Kazys Tallat-Kelpša (28 October 1893 – 22 February 1968) was a Lithuanian brigadier general, lecturer of the War School of Kaunas and Higher Officers' Courses, Chief of

Cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

of the

Lithuanian Armed Forces The Lithuanian Armed Forces () are the military of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Forces, the Lithuanian Navy, the Lithuanian Air Force and the Lithuanian Special Operations Force. In wartime, the Li ...

Personal life

Kelpša had sister Ona Tallat–Kelpšaitė Jurskienė, who married with lieutenant colonel . Kelpša married Janina Daugulytė, who gave birth to his only son Algis. His son graduated from the higher school in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

and was Reserve Captain of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

Early life

In 1914, Kelpša graduated from the Kaunas School of Commerce. Following the start of the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he joined the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

as a volunteer in 1914. In 1918, in the wake of the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, its army was demobilized. Consequently, lieutenant Kelpša was released into the reserve.

Interwar Lithuania

President Smetona during a military ceremony in August 1937

In October 1918, Kelpša reached

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. In Vilnius, in the

Council of Lithuania In the history of Lithuania, the Council of Lithuania (; ; ), after July 11, 1918, the State Council of Lithuania () was convened at the Vilnius Conference that took place between 18 and 23 September 1917. The twenty men who composed the c ...

, he registered in the lists of the officers, and was released home before being summoned. Then he returned to his mother in . After resting for a couple of weeks and without receiving any summons, he went to Vilnius again and registered once again, this time in the newly established Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania. Following it, he has been ordered to go to his homeland and gather volunteers for the recovering

. It was stated that in the next couple days the headquarters of the National Defense District would be established in

Tauragė Tauragė (; see #Names and etymology, other names) is an industrial city in Lithuania, and the capital of Tauragė County. In 2020, its population was 20,956. Tauragė is situated on the Jūra, Jūra River, close to the border with the Kaliningr ...

, to which he had to introduce himself. As the time passed and the

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

invaded the depths of

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, occupied

Šiauliai Šiauliai ( ; ) is a city in northern Lithuania, the List of cities in Lithuania, country's fourth largest city and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, sixth largest city in the Baltic States, with a population of 112 581 in 202 ...

– the connection with Vilnius was lost. The volunteers in groups went towards Vilnius. Finally, in the beginning of January 1919, the said military headquarters arrived to Tauragė and Kelpša introduced himself there. As the core of the Lithuanian cavalry was organized in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

, Kelpša was sent to Kaunas. After reaching Kaunas and presenting himself to the military leadership, he was assigned to the 2nd Cavalry Squadron attached to the Separate Battalion, which later became the 5th Infantry Regiment. On 20 March 1919, Kelpša was transferred to the Headquarters of the Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania and was soon sent to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

as a member of the Lithuanian Military Mission to the Paris Peace Conference. On 27 January 1920, Kelpša was appointed a military representative in

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. On 19 September 1920, he returned to Kaunas and was assigned to the 2nd

Uhlan Uhlan (; ; ; ; ) is a type of light cavalry, primarily armed with a lance. The uhlans started as Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army, Lithuanian irregular cavalry, that were later also adopted by other countries during the 18th century, including Polis ...

Regiment. On 1 November 1923, Kelpša was sent to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

where in 1926 he graduated from the Royal Military Academy of Belgium. In 1927, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the First Military District. In 1931, Kelpša was lecturer of the Higher Officers' Courses, in 1933 he was transferred to the War School of Kaunas. Since 25 October 1934, Kelpša was Chief of Cavalry of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. In 1936, Kelpša was awarded the military rank of brigadier general.

Occupations and World War II

Following the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in June 1940, Kelpša was fired from the Lithuanian Armed Forces on 25 June 1940.

Emigration

In 1944, Kelpša with his family departed to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and from 1949 onward lived in

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He worked in the sphere of

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

s until 16 July 1961, when he retired. In 1950, Kelpša established a branch of the Lithuanian Soldiers Veterans Union ''Ramovė'' in Cleveland and headed it.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tallat-Kelpša, Kazys 1893 births 1968 deaths Lithuanian generals Lithuanian emigrants to Germany World War II refugees Lithuanian refugees in the United States People from Šilalė District Municipality