Deserted to the front. Yenisei Cossacks during World War I.
Photograph from the Krasnoyarsk Cossack Cavalry Museum collection. Krasnoyarsk Cossack Cavalry Hundred. 1880s.
Cossacks appeared on the banks of the Yenisei River as early as the early 17th century. Service men annexed new lands to Russia, swore allegiance to the Russian tsar from Siberian "foreigners," and repelled raids by warlike nomads—the Dzungars, Buryats, and Yenisei Kyrgyz. However, by the early 18th century, Yenisei Siberia had become a relatively quiet, peaceful region, and the need for a significant military force had disappeared. Therefore, the authorities transferred some Cossacks to the peasant class, and those who remained in service were primarily engaged in maintaining law and order.
For almost two centuries, the Yenisei Cossacks performed police functions and practically did not participate in the wars waged by Russia (stories (The exploits of the Yenisei people in the war of 1812 are nothing more than tales.) From 1871, Yenisei Cossacks served in the Krasnoyarsk Cossack Hundred during peacetime, which during the war was expanded into the Krasnoyarsk Cossack Division, consisting of three hundreds, as well as three stanitsa squads. According to the regulations of April 4, 1904, the Krasnoyarsk Cossack Division consisted of 482 Cossacks, 14 officers, and officials. At first glance, this seems very small for the entire region, but it must be taken into account that by the beginning of the 20th century, Cossacks constituted only 0,8% of the total population of the Yenisei Governorate.
Photograph from the Krasnoyarsk Cossack Museum collection. Group photo. Officers of the Krasnoyarsk Cossack Hundred. Early 20th century.
During the Russo-Japanese War, the Yenisei Cossacks sent only 12 rank-and-file Cossacks to the front, led by one officer. They did not directly participate in the fighting, but rather guarded the headquarters of the 4th Siberian Corps and, apparently, the headquarters of the 1st Army Corps. This "modest" participation can be considered a warm-up for the next war.
The participation of the Yenisei Cossacks in World War I was described by Krasnoyarsk historian M.G. Tarasov in his monograph, "The Yenisei Cossacks During the Revolution and Civil War." With the outbreak of World War I, approximately 300 Yenisei Cossacks were called up from the reserves for active service. The Krasnoyarsk hundred was reorganized into a division, which was transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and tasked with maintaining law and order.
This is precisely why, at the beginning of the war, the command did not send Yenisei Cossacks to the front and even prevented their transfer to fighting units. Despite this, from almost the very first days of the war, the Yenisei Cossacks demonstrated high patriotism and sought to reach the front by various means. By 1915, the illegal transfer of Cossacks to the active army had become widespread. Cossacks often fled to the front with their horses and equipment.
Photograph from the KKKM collection. Cossack Hundred Commander V. Yanenko with his platoon. 1889–1890.
After the Russian army suffered significant losses in 1915, the attitude toward such volunteer fugitives changed. While initially "flight" to the front was regarded as desertion, later it was effectively overlooked. For example, in October 1915, the 1st Argun Cossack Regiment received reinforcements from Ussuri Cossacks, including 11 Yeniseians. Although the commander of the Krasnoyarsk Cossack Division attempted to recall his subordinates, the regimental commander, with the support of the commander of the 1st Transbaikal Cossack Brigade, was able to retain the volunteers.
By 1916, about 100 men from the Krasnoyarsk Cossack Division, which consisted of 482 Cossacks, had "escaped" to the front. Most of these volunteers, upon joining combat units, claimed to be from the Siberian or Ussuri Cossack Host. By the time this deception was uncovered, the Cossacks had already been enlisted in front-line units.
Postcard from the collection of the KKKM. The feat of a Transbaikal Cossack. 1914-1917.
In January 1916, Yenisei and Irkutsk Cossacks were officially allowed to go to war. After this, according to various sources, 110-120 Cossacks from the Krasnoyarsk division volunteered to go to the front, and 70-90 from the Irkutsk division.
Before being sent to the active army, the Yenisei Cossacks sent Nicholas II a telegram expressing gratitude for permission to go to war, which they called a "great holiday." In his reply, the emperor wrote that he "sincerely thanks the Cossacks and wishes them complete success."
Postcard from the collections of the Red Army Cossack Museum. Vladimirov I. Attack of the Siberian Cossacks. 1914.
Two hundred Yenisei and Irkutsk Cossacks, undivided, formed part of the Ussuri Cossack Division under the command of Major General A.M. Krymov. This unit was stationed in the city of Wolmar (now Valmiera, Latvia) in the Livonia Governorate. The Cossacks participated in the defense of the Gulf of Riga, where a German landing was expected. In June 1916, the division, which included Yenisei Cossacks, was transferred to the Carpathian Mountains near Chernivtsi. In difficult weather conditions, the Cossack division raided the rear of the Austro-Hungarian army through mountainous and forested terrain, inflicting significant losses on the enemy.
Despite their distinguished military service, the Yenisei Cossacks faced a number of problems due to interdepartmental disputes. The fact is that while fighting at the front, the Yenisei Cossacks were not fully subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to which the Krasnoyarsk Cossack Division reported. Therefore, they did not receive the benefits and pensions due to front-line soldiers from the Ministry of War. Furthermore, the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not provide assistance to the families of the fallen, as the Cossacks died while serving in the active army.
Poster from the collection of the Red Army Museum, "The Russo-German War. The First Skirmish between the Cossacks and the German Uhlans." 1914.
Such bureaucratic disputes had no effect on the patriotic spirit of the Yenisei Cossacks. This became especially noticeable after the February Revolution. The Yenisei Cossacks experienced the fall of the monarchy on the Romanian front near Chisinau, in the ranks of the Ussuri Division. Since they had not succumbed to revolutionary propaganda, a hundred Yenisei Cossacks, as a particularly reliable unit, formed the escort of the commander of the 3rd Cavalry Corps, Major General Pyotr Nikolaevich Krasnov. Due to the lack of their own officers, ensigns Rozanov and Tyalshinsky, who later distinguished themselves in the Siberian Civil War, were included in this hundred. As part of this corps, the Yenisei Cossacks took part in the Kornilov Rebellion.
The Kornilov rebellion is the name given to the unsuccessful armed uprising undertaken by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, General Lavr Georgievich Kornilov, on August 27 (September 10), 1917, against the Provisional Government.
On August 25, 1917, General L. G. Kornilov gave the order to advance the Savage Division and the 3rd Cavalry Corps on Petrograd. General Alexander Mikhailovich Krymov commanded the troops marching toward the capital. The 3rd Cavalry Corps included a hundred Yenisei Cossacks. However, the troops failed to reach Petrograd. On August 29, the railway track along their route was dismantled, and the Kornilovites' advance was halted. Agitators sent among the troops convinced most of the soldiers to surrender. weapon.
However, the Cossacks' military adventures did not end there. On October 26, 1917, the Kerensky-Krasnov rebellion (also known as the Kerensky-Krasnov uprising) began. These events, unlike the Kornilov rebellion, are less well-known, so they deserve a more detailed account.
Poster from the collection of the Red Banner of Culture of the Soviet Union "Revolution is war...". 1920s.
Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky, head of the Provisional Government overthrown by the Bolsheviks and fleeing from the Winter Palace to the Northern Front headquarters, attempted to secure military support. However, after the Kornilov mutiny and subsequent purges in the army, the generals distrusted the Provisional Government and Kerensky himself. Only Pyotr Nikolayevich Krasnov, commander of the 3rd Cavalry Corps, agreed to send troops to suppress the Bolshevik coup. A staunch monarchist, the general supported Kerensky not out of personal sympathy, but because of his rejection of the common enemy—Soviet power.
Of the 1000 Cossacks sent to suppress the revolution, approximately 100 were natives of our region. The commander of the Yenisei hundred, Esaul P.F. Korshunov, an experienced engineer, was able to thwart sabotage attempts and organized the transport of troops to Petrograd. On October 28, 1917, during the offensive on Tsarskoye Selo, eight Yenisei Cossacks were the first to break into the city and disarm a large detachment of revolutionary forces numbering up to 350 men. Yenisei Cossacks were in the vanguard of General Krasnov's troops during the attack on Pulkovo.
On October 29, the corps commander gave the Cossacks a rest. Realizing that his forces were clearly insufficient to take the capital, Krasnov attempted to obtain reinforcements from the active army. The rebellious general also hoped for assistance from the 1st and 4th Cossack regiments stationed in Petrograd. However, unlike the Yenisei Cossacks, their comrades in the capital proved less resilient and, succumbing to the persuasion of Bolshevik agitators, defected to the Soviet regime. This news, as well as the news of the suppression of the cadet uprising in Petrograd, had a negative impact on the fighting spirit of the Cossacks.
To combat the rebels, who numbered around a thousand, the Bolsheviks managed to assemble a significant force: 10,000 to 12,000 armed Red Guards, approximately 10,000 sailors, and 4000 to 5000 soldiers. The Red forces were commanded by a career officer, Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Artemyevich Muravyov of the Tsarist Army.
On the morning of October 30, Krasnov's troops, with the support of artillery The armored trains and troops launched an offensive near Pulkovo. After a fierce battle, unable to break through the enemy's positions, which were far superior, the Cossacks retreated to Gatchina. General Krasnov sent the Yenisei Cossack commander, Esaul Korshunov, to front headquarters for reinforcements. However, en route, Korshunov was beaten and detained by railway workers. Krasnov held out hope for reinforcements until the very end, but the commander of the Northwestern Front, Infantry General Vladimir Andreevich Cheremisov, refused to order his units to support their comrades.
Pyotr Nikolaevich Krasnov, Major General of the Russian Imperial Army
Having received no reinforcements and facing significantly superior enemy forces, the Cossacks entered into negotiations with the Bolsheviks. The warring parties agreed that the Cossacks would return home, and the Soviet government promised not to include Lenin and Trotsky in the new revolutionary government. General Krasnov surrendered to the communists, and Kerensky fled to the Don to Ataman Kaledin, who refused to cooperate with him.
After the failure of Krasnov's rebellion, the Yenisei Cossacks were demobilized and returned to Yenisei Governorate. Despite attempts to disarm them, the Yenisei Cossack Hundred returned to Krasnoyarsk as a single unit, along with their officers, retaining their weapons, horses, and ammunition. New events lay ahead: Sotnikov's rebellion and participation in the Civil War, but that's a story for another time.
Novoselov M.Yu. Deserted to the Front. Yenisei Cossacks During the First World War. / M.Yu. Novoselov // Krasnoyarsk Newspaper. 2025. No. 56 (3099). P. 2
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