Kaulbars, Alexander Vasilyevich

Descended from a baronial family of Swedish descent who owned the estate of Medders in Estonia. The son of Lieutenant-General Vasily Romanovich Kaulbars and Alexandra Feodorovna Drezen; the grandson of the General of Infantry F. V. Drizen , the brother of the General of the Infantry Nikolai Kaulbars .

He received his education at the Nikolaevsk School of Guards Cadets (1861) and the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff (1868). Entered service on 06/16/1861 by an ensign (06/06/1861) in the Life Guards Gatchina Regiment . Member of the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1863 . Second Lieutenant (19.05.1863). The lieutenant (08/30/1866).

Transferred to the General Staff with an appointment to serve in the headquarters of the Semipalatinsk region , in 1870 Kaulbars was put in charge of the embassy sent to Gulja to establish friendly relations with Khan Abil-Ogly , and in 1871 participated in the Kuldja expedition of General Kolpakovsky , during which he was wounded during the assault on Chinchakhoji fortress.

In 1872, Kaulbars was put in charge of the embassy sent to Kashgar to conclude a trade agreement with Yakub Bek , and in 1873 he took part in the Khiva campaign , for which he was awarded gold weapons.

Made in that year as a colonel and appointed chief of staff of the 8th Cavalry Division , which was part of the Ruschuksky detachment, Kaulbars took part in the war with Turkey in 1877-1878. . He became famous for capturing the Turkish steamboat “Questionnaire” on the Danube with the departure of the 8th Uhlansky regiment , made a number of reconnaissance of the Danube, Nikopol, Rushchuk, Osikovskaya positions and Popkiyoy. At the last locality, on July 23, 1877, the battle was fought, leading the Sofia Second Infantry Regiment . Participated in battles and shootouts at Flamunda, Nikopol , Thurn-Magurelli, Ayaslyar, Haydarkoia, Pisenza, Jezerdzhi , Omurkioya, Popkiya, Braknitsa, Kizylyar, Araklar, on the river. Kara-Lome, Osikov and Onak, and with the 8th Cavalry Division made a winter campaign in the Balkans.

After the end of hostilities, Kaulbars was appointed a member of the international commission to determine the borders of Serbia in the Berlin Treaty . Produced in 1880 as a major general with the appointment of the commander of the 1st brigade of the 14th cavalry division, Kaulbars in 1882 was called up to the post of minister of war in the principality of Bulgaria , and in 1883 served there as chairman of the council of ministers and regent of the principality.

After the recall of Russian officers from Bulgaria, Kaulbars returned to Russia and was appointed commander of the 1st brigade , 1st Cove. division , in 1891 - the head of the 15th kav. divisions , in 1897 - commander of the Second Cavalry Corps , and in 1900 - commander of the II Siberian Army Corps . The last appointment gave Kaulbars the opportunity to take part in hostilities in China to suppress the boxing uprising of 1900-1901. The result of four trips under the personal command of the general was the cleansing of the north of Manchuria from the rebels and the restoration of communication with Port Arthur .

After the end of hostilities in China, Kaulbars, who was made cavalry general in 1901, was appointed assistant commander of the Odessa military district . In 1904, he took the post of commander of the district troops, and on October 23 of the same year, during the Russian-Japanese war, he was put in charge of the 3rd Manchurian army. In February 1905, he was given command of the 2nd Manchurian Army, and at the end of the war he returned to the post of commander of the troops of the Odessa Military District . His actions during the Mukden operation provoked strong criticism from Kuropatkin , who blamed Kaulbars for her failure. Subsequently, in 1909, his behavior under Mukden was the subject of investigation by the special presence of the Military Council, whom Kaulbars was appointed as a member on 12/23/1909 ^[3] .

During the revolution of 1905-1907, Kaulbars established himself as one of the leaders of the Odessa monarchists ^[4] .

In 1912, Kaulbars was assigned to the retinue of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich to attend the maneuvers of the French troops and to study the staging of military aeronautics in France. He became keenly interested in aviation issues and has since devoted all his activities to them. Even when he was his commander in Odessa, he founded there in 1907-1908. the first Russian flying club himself flew several times on aerostats, airships and airplane in Russia, France and England.

In World War I was at the disposal of the commander of the North-Western Front (August 1914). Simultaneously (from October 6, 1914 to October 21, 1915) he was the head of the organization of aviation business in the armies of the North-Western Front. Until the end of 1915, he was actually entrusted with the entire leadership of the aviation of the active army.

After the Bolsheviks seized power, he left for the South of Russia . From October 15, 1918 in the Volunteer Army (in the Odessa Center; approved February 2, 1919 as a reserve army). From July 2, 1919, in the reserve of the ranks at the headquarters of the Commander- in- Chief of the All-Soviet Union of Civil Defense . Evacuated to Constantinople . Then he lived in Bulgaria and France. In Paris, he worked until the end of his life in the office of the Private Wireless Telegraph Society He was the honorary chairman of the Union of Russian pilots.

He died in emigration in France, in Paris, on January 25, 1925 (according to a number of sources — in 1929 ^{[5] [6]} ). Buried in the cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve de Bois .

He spent a significant part of his service in the Turkestan region, devoting a lot of time to various geographical works and studies; so, in 1869, he was the first to visit the main source of the Syr Darya River and then surveyed an almost unknown part of the country, lying behind the lake. Issyk-Kul ; the results of the journey are set forth in the monograph “Materials on the Geography of Tien Shan”, for which the author was awarded a gold medal to the IRGO.

In 1870, he traveled around a part of the Russian-Chinese border, and he explored many new mountain passes of the Tien Shan and the city of Khan-Tengri , the greatest peak of this part of the ridge. In the years 1870-1871. visited China , and in 1872, as ambassador of the governor-general, Gulja , for talks with her ruler Yakub-bek , and not only the peace talks were brought to a favorable end, but also geographical data about the distance traveled were replenished.

In 1873, Alexander Vasilievich Kaulbars took part in the Khiva campaign and explored the delta and the old beds of the Amu Darya , and successfully found a navigable route from the Aral Sea to the river, along which the Perovsky steamer was navigated . After finishing this work, Kaulbars took up the study of Yana-Darya, the dry bed of the Syr Darya . The results of these works are set forth by him in the works: “The lower reaches of the Amudarya” (with atlas) and “The oldest channels of the Amudarya”; The author’s main conclusions, the Amu Darya, first flowed into the Caspian Sea , and began to carry its waters into the Aral Sea later, between these two periods, the river flowed into the Sary-Kamysh River , from where excess water flowed into the Krasnovodsk Bay along the Uzba .

In 1880, for his scientific studies on the lower reaches of the Amu-Darya, A. V. Kaulbars was awarded a gold medal named after F. P. Litke . He is also the author of a number of military scientific works.

• Order of St. Stanislav 2nd degree (1870)
• Order of St. Vladimir of the 4th degree with swords and bow (1871)
• Order of St. Anne 2nd Class (1872)
• The Golden Weapon (01/09/1874)
• Order of St. Vladimir of the 3rd degree with swords (1877)
• Order of St. Stanislav 1st Class (1882)
• Order of St. Anne 1st Class (1886)
• Order of St. Vladimir of the 2nd degree (1890)
• Order of the White Eagle (1898)
• Order of St. Alexander Nevsky with swords (1901)
• Diamond Signs to the Order of Alexander Nevsky (12/06/1907)
• Order of St. Vladimir 1st degree (12/06/1914)

1. Note by Captain Baron Kaulbars about Gulja. Central State Historical Archive of the Republic of Uzbekistan (TSGARU), f. 715, op. 1. d. 46, l. 78 - 91.
2. Drive to Gulja. Turkestan Gazette (TV), 1871, No. 12.
3. Brief information on two trips made by the captain of the General Staff Baron Kaulbars to the western part of the Tien Shan and to the Musart passage. IIRGO, 1871, t. VII, py. 4, s. 173-178.
4. Embassy in Kashgar (Jityshar) in 1872. TV, 1872, No. 22, 25.
5. From Kashgar. TV, 1872, No. 28.
6. Chimbay in the Amu Darya delta. TV, 1872, No. 48.
7. Wheel track through the Tien Shan. Russian Invalid (RI), 1873, No. 45.
8. Notes on the Guldja Region. Materials for statistics of the Turkestan region, vol. Ii. SPb., * 1873, p. 115-150.
9. Materials on the geography of the Tien Shan, collected during the 1869 voyage by the founding member of the Central Asian Society, Baron A.V. Kaulbars. Notes IRGO, 1875, vol. V, p. 253-539.
10. Intelligence service in the 8th Cavalry Division. Russian Invalid, 1876, No. 123.
11. For questions regarding cavalry. Military Collection, 1879, № 3.
12. Field trip officers of the 14th and 6th cavalry divisions in the Warsaw Military District. B. m., 1880.
13. The lower reaches of the Amu-Darya, described by his own research in 1873. Notes of the IRGO, 1881, t. IX.
14. The earliest channels of the Amu-Darya. SPb., 1887.
15. Advanced Squadrons. Receptions cavalry. SPb., 1888, 2nd ed., 1900
16. Cavalry. Thoughts and work. SPb., 1903.

• Baron Kaulbars Alexander Vasilievich // List of generals by seniority . Compiled on April 15, 1914. - Petrograd: Military printing house of Empress Catherine the Great, 1914. - p. 21.
• The track record of the general from the cavalry of baron A.V. Kaulbars according to comp. on December 29, 1915 RGVIA, f. 409, op. 1, d. 295–596 (1915)
• Personal Fund A. V. Kaulbars. RGVIA, f. 203, 1604–1916, 53 items xp
• "BUT. V. Kaulbars. Scout, 1891, No. 55.
• Kaulbars // Military Encyclopedia : [in 18 t.] / Ed. VF Novitsky [et al.]. - SPb. ; [ M. ]: Type. t-islands I. D. Sytin , 1911-1915.
• Kaulbars, Alexander Vasilievich // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : 86 tons (82 tons and 4 extras). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Terentiev, M. А. The History of the Conquest of Central Asia T. 1-3. Spb., 1903-1906.
• Baskhanov MK The policy of England and Russia in relation to the state of Yakub Bek in East Turkestan (60 - 70s of the XIX century). Dis. on the competition uch. step. to. ist. n M., Institute of the Far East, USSR Academy of Sciences, 1991.
• Zhdanko T. A. Karakalpak in scientific studies of the period of their accession to Russia (1873–1874). - Central Asian ethnographic collection, vol. Iv. V.M., Science, 2001, c. 13 - 19.
• Volkov S.V. Officers of the Russian Guard. M., 2002
• Zalessky K.A. Who was who in the First World War. - M .: AST ; Astrel, 2003. - 896 p. - 5000 copies - ISBN 5-17-019670-9 (ACT); ISBN 5-271-06895-1 (Astrel).
• Baskhanov MK Russian military orientalists until 1917. Bibliographic dictionary. M., Eastern literature, 2005.

• Kaulbars, Alexander Vasilyevich (Neopr.) . // Project "Russian Army in the Great War."