Tsarist General Nikolai Yudenich
Today we will continue the story about the White Guard generals who left a significant mark on stories Let's talk about Nikolai Yudenich. He performed well during World War I, and the loyalist press of the time called him a "master of improvisation" and even a "second Suvorov."
It's worth noting, however, that he wasn't fighting the Germans or even the Austro-Hungarian forces, but rather the Turkish army, which wasn't known for its superior combat capabilities. However, after the failure of the offensive on Petrograd in 1919, Yudenich was subjected to scathing criticism, and his deputy, Lieutenant General A. Rodzianko, called him "a weak-willed and stubborn man," "a decrepit old man," and even "a mummy." In his novel "The Emigrants," Alexei Tolstoy writes of Yudenich as "a dull, stubborn, ferocious man and an armchair general."
The battles on the Caucasian Front are almost forgotten; everyone remembers Yudenich for his participation in the civil war and the unsuccessful campaign against Petrograd.
Nikolai Yudenich: Origin and Beginning of Military Service
It's often said that the future general's paternal ancestors were not particularly noble or wealthy, belonging to the Minsk Governorate (the surname Yudenich is quite common in Belarus). However, the surname "Yudenich" does not appear in the "Alphabetical List of Noble Families" of the Minsk Governorate, nor does it appear in the Russian armorial. However, the surname "Yudenich" does appear in Tadeusz Gal's "Herbarzha." Yudenich's noble origins are beyond doubt, otherwise he would not have been accepted into the Aleksandrovsk Military School, which he entered in 1879.
It is known that the grandfather of the future White Army general lived in Moscow in the mid-19th century and held the position of remote supervisor of the province's food stores. He rose to the rank of titular councilor, which in the Table of Ranks corresponded to the rank of army captain and granted the right to personal nobility. His father, however, became an actual state councilor in 1889—a rank equivalent to major general in the army and rear admiral in the Soviet Union. navy and granted the right to hereditary nobility. At this time, the future White general, with the rank of staff captain of the guard, commanded a company in the Life Guards Lithuanian Regiment in Warsaw.
Nikolai Yudenich was born on July 18 (30), 1862, in Moscow. His father was a collegiate councilor at the time (rank sixth class). According to family legend, the boy's mother, Agniya Nikitichna, was related to the famous Vladimir Dahl, compiler of the "Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language," and Nikolai Yudenich was supposedly his second cousin once removed. However, according to documents, her grandfather arrived in Russia in the 70s not from Denmark, but from France; the family became noble in 1839.
In addition to their son Nikolai, two more girls were born into this family.
On his father's advice, Nikolai Yudenich began studying at the Land Surveying Institute, but less than a year later (in 1879), the 17-year-old entered the Moscow Aleksandrovsk Infantry Military School—the same school where Alexander Kuprin would study ten years later, and which he would later write about in his novel "The Cadets." Interestingly, V. O. Klyuchevsky taught history at this school for a time.
In exile, Kuprin left the following review of Yudenich:
A valiant, brave soldier, an honest man and a good military leader.
After his first year of training, Nikolai Yudenich became a cadet-swordsman, meaning he commanded a platoon of his class. In August 1881, he graduated from this school as a second lieutenant and was assigned to the Life Guards Lithuanian Regiment, stationed in Warsaw, which is why the capital's guardsmen ironically referred to its officers as the "Warsaw Guard."
In 1881, he was promoted to lieutenant, after which he enrolled at the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff, graduating with honors in April 1887. He attained the rank of guards staff captain—a rank of class VIII (in the Russian army, below captain). Interestingly, unlike army staff captains, guards staff captains were entitled to the title of "High Noble." He was again sent to Poland, to the headquarters of the Warsaw Military District, but after only six months he was transferred to the General Staff as senior adjutant of the 14th Army Corps headquarters.
Since a position on the General Staff required serving as a company commander for a period ("qualified command"), he again served in the Lithuanian Regiment from November 1889 to December 1890. He then returned to the General Staff as a special assignment officer at the 14th Corps headquarters, and in January 1892, we see him as senior adjutant at the headquarters of the Turkestan Military District. Finally, in April 1892, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
Pamir expedition
Yudenich's first major engagement was the Pamir expedition led by General M. Ionov—the same man who defected to the Soviet Union and taught at a military academy, while his sons found themselves on opposite sides of the front. This was described in the article. Boris Annenkov, one of the most notorious White Atamans of the Civil War..
General M. Ionov in a photograph from 1892 from I. Sytin's "Military Encyclopedia"/size]
During this expedition from 1891 to 1894, the western section of Afghanistan's northern border was demarcated. It should be noted that this campaign, in addition to taking place in extremely difficult natural conditions, was also accompanied by constant clashes with the Afghans, whose forces sometimes enjoyed a five-to-one advantage. In one battle in August 1893, the Russians first used the famous Mosin-Nagant rifle (although according to another version, this rifle was tested in combat in 1900-1901 during the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion in China).
Yudenich joined the Pamir detachment in 1894, becoming its chief of staff.
As a result of this expedition, in the spring of 1895, the Anglo-Russian Agreement “On the delimitation of spheres of influence in the Pamir region” was concluded.
Marriage
In 1895, Yudenich married Alexandra Nikolaevna Sycheva, who was born in Tashkent in 1871, meaning she was 9 years younger than Yudenich, but had already divorced her first husband, a certain staff captain, about whom little is known.
Alexandra Nikolaevna Yudenich
Yudenich's wife's maiden name was Zhemchuzhnikova. Her father won fame in the so-called Battle of Ikan, which took place near Chimkent in 1865: a company of Ural Cossacks under the command of Esaul Serov (105 men and one cannon) dispersed a 10-strong Kokand cavalry detachment. He became the first Russian commandant of Tashkent, where his wife, Elizaveta Khristianovna Zhemchuzhnikova, owned three taverns at Voskresensky Bazaar, known locally as "Drunken Bazaar." Unsurprisingly, their daughter's dowry was so large that it solved all of Nikolai Yudenich's financial problems. The couple later received an inheritance as well. Since the money had been transferred to foreign banks in advance, Nikolai and Alexandra Yudenich experienced no financial difficulties in exile. However, the marriage produced no children.
Continuation of service
In March 1896, Yudenich was promoted to colonel and in December of that year was appointed staff officer of the Turkestan Rifle Brigade. From May to October 1900, he again served as a qualified commander, this time of a battalion of the 12th Astrakhan Grenadier Regiment (whose first battle, in 1700, was the famous Battle of Narva). A four-month qualification for such service was required to attain the position of regimental commander, which he received in July 1902.
N. Yudenich in the Russo-Japanese War
During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, Nikolai Yudenich commanded the 18th Rifle Regiment of the 6th East Siberian Division. In January 1905, he took part in the Battle of Sandepu, in which Kuropatkin attempted to defeat the Japanese forces before they could be reinforced by General Nogi's army advancing from the capitulated Port Arthur. Yudenich personally led his soldiers in a bayonet charge and then replaced the brigade commander after he fell from his horse. He was wounded in the arm but remained in the ranks.
The Japanese failed to be routed, and at the end of February, the Russian army began the 19-day Battle of Mukden, after which the Japanese captured all of Southern Manchuria. Yudenich was seriously wounded and received the St. George Cross for his courage. weaponHis other awards in that war included the Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd degree, and the Order of St. Stanislav, 1st degree.
Yudenich in the Caucasus
In June 1905, Yudenich was promoted to major general and appointed brigade commander. In 1907, he was appointed quartermaster general of the Caucasian Military District headquarters. On December 6, 1912, he was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed chief of staff of the Kazan Military District. In early 1913, he returned to the Caucasus, becoming chief of staff of the Caucasian Military District (commanded by 76-year-old M. Vorontsov-Dashkov, with A.Z. Myshlaevsky as his assistant).
Along the way, he received the Order of St. Anne, 1st Class, and the Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd Class. He made a good impression on his fellow soldiers; General Veselorezov, for example, wrote:
In a very short time, he became both close and understandable to the people of the Caucasus. It was as if he had always been with us. Remarkably simple, lacking the poison known as "generalin," and indulgent, he quickly won hearts. Always welcoming, he was generously hospitable. His cozy apartment saw numerous fellow soldiers, line officers, and their families joyfully rushing to the kind invitation of the general and his wife.
However, there is also evidence of a different kind. Lieutenant General Filatyev characterizes Yudenich as follows:
Directness and even harshness of judgments, certainty of decisions and firmness in defending one’s opinion and a complete lack of inclination to any compromises.
It is also known that staff officers called their commander “Brick” behind his back.
The peak of N. Yudenich's career
Map of the Caucasian Front, 1914-1916.
Yudenich and staff officers of the Caucasian Army, 1914
Before the outbreak of World War I, Yudenich was little known – both in Russia and among the troops. Now, however, he found himself as chief of staff of the Caucasian Army, and his first successful engagement was the Battle of Sarakamish. The Ottoman forces were commanded by Ismail Enver (Enver Pasha), the empire's Minister of War and husband of the Ottoman princess Najie Sultan (granddaughter of Abdulmecid I), one of the leaders of the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 and the 1913 coup d'état.
Wedding photo of Enver Pasha and Nadjie Sultan
Later he would become one of the leaders of the Basmachi movement in Central Asia.
Enver Pasha in a colorized photograph from 1917
In February 1922, Ismail Enver captured Dushanbe and most of the territory of the former Bukhara Khanate, but in May he was completely defeated and killed on August 4 in the village of Chagan in the territory of modern Tajikistan.
It should be noted that Russia initially viewed the Caucasus Front as secondary, and therefore some of the district's troops were transferred westward to confront the German army. On December 9, 1914, Turkish forces, outnumbered two to one, launched an offensive near the town of Sarikamish. Enver Pasha and his German advisers planned to encircle and defeat two Russian corps and then advance on Tiflis. General A. Myshlayevsky, assistant commander of the Caucasian Army, commanded the Russian forces in this direction and ordered a retreat, departing for Tiflis. However, Yudenich refused to withdraw his troops.
Russian soldiers near Sarikamish
In the ensuing battle, which lasted from December 9 (22), 1914, to January 5 (18), 1915, the Ottoman army was routed, suffering between 70 and 90 casualties. Russian troops lost up to 20 killed and wounded, and approximately 6 soldiers were rendered inactive due to severe frostbite. Following this, Yudenich was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree, promoted to General of Infantry, and given the post of commander of the Caucasian Army.
A Russian poster dedicated to the Battle of Sarikamish
Interestingly, during the Sarikamish Offensive in January 1915, Enver Pasha was rescued by an Armenian officer during a battle, after which he sent a letter to the Armenian Archbishop of Konya expressing gratitude to the Armenians for their loyalty. This did not prevent him from later blaming the Armenians for the defeat, disarming Armenian soldiers, and initiating the deportation of Armenians from regions adjacent to the Russian Empire. Mass repressions and killings began, first in Cilicia and then in the province of Van (where up to 50 people were killed).
On April 24, 1915, 235 prominent members of the Armenian diaspora were arrested and then killed in Constantinople, and approximately 5 more were exiled from the capital. Arrests of Armenians then began in Adana, Alexandretta, and Eastern Anatolia, and on May 30, 1915, the Ottoman Majlis approved the "Deportation Law," which led to reprisals against Armenians in all other regions.
Meanwhile, by the end of March 1915, Russian troops had occupied southern Adjara and the Batumi region, but the Turks dreamed of revenge. On July 9, the 60-strong army of Abdulkerim Opelimi (Kerim Pasha) attacked General P. Oganovsky's 4th Caucasian Corps, whose retreat threatened the Russian army's left flank. However, General Baratov's group, formed by Yudenich from two Cossack divisions, struck the Turks in the flank on the night of July 23, after which Oganovsky's IV Corps launched a counteroffensive. The Ottoman army retreated down the Euphrates, while Russian troops advanced toward Lake Van. The Alashkert Operation was then carried out, thwarting the Turkish command's planned offensive in the Kars direction. The actions of the Russian army forced the Turks to transfer part of their troops to the Russian front, which allowed the British corps operating in Mesopotamia to capture Baghdad.
During the Hamadan operation, carried out in October-December 1915, General N. Baratov's corps defeated Ottoman sabotage units on Persian territory and established contact with the British, which prevented the Turks from penetrating Afghanistan.
On December 28, 1915, the Caucasian Army's Erzurum Operation began. It lasted 75 days and ended with a Russian victory, advancing 150 kilometers. This time, Yudenich's troops outnumbered the Ottomans—180,000 to 130,000—and also had a superiority in artillery and machine guns. Erzurum was a very strong fortress, yet it fell four days after the assault began, on February 16, 1916. The Ottomans lost up to 53,000 men killed and wounded, and approximately 13,000 Turkish soldiers were captured. Yudenich's army lost 2,300 men killed and 14,700 wounded.
Yudenich in Erzurum, 1916
General Maslovsky later wrote:
General Yudenich possessed extraordinary civic courage, composure in the most difficult moments, and decisiveness. He always found the courage to make the right decision, assuming full responsibility for it, as he did in the battles of Sarikamish and the assault on Erzurum. He possessed an indomitable will. The determination to win at all costs, the will to win, permeated General Yudenich, and this will, combined with the qualities of his mind and character, revealed in him the true qualities of a commander.
And this is the opinion of Colonel of the General Staff (and Yudenich’s colleague) B. A. Shteifon:
Every bold maneuver by General Yudenich was the result of a deeply thought-out and perfectly calculated situation. General Yudenich's risk was the audacity of creative imagination, the kind of courage inherent only to great commanders."
Building on their success, Russian troops captured Trebizond (Trabzon) in April and Erzincan in July. It was at this time that the press began calling Yudenich "the second Suvorov." Furthermore, this general was the last to be awarded the Order of St. George, 2nd Class.
Portrait of Yudenich in the magazine "Chronicle of War", 1916
In the fall of 1916, fighting on the Caucasus Front had virtually ceased, but the Russian army suffered losses from typhus and scurvy. Things worsened after the February Revolution, when, following the issuance of the infamous "Order No. 1," discipline plummeted and the army began to disintegrate before our eyes. Meanwhile, the "provisionalists" advanced the slogan of "war to the bitter end" (which, despite their efforts, was no longer possible) and, appointing Yudenich commander of the Caucasus Front, demanded a new offensive. His attempts to explain the situation led to his resignation. Yudenich departed for Petrograd, and the Turks themselves launched an offensive in early 1918, recapturing previously lost territory virtually without resistance.
In the next article, we will continue the story and talk about what Yudenich did before the October Revolution, his escape to Finland, the Northwestern Army's campaign against Petrograd, and Yudenich's life in exile.
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