Bicherakhov, Lazar Fedorovich

Ossetian from the Cossacks of the village of Novo-Ossetian Terek region , the son of the conductor of His Imperial Majesty’s Convoy Fedor Bicherahov. The godfather of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, was friends with his godfather, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna. He graduated from the first real school in St. Petersburg and the Alekseevsky military school in Moscow .

He served in the 1st Gorsko-Mozdok Regiment of the Terek Cossack Army (1911-1914) of the 1st Caucasian Cossack Division , whose headquarters was in the town of Olta, Kars Region . In 1912, L. Bicherahov had the rank of centurion ^[1] . In 1909-1912, as part of his regiment, L. Bicherahov participated in the Persian campaign , for military distinction, the centurion Lazar Bicherahov was awarded the Order of Vladimir of the fourth degree with swords and a bow, and in October 1912 he was promoted to subaural.

Member of the First World War . By the highest order of August 3, 1914, he was dismissed in the rank of sub-priest from the service “for illness” with a pension ^[2] , but after a while he was called up to the additionally formed 2nd Gorsko-Mozdok Regiment. In February 1915 he was promoted to Yesaul. Since May 1915 L.F. Bicherakhov was at the disposal of his godfather, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, who commanded the Caucasian Indigenous Horse Division. By the highest order of September 29, 1915, "for differences in matters against the enemy," he was promoted from Yesaul to army foreman with seniority from January 19, 1915 ^[3] .

In 1916-1918 he served in the expeditionary force of General Baratov in Persia - commander of the Terek Cossack detachment with the rank of military foreman. He made a successful campaign in Mesopotamia to subordinate it to the British. The British promised assistance to the widows and orphans of his squad. He was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir , 4th class ^[4] .

At the beginning of 1918 he formed a small detachment in Persia (about a thousand people), which concluded a temporary alliance with the British. The British were worried about the loss of initiative in the Caucasus : their adversary, Germany , had just invaded Georgia , so they agreed to finance Bicherakhov’s activities. In parallel, Bicherakhov entered into negotiations with the Baku commissioners . Trying to save the situation, the Bolsheviks accepted his offer to help the allied Turks, and, accordingly, the Germans, in the struggle against the troops of the Caucasian Islamic Army advancing on Baku . On July 5, the “Partisan detachment of Bicherakhov” arrived in Alat via the port of Enzeli by sea , and on July 7 was sent to the front ^[5] . Cossacks occupied the right flank of the defense of Baku, L.F. Bicherakhov himself was appointed commander of the Baku commune under the general leadership of the commissar for military and naval affairs of the Baku SNK, Bolshevik G. N. Korganov . However, the detachment of the Red Guards G.K. Petrov did not obey Lazar Bicherakhov, a confusion arose between the Bolsheviks, Dashnaks and Cossacks. At the same time, Bicherakhov was against inviting the British troops to Baku, he counted on the reinforcements from the RSFSR promised by Stepan Shaumyan . On July 30, Bicherakhov, abandoned by the Red and Armenian units in the encirclement, realized the futility of military operations against the Turkish and allied Azerbaijani troops of the Caucasian Islamic Army without reinforcements from Russia ^[6] , and left with his detachment in Dagestan , thereby exposing the northern sector of the front, but hoping to send reinforcements from Dagestan to Baku. “I refused command of the army of deserters and cowards,” he wrote to his brother G.F. Bicherahov. In total, during the period of fighting, according to Bicherakhov himself, his detachment lost more than 100 people.

With his detachment of Cossacks, Russians and Armenians, Bicherahov entered July 30, 1918 in Dagestan, where he was met with extreme hostility by the Bolsheviks. The vanguard of the detachment was disarmed by the Reds, officers were arrested. As a result of hostilities, Bicherakhov defeated the Soviet troops of the Provisional Dagestan Regional Executive Committee under the command of M. Dakhadayev and captured Derbent and Port Petrovsk (Makhachkala). The dictatorship of the Central Caspian, controlling Baku, declared Bicherakhov the commander of the front forces and transferred the Caspian flotilla to his disposal. In August 1918, he organized and headed the government of the Caucasus-Caspian Union, which included nine representatives (two from the Terek Cossack-Peasant Government , two from the Trans-Caspian Executive Committee , two from Mugani and Lankaran and one from the cities of Petrovsk, Derbent and the Armenian National Council), recognized the Ufa directory . The general political goals of the new state formation were announced: the restoration of Russian statehood and the reunification of disparate areas of the "Russian Democratic Republic"; the continuation of the struggle against German-Turkish aggression in accordance with the Allies; restoring order and enforcing the rule of law on the foundations that existed before October 25, 1917. The views of L. Bicherakhov during this period were temperate leftist, therefore he did not submit to General A. Denikin . As Denikin recalled, General Bricherakhov told General Grishin-Almazov: “I’m fighting the Turks and Germans, I don’t take part in the civil war and I’m ready to contact the Reds.” Bicherakhov’s troops were reorganized into the Caucasian Army, which defended Port Petrovsk from parts of the Caucasian Islamic Army, detachments of Dagestan and Chechen rebels. Gotsinsky temporarily recaptured Port Petrovsk from him, but Bicherakhov did not repel him by force, but agreed that Gotsinsky would return the city, and, like the Mountain Republic , would be on his side. By the interim All-Russian Government (Ufa Directory), Bicherakhov was promoted to major general and appointed "commander of Russian forces in the Caspian region and in the areas liberated by him from the Bolsheviks." Took Nalchik and railway. line Cool - Mozdok - Kizlyar. ^[7] The Kizlyar captured by the Bolsheviks stormed the formations of the Bicherakhists, the commander assisted the rebellious Terek Cossacks of Georgy Bicherakhov, the detachments of A. Shkuro and Z. Dautokov-Serebryakov, the Armenian troops of General Andranik , distributing weapons received from the British between them ^[8] . The government of L.F. Bicherakhov from September 1918 until the arrival of Turkish troops was recognized by the dictator of Dagestan, Nukh-Bek Tarkovsky , Russian rebels Mugani and Trans-Caspian anti-Soviet forces. So, when the Baku commissioners were delivered to Krasnovodsk , the representative of the head of the Trans-Caspian government Funtikov in Krasnovodsk, engineer Kun, asked Bicherakhov what to do. Bicherakhov replied, “I approve of the Tribunal of the Military Field Court.” And, although the British wanted to use the Baku commissars as hostages, Kun ordered that they be shot for surrendering Baku to the Turks without trial. In October 1918, the Caucasian army of L. Bicherahov retreated from Derbent under the pressure of the Turkish units of the Caucasian Islamic Army and mountain rebels who invaded Dagestan .

On November 11, 1918, the troops of General Bicherakhov (up to 60 thousand people, along with civilians) left Port Petrovsk and arrived in Baku. With the defeat of the German-Turkish bloc in World War I, Britain refused to supply and finance Russian forces in Transcaucasia. In January 1919, the detachment of L. Bicherakhov was transferred to Batum , where in April 1919 it was disbanded. The personnel and property of the detachment were transferred to the replenishment of the All-Union Socialist League . But Bicherahov became a general in the British army. Bicherakhov paid 273 thousand rubles to the members of the liquidation commission, headed by Major General Yakovlev, who, on her own initiative, was involved in processing the documents of the Caucasian Front in order to “hand them over to the Russian authorities for future reports.” 300 thousand rubles were sent to the commander of the detachment of Armenian partisans Andranik. 700 thousand rubles were allocated to Armenian refugees in Zangezur. In total, he handed out 70 million rubles (to Tertsians - 20, Urals - 5, Transcaspia - 5, Kabardian people - 1, Dagestanis - 2, Armenian partisan Andranik - 1, Mughans - 20, railway workers, city governments, wounded, orphans and refugees - about 15 million rubles. L. F. Bicherakhov himself stayed in England as a supporter of the “one and indivisible”, tried to find and save his friend Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, distributed money to various anti-Bolshevik parties, after meeting with Lord Curzon and the British refusing to fulfill the data in Mesopotamia promises went to Paris so he stayed in England, unlike his brother, was unable to enlist in VSYUR and was not, therefore, arrested in 1920 emigrated to.. France , bred and exported to England worms for fishing then it worked. he was a cook in a small driver’s restaurant with an Ossetian compatriot, he lived in Germany since 1928. Since he was considered responsible for the death of Baku commissars, he could not return to the USSR ^[9] .

Since the late 1930s, together with Tambi Elekhoti and Alikhan Kantemir, he led the North Caucasus National Committee in Germany. At the end of World War II , according to some accounts, he headed the department of the North Caucasian peoples of CONR .

He died in 1952 in Dornstadt near Ulm .

• Order of St. Stanislav 3rd degree with swords and bow (04/19/1915) ^[10] .
• Order of St. Anne of the 2nd degree with swords (05.21.1915) ^[11] .
• Order of St. Anne of the 3rd degree with swords and bow (06/26/1915) ^[12] .
• Order of St. Vladimir 4th degree.

• Bicherakhovs / A.V. Ganin // Big Russian Encyclopedia : [in 35 vols.] / Ch. ed. Yu.S. Osipov . - M .: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 2004—2017.
• Bezgolny A. Yu. General Bicherakhov and his Caucasian army. 1917-1919. - M .: Tsentrpoligraf, 2011. - (Russia forgotten and unknown. Golden collection). - 416 p. - ISBN 978-5-227-02536-4 .
• Bicherakhovschina // Berezna - Botokuda - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1950. - S. 236-237. - (The Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 51 vols.] / Ch. Ed. S.I. Vavilov ; 1949-1958, vol. 5).
• Nikitin B.V. The Fatal Years. Chapter 9 “Forgotten Graves”. Paris. 1937