The Starving March () was the retreat of the Orenburg Independent Army under command of generals Alexander Dutov and Andrei Bakic in the winter of 1919–1920 from the area around Kokchetav over Sergiopol, through Kazakhstan towards Semirechye on the Kazakh-Chinese border.

History

The retreat began on November 22, after the Red Army captured the city of

Omsk Omsk (; , ) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia and has a population of over one million. Omsk is the third List of cities and tow ...

. As the bulk of the White Army headed East in the

Great Siberian Ice March The Great Siberian Ice March () was the name given to the winter retreat of Admiral Kolchak's Siberian Army from Omsk to Chita, in the course of the Russian Civil War between 14 November 1919 and March 1920. General Vladimir Kappel, who w ...

towards

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 ...

, the Orenburg Army took a slightly more South-Eastern direction through Kazakhstan towards Sergiopol. On December 1, Red Army troops captured Semipalatinsk, and on December 10,

Barnaul Barnaul (, ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative centre of Altai Krai, Russia, located at the confluence of the Barnaulka and Ob (river), Ob rivers in the West Siberian Plain. As of the Russian Censu ...

, thus cutting of the Army of Dutov from the main force of the White Army under Vladimir Kappel. The only way possible now, was to march south to the Semirechye, which was under control of Ataman Annenkov. On December 13 Karkaralinsk was taken by the Red Army and Dutov's troops departed from Sergiopol towards Semirechye and the Chinese border. This segment of the road (about 600 km) was the hardest, and many of the retreating Cossacks and refugees died of starvation and disease. The troops retreated in the sparsely populated, barren terrain, and had to spend the night in the open air. They had to eat horses and camels. The local population couldn't sustain thousands of extra people. The mortality from cold, famine and typhoid grew. The seriously ill were left to die in settlements, for the deceased there was no time to bury them in the frozen ground. Long day marches allowed the bulk of the army to stay ahead of the enemy, but stragglers were often attacked and killed by Kazakhs. The remains of the Orenburg Army reached Semirechye on December 31, 1919, and were met with hostility by Annenkov's Semirechye Cossacks. It is estimated that half of the 20,000 people that started the march died, and that 90% of the survivors were sick with various stages of typhus. The Orenburg Army camped in Semirechye until March. When the Red Army approached, they crossed the Chinese border between March and May 1920 together with the 4,000 Semirechye Cossacks, to be interned.

References

{{reflist Military operations of the Russian Civil War in 1919 History of Siberia 1919 in Russia White movement November 1919 December 1919 Battles involving Soviet Russia (1917–1922) Military withdrawals

History

See also

References