Uniforms of the Personal Escort of the Commander of the
Independent Siberian Army (General Gaida)

Material and reconstructions by A. Karevskiy

There are two eyewitness accounts of the commander of the Independent Siberian Army's personal escort, provided by Generals Budberg and Sakharov. The former, with uncharacteristic seriousness, directly states that the escort's uniforms were copied from those of "His Imperial Majesty's Own" escort. The latter, with equally uncharacteristic irony, gives a rather scathing description of the uniforms as examples of Commander Gaida's creativity.

The question of shoulder-boards remains open. The Tomsk historian V. G. Khandorin wrote:

A characteristic feature of some precocious generals and atamans was a tendency towards the pomposity and self-aggrandisement typical of upstarts. Thus, the commander of the Siberian Army, General R. Gaida ... surrounded himself with numerous bodyguards in the magnificent uniform of the former escort of His Imperial Majesty, decorated with shoulder-boards bearing Gaida's personal monogram.

Khandorin, V. G. in "Admiral Kolchak: Truth and Myths", Tomsk, 2007.

At the same time, in A. I. Aldan-Semenov's historical novel "The Reds and the Whites" (which, unexpectedly for a Soviet heroic novel, pays a great deal of attention to the symbolism and form of the enemy's clothing), the commander of the Siberian Army's escort is mentioned twice. Naturally, Aldan-Semenov's work cannot be considered a historical source, but much of what he wrote was later confirmed by documents, which inevitably makes one wonder about the materials the author used when writing the novel. In particular, Aldan-Semenov puts the following phrase into the mouth of General Golitsyn:

Of course, it is offensive to our national pride that Gaida dresses his escort in the uniform of the personal escort of the sovereign emperor. The scoundrels are running around the city in hunting coats embroidered with guard braid, and instead of shoulder-boards, they have gold guards braid and Gaida's initial.

A second mention refers to Kolchak's meeting in Ekaterinburg in May 1919:

A picturesque crowd of snub-nosed, tall young men in brown caftans embroidered with scarlet braid and wearing shaggy caps poured out of the station. Gilded monograms adorned their large shoulders.

Aldan-Semenov, A. I. in "The Reds and the Whites", Moscow, 1987.

Visit by Kolchak

Soon the Supreme Ruler arrived in Ekaterinburg, trying in those difficult days to help at the front with his personal presence. All the highest officials gathered at the station for the arrival of his train. An honour guard was formed: an infantry unit and some horsemen in fantastic uniforms, something between a cherkeska and a regimental musician's caftan. Gaida walked importantly and aloofly to one side, occasionally approaching one of the senior officers and exchanging a few words. I had a very interesting and revealing conversation with him.

"What unit is that, General?" I asked, pointing to the horsemen in brown caftans embroidered with braid.

"That's my escort."

"What an original uniform they have. Did you come up with it yourself?"

"No, that uniform, General, is historical."

"?"

"For in Russia, all great men, your Emperor Nikolai Nikolaevich, always have a Caucasian escort. I think that if we enter Moscow, we should also have such an escort."

"So, did you recruit them from the Caucasus, these Caucasians?"

"No, we recruit them here, but of a type that closely resembles the Caucasians."

Sakharov, K. V. in "White Siberia (The Civil War of 1918-1920)", Munich, 1923, p.92.

8 May 1919

In the morning, we arrived in Ekaterinburg, where we were met at the station by General Gaida, commander of the Siberian Army. There was an honour guard from the Gaida Shock Regiment with his monograms on their shoulder-boards, immortal stripes and other regalia. Gaida's escort stood there in the uniform of the former imperial escort. All this was a very sad sign of front line "atamanism"; it was disgusting to see all these "immortal" props, which had been sufficiently disgraced in the last days of the agony of the old Russian army. It is even more repulsive to see the monograms of some Czech adventurer, perhaps brave, but still undeserving of the honour of commanding Russian troops, on the shoulders of Russian officers and soldiers instead of the old well-deserved monograms.

Budberg, A. P. in "Diary of a White Guard: Memoirs", Minsk, 2001, p.23.

Gaida, for example, decided to have a escort in the old imperial escort uniform, and over three million rubles were spent on this at his order.

Budberg, A. P. in "Diary of a White Guard: Memoirs", Minsk, 2001, p.23.

One can only wonder: how did Gaida, a foreigner in Russian military service, manage to surround his life at the front in a foreign country with such comfort and rich excesses that even the late Russian Emperor Nicholas II did not have under campaign conditions? But this seemed trivial compared to the three million gold rubles that the newly minted Czech prince spent on equipping his personal escort of 350 men. With his characteristic iron grip, he took over not only the manufacturer Zlokazov's mansion, but also his cloth factory.

Bogdanov, K. A. in "Admiral Kolchak", St. Petersburg, 2003, p.219.

Shoulder-boards of General Gaida's escort:
1 – lieutenant-colonel; 2 – ensign; 3 – sub-ensign; 4 – sergeant; 5 – escort (private)

The uniform of General Gaida's escort, as commander of the Independent Siberian Army

This reconstruction is based on the photograph "Ekaterinburg, near Cathedral Square before the parade of the Siberian Army, 1919". General Gaida is in the first row on the left (with his back turned), followed by Admiral Kolchak. In the group of aides there are two officers in Circassian coats and papakhi, presumably escorts of the Commander of the Independent Siberian Army.

poznatali.ucoz.ru/photo/radola_gajda/shtab_sibirskoj_armii/6-0-40