Anatoly Stessel

Anatoly Mikhaylovich Stessel
Anatoly Stessel in the 1890s.
Born	(1848-06-28)June 28, 1848
Died	January 18, 1915(1915-01-18) (aged 66) Khmilnyk (now Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine)
Allegiance	Russian Empire
Service/branch	Russian Imperial Army
Years of service	1866–1906
Rank	General
Unit	Imperial Russian Army
Battles/wars	Boxer Rebellion Russo-Japanese War

Anatoly Mikhaylovich Stessel (Russian: Анатóлий Михáйлович Стéссель), last name also Germanized Stoessel or Stößel (10 July [O.S. 28 June] 1848–18 January [O.S. 5 January] 1915) was a Russian baron of German descent, military leader, and general responsible for the fall of Port Arthur to the Japanese on January 2, 1905.

Anatoly Stessel was born in 1848 as the son of Lieutenant General Baron Vinogradov Stessel. He graduated from the Pavel Military School in 1866. Stessel was a participant of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). He subsequently commanded the 16th Ladoga Infantry Regiment in 1897 and then from 1897 to 1899 the 44th Kamchatka Infantry Regiment. He was appointed to head the 3rd East Siberian Brigade (1899–1903) and distinguished himself for his role in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion, and was wounded in combat during the Battle of Tientsin. He was subsequently awarded the Order of St. George (4th degree).

From August 12, 1903, Stessel was commander of the garrison of Port Arthur, Manchuria with a total of over 50,000 men. Occupied by the Russians since 1897, the defense of Port Arthur had been heavily enhanced and modernized in the intervening years, and its position was considered one of the most heavily fortified in the world.

With the start of the Russo-Japanese War, Stessel was promoted to governor of the Kwantung Military District in March 1904, and Lieutenant General Konstantin Smirnov was appointed to be his successor at Port Arthur. However, Stessel chose to interpret the orders to mean that Smirnov was his subordinate, and remained at Port Arthur, countermanding Smirnov's orders and denying his requests for supplies and reinforcements, and sending misleading telegrams to the Tsar blaming Smirnov for any setbacks. He also ignored orders from General Aleksei Kuropatkin to leave Port Arthur by a destroyer on July 3, 1904. Stessel's command of the Port Arthur defenses was ineffective throughout the Siege of Port Arthur. In August, after the defeat at the Battle of Nanshan, Stessel refused Japanese offers to evacuate the women and non-combatants from Port Arthur and by autumn food was in short supply.