardly possible to compress into so small a space a better account of the greatest problem of foreign politics,--the question whether, as Mr. Greene puts it, " the Turks—professing the religion which they do, carrying its precepts into every transaction of daily life, and possessing the character which springs from it—whether these Turks shall be suffered to remain. in Europe, and to govern other races of a different creed in accordance with the prejudice founded on the Koran." This statement of the question shows the author's leaning. He supports, with an enthusiasm which is contagious,. and a grasp of the subject which is statesmanlike, the views of the Eastern Question which we have long advocated ; and his opinions gain in weight since, coming from a citizen of the United States, they are free from all suspicion of English party bias. The book is one which may be cordially commended.
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