The 3rd Manchurian Army () was a

field army A field army (also known as numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps. It may be subordinate to an army group. Air army, Air armies are the equivalent formations in air forces, and ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

that was established in 1904 during the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

, to operate in

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It was one of the three such armies that were created and was disbanded in February 1906.

History

After the lost

Battle of Liaoyang The () was a major land battle of the Russo-Japanese War, on the outskirts of the city of Liaoyang in present-day Liaoning Province, China. The city was of great strategic importance as the major Russian military center for southern Manchuria ...

, Tsar

Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until Abdication of Nicholas II, hi ...

decided to disband the "Manchurian Army" , that encompassed all units of the

Russian Imperial Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

formations operating in the region against the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

under just one commander, and split it up in the

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds, The Second, or (The) 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Minute and second of arc, ...

, and 3rd Manchurian Armies. Kowner (2009), pp. 220–221 The 3rd Manchurian Army was created in December 1904 under command of General Alexander von Kaulbars. It counted 72 Battalions, 19 Squadrons, 266 guns and a total of 56,773 men. On February 12, 1905, General

Alexander Bilderling Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are A ...

took over command of the Army, followed by

Mikhail Batyanov Mikhail Ivanovich Batyanov () (1835 – 5 December 1916) was a general in the Imperial Russian Army. Biography Batyanov was a graduate of the Sea Cadet Corps in 1852, and served with the Black Sea Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy in the Cauc ...

in May 1905. It participated in the

Battle of Sandepu The Battle of Sandepu (also known as the Battle of Heikoutai) ( (''Kokkōdai no kaisen''), ) was a major land battle of the Russo-Japanese War. It was fought within a group of villages about southwest of Mukden, Manchuria.Kowner, '' Historic ...

and

Battle of Mukden The , one of the largest land battles to be fought before World War I and the last and the most decisive major land battle of the Russo-Japanese War, was fought from 20 February to 10 March 1905 between Japan and Russia near Mukden ...

. After the end of the War, the 3rd Manchurian Army was disbanded in February 1906.

Order of battle

The 3rd Manchurian Army consisted of the following units :Russian Army of Manchuria

US Army Combined Arms Center The U.S. Army Combined Arms Center (USACAC) is located at Fort Leavenworth and provides leadership and supervision for leader development and professional military and civilian education; institutional and collective training; functional training ...

. * 5th Siberian Army Corps ** 54th Infantry Division ** 71st Infantry Division *

6th Siberian Army Corps Sixth is the ordinal form of the number six. * The Sixth Amendment, to the U.S. Constitution * A keg of beer, equal to 5 U.S. gallons or barrel * The fraction Music * Sixth interval (music)s: ** major sixth, a musical interval ** minor sixth ...

** 55th Infantry Division ** 72nd Infantry Division * 16th Army Corps ** 25th Infantry Division ** 41st Infantry Division * 17th Army Corps ** 3rd Infantry Division ** 35th Infantry Division

Commanders

The formation was commanded by : * 12.1904-12.02.1905 : General Alexander von Kaulbars * 12.02.1905-05.1905 : General

. * 05.1905-02.1906 : General

References

Books

*{{cite book , last = Kowner , first = Rotem , year = 2009 , title = The A to Z of the Russo-Japanese War , publisher = Scarecrow Press , isbn = 0810868415 , ref = Kowner2009 1904 establishments in the Russian Empire Armies of the Russian Empire Military units and formations established in 1904 Military units and formations disestablished in 1906