New York Times Current History; The European War, Vol 2, No. 2, May, 1915 - April-September, 1915 by Various
page 30 of 430 (06%)
page 30 of 430 (06%)
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The siege started with a total population within the lines of investment of approximately 200,000. Experts estimate that the fortress could have been held with 50,000 or 60,000 men against any forces the Russians could bring against it. It is probable that such supplies as there were were uneconomically expended, with the result that when the push came the situation was at once acute, and the suffering of all classes save the officers became general. First the cavalry and transport horses were consumed. Then everything available. Cats were sold at 8 shillings, and fair-sized dogs at a sovereign. While the garrison became thin and half starved, the mode of life of the officers in the town remained unchanged. The Café Sieber was constantly well filled with dilettante officers who gossipped and played cards and billiards and led the life to which they were accustomed in Vienna. Apparently very few shared any of the hardships of their men or made any effort to relieve their condition. At the Hotel Royal until the last, the officers had their three meals a day, with fresh meat, cigars, cigarettes, wines, and every luxury, while, as a witness has informed me, their own orderlies and servants begged for a slice of bread. There can be no question that ultimate surrender was due to the fact that the garrison was on the verge of starvation, while the officers' diet was merely threatened with curtailment. Witnesses state that private soldiers were seen actually to fall in the streets from lack of nourishment. The officers are reported to have retained their private thoroughbred riding horses until the day before the surrender, when 2,000 of them were killed to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Russians. A Russian officer of high rank informed me that when he entered the town hundreds of these bodies of beautiful thoroughbred |
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