GENERAL TODLEBEN. (The Times.)

Waikato Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1898, 4 September 1884, Page 4

GENERAL TODLEBEN. (The Times. )

Franz Eijuard Toducbbv, the famous Riiisiau Geuoial, whose death wo reeoid with much regiet, was born at Mitau, in Courland, on May 20, 1818. The son of a tradesman, he was sent to school in Riga, ami was afterwards admitted a student of the Institute of Engineois at St. Petersburg, where his n.ime is now to he seen in letters of gold, w ith t) c inscription " .Sebastopol, 1534-5." He entered the army in duo couise. but at iii st his piomotion was not rapid. Hi took part in the expedition to the Caucasus in the year 1847-50, and had Ins fiist experience of piactical militaiy engineeimg in the siege of some of the stiong placis of the mountaiueeis. On the outlneak of the war between Russia and Tin key in 15.13 he was fiist attached ."is Adlatus to Gencial ttchildner Sehnldner, and took a piomi nent part in the unsuccessful siege of Silistra. Tlie f.iikuo of that siege was, howevei, in no respect due to Todleben, and when in the following year, the allies invaded vhu Crimea it was to him that the task of pioviduig for the defence of Seb.istopol was intrusted. At that time Sevastopol was strongly de fendi d tow.irds the sea, but was praelicilly open on the land side. Six powerful casemated foits, mounting NlO trims, commanded the seaward appioaeh ; but not one of these, not even the gieat Fmt St. Nicholas with its ISO guns, was of any seiviee against an enemy advancing fiom the land. Consequently when the allies matched upon the city fiom the Alma they found no complete picpaiation to resist their 1 ; and it was commonly believed that Sebastopol might have been taken by n.<oitp de main. But, just as was the case when the Vci^aillist troops entcied Pans in May, 1871, the oppoitunity was of short duiation, and once lost (lid not lecur. In an inciedihly shoit space of time the English and Ki'cnch batteries weie contioiited by e.uthwoikb of the most loi mutable kind. The lotind white stone tovvci, w Incli had been the chief and almost the only laud waul defence, was quickly suiionnded bv eai thwoiks, at which men. women and childien weie s<en to be labounng day and night, and the towei itself was lapidly connected by aline of eai thw oiks witl. a stiong mloubt on the light, atLci wauls well-known as th« Redan. Batteiies— especially those which aic still remembered under the names of the "Bauack," "Gaiden," and "Flagstaff" bafcteiies — were soon in position, and each day added to tlieii strength and number. It is not moessary iieie to tell ovei again the s-toiy of the" siege, of the weaiy months of waiting, of the lavagcs of sic'uie-s, of the iepciitcd bombardments, of liAeiman and Balaklavi, of the cap f uie of the Malakhoft, and the unsuece-<-ful assault on the Redan. It is enough to say that the Russians., under the guidance of Todle ben, kept the powerful allied armies and fleets at bay fiom October, 1801, to September, 18.")5; and that even after the Mai ikhoff had been taken and the town neaily destroyed by the bombaidment they weieable to nithdiaw their aim\ to the noi tin in side almost without loss. "Well m<ght Pi nice Goitchakoll, in his genet al order, say to his troops, "Itis a iaet unexampled in militaiy annals, that a towii hastily foitificd in the picsence of the enemy should have been able to hold out so long airamst a toice, the means of attack of which have exceeded everything tint hithei to could have been foiscen in calculations of this nature. Unhappily, Todkben himself— who had plannid and co'idueted the whole defence, and who (lining the J eai had pissul bv l .s*ii(l step-, f (i.n the giade of taptiii'i to that of m,i|oi geheial, and had niiived tli 1 high dcutiatnr. of Mt Audit v— -did not <x<> th'O'igh the siege unhaimed. On Juii" '20, lSoo, he was si u I civ wo.mdid in the foot 11" w i-., hu.vevei, able t') Mipeiint nd t'ne. di fein < s o\ Nioi ir H .'l'd to l'l'-jKi.t and stiergtl.en tlio.-e of Cion^tadt bulote the war endod The ie %t<,( si- he spoilt .is a highly phted oilic i m.ght lie exputed to «pi n 1 rile \ t a. -i of p< ii' li< v i-itcd G< l iii.uiv in IS")'), and ni-.;u eted tiie puuupal foi fe-^fs. In tlie sime yeai he came to Kng'an'i, whii" lie wa» vciy coidially icceived in IS6O he was made Lieu tenant- enei.il, t'liicf of the Depai tment of llngi ieei s at tiie Russian Mi'.istiy of "\Vai..iud a-siatant to tlie d'l.uid Duke Nil hoi is. We hear hhttpl p of him, howcve!, till the next gieat occasion on w h.ch Russia was cilhd ii|>(»n to put toith all hci slicngth— the w.n of 1877. f' u will be fiesh in our leadeis' memory that, aftei the success I ill pnss.igc of tlie Danube, .-tiid after \anous occuitcnces w Inch &i emed to nnplj that the advance upon Constantinople n.ii destined to be a meie "militaiy piomcnadc," tl.c j'u sianaim\ was suddenly anestcd b, tote theextcmpoi i/ed foi ti c---, of l'le\ na O^man I'a^hi tools po 1 -.esMon of that |i!acc o i !ii li r 11, w iL'i 'Jli 1) ill.ilion and !I'_mips Ins Ninth lliiowi'.g up latth woik-> h< fo'ii'd him-df able to leptilse tin- Xii m, t.i-5 o i .f.i'y 21 aid again on ,liilv :!1 with gie.it -laujjliler. Tlie ■it t u ! iiu' ,n ii i \ \\ait"d foi ' unfoid men is, nnd au r "n al«.ine. d oil Septeipbci 1 11 - 1!k ('mi i li!i thd i)' — (iiilv t<> to bulled hum b itt in a. id lUtoubt w 1 1 1 1 ;i|))).illing ]o--i y l'ne ftuturcj of the w,u M" ii.nl (h\ngcd imbed, and both the Rii -siaiis themsel 'cs and skilled obsei veis all om i the woi Id began to talk of a ietie.it acio'-s the Daniibe, a hire c» »}'/•> < and a second campaign. Then it was that the Etnpeior and the incompetent ('out t OeneraU aionnd him lemiiinboied th it the Ras,ian auny contiincd a man who m'ght yet sue them, one of the gK.ikst engineer officeis in the woild. Tliej tent foi Todlcben. w ho was living, ii n"t in dr-giacc, at least outside the Min-ihino of Impel ill iavour. He was l'idden t'Miivi t-t i'lcv na. lie ai lived on fSeptcud'i l % JS, dn^\ at once began legulai sir «c f-petatioiK. Osinan had been victualled it otn S id.i : but after the b^amjihig of Ix T ovenib«'r he icccived no fuithei supplier. By that limch'j was completly invtsted ; Gouiko .'ml his cavaby blocked the ioad^ : he could ncithci get out not could food come to him. No Ttukish <u my canie to his lebcf. lie dcleiinuud to make the attempt to bicak out, and made it on the night of December 0. with 32 000 men. But aftei a gallant struggle, h>s men began to lay down then aims, and ho suiiendered He and Ins men weie matched tluough the snow to the Danube, many thousands dyi ig on the way. trcneial Todlcben had thus shown himself to bo in lispcnsiblo ; and accoidinjvly, aitur the dcflcicnc c-> of the .Giand Duke Nicholas had been spII fiutlici pioved by the events of the winter and spiing, he was appo'iitcd, in Apiil, IS7B, Cominandei in Chief of the Russian Aimy of ]sulgaiia. Tt was under his command that the advance upon Constantinople was made, and after the signatuic of the Tieaty of .San Stcfano, and, in fact, till the evacuation of Tuiki&h teniloiy was completed, he leiramed at Adtianople ps adminiatiatoi in cliicf of the occupied jiiov incej Iv 1870 he was appointed Co\ ci nor General of Odessa, with ex'tiaoidm.ny poweis against tlie Niinlists. Thcie was some talk, af^er the fiiot battle of (ieok Tepe, of sending him into Centinl Asia ; hut this command ■was ultimately given lo his biilhaut junior, Ocneial SkobolelF. For the last fou i jeais Gcneial Todlelitn — who was jnadc a C>unt aftei the events of 1877-78 • — lived in eompai.itiw ictircmcnt, his health having gieatly failed. His death leaves a gap in the Russian army which it will be impossible to fill.

A AA isp Dkaco.n. — " Den roil AA'ilder, I \v.,nt you to tell me how \ou kept joiirsclf ami f.un ily so well the p.ist season, when all the it-st of us h.no been sir k so mm h, and h.i\e h.id the doctors ruining to us so often." " Brother Taylor, the ariSKoi i*. mtv easy. I used Hop Bstters in time, and kept nn fimih wejl, and sa\ed large dortor's bills. Four slnllings' worth of it kept us all weli and able to woik .ill the time, and I will warrant It has cost jou and most of the neighbours j£lo to j£loo apiece to keep sick the: same time. I fancy jou will take my m.j!;4isine hereaitcr." fees- i'Jil