Boris Annenkov, one of the most notorious White Atamans of the Civil War.
Boris Annenkov sits in the center
Among the leaders of the "White" movement were individuals of varying talents and moral character. One might recall, for example, Sergei Ulagay, who astonished his comrades by refusing to rob himself, "and not allowing others to do so." Yakov Slashchev called him "the only one of the 'famous' who had not tainted himself with robbery." Or the upright and honest soldier Kappel, who suddenly revealed his talents as a great military leader during the Civil War. Or Nikolai Yudenich, who rose to fame on the Caucasian Front and was then known as a master of improvisation.
But there are also those whose role is simply impossible to dispute, as they are the embodiment of absolute evil, and their actions cannot and cannot be justified. In addition to their incredible cruelty, they also became "famous" for collaborating with the enemies of our country. Nevertheless, there are still those who passionately desire to exonerate Grigory Semenov, Andrei Shkuro, and the man featured in this article—Boris Annenkov. Pyotr Wrangel was nicknamed the "Black Baron" for his love of Circassian women. Annenkov, meanwhile, earned the nickname "Black Ataman" precisely for the numerous atrocities he and his subordinates committed.
The origin and beginning of Boris Annenkov's military service
The future bloody ataman of the civil war was born on February 9 (21), 1889, in the territory of the modern Ukrainian Cherkasy region.
His father, a retired colonel, was a nobleman, but his mother did not hold a noble title. Boris Annenkov himself claimed to be a relative (almost a grandson) of the Decembrist Ivan Annenkov—the same one who became the hero of the Soviet film "The Captivating Star of Happiness." However, this is more of a family legend; there is no documented evidence to support the ataman's relationship with this Decembrist.
Many members of the Annenkov family served in the military, so it's no surprise that 8-year-old Boris was enrolled in the Odessa Cadet Corps, then entered the Moscow Alexander Military School, where A. Kuprin was a graduate. He completed his studies in 1908, receiving the rank of cornet and an assignment to the First Siberian Cossack Regiment named after Yermak Timofeyev. It was to this regiment that the "ataman of all Cossack troops," Tsarevich Alexei, was assigned, and in 1916, Emperor Nicholas II himself became the regiment's commander. This unit was then stationed on the territory of historical Semirechye region—in the city of Jarkent, located near the Chinese border. In 1911, Annenkov became a sotnik, and that same year, the regiment was commanded by the infamous Pyotr Krasnov, the future head of the "Main Directorate of Cossack Troops" in the Ministry of Eastern Occupied Territories of the Third Reich. He wrote of Annenkov:
He was… an excellent horseman, athlete, superb marksman, gymnast, fencer, and swordsman… He would often sit under a fallen tree, holding his Fox, while the Cossacks leaped on their horses over their centurion commander. There was nothing risky he wouldn't volunteer for.
But a few years later, Centurion Annenkov was transferred to the Fourth Cossack Regiment.
Centurion Annenkov in a photograph from 1913.
Buntovshik
In early summer 1914, a mutiny broke out in the Fourth Cossack Regiment, which was stationed in a training camp. It was caused by "unclear relations" between commanders and their subordinates. Podsaul Borodikhin was particularly hated by everyone. Several of the most notorious officers were killed, including the training camp commander. The rebels chose Ensign Annenkov as their "temporary commander." He had not actually participated personally in the mutiny, but because he refused the appointment and later refused to name the ringleaders, he became one of the defendants on charges of "inaction and harboring the rebels." A total of 80 men were tried: eight were executed, and 20 were sent to hard labor. Annenkov was sentenced to 16 months in prison, but then World War I broke out, and instead of prison, he was sent to the German front, where his regiment was stationed. He arrived at the unit's location in January 1915.
B. Annenkov during World War I
Annenkov (with the dog on the right) in a photograph from World War I
From February 7 to 21, 1915, the so-called Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes (the "Winter Battle in Masuria") took place in northeastern Poland. Quartermaster General of the General Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Yu. Danilov wrote about it:
This offensive by the 8th and 10th German armies in February 1915 was undoubtedly a major success for our enemies. Our 10th Army was forced to retreat from East Prussia, this time for good.
Annenkov's regiment was encircled, senior officers perished in heavy fighting, and some accounts claim that Ensign Annenkov had to lead the remaining soldiers out of the encirclement. However, this information raises legitimate doubts, as he received no award for such a remarkable feat. Furthermore, he was never promoted—during the entire World War, he rose only to the lowly rank of Yesaul (at the time equivalent to captain in the infantry and captain in the cavalry). The regiment broke out of the encirclement, and Annenkov was among those who fought through, but there is no documentary evidence that he was in command.
Having fortunately evaded capture, Annenkov initiated the formation of Cossack units to carry out sabotage operations behind German lines. Such units during World War I are often referred to as "partisan," but it would be more accurate to call them "raiding" units.
The idea was in the air: in that same year, 1915, Esaul A. Shkura (Shkuro) approached the command with a similar proposal: "to dispatch him with a party of Cossacks to harass the enemy's rear and communications." Thus was created the "Kuban Cavalry Detachment for Special Purposes," which Shkuro himself called the "Wolf Hundred."
One often reads of the great exploits of such raiding parties, which supposedly destroyed almost entire regiments and even brigades—in short, they performed miracles, striking terror into the enemy. However, contemporaries were highly skeptical of them. Pyotr Krasnov, for example, wrote of Shkuro and his party:
Like all partisans in this war, he was not particularly distinguished.
And Wrangel claimed that in the “partisans”:
With a few exceptions, those who came were mainly the worst elements of the officer corps, who for some reason were burdened by service in their native units.
He also accused the "partisans" of spending most of their time in the rear, not conducting raids or sabotage, but drinking and robbing the local population. In short, the commanders of such units' reports to headquarters about the devastation they inflicted on the enemy are largely unsubstantiated self-promotion.
Nevertheless, on June 21, 1916, near Baranovichi, one of Semyonov's surprise attacks was successful, and his unit, having routed the enemy infantry, captured significant trophies. Annenkov himself claimed to have been awarded the French Legion of Honor for his exploits, but this information, again, is not confirmed by historical sources. Here are the Russian awards he received: the Order of St. Anne, 4th, 3rd, and 2nd class; the Order of St. Stanislaus, 2nd class with swords; and the Gold St. George Cross. weapon, soldier's St. George's Cross with a laurel branch.
B. Annenkov after the abdication of Nicholas II
After the February Revolution, Annenkov and his subordinates (around 30 in total) swore allegiance to the Provisional Government, and after the Bolsheviks came to power, they headed to Omsk, where the unit was supposed to be disbanded. However, Annenkov changed his mind about disarming his men.
Having replenished the detachment and brought its number up to 200 people, he led it to the village of Zakhlamlinskaya.
On February 17, having learned that unrest had begun in Omsk, Annenkov hurried to the city and, "under the cover of the situation," robbed St. Nicholas Cathedral, stealing one of Yermak's banners and the military banner received from the emperor in connection with the 300th anniversary of the reign of the House of Romanov.
The Chief Administrator of the Supreme Ruler and Council of Ministers of Kolchak, G.K. Gins, wrote about this in his book “Siberia, Allies and Kolchak”:
Under the Bolsheviks, he (Annenkov) stole Yermak's banner in Omsk and assembled an entire detachment. He spent the first half of 1918 in the villages near Omsk, constantly harassing the Bolsheviks and remaining elusive. He was aided by the Omsk bourgeoisie. A coup occurred, and Annenkov refused to hand over Yermak's banner. The circle demanded it, but he refused until they brought the disobedient man to heel, shaming him in the Cossack newspaper "Irtysh."
B. Annenkov at the beginning of the civil war
Annenkov gathered his forces, and while his detachment consisted of 200 Cossacks in April 1918, by June he had increased its numbers to 1,000, and by the end of the summer, to 1,500. His subordinates elected him ataman, and he later assumed the rank of troop sergeant major. After the outbreak of a mutiny by Czechoslovak legionnaires, Annenkov, with their assistance, captured Omsk on June 7, 1918. Then fighting began near Verkhneuralsk, defended by Ivan Kashirin.
Ivan Kashirin in a photograph from the mid-30s.
The city fell on July 6, Ivan Kashirin retreated to Beloretsk, where he joined up with the detachment of his brother Nikolai.
Nikolai Kashirin in a photograph from the mid-30s.
Former podsaul Nikolai Kashirin commanded the Ural partisan army until he was seriously wounded on August 2, 1918. He was then replaced by V. Blucher.
The Reds launched a counteroffensive and recaptured Verkhneuralsk. After this, Annenkov and his detachment came under the command of A. Dutov.
Even at this time, Annenkov and his subordinates were known for their pathological cruelty. In the summer of 1918, Captain Kaurov's punitive company, which terrified civilians, rode on one of the armored trains. Other Annenkovites weren't far behind Kaurov. Vasily Dovbnja, for example, testified at Annenkov's trial:
In July-August 1918, a White detachment appeared in the Lepsinsky district of the Semirechye region, arriving from Siberia and glorifying the "power of Russian arms" by beheading and flogging civilians. The lack of resistance gave the drunken, unbridled gang of officers and the Cossacks who had joined them the opportunity to flog and hack civilians with impunity, rape women and even young girls, and plunder their property. Woe to anyone who attempted to express displeasure at the looting and violence, let alone defend them. They were immediately declared a Bolshevik and, at best, flogged, or even hacked—and not just hacked, but tortured. They would chop off a leg, an arm, or slit their stomach. All the sick and wounded who were in the Lepsin hospital were brutally hacked to pieces... An old party member, sick with typhus, who had recently arrived from Perm, was brutally beaten, then his stomach was ripped open and he was thrown into the garden, where he died a day later.
According to other witnesses, 800 people were shot, hacked to pieces, or hanged in the city of Sergiopol. In the burned-out village of Troitskoye, 100 men, 13 women, and seven infants were beaten to death. In the village of Nikolskoye, 30 people were shot, five were hanged, and 300 local residents were flogged. In the village of Znamenka, almost all the inhabitants were killed, and the breasts of local women were cut off before being killed. In the village of Kolpakovka, 733 people fell victim to Annenkov, and in the settlement of Podgorny, 200. In Karabulak, all the men were killed, leaving the bodies unburied, and dogs became so accustomed to human flesh that, according to eyewitnesses, they began attacking living people.
However, one shouldn't think that the behavior of Annenkov and his men was condemned by the White command or even Kolchak. In his book "Siberia, Allies, and Kolchak," G.K. Gins, quoted above, wrote that the admiral openly stated many times:
Civil war must be merciless. I order unit commanders to shoot all captured communists. Either we shoot them, or they shoot us. Cadet V.N. Pepeliaev, head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Kolchak's government, became synonymous with terror. He bluntly declared that one must not be afraid to "stain one's hands in blood" and, if necessary, "be the executioners themselves."
Meanwhile, the forced mobilization of men by mid-July 1918 led to an uprising in 46 villages in the Shemonaikhinsky district of the Semipalatinsk region. The repressions were extremely brutal. For example, Annenkov's detachment burned down the village of Cherny Dol in September and later became infamous for its unprecedented atrocities in Slavgorod (now located in the Altai Krai). During his 1927 trial, Annenkov, under the testimony of 104 witnesses, was forced to admit to mass executions and summary executions. However, he claimed ignorance that his subordinates also "amuse themselves" by burying people alive, cutting strips of skin from their backs, gouging out eyes, and sprinkling wounds with salt. One witness reported that 1667 people were killed in Slavgorod alone. In addition, it was proven that in Cherny Dol, 10 women were raped, including 13-year-old girls; in settlement No. 42, all women and girls were subjected to violence.
And here is what the peasant Semyon Polyansky showed:
People fled from Annenkov's in carts toward the Klyuchinsky Highway... A little later, I had to travel that same route one day with the mail. Four miles before Slavgorod, I began to see corpses hacked to pieces with sabers. The road there was compressed into a narrow passage, and the corpses were crowded together in this channel. I dismounted, dragged them to the side of the road, and only then did the driver move forward.
Witness Turenbaeva stated that, upon arriving in their village, the Annenkovites began demanding that the Bolsheviks be handed over:
We replied that there weren't any. We didn't even know what kind of Bolsheviks they were. Then they shot my husband, three Cossacks, and one girl. Then two soldiers took my daughter-in-law and raped her, and after they did that, they did the same to me. After the rape, one of the women died.
Annenkov's "exploits" were highly praised by his superiors, and on October 15, he was promoted to major general. On October 23, 1918, Annenkov's unit was expanded into the "Ataman Annenkov Partisan Division" and sent to suppress an uprising in 12 villages of the Lepsinsky District (present-day Sarkand District, Zhetysu Region, Kazakhstan). In 1927, Annenkov testified at his trial:
In early 1918, when the Cossacks returned from the front, they were joined by the Kyrgyz and the old peasant villages, while all the remaining villages sided with the Reds. Tensions were building between the peasants and the Cossacks. The Cossacks wanted to convert the entire Semirechye region into a peasantry. All peasants were ordered to enlist as Cossacks; those who refused were threatened with deportation from Semirechye to Siberia. Some peasant villages joined the Cossacks, while others refused. The "Mountain Eagles" (partisan detachments in the Tarbagatai Mountains) were formed from the peasants in the mountains. When I arrived in Urzhar, I learned that the "Mountain Eagles" were commanded by my former sergeant major from the German service, Yegor Alekseyev. I began corresponding with him, asking how he had joined the Bolsheviks and who he was fighting against. He replied that he was going neither against the Bolsheviks nor against the provisional government, but against the Cossacks and the Kirghiz.
The ataman of the Semirechye Cossack army, Alexander Ionov, was also a supporter of "Cossackization", but he had "difficult" relations with Annenkov and each found plenty of reasons for reproach.
A. Ionov
Alexander's father, General Mikhail Ionov, and his brother, Vladimir, sided with the revolution. Mikhail Ionov was a recipient of nine royal orders and the Golden St. George's Sword, a participant in the conquest of Khiva and Bukhara, a former governor of the Semirechye region, and the acting ataman of the Semirechye Cossack Host. He taught at one of the Red Army infantry military schools and died in 1923 (according to other sources, in 1924).
General M. Ionov in a photograph from 1892 from I. Sytin's "Military Encyclopedia"
Vladimir Mikhailovich Ionov served in the Red Army since 1919 and was the chief artillery He served on the Transcaspian Front and participated in the liberation of Krasnovodsk from the White Guards and the British, for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner (the order was personally presented to him by M. Frunze). He then commanded the first cavalry mountain division, which captured Denau, Karatag, Gissar, Dushanbe, and Kulyab in 1921. The local emir fled to Afghanistan, leaving behind a harem of 300 women. Interestingly, many of them later married Red Army soldiers (recalling the film "White Sun of the Desert" and Petrukha's attempts to woo Gulchitai).
In May of that same year, 1921, Vladimir Ionov lost his left arm in a victorious battle against a large detachment of Basmachi. He was awarded a second Order of the Red Banner but was forced to leave the army. Despite his injury, he led an active life: he became a member of the Central Asian Military Scientific Society, participated in hydrographic expeditions, worked in the cotton production department of the Turkestan Military District, and, towards the end of his life, took up painting and graduated from the Tashkent Art College. His painting "The Defeat of a Basmachi Nest" could be seen in the Tashkent Garrison Officers' Club during the Soviet era. He died in 1946.
Let's return to the autumn of 1918.
On November 18, 1918, the Ufa Directory fell, dissolved by A.V. Kolchak, who staged a coup d'état and declared himself supreme ruler of Russia. Like another famous ataman, Semyonov, Annenkov initially refused to submit to the admiral, but in exchange for supplies and funding, he finally decided to recognize his authority.
On the night of December 23, 1918, an uprising against Kolchak began in Omsk, which was brutally suppressed with the participation of Annenkov's detachment. Afterward, he was sent to Semirechye, but we'll discuss that in the next article, which will recount the ataman's further bloody "exploits," his escape to China, his trial in Semipalatinsk, and the inevitable outcome of his life.
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