Nikolai Gerasimovich Volodchenko (November 20, 1862 – 1945) was a Lieutenant-General of the
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 ...
. In 1917, he was the commander-in-chief of the
Southwestern front.
Biography
Early life, education and career
Volodchenko was born in
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
on November 20, 1862, the son of a court counsellor. He was educated at the 3rd St. Petersburg Military Gymnasium, at the end of which, on September 1, 1881, was enrolled in the Mikhailov Artillery School. He graduated on August 14, 1884, and became a lieutenant in the 1st Reserve Artillery Brigade, on August 7, 1886. In 1892, Volodchenko successfully passed the entrance examination to the Academy of General Staff. He graduated in 1892 at the first level, and on May 6, 1892, for success in the science of artillery was promoted to the captains' headquarters. He was appointed to the headquarters of the
Vilna
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...
Military District.
On November 26, 1892, he was appointed senior aide at the headquarters of the 2nd Cavalry Division. On April 17, 1894, he was promoted to captain. From October 1, 1897, to October 1, 1894, he was stationed at Cenzovoe Command with a squadron in the 6th LEJB-Dragoon Positive Regiment. Promoted on April 18, 1899, Lieutenant Colonel Volodchenko was appointed at the same time as the senior aide at the headquarters of the Vilna Military District.
On January 16, 1901, he was a headquarters officer assigned to the commander of the Vilna Military District. From May 9 to November 9, 1902, he was seconded to the 6th LEJB-Dragunskomu Pavlohrad Regiment to familiarize himself with the general requirements of the management and maintenance of the Hozjajstvava. On July 20, 1902, he was appointed as
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 2nd Cavalry Division and promoted to the rank of colonel on April 6 of the following year.
Active military career
After the outbreak of the war with Japan, Volodchenko went to the active army where he was the commander of the 2nd Manchurian Army. For the fighting in the villages of Maturan and Madepu he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir 4th degree with swords and bow and gold weapons with the inscription "For courage". At the end of the hostilities, Volodchenko was transferred to a separate corps of the Border Guard on October 27, 1905, and was appointed to the post of chief of staff of the SACB district of the area in the region. On July 14, 1909, he was promoted to Major General.
Before the outbreak of World War I, in the mobilization, Volodchenko was appointed commander of the Brigade of the 3rd Don Cossack Division on August 2, 1914. In November he became commander of the fighting division itself. From April 26, 1915 he was the commander (later chief) of the
16th Cavalry Division
16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being , , and .
In English speech, ...
. During the Gorlickogo battle and the breakthrough of the Austro-German forces under General
August von Mackensen
Anton Ludwig Friedrich August von Mackensen (born Mackensen; 6 December 1849 – 8 November 1945), ennobled as "von Mackensen" in 1899, was a German field marshal. He commanded successfully during World War I of 1914–1918 and became one of the ...
at Tarnow in April 1915, Volodchenko led the Combined Cavalry Corps of the 3rd Army. For his military service on June 16, 1915, he was promoted to lieutenant general (with seniority from November 24, 1914). On May 19, 1915, Volodchenko was awarded the Order of St. George 4 Degree
For his outstanding diligence, courage and dedication during his successful command of the third Don Cossack Division, part of the Integrated Cavalry Corps, in the battles of November 4–24, 1914, at
Gribova, New Sandeca, near
Limanowa
Limanowa (german: Ilmenau, yi, לימינוב ''Liminuv'') is a small town in southern Poland, in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is the capital of Limanowa County and had a population of 15,132 in 2012.
History
Mentions of the town date bac ...
, Tymbarka, Porobka, Mt. St. Jana and Lapanuva, he was assigned to the Equestrian Corps.
On April 7, 1917, Volodchenko was appointed commander of the 46 Army Corps. On September 9, 1917, he replaced
General F. Ogorodnikov as commander-in-chief of the South-Western Front.
The day 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 ...
, Volodchenko joined the front committee for the salvation of the revolution. On November 5 he signed the Berdichev Agreement with the
Ukrainian Central Rada
The Central Council of Ukraine ( uk, Українська Центральна Рада, ) (also called the Tsentralna Rada or the Central Rada) was the All-Ukrainian council (soviet) that united deputies of soldiers, workers, and peasants deputie ...
, but on November 24 he left the command in Odessa.
In 1919, Volodchenko left for the Far East, first in the Eastern Front army, then as chief of the internal security of the
KVZhD (Chinese Eastern Railway) police. He lived 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 ...
, China and published several articles in the largest journal for Russian immigrants ''The Hour''.
On September 24, 1945, he was arrested by
SMERSH
SMERSH (russian: СМЕРШ) was an umbrella organization for three independent counter-intelligence agencies in the Red Army formed in late 1942 or even earlier, but officially announced only on 14 April 1943. The name SMERSH was coined by Josep ...
authorities on charges of anti-Soviet activities and died at the end of the year in custody during the investigation. On November 22, 1999, the Prosecutor's Office of the Omsk region posthumously rehabilitated him.
His twin grandsons are Mikhail and Nikolai Volodchenko who have died however still living Mikhail's daughter Irene and her children, his son Michael died. Nickolai's daughter Irene and her daughter still living.
История и варианты песни на слова А.Н.Вертинского и М.Волина «Дорогая пропажа»
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Awards
*Order of St. Stanislaus 3rd degree (1894)
*Order of St. Anne 3rd degree (1898)
*Order of St. Stanislaus 2nd degree (1901)
*Order of St. Anne 2nd degree (1906)
*Order of St. Vladimir 4th degree, with swords and Bow (1906)
*Gold weapons with the inscription "For Bravery" (16 March 1906)
*Order of St. Vladimir 3rd degree (1907)
*Order of St. Stanislaus 1st degree (April 14, 1913)
*Order of St. Anne 1st degree with Swords (13 January 1915)
*Order of St. George, 4th degree (19 May 1915)
References
Sources
*Wolves generals the Russian Empire. Encyclopedic a dictionary of generals and admirals from Peter I to Nicholas II. Tom I. A-C.-M., 2009. -C. 287. -
*Wolves c. Russian military emigration. Publishing activities. -M., 2008. -c. 245.
*The highest orders of the military department. To the Scout No. 1290. -C. 771
*Ganin A. Corps of General staff officers in the years of the Civil War of 1917-1922 Reference material. -M., 2009. -C. 188, 424. -
*Ismailov E. Gold weapons with the inscription "For courage". List of Knights of 1788-1913. -M. 2007. -c. 373, 527.
*Zaleski C. A. Who was in the First World War. -M., 2003. -c. 127-128
*Russian border Service: encyclopedia. Biography. -M., 2008. -C. 97-98
*Scout. -February 17, 1915-No. 1267
*List of generals by the rank. It was drafted on April 15, 1914. -St. Petersburg, 1914. -C. 575
*List of generals by the rank. Revised July 10, 1916-Ng, 1916. -c. 49
External links
Биография на сайте ХРОНОС
{{DEFAULTSORT:Volodchenko, Nikolai
1862 births
1945 deaths
Russian military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War
Russian military personnel of World War I
White Russian emigrants to China
People of the Russian Civil War
Imperial Russian Army
Military personnel from Saint Petersburg
Imperial Russian lieutenant generals