The Russian Caucasus Army (russian: Кавказскaя армия) of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

was the Russian field army that fought in the

Caucasus Campaign The Caucasus campaign comprised armed conflicts between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, later including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus, the German Empire, the Central Caspian Dicta ...

and

Persian Campaign Persian expedition or Persian campaign may refer to: * Persian campaign (Alexander the Great) (334–333 BC) *Julian's Persian expedition (363) * Persian expedition of Stepan Razin (1699) * Persian campaign of Peter the Great (1722–1723) * Pers ...

. It was renowned for inflicting heavy casualties on the opposing forces of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, particularly at the

Battle of Sarikamish The Battle of Sarikamish (''Sarighamishi chakatamart''), russian: Сражение при Сарыкамыше; tr, Sarıkamış Harekatı, lit=''Operation Sarıkamış'' was an engagement between the Russian and Ottoman empires during World W ...

. It was also known for its extremely diverse ethnic composition, consisting of units from throughout the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

and both soldiers and officers from the many ethnic communities settled since the 1877-78

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars (or Ottoman–Russian wars) were a series of twelve wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European histo ...

in the militarily administered

Kars Oblast The Kars Oblast was a province (''oblast'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire between 1878 and 1917. Its capital was the city of Kars, presently in Turkey. The ''oblast'' bordered the Ottoman Empire to the west, the Batum Oblast ...

in the Russian

Transcaucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

. These included

Georgians The Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, G ...

Caucasus Greeks The Caucasus Greeks ( el, Έλληνες του Καυκάσου or more commonly , tr, Kafkas Rum), also known as the Greeks of Transcaucasia and Russian Asia Minor, are the ethnic Greeks of the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia in what is now ...

, and

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

- the latter in particular strongly represented among both the soldiers and senior officers - as well as ethnic

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

and

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...

Period of existence

The Caucasus Army was formed in July 1914 from units of the

Caucasus Military District The Caucasus Military District (russian: Кавказский военный округ, ''Kavkazskiy voenniy okrug'') was a military formation of the Imperial Russian Army. It was created in 1865 as the successor to the Caucasus Army, and was dis ...

. It ceased to exist in April 1917 when it was reorganized as the Caucasus Front, although this Front contained many of the same units and continued fighting in the same theater. This Front in turn formally ceased to exist in March 1918. It withdrew from Armenia that year.

Organization

Order of Battle, 1914

The Caucasus Army was under the nominal command of the Governor General of the Caucasus Illarion Vorontsov-Dashkov at the start of hostilities. His chief of command was Aleksandr Zakharevich Myshlayevsky. The Caucasus Army had 100 battalions of infantry, 117 sotnis (cavalry squadrons), and 256 guns for a total of 100,000 troops., in other sources it had had 153 battalions of infantry, 175 sotnis, and 350 guns «Кто был кто в Первой мировой войне» К. А. Залесский, 2003 Before the war the army was dispersed into two groups according to the two main operating areas: the Kars group (Kars - Erzurum) with 6 divisions in the region of Otu - Sarikamish and the Erivan group (Erivan - Alashkert) with 2 divisions, reinforced by a large number of cavalry, in the vicinity of Igdir. The flanks were covered by small units formed from the Border Guard, the

Cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

, and the militia. Due to the defeats at the

Battle of Tannenberg The Battle of Tannenberg, also known as the Second Battle of Tannenberg, was fought between Russia and Germany between 26 and 30 August 1914, the first month of World War I. The battle resulted in the almost complete destruction of the Russi ...

and the

Masurian Lakes The Masurian Lake District or Masurian Lakeland ( pl, Pojezierze Mazurskie; german: Masurische Seenplatte) is a lake district in northeastern Poland within the geographical region of Masuria, in the past inhabited by Masurians who spoke the Masuri ...

, the Russians redeployed almost half their forces to the Prussian front, leaving behind just 65,000 troops from the initial 100,000 to face the

Ottoman army The military of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun silahlı kuvvetleri) was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. Army The military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the ...

. * Caucasus Army Corps from November 12, 1914 April 2, 1915 Berhman George E. ** 2 infantry divisions ** 2 cossack rifle brigades ** 1st Caucasian Cossack division under command of

General Baratov Nikolai Nikolaevich Baratov (russian: Николай Николаевич Баратов) (February 1, 1865 – March 22, 1932) was an Imperial Russian Army general during World War I and the Russian Civil War. Early career Baratov was born ...

* Turkistan Army Corps Lieutenant-General (from 23 October 1914, General of Infantry) Lesh, Leonid Vilgelmovich ** 4-I Turkestan Rifle Brigade ** 5-I Turkestan Rifle Brigade ** 1-I Transcaspian Cossack Brigade ** 1st Caucasus Kuban Cossack regiment ** 2nd Turkestan Battalion ** Kushkinskaya Oboznaya company The 1914 engagements were

Bergmann Offensive The Bergmann Offensive ( tr, Bergmann Atağı; in Turkish literature tr, Köprüköy ve Azap Muharebeleri, "Battles of Köprüköy and Azap" russian: Берхманнский прорыв; in Russian literature russian: Кёприкейская ...

Ardahan Ardahan (, ka, არტაანი, tr, hy, Արդահան, translit=Ardahan Russian: Ардаган) is a city in northeastern Turkey, near the Georgian border. It is the capital of Ardahan Province. History Ancient and medieval Ardaha ...

, and

Order of Battle, 1915

It was under the nominal command of the Governor General of the Caucasus Nicholas Nikolaevich beginning with the January 1915. His chief of command was

Nikolai Yudenich Nikolai Nikolayevich Yudenich ( – 5 October 1933) was a commander of the Russian Imperial Army during World War I. He was a leader of the anti-communist White movement in Northwestern Russia during the Civil War. Biography Early life Yuden ...

. * Caucasus Army Corps from February 2, 1915 to 12. March 1917 Kalitin, Pyotr Petrovich * Turkistan Army Corps from February 3, 1915 to 3 April 1917 General of Infantry Przewalski, Michael A. The 1915 engagements were

Battle of Dilman The Battle of Dilman (April 15, 1915) was a battle during World War I fought at Dilman between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Despite having the larger forces, the Ottomans suffered 468 dead, 1,228 wounded, and 370 missing in the fir ...

, Van,

Battle of Manzikert (1915) The Battle of Manzikert or Battle of Malazgirt (russian: Битва при Манцикерте ''Bytva pri Mantsikerte'' ; Turkish: ''Malazgirt Muharebesi''Fahri Belen, ''XX. Yüzyılda Osmanlı Devleti'', Remzi Kitabevi, 1975p. 257.) was a ba ...

, and Kara Killisse

Order of Battle, 1916

The 1916 engagements were

Erzincan Erzincan (; ku, Erzîngan), historically Yerznka ( hy, Երզնկա), is the capital of Erzincan Province in Eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The ...

, Erzerum Offensive, Trebizond Campaign,

Battle of Bitlis The Battle of Bitlis refers to a series of engagements in the summer of 1916 for the town of Bitlis and to a lesser extent nearby Moush, between Russian Imperial forces and their Ottoman counterparts. The town was the last stronghold of the Ot ...

, and

Mush In multiplayer online games, a MUSH (a backronymed variation on MUD most often expanded as Multi-User Shared Hallucination, though Multi-User Shared Hack, Habitat, and Holodeck are also observed) is a text-based online social medium to which mult ...

Order of Battle, 1917

It was under the nominal command of

Vasily Kharlamov Vasily Akimovich Kharlamov (russian: Васи́лий Аки́мович Харла́мов) (1 January 1875 – 13 March 1957) was a Russian politician involved in the revolution and civil war. Kharlamov, of the Don Cossacks, was a member of t ...

Transcaucasian Commissariat The Transcaucasian Commissariat was established at Tbilisi on 11 November 1917, as the first government of the independent Transcaucasia following the October Revolution in Petrograd. The Commissariat decided to strengthen the Georgian–Armenian� ...

beginning with the May 1917. His chief of command was

Ilia Odishelidze Ilia Odishelidze ( ka, ილია ოდიშელიძე); russian: Илья Зурабович Одишелидзе, ''Ilya Zurabovich Odishelidze'') (25 March 1865 – c. 1924) was a Georgian military leader who had also served as a gener ...

. * Caucasus Army Corps from April 12, 1917 Lyakhov, Vladimir Rakhmanov * Turkistan Army Corps from April 25 to 12 October 1917 - Lt. Gen. Chaplygin, Alexander; 12 October 1917 – ? - Lieutenant General Savitsky, Hippolyte V.

Commanders

* 30.08.1914 – 23.01.1915 — Alexander Myshlayevsky (de facto) * 24.01.1915 – 03.03.1917 —

* 03.04.1917 – 11.09.1917 — Mikhail Przhevalsky * 05.06.1917 – 16.06.1917 —

Nikolai Baratov Nikolai Nikolaevich Baratov (russian: Николай Николаевич Баратов) (February 1, 1865 – March 22, 1932) was an Imperial Russian Army general during World War I and the Russian Civil War. Early career Baratov was born i ...

* 18.06.1917 – 24.10.1917 — Vladimir De Witt * 02.10.1917 – ??.03.1918 —

Notable officers

* Georgian

* Russian

Theodore G. Chernozubov Fyodor Grigoryevich Chernozubov (14 September 1863 – 14 November 1919; sometimes seen as Theodore G. Chernozubov) was a Russian Imperial Army officer who became lieutenant general on 20 February 1915. He was trained at Page Corps and later Gene ...

* Armenian

Tovmas Nazarbekian Tovmas Nazarbekian ( Armenian: Թովմաս Նազարբէկեան; 4 April 1855 – 19 February 1931), also known as Foma Nazarbekov (russian: Фома Назарбеков), was an Armenian general in the Russian Caucasus Army and later promote ...

* Armenian

Movses Silikyan Movses Silikyan or Silikov (, ; 14 September 1862 – 22 November 1937) was an Armenian general who served in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I and later in the army of the First Republic of Armenia. He is regarded as a national hero i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caucasus Army (Russian Empire, 1914-1917)

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

Ottoman Empire in World War I Cau 20th century in Armenia Military units and formations established in 1914 Military units and formations disestablished in 1918

Period of existence

Organization

Order of Battle, 1914

Order of Battle, 1915

Order of Battle, 1916

Order of Battle, 1917

Commanders

Notable officers

See also

References