After the announcement of mobilization in connection with the outbreak of the First World War, the deployment of reserve regiments and cavalry formations began. In the regular cavalry, only one regiment was deployed - the Officer's cavalry regiment. schools (from the permanent staff of the school), which together with the 20th Dragoon Finnish and Crimean horse. shelves in nov. 1914 made up the 4th dep. kav. brigade. In Dept. the building of the frontier. guards all six conn. regiments were included in the army. The Cossack troops deployed the 3rd, 4th and 5th Don, 1st and 2nd Kuban, 1st Tersk, Ural, Siberian and Orenburg Kaz. divisions of the second stage. From the 1st Turkestan Kaz. divisions were allocated 2nd Ural and 5th Orenburg Kaz. regiments that formed the Turkestan Kaz. brigade. In the Caucasus, the Caucasus was formed from local volunteers. ace. conn. a division of six regiments: the 2nd Dagestan, Tatar, Chechen, Kabardin, Circassian, Ingush (the Turkmen cavalry regiment entered the operational subordination of this division), which was sent to the Western direction.
Cavalry units were withdrawn from the arm. corps and became part of the arm. associations - armies. As a corps cavalry, the mobilization schedule provided for the inclusion in the arm. corps of the Cossack regiment and dep. hundreds of the second or third stage. These seven hundred inside the corps were distributed into: the corps cavalry proper (4 hundred, led by a regiment commander), divisional cavalry (one hundred in each division) and a divisional convoy (half a hundred in each division). After the deployment of the armies, before the start of hostilities, the distribution of cavalry formations was as follows: 1st Army - 1st and 2nd Guards. kav., 1st, 2nd, and 3rd kav. divisions and 1st dep. kav. brigade; 2nd army - 4th, 6th and 15th cavalry. divisions; 4th army - 5th, 13th and 14th cavalry. divisions and Det. guards kav. brigade, then the 3rd Don and Ural Kaz. divisions; 5th Army - 7th Cavalry, 1st Don Kaz. divisions, 2nd and 3rd dep. kav. brigades, then the 4th and 5th Don kaz. divisions; 3rd Army - 9th, 10th and 11th cavalry. divisions, then the 3rd Kavk. kaz. division; 8th Army - 12th Cavalry and 2nd Consolidated Kaz. divisions, then the 1st and 2nd Kuban and 1st Terek Kaz. divisions; 6th Army - Orenburg Kaz. division; 7th Army - 8th Cav. division; reserve Ch. command - Kavk. kav. division.
This distribution of cavalry did not remain constant. In the process of hostilities, new formations appeared, which were also staffed with cavalry, new cavalry formations from the internal districts were involved in the hostilities, units and formations of cavalry were united into larger formations that wore both temporary and "permanent" for the entire subsequent stage of the war, character. In addition, after the outbreak of hostilities in the Caucasus. front, some formations were transferred from the West to the Caucasian direction. Until the end of 1914, the Kavk was additionally sent to the army of the Western direction. ace. conn. division, Ussuri Horse and 1st Transbaikal Kaz. brigades. The Transbaikal Kazan was renamed into the 1st Transbaikal. brigade, after the mobilization of the Trans-Baikal Cossack army, the preferential division was divided into two divisions. kaz brigades - 2nd and 3rd Transbaikal. In the same period, the 2nd and 3rd dep. kav. the brigades were brought together in the 16th kav. division. The first two brigades of the 1st Guards. kav. divisions were named Guards. cuirassier division. From the remaining 3rd brigade of the 1st Guards. kav. division and 1st Astrakhan Kaz. the regiment was formed Consolidated Kaz. division (both divisions existed until February 1915). Distribution of divisions and dep. cavalry brigades between fronts and armies did not remain constant during hostilities. At the beginning of the war, cavalry units in the Western direction were distributed between the northwest. and J.-Z. fronts in the ratio of 31 and 66 percent, respectively (part of the cavalry formations were in the reserve of the Main Command). By the end of 1914, this ratio was 47 and 53 percent. After the outbreak of the war with Turkey in October. 1914 in the Caucasus. military All the regiments of the third line of the Kuban and Terek Cossack troops were mobilized in the district. Some of these regiments went to replenish the two Kavkas. kaz. divisions - 2nd and 4th, which were formed from the division of the 2nd division. The composition of the Kavk. armies of the Caucasian direction at the same time included the Siberian and Transcaspian Kaz. brigades.
With the beginning of the war, a return to the highest formations of cavalry - kav took place. corps that existed in the Russian army until 1907. Initially, these were temporary operational formations, when divisions and cavalry brigades were brought under the command of one of the early. divisions (special control of this compound was not assumed in this case). In aug. 1914 in the 1st Army, such an operational formation called the Cavalry Group included the 1st and 2nd Guards. kav. divisions and Consolidated Cav. a division of five regiments of the 2nd and 3rd cavalry. divisions. In the 5th Army, the 7th and 16th cavalry entered the Cavalry Group. divisions and brigade of the 1st Don kaz. divisions, in the 8th army - 2nd Consolidated and 2nd Kuban Kaz. divisions in the 4th Army in Kav. corps - 13th cav. and the Ural Kaz. divisions and the 1st Trans-Baikal Kaz. brigade. In the 3rd Army, such a temporary unit was called Consolidated Kav. corps (9th, 10th cavalry and 3rd cavalry kaz. divisions). On Sept. 1914 Guards existed for some time in the 4th Army. kav. building - Guards. cuirassier and 2nd guards. kav. divisions, Ural Kaz: Division and 1st Transbaikal Kaz: Brigade. On Sept. 1914 in the 9th Army Yu.-Z. Front as an operational formation on a permanent basis was created by the First Cavalry Corps. The composition of the corps did not remain constant. In oct. 1914 in the 8th Army Yu.-Z. front, the Second Cavalry Corps was formed.
In the first half of 1915, the 1st Zaamur horse was added to the Western direction. brigade, which in May, together with the Dep. guards kav. the brigade made the Consolidated Kav. division, as well as the 2nd and 3rd Trans-Amur cavalry. brigades, which soon made up the Zaamur horse. division. Included in Gren. and arm. corps kaz. regiments were brought together in the Consolidated (14th Orenburg and 40th Donskoy), 2nd Don (49th and 53rd Don) kaz. brigades. The 6th and 9th Siberian Kaz. regiments together with the 54th Donskoy made up the Siberian consolidated kaz. brigade. By Aug. 1915 distribution of cavalry units between the northwest. and J.-Z. fronts accounted for 55 and 31 percent. The Caucasian direction during this period was strengthened by two divisions - the Kavk. kav. division transferred from the Western direction, and Consolidated Kuban Kaz. division, in which separate hundreds of the second and third stages were connected. The 2nd and 3rd Transbaikal and 1st Don kazs arrived there. brigades. 1st and 2nd Caucasian kaz. divisions were increased to six regiments.
The creation of the highest operational formations continued. In May-June 1915, the Cavalry Group existed in the 3rd and then in the 13th armies. June-Sept. 1915 there were two Cavalry Groups in the 5th Army. And in the 10th Army during this period of time there was a Cavalry Group. In March 1915, in the 9th Army, Yu.-Z. Front formed the Third Cavalry Corps. In the summer of 1915, the Fourth and Fifth Cavalry Corps were formed in the 8th Army. The Horse Group of the abolished 13th Army was transformed into the Fourth Corps. The creation of higher operational formations in the Caucasian direction began. In apr. 1915 The Horse Detachment was formed as part of the Kavk. kav. divisions and the 3rd Trans-Baikal Kaz. brigades.
In the second half of 1915, in the western direction of hostilities, two brigades were deployed in a division. Ussuri horse. the brigade was supplemented by the 1st Amur Kaz. regiment and deployed to the Ussuri horse. division. 1st Transbaikal Kaz. the brigade, supplemented by the 2nd Verkhneudinsky regiment, was transformed into the same one. kaz. division. Consolidated and Siberian Consolidated Kaz. the brigades were abolished and their regiments returned to Gren. and arm. corps, and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Baltic Conn. regiments, formed from hundreds of militia, are united in the 1st Baltic cavalry. brigade. In the Caucasian direction, the Transcaspian Kaz. the brigade was deployed to the 5th Caucasus. kaz. division. Ussuri horse. division in nov. - Dec. 1915 together with the 4th Don Kaz. division made up the Cavalry Group in the 5th Army. Dec. 1915 in the 5th Army in the North. front, the Sixth Cavalry Corps was created. In nov. In 1915, an Expeditionary Force was formed for operations in Persia, which included the 1st Kavk. and the 3rd Kuban Kaz. divisions. Throughout its existence, this corps was renamed several times: from May 1916 it was called the Caucasian Cavalry Corps, from August. 1916 - First Caucasian Cavalry Corps, from March 1917 - Separate Caucasian Cavalry Corps. In Jan. 1916 The Seventh Cavalry Corps is formed in the 1st Army. This spring in Consolidated Kav. divisions 1st dep. kav. the brigade replaced Dept. guards kav. brigade and the reorganization of the guards was carried out. cavalry with its reduction to the Guards Cavalry Corps of three divisions, two brigades each. Initially 3rd Guards. kav. the division was called the Consolidated Guards. kav. division. In July - Sept. 1916 16th cavalry division together with the 1st Transbaikal Kaz. division made up the Cavalry Group in the 3rd Army. Since Aug. 1916 to March 1917 there was the Second Caucasian Cavalry Corps, which consisted of the 4th Caucasus. kaz. divisions, 2nd and 3rd Trans-Baikal Kaz. brigades. On Sept. 1916 in the 9th Army in Dobrudja (in Romania) The 6th Cavalry Corps consisted of the 3rd cavalry corps. division, then supplemented by the 8th and 12th cavalry. divisions.
Then, in the spring of 1916, the 6th Don kaz was formed. division into which the 2nd Don kaz was reorganized. brigade, as well as new 1st (1st and 2nd Baltic cavalry regiments) and 2nd (3rd Baltic cavalry and 8th Orenburg kaz. regiments) Baltic cavalry. brigades received during the division of the 1st Baltic cavalry. brigades. A Turkestan Kaz. the brigade was first supplemented by the 1st Astrakhan Kaz. regiment, and then deployed to the 2nd Turkestan Kaz. division. In the second half of 1916, the Consolidated Border Guard was formed in the troops of the Caucasian direction. conn. division, consisting of a horse brigade. border guards and brigades of Cossacks, and the Consolidated Kuban Division was renamed into the 3rd Kuban Kaz. division. In December 1916, the 17th Kav was formed in the Western direction. division, which included the 4th division. kav. brigade and brigade of frontier. conn. regiments. Then kav. shelves kav. divisions were transferred to a four-squadron structure. As a result of this, the horse train that was freed up went to recruit new art. formations of the Field Army, and the personnel of the freed squadrons went to the formation of riflemen. regiments cav. divisions. In Kaz. divisions, without reducing the number of hundreds, a rifleman was formed. (plastun) divisions.
In the winter of 1917, it was decided to reduce the number of cavalry in the Western direction by reducing the corps cavalry, since during the transition to trench warfare, this cavalry lost its military significance. Six regiments of the Kuban Cossack army were brought together in the 4th Kuban Kaz. division and the Kuban Kaz. brigade. These divisions and a formation brigade were sent to the Caucasian direction. Another 16 regiments of the Don and Orenburg Cossack troops were recalled to the area of the Don Cossack and four kaz were formed from them. divisions (7th, 8th, 9th Don and 2nd Orenburg), which were supposed to strengthen the Caucasian Cavalry Corps in Persia and which did not enter there. And the 5th Caucasus arrived in the Western direction from the Caucasus to Finland. kaz. division, and to Belarus - Kavk. kav. division. In July 1917, in the 8th Army, Yu.-Z. front 7th cav. the division was combined with the 3rd Kavk. kaz. division into the Consolidated Cavalry Corps, which existed until the end of Sept. In aug. 1917 Kavk. ace. the cavalry division was supplemented by two cavalry regiments and reorganized into the Tuz. cavalry corps from the 1st and 2nd Caucasus. ace. horse divisions. The corps existed until Dec. 1917. In Nov. 1917 the Kavk was formed in the Caucasian army. conn. a brigade made up of regiments sent in January. from Turkestan and attached to the 1st Caucasian and 3rd Kuban Kaz. divisions.
A large number of additional cavalry was required to provide artillery for the divisions deployed after the start and during the war. and kaz. batteries. Since Aug. 1914 to Dec. 1916 were deployed equestrian (24th - 27th, 1st and 2nd Officer art.schools), horse-mountain (1st - 5th Trans-Amur) and Cossack (17 Don, 4 Orenburg, 3 Siberian, 4 Transbaikal, Kuban, Astrakhan, Amur and Ural) batteries. Don and Orenburg preferential divisions had Kaz. art. divisions. In the Kuban, Siberian, Ural, 2nd Turkestan Kaz. divisions, the deficiency was made up for at the expense of the Don kaz. batteries. Divisions deployed from dep. kaz. brigades received the artillery that these brigades had. The 4th Kavk did not have their own artillery. kaz. division, the basis of which was the 2nd brigade of the 2nd Kavk. divisions, and the 4th Kuban Kaz. division. All newly deployed divisions and dep. the brigades were staffed with horse-machine gun teams, and from April. 1915, instead of divisional horse-machine-gun teams, regimental horse-machine gun teams began to be created (four machine guns of the "Maxim" or "Colt" systems on packs). At the same time, kav. divisions were assigned to armored platoons of four armored vehicles to enhance their firepower. At the end of 1916, in the Western direction, the armored platoons of the cavalry. divisions included in the conn. corps, were reduced to auto-armored divisions (8 - 12 vehicles) with the subordination of their com. housing. In addition, each conn. the corps received a battalion of scooters (cyclists) under its command.
In total, for the period from the beginning of hostilities to mid-1917, the number of cavalry formations (divisions and separate brigades) from 29 and 9, respectively, changed to 48 divisions and 7 divisions. brigades, in which there were 1220 squadrons and hundreds, while the ratio of kav. and kaz. divisions and dep. brigades changed over the years as follows:
June 1914 - 18 cavalry, 6 Cossack divisions, 5 cavalry and 3 Cossack brigades;
September 1914 - 19 cavalry, 12 Cossack divisions, 5 cavalry and 4 Cossack brigades;
December 1914 - 19 cavalry, 16 Cossack divisions, 4 cavalry and 4 Cossack brigades;
June 1915 - 20 cavalry, 19 Cossack divisions, 4 cavalry and 6 Cossack brigades;
December 1915 - 22 cavalry, 20 Cossack divisions, 1 cavalry and 6 Cossack brigades;
June 1916 - 23 cavalry, 22 Cossack divisions, 3 cavalry and 5 Cossack brigades;
December 1916 - 25 cavalry, 23 Cossack divisions, 2 cavalry and 5 Cossack brigades;
June 1917 - 25 cavalry, 23 Cossack divisions, 2 cavalry and 5 Cossack brigades.
The cavalry of the Western and Caucasian directions correlated as follows:
1914 - 90 and 10%;
1915 - 83 and 17%;
1916 - 80 and 20%;
1917 - 82 and 18%, respectively.
The number of cavalry units changed in this way:
Western direction:
Dec 1914 - 33 div. and 5 dep. br.;
Dec 1915 - 37 div. and 5 dep. br.;
Dec 1916 - 39 div. and 4 dep. br.;
June 1917 - 41 div. and 3 dep. br.
Caucasian direction:
Dec 1914 - 3 div. and 2 dep. br.;
Dec 1915 - 6 div. and 4 dep. br.;
Dec 1916 - 8 div. and 4 dep. br.;
June 1917 - 7 div. and 4 dep. br.
The historian A. A. Kersnovsky noted the excellent composition of the Russian cavalry, which rendered invaluable services to the army. The cavalry hid strategic deployment from enemy eyes. She acquired the glory of Russian weapons every time she was spiritualized and ruled by worthy military leaders. The Russian cavalry carried out up to 400 attacks in horse formation, during which they captured 170 guns, defeated an entire combined-arms army (7th Austro-Hungarian 27. - 28.04.1915 at Gorodenka - Rzhaventsev), twice saved their armies (1st at Neradov 03.07.1915 and 11th at Niva Zlochevskaya 19.06.1916). The historian notes how the 12th Cavalry Division at Ruda of the 8th Army helped, the enormous strategic importance for the North-Western Front of the attack of the Nizhny Novgorod dragoons near Kolyushki, how the Austro-German armies were shocked by the "assault of the Orenburg Cossacks at Koshev and the Wild Division at Ezeriany". And how many times did Russian infantry divisions and corps "rescue themselves with selfless attacks of those who were not afraid of anything and swept away everything, hundreds and squadrons …".
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