Military attachés and observers in the Russo-Japanese War

Observers from several nations took part, and their reports influenced subsequent military strategy in future conflict, including World War I.

[1] The multi-national military attachés and observers who took part in the Russo-Japanese War were expressly engaged in collecting data and analyzing the interplay between tactics, strategy, and technical advances in weapons and machines of modern warfare.

Most were able to report on events from a perspective somewhat like what is now termed "embedded" positions within the land and naval forces of both Russia and Japan.

This was the first time the tactics of entrenched positions for infantry defended with machine guns and artillery became vitally important, and both were factors which came to dominate in World War I.

Ambassador dated July 26, 1904, he explained that the Russians were doing better than expected and believed within a few weeks they would have no reason to fear the Japanese any longer.

He said in his official report, “I saw one battle in which the Russian slain outnumbered the Union dead on twelve of the greatest battlefields of the Civil War.”[11] Judson believed future wars would prove so costly that even victors would not be able to justify waging them.

[12] The purpose of Colonel Havard's observations was to ascertain important information about the changing battlefield and how to apply it to the Army Medical Corps.

Flanking movements became more necessary to avoid the machine gun, which necessitated increased frequency and distance of forced marches.

According to Havard, the result of these trends was soldiers experiencing an increased amount of battle fatigue, as well as resurgence in the usefulness of the bayonet in night assaults.

The advancements in field artillery technology made it necessary for battle lines to be farther apart, resulting in rifles being outside of their effective ranges.

Because of the increased number of casualties resulting from modern weaponry, Havard stressed the significance of training enlisted soldiers in assisting medical officers in field hospitals.

Havard also advocated the implementation of telephone technology in order for hospital staff to have quick access to information from the battle.

Pershing felt that if the war had continued, the Russians may have gained an upper hand as resupply of Japanese troops in Manchuria had become more difficult at the end of hostilities.

[39] Unlike their Army counterparts who could be kept at a safe distance to frontline activities as guests, a military attaché to the Navy had to be on board a ship in wartime and in battles to be an observer.