The assault upon Plevna emphasized the lesson which military men had failed to thoroughly learn before. It had been seen that the English and French could not storm the Malakof and the Redans in 1855; Grant's splendid army had been repulsed in 1863, when it tried to climb the works of Vicksburg and Port Hudson; the magnificent charge by moonlight on Fort Wagner had only resulted in death and destruction to its assailants, and still the vast host of Russia were sent forward by its intrepid commanders to do the impossible at Plevna.
The assault failed, as it had failed at Sebastopol, Vicksburg and Wagner. Military students at last agreed upon the proposition that a modern earthwork bravely defended by a competent force cannot be carried by assault.
Previous article Next article
From General Nelson A. Miles
Thrilling Stories of The Russian-Japanese War, 1904
