Raid Charpentier

The operation was undertaken on the initiative of the commander of the Caucasian Army, General N. N. Yudenich , to alleviate the situation of the Azerbaijani detachment , which fought against Turkish troops and Kurdish tribes ^[1] .

Yudenich believed that “the appearance of an impressive mass of regular cavalry among the militant Kurdish tribes, its harmonious and endless movement will make a strong impression on the half-savages”, forcing them to abandon hostile actions against Russia for a long time, and also help to quickly clear the Turks of Lake Urmia ^{[1 ]} .

The Charpentier squad should go around the lake from Tauris to Urmia , impress the inhabitants, and in case of resistance, deliver the necessary blows. The Azerbaijani detachment of General F.G. Chernozubov was tasked with defeating the forces of Halil Bey and expelling the Turks from Persian territory. At the end of the operation, the infantry units of the Azerbaijan detachment and the equestrian group were to join the 4th Caucasian Army Corps , preparing to attack the Manzikert ^[2] .

To carry out the operation, the Caucasian Cavalry Division ^[3], Lieutenant General Charpentier, who received the general command of the detachment, and the 3rd Trans-Baikal Cossack Brigade ^{[4] of} General K. N. Stoyanovsky , transported by rail from Kars to Julfa , and then arrived in Tauris ^[5] .

The most serious problem for organizing a campaign of a large number of cavalry was the supply of forage, especially hay, which was cumbersome to transport. This problem was partially addressed by the fact that the raid took place in May, when the grass in the foothills was not yet completely burnt out by the sun, and in the places where the group passed there was a sufficient amount of barley ^[2] .

On May 6 (19), an equestrian group of 36 squadrons and hundreds, 12 mountain, 10 horse guns, 8 machine guns, concentrated in Tauris. There, the units stood until May 10 (23), organizing camel transport for the delivery of cartridges, since almost the entire wheeled convoy remained in the rear ^[5] .

On May 9 (22), the Transbaikal Cossack brigade marched at the forefront, and the next day, the Caucasian Cavalry Division. Moving south along the coast of Urmia, a detachment on May 12–13 (25–26) gathered at Miandoaba . These two days were spent on crossing the Jagatu River, which in May spread to half a breadth and had no fords ^[6] .

After crossing, the whole detachment concentrated near Miandoaba, on May 14 (27) he moved to Souch-Bulag , in the area of ​​the village of Amirabad, he met a detachment of 10 companies of Turkish infantry and several hundred Kurds, whom the Charpentier division easily overturned and pursued until dark ^{[6] [7]} .

On May 15 (28), after a small skirmish, Soach-Bulag was occupied, which almost all the inhabitants left. The building of the Russian consulate, set ablaze by the Kurds, was burned down, the consul himself, Colonel Yas, the Kurds were killed a few days before the arrival of the Russians, and his head was driven at the peak in neighboring villages ^[6] .

On May 17 (30), the detachment occupied Negede , the next day approached Oshnevie, where the Turkish gendarme battalion and the Kurds showed stronger resistance, but were defeated and fled in the direction of Mosul . On May 20 (June 2), the group turned north, for two crossings along mountain trails, reached Urmia, occupying which, stood there for a week. On this, the task of cleansing the Urmia region was completed. Khalil Bey's troops hastily retreated to Turkish territory, pursued by the Russian infantry ^[6] .

The movement of horse mass made a tremendous impression on the semi-wild Kurds and in general on the entire population of the region. The long, harmonious movement of the mass of cavalry with a large number of artillery and machine guns, endless columns, in the imagination of the local population took on enormous proportions.

- Maslovsky E.V. World War on the Caucasian Front, p. 164.

Chernozubov pulled Charpentier’s detachment towards Dilman , from where, after careful preparation on June 1-3 (14-16), the cavalry of the 4th (17th) moved to Van , where it arrived on June 6 (19). From there she walked on the 10th (23rd) along the eastern and northern shores of Lake Van and on the 13th (26th) arrived in Adiljevaz . On the way from Dilman there was not a single collision with the Kurds ^[8] .

The demonstration of Russian military power made the Kurds pacify for some time and allowed the infantry of the Azerbaijani detachment to be transferred to participate in the battle at Manzikert , however, the Russian emigrant memoirists exaggerate the impression that was made on the "half-savages", which General Maslovsky gives a very expressive characteristic:

Kurds - people are primitive, wild, at a very low degree of culture; they are nomads, predators and do not possess the chivalrous traits that so often distinguishes nomads. They do not accept a stubborn battle, act in an equestrian system and hurryly fight only at long distances; but if they are in very great superiority, they are made bold; prisoners are not taken and the wounded are killed, after having mutilated.

- Maslovsky E.V. World War on the Caucasian Front, p. 27.

Already in September, when the summer heat began to subside, and rumors appeared about the upcoming new Turkish invasion, the Kurds revived and began shelling Cossack patrols. The Transbaikal brigade, transferred to Azerbaijan in July, at the end of the Battle of Manzikert, was drawn into constant skirmishes with robbers by the end of the year ^[9] .

• Maslovsky E.V. World War on the Caucasian Front. - Paris: Renaissance, 1933
• Strelyanov (Kalabukhov) P.N. Cossacks in Persia. 1909-1918 - M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2007 .-- 442 p. - (Russia forgotten and unknown). - ISBN 978-5-9524-3057-0
• Shishov A.V. Persian Front (1909-1918). Undeservedly forgotten victories. - M .: Veche, 2010. - (Military secrets of the XX century). - ISBN 978-5-9533-4866-9