Baikal Cossacks were

Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...

of the Transbaikal Cossack Host (); a

Cossack host A Cossack host (; , ''kazachye voysko''), sometimes translated as Cossack army, was an administrative subdivision of Cossacks in the Russian Empire. Earlier the term ''voysko'' ( host, in a sense as a doublet of ''guest'') referred to Cossack o ...

formed in 1851 in the areas beyond

Lake Baikal Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...

(hence, Transbaikal).

Organisation

The Transbaikal Cossack Host was one of those created during the 19th century as the Russian Empire expanded to the Far East and South-East. It remained smaller than the Don Cossacks and other longer-established Hosts. The Transbaikal Cossack Host partially consisted of

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

n Cossacks,

Buryats The Buryats are a Mongolic ethnic group native to southeastern Siberia who speak the Buryat language. They are one of the two largest indigenous groups in Siberia, the other being the Yakuts. The majority of the Buryats today live in their ti ...

, Evenk (Tungus) military units, and included the

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

population of some of the regions. The military component included three

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

s and three unmounted

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

s. Its main purpose was to patrol the

Sino Sino as a prefix generally refers to: * China * Greater China * Chinese people * Two Chinas * Culture of China * History of China The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part ...

-Russian border and perform everyday military duties in the region. The official leader of the Transbaikal Cossack Host had the title of ''Nakazny

ataman Ataman (variants: ''otaman'', ''wataman'', ''vataman''; ; ) was a title of Cossack and haidamak leaders of various kinds. In the Russian Empire, the term was the official title of the supreme military commanders of the Cossack armies. The Ukra ...

'' ("the one who was appointed"). From 1872 he also served as military governor of the Transbaikal

oblast An oblast ( or ) is a type of administrative division in Bulgaria and several post-Soviet states, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Historically, it was used in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The term ''oblast'' is often translated i ...

, which had with its

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

in Chita. In the early 20th century, the Transbaikal Cossack Host normally supplied one ''polusotnya'' (fifty men) of guards for rural policing work, four cavalry regiments, and two batteries in time of peace. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the Host expanded to one polusotnya, nine cavalry regiments, four batteries, and three reserve ''sotnyas'' (each of one hundred men). In 1916, the Cossack population of the Transbaikal Cossack Host numbered 265,000 people, out of which 14,500 men served in the military.

History

The Transbaikal Cossack Army is known to have participated in the suppression of the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...

in 1899–1901, 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 ...

of 1904–1905, and

. Many of the Cossack divisions were disbanded in 1917, but were recreated in 1918. During the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

, the more prosperous Cossacks joined the ranks of the

anti-Soviet Anti-Sovietism or anti-Soviet sentiment are activities that were actually or allegedly aimed against the Soviet Union or government power within the Soviet Union. Three common uses of the term include the following: * Anti-Sovietism in inter ...

armies of

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Grigory Semenov and baron Roman Ungern. The poorer Cossacks took an active part in the

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

movement. In 1920 at the end of the

, the Transbaikal Cossack Host was disbanded. However, the remnant of Baikal Cossacks fled to

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 ...

and some of their troops came under the command of the Japanese

Manchukuo Imperial Army The Manchukuo Imperial Army ( zh, s=滿洲國軍, p=Mǎnzhōuguó jūn) was the army of Manchukuo, a puppet state established by the Empire of Japan in Manchuria. Established in 1932, it was primarily involved in counterinsurgency operations agai ...

in order to resist Soviet Union.

Distinctions

The distinguishing colour of the Transbaikal Cossack Host was yellow; worn on the cap bands,

epaulette Epaulette (; also spelled epaulet) is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia of rank by armed forces and other organizations. Flexible metal epaulettes (usually made from brass) are referred to as ''shoulder scale ...

s and wide trouser stripes of a dark green uniform of the loose-fitting cut common to the Steppe Cossacks. Individual regiments were distinguished by numbers on the epaulettes. High lambs-wool hats (papakha) were worn on occasion, with yellow cloth tops. From 1908 the new khaki service jacket of the regular Russian cavalry was adopted, but the yellow shoulder straps of the full dress uniform were retained, as was yellow piping on the blue/grey breeches.

References

{{authority control Ethnic groups in Russia Cossack hosts Transbaikal Oblast 1851 establishments in the Russian Empire