![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tabletop.jpg) |
|
With the Russian Army
1914-1917
Being chiefly extracts
from
the diary of
a Military Attaché
by
Major-General Sir Alfred Knox
K.C.B., C.M.G.
|
|
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tablebottom.jpg) |
This is
the 1921 First Edition Two-Volume Set (in worn covers and
missing the maps)
PREFACE:
“OF the
multitude of war books, few have dealt with the struggle in
the Eastern theatre. Yet it is certainly the second theatre
in importance, and probably the most interesting of all to
the military reader. The German General Staff, it is true,
has produced valuable studies of certain episodes of the
fighting in Russia, but from the point of view of our Ally
there has been little or nothing.
Until the day, which all lovers of Russia hope is not far
distant when the Russian General Staff will be able to
publish to the world an official account of the work of the
Russian Army in the Great War, it is thought that these
extracts from the Diary of a British officer may prove of
interest. The writer can at any rate claim to have enjoyed
greater opportunities for observation of the Russian army
than any other foreign observer, both previous to the war as
Military Attaché to the British Embassy at Petrograd, and
during the war as liaison officer at the front.
If some of his Russian friends find his comments
occasionally over-frank, he asks their forgiveness. He wrote
things down as they seemed to him at the time.
These twenty-five chapters give the writer's experiences
during three and a half years of war and revolution. Passing
through Ger- many on the eve of the declaration of war, he
spent a few days at the Headquarters of the Grand Duke
Nikolas. He then visited the 3rd Army just before its
invasion of Galicia (Chapter I.), and the 2nd Army during
the battle of Tannenberg (Chapter II.). In September he
accompanied a cavalry division in a raid in South-West
Poland, and retired with it before Hindenburg's first
offensive against Warsaw (Chapter III.). In the following
months he was with the Guard Corps at the battle of
Ivangorod, and in the subsequent Russian counter-offensive
towards Krakau (Chapter IV.). Some account derived from
eye-witnesses is given of the operation of Lodz (Chapter
V.), of the disaster to the Russian 10th Army in February,
1915, and of the operations on the Narev in the winter of
that year (Chapter VI.) .
In the great Russian retreat from Poland in 1915, due to
lack of armament, the writer was attached first to the Guard
Corps and later to the Staff of the ist Army (Chapter
VIII.). Chapter IX. tells of the German cavalry raid on
Svyentsyani in September, 1915, and Chapter X. of the
adventures of a Russian Delegation despatched to England and
France to obtain munitions.
Chapters XII.-XVI. describe the fighting in 1916, with many
hither- to unpublished details of Brusilov's offensive and
the subsequent opera- tions. Chapter XVII. deals with the
political unrest preceding the Revolution. Chapters
XIX.-XXV. give an eye-witness's account of the Revolution of
March 12th, 1917, and of the rapid decline of the Russian
army, culminating in the Bolshevik coup d'etat of November
7th and the negotiations for the separate peace. ”
|
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tabletop.jpg) |
|
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0002.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0004.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0001.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0013.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0010.jpg)
Front covers and spines
Further images of this book are
shown below
|
|
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tablebottom.jpg) |
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/pub.jpg) |
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tabletop.jpg) |
|
Publisher and place of
publication |
|
Dimensions in inches (to
the nearest quarter-inch) |
London: Hutchinson & Co. |
|
6 inches wide x 9¼ inches tall |
|
|
|
Edition |
|
Length |
1921 First Edition |
|
760 pages (paginated over two volumes) |
|
|
|
Condition of covers |
|
Internal condition |
Original blue cloth blocked in gilt on the
spine. The covers are worn and damaged. Both front and rear covers of both
volumes are very heavily scuffed and rubbed, with extensive patchy
discolouration and significant variation in colour. The spines have darkened
and discoloured considerably with age. On Volume I both spine gutters have
split for their entire length. On Volume II the gutters are split at the
ends and starting to fray elsewhere. There are splits in the cloth at the
spine ends and some loss. The corners are frayed and heavily bumped, with
the card underneath exposed. |
|
The end-papers are very browned and
discoloured. The front inner hinge in both volumes is cracked at the
Title-Page. Both volumes are stamped "With the Publisher’s Compliments" on
the Title-Page. The paper has tanned noticeably with age and a previous
owner has marked or annotated some passages in ink. There is scattered
foxing throughout, and toning and heavier foxing to those pages adjacent to
the photographic plates. The illustrations have acquired a yellowish tinge
and are printed on thin paper which has wrinkled. The maps, which should be
in an end pocket in both volumes, are missing. There is some separation
between the inner gatherings. The edge of the text block is grubby,
dust-stained and foxed. |
|
|
|
Dust-jacket present? |
|
Other
comments |
No |
|
The interior condition is perhaps a little
better than it sounds, but this scarce two-volume First Edition set is in
worn, scuffed and discoloured bindings, with damaged spines. Please also be
aware that the folding maps from the end-pockets are all missing. |
|
|
|
Illustrations,
maps, etc |
|
Contents |
The illustrations are detailed below but
please note that the maps in the pocket at the end of both volumes are missing. |
|
Please see below for details |
|
|
|
Post & shipping
information |
|
Payment options |
The packed weight is approximately
2000 grams.
Full shipping/postage information is
provided in a panel
at the end of this listing.
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/postinfo.jpg) |
|
Payment options
:
-
UK buyers: cheque (in
GBP), debit card, credit card (Visa, MasterCard but
not Amex), PayPal
-
International buyers: credit card
(Visa, MasterCard but not Amex), PayPal
Full payment information is provided in a
panel at the end of this listing. |
|
|
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tablebottom.jpg) |
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/rowofbooks2.jpg) ![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/rowofbooks2.jpg) |
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/notes.jpg) |
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tabletop.jpg) |
|
With the Russian Army
1914-1917
Contents
Volume I
INTRODUCTION
The Russian Army in 1914
Conditions of service — Military Law of 1914 —
Recruitment — Organisation in peace — Expansion in war —
Number of men available — Depot units — Armament —
Rifles — Machine-guns — Guns — Aircraft — Transport —
Training — The officers — General Staff — Regimental and
reserve officers — The non-commissioned officers — The
rank and file — A long war necessarily fatal to Russia
|
CHAPTER I
The Outbreak of War. General
Headquarters and The South-West Front in August, 1914
Return
from leave through Germany at the end of July — The
mobilisation — General Laguiche — Forecast of the
enemy's probable distribution of strength — Departure
from Petrograd in the Grand Duke Nikolas's train — The
Grand Duke's Staff — The journey to Baranovichi —
Conversation with the Grand Duke — General Jilinski,
Commander-in- Chief of the North- West Front — Boredom
of life at Baranovichi — The Russian plan of campaign
and strategical deployment — Composition of the
front-line armies — Visit to the South- West Front —
Dinner with General Ivanov — The 3rd Army on the eve of
crossing the frontier — Visit to the 33rd Division —
Russian patience and good temper — Departure from
Baranovichi
|
CHAPTER II
The Disaster to the 2nd Army,
August, 1914
General
situation on the North- West Front — Interview with
General Jilinski on the evening of August 23rd — Lunch
with General Samsonov at Ostrolenka on August 24th —
Situation of the 2nd Army — Chief of Staff's pessimism —
Arrival at Neidenburg — Visits to General Martos of the
XVth Corps and to General Torklus of the 6th Division —
Battle of Orlau-Frankenau — Lack of businesslike method
— Position of the Russian forces on the evening of the
25th — Arrival of General Samsonov at Neidenburg on
August 26th — German attack on the 1st Corps — Situation
on the night of the 26th — Position on the morning of
August 27th — Russian estimate of German strength —
Signs of nerves — Conversation with General Samsonov on
the morning of the 28th — Drive to Ostrolenka —
Situation in Warsaw — The battle in the south undecided
— Back to Ostrolenka — The disaster to the 2nd Army from
accounts of eye-witnesses — Relation of the Russian
Staff.
AFTERNOTE. — At Byelostok — Recapture and
re-abandonment of Neidenburg — A German account of
events in the and Army — Inex- perience of Russian
commanders — Defective services of intelligence and
communications — Orders and counter-orders — Adventures
of Samsonov's Chief of Intelligence — Work of the 1st
Army — Relation of a member of Rennenkampf's Staff —
Wanderings of the IInd Corps — Relation of a member of
the Staff of the IInd Corps — The invasion of East
Prussia gained its object, but the price paid was
unnecessarily great — Wonderful success of the German
Command — Removal of Russian commanders-r-Reconstitution
of the XVth and XIIIth Corps
|
CHAPTER III
With a Cavalry Division in
South-West Poland, September- October, 1914
Success
of the Russian offensive on the South-West Front —
Rumoured enemy transfers from the French theatre — Visit
to the fitape Commandant at Warsaw — Pessimistic
Englishmen — Journey to join the Staff of the 9th Army
in Galicia — Difficulties at Lyublin — Bibikov's death —
Guard Co-operative Society — Anecdotes of the recent
fighting — The wounded — Supply and transport —
Preparations for the defence of the Vistula — Keen
subalterns — Sandomir— The Cossacks — Headquarters of
the gth Army at Zolbnev — General Gulevich — Situation
in Galicia — Proposed cavalry raid on Austrian
communications — The start of the raid — 14th Cavalry
Division — Generals Novikov and Erdeli — Staff of the
14th Cavalry Division — Polish mistrust of Russian
promises — A disturbed night — The situation — Staff
routine — Cavalry armament — Skirmish with " Sokols " —
Remounts — A month's casualties in a cavalry division —
Burning of a country house — Orders — Terrible situation
of the Poles — " The Bloodthirsty Cornet " — The
division recalled to the north owing to the German
offensive — Skirmish with a German cavalry patrol —
Examination of prisoners — Through Pinchov with a
sentimental officer — The enemy strength estimated at
one corps only — Maxim's "gallantry" — Position of
opposing forces — Delaying action at Yasenn — A Jewish
spy — Continuation of retreat — Adventures of a Cossack
squadron commander on reconnaissance — Situation on
October 1st — Machine-guns — Strength of cavalry
regiment — Reconnaissance — Futility of attempts to
delay the advance of the enemy infantry — Confidence
regarding the speedy end of the war — Horse-rations in
peace and war — Intelligence — Reconnaissance and "
flying posts " — Battle patrols — Orderly parties — A
night alarm and subsequent march — A German prisoner —
Russian infantry west of the Vistula — Staff of the
Cavalry Corps loses control owing to rapidity of enemy
advance — Supply — Narrow escape at Ostrovets on October
3rd — Last " delaying position " on October 6th —
Retirement across the Vistula at Novo Alexandriya —
Good-bye to the 14th Cavalry Division — Journey to
Warsaw.
AFTERNOTE. — The average daily march of the 14th
Cavalry Division — The Russian cavalry — Subsequent
services of the I4th Cavalry Division— Of General Erdeli
— Of General Sencha — Of Captain Sapojnikov — Fine death
of Colonel Westphalen — Death of Captain Plotnikov, his
presentiment — Subsequent services of General Novikov
and of Colonel Dreyer
|
CHAPTER IV
With the 9th Army and the Guard
Corps In South West Poland. Hindenburg's First Offensive
Against Warsaw and
the Russian Counter-Offensive. October-December, 1914
Line
held by the Russians in Galicia on September 21st, 1914
— Difficulties of supply — Transfer to the north — First
news received of Hindenburg's advance on September 23rd
— Question whether the enemy should be met west of or in
rear of the Vistula — The disaster at Opatov — Location
of units of 4th, gth and 5th Armies on October 6th —
Difficulties in carrying out the Russian change of front
— Failure of the enemy's plans — Warsaw crowded with
fugitives on October 1 2th — The Russians resume the
offensive — Journey to Lyublin — Weather— Railway
transport — Office of Commandant of the Lines of
Communication at Lyublin — Story of the Jew at Ivangorod
— The road from Lyublin to Krasnik — The distribution of
armies — The ride back from Krasnik — General Lechitski
— Russian success at Warsaw — General Gulevich regrets
the lack of bridgeheads on the Vistula — The fieldpost —
Orders issued to the Qth Army for the offensive^ — Drive
from Lyublin to Ivangorod to join the Guard Corps —
Russian infantry on the march — Second -line transport —
The battle of Ivangorod — Visit to the XXVth Corps in
advance of Novo Alex- andriya — Retirement of the enemy
— The church at Zvolen — A subaltern of the
Preobrajenski Regiment — A drummer boy's funeral —
Russian distribution on October 28th — The Staff of the
Guard Corps — A priest's story — Touch with the enemy
lost — Stories of the enemy's doings — Visit to Warsaw —
Russian plans — Sufferings of the Poles — Return to the
Guard Corps — Second-line troops — Destruction of
railways — Situation in South-West Poland on November
8th — Advance of the Guard Corps towards Krakau —
Waiting for the 3rd Army — Nervousness regarding
ammunition supply — Composition of the 3rd and 8th
Armies — Tired infantry — A Frenchman — The tunnel at
Myekhov — The system of replacing casualties in the
Guard Corps — Objectives of Russian armies — A Guard
regiment in action — Russian information of enemy
dispositions on November 17th — A prisoner's reply — The
2nd Guard Infantry Division held up — The first news of
the offensive from Thorn received at 1 a.m. on the 18th
—General anxiety regarding shortage of ammunition —
Failure of Russian counter-offensive becomes probable —
The 45th Division in action — Points about winter
warfare — Views in South-West Poland regarding offensive
from Thorn — Shortage of shell not local but general —
Depression — Visit to the Finlandski Regiment at Yangrot
and to the Preobrajenski Regiment at Poremba Gorna —
Abandonment of the attempted offensive — Losses in the
Guard Corps — Men in the trenches frozen at night —
Strength opposite the 4th and 9th Armies — 9th Army
averages only 7,000 men per division — Another visit to
the Preobrajenski Regiment — Slackness of
counter-espionage —Weakness of our strategy — Grand
Duke's enquiries regarding equipment — Lack of officers
— The tunnel at Myekhov — Retirement becomes probable —
Inefficient railway management — Inefficiency of the
Lines of Communication — Visit to Headquarters of the
2nd Guard Infantry Division — Progress of the 3rd Army
south of Krakau — Desertions — Drive to Warsaw — Drafts
on the march — Warsaw rumours — Large reinforcements for
the front — Arrival at Petrograd.
AFTERNOTE. — Failure of Hindenburg's first
offensive in Poland — Failure of the Russian
counter-offensive — The latter in reality a gigantic
bluff
|
CHAPTER V
Hindenburg's Second Offensive in
Poland, November and December, 1914
Hindenburg appointed Commander-in-Chief of the German
Forces in the East — Ludendorff suggests the offensive
from Thorn — The German concentration — Tardy Russian
counter-measures — Mackenzen 's rapid advance — Defeat
of the ist and 2nd Armies in detail — Arrangements for
the rescue of the 2nd Army — Generals Rennenkampf and
Plehve — Plehve and the orderly officer — Move north of
the 5th Army — Enterprise of the German penetrating
force — Launch of the relieving forces from the ist Army
— The advance of the Lovich Force — Change of commander
— Lack of information and of proper equipment — Second
change of commander — Modification of orders — The
German penetrating force receives orders to retire, 7
p.m. on the 22nd — Further change of orders in the
Lovich Force — The 6th Siberian Division asks for help —
Indecision — Russians in the dark — Staff of Lovich
Force loses touch with all its columns — Destruction of
the 6th Siberian Division — Escape of the German
penetrating force — Its remarkable work — Disappointment
of the Russians — Russian forces much intermingled —
Arrival of German reinforcements — Loss of Lodz and
Lovich — Retirement of the Russian armies to the " river
line" — The operation of Lodz probably the most
interesting of the war from a military psychological
standpoint — The fog of war — Value of co-operation —
Wonderful German organisation — Mackenzen's initial
success — His failure owing to the delay and weakness of
the German offensive further south — Question whether
the German Supreme Command might not with advantage have
delayed its offensive till the arrival of reinforcements
from France and have then launched it from Mlava instead
of from Thorn — The Russian Intelligence on this
occasion at fault — Brilliant work of the Russian 5th
Army — Rennenkampf's failure — Question whether the
Russian Supreme Command should not have detached troops
to the north
|
CHAPTER VI
War of Position West of the Vistula.
The German Attack on the Russian 10th Army.
Operations of the 10th , 12th and 1st Armies in Advance of
the Narev, January to March, 1915
Shortage of rifles — The cause — Shortage of shell —
Reduction of the number of guns in the infantry division
from forty-eight to thirty-six — The retirement to the "
river line " caused by loss of men and deficiency of
armament — Question whether the Grand Duke knew in
October of the deficiency of rifles and of shell —
Secretiveness of Russian officials — General Sukhomlinov
amply warned by the Staffs of the Fronts and by the
Artillery Department — His career and character — The
Assistant Minister of War — Interview with General
Sukhomlinov on December i6th — Optimism of the Times —
Visit to G.H.Q. — The Emperor at G.H.Q. — Warsaw in
January, 1915 — Distribution of armies west of Warsaw —
Fighting against Austrians — Opinions of General Erdeli
and of Count Prjetski on the role and tactics of cavalry
— The Staff of the 5th Army at Mogilnitsa —
Christmas-trees — Difficulty of obtaining information —
General Plehve — An enemy airman —Plehve and Miller—
Visit to the XIXth Corps— The Poles as fighters — The
Poles and the Russians : two points of view — Clumsy
German propaganda — The 17th Division and the 68th
Borodino Regiment — Poor trenches — Distribution of
strength in the IVth Corp»— Formation of the 12th Army —
Appointment of General Gulevich as Chief of Staff of the
North-West Front — His reception of the news — Russian
armies on the South-West Front — Anecdote from the 4th
Army — Enemy offensive against the 11th Army —
Comparison of strength on the South- West Front — Enemy
attack on the Bzura at the end of January — The Guard
Corps ordered to Lomja — Billets at Lomja — The disaster
to the 10th Army — Situation on the Narev in the middle
of February — Task of the 12th Army — Tactical
instructions — Concentration of the 12th Army — A
cavalry "raid" — East Prussian versus Galician line of
advance — Regroupment on February 16th — Indecision
regarding point of concentration of reinforcements —
Count Nostitz — Orders and counter-orders — Sufferings
of the wounded — Playing at war in the Staff — Futile
march of the 2nd Guard Infantry Division and the Guard
Rifle Brigade — The troops between the Bobr and the
Pissa placed under the orders of General Bezobrazov —
Orders for the attack on February 2oth — Failure of the
2nd Division at Yedvabno and consequent collapse of the
attack — General discouragement — Continued transfer of
Russian and enemy forces to the Narev front — Visit to
the 2nd Guard Infantry Division — Shell — Superiority of
the Germans in manoeuvre — Arrival of General Plehve at
Lomja — Poor impression made by the Vth and 1st Corps —
disagreement between Generals Plehve and Bezobrazov
regarding the plan of attack — The question of Osovets —
Futile attacks on March 2nd, 3rd and 4th — Adventure of
Austin armoured cars — The operation of Prasnish — News
of the attack on the Dardanelles — Lack of shell —
Pessimism — Losses — Failure of the second German
offensive on Prasnish — Visit to the 2nd Guard Infantry
Division with General Bezobrazov — The power of religion
— Dinner to the Commander of the Hlrd Caucasian Corps —
Colonel Engelhardt's views on strategy, on Russian
generals, on the peace training of officers and on the
issue of impossible orders — Orders issued on March i6th
for a general standfast on the North- West Front —
Russian units in the Eastern theatre outnumber enemy
units, but the enemy superior in communications, supply
of shell, number of machine-guns and in organisation —
Recalled to Petrograd
|
CHAPTER VII
Rear Services and the Internal
Situation in the Spring and Summer of 1915
Losses
in five months of war — Number of men called up — The
Opolchenie — Depot units — Infantry — Cavalry artillery
— Number of divisions mobilised — Lack of rifles — Other
desiderata — Lack of guns and of shell— Attitude of the
Artillery Department — The Grand Duke Serge —
Suggestions put forward by the French Technical Mission
— Lord Kitchener's policy — Russian attitude towards the
firm of Vickers —Colonel Ellershaw's mission to the
Grand Duke Nikolas — General Manikovski — Russia's
effort in shell production in the first nine months of
war compared with England's — Lord Kitchener's message
and the reply of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
— Gas masks — Riots in Moscow in June — Three unpopular
ministers — The Minister of War, General Sukhomlinov,
dismissed on June 25th and succeeded by General
Polivanov — Colonel Myasoyedov hung as a spy — War
weariness of all classes
|
CHAPTER
VIII
The German Offensive on the Dunajec
and the Retreat from Poland, April-August, 1915
The
"stand-fast " on the North- West Front — Capture of
Przemysl — Offensive by the 3rd and 8th Armies in the
Carpathians in April — The Mackenzen stroke on the
Dunajec — Retreat of the 3rd Army — Retreat of the 4th,
8th and nth Armies — Exhaustion of the 3rd Army —
Despatch of reinforcements — Przemysl abandoned —
Failure of the counter-offensive west of the San — Lack
of heavy artillery — Confusion of units in the 3rd and
8th Armies — The capture of Memel by the Russians leads
to the German invasion of Kurland — The importance of
the new offensive at first underrated — Formation of the
1 3th Army — The Russians outnumbered — The transfer of
three corps from the north to the 4th and 3rd Armies —
Optimism at War- saw—Visit to the Staff of the North-
West Front at Syedlets— Opinions regarding Generals
Ruzski and Alexyeev — Composition of the Russian armies
at the beginning of July — The Supreme Command opposed
to a counter-offensive owing to lack of rifles and shell
— Disagreement of General Bezobrazov with General Leslie
— First meeting of the Russian Guard with the Prussian
Guard — General Bezobrazov replaced in command of the
Guard Corps by General Olukhov — The flank of the Guard
turned owing to the retreat of the Ilnd Siberian Corps —
Incompetence of General Antipov — Retreat of the 3rd
Army — Lyublin and Kholm abandoned — Lunch with the
Staff of the 4th Army — At the Staff of the 1st Army —
Retreat of the ist Army in July — Retreat of the 12th
Army — The retirement from the Vistula — Situation on
August 7th — Novogeorgievsk — Visit to the XXVIIth Corps
on August i2th — Effect of lack of armament on morale —
Feeling regarding the " inaction " of the Allies — Fine
conduct of the regimental officers under the strain of
the retreat — The tragedy of the lack of shell — The
staff of the I2th Army moved to Petrograd — Staff of the
I3th Army moved to Riga — The fall of Kovna and of
Novogeorgievsk — Visit to Osovets and its abandon- ment
on August 22nd — Polish fugitives
|
CHAPTER IX
Events on the Northern and Western
Fronts from the Middle of August till the Middle of October,
1915
Lack of
transverse railways — The story of the fall of Kovna —
Trial of the Commandant — Formation of the Northern
Front under General Ruzski — Events on the Dvina in late
August and early September — Assumption of the Supreme
Command by the Emperor with General Alexyeev as Chief of
Staff — Opinions regarding General Alexyeev — Opinions
regarding the change in the Supreme Command — Un-
popularity of the Empress — Mistrust of authority —
Corruption on the railways — The German cavalry raid on
Svyentsyani — Retreat of the 10th Army — Distribution of
the Russian armies in October, 1915 — Shortage of rifles
— Shaken morale of the army — Deserters — A young
officer's letter to General Alexyeev — Opinions of
Generals Odishelidze and Novitski regarding the Russian
soldier — General Ruzski — General Ewarth — Supper with
General Lebedev
|
CHAPTER X
With a Russian Delegation to England
and France
Composition of the Delegation — Situation in Arkhangel —
Mined in the White Sea — Three weeks in a bay in Lapland
— Work in London — Appeal to Lord Kitchener and
interview with Sir William Robertson in Paris — Visit to
the French Front — Interview with General Foch — Short
visit to the British Front — St. Omer — Impressions of
the Russians regarding Lord Kitchener and Mr. Lloyd
George — Fate of Admiral Russin — Adventures of
Commander Romanov
|
|
List of Illustrations
His Imperial Highness the
Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaievich Frontis.
Operations Department of the General Staff, G.H.Q., 1914-15
General Marquis de Laguiche and General Ivanov
Russians collecting German wounded, Orlau-Frankenau, 1914
Sandomir, September, 1914
Cooking-carts, Lagov, S.W. Poland, 1914
Railway bridge, N. of Kyeltsi, destroyed by Germans, 1914
Railway demolished near Myekhov, 1914
Western end of tunnel, N. of Myekhov, demolished by Germans,
1914
Officers of the 5th Battery, 2nd Guard Artillery Brigade
Rodzianko and telephone " sentry "
Headquarters 5th Army, Mogilnitsa, 1915
Operations Section of the Staff of 5th Army, 1915
Second line defences, N. of Lomja, 1915
Peasant women at work on a position N.E. of Lbmja, 1915
Bridging under difficulties, Novogrod, N. Poland, 1915
Headquarters of 2nd Division of the Guard, 1915
Lieutenant Gershelman and Grand Duke Konstantin
Konstantinovich
Duke of Mecklenburg, Inspector of Artillery of the Guard
Staff of the Guard Corps, July 18-31, 1915
General Bezobrazov thanking 3rd and 4th Guard Rifle
Regiments for their services, 1915
Jewish fugitives escaping from Reiovets, 1915
Colonel L , a Baltic baron
Typical faces, II Siberian Corps
General Balanin, Commander XXVIIth Corps
Count Ignatiev, Commander of Preobrajenski Regiment of the
Guard
Baron Budberg, and hole made by German shell
General Brjozovski, defender of Osovets
General Brjozovski and specimens of shell fired into
fortress
Grand Duke Dimitri Pavlovich distributing crosses, 1915
Packing up to fly before German advance, 1915
Group of Kharkov Opolchenie
Tired-out men of the 5th Rifle Brigade |
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/cartouche2.gif)
Volume II
CHAPTER XI
The Northern and South-Western
Fronts and Petrograd January-March, 1916
Changes in the distribution of the armies during the
winter — The offensive on the South-West Front in
December, 1915, and January, 1916 — The raid on Nevel in
November, 1915 — The internal situation — The Rasputin
scandal — Improvement at the front — Lack of officers —
Quality of divisions of various categories — Faults of
organisation in the replacement of casualties — Visit to
the Northern Front in February, 1916 — General Plehve's
retirement — His character and services — Succeeded by
General Kuropatkin — Opinion of General Bonch-Bruevich
regarding Russian strategy — Great improvement in
Russian position on the Northern Front — Defective
communications — Intelligence system — Conversations
with General Radko Dimitriev — His opinion of allied
strategy, of Ferdinand of Coburg, of shell and S.A.A.
supply, of " side-shows," of the Rumanian army — The
Rumanian military attache on the position of his country
— The Russian policy towards Rumania — General Gurko —
The South-West Front- — The Chief of Staff, General
Klembovski — The General Quartermaster, General
Dictrikhs — Conversation with General Ivanov — His
retirement
|
CHAPTER XII
The Russian Offensive on the
Northern and Western Fronts in March, 1916. The Supply of
Munitions. The Railways,
April-July, 1916
Grouping of the Russian army in the spring of 1916 —
Plans for the year — The offensive of March on the
Northern and Western Fronts — Its failure — Faults in
tactics — Folly of launching an offensive at such a
season — Complaints at Staffs of the Front, of the Army
and of Groups — Difficulty regarding American contracts
— Attitude of the Russian Artillery Department —
Dismissal of General Polivanov — His enemies — Stories —
Engineer Bratolyubov — Conversation with General
Polivanov — The new Minister of War, General Shuvaiev —
Interview with General Shuvaiev — Visits of Allied
missions — M.M. Viviani and Albert Thomas — M. Thomas's
conclusions — Proposed visit of Lord ' Kitchener — The
loss of the Hampshire — Russia's munition effort in the
first seventeen and a half months of war — Summary of
armament on March 20th, 1916 — Rifles supplied by the
Allies — Strength and weaknesses at the front —
-Influence of the lack of railways and of rolling-stock
on the output of munitions and on the price of
necessities — Application to Great Britain for large
credits for railway material refused — Natural causes of
strain on the railways — System of administration of
railways in June, 1916 — Visit to G.H.Q. — Conversation
with the Emperor — Conversation with the Grand Duke
Serge — General Shovaiev'S opinion regarding the supply
of meat — An " unpleasant incident"
|
CHAPTER XIII
Operations on the south-west front
from the commencement of Brusilov's Offensive (June 4th,
1916) till the Formation of the Guard Army (July 25th 1916)
The
main Russian offensive of the year projected from Krevo
on Vilna — The preliminary concentration and
preparations — Fifty-eight Russian divisions on the
Western Front and only thirty-eight each on the Northern
and South-Western Fronts — Only two Austrian divisions
north of the Pripyat and only two German divisions south
of that river — Enemy armies opposing the South-West
Front — Composition of the armies of the Russian
South-West Front- — Russian forces superior to the enemy
in number of rifles, but inferior in guns, machine-guns
and in air power — Promotion of General Brusilov to be
Commander-in-Chief of the South-West Front — His career
— Brusilov's offensive launched as a demonstration to
help Italy — The Army Commanders — The attack of the 8th
Army — Its brilliant success — The nth Army fails —
Careful preparation of the offensive in the 7th Army —
Its success — Details of the dispositions for the attack
in the 9th Army — The enemy routed — Czernowitz
captured, June 17th — Reasons for the success of the 9th
Army in contrast to the failure in December, 1915 —
Summary of the success achieved by the middle of June —
Prompt German assistance sent to the defeated Austrian
armies — Von Linsingen's enveloping attack against the
8th Army — The Russian 3rd Army is added to Brusilov's
command and drives von Linsingen back to the Stokhod,
July 4th-7th — The 9th Army completes the conquest of
Bukovina, June 24th — Occupies Kolomea, June 29th, and
Delatyn, July 10th — The nth Army captures Brody, July
28th
|
CHAPTER XIV
The Transfer to the South. Events on
the Northern and Western Fronts in June and July, 1916
Brusilov's success causes the Russian Supreme Command to
change its plans — The race to the south — Abandonment
of the Krevo offensive — The offensive of the 4th Army
north of Baranovichi — Its failure — General Abram
Dragomirov's opinion regarding the cause of failure —
General Ragoza's opinions regarding the Russian officer
and the Russian soldier — His own repeated transfer —
The lack of Initiative In the Russian army and of
character in the Supreme Command — Opinion of the
General Quartermaster of the Western Front on the
abandonment of the offensive from Krevo and on the
attempt north of Baranovichi — Abortive offensive from
Riga bridgehead, July 16th-21st — Radko Dimitriev's
suggestion of a surprise attack — Projected combined
operation from the Riga bridgehead on August 21st —
Abandonment of further attempts to prevent enemy
transfers to the south — Dissatisfaction with the Allies
— Prince Dolgoruki — General Fidotov — Actual transfers
from the Western theatre to the Eastern theatre — The
Staff of the 1st Army in October, 1916 .. 449
|
CHAPTER XV
The Operations of the Guard Army on
the Stokhod, July 21st-August 12th, 1916. A Visit to the 9th
Army
Formation of the Guard Army on July 21st — Its staff and
composition-Interview with General Brusilov on July 30th
— His plans — Opinion of General Quartermaster regarding
lack of technical equipment — Russian and enemy losses —
Deployment of the Guard Army — Successful attack on July
28th — Failure to cross the Stokhod — Heavy losses —
Gloomy prospects — Atmosphere of mistrust in the Staff —
Visit to the 8th Army on August 4th — Censorship —
Anecdote of a visit to a Russian Staff in the
Carpathians — The attack of the Guard Rifle Division on
Vitonej — The infantry sacrificed owing to poor support
of the artillery, the result of lack of training in
combined manoeuvre — A conference at Lutsk on August 4th
decides on a new offensive — An anti-aircraft battery
sent to the front to practise — Visit to the Staff of
the ist Guard Corps — The Grand Dukes Paul and Dimitri
Pavlovich — Attack on the Kukhari Wood on August 8th —
Dispositions — With the Staff of the 2nd Guard Infantry
Division during the attack — The failure — Opinions
regarding the cause of failure — Losses of the Guard
Army up till August 9th — Abandonment of all attempts to
advance direct on Kovel — Intrigue, the race to G.H.Q.
to report-General Bezobrazov and the Grand Duke Paul
removed from their command — The Guard Army rcchristened
" the Special Army," and the command given to General
Gurko — Brusilov's opinion of the Staff of the Guard
Army and of the direction of the artillery — Opinion of
the General Quartermaster regarding the intervention of
Rumania — Hindenburg takes control of the Eastern Front
from the Baltic to Tamopol — The gth Army occupies
Stanislau, August 10th, and Nadworna, August 12th — The
7th Army occupies Monasterzyska, August 12th — Bothmer
retreats to the Zlota Lipa — Trophies of the 8th, nth,
7th and 9th Armies, June 4th to August nth — The flow of
reinforcements to and against the 9th Army — The 9th
Army ordered to force the Carpathian Passes, with the
object of protecting the right flank of the Rumanian
army — Character of the Carpathians — The Staff of the
9th Army, a happy family — An officer's opinion of
certain Russian generals — Anecdotes of General Pavlov
|
CHAPTER XVI
Events on the South-West Front from
the Middle of August till the Middle of November, 1916
Vladimir-Volinski becomes the immediate objective of
Brusilov instead of Kovel — Despatch of the Russian
detachment to the Dobrudja — Error of sending Serbs —
General Zaionchkovski's conversation with General
Alexveev — Failure of the attempt of the 9th Army to
force the Carpathians — The retreat of the Rumanian Army
in October necessitates the transfer of forces to the
south and so deprives the Russian Command of the
initiative — Failure of the attempts of the 8th and
Special Annies to advance on Vladimir-Volinski — The
cause — General Ihlkhonin's opinion of the Rumanian army
— Visit to the Special Army in October, 1916 —
Conversation with General Gurko — Brusilov's mistake in
sending the Guard to the Stokhod — Concealed artillery
positions — Depression of the infantry — General
Kornilov tells the story of his escape from Austria —
Opinion of General Gerois regarding the general Allied
direction of the war — Visit to the nth Army — To the
7th Army — Its staff — Devices to deceive the enemy —
Stories of deserters — The 8th Army at Czernowitz —
General Stogov's opinion of the cause of the check in
the Russian offensive — Opinion of junior officers of
Generals Shcherbachev and Kaledin — Lunch with General
Trepov — Admiration for British determination — Army
snobbery — { Various opinions regarding the intervention
of Rumania and the failure of the Russian Command to
make the most of it — Proposed offensive of the 9th Army
— A drive in the Carpathians — Composition of the
Russian armies on the South-West Front in the middle of
November, 1916 — Twenty infantry and seven cavalry
divisions transferred to territory formerly neutral as a
result of the intervention of Rumania — General
Brusilov's complaints — General Dukhonin's optimism —
The Russian cavalry — General Brusilov's opinion of its
work in the recent offensive and previously in the war —
Generals Kaledin and Abram Dragomirov are stronger
believers in the use of cavalry
|
CHAPTER XVII
The Three Months Preceding the
Revolution
Northern communications — The Skibotten sledge route and
the Murman railway — Changes in the Ministry of War —
The murder of Rasputin — The reactionary tendencies of
the Government — The Allied delegations — Visit to Riga,
Minsk and Moscow — The offensive from Riga in January,
1917 — Proposed Russian offensive in the spring — Crisis
on the railways — Conversations with Generals Polivanov
and Byelyaev, with the Rumanian Minister and with M.
Guchkov — Conversation with the President of the Duma,
M. Rodzianko, and with Captain Markozov on the eve of
the Revolution
|
CHAPTER
XVIII
The Russian Army on the Eve of the
Revolution
Reorganisation — Distribution — Analysis of infantry and cavalry
units — Comparison with peace strength — Progress in the
organisation of technical troops — Russia's effort in
man-power — Wastage — Progress in armament and in technical equipment — Actual armament
on the eve of the Revolution — The chivalrous strategy
of the Russian Command — Prospects of the campaign
of 1917
|
CHAPTER XIX
The Revolution in Petrograd
The
mutiny on the morning of March 12th — At the Artillery
Department — M. Rodzianko's telegrams to the Emperor —
The Duma tries to take control — Visit to the Commander
of the District at the Prefecture — The Liteini Prospekt
in the evening — The beginning of the Sovyets — Danger
owing to the officers holding aloof — First visit to the
Duma — Ideas of the men of the Preobrajenski Regiment —
A social-democratic proclamation — Scene of disorder in
the Duma — Arrest of M. Sturmer and others — Arrest of
M. Protopopov — The growth of disorder — The Revolution
caused by the stupidity of the old Government — It
degenerates into a class movement, because the natural
leaders of the people were too loyal to their Allies to
initiate a revolution during the war — General Polivanov
is optimistic, but is not taking any risks — Order No. 1
— History of the Order — A printed licence for cowardice
and anarchy — Tragic position of the officers — M.
Rodzianko's confidence — The Sovyet forces the
deposition of the Emperor — The Emperor's abdication —
Reception of the news by the Empress — The Grand Duke
Mikhail renounces the throne — The first Provisional
Government — Conversation with a labour leader on March
16th — Pessimism of officers — The brutality of the mob
— Idleness and anarchy — The passion for speech — M.
Guchkov realises the situation — Martyrdom of the
officers — Kerenski the only man who can save the
country — First interview with Kerenski on March 19th —
His confidence — Arrival of General Kornilov — Visits to
depot units of the Guard in Petrograd in March and April
— Experiences in various units — The Government tries to
save the situation by rhetoric, avoiding the application
of force — Official optimism — Bad news from the front —
The soldiers really children — Ceremony of recognition
of the Provisional Government by the Allies on March
25th — The scene - — General Polivanov's committee to
frame regulations for the new " discipline " — General
Kornilov's courage — Kerenski with the Ambassador on
April 9th — Still optimistic — Guchkov shows greater
common sense — Prince Lvov's reply to the Ambassador's
warning
|
CHAPTER XX
The Northern Front in April, and
Petrograd in May, 1917
Changes
in the command — Move of the ist Army — Expulsion of the
best officers for futile reasons — Reasoning with the
men — Pollution of the army by political agitation —
Fraternisation — German proclamations in Russian and
Russian proclamations in German — The 109th Division —
The committees — Pretended optimism of the command —
Pessimistic conclusions — Return to Petrograd — Kerenski
at the St. George's benefit — Progress of Bolshevik
propaganda — Rivalry between the Provisional Government
and the Sovyet — Disturbances of May 4th — Liberation of
prisoners of war — Wave of extravagant humanitarianism —
Pacifist propaganda — Question of stopping the supply of
munitions — Suggested removal of Kornilov, Guchkov and
Milyukov — General Lechitslp. tells of the scandalous
treatment of General Miller — Guchkov resigns — Letter
to the Ambassador on the military situation — The
Executive Committee of the Sovyet to co-operate in the
formation of a Coalition Government — The composition of
the Executive Corn-mil tCe — -Proclamations issued by
the Sovyet — British labour delegation — Formation of
the Coalition Government — Kerenski Minister of War — No
improvement to be hoped from his programme — The
Ambassador's interview with Kerenski on May 21st —
Colonel Bala-bin's admiration for Kerenski — The
ex-convict Lieutenant Kuzmin as Assistant to the
Commander-in-Chief of the Petrograd Military District —
Mr. Henderson's mission — The new Commander-in-Chief,
General Polovtsev — Attitude of the Executive Committee
of the Sovyet towards extremists — Cowardice of the ist
Army — Continued anti-war propaganda — Publication of
the Declaration of Soldiers' Rights and of the Order for
the Offensive — Pessimism of the Assistant Minister of
War — Fall of output in mines, furnaces and workshops
|
CHAPTER XXI
The South-West Front in June.
Kerenski's Offensive 18 July, 1917
Journey
to Kamenets-Podolsk — General Brusilov's promotion to be
Supreme Commander-in-Chief — His " political gymnastics
" — General Gutor, Commander-in-Chief of the South-West
Front — The 8th Army in June — Fewer agitators but
harmful newspapers — A revolutionary doctor — An
anecdote — General Gurko degraded — Talk with General
Kornilov — Growing disorganisation — Poisonous
propaganda and stupid catchwords — General Selivachev —
General Notbek — The XLIXth and Vlth Corps — Ensign
Kirilenko — Army commissaries — Chief anxiety of the
Command to restore order without bloodshed — Vacillating
treatment of the mutineers of the VIIth Siberian Corps —
Kerenski's arrival with proclamations — His failure to
convince the 2nd Guard Infantry Division — The plan for
the offensive of July 1st — The Russian Staffs — Russian
superiority in numbers and in technique — The attack on
July 1st — Its failure through cowardice of most of the
infantry — Kerenski's folly and blindness — The success
of the Czechs on July 2nd of no avail owing to the
disaffection of the ist Guard Corps — Conversation with
the Commander of the ist Guard Infantry Division on July
4th — Peace necessary for Russia — The South-West Front
demands the restoration of the death penalty — Changes
in command — The war in Russia now a secondary matter
|
CHAPTER XXII
Petrograd in July and August, 1917
State
of Petrograd outwardly as in May — Conversation with the
Assistant Minister of War — The Bolshevik rising on July
16th — Critical position on the 17th — The situation
saved by disclosure of the tainted source of Bolahevik
funds — An ambush — Scene from the Embassy windows — The
Preobrajenski want to arrest the Bolshevik Kamenev — The
revolt subsides, but the Government fails to take strong
measures to prevent its recurrence — Kerenski to be
Prime Minister — His vacillationI >r,mi sal of General
Polovtsev — Funeral of the Cossacks — The first success
followed by the retreat of the 8th Army — Enemy
offensive against the nth Army- — Disorderly retreat of
the nth, 7th and 8th Armies — The pillage and massacre
at Kalusz — General Kornilov replaces General Gutor in
command of the South-West Front — The death penalty
re-established in the theatre of war on July 25th —
Conference at G.H.Q. on July 29th — General Kornilov's
Order of August ist stigmatises the treachery of "
certain units " and the heroism of the officers —
Retirement of Generals Brusilov and Radko Dimitriev —
General Kornilov appointed Supreme Commander in Chief,
July 31st — Economic chaos — Prince Tumanov on the "
wonderful Russian spirit " — Formation of the " Save the
Revolution " Government, August 6th — Savinkov as
Assistant Minister of War — Kerenski as Alexander IV. —
The one hope that Kerenski and Kornilov may work
together — Talk with M. Tereshchenko — With M. Savinkov
— Dinner with M. Tereshchenko to meet Kerenski
|
CHAPTER
XXIII
Kerenski Loses His Last Chance.
September, 1917
The
idea of sending a joint Allied note to the Russian
Government — British attitude towards Russian policy —
The conflict between Kornilov and Kerenski inevitable —
The character and career of the two men — The State Conference at Moscow accentuates the differences - —
Russian military opinion -Savinkov's role — Evil
influence on either side — Lvov's role - Kerenski
refuses compromise — Kornilov's Order and the Appeal of
the Sovyets on September 11th — General Polovtsev's
experience on September 9th — The meeting of the
Caucasian Native Division with the Government troops —
Suicide of General Krimov — Tragic result of the
disagreement for the officers — The murders at Helsingfors and Viborg — Arrest of prominent
Russian officers — Savinkov resigns Verkhovski is
appointed Minister of War — His career — Opinions of
Savinkov and Filonenko concerning the " Affair Kornilov
" — Kerenski most to blame — His narrowness
|
CHAPTER XXIV
The Bolshevik Coup D'Etat.
October-December, 1917
The
position recognised as hopeless — The suggestions of a
G.S. officer — Dinner with the American Military Attache
— Conversation with General Verkhovski — -His project to
raise the morale of the army — The death penalty —
Conversation with Tereshchenko — His baseless fears
regarding an advance on Petrograd — Five
commanders-in-chief in two months — Savinkov's opinion
of Chernov — Fighting-men engaged in talk — The "
Equipment Market " — Police to be formed at last —
Pessimism of Russian officers — Number of men at the
front — Enormous accumulation of shell — Savinkov's
account of his examination by three Jews — Verkhovski
resigns — The Bolshevik coup d'etat — Formation of a
Military Revolutionary Committee — The Government's
decision to arrest Trotski — The Cossacks refuse to
support Kerenski — The situation on November 8th — The
whole capital, with the exception of the Palace Square,
in the hands of the Bolsheviks — The storming of the
Winter Palace — Its farcical defence — Attitude of
aloofness of the General Staff — Confidence of the
opposition socialists — Release of the women prisoners —
Murder of Prince Tumanov — Bolshevik proclamation to the
troops at the front — Formation of a Bolshevik
Government — Savinkov's adventures with the " relieving
force " — The rising of the yunkers on November nth —
Liquidation of the relieving force, and escape of
Kerenski — Murders in Petrograd — Verkhovski visits the
Ambassador — Appeal of a patriotic Russian naval officer
— New Declaration of the Rights of Soldiers — Idleness
in the trenches — Anecdote of a pious robber — The
revolt in Moscow
|
CHAPTER XXV
The Preparation of the Separate
Peace
Reasons
for the Bolshevik success — General Dukhonin dismissed
and Ensign Kirilenko appointed Supreme
Commander-in-Chief — His Order No. i — The despatch of
parlementaires from the 5th Army on November 26th — The
Allied attitude — Trotski blusters — The Ambassador's
even mind — Murder of General Dukhonin — Arrest of
Generals Manikovski and Marushevski — The Armistice
Delegation — Its composition — Its arrival at Brest
Litovsk on December 3rd — A temporary truce arranged
till December 17th — Events at Brest Litovsk — The
Bolsheviks' indecent haste — Its object — General
Skalon's suicide — An armistice signed to continue till
January 14th, 1918 — Degradation of non-elected officers
— A deputation of officers' wives — The garrison of
Petrograd specialises in the looting of wine-cellars —
The army at the front engages in trade and
fraternisation — Trotski's insults — General Boldirev's
trial — A hitch in the peace negotiations — Trotski
rattles the sabre — Departure from Petrograd
|
APPENDICES
A. Some Data Regarding Russian Field Guns in
use in 1916
B. Letter addressed by the Military Attaché to the
Ambassador on July 30th, 1917 |
|
List of Illustrations
A Council of War at G.H.Q.
Type of Causeway, S. of Riga
General Kadko-Dimitriev, Commander of 12th Army
Starting to drive back after visiting the XXIXth Corps
The Emperor and Staff on South-West Front, 1916
Col ncr of Lake Naroch
The Russian Munitions Delegation, 1915
German wire entanglements, Lake Naroch, 1916
Road in village of Krivichi
Kri vichi-Naroch road
Ural Cossacks
Group after Conference at Army Headquarters, 1916
View in the Carpathians
Bivouack of the 43rd Division in the Carpathians
Bridge on the Upper Pruth
Prince Radzivill's house at Nesvij
The Woodman's Hut south of Yanovka River
Stir at Sokal
Group of Military Members of the British Delegation in Riga
bridgehead, 1917
Infantry in trenches awaiting attack, Riga bridgehead
Temporary Executive Committee of the Imperial Duma, 1917
Soldiers posing in the Liteini Prospekt, 1917
Methods of travelling, 1917
Trooper of the Tekinski Turkoman Volunteer Regiment |
|
|
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tablebottom.jpg) |
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tabletop.jpg) |
|
With the Russian Army
1914-1917
Excerpt:
I RETURNED to Petrograd in the third
week of January, 1916. During the following months my chief work lay
in the capital, where I acted as General Ellershaw's representative
in questions of armament, but time was found to visit G.H.Q. and all
three fronts on the Western Frontier.
Throughout the winter the Russian armies of the Northern and Western
Fronts remained relatively in the position they had taken up at the
end of the retreat from Poland in the preceding October. On the
South-West Front there were a few changes. General Shcherbachev
handed over command of the nth Army to General Sakharov, and, with
General Golovin as his Chief of Staff, took charge of the 7th Army,
then forming as an active army at Odessa in the hope of a
declaration of war by Rumania. After waiting in vain for this
declaration, the army was moved north in December, 1915, and took up
a line between the nth and 9th Armies. In the neighbourhood of
Volochisk a new Guard Army was formed under command of General
Bezobrazov, with Count Ignatiev, late Commander of the Preobrajenski
Regiment, as Chief of Staff, and Colonel Domanevski as General
Quartermaster. The grouping of the armies of the South-West Front
was therefore at the beginning of the year from right to left: 8th,
11th, 7th, 9th, with the Guard in rear of the 7th.
In late December the Russian 9th Army launched an offensive which
ended in complete failure, but was spoken of later as having
provided valuable, if dearly-bought, experience, to be made full of
in the following June.
The plan was for the 9th Army to
attack and to occupy the Czernowitz heights on December 27th in the
hope that the enemy reserves further north would be drawn south, and
that the 7th Army, which struck on December 29th, would find little
opposition.
The enemy, however, had ample warning during the slow concentration
of the 7th Army from Bessarabia. Further, the commencement of the
operation is said to have been delayed three weeks as the Emperor
wished to review the Guard before handing it over to the
Commander-in-Chief of the South-West Front. The enemy reserves were
moved south from the front of the 8th and nth Russian Armies, which
had been told to stand fast, while those in front of the 7th Army
remained where they were. The infantry of the Xllth and Xlth Corps
of the 9th Army suffered severely owing to the lack of heavy
artillery and the failure of the field artillery to support their
attack. They were forced to move forward to the attack from too
great a distance, one commander actually ordering his infantry for
the assault " to remain concealed in trenches not closer than 1,000
yards to the enemy's line." The whole operation was insufficiently
thought out and badly prepared. For instance, the Commander of the
7th Army, who had just arrived from Bessarabia, complained that the
nth and 9th Armies, part of whose line he took over, gave him no
sketches or photographs, and only the vaguest information of the
enemy position that he was called upon to carry.
The Russian supply and transport broke down utterly. The 9th Army
was supposed to draw its supplies from railhead at Tarnopol, the 7th
Army from the station of Yermolintsi on the Proskurov-Kamenets
branch, and the 9th Army from Kamenets. Thus three armies were
dependent on two single lines of rail, which G.H.Q. expected to give
sixteen pairs of trains a day, but which actually only ran four
pairs. A thaw made the roads impassable, and the 7th Army in
particular was reduced to a state of starvation. Most of the
fighting was over by January 3rd. This short offensive was the only
considerable operation during the winter, but raids on either side
relieved the tedium of trench warfare.
In the month of March I heard an account of the raid on Nevel that
had been carried out in the previous November. I was at t he
Headquarters of the South-West Front at the time, and was supping in
the train with the Commander-in-Chief's personal staff — an
aristocratic assembly of four princes, of whom one was rheumatic and
another asthmatic, and three commoners.
Thursday, March 2nd, 1916. Berdichev.
We supped at the fashionable hour of 10 p.m. Obolenski produced a
friend, an officer from his Terek Cossack Regiment, who had taken
part as leader of one of the nine detachments in the well-known
Nevel raid in November, an operation which wiped out a German
battalion and captured a whole divisional staff. He was a hard,
self-reliant man, probably without much education, but with enough
to recognise that he was a savage. I have never heard anyone tell a
story with less " bounce."
The nine detachments, each about 100 strong, started from Mutvitsa
on the Gnilaya Pripyat on the night of November 25th, and reached
Komora, due north, before dawn. There they lay hidden all day. After
dark on the 26th they threw a bridge over the Strumets, but it broke
after two detachments had passed, and further advance had to be
postponed till the following night. The raiders then crossed the
river on a bridge of goat bladders. Four detachments were left to
guard the line of retreat, and the remaining five, led by local
guides, moved on by a path across the marsh.
The Germans were known to have only a single piquet on a front of
seven to eight versts; they relied on the difficulty of the marsh in
their front and on their knowledge that this section of the Russian
line was held by Opol-chenie. The piquet of thirty men, only half a
dozen yards from the path, was fast asleep, and 500 of the raiders
had passed before a single man awoke. The Germans were surrounded
and bayoneted, with the exception of one man, who was kept as a
prisoner for intelligence purposes.
The cold was intense — fourteen
degrees of frost (Reaumur) — and there were no sentries at the
divisional headquarters. The farmhouse was quietly surrounded. An
ensign crept into a room full of sleeping officers, then turned out
the light and " got to work " with his sword. Bombs were thrown into
another room where officers were sleeping in armchairs, and the
place was instantly in a blaze. The Germans who ran out were hoisted
on bayonet and kinjal.1 Here a woman volunteer, from Saratov on the
Volga, betrayed her sex, for the sight of the blood and the butchery
was too much for her, and she cried out: " What are you doing,
soldiers ? You are blackguards ! " (raz-boiniki), and fainted.
The Divisional Commander came to the door, shading his eyes with his
hand, and was instantly taken prisoner. Leontiev, the leader of one
of the detachments, called on sixty Germans to surrender. Forty or
fifty stood up, but one of the others shot him in the stomach,
whereupon the lot were destroyed.
The Germans were gathering, and the raiders had to get back by
daylight. They started with several prisoners, but had to kill most
of them by the way. First the doctor fired two revolver-shots and
was " stuck." Then a brigade commander shared his fate. Only the
Divisional Commander and seven rank and file " went peaceably."
One of the Cossacks, who had been hit in the retreat, begged to be
left behind, as in any case he was mortally wounded. Some Germans
were seen to rush forward to bayonet him, and these were in turn
attacked by some Cossacks who had remained behind searching for
brandy.
The General spoke a little Russian and tried repeatedly to describe
the appearance of a German lieutenant-colonel of the General Staff,
and to ask if anything had been seen of him. At last a Terek Cossack
officer pointed to the stains on his kinjal, and said : " There is
your lieuten-.uit colonel's blood." The old man collapsed after
this, for the dead officer had been his son. Three days later, when
left alone for a minute, he took a revolver from the table and shot
himself. Here more than one kind-hearted Russian in the audience
ejaculated " Hard lines! "
(lyajelo).
The Russians got back with a loss of eleven killed and forty-three
wounded. They had covered thirty-seven versts. In the morning the
Germans sent seven aeroplanes " to look for their General."
War has still a spice of adventure when there is no barbed wire.
As Odishelidze and others had predicted, the rest of the winter
months restored the morale of the troops.
Sunday, February 6th, 1916. Petrograd.
K---- told me that Prince Lvov, President of the Zemstvo Union, had
visited G.H.Q. with Chelnikov, the Mayor of Moscow, ten days ago,
and had had an interview with Alexyeev. They found him in much
better spirits than in November, when he was terribly depressed. He
said that the morale of the troops, which was bad in November, had
much improved. He maintained, however, that, owing to the lack of
technical equipment on the Russian front, the decision would have to
be fought out elsewhere. The Galician offensive had failed because
of many mistakes. The army, he said, lacked proper leaders. There
was hardly a single man of ability above the rank of regiment
commander. The Emperor never interfered in matters of military
direction. Alexyeev is also said to have remarked that the Emperor
had not a single honest man about him except Count Friedrichs, who
was stupid, deaf and blind {glup, glukh i slyep) .
In Petrograd and the large towns the burden of the war was being
felt more and more. The cost of necessaries had risen enormously,
and it was a mystery how the smaller officials . . .
|
|
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tablebottom.jpg) |
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/rowofbooks2.jpg) ![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/rowofbooks2.jpg) |
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tabletop.jpg) |
|
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/covers.jpg)
Please note: to avoid opening the book out, with the
risk of damaging the spine, some of the pages were slightly raised on the
inner edge when being scanned, which has resulted in some blurring to the
text and a
shadow on the inside edge of the final images. Colour reproduction is shown
as accurately as possible but please be aware that some colours
are difficult to scan and may result in a slight variation from
the colour shown below to the actual colour.
In line with eBay guidelines on picture sizes, some of the illustrations may
be shown enlarged for greater detail and clarity.
Volume I
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0001.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0003.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/phoenixfireline.gif)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0004.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0005.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0006.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0008.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0009.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/cartouche2.gif)
Volume II
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0010.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0012.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/phoenixfireline.gif)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0013.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0014.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0015.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0016.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0017.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0018.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0019.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0020.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0021.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0022.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0023.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0024.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/108298a_0025.jpg) |
|
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tablebottom.jpg) |
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/rowofbooks2.jpg) ![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/rowofbooks2.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/post.jpg)
|
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tabletop.jpg) |
|
U.K. buyers:
To estimate the
“packed
weight” each book is first weighed and then
an additional amount of 150 grams is added to allow for the packaging
material (all
books are securely wrapped and posted in a cardboard book-mailer).
The weight of the book and packaging is then rounded up to the
nearest hundred grams to arrive at the postage figure. I make no charge for packaging materials and
do not seek to profit
from postage and packaging. Postage can be combined for multiple purchases. |
Packed weight of this item : approximately 2000 grams
Postage and payment options to U.K. addresses: |
-
Details of the various postage options can be obtained by selecting
the “Postage and payments” option at the head of this
listing (above).
-
Payment can be made by: debit card, credit
card (Visa or MasterCard, but not Amex), cheque (payable to
"G Miller", please), or PayPal.
-
Please contact me with name,
address and payment details within seven days of the end of the
listing;
otherwise I reserve the right to cancel the sale and re-list the item.
-
Finally, this should be an
enjoyable experience for both the buyer and seller and I hope
you will find me very easy to deal with. If you have a question
or query about any aspect (postage, payment, delivery options
and so on), please do not hesitate to contact me.
|
|
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tablebottom.jpg) |
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tabletop.jpg) |
|
International
buyers:
To estimate the
“packed
weight” each book is first weighed and then
an additional amount of 150 grams is added to allow for the packaging
material (all
books are securely wrapped and posted in a cardboard book-mailer).
The weight of the book and packaging is then rounded up to the
nearest hundred grams to arrive at the shipping figure.
I make no charge for packaging materials and do not
seek to profit
from shipping and handling.
Shipping can
usually be combined for multiple purchases
(to a
maximum
of 5 kilograms in any one parcel with the exception of Canada, where
the limit is 2 kilograms). |
Packed weight of this item : approximately 2000 grams
International Shipping options: |
Details of the postage options
to various countries (via Air Mail) can be obtained by selecting
the “Postage and payments” option at the head of this listing
(above) and then selecting your country of residence from the drop-down
list. For destinations not shown or other requirements, please contact me before buying.
Due to the
extreme length of time now taken for deliveries, surface mail is no longer
a viable option and I am unable to offer it even in the case of heavy items.
I am afraid that I cannot make any exceptions to this rule.
Payment options for international buyers: |
-
Payment can be made by: credit card (Visa
or MasterCard, but not Amex) or PayPal. I can also accept a cheque in GBP [British
Pounds Sterling] but only if drawn on a major British bank.
-
Regretfully, due to extremely
high conversion charges, I CANNOT accept foreign currency : all payments
must be made in GBP [British Pounds Sterling]. This can be accomplished easily
using a credit card, which I am able to accept as I have a separate,
well-established business, or PayPal.
-
Please contact me with your name and address and payment details within
seven days of the end of the listing; otherwise I reserve the right to
cancel the sale and re-list the item.
-
Finally, this should be an enjoyable experience for
both the buyer and seller and I hope you will find me very easy to deal
with. If you have a question or query about any aspect (shipping,
payment, delivery options and so on), please do not hesitate to contact
me.
Prospective international
buyers should ensure that they are able to provide credit card details or
pay by PayPal within 7 days from the end of the listing (or inform me that
they will be sending a cheque in GBP drawn on a major British bank). Thank you.
|
|
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tablebottom.jpg) |
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tabletop.jpg) |
|
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/components.jpg)
(please note that the
book shown is for illustrative purposes only and forms no part of this
listing)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/7pillars.jpg)
Book dimensions are given in
inches, to the nearest quarter-inch, in the format width x height.
Please
note that, to differentiate them from soft-covers and paperbacks, modern
hardbacks are still invariably described as being ‘cloth’ when they are, in
fact, predominantly bound in paper-covered boards pressed to resemble cloth. |
|
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tablebottom.jpg) |
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tabletop.jpg) |
|
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/eBaylogo.gif)
Fine Books for Fine Minds |
I value your custom (and my
feedback rating) but I am also a bibliophile : I want books to arrive in the
same condition in which they were dispatched. For this reason, all books are
securely wrapped in tissue and a protective covering and are
then posted in a cardboard container. If any book is
significantly not as
described, I will offer a full refund. Unless the
size of the book precludes this, hardback books with a dust-jacket are
usually provided with a clear film protective cover, while
hardback books without a dust-jacket are usually provided with a rigid clear cover.
The Royal Mail, in my experience, offers an excellent service, but things
can occasionally go wrong.
However, I believe it is my responsibility to guarantee delivery.
If any book is lost or damaged in transit, I will offer a full refund.
Thank you for looking.
|
|
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tablebottom.jpg) |
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tabletop.jpg) |
|
Please also
view my other listings for
a range of interesting books
and feel free to contact me if you require any additional information
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/oldbooks.jpg)
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/view.jpg)
Design and content © Geoffrey Miller |
|
![](https://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/images/tablebottom.jpg) |
|
|
|