Cavalry Commander. Volunteer army
During the Civil War, three super-powerful cavalry formations appeared: the 1st Cavalry Army; 2nd Cavalry Army; Red Cossacks.
Accordingly, there were three groups of cavalry commanders.
The grouping of the 2nd Cavalry Army was kicked out of the game by common efforts, its leaders were declared enemies and liquidated. Her commander F.K. Mironov protested against the Bolshevik terror on the Don, was arrested and shot without trial in 1921. He was rehabilitated by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court in 1960 "for lack of corpus delicti."
According to some historians, a number of victories of the 2nd Cavalry Army were attributed to the 1st Cavalry.
Not only victories fell to the share of the 1st Cavalry. Defeat from the cavalry corps of Generals Pavlov and Toporkov. There were also accusations of the participation of its units in Jewish pogroms.
It so happened that Comrade Stalin in the Civil War was where the 1st Cavalry operated. They fought together with Budyonny in 1918 in Tsaritsyn, the future Stalingrad, and Stalin knew Voroshilov even before the October Revolution. The people of the 1st Cavalry Army were not only familiar to Stalin, but for the most part they were selected, supported and nominated by him.
In 1922, Stalin took a post with such a strange name - General Secretary. Lenin quickly realized that, "having become general secretary, Comrade Stalin concentrated immense power in his hands. "The Department for Accounting and Distribution of Leading Personnel turned out to be in his hands." Quite soon, veterans of the 1st Cavalry Army, beloved by Stalin, occupied the highest levels of military power.
Most of the leaders of the Red Cossacks were chosen, supported and placed by Comrade Trotsky. Among them were Tukhachevsky and Yakir. They were pushed aside from the first roles, and in impotent rage they did great stupid things.
Budyonny became an obedient tool of Stalin during the defeat of the leading cadres of the Red Army in the late 1930s.
At the Plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (February-March 1937), when discussing the issue of N.I. Bukharin and A.I. Rykov spoke "in favor of exclusion, trial and execution", in May 1937 during a poll about the exclusion from the party of M.N. Tukhachevsky and Ya.E. Rudzutaka wrote: "Of course, for. These bastards need to be executed."
In 1926, Budyonny accused Babel of falsifying the history of the 1st Cavalry after the publication of the collection of short stories Cavalry by the latter.
(I.E. Babel (1894-1940) - writer. During the civil war - Chekist, cavalryman of the 1st Cavalry. Arrested, accused of belonging to a spy-Trotskyist group and of "organizational" ties with the wife of the "enemy of the people" Yezhov Shot and rehabilitated posthumously.)
After mass purges in the army in 1926-35 and repressions in 1930-38, a situation developed in the army when people from the 1st Cavalry Army ended up in the highest positions, and Budyonny and Voroshilov were turned into almost the only heroes of the Civil War by Stalinist propaganda. In 1943, Budyonny even entered the Central Committee of the party. True, this was the Central Committee of the Stalinist draft, and if Stalin had a feeling
humor, at the same time, following the example of Caligula, he could introduce the Budyonnovsk horse to the Central Committee. But Stalin did not have a sense of humor.
During the Soviet-German war, the insignificance of both Voroshilov and Budyonny became so obvious after the very first operations that Stalin had to send them to the Urals to prepare reserves.
Nevertheless, Budyonny Thrice Hero of the Owls. Union (1958, 1963, 1968).
Budyonny was married three times. Almost nothing is known about his first wife. Sovietologist A. Avtorkhanov claims that she was an illiterate peasant woman from the Kuban, but after becoming a marshal, he abandoned her, gave his children to an orphanage.
The second wife is Olga Stefanovna Mikhailova, a singer in the troupe of the Bolshoi Theater. She was arrested in 1937 and released in 1956.
Third wife - Maria Vasilievna (b. 1916), cousin second wife. Nothing is known about the children from the first two wives, but from the third wife there were three children: Sergei (b. 1938), Nina (b. 1939), Mikhail (b. 1944). The marshal's daughter was for some time the wife of the artist Mikhail Derzhavin.
Budyonny died in 1973. He left a false and odious memoir "The Path Traveled". He was buried in Red Square near the Kremlin wall.
Voroshilov after the death of M. V. Frunze headed the military department of the USSR. He had a reputation as a devoted supporter of Stalin, supporting him in the fight against Trotsky, and then in establishing Stalin's absolute power in the late 1920s. Author of the book "Stalin and the Red Army", exalting the role of Stalin in the Civil War.
Critics of Voroshilov raise the question of declaring him a criminal along with Stalin, despite any merits in the past. Voroshilov's signature stands for execution in 186 lists for 18,474 people. In total, under the leadership of the People's Commissar of Defense in the Red Army, about 40 thousand commanders were "cleaned out".
After Stalin's death in March 1953, he was appointed to the honorary but insignificant position of chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. He is twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1956, 1968), Hero of Socialist Labor (1960).
In 1956-1957, on the basis of rejection of the political course of N.S. Khrushchev on the de-Stalinization of society and the country, he became close to the "anti-party group" of G. M. Malenkov, L. M. Kaganovich and V. M. Molotov. After the defeat of the "group" Khrushchev and his entourage decided not to touch Voroshilov as a popular hero of the Civil War.
Voroshilov's wife is Golda Davidovna Gorbman (1887-1959), a Jewess by nationality. Before marrying Voroshilov, she converted to Orthodoxy, changed her name and became Ekaterina Davidovna. They did not have their own children, they raised the son and daughter of M.V. Frunze - Timur (1923-1942) and Tatyana (b. 1920), as well as the adopted son Peter (1914-1969).
Voroshilov died in 1969. He was buried in Red Square.
Creation
At the suggestion of a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Southern Front, I.V. Stalin, the Revolutionary Military Council of the Soviet Republic on November 17, 1919 decided to create the First Cavalry Army under the command of S. M. Budyonny. The army was formed on the basis of three divisions (4th, 6th and 11th) of the 1st cavalry corps of Budyonny by order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Southern Front on November 19, 1919. In April 1920, they were joined by the 14th and 2nd Blinov Caucasian divisions, the Separate Caucasian Special Purpose Brigade, the Ya. "Worker", aviation group (air group) and other parts, total strength 16-17 thousand people. In a number of operations, 2-3 rifle divisions were subordinated to the First Cavalry Army.
Battle path
Participation of the First Cavalry in the war on the Denikin front- In November The cavalry corps of Budyonny, together with the 9th and 12th rifle divisions of the 8th army of the commander G. Ya. Sokolnikov, chief of staff G. S. Gorchakov, made up one of the shock groups of the Southern Front. During the Voronezh-Kastornensky operation, he inflicted heavy defeats on the White Guard cavalry, and then played a decisive role in the Donbass operation.
- After mastering the Novy Oskol Cavalry Corps, an armored train arrived in Velikomikhailovka (now the Museum of the First Cavalry is located there) with members of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Southern Front Yegorov, Stalin, Shchadenko and Voroshilov. December 6, during a joint meeting with the command of the corps, order No. 1 was signed on the creation of the First Cavalry Army. The Revolutionary Military Council was placed at the head of the army administration, consisting of the Commander of the Cavalry Budyonny and members of the Revolutionary Military Council Voroshilov and Shchadenko. The cavalry became a powerful operational-strategic mobile group of troops, which was entrusted with the main task of defeating Denikin's armies, by rapidly cutting the White front into two isolated groups along the Novy Oskol-Taganrog line, followed by their destruction separately.
- December 7 Gorodovikov's 4th division and Timoshenko's 6th division defeated General Mamontov's cavalry corps near Volokonovka.
- to the end December 8, after a fierce battle, the army captured Valuyki. At the railway junction and in the city, trains with food and ammunition, a lot of military convoys and horses were captured. Cavalry formations switched to pursuing the enemy retreating to the south and southeast.
- to the end December 15 Gorodovikov's strike group (4th and 11th cavalry divisions), having defeated the Mariupol 4th hussar regiment of whites in the Pokrovsky area, reached the approaches to Svatovo.
- By the morning December 16, having broken the stubborn resistance of the whites, who repeatedly launched counterattacks with the support of armored trains, the 4th division captured the Svatovo station, capturing large trophies, including the Ataman Kaledin armored train (according to other sources, it was shot down at Rakovka station).
- December 19th The 4th division, with the support of armored trains, defeated the combined cavalry group of General Ulagay. Chasing the fleeing enemy, she captured the stations of Melovatka, Kabanye and Kremennaya.
- 21 December The 6th division occupied the Rubezhnoye and Nasvetevich stations. In the Rubezhnaya area, where the 2nd Cavalry Brigade operated, the Whites lost up to five hundred people hacked to death, including Major General Chesnokov, commander of the combined Lancers division, and three regiment commanders. The 1st cavalry brigade of the 6th division captured the Nasvetevich station with a sudden raid, capturing the railway bridge across the Seversky Donets.
- On the night of December 23 The cavalry crossed the Seversky Donets and firmly entrenched itself on its right bank, capturing Lisichansk.
- TO 27th of December units of the Cavalry, together with the 9th and 12th rifle divisions, firmly captured the Bakhmut-Popasnaya line. During the fierce three-day battles, a large grouping of White troops was defeated and pushed back to the south as part of the cavalry group of General Ulagay, the 2nd Infantry Division, the Markov Officer Infantry Division, the cavalry corps of General Shkuro, the 4th Don Cavalry Corps of General Mamontov, as well as Kuban cavalry corps.
- December 29th the actions of the 9th and 12th rifle divisions from the front and the enveloping maneuver of the 6th cavalry division, parts of the whites were driven out of Debaltseve. Building on this success, the 11th Cavalry, together with the 9th Rifle Division, December 30th captured Gorlovka and Nikitovka.
- Dec. 31 The 6th cavalry division, having reached the Alekseevo-Leonovo area, completely defeated three regiments of the Markov officer infantry division.
- January 1, 1920 The 11th cavalry and 9th rifle divisions, with the support of armored trains, captured the Ilovayskaya station and the Amvrosievka area, defeating the White Cherkasy division.
- January 6 Taganrog was occupied by the forces of the 9th Rifle and 11th Cavalry Divisions, with the assistance of the local Bolshevik underground.
- January 7-8 units of the Cavalry, consisting of the 6th and 4th cavalry, as well as the 12th rifle division, in cooperation with the 33rd separate rifle division of Lewandowski, as a result of a 12-hour oncoming battle in the area of General's Bridge, Bolshie Sala, Sultan -Saly, Nesvetay, defeated a large grouping of white troops as part of the cavalry corps of Mamontov, Naumenko, Toporkov, Barbovich, as well as the Kornilov and Drozdov infantry divisions, supported by tanks and armored vehicles.
- In the evening January 8 Gorodovikov's 4th Division occupied Nakhichevan. At the same time, the 6th division of Timoshenko, having made a march along the rear of the enemy who had fled, suddenly broke into Rostov-on-Don, taking by surprise the headquarters and rear services of the whites who were celebrating Christmas.
- During January 9 Cavalry units fought street battles in the city with White Guard units retreating behind the Don. By January 10, with the support of the approaching 33rd division, the city completely passed into the hands of the red troops.
- January 18, 1920, fulfilling the categorical directive of the Shorin Commander to seize a bridgehead in a thaw on the southern, marshy, well-fortified bank of the Don in the Bataysk region, suffered heavy losses from the cavalry corps of Generals Pavlov and Toporkov. After several days of unsuccessful bloody battles for the village of Olginskaya, having the main forces of the Whites in front of their front, who, taking advantage of the passivity of the neighboring 8th Army, concentrated a significant amount of cavalry, artillery and machine guns here, was forced, while maintaining order, to retreat beyond the Don January 22.
- In February 1920 together with three rifle divisions attached to it, it participated in the largest cavalry battle of Yegorlyk in the entire Civil War, during which the 1st Kuban infantry corps of the white general Kryzhanovsky, the cavalry group of General Pavlov and the cavalry group of General Denisov were defeated, which led to the defeat of the main forces of the group whites in the North Caucasus and their widespread retreat. However, the pursuit of the white units was suspended due to the beginning of a strong spring thaw.
- From March 13 the attack on Ust-Labinskaya was continued, where units of the Cavalry defeated the cavalry corps of Sultan-Girey, after which they crossed the Kuban, and, overcoming the resistance of disparate parts of the enemy, on March 22 entered Maykop, already liberated by the Red Partisan detachments.
- May 27 The cavalry went on the offensive. During the first two days, several different armed formations were defeated and dispersed. total number about 15,000 people, including a large detachment of ataman Kurovsky, who had close ties with the Polish command. The reconnaissance units of the Cavalry came into contact with the advanced units of the enemy, taking prisoners and groping for the line of his defense.
- May 29 units of the Cavalry began an attack on the defenses of the Poles along the entire front, starting fierce battles, which, however, did not bring significant results. Success was achieved only by units of the 6th Timoshenko Division, which captured the heavily fortified point of Zhivotov and took significant trophies and prisoners there, but suffered heavy losses in personnel and horses. Leading the attack, commissar Pisshchulin, the head of intelligence of the 2nd brigade Ivan Ziberov, were killed, the commanders of the regiments Selivanov and Yefim Verbin were seriously wounded.
- June 5 broke through the front of the Poles in the area Samgorodok, Snezhna.
- June 7 The 4th division of Korotchaev, having made a swift 50-kilometer transition, captured Zhytomyr, defeating the small garrison of the Poles. However, the headquarters of the Polish troops stationed there managed to leave the city. Cavalrymen disabled all means of technical communication with Berdichev, Kiev, Novograd-Volynsky, destroyed the railway bridge, tracks and arrows at the station, blew up artillery depots, 10 wagons with shells and guns of the English type left on the tracks, 2 wagons with machine guns. A train with horses and warehouses with food was captured. About 2,000 prisoners, mostly Red Army soldiers and political workers, were released from the city prison. Outside the city, a column of captured Red Army soldiers of up to 5,000 people was overtaken and released.
- 27th of June occupied Novograd-Volynsky, and July 10- Exactly.
- August 21-25 the army, leaving the 45th and 47th rifle divisions attached to it earlier on the defensive, made a transition to the concentration area, part of the forces conducting rearguard battles with the enemy who went on the offensive.
- 25-th of August- the beginning of the raid in Zamosc. The army went behind enemy lines with the task of capturing Krasnostav within four days and then conducting an offensive in the Lublin direction. The operational formation of troops, in conditions of operations with open flanks, was carried out in the form of a diamond: the 4th cavalry division advanced in the forefront, behind it, behind the right and left flanks of the 14th and 6th cavalry divisions, the 11th cavalry marched in the rearguard, forming an army reserve. For the first two days the army advanced unopposed, difficult conditions heavy rains began, which continued until the end of the raid.
- August 27 there were first clashes with parts of the Polish troops. The 14th division captured and held the crossing across the Khuchva River in the Terebinya area, the 4th division captured Tyshovtse, the 6th and 11th divisions, pushing the enemy back to the south, reached the Telyatin-Novoselki-Gulcha line. Parts of the 4th division defeated the Cossack brigade of Yesaul Vadim Yakovlev, numbering about 750 sabers, used by the Polish army for reconnaissance. About 100 prisoners, 3 guns, machine guns and about 200 horses were taken.
- August 28 battles were fought in the offensive zone of the 14th, 6th and 4th divisions with units of the 2nd division of legionnaires. The advanced units of the 4th division captured an enemy outpost in the village of Pereela with a sudden raid, and then defeated up to three companies of legionnaires. By evening, the division captured Chesniki. The 6th division, in the course of a stubborn battle with the infantry and cavalry of the Poles, captured Komarov. Parts of Morozov's 11th division occupied Rakhane-Semerzh without a fight. During the day, the army advanced 25-30 kilometers, entering the enemy's deep rear, losing contact with units of the 12th Army.
- August 29 stubborn battles ensued in the offensive zone of the 4th division of Tyulenev on the outskirts of Zamosc. Heavy fighting was carried out by the 6th and 14th divisions, attacked from the side of Grabovets by the 2nd division of legionnaires with the support of two armored trains. By order of Budyonny, the 4th division, partly hiding behind a barrier from the side of Zamostye, with three regiments secretly transferred to Zavaluv, struck the legionnaires with a sudden blow to the flank. The enemy, having abandoned their fortifications, began to retreat to the north. Using this success, the 14th Cavalry Division launched a counterattack. However, it was not possible to take Grabovets.
- August 30 in the south and southeast, General Haller's group occupied Tyshovce, Komarov, Vulka Labinska, cutting off the Cavalry's lines of communication with its rear and the 12th Army. In the north, the 2nd division of legionnaires and parts of the 6th Petliura division held Grabovets. The 10th Infantry Division firmly occupied Zamostye.
- On the night of August 31, preempting the regrouping of Budyonny's troops, on the orders of General Sikorsky, the Polish army went on the offensive. With a counterattack from the south and north, the group of General Haller and the 2nd division of the legionnaires connected and captured the crossing on the Khuchva River near Verbkowice, finally cutting off the retreat of the Cavalry. At the same time, Zheligovsky's 10th division went on the offensive from Zamostye to Grubeshov in order to cut the Cavalry into two parts. In the official Polish historiography, this operation is called the Battle of Komarov. (Polish) Russian .
- September 1 The Cavalry broke through the encirclement, establishing contact with units of the 12th Army. In the morning, the brigades of the 4th division captured the crossings on the Khuchva River. Tyulenev's 2nd brigade, breaking through a narrow dam in horseback formation under heavy machine-gun fire, swiftly attacked the village of Lotov and captured the crossing.
- September 2, pulling up fresh forces, with the support of a large number of artillery and aviation, the Polish troops launched an offensive, trying to cover the flanks. During three days of fierce fighting, the cavalry not only held back the onslaught, but also drove back the Polish troops, capturing a number of settlements on the western bank of Khuchva.
Command staff of the 1st Cavalry Army
Commanding
RVS members
Chiefs of Staff
Prominent military leaders
Many commanders served in the ranks of the First Cavalry Army, who later became prominent Soviet military leaders: S. M. Budyonny, K. E. Voroshilov, S. K. Timoshenko, G. I. Kulik, A. V. Khrulev, I. V. Tyulenev , O. I. Gorodovikov , K. S. Moskalenko , P. S. Rybalko , P. L. Romanenko D. D. Lelyushenko , I. R. Apanasenko , K. A. Meretskov , A. I. Eremenko , A. I. Lopatin D. I. Ryabyshev , P. Ya. Strepukhov , F. V. Kamkov , A. A. Grechko , S. M. Krivoshein , P. F. Zhigarev , A. I. Leonov , Ya. N. Fedorenko , A. S. Zhadov , P. A. Belov , V. V. Kryukov , T. T. Shapkin , V. I. Book and others.
After the disbandment of the army, G. K. Zhukov, L. G. Petrovsky, I. N. Muzychenko, F. K. Korzhenevich, I. A. Pliev, S. I. Gorshkov, M. P. Konstantinov, A T. Stuchenko and other famous military leaders.
Memory of the First Cavalry Army
- In the homeland of the First Cavalry Army, in the village of Velikomikhailovka, Belgorod Region, there is a Memorial Museum of the First Cavalry Army.
- In Simferopol and Stary Oskol, streets are named after the First Cavalry Army.
- On the third anniversary of the existence of the First Cavalry Army in the Red Army, a special leaflet was issued with the text of the order itself.
- In the Lviv region, over the Lviv-Kiev highway near the village of Khvatov near the village of Olesko, Bussky district of the Lviv region, 23 km from the regional center of the city of Busk and 70 km from the city of Lviv, a Monument to the soldiers of the First Cavalry Army, who defeated the Polish troops and reached the approaches to Lublin and Lvov, but failed to capture Lvov and in August 1920 were forced to retreat. The monument is currently being destroyed.
First cavalry in art
- In 1926, Isaac Babel published a collection of short stories "Cavalry" about the First Cavalry Army of Budyonny.
- Films called The First Equestrian of different years of release.
The first cavalry army in painting
The first cavalry army in philately
Notable Facts
see also
Notes
Links
- Budyonny Semyon Mikhailovich "The Path Traveled" in 3 volumes
- Shambarov Valery Evgenievich Belogvardeyshchina. 82. Denikin's last victories.
- Denikin Anton Ivanovich Essays on Russian Troubles. Chapter XX. Operations of the southern armies at the beginning of 1920: from Rostov to Ekaterinodar. Discord between the volunteers and the Don.
- Red Banner Kyiv. Essays on the history of the Red Banner Kiev Military District (1919-1979). Second edition, corrected and enlarged. Kyiv, publishing house of political literature of Ukraine. 1979.
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The son of a farm laborer, three times Hero of the Soviet Union, holder of the St. George Cross of all degrees, was the founder of the Cavalry Army of the Red Army. The role and influence of this commander was so strong that the soldiers of his red cavalry were even named after the commander of the "Budyonnovtsy" ..
© RIA Novosti / Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny was born on April 13 (25), 1883 on the farm Kozyurin of the Salsky District of the Don Cossack Region (now it is the Proletarsky District of the Rostov Region) into a poor peasant family. Budyonny began his service in 1903 in the Primorsky Dragoon Regiment. As part of the 26th Don Cossack Regiment, he participated in Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905, and during the First World War he served as a senior non-commissioned officer of the 18th Seversky Dragoon Regiment of the Caucasian Cavalry Division. For courage, Budyonny was awarded the "full St. George's bow" - St. George's crosses and medals of all four degrees.
1 out of 10
Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny was born on April 13 (25), 1883 on the farm Kozyurin of the Salsky District of the Don Cossack Region (now it is the Proletarsky District of the Rostov Region) into a poor peasant family. Budyonny began his service in 1903 in the Primorsky Dragoon Regiment. As part of the 26th Don Cossack Regiment, he participated in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, and during the First World War he served as a senior non-commissioned officer of the 18th Seversky Dragoon Regiment of the Caucasian Cavalry Division. For courage, Budyonny was awarded the "full St. George's bow" - St. George's crosses and medals of all four degrees.
© RIA Novosti / In the summer of 1917, as part of the Caucasian Cavalry Division, Budyonny was in Belarus. Together with Mikhail Frunze, he supervised the disarmament of the echelons of the Kornilov troops in Orsha. After the October Revolution, Budyonny returned to the Don, where he created a revolutionary cavalry detachment that acted against the Whites. His connection quickly joined the regiment under the command of Boris Dumenko, while Budyonny became the deputy commander of the regiment.
2 out of 10
In the summer of 1917, as part of the Caucasian Cavalry Division, Budyonny was in Belarus. Together with Mikhail Frunze, he supervised the disarmament of the echelons of the Kornilov troops in Orsha. After the October Revolution, Budyonny returned to the Don, where he created a revolutionary cavalry detachment that acted against the Whites. His connection quickly joined the regiment under the command of Boris Dumenko, while Budyonny became the deputy commander of the regiment.
© RIA Novosti / The first major cavalry unit of the Red Army was formed by June 1919. Already in August, Budyonny's cavalry corps successfully fought in the upper Don with the Caucasian army of General Wrangel, and then near Voronezh defeated the Cossack divisions of Mamontov and Shkuro.
3 out of 10
The first major cavalry unit of the Red Army was formed by June 1919. Already in August, Budyonny's cavalry corps successfully fought in the upper Don with the Caucasian army of General Wrangel, and then near Voronezh defeated the Cossack divisions of Mamontov and Shkuro.
© RIA Novosti / "Budyonnovtsy" twice during the Civil War turned out to be losers in equestrian battles with white troops. At the beginning of 1920, near Rostov, the army of Budyonny was defeated by the troops of the Cossack General Toropkov, and literally 10 days later, on the Manych River, it suffered serious losses during the battles with the cavalry of General Pavlov. Budyonny lost about three thousand sabers in those battles and was forced to abandon all artillery.
6 out of 10
"Budyonnovtsy" twice during the Civil War turned out to be losers in equestrian battles with white troops. At the beginning of 1920, near Rostov, the army of Budyonny was defeated by the troops of the Cossack General Toropkov, and literally 10 days later, on the Manych River, it suffered serious losses during the battles with the cavalry of General Pavlov. Budyonny lost about three thousand sabers in those battles and was forced to abandon all artillery.
© RIA Novosti / The defeat of Denikin, Yudenich and Miller allowed the command of the Red Army to throw all its forces into the Polish direction. The cavalry army of Semyon Budyonny acted on the South Western front. During the so-called "Zhitomir breakthrough" she defeated the detachments of Nestor Makhno, captured Zhitomir, Berdichev and Rovno.
7 out of 10
The defeat of Denikin, Yudenich and Miller allowed the command of the Red Army to throw all its forces into the Polish direction. The cavalry army of Semyon Budyonny operated on the Southwestern Front. During the so-called "Zhitomir breakthrough" she defeated the detachments of Nestor Makhno, captured Zhitomir, Berdichev and Rovno.
© Photo from the MAMM / MDF archiveFor his service during the Civil War, Budyonny was awarded three orders of the Red Banner, honorary revolutionary edged weapons and firearms. Abroad, Budyonny received the nickname "Red Murat", by analogy with the best Napoleonic commander.
8 out of 10
For his service during the Civil War, Budyonny was awarded three orders of the Red Banner, honorary revolutionary edged weapons and firearms. Abroad, Budyonny received the nickname "Red Murat", by analogy with the best Napoleonic commander.
© Photo from the MAMM / MDF archive
Overdue needs
The first cavalry army of Budyonny was created on November 17, 1919 on the Southern Front of the Civil War. By order, it included three divisions of the first cavalry corps of Budyonny. Subsequently, the army grew and was supplemented by various military formations, until the number of personnel reached nineteen thousand sabers, which was quite a lot by those standards. The Red Army urgently needed to create a powerful, maneuverable unit that would quickly strike and carry out strategic tasks. And then Anton Denikin was rapidly approaching Moscow from the southern lands. On September 7 of the same year, Kursk was taken by the White Guards, on September 23 - Voronezh, four days later - Chernigov, and at the very end of the month - Orel. The commander of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia planned to go to Tula, and from there to the stronghold of the Bolsheviks to Moscow. The Reds were threatened with complete defeat, and therefore, on the initiative of Kliment Voroshilov and Alexander Yegorov, just such an army was born in this theater of operations, capable of crushing Denikin.
Military uniform of Budyonny
Initially, it was assumed that the leader of the First Cavalry Army would be Boris Dumenko, under whose command was Semyon Budyonny. However, then Dumenko was seriously wounded, and therefore his assistant was put in the place of the commander. Subsequently, Dumenko will be shot on charges of murdering his own red commissar, and Budyonny will survive the flywheel of repressions of the thirties intact thanks to his friendship with Joseph Stalin. And before that, both of these people led the aforementioned first cavalry corps, which then became the backbone of an entire army.
Initially, Boris Dumenko was to become the leader of the First Cavalry Army.
Baptism of fire
This first corps also appeared in the active phase of the Civil War as a necessary unit capable of repulsing the White Guards. So, in May 1919, Budyonny's cavalry corps entered into a heavy battle near Tsaritsyn. Then, on May 13, in a bloody battle near the village of Grabbaevskaya, the forces of the Red Cavalry and the Kuban Cavalry Corps clashed. And the Reds emerged victorious from this battle. A few days later, the cavalry corps made a successful maneuver behind enemy lines and managed to forcibly drive the white units across the Manych River.
In May 1919, Budyonny's cavalry corps entered into a heavy battle.
Then Budyonny's cavalry won another number of victories, thanks to which they managed to stabilize the situation on this sector of the front and prevent the White Volunteer Army from seizing the crossings across this river. And even then fighting showed how powerful such military formations can be. But ahead was the defense of Tsaritsyn.
Painting by Mitrofan Grekov “Trumpeters of the First Cavalry Army
The first cavalry formations were immediately put into motion on the most important sectors of the front. Through Tsaritsyn, for which fierce battles were fought, the forces of Kolchak and Denikin could unite. In the event of a victory, the Whites would have surrounded the Reds in a tight ring. But the counter-attacks, interspersed with swift attacks, by the Budyonnovists against the Whites in June-July 1919 more than once saved the situation. The Budennovites took hundreds of prisoners, captured enemy carts and warehouses, and destroyed entire divisions. So, the First Cavalry swept away the Khopersky division of General Mamontov, the Astrakhan infantry division and the third and fourth divisions of Pokrovsky. The White Guards tried to resist the red sabers of their cavalry in the form of Cossacks, but they could not provide adequate resistance.
Strikes of the first cavalry army
In October, when Denikin's Volunteer Army stopped briefly, the Reds went on a decisive offensive. Their goals were to push back Denikin beyond Voronezh and crush the White front as part of the Voronezh-Kastornenskaya operation. The shock group of the Red Army included, of course, the First Cavalry Army of Budyonny; he was to lead a general attack on the Don and Kuban corps, defeat them and clear the way for the Red infantry.
The strike group of the Red Army included the First Cavalry Army of Budyonny
This time Budyonny came across the same enemy - General Mamontov, who had already managed to feel the full power of the cavalry army. And now he acted more cautiously: throughout October, the Budennovites were forced either to engage in defense, losing the initiative, or to make sorties again. The Whites stubbornly advanced towards Voronezh, occupying important settlements, but from November 5 to 15, the Red cavalrymen delivered a number of unexpected attacks on enemy positions. Soon all the forces of the Whites melted away, and the first cavalry corps was transformed into an army.
Cavalry served to carry out important strategic tasks
Further history
After the Voronezh-Kastorno operation, the First Cavalry took part in the Kharkov winter offensive. And again, the Budennovites delivered the main blows jointly with the 14th Army of the Red Army on the positions of the Whites. During these attacks, it was possible to separate the forces of the Volunteer and Don armies. Later, the Reds managed to oust the Whites from the south of Russia as a result of the Donbass and Rostov-Novocherkassk operations with the help of cavalrymen. Already in January 1920, after the rapid capture of Rostov, the Cavalry drove the Whites to the opposite bank of the Don.
Cavalry served to carry out important strategic tasks
The real test was the Battle of Yegorlyk, which lasted from February 25 to March 2, when Budyonny and his soldiers met with the battle-hardened cavalry of Pavlov, Kutepov and Yuzefovich. It was there that the largest oncoming cavalry battle in the Civil War took place: twenty-five thousand sabers participated in the battle in total. And again, Budyonny emerged victorious from this fight, and the Reds developed success and promptly drove the Whites out of the North Caucasus.
The Yegorlyk battle was a triumph for the First Cavalry Army
The first cavalry came in handy for the Red Army in further hostilities: it entered into battle with the Poles during the Soviet-Polish war, the Makhnovists and the Wrangel troops. Despite numerous victories, the Budennovites staged numerous pogroms of the Jewish population. This was described in detail by Isaac Babel in the Cavalry series of stories, which was sharply criticized by Semyon Budyonny. In general, there are many cases when loyal fighters of the revolution engaged in looting and committed crimes.
The 1st Cavalry Army saved the position of the Bolsheviks
We can say that the 1st Cavalry Army saved the position of the Bolsheviks. Thanks to its swift attacks, it was possible to turn Denikin's Volunteer Army back and generally defeat the Whites on the entire Southern Front. The Red Command at the time felt the need to create such large formation and even more so immediately let him into battle. The cavalry existed until 1921 and was disbanded.
It is a miracle that these documents have been preserved in the Lubyanka archives to this day. A true miracle, for both Klim Voroshilov and Semyon Budyonny would have paid dearly for these leaves, yellowed from time to time, to disappear forever.
Have you heard: the first marshals, the heroes of the Civil War, the favorites of everything Soviet people and personally Comrade Stalin ... Old father's Budyonovka, which we found somewhere in the closet ... Cavalry tachanka - all four wheels ... We are red cavalrymen and about us ...
... But what, in fact, could the eloquent epic writers tell the story about? Not about the fact that the legendary First Cavalry was, in fact, a haven for bandits and rioters. That the cavalry massacred entire towns: killing men, raping women. That Budyonny and Voroshilov, foaming at the mouth, defended the killers in "dusty helmets" ...
“The working population, which once greeted the First Cavalry with jubilation, now sends curses after it,” even the Revolutionary Military Council of the most famous army of the Civil War was forced to admit this.
September 20th.
The first horse goes through Ukraine. According to the recent fiefdom of Father Makhno.
Only local residents, who are “liberated” by the cavalry, for some reason do not show joy. Budenovites behave like real pogromists. They break into houses, beat and rape, requisition things. First of all, they bandit in Jewish towns.
Budenovites are tired. The army had just emerged from the Lvov encirclement. Ahead - new battles: The first cavalry should be thrown against Wrangel, on the Southern Front.
The dashing army commander Semyon Budyonny loves his fighters. They have earned the right to rest. Three days to plunder is the law of war.
True, individual horsemen are so carried away by pogroms that they lag behind their units. The commissars have to force them out of their places. They sneered - and it will be ...
... The military commissar of the 6th division, Shepelev, did not have time to move away from sleep, as a sweaty fighter burst into the hut. He was so out of breath that in the first minutes he could not utter anything, only shook his head.
- Yes, what is it, - the military commissar could not stand it. - Speak loudly.
“Our Jews are being beaten,” the fighter breathed.
The dream vanished in an instant, as if there were no restless nights. Shepelev tensed, the jaws went down his cheeks.
- Where?! the military commissar asked dully.
- And in Polonny, and in another place, a verst from it ...
When Shepelev, together with his secretary Hagan - also a Jew, but a normal man, his own - rushed to the town, the pogrom was in full swing. Screams were heard from every house. Budenovites restored the nerves lost in saber felling.
We went into the first hut, where two tied horses were shifting from foot to foot near the outskirts. On the floor, chopped with broadswords, lay a Jewish family - an old man of about sixty, an old woman, their son. Another bloodied Jew was moaning on the bed.
Assistant military commissar Hagan turned pale. Probably, he remembered the Black Hundred pogroms, the drunken faces of bandits under the royal banners. There are no more banners, red calico banners are now curling in the wind - just what has changed?
IN next room meanwhile looters were operating. Some Red Army soldier, together with a pretty woman in a medical headscarf, stuffed simple Jewish belongings into immense trunks.
- Don `t move! - the military commissar said authoritatively, but the Red Army soldier - where did the agility come from - pushed him away and rolled head over heels out of the house. A woman followed him. They ran down the street, raising their legs high, and Shepelev even felt sorry for them. He imagined how funny these two people would twitch now, how, flying forward by inertia, they would fall flat on the ground, one had only to press the trigger of the revolver.
- Hundred-oh-th! - Shepelev shouted with all his might, but the marauders did not listen to him, and then the military commissar threw up his revolver.
One cotton. Second.
After the third shot, the marauder fell dead, and with him, screaming like a woman in fright, the nurse collapsed into the dust.
She lay, unable to utter a word, and only silently whispered something with her lips white with fear.
- Who is she? - Shepelev leaned over the woman. - What regiment?
She did not answer immediately, catching her breath:
- 4th squadron. 33rd regiment. - And, as if waking up, she began to scream at the top of her voice: - Do not kill! I pray to Christ God… Have pity on the children.
"Get up," the military commissar said squeamishly. - No one will kill you ... Come with us.
… Generosity is a property strong people. If the commissar had shot the marauder on the spot, his whole life could have gone differently. But he took pity on her.
How was Shepelev to know that he had no more than an hour to live ...
“Passing further along the town, we now and then came across the street individuals who continued to rob. Tov. Shepelev convincingly asked them to disperse in parts. Many had bottles of moonshine in their hands, under the threat of execution on the spot, such was taken from them and immediately poured out.
When leaving the town, we met brigade commander 1 (commander of the 1st brigade. - Note. auth.) tov. A book with a half-squadron, which, in turn, was engaged in the expulsion of bandits from the town. Tov. Shepelev told about everything that happened in the town and, having handed over the horse of the executed man along with the arrested sister on bail to the military commissar brigade. Romanov, went in the direction of Poleshtadiv (the field headquarters of the division. - Note. auth.)».
From the report of the commander of the 1st brigade of the Book, the military commissar of the brigade Romanov and the chief of staff of the brigade Berlev (September 28, 1920):
“We met with Comrade Shepelev, who said that he had shot a soldier of the 33rd Cavalry Regiment at the scene of the robbery. Having reported this, comrade. Shepelev went ahead. After some time, we also left for our units and, having caught up with those, found out that Comrade. Shepelev was arrested by the 31st cavalry regiment ... "
... The clatter of hooves was getting closer, and finally the military commissar Shepelev caught up with the line of fighters.
- What regiment? Stopping, he called out to the commander.
- Thirty-three.
Shepelev spurred his horse, but did not have time to ride far.
“Here he is, this bitch,” someone’s heart-rending cry rang out. “He wanted to shoot us.
Dejection immediately left the faces of the fighters. The squadrons stopped. About ten people rushed to the military commissar. Most watched expectantly, but a few also failed.
“Look, what a face you ate ... While we are dying here, these bitches are fattening ... Rear rat ...
The screams became more and more aggressive, and Shepelev already regretted that he had stopped.
“Kill him… Finish… At the expense,” buzzed through the ranks.
- Stop! - the commander of the regiment Cherkasov yelled with all his might. His throat was tinned, since the First World War, he could shout down anyone. However, Shepelev was a tried and tested commissar.
With a sin in half, they shouted down the fighters. Cursing, the Red Army soldiers returned to duty, spitting from impotence and anger.
It seems that it has passed ... But, as if it were a sin, brigade commander Book drove up. In his saddle sat an arrested pogromist - a sister of mercy.
- Baba for what? - the fighters got excited. - With women, of course, it’s more convenient to fight ...
The brigade commander tried to shut the nurse up, but that only added fuel to the fire.
“We don’t have the old regime now,” the Budenovites roared. - Let the woman explain what she was guilty of.
The military commissar turned wearily to the nurse:
- Speak.
- I'm ... - the woman took a breath of air into her lungs, - I - what ... Vasyatka was killed ...
- Who? the crowd went wild.
“This one,” the nurse pointed to the military commissar, “personally…
Everything started anew.
“End this nit,” the cavalrymen shouted. - He kills our brothers, and we - to be silent?!
Already later, the secretary of the military commissar Hagan, remembering these minutes, will be surprised again and again: how he managed to stay alive. By a miracle, brigade commander Book managed to pull him and the military commissar out of the circle of enraged, half-drunk people. True, nothing could have changed. The heated crowd was thirsty for blood and it was already being carried, as it was already carrying, unable to stop, stones during a mountain collapse.
From the report of the secretary of the military commissar of the 6th cavalry division of the Hagan:
“We didn’t have time to drive off even a hundred fathoms, when a man of 100 Red Army men separated from the 31st regiment, catches up with us, jumps up to the military commissar and rips off his weapon. At the same time, the Red Army soldiers of the 32nd regiment, which was marching in front, began to join. (…)
A shot rang out from a revolver, which wounded Comrade. Shepelev in the left shoulder right through. Comrade succeeded with difficulty. The book to snatch his wounded from a furious bunch and bring him to the first hut that came across and provide medical assistance.
When Comrade. The book, accompanied by my military commissar and Romanov, called comrade. Shepelev to the street to put him on a ruler, we are again surrounded by a crowd of Red Army soldiers, pushing me and the Book away from Comrade. Shepelev, and mortally wounded him in the head with a second shot.
The corpse of the murdered comrade. Shepelev was besieged for a long time by a crowd of Red Army soldiers, and at his last breath they shouted "the bastard, he is still breathing, chop him with checkers." Some tried to pull off their boots, but the military commissar of the 31st regiment stopped them, but the wallet, along with documents, including the code, was pulled out from Comrade. Shepelev out of pocket.
At this time, some paramedic comes up and, looking only at Comrade. Shepelev, declares that Comrade. Shepelev was in drunk. (…)
Only half an hour after the murder, we managed to put his corpse on a wagon and take it to Poleshtadiv-6.
From the report of the commander of the 1st Cavalry Brigade V. Kniga to the head of the 6th Cavalry Division:
“I can’t indicate who exactly was the killer of the military commissar, since in such a dump it was difficult to establish who exactly shot.”
The military commissar of the 33rd regiment - the very one where the marauder shot by Shepelev served - no one could accuse of cowardice. He went through hundreds of bloody cuttings. Through German gases. Through melee hell.
But that evening, September 28, the military commissar, perhaps for the first time in many years, felt uneasy, and this long-forgotten feeling of terrifying uncertainty infuriated him. It drove me crazy…
He learned about Shepelev's murder in the evening. He immediately gathered squadron commanders and commissars. He ordered to take all measures so that the fighters were on the ground.
- Comrade military commissar, - the commander of the 4th squadron got up from his seat, we will not be able to hold back the people ... In general, I'm afraid that something worse than pogroms would not happen.
- I.e? - did not understand the military commissar.
- They can beat the commissars ...
- They can, - the assistant of the 5th squadron supported him. - Among the fighters there are conversations - it would be nice to kill the commissars at night.
The military commissar turned pale. He knew his horsemen well - you can expect anything from these guys, they have no brakes.
They were preparing for the night, as if for battle. They took up defense in the gatehouse. The military commissar of the 5th squadron, together with the fighters - the squadron was decent, calmer than the others - went on patrol.
It is true that as soon as it got dark, the Red Army soldiers of the 3rd and 1st squadrons rushed to the neighboring towns: to smash the Jews. The regimental commander urgently left for them - hoping, naive, to stop the pogrom. The military commissar rode to the division ...
- And so constantly - pogrom after pogrom ... A week ago, in Holovly, two peasants were killed only because they were cleanly dressed ... Or another case: the military commissar of the 43rd regiment arrested three of my bandits for looting. The 2nd and 3rd squadrons were passing by. The bandits were released, and the military commissar barely took his legs. They wanted to kill.
Neither give nor take - the Areopagus over the Mausoleum ...
It is clear that officials of such magnitude could not go to their positions on their own, without instructions from above. So, there was a team, and the most serious. Whose? It's easy to guess. In those years, the country had only two leaders: Lenin and Trotsky. And both of them were extremely worried about the situation in the First Cavalry ...
Meanwhile, events in the First Cavalry are developing rapidly. Realizing that the murder of Shepelev has already reached the very top, and the situation is becoming irreversible, Budyonny and Voroshilov begin to do everything possible to justify themselves in the eyes of the Kremlin. Otherwise (and even then with the best option), they will face a shameful resignation.
At first, however, the army command does not take any serious measures: perhaps it will blow through. It didn't. In October, an angry dispatch from the chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic, Trotsky, arrives from Moscow. You can no longer delay...
On October 9, Budyonny and Voroshilov issue a draconian order: to disarm and disband three regiments (31st, 32nd, 33rd) of the 6th division, "stained with unheard-of shame and crime", and all "murderers, thugs, bandits, provocateurs and accomplices" immediately arrested and brought to justice.
However, it is not enough to sign one order - it must still be implemented ... Voroshilov himself later admitted: he and Budyonny seriously feared that this order could stir up the entire "disgraced" 6th division, lead to a riot.
In order to avoid unrest that is completely unnecessary at this moment - then surely resignation cannot be avoided - the army command is conducting a real military operation in the village of Olshanniki, where the 6th division was stationed ...
Let us, however, give the floor to the direct organizer and participant of these events. Here is how Deputy Commander Kliment Voroshilov described what was happening before the government commission:
"It was ordered to build a division at the line railway. But the bandits did not yawn, hence we can conclude that they had an excellent organization - the bandits did not appear, and the division was not built at full strength. Of those regiments that were the most soiled, about fifty percent formed up.
When we arrived, it was immediately ordered to cover the division from the flanks and rear, and two armored trains stood along the railroad track. Thus, the division was in the ring. It made an amazing impression. All the fighters and command staff did not know what would happen next, and the provocateurs whispered that there would be executions.
We demanded that everyone line up. The chief immediately declares that he cannot do anything. To order us ourselves meant to drop prestige. We passed through the rows of clean regiments. Tov. Budyonny and I said a few friendly words to them. They said that honest fighters should not be afraid of anything, that they know us, we know them, and so on. It immediately brought a new mood. Order was quickly restored, the clean brigades were opposed to the dirty ones. The command was given to "attention". After this Comrade. Minin artistically read the order (on the disbandment of three regiments and the arrest of the organizers of pogroms and murders. - Note. auth.).
After reading the order, they began to carry it out. One of the regiments had a combat banner from the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, brought by comrade. Kalinin. Commander (Budyonny. - Note. ed.) orders to take away the banner. Many fighters start crying, straight up sobbing. Here we already felt that the audience is all in our hands. We ordered to lay down their arms, step aside and hand over the instigators. After that, 107 people were handed over, and the fighters promised to present the fugitives ... "
We highlighted the words "artistically" and "audience" for a reason. It seems that in this almost “Freudian” slip of the tongue lies the key to understanding everything that is happening.
“We felt that the audience is in our hands.”
Who could say such a phrase? Producer? - Yes.
Theatrical Entrepreneur? - Without a doubt.
At worst, the owner of a traveling circus. But not the future marshal and three times a hero. In his mouth, it sounds wild, distorts the ear.
And at the same time, not even a shadow of a doubt arises that this time Voroshilov - contrary to his usual - speaks sincerely. (What breaks out involuntarily, from somewhere gradually, in general, is more strongly believed.)
Years will pass. The theatrical talent of Voroshilov - a marshal who did not win a single battle, a party apparatchik declared "the first red officer" - will become known throughout the country.
It was he who was the first - back in the late 20s - to publicly call Stalin the most brilliant commander, to ascribe to him other people's victories in the Civil.
It is he who will send to death thousands of generals and officers - his friends and associates - just to survive himself.
It is he, who has been singing hosannas to Stalin for thirty years, who will renounce him before even the rooster crows, and then also shamelessly stigmatize his own like-minded people - Molotov, Kaganovich, "and Shepilov, who joined them."
He will transform with the same ease as the actors do on stage. Change views just as they change their roles. Masterfully get used to the image. So masterly that he will retire only at the 90th year of his life ...
But if it were not for the performance that Voroshilov staged together with his partner Budyonny in the fall of the 20th, perhaps this career would not have happened.
By all means, they need to show the “federal center” that all the mistakes in the First Cavalry have been taken into account and corrected. That the murder of Commissioner Shepelev is an exceptionally private phenomenon, which has nothing to do with the overall picture. That the situation in the army is completely under the control of the command.
For this, a completely clumsy passage about the “organization of bandits” arises - they say, if the division did not line up on time, then the bandits have a “great organization” (good organization: drunkenly smash unarmed Jews).
This idea - the bandits are to blame for everything, deceitfully wormed their way into the orderly cavalry ranks, a sort of wolves in sheep's guise - is very beneficial for Budyonny and Voroshilov. It is no coincidence that the text of the order to disband the three regiments, as if by chance, says: “Someone's spy hand immediately pulled Comrade. Shepelev secret military documents.
Whose? The hint is clear. Where there are bandits, there are spies. Today he plays jazz, and tomorrow ...
“Where the criminal regiments of the recently still glorious 1st Cavalry Army passed, the institutions of the Soviet government were destroyed, honest workers quit their jobs and scatter at the mere rumor of the approach of bandit units. The red rear has been ruined, disorganized, and as a result, the correct supply and leadership of the red armies fighting at the front have been destroyed.
The working population, which once greeted the 1st Cavalry Army with rejoicing, now sends curses after it. The name of the first cavalry army is disgraced. Our glorious battle flags are stained with the blood of innocent victims. The enemy rejoices from treacherous help to him and from the decomposition of parts of our army.
So, the Budenovites have nothing to do with pogroms and robberies. This is the work of exclusively "bandits, robbers, provocateurs and enemy spies" (another quote from the same order).
Very handy explanation. It not only relieves Voroshilov and Budyonny of responsibility for what is happening. It also whitens the entire First Cavalry, because it turns out that the army - for the most part - is clean and healthy. Only the 6th division was mired in pogroms and murders - but they had already managed to “deal with it”, enclosing it in a ring, and even driving a couple of armored trains. ( The best remedy dandruff, the French say, the guillotine.)
Of course, there was no point in dispersing the division. With the same success it was possible to disband almost half of all Cavalry units. But common sense worried Budyonny and Voroshilov last. It was a showcase. Special effect - speaking theatrical language. Demonstrative flogging, timed to coincide with the arrival of the Moscow commission. The 6th division was simply sacrificed to the conjuncture.
This is despite all the assurances and oaths of the divisional command. Ironically (or maybe according to the orders from above - who knows), the leaders of the division, trying to justify themselves, cited the same arguments as Voroshilov and Budyonny, rested on "saboteurs", "saboteurs", and "spies". A sort of vertical demagogy.
Another quote is from the transcript of the general meeting of all commanders and military commissars of the 6th Cavalry Division, convened on the initiative of Divisional Commander Apanasenko. (Something like an officers' meeting.)
Each of the speakers skillfully places accents.
Division Chief of Staff Sheko:
“Agents of Petlyura and Wrangel penetrate our environment and decompose the division. We, all conscious, need to unite in order to achieve victory over the enemies of the revolution once and for all.
Assistant commander of the 31st regiment Sedelnikov:
“I know the soldiers of my regiment as honest defenders of the revolution, I see in all this the vile work of the agents of capitalism and the dying bourgeoisie.”
Chairman of the repair and procurement commission Dyakov:
“Insignificant groups of bandits adhering to us discredit the honor of the division. I propose to swear that from this day on there will be no place in our division for such elements.
This meeting was held on October 3rd. And the next day, the former commissar of the 1st brigade, Romanov, who was appointed to replace the murdered Shepelev as the military commissar of the division, sent a devastating report to the Revolutionary Military Council of the Cavalry.
One can only guess about the reasons for such an act: Romanov was present at the divisional meeting, but for some reason he did not want to take the floor. I preferred to immediately convey to the authorities.
What's this? Usual intrigue? Cry from the heart? Or maybe the military commissar did not act on his own initiative? Someone advised Romanov to show "principledness"? Did he hint that Voroshilov and Budyonny would not forget him?
However, all this is already out of the realm of assumptions. No documents, evidence on this score have been preserved in the archives (and it could not have been preserved: experienced politicians leave no traces).
And here is the report itself. It was he who served as the last straw in the decision of the army elite to give up the rebellious division for slaughter ...
“The position of the division lately is very serious. In almost every regiment, gangs of bandits have definitely settled down, making strong nests for themselves there, with which it is necessary to wage the most decisive struggle, because now, taking our Army to the rear, they are doing something terrible along the way: they rob, rape, kill and set fire to even at home. In particular, all this is manifested in relation to the Jewish population, there is almost no place where there would not be Jewish victims, completely innocent of anything.
The reason for all these phenomena are the following facts: firstly, this evil has been brewing in the division for a long time, and at one time no measures were taken to prevent it. This is a deceitful policy of the military commissars, at a time when they assured in their political reports that everything was going well in the units, this was not the case in reality. An example of this is the 2nd Cavalry Brigade, numbering up to 400 communists, but this is only on paper - they do not exist in life.
The unconscious gangster mass, which does not lend itself to absolutely political processing, remains completely unpunished. An example of when I handed over those responsible for the wounding of the Military Commissar of the 31st Cavalry Regiment Comrade. Kuznetsov to the Revolutionary Tribunal, then instead of the criminals suffering due punishment, they were not only not convicted by the Revolutionary Tribunal, but even acquitted, and were returned back to the brigade, like the criminals for the murder of the Military Commissar, comrade. Zhukov, which happened before me. The consequence of such actions was the murder of Comrade. Shepelev.
Considering all of the above, I am taking all possible measures on my part to bring the division into proper condition, but, nevertheless, I find that I alone am unable to cope now, and therefore, I propose to equip an expeditionary detachment as soon as possible to remove all bandit elements, and the hiding agents of Petlyura, Wrangel and the White Poles, because, otherwise, the division will soon, in its larger composition, be able to serve as a good replenishment for those gangs against which we are now going to fight.
- Well, who will start? - The chairman of the All-Union Central Executive Committee, the all-Union headman Kalinin, glanced through the round lenses of his glasses.
There was silence at the table for a few seconds. Everyone looked at Commander Budyonny, but he sat without reacting, picking out the dirt from under his nails with a penknife.
- Allow me, - Voroshilov immediately hurried to the rescue of a friend. He, like no one else, knew how tongue-tied Budyonny can be. Here in saber felling he has no equal, and disputes, discussions are not his element.
Kalinin nodded approvingly, and in this nod Voroshilov felt some kind of sign that he alone could understand. Act, they say, Klim. If you manage to swim out - swim out, no one will specifically drown you.
He, in general, is not his enemy - Kalinin: a normal man, from the workers, not like any counts. Nobles - they are nobles. White bone. Whatever speeches about equality and fraternity are pushed from the stands, they will never stand on the same level as the peasant. It's like Turgenev's bar, which talked to the yard easily, but pressed a perfumed handkerchief to their mouths: democracy - democracy, but the smell of a peasant is too heavy.
How many such "clean" Romantic Bolsheviks did the former Lugansk locksmith Voroshilov meet on his way? Those who went into the revolution not from hunger, not from hopelessness - from noble boredom or Jewish curiosity, having read all sorts of romantic turbidity, like Stepnyak-Kravchinsky.
Voroshilov understood that his future must be decided during these hours. If they do not manage to chat the commission now, all the many years of work will go down the drain. But how much effort was spent on subjugating the First Cavalry, getting rid of competitors? One story with Dumenko is worth something. And Mironov?
Only who cares about this now. They will be filmed in disgrace, sent somewhere beyond the Urals - to third roles. Too many successes of the First Cavalry blind their eyes: and the ubiquitous Chekists, who cannot forgive them and Budyonny for independence, do not fawn over the fact that they do not run to bow to them, like others. And Leiba Bronstein-Trotsky, in whom Jewish blood plays: pogroms of shtetls, you see, jar him, although Cossacks without pogroms are the same as a revolution without Jews.
Voroshilov once again glanced briefly at those sitting at the table, as if trying to figure out what to expect from whom. Lunacharsky - People's Commissariat of Education, Semashko - People's Commissariat of Health; "white collars", nobles - these are perhaps the most dangerous, painfully intelligent. Especially Commander-in-Chief Kamenev, a former colonel of the General Staff: like all "military experts", he treats peasant commanders contemptuously, does not take him seriously.
People's Commissariat of Justice Kursk - the simpler one, a former ensign, although also from the "old Bolsheviks". Preobrazhensky is a member of the Central Committee, a recent secretary of the Ural Regional Committee. It is not clear with this: the white crow has not yet managed to prove itself. Evdokimov - deputy. head of the special department of the front, just appointed: Voroshilov did not particularly like this fraternity.
In general, one hope - for Kalinin, an old acquaintance from Petrograd: together they made a revolution in 1917. His opinion will be dominant: Voroshilov understood this as soon as the commission arrived at the army headquarters.
For a second, he shook his head - as if before jumping off a cliff ...
- I want to touch brief history our movement on the Polish front, so that the situation in which our army now finds itself becomes clear. - Voroshilov started from afar. As we walked forward, the mood was excellent. When the moment of withdrawal arrived, by this time the army had reached the highest tension and overwork. It was necessary to immediately withdraw, at least in separate parts, for rest or to pour in new fresh large replenishments in order to make it possible to arrange a respite on the spot. This was not done.
The members of the commission listened attentively, did not interrupt, and this silence was sweeter than any music.
- Elements opposed, immediately raised their heads - encouraged by the silence, Voroshilov moved to his favorite horse. - In addition, along the way there was a replenishment of volunteers, of which, as it turned out, there were a lot of rubbish. Especially the 6th division, consisting of volunteers from the Stavropol province - in themselves small-ownership elements, at the beginning of the withdrawal, a core of bandits turned out.
(Inwardly he applauded himself: “About the 6th“ rebellious ”division and small-ownership elements - he screwed it up well.”)
- For the first time on September 23-24, we learned that not everything is safe in the 6th division. This division remained at a distance of 80-100 miles from us, and we, being in the main units, did not suspect that anything was happening there, because there were no reports from the division commander. And those vile pogroms that began in the division were unexpected. But we quickly found out everything, and immediately measures were taken.
After these words, Kalinin nodded approvingly. He had already been told in detail about the measures taken. Forty mutineers had been squandered before he arrived.
But not everyone agreed with Kalinin.
“You say that you took measures immediately,” one of the members of the commission raised his voice. Who exactly - Voroshilov did not have time to make out: most likely, Lunacharsky. - Why were the bandit regiments disbanded only two weeks later?
“Oh, you are a bore. You are probably waiting for what I will say: because a telegram arrived from Trotsky?!”
“We could not immediately take drastic decisive measures,” Voroshilov retorted without hesitation. - In other divisions, the general objective situation was the same. Only subjectively the composition there was better. So it took about 2 weeks preparatory work. It was necessary to have units that, if necessary, would begin to shoot.
- What do you mean, in other divisions the situation is the same? - The voice did not subside.
– Yes, there were difficulties in other divisions. - Voroshilov answered as calmly as possible. Hiding the obvious was stupid. On the contrary, the more frankly you speak about shortcomings, the more confidence in you.
- In the 11th division, there was little start, but it was eliminated in advance. But the operation on the 6th division certainly made a sobering impression on the rest of the divisions, we need to “pump up” the public now, and you came to us at a very necessary moment.
He uttered the last phrase especially for the "nobles", and by the way the members of the commission blushed, he realized that he hit the mark. In the general mood, a turning point was clearly outlined, and Voroshilov immediately hurried to take advantage of it.
- Of course, there was nothing dangerous and terrible. - After these words, even Budyonny started up in surprise, blinked his eyelashes in surprise. “Although, the 6th Division certainly did a lot of mess. But now, I repeat, the army is absolutely healthy. Even in the state that was in the 6th division, her combat capability was not lost, all operational orders were carried out, because they did not put the slaughter of Jews in any connection with military discipline.
Voroshilov finished, looked around the table. By all appearances, his speech was a success. If only the following speakers did not let us down.
- Comrade Voroshilov, giving a picture of events, lost sight of one important circumstance. - A member of the army RVS Minin spoke without even asking for a word, still felt like a significant figure. In 1917, Minin was chairman of the Tsaritsyno Revolutionary Committee, then he carried out special tasks for the Central Committee and Lenin personally on the Western Front and treated the exile in the First Cavalry as a temporary phenomenon. If anyone should have expected a dirty trick, it was only from him, although even the day before everything, it seems, had been discussed and negotiated.
- The command staff was knocked out in large numbers, and the 6th division, while maintaining combat effectiveness, was almost a crowd, because commanders had to be appointed from fighters, and the army began to retreat in this form.
(“No, Minin did not disappoint.”)
- It should also be noted that the enemy paid special attention to the cavalry, in the sense of its internal decomposition. The 6th division, during the retreat, was detained on the Polish front, and thus, without a leading command staff, left to itself, it immediately filled with criminal elements.
Minin uttered phrases abruptly, minted words. He was already being carried, and Voroshilov felt that now a member of the Revolutionary Military Council, the old Bolshevik Minin, with all his party obstinacy, would taxi in the wrong direction. And exactly.
“Then I must say (“I must! That's exactly what I must!”) that this negative phenomenon has definitely affected other divisions as well. So, in the 11th division, the chief of supply was killed. Then, in the same 11th division, where we stood at the station until September 30, the arrested from the special department were released by separate bandit-minded units. When we took measures and drove the bandits away, after a while we received information that the regiments of the 2nd brigade of the 11th division were coming at us. A delegation came and said that the Jews had arrested the Budenovites, and when they wanted to release them, they were fired upon. We explained what was the matter and told them to stop the shelves. But at that time they had already approached the station and were in great perplexity when they saw us instead of the Jews. The next day we demanded the extradition of the instigators, and we were given 8 bandits and 9 instigators. It was on the 30th, and on the 28th the Berdichevsk prison was unloaded. It was done in the same way as before - under the slogan that the Jews and the Communists were imprisoning the Budenovites. The Revolutionary Military Council gave the order to give information and arrest the perpetrators. But information did not come for a long time, until, finally, we went ourselves and found out that the commanders of the 4th and 5th squadrons had been arrested.
(“Lord, where did he go?! Why did he have to touch other divisions!”.)
However, Minin, it seems, already realized his mistake himself, and therefore abruptly began to turn back.
- The day of the operation in the 6th Cavalry Division should be considered the day of a turning point, not in the narrow sense of the word - an increase in combat capability, but a cleansing of unusable elements. Your arrival is a very happy coincidence with everything that happened. A turning point has already been outlined, we already have 270 people issued as fighters, and cleanup work should begin now. We propose to hold a number of non-party conferences and several days of party work so that the army is washed and perfumed. So your work will have very fertile ground.
He finished, quite pleased with himself. About the happy arrival of the commission and about the washed-up army - it turned out well. And about the role of the party organization; let them know in Moscow that since 1905 the Bolshevik Minin has been eating his bread for good reason.
- Who else wants to speak out - Kalinin has not yet rushed to conclusions, he was playing democracy.
The head of the army political department, Vardin, got up from his seat. Pulled up the tunic. He spoke with Georgian fervor.
- The army was without a break in the battles for three and a half months. When we start talking about political work, this must be kept in mind.
Vardin is worried, oh he is worried, the Caucasian accent breaks through immediately. To speak before the members of the Central Committee is not to read a political literacy in the Cossack circle.
- In the same 6th cavalry division during this time, the commissar changed 2-3 times and, of course, a more low-grade element. The most painful place for us is the squadron commissars. They are usually ordinary fighters, communists, but the communists are very weak, and sometimes they are not averse to shouting together with the fighters: “beat the Jews!”.
("Thank God," flashed through Voroshilov's mind, "that there isn't a single Jew on the commission. Apparently, the Central Committee understood that there was nothing to tease the geese.")
Now about anti-Semitism. Vardin said exactly that “about anti-Semitism”. – Yes, anti-Semitism, as in any peasant army, took place. But anti-Semitism is passive. The slogan "Beat the Jews!" has not yet been heard. For us, the question was much more serious - the attitude towards the prisoners, who were mercilessly killed and stripped. But it was difficult for the political department of the Revolutionary Military Council to fight this.
And in this situation, our army did not receive even a 10th share of the number of political workers that it needed. The first batch of workers - about 200 people, arrived at the end of June, from which it was possible to take some ten or two workers who could carry out work. The second serious detachment was 370 people, but when they began to distribute them, only an insignificant part, some two or three dozen, turned out to be suitable, and the rest were either completely unsuitable for the army, or completely sick, deaf, lame ...
“Thus,” Lunacharsky chuckled, “300 deaf-and-dumb agitators…
“Exactly so,” Vardin grew bolder, he spoke confidently, clearly. - All these circumstances led to the fact that political work was and is at a very low level. Recently, a party conference was convened, at which anti-Semitic notes were submitted. They ask why the Jews are in power, we simply deprived them of their mandates and allowed them to remain with an advisory vote. We have a perspective only on whether there will be people or not.
(“Ek, he turned everything around,” Voroshilov appreciated the cunning of his student. “He shifted all responsibility to the center. They say, give political workers - we will keep the situation. No - blame yourself.”)
In the meantime, without giving the commission time to come to its senses, Minin seized the initiative again. Purely Budenov's tactics: to organize a breakthrough in the enemy's defense, to throw all the forces at him.
“In the situation in which our army was,” Minin continued, “the rear institutions were constantly torn off, and such a picture turned out that people with broken ribs were lying around for several days. Previously, institutions were so neglected that they did not look like Soviet institutions at all. For example, the head of the administrative department was shot for violence, other communists for violating discipline, and so on.
Finally, for the first and only time, the army commander gave his voice. He filed, as usual, out of place, and Voroshilov again praised the leaders for their generosity: if at least one Jew were on the commission, he didn’t even utter the word “Jew” so beloved by Budyonny and Budyonov’s people, he loved his wife Ekaterina Davidovna too much - and so, if at least one Jew arrived with a commission, oh, it would not be easy for them and Budyonny ...
“And here, back when we passed this idiotic Ukraine, where the slogan “beat the Jews!” is everywhere,” Budyonny began right off the bat, again returning to the painful Jewish topic, although no one pushed him to this, “and, besides, the fighters very dissatisfied always come back from infirmaries. They are treated badly in the infirmaries, there is no help at the stations when returning. And so, turning to one Jewish commandant, to another and not receiving help, or instead of help - swearing, they see that they are abandoned without any contempt, and, returning to the ranks, they bring decay, talking about insults, they say that we fight here, we give our lives, but no one does anything there.
Voroshilov saw how the faces of Lunacharsky, Semashka and other intellectuals stretched out, and Budyonny's speech jarred him in order. Typical anti-Semitic logic: Jews are to blame for everything. And if the commandants were crests - what then? However, what else to expect from an illiterate Cossack, a recent non-commissioned officer, who, by the will of fate, was carried by a wave to the very top.
- Of course, on this basis, the criminal hand deliberately conducts agitation. - Budyonny did not slow down. He managed to learn to breed demagoguery quite well. “But we have already made a big step in the eradication of these criminal elements, and now we are all very happy to welcome you, thank you for coming, and we hope that you will work with our fighters, who, spending all their time in blood and battles, see no one and hear little.
- Well, - Kalinin nodded with satisfaction, - I think the comrades told us in sufficient detail about what happened in the army. They did not hide anything, did not try to hide their weak sides. He smiled and looked at Voroshilov. - I propose to take their reports into account and make the final decision after returning to Moscow, but for now, move on to solving purely technical issues ...
“He is insured,” Voroshilov realized. “Apparently, there have been no clear indications on our account yet.”
But something told him that the main danger had already passed. The worst is behind.
He and Budyonny withstood this battle, which, perhaps, was even more difficult than the battle of Yegorlyk or the “Mironov case” combined ...
The commission left for Moscow a few days later. They parted almost amicably.
And although Kalinin did not say anything definite in parting, he got off with general phrases, there was no longer that anxiety that Voroshilov had previously experienced. He was almost sure that the entreprise staged by him was a success: none of the "artists" let us down. Even Chekists.
The latter was especially important, because the relationship between the cavalry elite and the army counterintelligence had already gone too far.
The head of the special department, the stubborn Latvian Zvederis, grew bolder to the point that he sent slander directly to Dzerzhinsky, but neither Budyonny nor Voroshilov could do anything about it: the special officers did not obey them.
What started it all? If someone had asked them about this, neither Voroshilov nor Zvederis would have been able to explain properly, probably. From the usual little things.
One did not invite the other to the meeting. The second - without informing - undertook to carry out some kind of operation. Nonsense, in general. But this nonsense, like a snowball, grew every day. No one wanted to give in to each other, condescend, each fancied himself too big a boss. And when they came to their senses, it was already too late, the enmity had taken root too deeply.
More than once or twice, Voroshilov and Budyonny figured out how to get rid of the rebellious special officer, to survive him from the army. But Dzerzhinsky did not offend his people: for this he invented military counterintelligence in order to keep the army under control - it was not by chance that he himself, personally, headed a special department of the Cheka.
But, as they say, there would be no happiness, but misfortune helped ...
And again we invade the sphere of conjectures and hypotheses: too few documents have been preserved in the “case of the First Cavalry”. Most of the papers were destroyed in the 1970s.
The indisputable facts are as follows: on October 13, Kalinin heard oral reports from the head of the rear in Kremenchug and the head of the Kremenchug “cheka”, who told the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee about rampant banditry.
“We have about 2,000 bayonets at our disposal, and up to 3,000 organized bandits,” the head of logistics complained to Kalinin. “And armed peasants are joining them.”
“Help from our side is almost impossible. - Chairman of the Cheka Magon fully supported him. “It is a very undesirable phenomenon that in the Cheka there are 70 percent of Jews, and it is absolutely impossible to send them to the village.”
Of course, these reports did not in any way compromise the hated head of counterintelligence Zvederis, especially since the special departments were not subordinate to the local Chekist bodies. But almost certainly in Kalinin's memory their words were deposited, which means that he could not help but wonder: why did the bandits feel so at ease and with impunity in the province?
He receives the answer to this question two days later, from a certain representative of the special department of the Cavalry named Novitsky.
Who is Novitsky? What is his position? Why, in the end, he, and not the head of counterintelligence, makes a report to the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee - the second person in the state - it is now impossible to establish anything of this.
There is only a typewritten sheet with a statement of "an oral report to the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the representative of the Special Department of the First Cavalry Army Novitsky", more like a denunciation, however.
“The work in the First Cavalry Army is unsatisfactory. Under the head of the Special Department, Zvederis, absolutely nothing was done. Anti-Semitic, anti-communist sentiments developed in the army. No measures were taken.
When retreating to the mountains. The first signs of pogroms appeared exactly. When I reported to the boss and asked what needs to be done, I was told that nothing special had been done, that only 4 shops had been destroyed.
Was this report inspired by Voroshilov and Budyonny, or was Chekist Novitsky used in the dark? And again - a question without an answer. It is only clear that on his own, without outside help, some "representative" of the special department would never have been able to achieve an audience with Kalinin himself.
And who, if not the army elite, was most interested in compromising the chief counterintelligence officer of the First Cavalry?
Budyonny and Voroshilov are experienced intriguers. There have already been plenty of such provocations on their account. Actually, first of all, thanks to such “delicate” cases, the future marshals received the First Cavalry under their command, gained fame as the heroes of the revolution.
First there was the story of Dumenko, a career officer, under whose command the Cavalier of St. George Budyonny served in the first place, who began his career with the fact that with 24 Cossacks - the same bashi-bazouks like himself - flew into the village of Platovskaya, cut out the convoy and freed captured Red Guards.
In the morning there were already 520 bayonets in his detachment. It was with them that Budyonny landed on the retreating 10th Army.
The cavalry talent of an experienced grunt showed itself soon. Budyonny began to grow, but no matter how hard he fought, he could not advance to the first roles. He always remained a deputy under Dumenko - in a regiment, brigade, then in a division.
It was then that his party functionary Voroshilov, who was thrown into army work, noticed him. The future marshals became friends, and very soon Dumenko was arrested and sentenced to death: they accused him of a counter-revolutionary conspiracy. Having got rid of the burden, Budyonny was immediately appointed commander of the First Cavalry Corps.
But here a new obstacle lay in wait for the comrades-in-arms: the commander of the Second Cavalry Corps Mironov, who did not want to recognize their superiority. And again, the same methods were used: Budyonny arrested Mironov on a false charge of treason, and only the hasty intervention of the chairman of the RVS Trotsky, who personally knew Mironov, saved him from execution. However, he lost his body. Mironov’s units joined the Budyonnovsky formation: on their basis, the legendary First Cavalry was soon created ...
Of course, it would also be more convenient to accuse the Chekist Zvederis of treason (and more familiar), but it is unlikely that anything will come of it. Dzerzhinsky will not give his spy to the slaughter - he will take all the denunciations to himself, double-check: the hour is uneven, then you yourself will have to take the rap for slander.
But it was not for nothing that Comrade Stalin said (or will say again): there are no fortresses that the Bolsheviks could not take.
Experienced, seasoned intriguers were Voroshilov and Budyonny. Even their own mistakes and failures - for which they almost had to say goodbye to their posts - they knew how to put at the service of their interests.
From the report of Chekist Novitsky, it turns out that it is the head of the special department, and not at all the commander with the deputy, who is responsible for all the sins of the First Cavalry. It was he who did not take any measures to stop the disgrace. He closed his eyes to everything. It was he who indulged the pogromists and robbers.
Then why punish Budyonny and Voroshilov? Here he is, the main culprit - counterintelligence officer Zvederis. From him and all the demand.
Familiar handwriting. In the same way, according to the same scenarios, they removed Dumenko and Mironov before that. And how much will be removed later? ...
In one fell swoop, Voroshilov and Budyonny immediately decided two, vital important tasks. They not only shifted their guilt onto the shoulders of the special officer, but also dealt with the enemy in this way.
“Now, after the disarmament of the 6th Cavalry Division,” Novitsky concluded his report, “the dark element in the division still remains, and is campaigning for the release of the bandits issued by the division.
We have very few forces and if these remaining bandits want, they will be able to recapture the arrested.
The conclusion suggests itself: if Zvederis remains at his post, new shocks await the First Cavalry. But in this case, the entire responsibility will already lie with the government commission and Kalinin personally: after all, they were forestalled in advance.
Too serious a risk. And the stakes in this game are too high, there is no time for justice (and when, after all, did justice play any role in political squabbles?).
We do not know if the chairman of the Cheka made any effort to protect his head of the special department. Even if we assume that something like this took place, Dzerzhinsky had practically no chance of winning. The fate of the recalcitrant Zvederis was now completely at the mercy of the Central Committee, became a political issue, and even Felix rarely dared to argue with the Central Committee.
However, Zvederis does not want to give up without a fight. He manages to send a report to the Presidium of the Cheka ...
From the report of the head of the Special Department of the First Cavalry Army:
“From the moment we arrived at the Special Department of the 1st Cavalry Army, we had to deal with such an abnormal phenomenon as disagreements with the R.V.S. Army and the Special Department. We, in the first place, just started measures that were supposed to eliminate these reticence and alienation of the Special Department from the Revolutionary Military Council, and we seem to have achieved success. But it only seemed.
We have met an obstacle, which we consider on a principled plane. Us the Revolutionary Military Council, and, in particular, its member, comrade. Voroshilov, accuses him of provocation. What, we can not understand. I am sending you a copy of the undercover investigation file to clarify a gang of bandits in the mountains. Yekaterinoslav ... "
A small digression. A negligible number of operational files from the 1920s have been preserved in the FSB archives. Most of them were destroyed simultaneously with their performers and developers back in the 30s.
One can only guess what the development was, about which the head of counterintelligence writes. From the meager details mentioned by Zvederis, it is no longer possible to build a single, integral picture. So - separate sketches, contours.
It's a shame. After all, this development has become a stumbling block between the special department and Voroshilov. Because of her, all the fuss flared up.
“When this operation was carried out, Comrade. Voroshilov raised the question that this was “generally a provocation”. During the explanations that were given to the RVS on this occasion, comrade. Voroshilov began to accuse us of the fact that the operation was not organized, and that nothing was done on our part to prevent casualties (during the shootout, the Commissioner for Searches and Arrests, and five Red Army soldiers from the guard were wounded; the Commissioner died from a wound) .
Was it the fault of our indiscretion and lack of preparation for this operation, please look from the material that is sent to you (it would be nice to see, yes, alas ... - Note. auth.), or was it the reason for the objective conditions that existed during the operation /there was no electricity in the city at that time, there was a lamp that went out from the shot, the Red Army soldiers’ failure to comply with the directives that were given to them and explained in great detail/. If we are to be blamed for the loss of one killed, then such operations can always be accompanied by such a phenomenon.
During the explanations Comrade. Voroshilov said: “What are these four bandits for us (apparently detained during the operation. - Note. ed.) when the building of the Gubfin Department was destroyed”. I add that two windows were smashed in the Gubfin Department when the bandits were trying to escape from the trap, and the ceiling was shot through during the shooting. There was no more destruction. And, despite the fact that the development of the case was indicated and other bandits were extradited during interrogation, comrade. Voroshilov noticed - "Now you will grab everyone - he is guilty or not." He sees no prospects in the development of this case and considers our explanation to be weightless and “boyish”.
It was just a hitch. It must be said that Com. Voroshilov is somehow generally unfriendly to the Special Department, and with his arrival, a thickened atmosphere was felt. Impatient of Emergency Organs, comrade. Voroshilov organically cannot allow the fact that the Special Section of the Army has grown stronger and stood on its feet. Each boss stays for two or three months, after which, under some pretext, he is removed. The public knows this, and is so accustomed to it that now in some divisions they are already impatiently saying - “why did we stay here for three months?”
The first full meeting in the Revolutionary Military Council, where it was necessary to defend the existence of the Detachment under the Special Department (most likely, a detachment to combat banditry, directly subordinate to the army counterintelligence. - Note. auth.) - when Voroshilov, denying the need for a detachment laid down by the state, said: "I will not allow anyone to carry out any operations in units." This was said in response that the existence of a detachment and a division was necessary in case it was necessary to intensively carry out the removal of bandits from units. In general, the five questions raised at this meeting about the Special Department met with the most demagogic rebuff from Voroshilov, and tubs of all sorts of dirt poured out at the address of the Special Department.
Later, I came to the following conclusion:
in the Army, banditry will not get rid of until as long as there is such a person as Voroshilov, because a person with such tendencies is clearly the person in whom all these half-partisans-half-bandits found support.
We ourselves singled out the phrase, because it is the essence of the culmination of the entire document.
Such serious allegations require, however, hard evidence. Voroshilov is a conspicuous man, an old Bolshevik.
Zvederis provides such evidence ...
“By this time, demobilization had begun. A special triumphal, demobilization-festive mood was created, which resulted in wholesale drunkenness and the complete collapse of the work of the Headquarters and institutions, which reached the point that when Makhno was 20 miles from Yekaterinoslav, and only by chance did not turn to rob, in the city, not only there was no actual strength, but positively no precautionary measures were taken. In a word, the night survey provided the Special Department with rich material on the hibernation of the Headquarters, the garrison, the lack of responsible duty, security measures for operational points, etc. etc. Together with the seals and secret files of the Headquarters, its operational Directorate, the Revolutionary Military Council, the Commandant's Office of the city, etc., that came to us.
At the same time, in the Revolutionary Military Council, both members, and especially their various “For Assignments” and secretaries, were drinking wine brought from the Crimea and the Caucasus. Things reached such cynicism that the public, drunk, went to various charity evenings, pumping hundreds of thousands there, and demanded the obligation of the presence of a young communist to serve on the table.
We have established that among the drunken brethren, among the close knights, there are also politically rather obscure faces, like Voroshilov's secretary - Khmelnitsky, a former officer, a former communist, who went over to Denikin from the Red Army. Some of the drivers of Voroshilov and Budyonny, brought from the Crimea, with officer faces turned out to be quite suspicious as well.
Of course, all this became known to Voroshilov, and, a tyrant by nature, he already hated us personally, deciding at the same time that the further strengthening of the Special Department could have bad consequences for the existing routine, and personally for many high "junkers". Without giving any actual support for strengthening and creating the apparatus of the ArmSpecial Department, Voroshilov /we remind you that he has two votes in the Revolutionary Military Council/ was looking for an opportunity to find fault and put the Special Department in the old place of a dead institution that does not bother anyone. Such a case, in his opinion, soon presented itself - just this operation with bandits.
The next day, in the apartment of the Commander, Voroshilov, mainly, began to fabricate and intensively spread rumors that we ourselves had carried out the raid, that the Special Department was engaged in provocative work, that it was necessary to take measures against him.
The Chairman of the Tribunal, Predgubcheka Trepalov, was summoned, some meetings were arranged, but nothing was demanded of us. Already on our initiative, we were summoned to the Revolutionary Military Council, where all the arguments were presented, up to intelligence reports. But, having broken into ambition, Voroshilov no longer wanted to give up his positions, and, seeing that he had gone too far, he decided to continue the business. Now our accusation of provocation naturally shows his attitude towards the work of the Special Department, and we fell into disgrace with him. For us it was indifferent, since we are doing our job, and threats from comrade. Voroshilov - to arrest us and bring us to trial by the Revolutionary Military Tribunal of the Republic - we do not worry much.
So, it turns out, what lies main reason Voroshilov's enmity with the Chekists. Two birds do not live in the same lair.
Voroshilov and Budyonny did not need dangerous spies. Unmanaged. Collecting compromising materials on them.
(But who, by the way, needs such people? Already today, quite often, governors, presidents of national republics continue the traditions of Voroshilov. The number of territorial security forces who said goodbye to their posts for the sake of the political situation and the obsequiousness of their leadership goes to dozens.)
No matter what letters the recalcitrant Zvederis sent to the center, no matter what facts he cited, his fate was, in fact, a foregone conclusion. The Cheka is an armed detachment of the party ...
The time of Chekist omnipotence will come later, when with just a wave of the hand, yesterday's masters of life - even more serious than Budyonny and Voroshilov, sample of the 20th - will turn into camp dust.
But forever the first marshals will remember the man whose stubbornness nearly cost them their careers. Surely, thanks in large part to him, they will carry their dislike for the terrible building through their whole lives. yellow color, to which even the iron Felix, stood up, turning his back.
Both Voroshilov and Budyonny miraculously survived during the years of the KGB Moloch. It was a miracle and the blood that the “father of the peoples” baptized them with, because under all the sentences, the deeds of generals and commanders was the unpretentious signature of People's Commissar Voroshilov.
(“We purged in the Red Army,” he reported from the podium in 1937, “about four tens of thousands of people.”)
And yet: in the 37th, as a "Polish spy", they took Budyonny's wife, actress of the Bolshoi Theater Olga Mikhailova. In 1952, at the height of the struggle against cosmopolitanism, Voroshilov himself was almost raked in - they remembered his Jewish wife, and it was already time to start new blood. Only the quick death of the "leader" saved him from reprisal.
Quite possibly, the stubborn special officer Zvederis also died in the era of great terror. Even for sure: such people did not heal for a long time - with rare exceptions, almost all the old KGB cadres were repressed. However, this is only our assumption, because we failed to find the personal file of Zvederis.
The last mention of him is dated January 21st. This is the conclusion of the Cheka, which put an end to the whole history, which has already dragged on in order.
The special officer Zvederis was unanimously approved as the culprit of all the troubles of the First Cavalry. It turns out that he "did not pay any attention to the internal political life, without taking any measures in advance (...), due to which the political life in the army proceeded abnormally, and every prison element could freely do its dark deeds."
The conclusion is clear:
"Head of the Special Department of the 1st Cavalry Army, comrade. Zvederis, remove him from his position a) on the one hand, as inappropriate to his appointment;
b) on the other hand, a person who did not want to be interested in the huge work that was entrusted to him.
And in a few months, Kliment Voroshilov will become a member of the Central Committee ...
In the 1930s there was a song like this:
When the country orders to be a hero,
Anyone becomes a hero.
Such heroism according to the order ...
Budyonny and Voroshilov are from this cohort. Despite all their regalia and titles, they had little understanding of military affairs. Voroshilov - he, in general, was not a commander: a party worker, thrown into the troops "for reinforcement". Budyonny was good only in the saber cabin. Jokes were told about his intelligence.
Such, for example:
“Tell me,” they ask Budyonny, “do you like Babel?”
- It depends on what kind of babel ...
But "the country ordered" - and I had to become marshals. Posing for artists. Open parades.
They did it so well that over time they themselves believed in their own greatness. And then the war came, and hundreds of thousands of people had to pay for their mediocrity with their lives - those who were lucky enough to fight in the fronts under the command of "glorious marshals".
After the failure of the Kiev operation, Stalin will be forced to remove Budyonny from the Southwestern Front. I could have shot him, but I regretted it: he transferred him to the reserve North Caucasian Front, and in 1943 he removed him from sin from there too: he made him commander of the Red Army cavalry. It's in '43, the day before Battle of Kursk when the decisive role in the war was completely occupied by armored vehicles and aviation.
Voroshilov, who failed the Leningrad Front, was put on the partisan movement. Reasoned sensibly: more harm still can't deliver. The partisans are under the reliable supervision of the Chekists, Klim will not even dare to utter a word against them ...
Stars of Heroes were hung to them after the war: for anniversaries. Not to offend...
These people succeeded in something else: in a secret, undercover war. In a war of intrigue and conspiracy.
Here they definitely had no equal. Only now the head of the special department of the First Cavalry Zvederis realized this too late ...
In Soviet historiography, the First Cavalry was approximately in the same position as Malaya Zemlya.
The true truth about what the army was in reality, we learn only now. Yes, and that one - abruptly.
After all, the developments on Voroshilov and Budyonny, which began a special department of the First Cavalry, were curtailed immediately after the expulsion of Zvederis.
The country needed heroes. And no one was allowed to defame them ...
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