Mikhail Mikhailovich Pleshkov (russian: Михаил Михайлович Плешков) (13 November .S. 1 November1856 – 21 May 1927) was an

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

and

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

commander who achieved the rank of

general of the cavalry General of the Cavalry (german: General der Kavallerie) was a General officer rank in the cavalry in various states of which the modern states of German and Austria are successors or in other armies which used the German model. Artillery officers o ...

. After the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

, he fought for the White movement against the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

in the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

, and after the Bolshevik victory he emigrated to the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

. His son,

Mikhail Pleshkov Mikhail Mikhaylovich Pleshkov, Jr. (russian: Михаил Михайлович Плешков; 6 March 1885 – 12 November 1956)

, also served as a general in the

White Army The White Army (russian: Белая армия, Belaya armiya) or White Guard (russian: Бѣлая гвардія/Белая гвардия, Belaya gvardiya, label=none), also referred to as the Whites or White Guardsmen (russian: Бѣлогв� ...

in the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...

Biography

Early life

A Siberian Cossack, Pleshkov was descended from the

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

of the

Mogilev Governorate The Mogilev Governorate () or Government of Mogilev was a governorate () of the Russian Empire in the territory of the present day Belarus. Its capital was in Mogilev, referred to as Mogilev-on-the-Dnieper, or Mogilev Gubernskiy. The area of the ...

. He was born in the village of Nikolayev on 13 November (1 November O.S.) 1856. He graduated from the

Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the ...

Military Gymnasium in 1874, then attended the 1st Pavlovsk School and the Nikolaev Cavalry School. Upon graduating from the latter in 1876, he began his career in the

Early military career

Pleshkov graduated from the Nikolaev Military Academy in 1884. On 6 March 1894, Pleshkov was appointed

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

of the 1st Don Cossack Division, On 3 March 1898, he took command of the 29th

Dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat w ...

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

Regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

, and on 25 January 1902 he became

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the 2nd

Brigade A brigade is a major tactical 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 a division. Br ...

of the 2nd Cavalry Division. On 15 June 1907, he took command of the 7th Cavalry Division. On 11 May 1912, he became commander of the

1st Siberian Army Corps The 1st Siberian Army Corps was an elite unit of the Imperial Russian Army. It was raised in May 1900 and disbanded in August 1918. History The 1st Siberian Army Corps was raised in May 1900 under the command of Lieutenant General Nikolai Linevic ...

, made up of the 1st Siberian Rifle Division and 2nd Siberian Rifle Division.

World War I

Pleshkov was still the commander of the 1st Siberian Army Corps when 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. ...

entered

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 ...

on 1 August 1914, and he went through almost the entire war with the corps, distinguishing himself as a good commander. At the beginning of the war, his corps thrown into battle without

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

, but saved Russian troops at Pyasechny. For battles near

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

in 1914 he was awarded the St. George Sword. Then he fought at Lodz and

Przasnysz Przasnysz (; yi, פראשניץ, russian: Прасныш) is a town in north-central Poland. Located in the Masovian Voivodship, about 110 km north of Warsaw and about 115 km south of Olsztyn, it is the capital of Przasnysz County. It h ...

. As the Imperial Russian Army conducted a massive strategic withdrawal during the "

Great Retreat The Great Retreat (), also known as the retreat from Mons, was the long withdrawal to the River Marne in August and September 1914 by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army. The Franco-British forces on the Western Fr ...

" of July–September 1915, the 1st Siberian Rifle Corps saw action on the

Narew The Narew (; be, Нараў, translit=Naraŭ; or ; Sudovian: ''Naura''; Old German: ''Nare''; uk, Нарва, translit=Narva) is a 499-kilometre (310 mi) river primarily in north-eastern Poland, which is also a tributary of the river Vis ...

in July 1915, in which Pleshkov's the 2nd and

11th Siberian Rifle Division The 11th Siberian Rifle Division (; ''11-ya Sibirskaya Strelkovaya Diviziya'') was an infantry formation of the Russian Imperial Army. History The division was formed in 1910. On 11 June 1910, Lieutenant General Sergei Nekrasov (general), Sergei ...

s withstood the onslaught of the numerically superior German 12th Army. In March 1916, Pleshkov led the northern group of the Russian 2nd Army during the unsuccessful Russian

Lake Naroch Offensive The Lake Naroch offensive in 1916 was an unsuccessful Russian offensive on the Eastern Front in World War I. It was launched at the request of Marshal Joseph Joffre and intended to relieve the German pressure on French forces. Due to lack of reco ...

. Pleshkov's corps later fought in the

Pripyat Marshes __NOTOC__ The Pinsk Marshes ( be, Пінскія балоты, ''Pinskiya baloty''), also known as the Pripet Marshes ( be, Прыпяцкія балоты, ''Prypiackija baloty''), the Polesie Marshes, and the Rokitno Marshes, are a vast natural ...

region.

Revolution and Russian Civil War

In the

February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...

of March 1917,

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...

was overthrown and the

Russian Provisional Government The Russian Provisional Government ( rus, Временное правительство России, Vremennoye pravitel'stvo Rossii) was a provisional government of the Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately ...

proclaimed a new

Russian Republic The Russian Republic,. referred to as the Russian Democratic Federal Republic. in the Decree on the system of government of Russia (1918), 1918 Constitution, was a short-lived state (polity), state which controlled, ''de jure'', the territ ...

. Pleshkov stayed on in the post-imperial

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �В Sukhoputnyye voyska V, also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Gro ...

, but in mid-1917, soldiers removed him from command of the 1st Siberian Army Corps. On 3 July 1917, allegedly due to illness, he was transferred to the reserve of the

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

of the

Minsk Military District Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...

. When the

overthrew the Russian Provisional Government in the

on 7 November 1917, the

broke out. Pleshkov supported the anti-Bolshevik White movement and resumed active service in the

. In 1918 he became the head of White Army troops in the

and on 23–24 August 1918 he led White Army forces in an attempted armed ''coup'' in

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...

. On 24 December 1918 he became the commander-in-chief in the exclusion zone of the

Chinese Eastern Railway The Chinese Eastern Railway or CER (, russian: Китайско-Восточная железная дорога, or , ''Kitaysko-Vostochnaya Zheleznaya Doroga'' or ''KVZhD''), is the historical name for a railway system in Northeast China (als ...

. He also took part in battles with

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

forces on the eastern front of the Russian Civil War. In 1919, he became chairman of the Committee for Assistance to Russian Disabled Persons.

Later life

After the Bolshevik victory in the Russian Civil War, Pleshkov emigrated to the

. He settled in

Harbin Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest ...

, where he worked in the management of the Chinese Eastern Railway and in 1922 became a member of the Society of Guard Officers in the Far East. In 1923, Pleshkov formed a detachment of White Army officers in to serve in the army of the Chinese

warlord A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...

Generalissimo ''Generalissimo'' ( ) is a military rank of the highest degree, superior to field marshal and other five-star ranks in the states where they are used. Usage The word (), an Italian term, is the absolute superlative of ('general') thus me ...

Zhang Zuolin Zhang Zuolin (; March 19, 1875 June 4, 1928), courtesy name Yuting (雨亭), nicknamed Zhang Laogang (張老疙瘩), was an influential Chinese bandit, soldier, and warlord during the Warlord Era in China. The warlord of Manchuria from 1916 to ...

. About 300 men initially responded to his call for volunteers. This formation served as the basis for the deployment in 1924 under the leadership of the warlord

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Zhang Zongchang Zhang Zongchang (1881 – 3 September 1932) was a Chinese warlord in Shandong in the early 20th century. ''Time'' dubbed him China's "basest warlord". He was known by many nicknames such as the "Dogmeat General" (), based on the name of his fa ...

of the 1st Separate Russian (Nechaevsky) Brigade.''Балмасов С. С.'' Белоэмигранты на военной службе в Китае. Москва, Центрполиграф, 2007 . Pleshkov died in Harbin on 21 May 1927.

Awards

Russian

Order of Saint Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus ( pl, Order Św. Stanisława Biskupa Męczennika, russian: Орден Святого Станислава), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Ponia ...

Third Class (1886) * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar

Order of Saint Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (russian: Орден Святой Анны; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Hol ...

Third Class (1895) * RUS Order św

Order of Saint Stanislaus (House of Romanov) pl, Order św. Stanisława , image = , caption = , image2 = , caption2 = Ribbon of the order , awarded_by = Head of the House of Romanov , type = Dynastic order of knighthood , motto ...

Second Class (1900) * Order of Saint Vladimir, ribbon bar

Order of Saint Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir (russian: орден Святого Владимира) was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptize ...

Third Class (1906) * RUS Order św

First Class (6 December 1910) * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar

First Class (6 December 1913) * RUS Order of Saint George 4th class ribbon 2000

St. George Sword (26 November 1914) * RUS Order of Saint George 4th class ribbon 2000

Order of Saint George The Order of Saint George (russian: Орден Святого Георгия, Orden Svyatogo Georgiya) is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) a ...

Fourth Class (10 March 1915) * RUS Order White Eagle BAR

Order of the White Eagle (9 April 1915) * RUS Order of St

Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky The Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky was an order of chivalry of the Russian Empire first awarded on by Empress Catherine I of Russia. History The introduction of the Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky was envisioned by Emperor ...

(15 March 1916)

Foreign

Ordre de la couronne de Chene Commandeur ribbon

Commander of the

Order of the Oak Crown The Order of the Oak Crown (french: Ordre de la Couronne de chêne, german: Eichenlaubkronenorden, lb, Eechelaafkrounenuerden) is an order of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. History The Order of the Oak Crown was established in 1841 by Grand ...

(

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

, 1901)

References

Bibliography

* Российский государственный военно-исторический архив. Ф.407, оп.1, д.17, л.84. * Российский государственный исторический архив. Ф.496, оп.1, д.874. * ''Волков Е. В., Егоров Н. Д., Купцов И. В.'
Белые генералы Восточного фронта Гражданской войны: Биографический справочник
Изд. Русский путь, 2003. * ''Залесский К.А. Кто был кто в Первой мировой войне. М., 2003. - С.481-482.'' * Кавалеры Императорского ордена Святого Александра Невского (1725-1917). Биобиблиографический словарь в трех томах. Т.3. - М., 2009. - С.824.

External links