Table of contents:
- Who had a hand in the creation of the 1st Cavalry
- The turning point of the Civil War and the Moscow successes of the cavalry division
- Both in Kharkov and in the Crimea
- Famous immigrants from the ranks of the First Cavalry
Video: The Phenomenon of the 1st Cavalry Army, or How the Budenovites were able to win the war against all
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The First Cavalry Army, led by Budyonny, engraved in the memory of generations as the brightest legend of the Soviet period. Even today, the history of Budenovites is not consigned to oblivion, and they continue to live in songs, films, paintings and books. Despite the fact that the number of the 1st Cavalry Army did not exceed 30 thousand soldiers, and the total number of the Red Army reached five million, it was the Red Banner cavalrymen who remained the personification of the defenders of Soviet Russia in the Civil War. Last year, in 2019, a monument to an equestrian military formation was unveiled in Velikomikhailovka of the Novooskolsk District. First, legendary and invincible.
Who had a hand in the creation of the 1st Cavalry
With any recollection of the First Cavalry Army, the image of Semyon Budyonny invariably pops up, who is often considered not only its legendary commander, but also its creator. In reality, several people were involved in the emergence of this combat-ready military formation. Among them - one of the most popular Red Banner cavalrymen during the Civil War, Boris Dumenko (often the idea of creating the First Cavalry is attributed to him, but there is no reliable information), as well as subsequently the commander of the 2nd Cavalry Army Philip Mironov.
But whoever played the main role in this matter, by the end of 1919 there was only one candidate for the place of the commander of the equestrian unit - Budyonny. By this time, the ex-commander Dumenko, who was recovering for a long time from a severe wound in the lung area, was already in charge of the cavalry-consolidated corps. And no one planned to castling the commanders. So a full-fledged First Cavalry Army was formed under the command of the future marshal and the legendary Soviet cavalry, who became the symbol of all Soviet cavalry.
The turning point of the Civil War and the Moscow successes of the cavalry division
One of the most difficult tasks - the turning point of the Civil War - was solved by the First Cavalry Army even before the formal formation of the unit in 1919. The foundation of the future legendary army was a revolutionary cavalry detachment. Historians agree that the 1st Cavalry Corps under the leadership of Budyonny in October-November 1919 during the Voronezh-Kastorno operation and the defeat of Denikin's shock equestrian group actually determined the outcome of the entire Civil War.
After the Red cavalry destroyed the main forces of the units of Generals Mamontov and Shkuro near Voronezh, the Whites abandoned their intentions to go to Moscow. By that time, Denikin's voluntary army had gone over to the defensive, yielding city after city. Assessing the importance of the cavalry and the military leadership talent of Budyonny, Stalin on November 17, 1919, proposed to the Revolutionary Military Council to create the First Cavalry Army. Subsequently, it was the Reds, who went through the school of the first-walled army, who enjoyed the special disposition of the leader, and he himself followed the activities of this unit with interest and participation.
Both in Kharkov and in the Crimea
The very first battles with the participation of the newly minted equestrian unit proved that such an initiative was the most justified and appropriate. During the Kharkov offensive operation, the cavalry powerfully struck at Denikin's troops. Having crashed into the front between the Don and Volunteer armies, the Red Army men broke the Whites. It is interesting that it was in these battles that the Reds came face to face with those who had previously contributed to the emergence of the 1st Cavalry, and this clash was unhappy for the White Guards. A little later, by the end of 1920, the Budenovites took part in one of the loudest cavalry battles of the Civil War in 25 thousand sabers. The soldiers of Budyonny won a landslide victory over the white military formations.
Some time later, the 1st Cavalry played a decisive role in the offensive of the Red Army in the North Caucasus. Further, the cavalry was transferred to the Polish front, but here the military luck receded. Having successfully reached the borders of Lviv, the Budenovites were surrounded during the Warsaw operation. It was necessary to leave the tight ring at the cost of heavy losses. After withdrawal to the reserve and replenishment, the First Horse took part in the Crimean offensive, where the legendary cavalry unit was part of the Armed Forces of Crimea and Ukraine until the moment of disbandment in 1921.
Famous immigrants from the ranks of the First Cavalry
The civil war ended, and the need for a cavalry army disappeared. Its headquarters was disbanded, and the divisions were redeployed to the western part of the USSR, to the territory of Belarus and Ukraine. Semyon Budyonny took the place of the chief cavalry leader of the Soviet Union, being appointed Inspector of the cavalry of the Red Army. The first Cavalry gave birth to many commanders who proved themselves famous commanders during the Great Patriotic War: Meretskov, Belov, Eremenko, Rybalko, Lelyushenko and others. Sometimes you can hear that even Zhukov and Rokossovsky are from Budenovites. However, although both of them made their first military steps in cavalry units, they had no relation to the first knights.
Many Budenovites, led by commander Semyon Mikhailovich, took part in the rise of domestic horse breeding, which was seriously shaken during the two wars. In this matter, the red horsemen received help from experienced specialists in this area from the time of tsarist Russia. In 1920, the Main Directorate of Horse Breeding and Horse Breeding was formed, the chief inspector of which was the Russian military leader Brusilov for several years. Despite his considerable age, he brought many benefits to the horse breeding industry in the young Soviet Republic. Five stud farms appeared, one of which was named after Budyonny and transferred to the enterprise all the lands of the once successful horse breeders Korolkovs in the homeland of the commander of the cavalry. They also founded a similar enterprise named after the First Cavalry Army. Subsequently, the number of such farms, whose task was to raise horses in the volumes necessary for military needs, only increased. After the abolition of the cavalry units, they switched to peacetime and turned into the bases of the sports horse breeding of the USSR.
During the First World War, cavalry was still popular, and in these photos can be verified.
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