Uniforms and symbols of the White Army in the years of the RCW are one of the least studied topics in Soviet/Russian Uniformology. Details of the uniform, distinct badges, and the system of awards until recently was practically unknown. Now we are able answer questions, according to the history, organization, and composition of units, by region. In this article, we will try to shed light on the colored units – specifically, the White Guard units formed in southern Russia. We will trace both the evolution of these units and their conduct in war.
Their unofficial, but popular designations of these forces comes from the characteristic color of the uniform and its details. "Colored" Regiments, Batteries, Brigades, and Divisions carried the name of their overall commander – Generals Kornilov, Markov, Alekseev, Drosdovskiy – and that's why they were also called "named" units. The beginning of all these units is found in the Dobrovol'cheskiy (Volunteer) Army, which was formed in 1919 as the "Armed Forces of South Russia" or VSYuR.
The general, most distinct detail of the uniforms from the VSYuR is the chevron with the "Russian National Colors" (white-blue-red), sewn on with the point down on the left sleeve on all types of uniforms. This chevron was established 10 (23) January 1918.
It seems that there wasn't an exact position on regulations for uniforms. All members of the "colored" units wore, at the front lines and in the rear, the uniform that was similar to the one's that existed in the former Russian Army. Predominant articles are from arbitrary samples and only in general precincts was there anything that resembled regulations. From 1919, the forces obtained the complete British uniform.
Articles of a usual color were widely distributed in black & white blouses (earlier, they were long coats and quilted coats), dark blue and black riding breeches. As it fell out, there were several nuances, such that the Kornilovtsi practically never had white blouses. The Markov's did not have the dark blue riding breeches. The Alekseevs did not have the black riding breeches and the Drozdovskiy's almost never had black uniform items. The most common characteristics of variations we tried to show in our illustrations.
On the black blouse chest flap (overlap), cuffs, pocket vents, and the lower edges of the collar, there was a white highlight (lower edge). On the white and khaki blouses, such a highlight was the color of the unit: Kornilov and Markov – black, Drozdovskiy – raspberry, Alekseev – light-blue. Most distinctive of the units was the color of the wheel caps (furazhka) and shoulder boards (shown in the separate full-color picture), lower ranks of infantry and artillery wore generally non-peaked caps. Several Kornilovtsi and Marovtsi wore black, white, or brown Caucasus cherkaski (long coats) and beshmets (quilted coats), black or white Kuban with a top of the unit's color.
It follows to note that the closer officers were to battle, the more conforming there uniforms would be. This was to instill bravery in combat.
Here's a short history of "colored" formations and details about their uniforms.
19 May 1917, under order from the 8th Army Command, General Lieutenant L.G. Kornilov was to form the 1st Shock Detachment (later the Kornilov Shock Detachment) from volunteers. This was completed by the middle of June. From 1 August, the detachment numbered such that it reformed to become the Kornilov Shock Regiment. On 10 September it was renamed as the 1st Russian Shock (Regiment) and on 30 September, renamed again as the 1st Slavic Shock Regiment. After the official dissolution of the Regiment, part of its members made their way to the Don. New Cherkassk, where in the end of December 1917, the Regiment was re-established under the name of the Slavic-Kornilov Shock Regiment. In 1918, they were labelled the Kornilov Shock Regiment. In 1918, as part of the Dobrovol'cheskiy (Volunteer) Army, the Kornilov Shock Regiment already took part in the 1st "Ledyaniy" and 2nd "Kuban" Campaigns and in January 1919, was transferred to the Donbass.
In July, the 2nd and in August, the 3rd Shock Regiments were formed. All were part of the Kornilov Shock Brigade and that became the Kornilov Shock Division. In it, on 10 November, was formed the Artillery of General Kornilov Brigade. In December in Azov, the 4th Kornilov Shock Regiment was formed, but almost completely destroyed in battle at the end of February 1920 and never reformed. In the campaign of 1920, the Kornilov Shock Division took an active part in many battles. After the evacuation of the Crimea in Gallipoli (Turkey) 14 (27) November. From the Kornilov Shock Regiment Artillerymen, the Kornilov Artillery Division was formed.
The Project of the first uniform for the Kornilov Shock Detachment was established 31 July 1917 by Kornilov himself, previously from the high command. The complete uniform for officers consisted of a khaki wheel cap, long coat, and pants with white highlights. The colored furazhka (wheel cap) had a black crown and two color black/red (lower upper) band and off-white edging. Silver shoulder boards had black highlights (mounts) and black/red space. Tabs on the great coat also were black/red with white mounts. Soldiers usually had the Army uniform black/red shoulder boards (see drawing). The cockade on the headgear carried the skull and crossbones and on the shoulder boards was the letter "K". The sleeve emblem was sky blue with embroidery of the skull and crossbones, name "Kornilovtsi", crossed swords, and an exploding grenade. This patch was only worn on the left sleeve. On the right sleeve was the black & red "shock" chevron. With indistinct changes (found in the wheel caps with the red crown and black band, and the disappearance of the skull and crossbones), these uniforms were worn throughout the RCW. In 1918-1920, some didn't have the letter on their shoulder boards, the sleeve patch drawings were varied, the white mounts on the blouses and long coats were completely arbitrary.
With the first unions, the Chef, General Lieutenant S.L. Markov became the commander of the Composite Officer's (later, simply Officer's) Regiment, formed on 12 (25) February 1918 in Ol'ginskiy from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Officer's Battalions, the Naval Companies, and the "Division of Death" Caucasus Cavlary Division.
After the death of Markov, the Regiment was renamed on 13 (26) June to the 1st Officer's of General Markov (Regiment). On 25 July (6 August) 1919, the formation of the 2nd Officer's of General Markov Regiment began and finished by the end of August. On 3 (16) October, the 3rd Officer's of General Markov Regiment were formed and by 14 (27) October, all Markov units were organized under the 1st Infantry Division and entitled as the Officer's of General Markov Division (included in its composition was the Artillery of General Markov Brigade) which experienced its first action on 18 (31) December 1919 at the Battle of Alekseev-Leonov Station in Donbass.
In January 1920, the Division recovered, but was immediately sent to the battle of Ol'ginskiy Station on 16 (1 March) February. On 17 February, the Division was reformed as the Officer's of General Markov Regiment. The artillery brigade became the Independent Artillery of General Markov Division. The Horse Companies became the Horse of General Markov Division. Then at the beginning of March in Novorossiysk, the Division was again recovering, but on 13 March, was evacuated to the Crimea. On 28 April, the Officer's of General Markov Division was renamed to the Infantry of General Markov, and the Regiment became th 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Infantry of General Markov.
In October, the former members of the grenadier units were formed into the 4th General Markov Infantry Regiment. On 3 November, the Division was evacuated from the Crimea to Gallipoli and from the remainder was formed the 1st Officer's of General Markov Regiment and the Markov Artillery Division.
In December 1917, the commission of senior officers of the 1st Officer's Battalion worked on unit uniforms. They included the black lambskin cap of the Guard type with a white peak. A cruciform is edged with black laces and a black hood has a white neck with laces. The wheel cap has a white crown with black edging and a black band. The black blouse has white edging on the lower seam of the collar. The uniform has black breeches with white edging. The black long coat flaps has white edging and black shoulder boards with white space and edging. For officers' cap bands, shoulder boards, and vents, they are black velvet, for privates – black cloth. The project also envisioned a parade uniform with in white (this white blouse was popular among the Markovs). Commander of the Dobrovol'cheskiy Army forces, A.I. Denikin confirmed the design of the uniform, which later became the one for all Markov units. But by the beginning of 1918, events precluded any uniformity along the intended line. During the 1st and 2nd Kuban Campaigns, they wore mainly black with white edging and white spacing on the shoulder boards, but not always. In May 1918, by request of the Commander of the First Independent Infantry Brigade, General-Lieutenant S.L. Markov, from the Independent Horse Brigade, was separated out a Squadron of Kuban Cossacks, who received the title of Independent Horse Sotnya (Squadron) of the 1st Infantry Brigade (later, the 1st Division). By order of General Markov, they wore black shoulder boards. These came to be known, unofficially, as Markovskiy and later they turned into a Division.
After Markov's death, to honor him, all members of the 1st Officer's of General Markov Regiment put the letter "M" on their shoulder boards. All except for the 1st Company of the Regiment - General Markov's Company, and they put the letters "G.M."
On 7 August, the 1st Battery of the 1st Independent Artillery Division honored Markov by renaming themselves "the 1st Officer's of General Markov Battery", and on their shoulder boards, they put the letter "M", the artillery emblem, and red, instead of white as the edging and spacing. These same shoulder boards, except without the letter "M", were adopted by the 2nd Battery and after a short time, the 3rd Battery.
Captions:
1) Variants of sleeve emblems from Kornilov Shock Regiments and Artillery
of General Kornilov Brigade. 2) Variants of "National" chevron and
the Kornilov "shock" chevron. 3) Variants of sleeve emblems of the
2nd Horse of General Drozdovskiy Regiment (1919-1920).
The Drozdovtsi called their members distinctly riflemen, artillerymen, and technical units - and received the name of their commander - General Major M.G. Drozdovskiy. Their history began in the second half of December 1917, from the formation of the officers and soldiers from the Romanian Front - the 1st Independent Brigade of Russian Volunteers (1000 men). These personnel then formed the Combined Rifle Regiment, Horse Division, Artillery, and Technical Units. 26 February 1918, the Brigade of Colonel Drozdovskiy went from the Yass tot eh Don in order to join with the Dobrovol'cheskiy Army.
After a 1200 man march, the future Drozdovtsi, on 25 April, took New Cherkassk and at the end of May, joined Denikin's forces. Drozdovskiy's Brigade became the 3rd Division of the Dobrovol'cheskiy Army, which consisted of the combined rifle regiment - the 2nd Officer's Rifles and a Horse Division - the 2nd Horse Regiment. The Division took part in the 2nd Kuban Campaign and in the battles for Stavropol' and Armavir, where in the fall, Drozdovskiy was wounded. After his death, 4 January 1919, the Regiment was renamed as the 2nd Officer's Rifles of General Drozdovskiy and transferred to the Donbass. On 10 October 1919, the 2nd Horse was also renamed to the 2nd Horse of General Drozdovskiy Regiment.
On 22 July, the 2nd Regiment split on campaign into the 2nd and 4th Officer's Rifles of General Drozdovskiy Regiments and on 25 August, they were renamed: the 2nd became the 1st and the 4th became the 2nd Officer's Rifles of General Drozdovskiy. At the end of September, a 3rd Regiment was formed, and together with the 1st and 2nd Regiments of the Drozdovskiy Brigade, formed the 3rd Infantry Division. On 14 October, the Division came to be known as the Officer's Rifles of General Drozdovskiy Division (or simply - Drozdovskiy) and the 3rd Artillery Brigade - the Drozdovskiy Artillery Brigade. In the Crimea, 28 April, the Division was renamed to the Rifles of General Drozdovskiy (Division) and the Regiments - the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Rifles of General Drozdovskiy (or simply - Drozdovskiy). After the battle in Northern Tavria and Perekop and the evacuation from the Crimea to Gallipoli, the remaining (surviving) Drozdovskiy Rifles were gathered into the Combined Rifles of General Drozdovskiy Regiment (then renamed to the 2nd Officer's Rifles of General Drozdovskiy Regiment), the cavalry renamed to the Drozdovskiy Horse (Regiment), and the artillery to the Drozdovskiy Artillery Division.
From the very beginning, the Drozdovtsi were the best uniformed of all Russian forces and were also excellently equipped. Already by the end of 1917, beginning of 1918, the three color sleeve chevron was the most distinct marking of the Brigade of Drozdovskiy (and then later, as the distinction of the Dobrovol'cheskiy Army).
The primary Drozdovskiy colors were white and raspberry (these were the colors of the rifle units of the Russian Imperial Army), with the addition of black spacing and internal edging on the rifle and artillery shoulder boards. A shoulder board variant for riflemen had gold braid with and emblem of the Imperial eagle in place of the letter "D".
In 1918, the Drozdovskiy Cavalry (horse) wore the Russian uniform and in 1919-1920, generally English. Members of the 5th Squadron in 1919 - the Polish National, not seeing the serious irregularity, wore the "Polish Military" uniform (it's not entirely clear what it was called), but their squadron was called "The Polish". Several cavalrymen, in addition to the Drozdovskiy shoulder boards, also wore a sleeve emblem (black with white letters).
The Alekseevs were the Partisans Unmounted Cossack Regiment, formed from 10-14 February 1918 form unmounted Don Partisan detachments. They took part in the 1st and 2nd Kuban Campaigns and the Fall battles at Stavropol'. 27 November, the unit was renamed as the Partisans of General Alekseev Infantry Regiment and in January 1919, were moved to the Donbass. On 10 October 1919, the High Commander of the VSYuR, General Lieutenant A.I. Denikin ordered the regiment to split into the 1st and 2nd Partisans of General Alekseev Infantry Regiments, and on 14 October, they formed the Infantry of General Alekseev Division and the Artillery of General Alekseev Brigade. During the retreat in the spring of 1920, the Alekseevs joined with the combined grenadiers and on 25 March, the Division was reformed to be the Independent Partisans of General Alekseev Brigade. In April, the Brigade was realigned and the Artillery became the Alekseev Artillery Division. The remainder became the 52nd Infantry Vilenskiy of General Alekseev Regiment, but on 14 June, again they divided and formed into the 1st Partisans of General Alekseev Infantry Regiment. In August, the Regiment took part in General Lieutenant S.G. Ulagaya's descent on the Kuban, where they took heavy losses. After the evacuation of the Crimea to Gallipoli, 14 November 1920, those remaining Alekseevs and remnants of other units formed into the Alekseev Infantry Regiment.
Besides that, in the Dobrovol'cheskiy Army existed a formation, 25 March 918 - the 1st Horse Regiment. On 14 February 1919, the name was changed to the 1st Horse of General Alekseev Regiment. In 1920, the remnants of it, along with the Simferopol' and Vilenskiy Horse Divisions, were called the Alekseev Horse Division (in addition to the Alekseev Infantry Regiments).
The Partisan Regiment (later called the Alekseevs), during the 1st Kuban Campaign, did not have their own distinct uniform clothing, as they were formed from various light units and elements - Don Partisan detachments, Kiev Officer Candidate School Cadets, and so forth. Then, during the conduct of the war, it became tradition as the young officers, cadets, Cossacks, and students joined the ranks of the regiment. The name was in honor of their commander and their colors, light blue and white, were also symbolic (cadet corps). The Partisan Regiment's 2nd Battalion was one of the Battalions of the Kuban Rifle Regiment who joined the Dobrovol'cheskiy Army (along with other detachments of "forces from the Kuban perimeter" under General Major V.L. Pokrovskiy), and these Partisans started to be called "Kubans". This also contributed to their adopted winter uniform of white with the Kuban Papakh (fur cap).
As a result of the 1st Kuban Campaign in the middle of April 1918, in the Don town of Gulyay-Borisovka, the future Alekseevs wore, for the first time, their own light blue shoulder boards with white edging, which were sewn by almost every woman of the town. From that point, the light blue shoulder boards and wheel caps became the distinct mark of the Alekseevs. The letter "A" in the Slavic script, shown in the pictures (of this article) show a variety from various Detachments of Alekseev units. The cavalrymen of the 1st Horse of General Alekseev Regiment wore wheel caps with a blue crown and light blue band. The shoulder boards were bright red with white edging, without a letter.
During the preparation of this article, we used the main archives (the Lenin Library), photo-documentation, memoirs of the RCW period, and emigrant information. The majority of this material has been previously published (in Russian magazines and historical studies).
More Russian Civil War: White Army
White Army: Introduction
White Army Personnel in Uniform (Color Illustrations)
White Army Personnel in Uniform (Color Postcards)
White Army Personnel in Uniform (Furazhka (wheel caps) and Shoulder Boards)
White Army Personnel in Uniform (Color Illustration: Kornilov Horse)
White Army Personnel in Uniform (Photo: Generals and Senior Officers of "colored" units, 1921)
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