by the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the same location five centuries earlier. Retreat and death Samsonov attempted to retreat, but with his army now trapped in a German encirclement, the German forces killed or captured most of his troops. Only 10,000 of the 150,000 Russian soldiers managed to escape the encirclement. At least 92,000 Russian troops were taken prisoner, and between 300 and 500 Russian guns had been captured, out of the Second Army's initial total of some 600. Over 30,000 Russian soldiers were estimated dead or missing. Samsonov and a small group of staff officers and men attempted to escape the encirclement, at first on horseback, and then on foot, over swampy ground, in the darkness of the night of August 29. Samsonov repeatedly was heard to say "The Tsar trusted me. How can I face him after such a disaster?" They reached the town of Willenberg late at night, but found it was held by the Germans. At approximately 1 a.m. on August 30, Samsonov slipped away from his party into the forest. A shot rang out. The Russians were not able to find his body in the darkness, but were eventually able to make their way to safety. A German search party eventually found Samsonov's body in the adjacent forest, a bullet wound in his head and a revolver in his hand. The Germans buried Samsonov in Willenberg. In 1916, through the intercession of the International Red Cross, the Germans transferred his body to his widow, who was able to bury him in Russia. Honours Order of St. Anne, 4th degree (1877) Order of St. Stanislaus, 3rd degree (1880) Order of St. Anne, 3rd degree (1885) Order of St. Stanislaus, 2nd degree (1889) Order of St. Anne, 2nd degree (1892) Order of St Vladimir, 4th degree (1896) Order of St Vladimir, 3rd degree (1900) Order of St. Stanislaus, 1st degree with swords (1904) Order of St. Anne, 1st degree (1905) Golden Sword of St. George (1906) Order of St Vladimir, 2nd degree (1906) Order of St. George, 4th class (1907) Order of the White Eagle, with swords (1909) Order of St. Alexander Nevsky (1913) References Bibliography Connaughton, R.M (1988). The War of the Rising Sun and the Tumbling Bear—A Military History of the Russo-Japanese War 1904–5, London, . Jukes, Geoffry. The Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905. Osprey Essential Histories. (2002). . Warner, Denis