Crimean Horse Regiment

Tauride National Divisions

March 1, 1784 was followed by the Highest decree "on the compilation of troops from new subjects living in the Tauride region", consisting of five divisions . The composition of each division was set in 7 officers and 200 lower ranks. They received the name Tauride National Divisions of the cavalry troops. Crimean Tatars called their ranks "impotence" (this name was also used officially). First, three divisions were formed. At the end of 1787 they were reduced to two, and in 1790 four more divisions were established, and all of them were sent to the borders of Poland . In 1792, four divisions were disbanded, and in 1796 the same was done for the rest.

Simferopol, Perekop, Evpatoria and Theodosia Regiments

In view of the desire of the inhabitants of the Tauride province to support the militia at their own expense, on March 12, 1807, four equestrian regiments of five hundred ( Simferopol , Perekop , Evpatoria and Feodosia ) were formed from Crimean Tatars volunteered to follow the model of the Don Cossack regiments. In 1807, the regiments marched in Vilna , but in connection with the end of the hostilities they were returned from halfway and on August 9 were discharged to their homes.

On January 24, 1808, the regiments were reassembled. On May 21, the Simferopol Regiment performed in Vilna, where in 1809 the gene joined the Cossack Brigade. Ilovaisky 3rd. On May 31, the Perekop regiment performed in Grodno , where it became part of the General Platov corps. The Evpatoria Regiment on May 30, 1809, performed in the village. Makhnovka of the Kiev province , where he joined the 2nd Western Army. Theodosian regiment June 1, 1809 made in the village. Makhnovka of the Kiev province.

During the Patriotic War of 1812 and foreign campaigns of the Russian army, the Simferopol and Perekop regiments as part of the corps of gene. Platov took part in the battles of Smolensk , Mozhaysk , Borodin , Maloyaroslavets , Tarutin , and in 1813 participated in the blockade of Danzig . The Perekop regiment in 1812 carried out cordon service on the Neman River , and in 1813 participated in the Battle of Kulm . The Theodosian regiment in 1812-1815 carried out cordon service along the Southern Bug River .

In 1814 (Theodosius in 1815), the regiments returned to the Crimea , and their ranks were dismissed to their homes. May 7, 1817 was followed by an order to disband them.

Crimean Tatar Squadron

In 1827, a squadron was formed from the Crimean Tatars, mainly with military distinctions, named the Crimean Tatar Life Guard on July 20, and was assigned to the Life Guard of the Cossack Regiment . By a high order on July 26, his officers were given the rights of the old guard.

In the Russian-Turkish war of 1828-1829. the squadron as part of the life guard of the Cossack regiment participated in the siege of the fortress of Varna .

In the Eastern War of 1854-1855 the squadron carried out cordon service on the coast of the Baltic Sea , and its preferential part, being part of the Crimean army, participated in the battle on the river. Black in the detachment of General Ryzhov .

On May 26, 1863, the squadron was abolished, and instead, as part of His Majesty's Own convoy, it was ordered to have a team of the Life Guards of the Crimean Tatars. In the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. preferential shifts took part in affairs at Gorny Dubnyak, Lovc and Plevna , for feats in which the team was awarded insignia for hats. May 16, 1890 the team was disbanded.

Crimean Regiment

However, in addition to the Life Guards of the Crimean Tatar Squadron (hundreds) of Crimean Tatars, on June 12, 1874, the Crimean Squadron was formed. July 22, 1875 he was reorganized into a division.

In the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. The division carried cordon service on the Crimean coast. On April 17, 1882, the Crimean Rifle Company was formed from the lower foot ranks, who were in the division over the set, subordinate to the division commander until it was disbanded on December 24, 1893.

On February 21, 1906, the Crimean division was deployed into a regiment, which on April 1 was named Dragoon, and on December 31, 1907 - the Crimean cavalry.

On October 10, 1909, in remembrance of the high honor that fell to the lot of Crimeans, to meet and accompany the bride of the heir to the Crown Prince, later Empress Alexandra Feodorovna , the regiment received the name of the Crimean equestrian Her Majesty Empress Alexandra Fedorovna regiment. On November 5 of the same year, Emperor Nicholas II enlisted himself on the regiment's lists.

In 1910, under the military order, the officers of the regiment were assigned red uniforms while in full uniform out of order. Seniority regiment assigned from March 1, 1784, that is, since the establishment of the Tauride national divisions; regimental holiday - April 23.

The construction project of the first military mosque in Crimea of ​​the Crimean Dragoon equestrian regiment was approved in the construction department of the Tauride Provincial Government on January 31, 1909. It was built with funds granted by the Russian emperor. Nicholas II donated 10 thousand rubles for its construction. and donated rugs worth 50 thousand rubles. The construction lasted eight months and on October 10, 1909, in the presence of the customer, Colonel Knyazhevich, an act of technical expertise was signed. Later, the mosque received the name "Valide Sheriff" ("Mother of Nations"). The mosque of the Dragoon equestrian regiment lasted until 1930.

World War I

During World War I, the regiment became part of the General Skoropadsky Consolidated Cavalry Division on the North-Western Front ^[1] , participated in the September battles of 1914 in the August forests , then became part of the 4th Separate Cavalry Brigade and participated in the December battles in East Prussia.

In January 1915, the regiment became part of the 30th Army Corps and was transferred to the Southwestern Front , where he participated in battles in the Carpathians. In April 1915, the regiment became part of the 33rd Army Corps .

During the Brusilovsky breakthrough of 1916, part of the regiment was the military cavalry of the 33rd Army, and the other of the 41st Army Corps of the 9th Army .

On December 22, 1916 - as part of the 23rd Army Corps of the 7th Army .

• 09/11/1880 - 12/26/1888 - Colonel Count Milyutin, Alexei Dmitrievich
• 01/25/1888 - 12/13/1893 - Colonel von Tranzeghe, Otto Egorovich (von Transe, George Georgievich) ^[2]
• 01/10/1894 - 07/03/1896 - Colonel Baumgarten, Leonid Fedorovich ^[3]
• 06.30.1897 - 02.24.1900 - Colonel Kartashev, Vasily Trofimovich
• 04/04/1900 - 03/22/1901 - Colonel Chernota de Boyars-Boyarsky, Bronislav Ludwigovich
• 05/17/1901 - 11/27/1903 - Colonel Count Keller, Fedor Arturovich
• 09/11/1908 - 10/09/1912 - Colonel adjutant wing (from 23/23/1912 retinues E.V. Major General) Knyazhevich, Nikolai Antoninovich
• 10/09/1912 - 01/14/1916 - Colonel Drobyazgin, Sergey Arkadevich
• 01.24.1916 - 04.1917 - Colonel Revishin, Alexander Petrovich

• Old Crimean Infantry Regiment - formed in 1803. This regiment was disbanded in 1834, with the 1st and 2nd battalions being transferred to the Tenginsky Infantry Regiment , and the 3rd battalion was reorganized into the Georgian Linear No. 12 battalion, which in 1874 entered the replenishment of the 155th Cuban Infantry Regiment .
• The new 73rd Crimean Infantry Regiment - formed in the Caucasus on April 17, 1856, consisting of 5 battalions, from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Black Sea Line Battalions; disbanded in 1918.

Fights in Crimea in the winter of 1917/1918

Returning to the Crimea at the end of 1917 from the front, the Crimean Horse Regiment served as the core of the armed forces of the self-proclaimed Crimean regional government - the Council of People’s Representatives. In Crimea in December 1917, the United Crimean Headquarters was created, uniting under its command the disparate units located in the Crimea, which did not recognize the Bolshevik coup in Petrograd and the attempts of the Crimean revolutionaries to establish the power of the Soviets in Crimea. A brigade was formed at the base of the regiment under the command of Colonel G.A. Bako , in which about fifty officers were enlisted. The brigade soldiers were used by the regional government to maintain order in the settlements of Crimea. In January 1918, Crimean supporters of Soviet power began to establish it by force, including by force of arms. During battles with detachments of revolutionary sailors and Red Guards, the forces of the Crimean headquarters were defeated. Killed 13 officers of the Crimean cavalry regiment ^[4] .

In the Volunteer Army

In the spring of 1918 , after the Germans occupied Crimea in Simferopol, 15 officers of the former Crimean cavalry regiment gathered and decided to resurrect the regiment in the ranks of the Volunteer Army . However, under the German occupation, the open formation of the regiment was impossible. Only after the departure of the Germans from Crimea and the occupation of Crimea by the Volunteer Army did the reconstruction of the regiment begin. On December 7, 1918, an announcement was posted in a local newspaper:

By order of the Volunteer Army and with the consent of the Regional War Ministry, a personnel squadron of the Crimean Horse Regiment is being formed in Simferopol. I propose to all the ranks of the Crimean equestrian regiment to join the ranks of their native equestrian regiment. I invite cavalry officers, cadets, volunteers and volunteers to the regiment on the same grounds as the Volunteer Army. The application will be accepted from December 7 from 10 to 12 noon in the building of the Officers' Assembly of the Crimean Horse Regiment.

Colonel Bako ^[5] .

By the spring of 1919 , when the Reds launched an offensive on the Crimea, about 450 people were already in the regiment . The regiment, together with other small parts of the Volunteer Army, took part in the Crimean retreat, by May having retreated to Kerch, where he took part (together with the 2nd cavalry general of Drozdovsky regiment ) in a bloody struggle with the red partisans hiding in the Kerch quarries ^{[5 ]} .

On June 5, 1919, the Volunteer Army in the Crimea went on the offensive. The Crimean Horse Regiment also took part in it, driving the Reds from Kerch to Sivash , and then taking part in the elimination of the last center of resistance of the Red Crimea - Sevastopol. In July 1919, on the basis of the Crimean equestrian regiment, the Joint Dragoon equestrian regiment was formed, which was appointed the airborne part of the Odessa airborne operation . After the capture of Odessa, the regiment, consisting of units of the Novorossiysk Oblast, the All-Union Federal League of Railways fought on the "Petlyura Front" , passing the military route from Odessa to Mogilev-Podolsky , where the regiment found news of the defeat near Orel . A retreat was ordered. By December 22, the regiment , which had considerably thinned out (mainly due to the typhus epidemic), was again in Odessa. Here the ways of the regiment squadrons diverged - part of the personnel, but without horses, was loaded onto the Saratov steamer , leaving for Sevastopol. The combined squadron took part in the Bredovskoy campaign , as part of the "General Sklyarov’s equestrian group", having suffered heavy losses. Moreover, from the complete extermination from cold, hunger, the hands of the red, green or Petliurites, the squadron was saved by local Jews who recognized the Crimeans in the ranks of the squadron who only 4 months ago, in these very places, attacking the Petliurites, did not offend the Jews, did not robbed and paid for billets. The team remaining in Odessa, which was supposed to ensure the loading of regimental horses onto the Vladimir steamer , was almost completely captured by the Reds and the fate of its members was tragic ^[5] .

Upon arrival in New Ushitsa, the remains of the Combined Squadron of the Crimean Horse Regiment were interned by the Polish authorities. In the spring of 1920, the Crimean Horse Regiment arrived in Crimea on the steamboat "Saratov". Due to problems with the manning of the regiment, by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, the Crimean Horse Regiment was reduced to a 3 squadron division. One of the squadrons was formed from the Tatar cavalry regiment poured into the division, into which only Crimean Tatars were enrolled. The regiment took part in breaking through the Sivash Red positions on May 25, 1920, in bloody summer battles in Northern Tavria ^[5] .

In the autumn battles to defend the Crimea, the regiment lost almost all its personnel (on the Perekop Isthmus in an unequal battle with the masses of the Red Cavalry, which came into the rear along the ice-bound Sivash , squadrons of Crimeans, Riga dragoons , Sumy and Irkutsk husses were killed). On November 1 , when the remnants of the regiment arrived in Yalta, the regiment consisted of no more than thirty people, including officers. They were joined by a small team of recovering patients and wounded. Not more than five people took advantage of Wrangel’s order, allowing to stay at home, and they helped their fellow soldiers loaded onto the ship. The horses remained on the shore, the equestrian artillery guns were thrown into the sea. November 2 transport "Crimea" sailed from the pier of Yalta with the remnants of the Crimean cavalry regiment. The steamboat “Crimea” on November 4 arrived at the raid of Constantinople , and on November 15 delivered the Crimeans to the Gallipoli camp . The Yugoslav government agreed to accept the ranks of the “Horse Corps” (to which all the horse units that ended up in Gallipoli were reduced) to serve in the border guard. At the end of the summer of 1921, the ranks of the horse corps were transported to Yugoslavia. During the 10-month stay in Gallipoli, the number of ranks of the Crimean regiment still decreased - who left for their homeland, if his native places were not captured by the Bolsheviks, who went to Brazil, the Czech Republic or to study in Europe. In Yugoslavia, there were 20 Crimean people ^[5] .

Subsequently, all the Crimeans who served in the regiment, regardless of who served when and where they were at the moment, united in the "Regimental Association of the Crimean Equestrian Her Majesty of the Regiment" ^[5] .

• Military Encyclopedia / Ed. V.F. Novitsky and others - St. Petersburg. : t. in I.V. Sytin, 1911-1915.
• Gabaev G.S. Crimean Tatars under Russian banners. Brief reference. - SPb .: Type. Imp. Nick. military man. Acad. , 1913.
• Cossack troops (Chronicles of the Guards Cossack units placed in the book "Imperial Guard") / Comp. V. Kh. Kazin , under the editorship of V.K.Shenka . - SPb. : Type. V. D. Smirnova , 1912 .-- 465 p. - (Reference book of the Imperial Headquarters ).
• Volkov S.V. Revived regiments of the Russian army in the White struggle in the South of Russia. - M .: Centerpolygraph , 2002 .-- 574 p. - (Russia forgotten and unknown - White movement). - 3,000 copies. - ISBN 5-227-01764-6 .
• Crimean Cavalry Regiment in the battles in Crimea // Resistance to Bolshevism 1917-1918. / Comp. and scientific. ed. S.V. Volkov . - M .: Tsentrpoligraf, 2001 .-- S. 363-373. - (Russia forgotten and unknown). - ISBN 5-227-01386-1 .
• Crimean equestrian Her Majesty the Sovereign Alexandra Fedorovna regiment. 1909-1934

• History reference
• Crimean Horse Regiment: For Tsar, Tsaritsa and Fatherland