Source:
Nicholas's telegram:
Telegram. Stavka. 23 June, 1915.
My warmest thanks for dear letter. I derived great pleasure from my trip yesterday. I am writing about it. Returned at 11 in the evening. The weather is wonderful. I have remembered the date of her birthday and sent a telegram...
Nicholas's letter:
Stavka. 23 June, 1915.
MY DEAR WIFY,
I thank you for your dear letter. Yesterday I enjoyed myself in Beloveje. It was quite strange to be there alone, without you and the children. I felt so lonely and sad, but was none the less glad to see the house and our charming rooms, to forget the present and to live through past days. But the night before my departure I spent anxiously. No sooner had I finished playing dominoes than N. appeared and showed me a telegram he had just received from Alexeiev, which said that the Germans had broken through our lines and were penetrating far into the rear. N. left immediately in his train, and promised to telegraph to me in the morning from Sedletz. Naturally, I could not start for Beloveje at 10 o'clock as I had intended. All [those] around me became greatly discouraged, except Voeikov, as they did not know the cause of N.'s sudden departure. At last, at 11.40, a telegram came, to the effect that the proriv was repaired by a strong counterattack of three of our regiments, and that the enemy was repulsed with heavy losses. So at 12 o'clock I ran off with a light heart, accompanied by the old man and all my gentlemen.
The road to Beloveje stretches for 183 versts, but it is a very good and even one. Three towns lie on the route — Slonim, Roujany and Proujany. I arrived at our house at 3.20, and the others at intervals of five minutes, because of the frightful dust. A cold lunch was served for us in the dining-room, and then I showed the gentlemen all over our and the children's rooms. Then we drove to the zverinetz to see some wild bison and other animals. We were lucky enough to meet a large herd of buffaloes, who looked at us quite calmly.
We drove in the forest on excellent grass paths and got on to a main road at the end of the pouschcha. The weather was magnificent, but this year there is such a drought that even the marshes have disappeared, and a thick dust pervades even the forest; all who took part in the drive were made unrecognisable by the black dust, especially the little Admiral. The Keeper of Beloveje is new — he is called Lvov, a fat man, related to the Admiral. The old priest is dead, as well as Neverli, whom I did not know. — His successor is Bark, a relation of the Minister, F who has served here for 20 years in the capacity of Forester, an energetic man, who knows the forest and the game to perfection. On our way back, the tyres of all the cars began to burst — on my car three times — owing to the heat of the day and a mass of scattered nails. These stoppages came in very opportunely, as they gave us a chance of getting out and stretching our legs. In the evening and during the night it was beautifully fresh, and the air in the forest wonderfully aromatic.
We arrived here at 10.45, just at the time when N.'s train was slowly moving to its place. After a talk with him I had supper with my gentlemen, and immediately after went to bed. He told me that, on the whole, the situation had not changed for the worse since yesterday, and that it would improve if the Germans ceased to press us at the same point for several days. In that case we should have to collect new (fresh) troops and try to stop them. But again there crops up this damnable question of the shortage of artillery ammunition and rifles — this puts a check on any energetic movement forward, as, after three days of hard fighting, the supply of munitions might be exhausted. Without new rifles it is impossible to make good the losses, and the army is at present only just a trifle stronger than in peace-time. It should be — and at the beginning of the war it was — three times as strong. That is the position we are in at this moment.
If there was no fighting for the duration of a month our position would be far better. Of course, I am giving this information only to you; please do not speak of it, darling.
This letter has become rather lengthy, and I have no time for more. God bless you, my beloved Sunny! Tenderly, tenderly I kiss you and the children. Be well and strong again! Ever your hubby
Nicky.
Above: Nicholas and Alexandra. Photo courtesy of Ilya Grigoryev at lastromanovs on VK.
Notes: proriv (прорыв) = breach.
zverinetz (зверинец) = preserve.
pouschcha (пуща) = wood.
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