On June 26, 1889, the Ussuri Cossack army was established.
The history of the army dates back to the formation in the Amur army by the Cossack on June 1, 1860 of the Ussuriysk Cossack foot battalion. In November 1879, the battalion was reorganized into the Ussuriysk Cossack foot half-battalion due to the inability to maintain the battalion in peacetime. And on June 26, 1889, a half-battalion was assigned to the Ussuriysk Cossack army.
The rule of the Ussuri Cossack army was in Vladivostok. At the end of the 19th century, the State Council authorized a new Cossack resettlement - from the European part of Russia to the Far East. The goal was a general increase in the number of Cossacks in the Far East and the protection of the territory along the Trans-Siberian Railway under construction. This resettlement continued almost until the 1st World War.
An active role in the positive solution of this issue was played by the military order ataman of the Amur Cossack troops, the Amur Governor-General in 1893-1898, Lieutenant General Sergei Mikhailovich Dukhovskoy.
Aware of the need to strengthen the Cossack population on the border, he managed to convince the tsar to strengthen the Ussuri and Amur troops at the expense of Cossack settlers from other troops: from the Transbaikal, Don, Orenburg, Kuban, Terek and Ural Cossack troops. Lieutenant General Dukhovskoy, seeing the serious economic and economic difficulties of the immigrants, in 1894 by his order transferred to the use of the Ussuri Cossack army 9142 thousand acres of land suitable for agriculture. These lands were called the “Dukhovsky offtake”.
The first batch of immigrants arrived in the Far East in 1895. It consisted of the Don (145 families), Orenburg (86 families) and Transbaikal Cossacks (58 families). A total of 2061 people. In 1896, 1075 Cossacks stayed in the region. In 1897 another 1145 Cossacks arrived in Primorye. In 1898 413 Cossacks moved to the Primorsk region. In 1899, 1205 Cossacks came to the region. In just 5 years (1895-1899), 5419 settlers from the Don, Orenburg and Transbaikal Cossack troops arrived in the Ussuriysk Cossack army. In 1900, due to lack of funds, the resettlement was suspended. Resettlement was resumed in 1901. Now the Cossacks of the Kuban, Terek and Urals also took part in it. The number of Cossack settlers in 1901 was 1295 people. In 1902, the number of Cossack settlers decreased to 354 people.
Further in the resettlement movement in the Ussuri army there was a break. The reasons were the Russo-Japanese War and the revolutionary events of 1905. Resettlement resumed in 1907 and continued for several more years. Only for 1907-1909. 1800 families of Cossacks and peasants (enrolled in the Cossacks) from the European part of the country were resettled in the Ussuriysk army. The settlers built dozens of settlements along the border with China. In 1907, there were 71 Cossack settlements on the territory of the army, where 20,753 people lived. (10878 men and 9875 women). As of January 1, 1913, there were 76 villages and villages on the territory of the VHF, where 34520 people lived. (18600 men and 15920 women). By 1917, the population of the Ussuriysk Cossack army reached 44,434 people. (including 24,469 men and 19,865 women). This population accounted for about 8% of the total population of the Primorsky region.
The resettlement took place in very difficult conditions, property was floated on rafts and boats, cattle walked along the shore. Initially, the places for the settlements were chosen by military officials. Naturally, they did not take into account that the Cossacks needed suitable land for farming. As a result of floods, crop failures, diseases, and other reasons, many Cossacks were forced to leave their families to earn a living. The Cossacks could not buy equipment for the service until General Dukhovskoy intervened in the matter and allocated land suitable for farming. He also obtained permission to transfer the Cossack settlements to these lands. It is difficult to imagine how these people lived, they even had to plow the land with a rifle over their shoulders. Constant clashes with the khunhuzes greatly hindered the development of lands, but they gave them combat experience. The standard of living of the Ussuri Cossacks was low, their farms often had only one horse, which in peacetime was used for civilian purposes, and in wartime as a cavalry horse.
On January 1, 1905, the Ussuriysk army had 3308 lower ranks and only 1483 horses. In peacetime, the army fielded the Ussuriysk Cossack Equestrian Division of two hundred strength and a platoon in the Life Guards "Consolidated Cossack Regiment". In wartime, a cavalry regiment of 6-hundredth composition, an equestrian division of 3-hundredth composition.
Cossacks also served on the ships of the Amur-Ussuriysk Cossack flotilla. The flotilla was created in 1889 to monitor the border line, maintain communication between coastal stations and villages on the Amur and Ussuri rivers, transport military ranks, commands and cargo in peacetime and wartime. The maintenance of the flotilla was carried out at the expense of the Amur and Ussuri Cossack troops.
On June 2, 1897, a provision was approved that Cossacks from the Amur and Ussuri troops of 50 people dress up for service on the ships of the flotilla. The Cossacks took part in the suppression of the "Boxer Rebellion" in China in 1900.
In 1904-05. the army took part in the Russo-Japanese War. They proved themselves superb. In the Russo-Japanese War 180 Cossacks-Ussuriys became cavaliers of St. George. General Mishchenko spoke very flatteringly about their actions. The Ussuri people were well-versed in the terrain, they were hardy, inventive. The experience of clashes with the Chinese hunghuzes came in handy in this war.
In 1910 the Ussuri Cossacks saved Primorye from the plague epidemic. The plague that struck China from January to May 1910 threatened to spread to Russian territory. Cossack posts were set up along the entire border. Every day, 450 Cossacks served at the risk of their own lives and prevented the spread of the epidemic to the Far Eastern lands.
With the beginning of World War I, the army put up a cavalry regiment of 6-hundredth composition, a cavalry division of 3-hundredth composition and 6 separate hundreds. During World War I, the Ussuri Cossacks brilliantly showed themselves in battles with the German cavalry as part of the Ussuri Cavalry Division.
Recently on "Voennoye Obozreniye" there was an article about the actions of the Ussuri Cavalry Division. During the Civil War, most of the Cossacks fought on the side of the Whites and were forced to emigrate to China, Australia, the United States and other countries.
In 1922 the army was abolished. Under Soviet rule, the Ussuri Cossacks, like many other peoples, were subjected to political repression. The most widespread were three "cleansing" campaigns carried out during the period of dispossession of the peasantry (late 20s - early 30s), certification of the population of the Far East (1933-1934), eviction of "unreliable elements" from the region (1939) … The dispossession campaign hit the Cossacks severely. First of all, representatives of the strongest, economically strongest Cossack farms were expelled from their native places. And many Cossacks of average income did not escape the plight of the dispossessed.
During the Great Patriotic War, part of the Ussuri Cossacks fought in 115 cav. regiment and other cavalry units and subunits. Cossacks also fought in other branches of the armed forces. This small army did a lot to defend the Far Eastern borders of Russia. Thanks to the Cossacks.
