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Alexander Samsonov

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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"ALEXANDER SAMSONOV (1859-1914), Russian general, was born in 18J9. After being at the Cavalry school in St. Petersburg he served in the war with Turkey in 1877-8. On passing out of the Academy of the General Staff in 1884 he was appointed on the general staff. From 1896 to 1904 he was commandant of the Cavalry school at Elisavetgrad, and in 1902 he was promoted to the rank of general. In the war with Japan in 1904-5 he commanded the Ussuri mounted brigade and the Siberian Cossack division. He distinguished himself greatly as a leader of cavalry, and was awarded the St. George Cross of the fourth class. In 1909 he was made Ataman of the Don Cossacks, and in the same year he became governor-general and commander of troops in Turkestan. In Aug. 1914 he was appointed commander of the II. Army, which was concentrated on the Narev. Sentiments of loyalty to an ally and the desire to take pressure off France at the earliest possible moment led the Russian supreme command to give a premature order for an advance into eastern Prussia. Notwithstanding his report that his army was not ready for an advance the order was repeated, and as a result of the absence of support from Rennenkampf's I. Army Samsonov's army was destroyed in the battle of Tannenberg on Aug. 26-19. Convinced that the battle was hopelessly lost, he gave orders to his staff to extricate themselves from the German ring, while he went into a wood and shot himself. He was buried, with other Russian soldiers, not far from Villenberg. His wife, coming later to Germany with the Red Cross, recognized his body by a medal that he wore.