TODLEBEN, COUNT EDUARD. 



761 



to use the right foot, but it is considered the 

 acme of good toboganning to be able to use 

 either. Positions vary with individuals ; some 

 kneel and some lie on the side. The latter is 

 the usual posture. Lie on the left side to steer 

 with the right foot, using the toe pointed to 

 the rear and the leg trailing well behind, is the 

 better practice; although some steer with 

 equal accuracy with the heel or sole of the 

 foot, but not so gracefully. In short, the to- 

 boggan is steered just as the boy steers his sled 

 in coasting. But the sled runs in grooves; 

 not so the superficial toboggan, which is 

 promptly responsive to the toe or heel. The to- 

 boggan attains great speed within a few yards 

 of the start, which is not true of the sled. 



The sport is most exhilarating and healthful, 

 and serious accidents are very rare. The pop- 

 ularity of tobogganing is spreading. The sport 

 has been in vogue in Saratoga for three or four 

 years, coasting over natural slopes, but the first 

 slide erected in the United States was put up 

 there in December, 1884, in Woodlawn Park. 



TODLEBEN, Count EDUARD FRANZ IVANO- 

 VIH, a Russian general, born in Mitau, May 8, 

 1S18; died at the German watering-place of 

 Soden, July 1, 1884. His father was a re- 

 spectable merchant of Riga. The son showed 

 an early inclination for the mili- 

 tary profession, entered the School 

 of Military Engineering at the age 

 of fourteen, and was commissioned 

 an ensign in 1836, but was obliged 

 by a pulmonary complaint to leave 

 the school twice and to be absent 

 at the final examination, yet on 

 account of his proficiency he was 

 promoted in regular order and was 

 assigned to the engineer division 

 in Riga. In 1839 he was trans- 

 ferred to the grenadier sappers in 

 the fortress of Dunaberg, and in 

 1840 to St. Petersburg, where he 

 was promoted to a lieutenancy, 

 where his ability obtained the rec- 

 ognition of Gen. Schilder. He was 

 advanced to a captaincy at the age 

 of twenty-seven, was ordered to 

 the Caucasus in 1848, and served 

 with distinction in the siege of 

 Gergebil, the relief of Fort Akahta, 

 and the storming of a fortified posi- 

 tion near Miskendgi held by 10,000 

 of Shamyl's rebels. For his brav- 

 ery on the latter occasion he was 

 decorated with the Vladimir order 

 of the fourth class. During the 

 campaign of 1849 he conducted for 

 four months the sap in the siege 

 of Tshok, for which he received a 

 sword of honor. Returning in 1850, 

 he became Gen. Schilder's adjutant, and in 1851 

 was transferred to the engineer corps of the 

 guards and intrusted with the execution of im- 

 portant works. 

 When the Crimean War broke out, Gen. 



Schilder summoned Todleben, who, after his 

 chief was wounded, conducted the engineering 

 operations at the siege of Silistria. Prince 

 Gortchakoff, when he learned that the allies 

 intended to attack Sebastopol, ordered Lieut.- 

 Col. Todleben to report to Prince Menshikoff 

 for duty. The commander in the Crimea was 

 about to send him back, when Gen. St. Arnaud 

 debarked at Eupatoria. Todleben's sugges- 

 tions to build a bridge between the two parts 

 of the city, and to close the channel with sunk- 

 en ships, were then carried out. The admirals 

 Korniloff, Nachimoff, and Istomin, who com- 

 manded during the absence of Menshikoff, fur- 

 thered in every way Todleben's plans, and fur- 

 nished men and materials to carry out the 

 original project for the fortification of Sebasto- 

 pol, approved by the Emperor Nicholas in 1837. 

 The eight hills on the south side were to be 

 crowned with bastions closed in the gorge and 

 connected with walls. By employing infantry, 

 sailors, and citizens, as well as sappers and en- 

 gineers, the place was got into a good state of 

 defense in a remarkably short space of time. 

 When the enemy had mounted land-batteries 

 and begun the bombardment on Oct. 17, 1854, 

 Todleben was able to respond with an equally 

 effective fire, which dismounted many French 



COUNT EDUARD FRANZ IVANOVICH TODLEBEN. 



guns, and caused the plan of an assault to be 

 abandoned. The Czar made him a colonel 

 when the issue of the day's fighting was re- 

 ported to him. He resorted after that to bold- 

 er tactics, and established, besides countermines 



