Anatoly Stessel

Anatoly Mikhaylovich Stessel (; ; – ) was a Russian baron of German descent, a military leader, and general.

Biography Anatoly Stessel, born in 1848 as the son of Lieutenant General Ivan Matveevich Stessel, graduated from the Pavel Military School in 1866. Stessel participated in 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 Movement of 1899–1901 in Qing China, being wounded in combat during the Battle of Tientsin in July 1900. He was subsequently awarded the Order of St. George (4th degree).

From 12 August 1903 Stessel commanded the Russian garrison of Port Arthur in Manchuria – a total of over 50,000 men. Imperial Russia had occupied Port Arthur from 1897, and had heavily enhanced and modernized its defenses in the intervening years – its position was considered one of the most heavily fortified in the world.

The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 started in February 1904; Stessel was promoted to governor of the Kwantung Military District in March 1904, and Lieutenant General Konstantin Smirnov was appointed as 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 (the commander-in-chief of the Russian land forces in Manchuria) to leave Port Arthur on a destroyer on 3 July 1904. He died in 1915 in Khmilnyk (in present-day Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine).

Awards link=Order of Saint George (Russia) Order of St. George, 4th class link=Order of Saint George (Russia) Order of St. George, 3rd class link=Order of St. Anna Order of St. Anne 3rd degree, 2nd degree, 1st degree link=Order of St. Vladimir Order of St Vladimir 4th degree, 3rd degree. link=Order of St. Stanislav Order of St. Stanislaus 1st degree, 2nd degree, 3rd degree