The battle for Stavropol became decisive in the fate of the Volunteer Army. It ended with the victory of the volunteers and predetermined the outcome of the military campaign for the North Caucasus in favor of Denikin's army.
Battle for Stavropol
On October 23, 1918, the Taman group of Reds launched an offensive from the Nevinnomysskaya area to Stavropol. The Tamans were opposed by the remnants of the 2nd and 3rd divisions of the Volunteer Army (a total of about 800 bayonets and sabers). The city itself was defended by the 3rd division of Drozdovsky and the Plastun brigade. On October 23 - 26, the Drozdovites fought heavy battles with the Reds, which crowded out the volunteers. On October 26, the Kornilov shock regiment was transferred from Torgovaya to Stavropol to help Drozdovsky. The Kornilov regiment was restored after previous battles, it included: an officer company named after General Kornilov (250 bayonets), three soldiers' battalions, three dozen machine guns, and its own artillery. On October 27, the regiment entered the battle to stop the advance of the Reds, and the Drozdovites counterattacked, trying to regain their previously lost positions. However, the attacks of the volunteers were unsuccessful, the whites suffered serious losses, and in the afternoon the 3rd Division cleared Stavropol, retreating to the north. The Kornilovites suffered huge losses in this battle - more than 600 people. On October 28, the Red troops occupied Stavropol.
After the capture of the city, the Reds carried out local operations in the north, not striving or not being able to use their victory. Apparently, this was due to the internal problems of the Red Army in the North Caucasus - since the so-called. "Sorokin's mutiny", confrontation between the party and military leadership. The Reds remained without operational command for three weeks. Meanwhile, the Denikinites won a victory in the Battle of Armavir (Battle of Armavir). At the beginning of November 1918, the volunteers defeated the Armavir group of the Reds, which made it possible to concentrate all the main forces of Denikin's army for the assault on Stavropol. In addition, the Stavropol group under the command of Borovsky (2nd and 3rd divisions) had time to rest and was partially restored.
On November 4, 1918, General Borovsky launched an offensive along the entire front. The 2nd and 3rd divisions, under the general command of Borovsky, attacked Stavropol from the north on both sides of the railroad, the 2nd Kuban division from the east through Nadezhdinskaya. Volunteers pushed the Reds and even approached the outskirts of the city. On November 5, a stubborn battle continued, and the 2nd Officer Regiment of the Drozdovsky division with a swift attack captured the monastery of John the Baptist and part of the suburb. However, White could not advance further. The Reds were well entrenched in the city and offered strong resistance. On November 6, the Reds repeatedly launched counterattacks, especially strong on the front of the 3rd Division and the Kornilov Regiment. As a result, both sides suffered heavy losses, and the Denikin's offensive drowned.
At this time, the main forces of Denikin's army were pulled up. General Borovsky in the northern sector went over to active defense; General Wrangel was to attack the city from the west; General Casanovich - from the south, General Pokrovsky and Shkuro - from the southeast. While the concentration of white troops was going on, the Reds counterattacked Borovsky's positions. It was pushed aside, but at the cost of heavy losses, the volunteers retained their positions near the city. At this time, the whites consistently surrounded the city.
The leading role in the new assault on Stavropol was played by Wrangel's division. By November 11, the divisions of Wrangel, Kazanovich and Pokrovsky reached the city and established contact with the units of Borovsky. Stavropol was blocked, its communications were cut. The city itself was packed with thousands of wounded, sick and typhoid. The frequent red troops were demoralized. However, the Tamans, the fighting core of the Stavropol group of Reds, were ready to fight to the last. On November 11, a heavy battle raged all day, the Reds again tried to overturn Borovsky. The 2nd Division was pushed back again and suffered heavy losses. But the Reds were also tired and bled, so there was no active hostilities on November 12. On this day, Denikin's army completed the encirclement of the enemy.
On November 13, using heavy fog, the Red Army went to break through enemy positions in the sectors of the 2nd and 3rd divisions. In a fierce battle, both sides suffered heavy casualties. So, the commander of the Kornilov shock regiment, Colonel Indeykin, was killed, the commander of the Samur regiment, Colonel Shabert, was seriously wounded. Drozdovsky was wounded in the leg. The wounded general was first sent to Yekaterinodar, and then to Rostov-on-Don. However, blood poisoning began and the operations did not help. Mikhail Gordeevich Drozdovsky - one of the best and legendary commanders of the White Army, died on January 1 (14), 1919.
Commander of the 3rd Infantry Division M. G. Drozdovsky
On this day, the Tamans were able to break through the enemy's front. The Reds also attacked the Pokrovsky units coming from the southeast and pushed them back. The situation was somewhat corrected by Wrangel's counterattack. As a result, the Reds broke through the encirclement and began to withdraw their rear in the direction of Petrovsky. On November 14, stubborn battles continued. Wrangel showed himself again. His cavalry unexpectedly went to the rear in red. The Whites rushed into the city. The Reds quickly came to their senses and counterattacked, and by the evening they drove the enemy out of the city. On the morning of November 15, Wrangel, having received reinforcements, again went on the offensive, by 12 o'clock the volunteers took Stavropol. Up to 12 thousand Red Army men were taken prisoner. The fighting in the Stavropol region continued for several more days. As a result, the Reds were pushed back to Petrovsky, where they were entrenched. After that, the front stabilized for some time, since both sides suffered heavy losses and it took time to restore the combat capability of the units. Denikin wrote: "The infantry ceased to exist."
After the end of the Stavropol battle, Denikin reorganized his troops: the divisions were deployed into corps. The divisions of Kazanovich and Borovsky were deployed into the 1st and 2nd Army Corps, the 3rd Army Corps was formed under the command of Lieutenant General Lyakhov, and the 1st Cavalry Corps of Wrangel was formed from the 1st Cavalry and 2nd Kuban Divisions … The command of the 1st Infantry Division, which became part of the 1st Corps, was taken over by Lieutenant General Stankevich. The command of the "Drozdovskaya" 3rd Infantry Division, which was also part of the 1st Corps, was temporarily taken over by Major General May-Mayevsky.
The fate of the entire Volunteer Army depended on the battle for Armavir and Stavropol. Therefore, Denikin pulled almost all his forces here. The fate of the battle literally hung in the balance, but luck smiled at the white again. The fact was that the Reds themselves helped the Whites, having started, though necessary, but at the wrong time, the reorganization of the Red Army. Internal strife in the enemy camp helped Denikin's troops to take up and occupy a large region, having received a rear base to prepare an offensive on Moscow.
Armored train of the White movement "Officer". Formed on August 7, 1918 after the capture of Yekaterinodar by the Volunteer Army. Took part in the storming of Armavir and Stavropol
Sorokin's mutiny
The fate of the Second Kuban campaign and the entire Volunteer Army depended on the battle for Armavir and Stavropol. Therefore, Denikin pulled almost all available forces into the area of the decisive battle. White was able to concentrate his forces, and luck smiled at them. For the Reds, it was the opposite. The fact was that the Reds themselves helped the Whites, they were ruined by internal strife.
After the reorganization of the North Caucasian army, which received serial number 11, the sole authority of the commander was abolished and the Revolutionary Military Council (RVS) was put at the head of the army. At the same time, discord between the party and military leadership (both control centers were located in Pyatigorsk) remained. The Central Executive Committee of the North Caucasus Republic and the regional committee of the party tried to establish complete control over the army: to strengthen revolutionary discipline, suppress anarchy and partisanship, and shorten the commander Ivan Sorokin himself. In turn, the commander was dissatisfied with the local Soviet and party elite, and demanded freedom of action for the troops. At the same time, the popularity of the commander in the army was declining - the Reds were defeated. He has a competitor - the commander of the Taman army, Ivan Matveev. Under his leadership, the famous Taman campaign was carried out.
Sorokin, obviously, was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, saw "provocateurs" all around and tried with all his might to restore the army's combat effectiveness. Therefore, a new conflict led to an explosion. The RVS, at the suggestion of Sorokin, decided first of all to defeat the enemy in the region of Stavropol, to gain a foothold in the eastern part of the North Caucasus, keeping in touch with the center of the country through the Holy Cross to Astrakhan. For this it was necessary to transfer the Taman army from Armavir to Nevinnomysskaya, to withdraw the rest of the troops to a new line of defense. Matveyev, at a meeting of red commanders in Armavir, with general approval, refused to carry out this instruction and said that he was leaving Sorokin's subordination. By order of the RVS, Matveyev was summoned to Pyatigorsk and on October 11 he was shot. This caused great indignation in the ranks of the Tamans, and almost led to a mutiny. At the same time, the Tamans believed that this execution was a personal initiative of Sorokin, who allegedly envied Matveyev's fame. As a result, the Taman army was reorganized and two Taman infantry divisions were created on its basis.
At the same time, another conflict occurred in the military-political leadership of the Reds. The party leadership intrigued against Sorokin, believed that the commander wanted to become a military dictator, "the red Napoleon." They decided to liquidate him. However, he apparently found out about the conspiracy and struck a preemptive blow. On October 21, 1918, the leadership of the republic - the chairman of the Central Executive Committee Rubin, the secretary of the regional committee Krainy, authorized by the Central Executive Committee for food Dunaevsky, the chairman of the front Cheka Rozhansky - was arrested and shot. Party leaders allegedly prepared a conspiracy against the Soviet regime and were associated with Denikin.
However, Sorokin's actions were not supported. The 2nd Extraordinary Congress of Soviets of the North Caucasus, convened on October 27, in connection with Sorokin's speech against the Soviet regime, removed him from the post of commander. Sorokin was declared "outlawed, as a traitor and traitor to Soviet power and revolution." The commander tried to find support in the army and left Pyatigorsk towards Stavropol. On October 30, Sorokin with his headquarters was arrested by the cavalrymen of the Taman army. The Tamans, having disarmed the headquarters and personal escort of Sorokin, imprisoned them together with the former commander-in-chief in the Stavropol prison. On November 1, the commander of the 3rd Taman regiment, Vyslenko, shot and killed the former commander Sorokin.
This is how one of the bravest, most initiative and talented Red commanders perished. With a more successful combination of circumstances, Sorokin could well have entered the cohort of the best Red generals. Sorokin had to fight on three fronts at once - against the whites, the local party leadership and the Tamans. In the end, he lost. After the defeat of the Red Army in the North Caucasus, Sorokin became a "scapegoat", all the sins and mistakes of the local military-political leadership were blamed on him. He was declared a "traitor" and "adventurer". It is clear that Sorokin showed "adventurism" - a personal initiative, which was typical for many commanders of the Civil War (both red and white), but he was not a traitor. "Sorokinschina" explained all the defeats of the 11th Red Army.
Thus, the turmoil in the red camp helped whites to gain the upper hand in the region. The elimination of Sorokin did not strengthen the combat capability of the army, on the contrary, the commander was popular among the troops and his death only increased the confusion. The leadership did not even know how many troops were in the Red Army in the North Caucasus. When Stalin (a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Southern Front, which included the 11th Army) asked the party leadership about the number of Red troops in the North Caucasus, he received different figures: from 100 to 200 thousand people. Stalin replied: “What kind of leaders are you? You don't know how many troops you have. But the first commander Fedko could not change anything, the military expert Kruse, who replaced him in December, after a while went over to the side of the enemy. The Red Army in the North Caucasus was demoralized, hundreds of soldiers deserted and went over to the side of the enemy.
Another reason for the defeat of the Reds in the North Caucasus was the terrible typhus epidemic. As the chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the 11th Army Y. Poluyan noted, the army was melting by leaps and bounds. At the beginning of January 1919, about a thousand people were admitted to hospitals and hospitals every day. Among other reasons for the defeat of the 11th Army were noted: material problems - lack of ammunition, uniforms, etc., with the onset of cold weather began mass desertion; lack of experienced command and political leadership; lack of interaction with the 12th Army and full communication with the center of the country; low morale, military and political training of local Stavropol peasants, who in whole regiments went over to the side of the enemy.
Commander of the Red Army in the North Caucasus Ivan Lukich Sorokin
Outcomes
In the Armavir and Stavropol battles, the Volunteer was able to break the strength of the Red Army in the North Caucasus. At the same time, the battles for Stavropol were indeed unusually stubborn, the best units of the Volunteer Army suffered heavy losses, the color of the White Guards was knocked out. During the campaign, some volunteer units changed their composition several times. Denikin had to abandon the voluntary principle to replenish the units, and forced mobilization began. First, the Kuban Cossacks began to be drafted into the army, from August this principle was extended to other segments of the population. Thus, the mobilization of the non-Cossack population in the Kuban and the peasants of the Stavropol province was carried out. The numerous officers of the region, which had previously occupied a neutral position, were called in. Also, the troops were replenished at the expense of captured Red Army soldiers. As a result, the composition of the army changed radically. This did not have the best effect on the fighting and morale of the White Army.
The second Kuban campaign was completed. Denikin's army captured the Kuban, part of the Black Sea coast, most of the Stavropol province. However, Denikin had no strength left to finish off the Reds. Therefore, the Reds, having recovered and increased the size of their army to 70 - 80 thousand people, in December 1918 - January 1919 still tried to counterattack. The battles for the North Caucasus continued until February 1919. Only after this did Denikin's army receive a relatively calm rear and a strategic foothold in the North Caucasus for a subsequent campaign against Moscow.
