ABSTRACT
Between February 15 and 20, our army, led by General Kuropatkin, suffered a striking defeat near Mukden. (Meanwhile, on February 17, General Stossel, who had so shamefully surrendered Port Arthur, was the Emperor’s luncheon guest, despite what had happened.) The battle was remarkable, both for the number of troops involved and for the severity of our defeat, the worst, as far as I can recall, in the history of our army. In an order of the day Kuropatkin had vowed not to retreat beyond Mukden under any circumstances, but retreat he did, in disorder.
