Steppe March

Steppe March
Part of the Southern Front of the Russian Civil War

Steppe March medal
DateFebruary 25, 1918 – May 18, 1918
Location
Don Host Oblast, Southern Russia
Result Survival of the Don Army
Belligerents
Russia Don Army Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic Red Army
Commanders and leaders
Russia Piotr Popov
Russia Ivan Popov		 Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic Boris Dumenko
Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic Fedor Podtieklov
Strength
1,727 Unknown
Casualties and losses
81 men Unknown

The Steppe March (Russian: Степной поход) was a successful military withdrawal by the Don Cossacks in spring 1918 towards the steppe around the Sal River to ensure their survival since they were being attacked by the Red Army.

In January and February 1918, the Red Army had conducted the successful Donbass-Don Operation. Rostov-on-Don was occupied on February 23, and the Cossack capital of Novocherkassk on February 25. Don Cossack Ataman Alexei Kaledin killed himself on 11 February 1918.

The Volunteer Army, under the command of Generals Mikhail Alekseyev and Lavr Kornilov, retreated during the Ice March to the Kuban. Field Ataman Pyotr Popov's Don Cossacks wanted to stay in the Don River region and instead departed toward the Sal River on 26 February. Popov's force included 1500 Cossacks, five guns, and 40 machine guns. On 23 April, the 's force, now diminished to 1000, linked up with K. S. Poliakov's Zaplavskaia Army at Konstantinovskaia. From the combined force, Popov organized Southern, Northern and Trans-Don army groups, under S. V. Denisov, Semiletov, and Semenov respectively.

On 6 May, the Southern group helped capture Novocherkassk, which coincided with the German advance and the arrival of Mikhail Drozdovsky's men from Romania.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kenez, Peter (2004). Red Attack, White Resistance; Civil War in South Russia 1918. Washington, DC: New Academia Publishing. pp. 95, 101, 124, 131. ISBN 9780974493442.
  2. ↑ Chamberlin, William (1935). The Russian Revolution, 1917-1921. New York: The Macmillan Company. pp. 386–387.