The 1st Army Corps (russian: 1-й армейский корпус) was one of the main formations of the Armed Forces of South Russia (russian: Вооружённых Сил Юга России, ВСЮР; VSUR) during the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

. Formed in November 1918, it was first established as part of a reorganization of the White movement's

Volunteer Army The Volunteer Army (russian: Добровольческая армия, translit=Dobrovolcheskaya armiya, abbreviated to russian: Добрармия, translit=Dobrarmiya) was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from ...

History

On 16 April 1920, it was organized from the remnants of the

(known as the Volunteer Corps) in Crimea when

Pyotr Wrangel Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel (russian: Пётр Никола́евич барон Вра́нгель, translit=Pëtr Nikoláevič Vrángel', p=ˈvranɡʲɪlʲ, german: Freiherr Peter Nikolaus von Wrangel; April 25, 1928), also known by his ni ...

reorganized the White forces in Crimea, known as the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Force ...

, into numbered army corps. The Volunteer Corps included all non-Cossack units evacuated from Novorossiysk by the end of March.

Order of Battle

The 1st Army Corps was the strongest of the four army corps, and was commanded by Alexander Kutepov. It included: * the Kornilov Division * the Drozdovsky Division * the Markov Division * the small Separate Cavalry Brigade (redesignated the 2nd Cavalry Division on 28 April) * the 1st Separate Heavy Artillery Battalion * the 1st Separate Positional Artillery Battalion (formed from the headquarters of the Alekseyev Artillery Brigade) * a Separate sapper company * the 5th Separate Telegraph Company.

Reorganisation

July

On 7 July, the

6th Infantry Division 6th Division may refer to: Infantry divisions * 6th Division (Australia) * 6th Division (Austria) *6th (United Kingdom) Division * Finnish 6th Division (Winter War) *Finnish 6th Division (Continuation War) * 6th Division (Reichswehr) * 6th Divisi ...

joined the corps, and the 2nd Cavalry Division was transferred to the Cavalry Corps.

September

On 4 September, it became part of the new

1st Army First Army may refer to: China * New 1st Army, Republic of China * First Field Army, a Communist Party of China unit in the Chinese Civil War * 1st Group Army, People's Republic of China Germany * 1st Army (German Empire), a World War I field Arm ...

when Wrangel split the Russian Army into two armies. Kutepov took command of the 1st Army, and Pyotr Pisaryev became corps commander.

Operational history

During its attacks in northern

Taurida The recorded history of the Crimean Peninsula, historically known as ''Tauris'', ''Taurica'' ( gr, Ταυρική or Ταυρικά), and the ''Tauric Chersonese'' ( gr, Χερσόνησος Ταυρική, "Tauric Peninsula"), begins around the ...

, the corps lost 23% of its strength in three days.

Known commanders

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Boris Kasanovich (15 November 1918 − 13 January 1919) *Lieutenant General Alexander Kutepov (13 January 1919 − August 1920) *Lieutenant General Pyotr Pisaryev (August 1920 − December 1920) *Lieutenant General Vladimir Vitkovsky (from 8 December 1920)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *

Sources

* ''Levitov M. N.'
Kornilovites in action, summer-autumn 1919
* ''Larionov V. A.'

* ''Trushnovich A. R.'

* ''Turkul A. V.'

* Historian S. V. Volkov's site

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Military units and formations of White Russia (Russian Civil War)