Show cowardice silo IN of ARTH daur surrendered BEFORE RESOURCES WERE EXHAUSTED bitter attak attack made made on generals stoessel fack k and reiss by I 1 v st t petersburg feb peb 26 A copy of the secret report on the defense of port arthur which le to the tile basis of th the e indictment on which lieutenant general Sto esel pol lieutenant general I 1 fock who commanded the fourth east siberian division divin at port arthur and major general reiss a are standing trial for their llyon before t ape e supreme court martial lias been obtained by the associated press it Is of the greatest interest as explaining pla ining tho the decision to try these three officers and nolle prosequi pro the otner defenders of port arthur the report which was written by lieutenant general SmIl noff the actual commandant of the fortress iq I 1 sensational in the extreme I 1 and categorically accuses stoessel of cowardice and incapacity and arid finally of the deliberate treasonable hastening of the surrender to pave bave his me own alfe life and in defiance of the decisions of two successive councils of war the report iq Is biased in the extreme breathes the most bitter enmity and shows that the high boffl officers of port arthur garri garrison garrisol sod in the darkest days of the siege wore were almost at each others throats the indictments summed up in the conclusion of general are an ow follows A f of unpardonable blunders eulid outside e tag th forar fort foog asri du due to the ig leno noe ranee rance and lack of military capacity and marital of generals Sto easel sei and fok brought about the investment of tho the fortress several months earlier than necessary and after the investment a desire for undeserved glory moved Sto esel to interfere in the defense with unfortunate results finally at the last period af the siege stoessel usurped my authority with the assistance of generals pock and reiss and committed trea sonin surrendering suddenly and prematurely I 1 regard our defeat at mukden as a direct result of this treason declares that when he prohibited habited the withdrawal of provisions in preparation for the siege stoessel disregarded the orders and allowed their sale to the field army he charged also that stoessel removed an order for establishment the of a hospital for contagious diseases because the site chosen would lessen the desirability as a residence of general focks villa he ile relates numerous instances of conflicts of authority and says that at one period the relations between stoessel and the late admiral Wit hott in command of the russian fleet were severely st strained mined he also tells of severe condemnation of stoessel his plans for the defense pf af the fortress and his failure to obeal the supply of provisions ordered by gene general ral ku kuropatkin ro and admiral Alex alexeeff leff the viceroy roy of the far east when they visited th the fortress in june gen ft charges that stoessel was guilty of the rankest kind of Ow cowardice ardice the most inexcusable ignorance of engineering of costly tactical errors and that he sought to bring credit to himself for notable achl achievements cyp ments of others |