The Russian Revolution As I Saw It by Carter Mark;

Author:Carter, Mark;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hauraki Publishing
Published: 2017-01-27T00:00:00+00:00

GENERAL BUDENNY—Hero of the Civil War

GENERAL BUDENNY was the hero of Rostov. His army captured that wonderful city on December 26, 1919. Everyone thought it would take at least six months or more, particularly since the weather was so bad. There were blizzards, heavy snow and poor communications, but Budenny was a man of the people. Nothing was too difficult for him.

Before the war in 1914, Budenny had worked on a farm near Rostov. He was a great hero during the war. In the Czar’s army he was a sergeant, but in the Soviet army he became a general. He knew the weather conditions, and how to fight under such circumstances. Nearly all of his army was on sleds, drawn by horses. He had perhaps 1000 sleds or more, with every sled carrying men and machine guns. To see them reminded one of a later-day Western movie, with the soldiers carrying rifles and machine guns. The soldiers were not in uniform, for there were no uniforms available. It was too early a period for a mechanized army, nor could a mechanized army do much in this weather. They were only using tanks, but not too many of these.

Much of the success of Budenny’s army could be attributed to the advice he received from Joseph Stalin. When Budenny and the chiefs of staff were mapping out the campaign, Stalin told Budenny not to go through the Cossack villages, because he would have to fight every village on the way. Every Cossack had a horse and rifle and many machine guns. The Cossacks felt this was their land. They had their own government. They held elections every year and General Krasnov was at the time their “Ataman” or governmental chief of the Cossacks.

Stalin suggested taking the route to Rostov through the coal mines in the Don Basin area. Here, he said, Budenny would be able to mobilize a good army of coal miners who would fight the Cossacks and the White Army. This proved to be a brilliant suggestion, and the war was finished by Budenny and his army.

When Budenny came to Rostov, the Bolshevik Government officials offered him the best accommodations in the city at a hotel similar to the Ambassador in Los Angeles. He refused. He wanted to see his former boss’ wife, Mrs. John Meroshnichenko, whose husband had been a wealthy land-owner and had been killed in the Civil War. Budenny wanted to live in this house, because Mrs. Meroshnichenko was a good cook, and he liked her cooking, and had known her and her late husband for many years. Some people said he was in love with her. The house was only a couple of blocks from our house, and we saw him ride by on his white horse every day. Budenny was a tall man, with long black mustachios.

Mr. and Mrs. Meroshnichenko had been good customers of ours for many years, and came into my father’s store often. When I saw Mrs. Meroshnichenko and asked her how

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.