_THE BATTLE OF MUKDEN--AND CALL OF MR. DEVOAU AS ASSOCIATE MINISTER._
After the recital of the fall of the key to Port Arthur, the speaker of
the evening gave his experiences in the world's greatest battle as
follows: "I arrived at Mukden long before the fight, and after the
famous victorious charge of Poutiloff up the slopes of Lone Tree Hill,
by which the Japanese were driven out with fearful loss, I wanted to be
one of its defenders, but General Kuropatkin seemed to know all about
me, and insisted that I connect myself with the force holding
Yuhungtun. I was angry and thought I was going to miss the liveliest
part of it, but the general knew better.
"There was a good chance to become acquainted with the men before the
conflict, and I found them really fine fellows. Some were capital
marksmen, and as the enemy's outposts drew nearer amused themselves by
sniping the men in the advanced pits, and many a Jap whose head only
was visible did we see lifted out of his hole with his brains oozing
out of a bullet perforation in his upper story. The time came at last,
however, when 1,000,000 men confronted each other in the lines of
battle, who were destined to suffer a loss in killed, wounded and
prisoners within three weeks of 250,000 men, or just one-fourth of the
entire number. Although the battle proper lasted about nine days, what
with preliminaries and the rear-guard action which followed, it might
be safe to add ten more. The struggle was fearful, and nobody was so
much master of the situation as our commander-in-chief, who knew from
the beginning where the blow would fall.
"General Rennenkampf, the Cossack chief, had with his staff traversed
the entire one hundred miles of front and had handed in his report to
his superior. The plan of Marshal Oyama was to outflank our army and
cut off its retreat, and after surrounding it pound it, until it
capitulated, but in Kuropatkin he had met a man so able in strategy
that he could easily outgeneral him and bring his plans to naught.
When the eleven-inch shells which had wrought such destruction at the
port began to fall it soon became evident that the works on which had
been expended the labor of months and the skill of the best engineers
were going to dust. In spite of the fact, however, that we were
outclassed in numbers and heavy artillery our men put up a terrible
fight. After a fearful pounding with all kinds of guns, one day the
enemy in overwhelming force came upon us with the bayonet, and after a
hand-to-hand struggle, without parallel we believe, in which the ground
was piled with the slain, we were forced out and our works taken.
During the awful struggle which cost us our position, I was struck in
the side by the steel of a Jap, which cut a groove between two of my
ribs, but although I was not seriously hurt I recognized the fact that
one inch more, or possibly half of that, and to-night instead of
talking to you I would have been in a nameless grave on Manchuria's
plains, with my warrior shroud for a winding sheet, until the earth
would give up its dead.
"It is a remarkable fact that although people said, with the advent of
modern repeating arms and machine guns, that bayonet charges were no
longer possible, as such rushes in force would spell annihilation, yet
there never was a battle in all history where so many charges were made
and in which cold steel crossed so often as at Mukden.
"Word now came to us that our army had taken the offensive in the
centre, and was forcing the enemy back, and encouraged by this we
determined to retake our lost position. As we were forming for the
attack the divisional commander came along, and noticing the shortage
of officers, said to the colonel of our regiment: 'Take the most
experienced men from the ranks and put them in charge of sections and
companies.' Although this was said in Russian, I had now picked up
enough of the language to understand it. The colonel did not like the
advice and said: 'General, this is contrary to custom; you know we need
to safeguard these positions by the use of a little red tape.' The
general became furious and said: 'Red tape to ----! It has been the
curse of the army in the past, and it will curse any army, and at, best
bring nothing but humiliation. What we want is merit, which
practically means experience and courage with a large amount of
intelligence thrown in.' It was now evident to the colonel that he
must obey his superior officer, and he came over to me and said:
'Devoau, I want you to take No. 5 Company, as its officers are all dead
or wounded.' I set my teeth and obeyed, believing that I myself would
soon be as they. All was soon ready and the order was given, 'Forward,
steady under cover.' When we reached the open or fire zone two
whistles pierced the air--one to deploy in loose order and the other to
double. We now swept forward, the enemy's batteries opening upon us.
The men of my company went down, sometimes one and sometimes three or
four in a heap at a time. As we reached our old position I was
perfectly furious because of our losses, and though I had never sworn
in my life before I yelled between my clenched teeth, 'Give them
_hell_, boys!' Just as we were tumbling in upon them our colonel, who
was braver and better than any of us, was shot through the brain and
instantly killed. Even though the colonel was killed and whole
companies had gone down in that awful rush, the Japanese might as well
have tried to stem Niagara's torrent as to beat back our infuriated
men, and all that was left of them got out faster than they had charged
in. The night within the village was one that would never fade from
memory. The streets were strewn with broken rifles, twisted sabres and
bayonets, dismounted guns, broken gun carriages and dead men, some of
whom still clutched each other in the grip of death. I was now
ordered, though I felt unequal to the task or honor, to take temporary
command of our decimated regiment.
"In trying to hold on to our old position we had to withstand some
terrible bayonet rushes on the part of the enemy in efforts to retake
it, and our regiment, which entered the battle with 2,450 men, had just
585 left to respond to the order to retire. Another regiment lost
1,100 men. The place assigned us in this most, orderly retreat was in
the rear-guard, and just as we took our places our brigade commander
was decapitated by the explosion of a pom-pom shell, and I was ordered
to hand over my regiment to a major and take charge of the brigade.
"We had an awful time during the retreat, but every onrush was stemmed,
and at each repulse of the foe our men, with bayonets dripping red,
cheered to the echo.
"The war was now practically over, and although every man of ours had
two foemen opposed to him, the Japs had a narrow escape from defeat;
nothing but the accident of a duststorm averting it, by enabling them
in the darkness thereof to break the lines of General Linevitch when
his men could not see a yard ahead of them.
"When we reached headquarters I, having nothing but a temporary
connection with the Russian army, went to my chief and tendered him my
uniform and arms, telling him, as there was not likely to be any more
fighting, I would return to Canada. He, however, refused to take
anything, saying that as a mark of honor and appreciation I must retain
them, and after saying 'Good-bye' to my battle-scarred comrades I went
to the station to entrain for the coast, and as it steamed out a crowd
of officers and men waved their caps and handkerchiefs, shouting,
'Canada for ever; long live Canada and the Canadians!' I felt I did
not do much for them--any one, perhaps, would have done better--but I
had done my little best, and they had trusted and honored me. I like
the Russians; they are good fellows, and are greatly slandered in the
West. They have a moral code, and with some exceptions, they live up
to it, and any nation that crosses arms with them will pay a heavy toll.
"In closing, I presume you would like to know more fully my opinion of
war, and in giving it I will say that if you murder a man by shooting
or stabbing him you are merciful, but if you kill him by exploding an
eleven-inch shell, in many cases he will be torn to fragments and his
dismembered body scattered over an acre of ground. In other instances
that I have seen at Mukden and 203 Metre Hill, men have been mortally
wounded and left an unrecognizable mass of flesh and blood, which for
days heaved with anguish and life, while others, after hours and
sometimes days of agony, died with broken bayonets protruding from
their backs, having entered as gallant breasts as ever swelled with
breath and life.
"I have forsworn war for ever, after the dreadful scenes which I have
witnessed, and there were scenes which I did not witness, in far-off
Russia and Japan, which were infinitely more appalling, where was seen
the dreary sobbing of broken-hearted widowhood and the piteous wailing
of hungry, fatherless children. Added to this was the pale-faced
sorrow of sisters bereft of brothers and sweethearts, who had lost
those who would have been nearer than brothers, and who now with broken
hearts ceased to live and began only to exist in hopeless despair. The
Russians met in their foes armies trained after the pattern of the
German military system, and none of us ever again desire to cross
weapons with men trained as those are, who have learned from that land
of advanced scholarship and military superiority. The Japanese were
foemen worthy of their steel, but instead of their arms being
dishonored fresh lustre was shed upon them."
At the close of his address Mr. Devoau was applauded to the echo, after
adding as a rider that in his denunciation of war he would, of course,
make an exception of defensive operations.
The next Sabbath in the morning service Mr. Melvin started the
tabernacle congregation by announcing that as he would soon reach the
retiring line, and as the immense congregation, with its many needs,
overtaxed his strength, he had long thought of an associate who, when
he retired, would take full charge. Continuing, he said: "I have
spoken to Mr. Devoau and asked him if he would not abandon the thought
of a life so selfish as that of making himself one of the foremost iron
founders in Canada and join me in the work of preaching and teaching.
His answer has been favorable, if it is the will of the people, and he
has further said that if it is their will he will accept it as the
Master's will."
A meeting of the officers of the church was called for Tuesday evening,
when the matter was discussed, and Mr. Devoau's profession of faith
heard, when he told them that he was of French-Canadian parentage and
could not subscribe to every technicality. His frankness and
fearlessness won every heart, a vote was taken, and he was unanimously
called to be associate pastor of Mount Zion.