campaign in the Carpathians.

All honor and credit are given by the Russians to the garrison of
Przemysl and General Kusmanek. Russian officers ever had the highest
opinion of the personality of the commandant. I heard from those who
fought under General Radko Dmitrieff in the early stages of the Galician
campaign that when our troops, after sweeping away the resistance at
Lwow and Jaroslau, loudly knocked at the doors of the fortress of
Przemysl, they met with a stern rebuff. In reply to the summons of the
Russians to surrender the keys the commandant wrote a curt and dignified
note remarking that he considered it beyond his own dignity or the
dignity of the Russian General to discuss the surrender of the fortress
before it had exhausted all its powers of resistance. During the second
invasion of Poland by the Austro-German armies the enemy's lines swept
up to and just beyond Przemysl, interrupting the investment of the
fortress. The wave of the Austrian invasion began to subside at the end
of the first week in November. Only then could we begin the siege of the
mighty fortress, which proved successful after the lapse of four months.

The first Russian attempt to storm Przemysl without previous
bombardment, which followed immediately upon the commandant's refusal to
surrender, resulted in very great loss of life to no purpose. Thereafter
it was decided to abstain from further attempts to take the fortress
until our siege guns could be placed and a preliminary bombardment could
sufficiently facilitate the task of the besiegers. Meanwhile, although
the fortress and town were duly invested, our lines were somewhat remote
from the outlying forts, and the peasants of adjacent villages were, it
is said, able to pass freely to and from the town of Przemysl--a fact
which would enable the inhabitants to obtain supplies. From all
accounts neither the garrison nor the inhabitants were reduced to very
great straits for food. The announcement made at the time of the first
investment of the fortress that provisions and supplies would easily
last till May was, however, obviously exaggerated.

I understand that heavy siege guns were ready to be conveyed to Przemysl
at the end of January, but that the Russian military authorities decided
to postpone their departure in view of the determined attempts made by
the Austro-German forces to pierce the Russian lines in the Carpathians
in order to relieve the fortress, which, if successful, m