Tekinsky cavalry regiment in the fire of the First World War. Part of 1
In 1881, under the onslaught of Russian troops, the fortress Geog-tepe fell - and Turkestan became part of the empire. But, seeing the futility of resistance, the Tekinians, one of the largest tribes of Turkestan, already in 1875 sent a statement to the Russian command with the request of citizenship of the Russian Empire and the patronage of the “white king”. They reported that they would serve faithfully and truthfully, and on the first call several thousand selected equestrians would be put up. The military services of the Tekines were once readily used by Genghis Khan, Nadir Shah, and it was the turn of the Russian emperor.
Turkmen were high-quality combat material. They were born warriors, distinguished by excellent knowledge of the desert terrain and the ability to adapt to the mountainous terrain (the arena of the Tekin raids is the mountainous regions of Afghanistan and Persia).
And it is not by chance that the volunteer Turkmen equestrian division (later the Turkmen (Tekinsky) cavalry regiment) became one of the most combat-ready and selective units of the Russian army. Under the leadership of the Russian officers, the Tekians performed miracles of courage and distinguished themselves in many battles of the first war, in which the regiment had the opportunity to participate, which at the same time was the last war of the Russian Empire - the First World War.
In 1895, the initiative to establish the so-called native militia units in Turkestan came from the General Directorate of the Cossack troops. The opinion of the commanders of the troops in the regions was sought. In Fergana, a commission was created to study this issue, which provided a very interesting conclusion. Without denying the native population of positive qualities as a combat element (in particular, such facts as excellent riding, good horses, as well as saddles, harness and the whole horse gown were in permanent condition) were noted by the commission: “Should the military instinct in the peaceful native population of Russian Turkestan? ... The secret of our victories lies not so much in our tactical superiority over discordant hordes and in good armament, as in unanimity ... If we supply the steppe population with well-trained military instructors who have consciously learned this secret, then who can vouch for that among these instructors some capable organizer will not appear over time .... Then there will be such unrest in the depths of Asia, which will have a very unfavorable effect on the cultural life of mankind ... ”[Kuvshinov V. The Experience of Attracting the Indigenous Populations of Turkestan to Military Service // Military Thought and Revolution. 1923. Book 6. C. 99].
From the commanders of troops in other areas, with the exception of Samarkand, received about the same answers. Naturally, the voice from Samarkand about the desirability of forming the native parts turned out to be a voice in the desert.
The view expressed by the Fergana Commission continued to dominate in the subsequent time. An exception was made only for the Turkmen tribes of Turkestan.
The fact that, to some extent, the government was right, shows the experience of 1916. This year, due to the heavy losses incurred on the fronts of the First World War and in connection with the transition to a positional war, the government decided to call for all defensive rear work population of Turkestan at the age of 19 - 31 of the year.
The appeal order was followed on June 28, and already on July 9, unrest arose on this ground - simultaneously in the city. Andijan and Kokand, July 11 in the city of Tashkent and July 13 in the Samarkand region, where they developed into armed resistance.
On August 6, the Kirghiz of Semirechensk region (Jetytsu) revolt, where the uprising had the most organized and long-lasting character, and in mid-August Turkmen-Iomuds (in the western part of Turkmenistan) revolted.
The uprising was crushed, and by February 1 1917 workers were sent to the fronts and over 110000 people were left inside Turkestan to perform defense works. By May, 10000 was supposed to be assembled before 1917 people.
The Turkestan Governor-General, General of Infantry A. N. Kuropatkin, reporting on the reasons for the uprising, pointed out the following circumstances:
1) haste of recruitment, without preliminary preparation of the population; 2) lack of population registration; 3) the call came during the period of active harvesting; 4) hostile political agitation and 5) unsatisfactory regulations on the management of the Turkestan region.
In addition to general reasons, A. N. Kuropatkin also singled out the reasons for dissatisfaction with his economic and social position of certain groups of the indigenous population of Turkestan. He noted that: 1) The development of cotton production has caused a huge influx of monetary amounts in the region, resulting in a small group of very rich people from among the local population as the small landowners became poor; 2) Rapidly developed machine capitalist production made the labor of small landowners unprofitable - respectively, debts and loss of land plots appeared by the former owners. As a result, the dekhan was buying up lands by rich local Jews, as a result of which the number of landless people increased; 3) For debt, locals often sold all land and work equipment without exception. 4) Judges (kazii) and volost foremen in many cases sided with the rich and decidedly in favor of the rich; 5) Among all the nationalities inhabiting Turkestan, the Kyrgyz population (up to 2 million 615 thousand people) regarding the use of land was the most powerless - because by law, the land, with a nomadic way of life, ensures the existence of the Kirghiz population is recognized as state property , and their surplus is available to the treasury. Moreover, the free interpretation of the question of the size of these surpluses has led to the fact that the local Kyrgyz population has lost a huge land area, which was vital for him. They went to create Russian villages, state forest cottages and cattle breeding sites. But the land, which remained with the Kyrgyz population, was not properly managed by the local residents - the local land guard, poorly controlled and poorly funded, was a scourge of the population. 6) The Turkmen population itself, to a greater extent than other nationalities of the region, was rather its land status, the local administration and the people's court. The water issue caused the greatest concern among the Turkmen population.
It was extremely characteristic that Teke (Tekin) Turkmen remained calm. They merely stated that working with ketmen and a pickaxe was unworthy of brave men who should be warriors. After the Turkmen announced that the people they were exhibiting would be engaged only in the guard and guard service, they implicitly put out the required number of people. Only relatives of the riders of the Tekinsky Equestrian Regiment had privileges - for one rider they were exempted from the outfit on the 3 rear work by the next of kin of the male line.
T. o. the experience of mass conscription (mobilization), and even for logistical work, the indigenous population of Turkestan was unsuccessful.
With one exception - Tekins.
Tekinians (or Teke - literally translated “mountain goats”) were one of the largest Turkmen tribal communities. Historical The distribution area is the center and south of Turkmenistan. Tekinians came to modern Turkmenistan from Mangyshlak, settling in the foothills of the Kopetdag, in the oases of Akhal-Tek and Merv, where, according to legend, the leader Keimir-Ker brought them. It is also noteworthy that part of the Teking people were engaged in nomadic cattle breeding traditional for the Turkic tribes, while the other part practiced farming, which, most likely, was adopted by the indigenous Iranian-speaking population assimilated by them in the foothills and river valleys. Accordingly, from ancient times, Tekinites were divided into Chavdars (Chovduurs) - nomadic herders and Chomurs - farmers. Being constantly surrounded by hostile tribes and peoples, the Tekins were extremely warlike. They were very caring and attentive to horses, and they cultivated a special local breed of horses - the Akhal-Teke, which they were very proud of and valued. Unlike other nomadic Turkic peoples (Kyrgyz and Kazakhs), the Tekins did not eat horsemeat in principle, preferring lamb.
As early as 1881, after the conquest of Akhal-Teke, the general of infantry, M. D. Skobelev, established a militia unit formed from Turkmen, numbering 300 horsemen. The calculation of M. D. Skobelev was simple - he wanted to occupy the most troubled element of the tribe that had just been conquered by serving in the militia and thereby get rid of the danger of an uprising.
The Turkmen Horse Militia was legalized in 1885 (seniority 24. 02. 1885), 07. 11. 1892, it was reformed into the Turkmen Equestrian (with 30. 01. 1911, the Equestrian) 2-hundred-year division.
In accordance with the Regulations, the division was supposed to protect internal order in the Transcaspian region, as well as send “other official needs”.
The division was staffed with hunters (i.e., volunteers) from among the Turkmen of the Transcaspian region and the “Caucasian Asians” (the latter should not have been more than 5% of the composition - they had to know Russian and have experience in regular or militia units before that, the division they mainly performed the duties of translators).
Horseman age - 19 - 30 years. Service life - at least 2 years. The rider received in the year 300 rubles salaries (25 rubles per month), while he was obliged to have a good own horse, saddle and horse equipment, uniforms and cold weapon. From the treasury the rider received a cavalry carbine.
And the document noted that the horsemen of the Turkmen division - in national sheep hats and gowns with epaulets (with “T” printed on them), with rifles behind them and girdled with straps to which crooked Turkmen checkers were attached — dashing riders and shirts [Gundogdyev O., Annorazov J. Glory and tragedy. The fate of Tekin Horse Regiment (1914-1918). Ashgabat, 1992. C. 15].
A rider could reach the rank of police ensign - but not before 6 years of service in the division.
1. Turkmen policemen.
The duties of the division in peacetime were varied, including the fulfillment of the duties of the postal, border guard, escort and intelligence services. So, in 1890, the riders of the division conducted reconnaissance of the Afghan border. Riders who served in the division, as a rule, completed the law enforcement agencies of the region — they became policemen, translators, etc.
In 1897, the issue of deploying a battalion to a regiment was resolved, but the lack of funds, the start of the Russian-Japanese war and the revolution dragged this issue out. But with the start of World War 29. 07. The 1914 Division was deployed in a four-squadron Turkmen cavalry regiment.
The unit was stationed in the town of Kashi, located next to Askhabad, and seconded to the Transcaspian Cossack Brigade, which was part of the 2 of the Turkestan Army Corps [A brief schedule of ground forces. SPb., 1914. C. 124]. The brigade headquarters was the city of Askhabad.
When in October 1914 the brigade moved to the Caucasian front, there was no Turkmen regiment with it - he left for the Austro-German front. The regiment was transferred to the lane bordering East Prussia.
During the war, he established himself as a highly combat-ready unit, acting as a troop (corps) cavalry, as well as entering cavalry formations. So, at one time was in the operational subordination of the Caucasian native horse division.
In August, 1915, to compensate for the losses of the regiment, in Kashi was formed and then sent to the front a marching platoon of Tekians.
31. 03. 1916, since the Turkmen cavalry regiment mainly consisted of the Tekhins of Akhal and Merv, it was renamed the Tekins equestrian regiment.
The regiment was an elite part - voluntary in its composition and largely formed at the expense of the Turkmen population (primarily in the Askhabad, Merv and Tedzhen districts). The riders were well equipped.
Orientalist D.N. Logofet noted that the Turkmen horsemen had excellent horses, and the horsemen themselves, by their national character and the martial traditions established over the centuries, were excellent material for staffing the Russian cavalry, since the Tekinians were inherently Cossacks of the Transcaspian steppes.
The Soviet military historian A.I. Litvinov also noted as one of the best parts of the 9 Army the Tekinsky cavalry regiment - “the beauty and pride of the Merv oasis” [A. Litvinov. I. The Mayor breakthrough of the IXth Army in 1916. PG.1923. C. 64].
2. Tekins.
An eyewitness described the fighters of the Turkmen equestrian division as follows: “The division was special, and the service in it was special. All on beautiful, evil stallions - they couldn’t be held on a conferring, so they fought among themselves - with natural riders, horsemen, with a lot of knightly, delicate oriental customs and traditions - it was dashing, beautiful, variegated, equestrian part, with no one incomparable and, of course, completely irregular. Cut like no one in the world could cut. A watermelon was hung on a rope and chopped into slices with a crooked tusk. They chopped a live ram completely in half. ... Cossack straight checker was not suitable, it seemed, for such a cabin. Then there were also the Sibiryak fellows that cut the watermelon and lamb carcass in the wool, despite the blade’s straightness ”[PN Krasnov, Memories of the Russian Imperial Army. M., 2006. C. 235].
The fact that during the war years from 627 riders 67 people (including 2 - owners of the full St. George bow) and more than 70 people - cavaliers of other combat awards became evidence of the elite character of the regiment.
Thus, the experience in the formation of the Turkmen cavalry volunteer unit should be recognized as very successful. This experience was not widespread, but there were always more volunteers willing to serve in the Tekinsky Regiment than was required.
To be continued
Turkmen were high-quality combat material. They were born warriors, distinguished by excellent knowledge of the desert terrain and the ability to adapt to the mountainous terrain (the arena of the Tekin raids is the mountainous regions of Afghanistan and Persia).
And it is not by chance that the volunteer Turkmen equestrian division (later the Turkmen (Tekinsky) cavalry regiment) became one of the most combat-ready and selective units of the Russian army. Under the leadership of the Russian officers, the Tekians performed miracles of courage and distinguished themselves in many battles of the first war, in which the regiment had the opportunity to participate, which at the same time was the last war of the Russian Empire - the First World War.
In 1895, the initiative to establish the so-called native militia units in Turkestan came from the General Directorate of the Cossack troops. The opinion of the commanders of the troops in the regions was sought. In Fergana, a commission was created to study this issue, which provided a very interesting conclusion. Without denying the native population of positive qualities as a combat element (in particular, such facts as excellent riding, good horses, as well as saddles, harness and the whole horse gown were in permanent condition) were noted by the commission: “Should the military instinct in the peaceful native population of Russian Turkestan? ... The secret of our victories lies not so much in our tactical superiority over discordant hordes and in good armament, as in unanimity ... If we supply the steppe population with well-trained military instructors who have consciously learned this secret, then who can vouch for that among these instructors some capable organizer will not appear over time .... Then there will be such unrest in the depths of Asia, which will have a very unfavorable effect on the cultural life of mankind ... ”[Kuvshinov V. The Experience of Attracting the Indigenous Populations of Turkestan to Military Service // Military Thought and Revolution. 1923. Book 6. C. 99].
From the commanders of troops in other areas, with the exception of Samarkand, received about the same answers. Naturally, the voice from Samarkand about the desirability of forming the native parts turned out to be a voice in the desert.
The view expressed by the Fergana Commission continued to dominate in the subsequent time. An exception was made only for the Turkmen tribes of Turkestan.
The fact that, to some extent, the government was right, shows the experience of 1916. This year, due to the heavy losses incurred on the fronts of the First World War and in connection with the transition to a positional war, the government decided to call for all defensive rear work population of Turkestan at the age of 19 - 31 of the year.
The appeal order was followed on June 28, and already on July 9, unrest arose on this ground - simultaneously in the city. Andijan and Kokand, July 11 in the city of Tashkent and July 13 in the Samarkand region, where they developed into armed resistance.
On August 6, the Kirghiz of Semirechensk region (Jetytsu) revolt, where the uprising had the most organized and long-lasting character, and in mid-August Turkmen-Iomuds (in the western part of Turkmenistan) revolted.
The uprising was crushed, and by February 1 1917 workers were sent to the fronts and over 110000 people were left inside Turkestan to perform defense works. By May, 10000 was supposed to be assembled before 1917 people.
The Turkestan Governor-General, General of Infantry A. N. Kuropatkin, reporting on the reasons for the uprising, pointed out the following circumstances:
1) haste of recruitment, without preliminary preparation of the population; 2) lack of population registration; 3) the call came during the period of active harvesting; 4) hostile political agitation and 5) unsatisfactory regulations on the management of the Turkestan region.
In addition to general reasons, A. N. Kuropatkin also singled out the reasons for dissatisfaction with his economic and social position of certain groups of the indigenous population of Turkestan. He noted that: 1) The development of cotton production has caused a huge influx of monetary amounts in the region, resulting in a small group of very rich people from among the local population as the small landowners became poor; 2) Rapidly developed machine capitalist production made the labor of small landowners unprofitable - respectively, debts and loss of land plots appeared by the former owners. As a result, the dekhan was buying up lands by rich local Jews, as a result of which the number of landless people increased; 3) For debt, locals often sold all land and work equipment without exception. 4) Judges (kazii) and volost foremen in many cases sided with the rich and decidedly in favor of the rich; 5) Among all the nationalities inhabiting Turkestan, the Kyrgyz population (up to 2 million 615 thousand people) regarding the use of land was the most powerless - because by law, the land, with a nomadic way of life, ensures the existence of the Kirghiz population is recognized as state property , and their surplus is available to the treasury. Moreover, the free interpretation of the question of the size of these surpluses has led to the fact that the local Kyrgyz population has lost a huge land area, which was vital for him. They went to create Russian villages, state forest cottages and cattle breeding sites. But the land, which remained with the Kyrgyz population, was not properly managed by the local residents - the local land guard, poorly controlled and poorly funded, was a scourge of the population. 6) The Turkmen population itself, to a greater extent than other nationalities of the region, was rather its land status, the local administration and the people's court. The water issue caused the greatest concern among the Turkmen population.
It was extremely characteristic that Teke (Tekin) Turkmen remained calm. They merely stated that working with ketmen and a pickaxe was unworthy of brave men who should be warriors. After the Turkmen announced that the people they were exhibiting would be engaged only in the guard and guard service, they implicitly put out the required number of people. Only relatives of the riders of the Tekinsky Equestrian Regiment had privileges - for one rider they were exempted from the outfit on the 3 rear work by the next of kin of the male line.
T. o. the experience of mass conscription (mobilization), and even for logistical work, the indigenous population of Turkestan was unsuccessful.
With one exception - Tekins.
Tekinians (or Teke - literally translated “mountain goats”) were one of the largest Turkmen tribal communities. Historical The distribution area is the center and south of Turkmenistan. Tekinians came to modern Turkmenistan from Mangyshlak, settling in the foothills of the Kopetdag, in the oases of Akhal-Tek and Merv, where, according to legend, the leader Keimir-Ker brought them. It is also noteworthy that part of the Teking people were engaged in nomadic cattle breeding traditional for the Turkic tribes, while the other part practiced farming, which, most likely, was adopted by the indigenous Iranian-speaking population assimilated by them in the foothills and river valleys. Accordingly, from ancient times, Tekinites were divided into Chavdars (Chovduurs) - nomadic herders and Chomurs - farmers. Being constantly surrounded by hostile tribes and peoples, the Tekins were extremely warlike. They were very caring and attentive to horses, and they cultivated a special local breed of horses - the Akhal-Teke, which they were very proud of and valued. Unlike other nomadic Turkic peoples (Kyrgyz and Kazakhs), the Tekins did not eat horsemeat in principle, preferring lamb.
As early as 1881, after the conquest of Akhal-Teke, the general of infantry, M. D. Skobelev, established a militia unit formed from Turkmen, numbering 300 horsemen. The calculation of M. D. Skobelev was simple - he wanted to occupy the most troubled element of the tribe that had just been conquered by serving in the militia and thereby get rid of the danger of an uprising.
The Turkmen Horse Militia was legalized in 1885 (seniority 24. 02. 1885), 07. 11. 1892, it was reformed into the Turkmen Equestrian (with 30. 01. 1911, the Equestrian) 2-hundred-year division.
In accordance with the Regulations, the division was supposed to protect internal order in the Transcaspian region, as well as send “other official needs”.
The division was staffed with hunters (i.e., volunteers) from among the Turkmen of the Transcaspian region and the “Caucasian Asians” (the latter should not have been more than 5% of the composition - they had to know Russian and have experience in regular or militia units before that, the division they mainly performed the duties of translators).
Horseman age - 19 - 30 years. Service life - at least 2 years. The rider received in the year 300 rubles salaries (25 rubles per month), while he was obliged to have a good own horse, saddle and horse equipment, uniforms and cold weapon. From the treasury the rider received a cavalry carbine.
And the document noted that the horsemen of the Turkmen division - in national sheep hats and gowns with epaulets (with “T” printed on them), with rifles behind them and girdled with straps to which crooked Turkmen checkers were attached — dashing riders and shirts [Gundogdyev O., Annorazov J. Glory and tragedy. The fate of Tekin Horse Regiment (1914-1918). Ashgabat, 1992. C. 15].
A rider could reach the rank of police ensign - but not before 6 years of service in the division.
1. Turkmen policemen.
The duties of the division in peacetime were varied, including the fulfillment of the duties of the postal, border guard, escort and intelligence services. So, in 1890, the riders of the division conducted reconnaissance of the Afghan border. Riders who served in the division, as a rule, completed the law enforcement agencies of the region — they became policemen, translators, etc.
In 1897, the issue of deploying a battalion to a regiment was resolved, but the lack of funds, the start of the Russian-Japanese war and the revolution dragged this issue out. But with the start of World War 29. 07. The 1914 Division was deployed in a four-squadron Turkmen cavalry regiment.
The unit was stationed in the town of Kashi, located next to Askhabad, and seconded to the Transcaspian Cossack Brigade, which was part of the 2 of the Turkestan Army Corps [A brief schedule of ground forces. SPb., 1914. C. 124]. The brigade headquarters was the city of Askhabad.
When in October 1914 the brigade moved to the Caucasian front, there was no Turkmen regiment with it - he left for the Austro-German front. The regiment was transferred to the lane bordering East Prussia.
During the war, he established himself as a highly combat-ready unit, acting as a troop (corps) cavalry, as well as entering cavalry formations. So, at one time was in the operational subordination of the Caucasian native horse division.
In August, 1915, to compensate for the losses of the regiment, in Kashi was formed and then sent to the front a marching platoon of Tekians.
31. 03. 1916, since the Turkmen cavalry regiment mainly consisted of the Tekhins of Akhal and Merv, it was renamed the Tekins equestrian regiment.
The regiment was an elite part - voluntary in its composition and largely formed at the expense of the Turkmen population (primarily in the Askhabad, Merv and Tedzhen districts). The riders were well equipped.
Orientalist D.N. Logofet noted that the Turkmen horsemen had excellent horses, and the horsemen themselves, by their national character and the martial traditions established over the centuries, were excellent material for staffing the Russian cavalry, since the Tekinians were inherently Cossacks of the Transcaspian steppes.
The Soviet military historian A.I. Litvinov also noted as one of the best parts of the 9 Army the Tekinsky cavalry regiment - “the beauty and pride of the Merv oasis” [A. Litvinov. I. The Mayor breakthrough of the IXth Army in 1916. PG.1923. C. 64].
2. Tekins.
An eyewitness described the fighters of the Turkmen equestrian division as follows: “The division was special, and the service in it was special. All on beautiful, evil stallions - they couldn’t be held on a conferring, so they fought among themselves - with natural riders, horsemen, with a lot of knightly, delicate oriental customs and traditions - it was dashing, beautiful, variegated, equestrian part, with no one incomparable and, of course, completely irregular. Cut like no one in the world could cut. A watermelon was hung on a rope and chopped into slices with a crooked tusk. They chopped a live ram completely in half. ... Cossack straight checker was not suitable, it seemed, for such a cabin. Then there were also the Sibiryak fellows that cut the watermelon and lamb carcass in the wool, despite the blade’s straightness ”[PN Krasnov, Memories of the Russian Imperial Army. M., 2006. C. 235].
The fact that during the war years from 627 riders 67 people (including 2 - owners of the full St. George bow) and more than 70 people - cavaliers of other combat awards became evidence of the elite character of the regiment.
Thus, the experience in the formation of the Turkmen cavalry volunteer unit should be recognized as very successful. This experience was not widespread, but there were always more volunteers willing to serve in the Tekinsky Regiment than was required.
To be continued
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