6. The Siege of Port Arthur (1904)
Port Arthur was besieged by the Japanese from July 30, 1904, to January 2, 1905—a period of 156 days. Whereas, as stated in the last chapter, the condition of health in the Russian army was good, the sanitary conditions in Port Arthur during the siege were very bad, since the supply of provisions that had been laid in proved to be insufficient.[[351]] The offer made on August 16 by General Nogi and Admiral Togo, granting all the women, children (under 16 years), ecclesiastics, members of the diplomatic corps and military and naval attachés of foreign powers permission to leave the stronghold, was refused by General Stössel. As early as August 5 horse-meat began to be distributed;[[352]] from September 17 on the troops were supplied four times a week with horse-meat, since there was no other fresh or canned meat available. At this time almost everything in the city was consumed, though the Chinese secretly brought rice, eggs, and other things, on boats from Chufoo. After September 28 the soldiers were given meat only twice a week (one-half of a pound of horse-meat or one-third of a can of preserved meat). Regarding conditions up to October 20 we are informed by the report of the Russian General Medical Staff:[[353]] ‘The supply of food ran lower and lower; beef gave out very early, only a small quantity of canned meat was left, and even the portions of horse-meat had to be dealt out very sparingly, as we had very important use for horses in transporting ammunition, water, food, &c., to the various positions. In the city it became more and more difficult every day to procure food; meat, if by any chance a small quantity was marketed, was sold in the stores for one and one-half roubles per pound. A chicken cost twelve roubles, a goose twenty roubles, an egg one rouble, a pound of onions one rouble, a pound of horse-meat one half-rouble.’
In November all the soldiers were given was horse-meat; only the sick received canned meat. The supply of food in the possession of private individuals was exhausted, while garlic and vegetables had given out altogether.
On September 19 the Japanese captured the redoubts controlling one of the aqueducts that supplied Port Arthur with water; there was however another aqueduct, and, furthermore, wells were bored and a plant for distilling seawater was put into operation. The statement of the Russian General Staff that there was at no time a serious scarcity of water is not confirmed in Olga von Baumgarten’s diary, which frequently refers in plaintive terms to the lack of drinking-water in the lazarets.[[354]]
During the summer the condition of health among the Russian troops was comparatively good;[[355]] on August 26 there were 132 officers and 5,661 men in the lazarets. In the first part of October typhoid fever broke out in Port Arthur, where it was endemic, and before long an epidemic of such severity was raging in the city that it was difficult to find places in which to shelter the patients. There were also a great many cases of dysentery. Owing to the lack of preserved meat and vegetables, scurvy also made its appearance; the first cases of the disease were observed early in October. In the latter part of that month there were in the lazarets 450 typhoid-fever patients, 855 dysentery patients, and 167 scurvy patients. In addition to these diseases, cases of night-blindness (inability to see after dusk) were observed; the latter disease is quite common among Russian country-people, being caused by bad nourishment.
In December the garrison was completely exhausted. Scurvy had become more and more widespread, and between the fourteenth and twenty-seventh of that month 71 officers and 1,790 men had been committed to the lazarets. On the day of the surrender (January 2, 1905) the number of men in the Russian garrison was 32,400, and of these 6,458 were lying sick or wounded in the lazarets.[[356]] Of the remaining 25,942 men, 13,207 were incapacitated; thus the number of healthy men (besides 2,193 marines) in the garrison at the time of the surrender was only 12,735. Regarding the loss of life during the siege we find no information in the report of the General Staff. The number of soldiers in the city (excluding the officers and officials) was 41,780 at the beginning and 32,400 at the end of the siege. No further information regarding the condition of health among the civil inhabitants of Port Arthur is obtainable.