AFSR
at Orel
10 - 27 October 1919
The primary source of
the
units involved in the Orel-Kromy Operation is Seargent Magazine #5,
which was available for a while on the web.
To that I have added sub-units and numbers taken from Volkov's Encyclopedia of the
Civil War: the White Units dating from 18 October 1919 (5
October "old style"). More than ever these present just a "snap shot"
at a particular time, as units were being formed and destroyed at a
bewildering rate.
The units listed are part of the Volunteer Army under
Lieutenant-General Mai-Maevskiy.
I Army Corps
Commander – Lieutenant-General Kutepov
Chief of Staff – Major-General Dostavalov
1st Infantry Division
Commander – Major-General Timanovskiy
Chief of Staff –
Colonel Bittenbinder
Markov Brigade
Brigade Commander – Major-General Tret'yakov
1st General
Markov Officer Infantry Regiment – Colonel Bleysh – 882
bayonets, 20
MGs
2nd General Markov Officer Infantry Regiment – Colonel
Morozov – 1,174 bayonets, 24 MGs
3rd General Markov Officer Infantry Regiment (newly formed) –
Colonel
Naumov – 618 bayonets, 24 MGs
Kornilov Brigade
Brigade Commander – Colonel Skoblin
1st General
Kornilov ShockRegiment – Colonel Peshnya – 945 bayonets, 26 MGs
2nd General Kornilov Shock Regiment – Captain Pashkevich
– 1,150 bayonets, 30 MGs
3rd General Kornilov Shock Regiment – Cossack Captain Mileyev
– 1,279 bayonets, 17 MGs
1st Artillery Brigade
Brigade Commander – Staff Captain Shperling – 14
light guns, 11 howitzers
1st
Divizion – Colonel
Mashin
1st General Markov Battery
2nd Light Battery
2nd
Divizion
– Colonel Mihailov
3rd Light Battery
4th Light Battery
3rd
Divizion
– Colonel Ropponet
5th Battery
6th Battery
4th
Divizion
– Colonel Ayvazov
7th Light Howitzer Battery
8th Light Howitzer Battery
Reserve
DivizionReserve Battalion of the
1st Infantry Division – Colonel Konovalov – 1,122 bayonets,
7 MGs
1st General Markov Engineering Company – Colonel Grotengel'm
– 563 men
Black Sea Cavalry Regiment – Colonel Glavche
Attached from the 9th
Infantry Division
1st General Alekseev Partisan
Infantry Regiment – Colonel Prince Gagarin – approx 1,000 bayonets
2nd General Alekseev Partisan Infantry Regiment (recently
formed)
There were mounted
components in the Kornilov Regiments unrecorded by Volkov,
around 200 sabres each. The Black Sea Cavalry Regiment acted as
separate
squadrons, supporting the Markov Brigade, at this time.
The strength of this division declined rapidly during the fighting
around Orel and Kromy. The strengths above are quite a lot lower than
the peak numbers of the start of the battle – the Kornilov Brigade had
started with over 6,000 bayonets.
This division was within
weeks split into the Kornilov and Markov Divisions (the artillery being
split between them).
3rd
Infantry Division
Commander– Major-General
Vitkovskiy
Chief of Staff –
Colonel Bredov
1st Brigade
Brigade Commander – Major-General Kel'ner
1st General Drozdovsky
Officer Rifle Regiment – Colonel Rummel – 1,352
bayones, 45
MGs
2nd General Drozdovsky Officer Rifle Regiment – Colonel Turkul
– 1,309
bayonets, 55 MGs
2nd Brigade
Brigade Commander – ?
3rd General Drozdovsky
Officer Rifle Regiment (forming) – Colonel Dron
– 1,130 bayonets, 12
MGs
83rd Samursky Infantry Regiment – Colonel Zvyagin – 1,304
bayonets, 26
MGs
3rd Artillery Brigade
Brigade Commander – Colonel Polzikov – 20 light guns, 6
howitzers
1st
Divizion – Colonel
Protasevich
1st Light Battery
2nd Light Battery
2nd
Divizion
– Colonel Shein
3rd Light Battery
4th Light Battery
3rd
Divizion
– Colonel Sokolov
5th Battery
6th Battery
4th
Divizion
– Colonel Medvedev
7th Light Howitzer Battery
8th Light Howitzer Battery
3rd Reserve Artillery
Divizion
Reserve Battalion of the
3rd Division – Colonel Yen'kov – 850 bayonets, 4 MGs
Composite Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Brigade – 861 sabres, 10
MGs
3rd General Drozdovsky Engineer Company – Colonel Borodin
– 228 men
The infantry units
likely had cavalry components unrecorded by Volkov (or there were
dispersed squadrons of a cavalry unit operating with the infantry
regiments). As with the 1st Division, unit strengths fell
rapidly during the battle.
Soon afterwards this
became the Drozdovskiy Division,with the Samurskiy going to the
Alekseev Division..
9th
Infantry Division
Attached to the 1st Division
General Alekseev Partisan
Infantry Regiment – Colonel Prince Gagarin
2nd General Alekseev Partisan Infantry Regiment (recently formed)
Not at Orel-Kromy
Composite Rifle Regiment –
Colonel Gravitskiy (in rear fighting Makhno)
13th Belozerskiy Infantry Regiment – Colonel Shteyfon (Forces of the
Kiev Area)
14th Olonetskiy Infantry Regiment – (Forces of the Kiev Area)
This division was only
recently formed, out of 1st Division (Alekseevs) and 3rd
Division (Belozerskiy, Olonetskiy and Composite
Rifle) expanded largely from POWs. Only the Alekseevs were
present at the
battles for Orel and Kromy, the others being further west or in the
rear.
The Alekseev Regiments became the Alekseev Division soon afterwards,
the remainder carrying on until merged into the Drozdovsky Division in
January 1920.
Corps Assets
3rd Separate Heavy
Howitzer Divizion
Separate Heavy Tractor
Gun Divizion
Commander – Colonel
Sakhnovskiy
2nd Armored Train
Divizion (attached
to 1st Infantry Division)
Commander – Colonel
Gromyko
"Officer" (light) –
Colonel Lebedev
"General Kornilov" (light) – Captain Molchanov – (operating with
Alexeyev Regiment)
"Ivan Kalita" (heavy) – Colonel Zelenetsky
9th Armored Train
Divizion
(attached
to 3rd Infantry Division)
"Drozdovets" (light) –
Captain Ripke
"The Thunder of Victory" (light) – ?
"Soldier" (heavy) – Colonel Ziegler
2nd Tank Detachment
5 tanks
1st Armoured Car Divizion
Kornilov
Glorious
Kubanets
General Drozdovskiy
others under repair
1st Corps Engineer Company
256 men
The slower moving parts
of the Corps played little or no part in the battles. The tanks, in
particular, were unable to keep pace with the fast moving operations.
It seems unlikely the heavy guns fared much better.
Also at the battle,
but part of the 5th Cavalry Corps was:
1st Cavalry Division
Commander– Major-General
Chekotavskiy
Chief of Staff –
Colonel Kreyter
1st Brigade
Brigade Commander – Colonel Barbovich
1st General Alekseev
Officer Cavalry Regiment – Colonel Saburov – 196 sabres, 16 MGs
10th Ingermanlandskiy Hussar Regiment – Captain Tikhonravov
– 270
bayonets, 240 sabres
2nd Brigade
Composite Regiment of the
9th Cavalry Division – Colonel Vygran – 622 bayonets,
230
sabres, 30 MGs
Composite Regiment of the
12th Cavalry Division – Colonel
Psiol – 396 bayonets, 161 sabres
3rd Brigade
Brigade Commander – Major-General Alenich
Composite Hussar Regiment
– Colonel Gaevskiy
Composite Lancer Regiment – Colonel Aprelev – 310 bayonets, 95
sabres,
6 MGs
3rd
Horse-Artillery Divizion
Divizion
Commander – Colonel Prince Avalov
1st General
Drozdovsky
Separate
Mountain-Horse Battery – Captain Yermolov
Composite Battery of the Caucasian Separate Mountain-Horse Artillery Divizion
7th Horse Mountain Battery (uncertain)
It appears that only the
1st Brigade was involved directly in the fighting around Orel. The rest
was further east.
