210 THE ZEMSTVOS DURING THE WAR
which were attached to the saddles of the two horses, or sometimes.
mules or donkeys.
In some places the wounded had to be transported by water. This
was the case in Trans-Caucasia, where the Seventh Detachment or-
ganized a regular fleet of hospital barges on Lakes Urmia and Van;
these barges were towed to their destinations by oil-burning tugs.
According to an approximate calculation, more than 1,000,000
wounded soldiers were conveyed by such improvised methods by all
the zemstvo detachments.
In one sense the zemstvo field detachments may be regarded as
pioneers preparing the way for humanitarian organizations, inves-
tigating the urgent needs of the army and thereby winning the con-
fidence of the rank and file, as well as of the commanding officers.
The detachments very quickly became the initiators of nearly all the
measures which the Union adopted at the front.
From a large mass of greetings, expressions of appreciation, and
letters of gratitude received from high army officers, we shall here
quote only one, which, whilst not exactly the most enthusiastic, is
nevertheless the most interesting for our purpose, because it makes
an attempt to explain the motive of the appreciation which it ex-
presses. This letter was received from the officer in command of a di-
vision of infantry and was published in the order of the day issued
on New Year’s Day, 1916; it reads as follows:
To describe more fully the achievements of the Fifth Zemstvo Field
Detachment, I shall point out the following features:
(1) The remarkable willingness with which the detachment per-
formed its difficult task, responding to the first summons wherever it
was needed, irrespective of distance and condition of roads. (2) The
alertness displayed by the detachment; it was sufficient to give it a
mere hint, and it at once did everything possible. (8) Its constant en-
deavor to perform its tasks in the very thick of the fighting, regardless
of risks. (4) The extraordinary and touching responsiveness which
made it possible for the detachment not only to alleviate the acute dis-
tress of the wounded, but also to ease the hardships of the officers and
soldiers in the trenches during the actual fighting, by sending forward
field-kitchens with tea and food and hot water boilers. (5) The excep-
tional capacity for quick readjustments, thanks to which the Fifth
Zemstvo Detachment, although composed of men who found themselves
under fire for the first time in their lives, was able to bear the hardships
