coalition warfare during the allied intervention in north russia 1918-1919
DESCRIPTION
Two months before World War I ended, the President of the United States, along with the leaders of Great Britain, France, Italy, and several other allied nations, committed nearly 20,000 soldiers to war in North Russia. Almost a year after the armistice on the Western Front Allied troops were still fighting in the snowy wastes of a far off, strange land, for unclear and ambiguous reasons. This thesis examines the background to the intervention, the relationships between the Allies, the Allied military operations, and the reasons for the ultimate failure of the North Russian Expeditionary Force. The study focuses on the decisions that led to the intervention at Archangel, the command relationships between the primary military and political players, and the impact of the unique characteristics of each of the Allied forces on the conduct of combat operations against the Bolsheviks.TRANSCRIPT
COALITIOPJ VARFARE D'J!:Ii.IG TXE ALLIED 1YTER'IE:iTIOP.i
IN HORTII RUSSIA, 1915-1919
A t h e s i s p r e s e n t e d t o t h e Facul 'q of t h e U.3. Army Command and General. S t a f f ' Colle,qe i n p a r t i a l
f u l f i l l m e n t of t h e requi rements f o r t h e degree
IUSTER OF I I ILITARY ART A!!3 SC1E::CE
by
BRUCE S. EEALS, 3IM,USA 9.h., Auburn U n i v e r s i t y , 1974
F o r t Leavenviorth, !imsas 1981
MASTER OF MILITARY ART AND S C I E N C E
THESIS APPROVAL PAGE
Name of candidate Bruce S . Beals , hWJ. USA
T i t l e of t h e s i s C o a l i t i o n Warfare During The A l l i e d
In t e rven t ion i n North Russia , 1918-1919.
Approved by:
Thes is Committee Chairman
. -t.--. Member, Graduate Facul ty
Member, Consulting Facul ty
Accepted t h i s /$d day of & 1981 byD i r e c t o r , Graduate Degree Programs.
The opinions and conclusiions expressed he re in a r e those of t h e s tuden t au thor and do no:t n e c e s s a r i l y r ep resen t the views o f t he U.S . Army Command and General S t a f f College o r any o t h e r govern- ment agency. (References t o t h i s s tudy should include t h e fore- going s ta tements . )
C O A L I T I O N WARFARE D U R I N G THE ALLIED INTERVENTION I N NORTH
RUSSIA, 1918-1919, by Major Bruce S . Bea l s , I N , 105 pages ,
Two months before World War I ended, t he P res iden t of t he United S t a t e s , along w i t h t he l e a d e r s of Great B r i t i a n , France, I t a l y , and s e v e r a l o t h e r A l l i e d n a t i o n s , committed nea r ly 20,000 s o l d i e r s t o w a r i n North Russia. Almost a yea r a f t e r t h e a r m i s t i c e on t h e Western Front A l l i ed t roops were s t i l l f i g h t i n g i n t he snowy wastes of a far o f f , s t r a n g e l a n d , f o r unc lea r and ambiguous reasons.
T h i s t h e s i s examines t h e background t o t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n , t he r e l a t i o n s h i p s between t h e A l l i e s , t he A l l i e d m i l i t a r y opera- t i o n s , and the reasons f o r the u l t i m a t e f a i l u r e of t h e North Russian Expedi t ionary Force. The s tudy focuses on the deci- s i o n s t h a t l e d t o t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n a t Archangel, t h e command r e l a t i o n s h i p s between t h e pr imary m i l i t a r y and p o l i t i c a l p lay-ers, and the impact o f the unique c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f each o f t h e A l l i e d f o r c e s on t h e conduct of combat ope ra t ions a g a i n s t t h e Bolsheviks.
Source ma te r i a l f o r t h i s s tudy has been taken from t h e accounts o f American, B r i t i s h , and Canadian o f f i c e r s , a f t e r - a c t i o n re-p o r t s , and u n i t h i s t o r i e s . Other information comes from French, Canadian , Aus t r a l i an , Engl ish, and American sources .
The impact o f t he extremes of weather, vas tnes s of t h e country, ub iqui tous na tu re of t he enemy, l e n g t h of supply l i n e s , l a c k of f i r e suppor t , confusion of t he command s t r u c t u r e , and d i s -t i n c t motives of each of t he Al l i ed f o r c e s a l l combined t o s p e l l t h e i n e v i t a b l e f a i l u r e of t he A l l i e s i n North Russia. T h i s t h e s i s s c r u t i n i z e s each of t hese elements and concludes by d iscuss ing those c r u c i a l f a c t o r s t h a t in f luenced the coa l i - t i o n warfare e f f o r t .
1IAPS:
Xllie.: S x p e d i t i o n s t o !!cssiz 1918-1920.
P-rea o f O;;erat.ion - Archangel Provi r ice
i I C G C E - i.
N! '
A L L I E D EXPEDITIONS TO RUSE
1918 - 1920
(West P o i n t Atlas o f American Wars)
-In t roduc t ion
I n 1959 Nikita Khrushchev said i n Los h g e l e s ,
"We remember the g r i m days when American s o l d i e r s went t o our s o i l , headed by t h e i r g e n e r a l s t o he lp our klhite Guards combat t h e new revo lu t ion . . . A l l t h e c a p i t a l i s t c o u n t r i e s of Europe and America marched on ou r country t o s t r a n g l e the new revolu-tion.. .Never have any of ou r s o l d i e r s been on American s o i l , bu t your s o l d i e r s wer on Russian s o i l . Those a r e t h e f a c t s . " ?
Overshadowed by the te rmina t ion of t h e F i r s t World War,
t h e Bolshevik Revolut ion, t he League o f Nations deba te , and
P r e s i d e n t l;Jilsonfs post-war p o l i t i c a l problems, t h e North
Russian Expedi t ion has been viewed as a sideshow t o 'the
"Great Warffand has rece ived l i t t l e a t t e n t i o n . The e n t i r e
ep isode , from t h e dec i s ions t h a t l e d t o the i n t e r v e n t i o n
i n e a r l y 1919 t o t he evacuat ion of f o r c e s i n the f a l l of
1 9 1 9 , w a s c h a r a c t e r i z e d by extremes of motive, p e r s o n a l i t y ,
t e r r a i n , and weather , Thc? m i l i t a r y ope ra t ions i n the
Archangel reg ion proved t o be as d i f f i c u l t as any i n modern
h i s t o r y . F ight ing i n extreme c o l d , seemingly endless for-
e s t s of f i r and p i n e , and faced w i t h l i t t l e or no hope of
resupply o r re inforcement , t he A l l i e s b a t t l e d t o su rv ive
a g a i n s t t h e b r u t a l Russian elements as wel l as numerical ly
s u p e r i o r Sov ie t f o r c e s . These f a c t o r s , combined w i t h t h e
almost impossible command r e l a t i o n s h i p s , d ive r se p o l i t i c a l
cons ide ra t ions , and e s s e n t i a l d i f f e r e n c e s i n s o c i a l and
c u l t u r a l t r a d i t i o n s , l e d t o a campaign wrought with over-
optimism, n a i v e t e , ignorance, and p e r i o d i c despe ra t ion .
The seeds o f resentment and l ack of coopera t ion between the
A l l i e s were p l an ted i n the misinformation and absence of
o b j e c t i v e and d i r e c t i o n centered around t h e purposes given
f o r t he i n t e r v e n t i o n . These s e p a r a t e and v a r i e d motives ,
coupled w i t h a bewilder ing command r e l a t i o n s h i p were u l t i -
mately re f lec . ted i n t h e conduct of m i l i t a r y ope ra t ions . To
a g r e a t e x t e n t , t h e success or f a i l u r e of t h e A l l i e d c o a l i -
t i o n was determined before the f i rs t s o l d i e r s tepped ashore
at Archangel.
T h i s t h e s i s focuses on the r e l a t i o n s h i p s between the
A l l i e d m i l i t a r y f o r c e s involved i n the rdorth Russian expe-
d i t i o n and those elements of t he r e l a t i o n s h i p s t h a t u l t i -
mately con t r ibu ted t o t h e outcome of t he c o a l i t i o n e f f o r t
a g a i n s t t h e S o v i e t s . One method of judging t h e f i n a l
r e s u l t s of t h e c o a l i t i o n endeavor would be t o cons ider t h e
campaign i n the con tex t o f v i c t o r y or d e f e a t . If such a
method is s e l e c t e d , then the a s s o c i a t i o n of t he American,
French, and o t h e r n a t i o n a l f o r c e s under the command of
B r i t i s h o f f i c e r s should be regarded as an a b j e c t f a i l u r e .
The Al l i ed f o r c e s d i d n o t accomplish t h e i r ass igned missions
of l i n k i n g up wi th the Czechoslovakian Corps and subsequent ly
c r e a t i n g a m i l i t a r y atmosphere i n which the a n t i a o l s h e v i k
f o r c e s could d e f e a t t he Sov ie t s . The u l t i m a t e evacuat ion
of a l l A l l i ed f o r c e s from North Russ ia i n l a t e 1 9 1 9 , and the
ensuing v i c t o r y of t h e Red f o r c e s s e r v e s t o emphasize t h e
degree of d e f e a t s u f f e r e d by the A l l i e s .
2
If the f i n a l a p p r a i s a l i s based on t h e success or
f a i l u r e of p l a toons , companies, and i n d i v i d u a l s t o overcome
d i f f e rences i n language, t a c t i c s , equipment, a n d combat
exper ience , i n a h o s t i l e l and , then the A l l i e d e f f o r t should
be assessed as a resounding accomplishment.
T h i s t h e s i s a t t empt s t o l o o k beyond the more obvious
problems normally a s s o c i a t e d wi th c o a l i t i o n warfare . Nat ional
i n t e r e s t s , i n t e r n a t i o n a l p o l i t i c s , and p a t r i o t i c chauvinism
a l l have an important p a r t t o play i n any mul t i -na t iona l
m i l i t a r y ope ra t ion . Perhaps more important than these m a n -
i f o l d elements a r e the i n d i v i d u a l , seemingly i n s i g n i f i c a n t
i n c i d e n t s , p e r c e p t i o n s , and circumstances t h a t i n f l u e n c e t h e
u l t i m a t e outcome of an engagement, b a t t l e , campaign, or war.
The o b j e c t i v e s of t h e A l l i e d i n t e r v e n t i o n seem t o be as ~~~ ~ ~~~~~ ~ ~~~ ~.~~
numerous as t h e n a t i o n a l f o r c e s who p a r t i c i p a t e d . 'With the
Bolshevik Revolution o f November, 1917 , and the subsequent
s ign ing o f t he Trea ty o f Brest-Litovsk i n March, 1918, t he
A l l i e s saw d i s a s t e r around the corner . The t r e a t y between
t h e Germans and the nevr r evo lu t iona ry government would
r e l e a s e an es t ima ted one hundred and for ty-seven German and
Austrian Div i s ions f o r duty on the 'Western Front . Winston
C h u r c h i l l , then B r i t i s h Ll inis ter o f Munitions, t o l d the
Imper ia l War Cabine t , "Above a l l t h i n g s r e c o n s t i t u t e t h e
f i g h t i n g f r o n t i n t h e E a s t . . . I f we cannot. . .no end can be
d iscerned t o t h e w a r . We must no t t ake 'No' f o r an answer
e i t h e r from America or from Japan. It2
3
Another cons ide ra t ion was t h e A l l i e d war m a t e r i a l t h a t
had been provided t o t h e Russian government p r i o r t o the
Bolshevik Revolution. T h i s huge s t o c k p i l e of equipment and
s u p p l i e s was supposedly s t o r e d i n warehouses and dumps i n
Archangel and was vulnerable t o cap tu re by German t roops
ope ra t ing from Finland.
Add i t iona l ly , t h e r e was t he ques t ion of the Czechoslo-
vakian Corps . This u n i t , once p a r t o f t he Imperial Russian
Army, had been i s o l a t e d i n Russia a f t e r t h e f a l l o f t he Czar
and had begun a march t o Vladivostok i n March, 1918, f o r t he
purpose o f redeploying t o the Western Front . This i d e a was
f u l l y supported by t h e A l l i e s , e s p e c i a l l y the French. By
May, 1918, t he Czechs were i n c o n f l i c t wi th the Sov ie t s
along the Trans-Siberian railway. Although the Czech Corps
c o n t r o l l e d long s e c t o r s o f the r a i l r o a d , they were s p l i t
i n t o two elements , s epa ra t ed by Sov ie t f o r c e s , The p l i g h t
of t h e Czech Corps and the desire on t h e p a r t of t he A l l i e s
t o in t roduce t h e Corps i n t o a c t i o n of t h e Western F r o n t was
o f f e r e d as another reason f o r i n t e r v e n t i o n .
Among the A l l i e d t r o o p s t h e r e seemed t o be a good dea l
of confusion as t o t h e i r purpose i n North Russia. The
announcements o€ t h e m i l i t a r y a u t h o r i t i e s va r i ed and d i d n o t
c l e a r l y s t a t e t h e o b j e c t o f t he exped i t ion . B r i t i s h General
Headquarters publ ished a pamphlet for t roop consumption wi th
t h e fol lowing reasons f o r the A l l i e d a c t i o n i n North Russia:
1. To form a m i l i t a r y b a r r i e r i n s i d e which the Russians could reorganize themselves t o d r i v e Out t h e German invader .
A
2 . To assist the Russians t o reorganize t h e i r army by i n s t r u c t i o n , s u p e r v i s i o n , and example on more reasonable p r i n c i p l e s than t h e o l d regime a u t o c r a t i c d i s c i p l i n e .
3 . To reorganize t h e food s u p p l i e s , making up the d e f i c i e n c i e s from a l l i e d c o u n t r i e s . To o b t a i n f o r expor t t he s u r p l u s s u p p l i e s of goods, such as f l a x , t imber , e t c . To f i l l s t o r e s h i p s br inging food, thus main-t a i n i n g the economical sh ipping p o l i c y ,
American f o r c e s were informed t h a t they were s e n t t o
Russia " to guard m i l i t a r y s t o r e s which may subsequent ly be
needed by Russian f o r c e s , and t o render such a i d as may be
acceptab le t o t h e Russians i n the o rgan iza t ion of t h e i r own
se l f -defense . ,,4
F i n a l l y , because t h e r e seemed t o be continued confu-
s i o n as t o why A l l i e d s o l d i e r s were dying i n North Russ ia ,
B r i t i s h Headquarters i s sued t h i s proclamation:
There seems t o be among t h e t roops a very i n d i s t i n c t i d e a of what we a r e f i g h t i n g f o r here i n North Russia. T h i s can be explained i n a few words. We a r e up a g a i n s t Bolshevism, which means anarchy pure and s imple. Look at Russ ia a t t h e p re sen t moment. The power i s i n t h e hands of a few men, mostly Jews, who have succeeded i n br inging the country t o such a s t a t e t ha t o r d e r i s nonexis ten t . Bol-shevism has grown upon the uneducated masses t o such an e x t e n t t h a t Russia i s d i s i n t e g r a t e d and h e l p l e s s , and t h e r e f o r e we have come t o he lp h e r g e t r i d o f t he d i s e a s e t h a t is e a t i n gh e r u p . We a r e no t here t o conquer Russia , bu t we w a n t t o he lp he r and s e e h e r a g r e a t power. When o r d e r is r e s t o r e d he re , we s h a l l c l e a r o u t , bu t only when we have a t t a i n e d our o b j e c t , and t h a t i s t h e r e s t o r a t i o n of Russia.
T h i s w a s t he d i r e c t oppos i te of wha t t he Americans had
been i n s t r u c t e d . It i s no t s u p r i s i n g t h a t f r i c t i o n , sus-
p i c i o n , and misunderstanding between t h e A l l i e s w a s developing
5
from the start. The confusion and ambiguity over t h e a c t u a l
purpose of t he i n t e r v e n t i o n would become one more f a c t o r i n
a s e r i e s of i s s u e s t h a t would l e a d t o a f r u s t r a t i n g and
d i f f i c u l t campaign.
The answer t o t h e ques t ion of success or f a i l u r e seems
t o be found i n t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p s tha t formed between t h e
A l l i e s . The p e r s o n a l i t i e s , n a t i o n a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , and
customs of t h e i n d i v i d u a l s and u n i t s involved i n the expe-
d i t i o n p lay a most important r o l e i n t h e subsequent develop-
ment of t h e A l l i e d a f f i l i a t i o n .
Among the commanders t h e r e vras incompetence as we l l as
b r i l l i a n c e ; genuine c a r e for t he we l fa re of t he t roops as
w e l l as c a l l o u s n e s s ; and profess iona l i sm as wel l as ca ree r -
i s m . For t h e i n d i v i d u a l s o l d i e r t h e r e were, among o t h e r
problems, ques t ions about medical c a r e , mail from home,
drunken commanders, p r o f i t e e r i n g among r e a r detachment t r o o p s ,
and cons t an t j ea lousy over t h e q u a n t i t y and q u a l i t y o f food
and supp l i e s .
The s t r a i n of combat a g a i n s t a f a n a t i c a l enemy, i n a
wretched land , i gnoran t o f purpose and f i g h t i n g i n t h e sha-
dow of t h e a r m i s t i c e on the \Jestern F ron t , r e s u l t e d i n
mut in i e s , d i sobedience , and i n t e r - A l l i e d r e l a t i o n s t h a t were
s t r a i n e d t o t h e l i m i t . Nerves and pa t i ence were s t r e t c h e d
t o the p o i n t t h a t t h e American commander requested t h a t t he
' , . . .p resent f o r c e be e n t i r e l y rep laced as e a r l y as p r a c t i -
c a b l e . . . a i t h an adequate fo rce commensurate w i t h i t s miss ion ,
6
suppl ied and equipped s o t h a t i t can ope ra t e i n an American
, I 6way.
Chapter t h r e e explores the major combat a c t i o n s between
September 1918 and t h e evacuat ion from Archangel i n October ,
1 9 1 9 . The focus of t h i s chap te r i s n o t on "Grand S t r a t egy"
o r d e t a i l e d r e p o r t s of f r i e n d l y and enemy o r d e r o f b a t t l e .
The small u n i t a c t i o n s and r e l a t i o n s between the l e a d e r s and
subord ina tes of t hose p la toons and companies a r e the s u b j e c t
of t h i s examination. The engagements on the Archangel-Vologda
r a i l r o a d , The Vaga River , and the Dvina River are recounted,
f o r i t was t hese b a t t l e s t h a t accounted f o r t h e major i ty of
A l l i e d combat i n t e r a c t i o n or, as i t i s c a l l e d today, i n t e r -
o p e r a b i l i t y . T h i s t h e s i s draws on t h e d e s c r i p t i v e accounts
of s e v e r a l of t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s i n these a c t i o n s . Through
t h e i r reminiscences one is a b l e t o feel t h e admira t ion , d i s -
g u s t , camaraderie , and f r u s t r a t i o n born ou t of t he need t o
t r u s t your l i f e t o a s o l d i e r o f another n a t i o n a l i t y , i n a
s t r a n g e land , under t h e most arduous circumstances, i n a
mutually misunderstood war. It was t hese i n t e r p e r s o n a l
t r a n s a c t i o n s , on t h e s o l d i e r t o s o l d i e r l e v e l , t h a t played
such a key role i n t h e success o r f a i l u r e of c o a l i t i o n com-
b a t i n t h e exped i t ion t o Archangel.
Although t h e war wi th Germany ended on 11 November, 1918,
t he l as t A l l i e d f o r c e d i d n o t depa r t Archangel u n t i l 12 Octo-
b e r , 1919. A l b e i t t h e o r i g i n a l j u s t i f i c a t i o n s f o r in te rven-
t i o n were centered on Germany, no t one German p r i s o n e r was
7
taken i n DJorth Xussia, nor was t h e r e any evidence of German
involvement i n the combat a c t i o n s a g a i n s t t he A l l i e s . I n
t h e e n t i r e conduct o f t h e North Russian expedi t ion t h e r e
was no f i r m connect ion between t h e S o v i e t s and t h e Germans.
The r e l a t i o n s h i p s between t h e A l l i e d p a r t i c i p a n t s were
formed out of t he p o l i t i c a l and m i l i t a r y a c t u a l i t i e s of t h e
moment, and r e s u l t e d i n a con t rad ic to ry and confusing s e t
of circumstances wi th in which t h e A l l i e d mi l i ta ry commanders
were forced t o a c t . V i th t h i s i n t r o d u c t i o n , we shall
approach the ques t ion of c o a l i t i o n warfare during the
A l l i e d i n t e r v e n t i o n i n North Russia , and the background t o
t h a t i n t e r v e n t i o n .
8
Motes
1. N e w York Times, 20 September, 1959.
2 . E.M. Ha l l iday , The lanorant Armies, Award Books, New Yorlc, 1964, Pg. 16.
. . . 3 . A.,Chronic le r (John Cudahy), Archangel- The American War
With Russia_, A.C. NcClurg & Go., Chicago, 1924, P a . 31.
5. Cudahy, Op. C i t . , Dg. 31-32.
6 . George Evans Stewar t , Stewart Papers , Report o f Expedi-t i o n t o t h e I h r m a n Coast, Spec ia l C o l l e c t i o n s , United S t a t e s H i l l t a r y Academy Library , West P o i n t , New Y O P k .
9
CHAPTER 1
Background t o the I n t e r v e n t i o n
I n o rde r t o understand the r e l a t i o n s h i p s between the
Al l i ed f o r c e s during t h e expedi t ion t o North Russia , one must
look a t the circumstances and dec i s ions t h a t l e d t o the com-
mitment of m i l i t a r y f o r c e s .
The e n t i r e complexion o f the war i n Europe changed on 3
March 1918, when a Sov ie t Government de l ega t ion , headed by
Leon Trotsky, nego t i a t ed a sepa ra t e peace wi th Germany. Since
Movember, 1917, when t h e Bolshevik dominated Sovie t government
took power from t h e Kerensky government, t he A l l i e s had been
i n a cons tan t s t a t e o f exaspera t ion over Sov ie t a c t i o n s . The
s e c r e t t r e a t i e s between Russia , B r i t i a n , France, I t a l y , and
Japan were published by the new Sovie t government. The war
d e b t , incured by t h e C z a r i s t government, was repudiated. But
t h e most s e r i o u s breach between the Sov ie t s and A l l i e s was t h e
s e p a r a t e peace s igned a t Brest-Litovsk. The r ami f i ca t ions O f
t h i s a c t were c r i t i c a l t o the Al l i ed cause. The Germans would
now be ab le t o t r a n s f e r approximately f o r t y d i v i s i o n s from t h e
Eas t e rn t o the Western f r o n t . T h i s would allow t h e Germans t o
enjoy a numerical s u p e r i o r i t y of n e a r l y 2 1 7 d i v i s i o n s t o the
A l l i e d s t r e n g t h of 173 d i v i s i o n s , o r a l i t t l e more than a two
m i l l i o n man d i f f e rence . 1
I t w a s apparent t o Al l i ed m i l i t a r y l e a d e r s , and p o l i t i c i a n s ,
t h a t t he s i t u a t i o n was grave. I n l a t e hIarch, 1918 the GemanS
10
began an o f fens ive on the Xestern Front t h a t succeeded i n
pushing the B r i t i s h back nea r ly t h i r t y miles . More than eve r ,
i t appeared c r i t i c a l t o r e c o n s t i t u t e an Eas te rn Front and s t o p
t h e t r a n s f e r of German t roops and m a t e r i e l from Russia. A s
t h e f u l l impact of t h e g r e a t German o f fens ive began t o be f e l t ,
t he planners and p o l i t i c i a n s had v i s i o n s of German p r i s o n e r s
being re leased i n Russia t o r e i n f o r c e u n i t s on the :destern
Front . These v i s i o n s became nightmares as t h e A l l i e s pondered
t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f t hese p r i sone r s being armed and equipped
w i t h t he very weapons and s u p p l i e s t ha t t he A l l i e s had provided
t o t h e Czar’s A r m y , s u p p l i e s then s t o c k p i l e d at a number of
Russian p o r t c i t i e s . Winston Church i l l , then B r i t i s h Min i s t e r
of Munitions, t o l d the Imperial War Cabinet tha t : “Above all
t h ings r e c o n s t i t u t e t he f i g h t i n g f r o n t i n the E a s t . . . If we
cannot . . . no end can be discerned t o t h e w a r . ” 2
There were o t h e r reasons f o r i n t e r v e n t i o n bes ides t h e poten-
t i a l mi l i t a ry advantage t h e Germans would enjoy w i t h t he s h i f t
of t roops from East t o West, and the p o s s i b l e s e i z u r e by t h e
Sov ie t s of t h e prec ious w a r s u p p l i e s at Archangel and Vladivos-
tok. There w a s t h e p l i g h t of t he Czechoslovak Corps.
I n t h e sp r ing of 1918, fol lowing t h e s ign ing of t he Treaty
of Brest-Litovsk, a f o r c e of approximately 40,000 Czech s o l d i e r s
was making i ts way from t h e Ukraine t o Vladivostok. T h i s u n i t ,
which had been f i g h t i n g the Germans as p a r t of t h e Imper ia l
Russian A r m y , was t o become part of an i n t e r e s t i n g and absurd
p lan tha t would even tua l ly be a key element of the A l l i e d i n t e r -
11
ven t ion i n Archangel. For t h e moment, t h e Czech l eg ion vas
making f o r the p o r t o f Vladivostok where i t would embark f o r
France and the i les te rn Front , v i a t h e United S t a t e s . I t was
intended t h a t upon arrival i n France the Czechs would t ake
t h e i r p lace i n t h e t r enches under French command.
The Czech s i t u a t i o n presented s e v e r a l i n t e r e s t i n g prob-
lems, no t t he l e a s t o f which was geographic . The Czech Corps
w a s spread ou t along the Trans-Siberian Rai l road , from Kiev t o
Vladivostok, w i t h l i t t l e o r no communication between sub-uni t s .
The prospec t of an armed, organized m i l i t a r y u n i t , p rev ious ly
loyal t o t he Czar , t r a n s i t i n g the h e a r t o f Russia posed a d i f -
f i c u l t p o l i t i c a l ques t ion t o the S o v i e t s . On 1 4 I k r c h , 1918,
t h e Sov ie t Government gave o rde r s t o a l low the Czechs t o depa r t
f o r t he P a c i f i c Russian p o r t , On 26 €larch t h e o rde r s were
a l t e r e d . The Czech Legion w a s e a s i l y t h e l a r g e s t group o f
armed and d i s c i p l i n e d t roops i n Russia at the time. Also, most
of i t s s e n i o r o f f i c e r s were Russian and suspected t o be anti-
Bolshevik. The f o r c e could become a t h r e a t t o the new Sov ie t
l e a d e r s h i p , e s p e c i a l l y i f i t l i nked up w i t h t he Cossacks o r the
Japanese i n S i b e r i a .
The amended o r d e r s , i s sued by Joseph S t a l i n , P e o p l e ' s
Commissar for N a t i o n a l i t i e s , s t a t e d t h a t t he Czechs were t o
move t o Vladivostolc, "not as f i g h t i n g u n i t s b u t as groups O f
f r e e c i t i z e n s , t ak ing wi th them a c e r t a i n q u a n t i t y o f arms f o r
s e l f defense a g a i n s t t he a t t a c k o f coun te r - r evo lu t ion i s t . , ,3
Between 26 i k r c h and 1 4 A p r i l t he Czechs moved eastward i n
a r a t h e r sporadic manner, t h e i r r a t e o f transit depending on t h e
w h i m s and a t t i t u d e s o f t h e l o c a l Sov ie t a u t h o r i t i e s . Some l o c a l
l e a d e r s ignored Moscow.l's i n s t r u c t i o n s while o t h e r s a t tempted
t o enforce them t o the l e t t e r . The movement was f u r t h e r com-
p l i c a t e d by the Japanese landing at Vladivostok on 5 A p r i l .
Lenin assumed t h a t t he Japanese a c t i o n s were p a r t o f an A l l i e d
invas ion and ordered t h a t t he Czechs no t be allowed t o proceed.
On 10 Apr i l Lenin was informed tha t t h e Japanese landings were
completed and two days l a t e r he canceled the o rde r h a l t i n g the
Corps' movement. 4
On 14 Apr i l t h e Czechs decided t h a t no more arms would be
surrendered and t h a t t hose v o l u n t a r i l y surrendered previous ly
would be recovered. They also intended t o ob ta in c o n t r o l of t he
t r a i n s and f u e l i n those a r e a s where t h e i r f o r c e s were loca ted .
The Czech l e a d e r s h i p informed t h e Sov ie t s t h a t t h e only reason
f o r t h e i r movement t o Vladivostok w a s t o g e t t o France and he lp
t h e A l l i e s , and t h a t t h e Corps r e t a i n e d "old b r o t h e r l y f e e l i n g s
towards Russian democracy." But, " i n the event of i r r e s p o n s i b l e
elements engaging i n ope ra t ions a g a i n s t Czech u n i t s , they w i l l
be met wi th due r e s i s t a n c e . " 5
lilhile t he Czechs were i s s u i n g t h e i r r e s o l u t i o n t o the
S o v i e t s , t he B r i t i s h and French were debat ing how the Czechs
should be employed. The French d e s i r e d t o cont inue wi th the
o r i g i n a l p lan t o t r a n s p o r t t he Czechs from Vladivostok t o France.
The B r i t i s h , who were t o f u r n i s h the t r a n s p o r t , doubted t h a t t h e
e f f o r t requi red was r e a l l y worth i t and f e l t tha.t t h e Corps
might play a more important r o l e w i th in Russia. Options included
moving n o r t h t o : . ;urmas;c ac:Archanse l or c o n c e n t r a t i n g i n
S i b e r i a . Another p l a n c a l l e d for a l i n k cg m'th a Cossack
l e a d e r such as Semenov, o p e r a t i n a i n t h e E a s t . G HOT;: t h e s e
B r i t i s h p l a n s would c o u n t e r t h e renewed German p r e s s u r e on t h e
! ies te rn F ron t was n o t v e r y c l e a r . A s a consequence, Clemen-
ceau d i s a g r e e d w i t h t h e S r i t i s h proposal and pushec: for adop-
t i o n o f t h e French plan.
On 1 A p r i l t h e B r i t i s h biar O f f i c e informed t h e Czechoslo-
vak !,!ational C o u n c i l , t h e p o l i t i c a l r e p r e s e n t a t i v e o f t h e
Czech l e g i o n , t h a t i t had doub t s abou t t he f e a s i b i l i t y o f g e t -
t i n 2 t h e Corps from S i b e r i a t o Europe v i a t h e Uni ted S t a t e s ,
and proposed t h a t t h e Czechs be used t o assist t h e J a p a n e s e i n
S i b e r i a or t o p r o t e c t t h e S o r t h ?,ussian Yhite Sea p o r t s frorn
German a c t i o n s . Both t h e Czech Z a t i o n a l Counci l and t h e
French opposed t h i s i d e a .
A t t h e end of A p r i l an i m p o r t a n t change i n the French
p o s i t i o n prom3ted t h e Permanent i . : i l i t a r y R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f
The Supreme !Jar Counc i l t o d i scuss t h e q u e s t i o n o f t h e Czech
Corps. The r e s u l t o f t h e counci l meet ing was a J o i n t ?!ate
(P!o. 2 5 ) s t a t i n g t h a t t he fas tes t way t o remove t h e Czech
Corps xas t o s end t h o s e t r o o p s t h a t had n o t pas sed e a s t of
Oms!: t o h r c h a n z e l and !.Iurmanslc 7;fhile t h e remainder o f the Czech
fo rces shou ld c o n t i n u e t o V l a d i v o s t o k . The n o t e added t h a t
w h i l e t h e Czech t r o o p s were : ? /a i t ing t o embar!< f o r France t h e y
c o u l d be p r o f i t a b l y employed i n de fend ing Archamgel, ITurma?sk,
and t h e ::urnan Railway. A s a r e s u l t of t h i s a p p r e n t A l l i e d
14
compromise, a B r i t i s h i n s t r u c t o r s taff was s e n t t o Plurnanslc
i n Iflay t o t r a i n and o r g a r i z e the Czechs f o r t he subsequent
mission of defending t h e North Eussian p o r t s . General Tasker
H. B l i s s , t h e American r e p r e s e n t a t i v e at these d i s c u s s i o n s ,
abs t a ined from t ak ing a p o s i t i o n p r imar i ly because of P res i -
dent Wilson 's view t h a t t he Permanent Mili tary Representa t ives
should n o t become involved i n p o l i t i c a l ma t t e r s . 7
I n a d d i t i o n t o the i n s t r u c t o r s ta f f , the B r i t i s h ass igned
a m i l i t a r y mission of 560 o f f i c e r s , a machinegun company, an ,
i n f a n t r y company, and an engineer company, all t o be gar r i soned
a t I~lurmanslc. The t roops would guard the p o r t while t r a i n i n g
was conducted f o r t he Czechs. Th i s f o r c e , cornnanded by LIajor-
General Maynard, was composed of t roops belonging t o a phys ica l
ca tegory s o low as t o r ende r them u n f i t f o r du ty i n France. A t
t h e same t ime, General Idaynard saw h i s command as more t h a n j u s t
a t r a i n i n g and s e c u r i t y cadre . When ready t o take the f i e l d , "
General !laynard wrote , " the whole fo rce was t o endeavor t o j o i n
hands with the pro-al ly f o r c e s i n S i b e r i a , and then t o assist in
opening up a new f r o n t a g a i n s t Germany. There was a s u b t l e
y e t i r r evocab le change i n the o r i g i n a l concept of t he movement
of t he Czechs Corps t o t h e Western Front and t he opening of a
second f r o n t talcins p l a c e , What was i n i t i a l l y intended t o be a
b a s i c movement of f o r c e s from one t h e a t e r of ope ra t ions t o
another t h e a t e r was t ak ing on a much broader meaning. Not only
'were A l l i e d f o r c e s being introduced i n t o North Russia and S i b e r i a ,
but t he ques t ion of who these f o r c e s would be f a c i n g Pras i n t h e
15
minds of both t h e A l l i e s and the new Sov ie t l e a d e r s .
The h ighes t body developing A l l i e d p o l i c y on t h e Czech-
Sov ie t ques t ion vras the Permanent M i l i t a r y Representa t ives o f
t he A l l i e d Supreme tlar Council. The p e r s o n a l i t i e s o f t h i s
body warrant a t t e n t i o n f o r i t vras t hey who formulated the
i n t e r v e n t i o n i n North Russia as p a r t of t h e grand s t r a t e g y f o r
d e f e a t i n g t h e Germans. They a l s o c r e a t e d t h e genera l r e s e r v e ,
decided on t h e d i s p o s i t i o n of t he American Army, and determined
sh ipping p r i o r i t i e s t o dea l v r i t h t h e German submarine t h r e a t .
The men ass igned as Permanent M i l i t a r y Representa t ives
were d i s t ingu i shed gene ra l o f f i c e r s who n o t only were arnong
t h e most famous of t h e i r c o u n t r i e s ' martial l e a d e r s bu t were
also l o y a l t o t h e i r p o l i t i c a l mas ters . They met t h r e e t imes
each week i n V e r s a i l l e s and d iscussed methods for prosecut ing
t h e war. It was at t h e s e meetings t h a t t h e concept of a Russian
i n t e r v e n t i o n was born.
The members inc luded France ' s Idaxime 'Veyand, f u t u r e Com-
manding General o f t h e French Army and an important f i g u r e i n
t h e d e f e a t and su r rende r of t he French i n 1940. Great B r i t a i n ' s
r e p r e s e n t a t i v e vras General Henry H . IJi lson. Xilson vrould become
Chief of The Imper ia l S t a f f and l a t e r be a s s a s s i n a t e d by I r i s h
t e r r o r i s t s i n 1 9 2 2 . Luig i Conte Cadorna sat i n for I t a l y , bu t
because h i s country was a l a t e e n t r a n t on t h e A l l i e d s i d e , and
he had been t h e Commanding General of The I talian Army at t h e
time of its d e f e a t i n October, 1 9 1 7 , he had l i t t l e t o o f f e r at
t h e s e s s i o n s . L ieu tenant General Tasker H . B l i s s was 'iloodrow
16
' : i ilson's r e p r e s e n t a t i v e . B l i s s had graduated from ::jest P o i n t
i n 1875 and was cons idered an i n t e l l e c t u a l w i th in the Army.
IHe had been promoted d i r e c t l y from major t o b r i g a d i e r gene ra l
dur ing the Spanish-American War ca.nd as Chief-of-Staff had
planned t h e mob i l i za t ion of t he American Army i n 1917. 9
The s u b j e c t o f an A l l i e d i n t e r v e n t i o n i n Russ i a began t o
be d iscussed by the Permanent X i l i t a r y Representa t ives Tvrhen
i t became obvious t h a t a s e p a r a t e peace between the Germans
and t he Russians vras i n t h e making. General bleyganci suggested
t h a t a Japanese f o r c e , superv ised by an A l l i e d Commission,
should occupy t h e Trans-Sib'erian Railway from Vladivostok t o
Narbin, This a c t i o n would deny Germany access t o A l l i e d sup-
p l i e s , as well as a sea p o r t on the P a c i f i c coas t of Russia .
B l i s s informed S e c r e t a r y o f 'Jar Newton D . Baker o f Ileygand's
proposal . "The i n t e r v e n t i o n , I t wrote B l i s s , "over a l a r g e p a r t
of S i b e r i a , of a l a r g e Japanese Army, r a i s e s the ques t ion of when
and how they can be made t o g e t ou t . I have o f t e n thought t h a t
t h i s war, i n s t e a d o f being the 1.ast one, may be only t h e breeder
of s t i l l more. tllo I n r e t r o s p e c t , t hese were prophet ic words by
a concerned and i n t e l l i g e n t o f f i c e r .
The recommendation vras forwarded t o the Supreme War Council
f o r P res iden t Wi lson ' s approval . :Wilson r e j e c t e d t h e proposal
because he f e l t t h a t a u n i l a t e r a l Japanese move i n t o S i b e r i a
would only se rve t o antagonize the Russians.
The B r i t i s h were eager t o in t e rvene i n Russia . They knew
t h a t a world-vide Sov ie t sponsored p r o l e t a r i a n r evo lu t ion would
1 7
have a d i r e i n p a c t on t h e empire, e s p e c i a l l y Ind ia . I n l a t e
1 9 1 7 the B r i t i s h began sending l i m i t e d suppor t t o s e v e r a l anti-
3olshevilc elements i n Russia , and the impos i t ion o f €:laynard's
f o r c e at Murmansk in su red B r i t i s h c o n t r o l o f the primary start-
ing p o i n t f o r any i n t e r v e n t i o n i n Northern European Russia. The
only problem was t h e l a c k of t roops needed t o c a r r y ou t an in-
t e r v e n t i o n i n a country as v a s t as Russia. Sorflehow, Yoodrow
Vlilson, P res iden t of t he one na t ion t h a t had not been b l e d white
by f o u r years o f t r e n c h warfare, must be coaxed, c a j o l e d , or
i n t imida ted i n t o provid ing American men f o r a m i l i t a r y i n t e r -
vent ion i n North Russia.
!Yilson's m a n i n Russia was hnbassador David R . F ranc i s .
During t h e early p a r t of 1918 Francis had become i n c r e a s i n g l y
concerned about t he removal o f A l l i e d s t o r e s from Archangel by
t h e Sov ie t s . The Reds d i d no t pay for t he s u p p l i e s nor d i d they
inform the A l l i e s f o r what purposes they were s e i z i n g the mater-
i e l s . F ranc i s informed the Sov ie t a u t h o r i t i e s t h a t t h e A l l i e s
d e s i r e d t h a t t he s t0 re sb . e r e t a i n e d f o r use on the Vestern Front ,
bu t he rece ived no r ep ly from Xoscoe. These m i l i t a r y s u p p l i e s ,
which included small arms, s h e l l s of all t y p e s , t r u c k s , a r t i l l e r y ,
barbed wi re , copper vrire, and metal p i g s for t he product ion o f
a r t i l l e r y , were needed on the Vlestern Front , and t h a t , p l u s the
f ac t t h a t t h e S o v i e t s apparent ly had no i n t e n t i o n o f paying for
t he goods they took , i r k e d F r a n c i s . The s e n i o r diplomat was
concerned tha t the s t o r e s would fall i n t o the hands O f t h e
Gerrflans and would be used a g a i n s t t h e A l l i e s . He a l s o viewed
18
t he Sovie t a c t i o n s as nothing more than common th i eve ry and
f e l t s t r o n g l y t h a t t he A l l i e s should in t e rvene t o p r o t e c t
t h e i r i n t e r e s t s . A t t he end of Nay, 1918, Vice Counsel Fe l ix
Cole s e n t a d i spa tch from h i s pos t at Archangel t o t h e S t a t e
Department d i scuss ing h i s opinion of an i n t e r v e n t i o n i n Diorth
Russia. Cole f e l t t ha t he was c l o s e t o t h e pulse of t he people
and vras d i s tu rbed by those who were c a l l i n g f o r m i l i t a r y a c t i o n .
On 1 June Cole s e n t t h e following message:
In t e rven t ion w i l l begin on a small s c a l e but r;rith each s t e p forward w i l l grol;r i n scope and i n i ts demands f o r s h i p s , men, money, and m a t e r i a l s . . . The ground f o r landing an in t e rven t iona ry force has not been proper ly prepared. The n o r t h of Russia is nowhere near as pro-Ally as i t might be . . . In t e rven t ion i n the no r th of Russia w i l l mean t h a t we must feed the e n t i r e n o r t h of Russia containing from 500,000 t o 1,500,000 populet ion, ... In t e rven t ion can not reckon on a c t i v e support from Russians. A l l t h e f i g h t is out of Russia...€!o c h i l d can ever be convinced t h a t it i s spankedf o r i t s own b e n e f i t . . . . I n t e r v e n t i o n w i l l a l i e n a t e thousands o f anti-German Solsheviks. . .Every fo re igninvasion t h a t has gone deep i n t o Russia has been swallowed up. . . In t e rven t ion w i l l n o t engage t h r e e Germans i n Russia t o every one Al ly . . . I n t e rven t ion w i l l b e l i e all our promises t o the Russ ian people made s i n c e October 2 6 , 1917. We w i l l l o se t h a t moral s u p e r i o r i t y over Germany which i s a tower of s t r e n g t h t o us everywhere,. ..And a f t e r a l l , un less we a r e t o invade the whole of Russ ia , we shall no t have a f f e c t e d t h a t p a r t of Russia where the popula-t i o n is massed, mainly the c e n t e r and the south where the i n d u s t r i a l , rflininn and a g r i c u l t u r a ls t r e n g t h of Russia l i e s . . . . Yi
Ambassador Franc is received a copy of Co le ' s d i spa tch b u t
d i d no t accept h i s p o i n t of view b a s i c a l l y because C o l e ' s
opinions ran counter t o h i s own recommendation t o in t e rvene .
A s i t happened, t h o d i spa tch from Cole d i d no t a r r i v e i n Vash-
ington u n t i l 1 9 J u l y , a f t e r the f i n a l dec i s ion t o in t e rvene
19
had a l r e a d y been made. On 3 June t h e Permanent t ;I i l i . tary
R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s i s s u e d J o i n t TJote No. 31 which d e a l t wi th
t h e s i t u a t i o n a t Xurmansk and Archangel . The n o t e a d d r e s s e d
conce rn Over F i n n i s h c o o p e r a t i o n wi th Germany and F i n n i s h de-
s i g n s on Nor th Russ i a . I t also d i s c u s s e d t h e a v a i l a b i l i t y o f
t he Czech Corps t o s e r v e i n t h e Nor th and t h e p o s s i b i l i t y of
t h e Germans e s t a b l i s h i n g a submarine base i n t h e E.lurmanslc
a r e a . Host i m p o r t a n t l y , i t s t r e s s e d the need t o keep t h e
r e g i o n o u t of German hands th rough the i n t r o d u c t i o n of Allied
f o r c e s . On the assumpt ion t h a t a c e r t a i n number of Czechs
would be avai lable for d u t y a t Archange l , t h e B r i t i s h , French ,
I t a l ians , and Un i t ed S t a t e s would s e n d four t o s i x b a t t a l i o n s ,
wi th equipment and s u p p l i e s , t o t h e a r e a of Ikmm.nslc/Archangel.
The e x p e d i t i o n was t o be under B r i t i s h command.
Genera l B l i s s c o n c u r r e d w i t h t h i s Note based on h i s under-
s t a n d i n a of V i l s o n ' s c u r r e n t p o s i t i o n r e g a r d i n g t h e o c c u p a t i o n
o f t h e n o r t h e r n p o r t s . !.iilson s u p p o r t e d e f f o r t s t o keep t h e
Germans o u t and t o s e c u r e A l l i e d !Jar m a t e r i e l , b u t he opposed
t h e conduct o f m i l i t a r y o p e r a t i o n s from t h e p o r t a r e a s i n t o t h e
i n t e r i o r of R u s s i a . He also under s tood t h a t A l l i e d p a r t i c i p a -
t i o n would b e a p p r o s i m a t e l y e q u a l t o i n s u r e t h a t .the Un i t ed 1 2S ta t e s f o r c e ~ r o u l d be no more than one o r two b a t t a l i o n s .
The ? r e s i d e n t ' s p o s i t i o n , as p e r c e i v e d by B l i s s , vras b e s t
e x p r e s s e d by an e a r l i e r message from !:'ilson i n which h o s a i d :
" . . . R u s s i a ' s m i s f o r t u n e s impose upon u s a t t h i s t ime t h e o b l i -
g a t i o n of unslwerving f i d e l i t y t o t he p r i n c i p l e o f Russ i an ter-
20
r i t o r i a l i n t e g r i t y and p o l i t i c a l independence. 9u.t t he Tres-
i d e n t is h e a r t i l y i n sympathy with any p r a c t i c a l m i l i t a r y
e f f o r t which can b e made a t and from r,;urmanslc or A r c h a g e l ,
bu t such e f f o r t s should proceed i f a t all upon the su re sym-
pathy of t he Russian people and should no t have as t h e i r u l t i -
mate o b j e c t any r e s t o r a t i o n o f t he a n c i e n t regime or any o t h e r
i n t e r f e r e n c e wi th t h e p o l i t i c a l l i b e r t y of t h e Russian g e o p l e . ,113
I t should be understood t h a t along w i t h the vague i n s t r u c -
t i o n s from his Cormacler-in-Chief, B l i s s had no s e n i o r p o l i t i c a l
r e p r e s e n t a t i v e at t h e Council t o coord ina te wi th o r c o n s u l t ,
A f t e r t h e F i r s t Sess ion of t he Supreme 'Tar Counci l , i n Novem-
b e r , 1917, 'Vilson re fused t o be per sona l ly represented and a l l
d i scuss ions of t h e P r ime Minis te rs had t o be s e n t t o !.lashington
f o r 1!/ilson's approval , a f t e r t h e i r adopt ion by the o t h e r s . T h i s
arrangement was no t only d i f f i c u l t f o r B l i s s bu t made for an
environment of d i s t r u s t , confusion and misunderstanding. T h i s
arrangement he lps t o exp la in the time l a g i n communications
between B l i s s and WLlson and demonstrates how easy it was f o r
t he B r i t i s h and French t o p r e v a i l on t h e ques t ion of t he Horth
Russian i n t e r v e n t i o n .
On 1 June, two days before the Supreme Vlar Council ended
i t s debate on J o i n t Plote No. 31, Vilson au thor ized d i v e r t i n g
t roops from France t o 1.lurmansk. He a l s o detached the USS
Olympia, Dewey's f l a g s h i p at Idanila Eay, t o Uorth Russian
waters . Sec re t a ry of War Newton D . Baker, i n one of t h e few
disagreements he eve r had wi th 'Vlilson, l a t e r s t a t e d : "I
2 1
convinced him t h a t i t ( t h e d ive r s ion of t r o o p s ) was unv i se ,
b u t he t o l d me t h a t he f e l t ob l iged t o do i t anyhow because
t h e B r i t i s h and French 'viere p re s s ing i t on h i s a t t e n t i o n s o
hard and he had re fused s o many of t h e i r r eques t s that they
were beginning t o f e e l he was no t a good a s s o c i a t e , much l e s s
a good Ally." 14
Wilson had p rev ious ly expressed some wi l l i ngness t o send
American t roops t o North Russia i f Foch agreed t o the d iver -
s i o n . Lord Milner , t he Sec re t a ry of S t a t e f o r Var i n the D r i -
t i s h government, informed i:!ilson t h a t he had spoken 'with Foch
and that he was aware o f t he importance of t h e North Russian
ma t t e r and was w i l l i n g t o a l l o w t h e d i v e r s i o n of American
f o r c e s . i3ilner f u r t h e r asked that an American fo rce of t h r e e
b a t t a l i o n s of i n f a n t r y and machineguns, two b a t t e r i e s of a r t i l -
l e r y , t h r e e companies of eng inee r s , a n d t h e requi red medical
and a d m i n i s t r a t i v e suppor t be d ispa tched . l5 The f o r c e would
be under B r i t i s h command.
:>:hen Sec re t a ry of \!ar Balter and t h e Chief of S t a f f , Peyton
C . March, saw I.:Iilner's r eques t t o Wilson t h e i r f i rs t r e a c t i o n
vJas s u r p r i s e t h a t B l i s s had accepted the p rov i s ion f o r B r i t i s h
command o f t h e A l l i e d f o r c e . They were also s t r o n g l y opposed
t o the employment of such a l a r g e American f o r c e . Baker s e n t
a telegram t o E l i s s asking about t h e ques t ion of command and
i n s t r u c t i n g B l i s s t o pe r sona l ly speak t o Foch about t he d iver -
s i o n of American f o r c e s f r o m the ::Jestern Front . 1:fhen B l i s s
l e a rned that Xi lne r had increased the l e v e l of American t roop
2 2
commitment from t h e one t o two b a t t a l i o n s proposed a t the L'ar
Counci l , he was i nd ignan t . 3liss saw Foch, as i n s t r u c t e d , and
l ea rned t h a t because of t he improving s i t u a t i o n on the :Vestern
Front t he d ive r s ion of one o r two b a t t a l i o n s would no t h inde r
t he American e f f o r t i n France. 16
The argument about t h e s i z e o f t h e American fo rce cont in-
ued throughout June, bu t c u r i o u s l y , t he ques t ion of comma?ci
d i d no t o f f i c i a l l y come up aga in . From 2 through 4 J u l y the
Supreme ';Tar Council met a t V e r s a i l l e s where they heard a r e p o r t
on the North Russian s i t u a t i o n from S i r E r i c Geddes, F i r s t L o r d
of The Admiralty. His r e p o r t expressed t h e views of Major
General Freder ick C . Poole, t he o v e r a l l E r i t i s h commander i n
Korth Russ i a . Poole favored expansion o f t h e e n t i r e plan for
an i n t e r v e n t i o n and f e l t t h a t an A l l i e d occupation was neces-
s a r y i n o r d e r t o r e t a i n "bridgeheads i n t o Russia from the
n o r t h from which f o r c e s can even tua l ly advance r ap id ly t o t h e
c e n t e r of Russ i a , . .., , I7
B l i s s , who had been susp ic ious o f t he B r i t i s h i n t e n t i o n s
all a long , was appal led by Poole's concept o f t he ope ra t ion and
sro- te Sec re t a ry o f ':!ar Baker t h a t t he B r i t i s h p r o j e c t was too
ambi t ious and vague. B l i s s f e l t t h a t t he b e s t t he A l l i e s could
hope for was t o hold onto the nor thern p o r t s during win te r anci
s t a t e d t h a t : "Our A l l i e s want the United S t a t e s t o commit it-
self t o exped i t ions t o var ious p l aces where, a f t e r t he war, 'tlley
alone will have any s p e c i a l i n t e r e s t s . . .,318 Nei ther Baker o r I.Iarch saw any value i n a North Russian
2 3
e x p e d i t i o n b u t t h e P r e s i d e n t n e v e r t h e l e s s dec ided t o honor
t h e B r i t i s h r e q u e s t f o r t h r e e i n f a n t r y b a t t a l i o n s . aalcer
l a t e r sa id: "The e x p e d i t i o n was nonsense from t h e beg inn ing
and al'ways seemed t o me t o be one o f t h o s e s i d e s h o w born o f
d e s p a r a t i o n and o r g a n i z e d f o r the purpose o f keeping up home
mora le . . ..I 1 1 9
On 1 7 J u l y V i l s o n f o r m a l l y n o t i f i e d the A l l i e d govern-
ments o f h i s d e c i s i o n . The Uni ted S t a t e s government, t h e
message so lemnly s t a t e d ,
...y i e l d s , also t o t h e judgement o f the SupremeCommand i n t h e m a t t e r o f e s t a b l i s h i n g a small f o r c e at Hurmansk, t o gua rd t h e m i l i t a r y s t o r e s at Kola, and t o make it s a f e f o r Xuss ian f o r c e s t o come t o g e t h e r i n o rgan ized b o d i e s i n t he n o r t h . B u t . . . i t c m go no f u r t h e r . . . . I t i s n o t i n a p o s i t i o n , and has no e x p e c t a t i o n o f be ing i n a p o s i t i o n , t o t a k e p a r t i n o r g a n i z e d i n t e r v e n t i o n i n adequa te f o r c e from.. .i.:urnanslc and Archangel . I t . . . w i l l . . . f e e l o b l i g e d t o withdraw t h e s e f o r c e s , i n o r d e r t o acid them t o t he f o r c e s at the w e s t e r n f r o n t , i f t h e p l a n s . .. s h o u l d deve lop i n t o o t h e r s i n c o n s i s t e n t w i t h t h e p o l i c y t o which t h e Government o f t h e Uni ted S t a t e s f e e l s c o n s t r a i n e d t o r e s t r i c t i t s e l f . 2o
The P r e s i d e n t had dec ided t o p r o v i d e t h r e e b a t t a l i o n s of
i n f a n t r y and t h r e e companies o f e n g i n e e r s t o t h e Nor th Russ i an
e x p e d i t i o n a r y f o r c e . The m a t t e r was c l o s e d . T h i s , i n e s s e n c e ,
was how approx ima te ly 4,500 American men o f t h e 339th I n f a n t r y
Regiment, the 337th F i e l d H o s p i t a l and t h e 310th Eng inee r B a t -
t a l i o n , under B r i t i s h command, became i n v o l v e d i n one of the
most f u t i l e a d i l l - a d v i s e d mi l i ta ry o p e r a t i o n s i n A n e r i c m
h i s t o r y ~
'Xilson t<rould, l a t e r i n t h e summer O f 1 9 1 8 , c i r c u l a t e an
24
aide-memoir6 amonf; t he A l l i e s i n which he attempted t o j u s t i f y
h i s d.ecision t o send AmerFcan t roops i n t o Russia. T h i s paper,
eloquent and sometimes c o n t r a d i c t o r y , pu t f o r t h t h e ar&ument
t h a t :
M i l i t a r y a c t i o n is admissable i n Russ ia , as the Government of t h e United S t a t e s sees the circum- s t a n c e s , only t o he lp the Czecho-Slovaks consol-i d a t e t h e i r f o r c e s and g e t i n t o success fu l coop- e r a t i o n with t h e i r S l a v i c Itinsmen and t o s t eady any e f f o r t s a t self-government or se l f -defense i n which the Russians themselves may be w i l l i n g to accept a s s i s t a n c e . Vhether from Vladivostok or from Murmansk and Archangel, t he only l e g i t i m a t e o b j e c t f o r which American or A l l i e d t roops can be employed, i t submi ts , i s t o guard m i l i t a r y s t o r e s and t o render such a id as may be acceptab le t o the R u s s i a n s i n the o rgan iza t ion of t h e i r OVM se l f -defense . . . t h e United S t a t e s i s glad t o con-t r i b u t e t h e small fo rce at i t s d i s p o s a l f o r t h a t purpose, 21.
2 5
NOTES
1. Richard G o l d h u r s t , The Midnight Yar, :Iew York, 1.IcGral.i-H i l l , 1970 , pg . 3 .
2 . E.N. H a l l i d a y , Op. C i t . , p y . 1 6 .
3. James Bunyan, I n t e r v e n t i o n , C i v i l ',;ar and Communism i n R u s s i a , April-December 1918, Jocuments anu i , l a l ;e r ia l s , B a l t i m o r e , Johns Hopkins P r e s s , 1 Y 3 G , P z . 81.
4. John S i l v e r l i g h t , The V i c t o r s ' Dilemma, New Y O r K , ::ley-b r i g h t and T a l l e y , 1970, Pg . 34.
5 . m n y a n , Op. C i t . , Pg. 83.
6 . Richard H . U l l m a n , AnRlo-Soviet R e l a t i o n s , 1917-1921, Vol. I: I n t e r v e n t i o n and The War, P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y
7. George F. Xennan, Soviet-American R e l a t i o n s , 1917-1920, V o l . 11: The 3 e c i s i o n t o I n t e r v e n e , P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1958, P g . 146.
8. Hajor Genera l S i r C . Maynard, The ;.Iurmans!c Ven tu re , Hodcer and S tough ton , N . D . , Pg . 1 2 .
9 . G o l d h u r s t , Op. C i t . , Pg. 4.
10. Peyton C . March, The PIation a t !!Jar, New York, l )ouhleuay, Doran, 1932, Pg. 100.
11. P a p e r s R e l a t i n g t o t h e F o r e i z n R e l a t i o n s o f t h e Un i t ed S t a t e s , 1918, R u s s i a . U.S. Government P r i n t i n , ? O f f i c e , Vashington D . C . , 1932 , Vol 11, Pg. 477-404.
1 2 , Kennan, Op. C i t . , Pg. 365-367.
13, Ray S t a n n a r d Bake r , Vioodrow V i l s o n : L i f e and L e t t e r s , VOl 8: A r m i s t i c e . New Yoric. Doubleday. Doran, 1 9 3 9 , P,g. 1'ic
14. I b i d . , Pg. 147.
15. Kennan, O p . C i t . , Tg . 368.
1 6 . F r e d e r i c k P a l m e r , rlevrton i). Baker: America a t !.:ar, D O d d , Head & C o . , NeIw York, 1931, '$01 11, Pg. 317.
17 . Fore ign R e l a t i o n s , 1918, R u s s i a , Vol 11, Op. C i t . , ? g . 243, 246.
26
IS. Palmer, 0 9 . C i t . , ?g . 319.
1 9 . B a k e r , Vol 8 , Op. C i t . , Pg. 284.
2 0 . Fore ign R e l a t i o n s , 1918, S u s s i a , V o l . TI, O p . C i t . , P,g. 287-290 .
2 1 . S t a n l e y S . J a d o s , Documents on Russian-American R e l a t i o n s , Washington, D . C . , C a t h o l i c i l n i v e r s l t y 01' America, 1Y65, Pg. 51-52.
27
CHAiiTER 2 . .
The R e l a t i o n s h i p s 3etween T h e A l l i e s
The 339 th I n f a n t r y Regiment served :.rith The Nor th Russian
E x p e d i t i o n a r y Force f o r r e l a t i v e l y i n c o n s e q u e n t i a l r e a s o n s .
The conman<er o f t h e 3 3 9 t h , Colonel George Evans Stewart , !./as
one o f t h e few American o f f i c e r s iwho had s e r v e d i n Alaska, m d
t h e reg iment was c o n v e n i e n t l y encamped f o r e n b a r k a t i o n on t h e
London-Aldershot C a n a l i n S u r r e y , England. The u n i t had been
r e c r u i t e d at F o r t C u s t e r , T:!ichigan i n 1915 and was composed
p r i m a r i l y o f d r a f t e e s and o f f i c e r s from the mid-western p a r t
o f America. The 339 th was p a r t o f t h e 8 5 t h D i v i s i o n an6 when
t h e y a r r i v e d i n England i n t h e summer o f 1918, i t was w i t h t h e
h i g h and n o b l e m i s s i o n o f k i l l i n g Germans on t h e b a t t l e f i e l d s
o f France.
On 6 h g u s t , 1918, a message marked " S e c r e t " a r r i v e d f o r
S t e w a r t from t h e !iar O f f i c e i n London. I t informed him tha t
t h e 339th I n f a n t r y Iiegiment, 1st B a t t a l i o n , 310th Eng inee r
Regiment, 337 th F i e l d H o s p i t a l Company, and 337 th Ambulance
Company s h o u l d be p r e p a r e d for immediate s e r v i c e i n Russia.
It also i n s t r u c t e d S t e w a r t t h a t :
KO animals will be talcen, b u t a l l v e h i c l e s , s a d d l e r y , and h a r n e s s w i l l accompany t h e u n i t s : t h e u n i t s w i l l m o b i l i z e i n acco rdance w i t h D r i t i s h m o b i l i z a t i o n s t o r e t a b l e s ; B r i t i s h p e r s o n a l equipment w i l l be i s s u e d and any American equipment w i l l be t u r n e d i n at A l d e r s h o t ; t h a t Russian r i f l e s , Russ ian p a t - t e r n Lewis g u n s , and Russ i an p a t t e r n C o l t machine- guns w i l l be i ssuec : i n l i e u of t h e E n f i e l d r i f l e s t h a t t h e Americans have t r a i n e d vrit:?; and American o f f i c e r s w i l l be i s s u e d , f r e e o f c h a r g e , a s p e c i a l
2 8
: .iixter k i t a t the cocmence7ent o f t h e :.;inter i n tk,c theeti-e o f o:x?rc.tions. 1
O n 9 l .u~ustC o n l i d e n t i a l ai-der i:o . 1, >;eadquarters ,
icam Ex?e c! itionary Force , f o rxally 6esizi1at e c! the hneric2.3
u n i t s as >art o f the IIurmansk Expeditionawy "orce zu?d a:cFoifi-Le~
Colonel Stewar.l; as t h e corni:,andinz o i ' f i c e r o f the detac?:::.ent.
It ?rovic:,ec! t h e 3 3 9 t h I v i t h 1 , C O O pa i r s of skis, 5,500 ;airs
o l srAovishoes, 7,500 wir,ter r , occas ins , 50 lon; U.i, c) ,c r o s s cct s---
50 i c e t o n z s , ancl s l i ? - o n z a r n e n t s of ?.:bite n a . t e r i e l t o r x k e
the t r o o 9 s l e s s C. i s t inguishaSle on tlie sno'vi. 2
Stewart an2 h i s nen vere not happy a b o u t having t o g i v e
wp t h e i r 2ersona.l %e&ro r t h e E n f i e l e r i f l e s . One o f f i c e r no ted :
' Y o s t d i s h e c r t e n i n g of a l l irere t h e R u s s i m r i f l s s i s s u e d to t he i n f a n t r y . The;. '.;ere x m u f a c t u r e r ; i n o u r c o u n t r y Sy t h e mi l l io I> for t h e use of t l k ? I m p e r i a l A m y ; Lon2 , aw!c:.:arG J i e c e s , v i t h f l i n s y b o l t :-,echanisrns that f r e c u e n t l y jm:nec;. These l;rea-,ons h a 2 n e v e r 'seen tarseted by the Anerica>.s, and t h e i r s i g h t i n g s y s t e m 1mre c a l c u l a t e d i n R u s s i m paces inste2.d o f y a r d s . They had a loir v e l o c i t y and .;;ere thoroughly u n s a t i s f a c t o r y . The u n r e l i a b i l i t y of the r i f l e l p r i a e arm o f t h e i n fan -t r y , was an i rcgor tan t f a c t o r i n t h e l o m r i n g o fA l l i e d mora le . 113
? r i o r t o d e p a r t i n g f o r :!orth Russ i a -the order r e q u i r i n x the
t u r n - i n of p e r s o n a l gea r was r e s c i n d e d , b u t the Russizn :jea-
pons ;./ere i s s u e d .
The o t h e r members of General ?ool I s All iec! E : q e d i t i o n a r g
Force viere ZL~I i n t e r e s t i n g c o l l e c t i o n of f ixh t i i ?g ineil f r 0 i . G
s e v e r a l c o u n t r i e s . The a r i t i s h c o n t i n g e n t c o n s i s t e c of an
i n f a n t r y 3ri2a.de numbering n e a r l y 4500 men. The b r i g a c e was
made up p r i m a r i l y of 2oyal S c o t s and "sritish s o l d i e r s c l a s s i -
f i e d as cate,Tory C 3 . T h i s c l a s s i f i c a t i o n meant t h e y viere
u n f i t f o r t h e a rduous t a s k s o f f i e l d o p e r a t i o n s , but c o u l d
per form g a r r i s o n o r g x r d d u t y . !.;any o f t h e s e men wore
!.:ound s t r ipes won i n France and Selgiurn.' Also i n c l u d e d i n
t h e 3 r i t i s h s t r e n g t h vas a grou? o f t h r e e o f f i c e r s and s i x
s e r g e a n t s from t h e A u s t r a l i a n I m p e r i a l Fo rces . These men had
been s p e c i a l l y chosen and t r a i n e e t o a c t as a d v i s o r s t o t h e
'Yhite Xussian Army troops. Later i n t h e ca!npaign, o v e r oxe
hundred A u s t r a l i m s :iould vo lun- t ee r f o r d u t y i n Kor th R u s s i a 5 as p a r t o f t h e Dritis!i Army.
The B r i t i s h o f f i c e r s were o f tYxo b a s i c a r o u s s . One con-
s i s t e d of o f f i c e r s ,who had s e e n combat on t h e i J e s t e rn F r o n t
and were i n Nor th R u s s i a because they twere p r o f e s s i o n a l mil-
i t a r y men o r l oved a d v e n t u r e . The o t h e r group ~wasmade ug
o f o f f i c e r s viho had n o t s e e n conba t a d viewed t h e ?:orth
R u s s i m o p e r a t i o n as an o p p o r t u n i t y t o make a nane f o r them-
s e l v e s . A f t e r all, the :iar sppeared t o be comin.? t o an end
and t h i s might be t h e i r o n l y chance t o g a i n a r e p u t a t i o n t h a t
mi,c$it prove v a l u a b l e a f t e r the 7:rar.
The Frer.ch e lement i n c l u d e d approx ima te ly 970 f:len o f t h e
2 i s t C o l o n i a l I n f a n t T y s a t t a l i o n , v i t h t v o m a c h i n e p n sec-
t i o n s an6 tvo s e c t i o n s of s e v e n t y - f i v e 7 . i l l i m e t e r a r t i l l e r y
attachec' : . The 2 i s t C o l o n i a l vas a d i s t ingu i s ! i ed u n i t tha%
30
had s e e n sorne o f t h e most v i o l e n t f i g h t i n s on the ' ? e s t e r n
F ron t at Chemin d e s 3arnes i n 1917. The u n i t had been so
decirnatec! t h a t i t !ras d e a c t i v a t e d i n France anc! t hen r e a c t i -
v a t e d f o r t h e Kor th Russ ian e x p e d i t i o n . :;any of t he riren v:ho
j o i n e d the 2 1 s t b e f o r e d e p a r t i n g France had j u s t a r r i v e d frcrn
t h e Middle E a s t and vere i n v e r y poor h e a l t h . 6
From Canada came t h e 1 6 t h S r i g a d e Canaciian Fie16 A r t i l l e r y .
The Br igade c o n s i s t e d o f t h e 6 7 t h and 6 8 t h F l a t t e r i e s v i t h s i x
e i g h t e e n pounders each . The ariga.de had 497 o f f i c e r s and men
who had , f o r t h e most p a r t , s e r v e d i l l F rance . These volun-
teers had an e x c e l l e n t r e p u t a t i o n as gunners and harcl f i . z h t e r s . 7
The f o r c e also i n c l u d e d 860 S e r b s , 1 , 1 8 9 Italians, 449 P o l e s ,
5 J a p a n e s e , 43 Icoreans, 262 Ch inese , and an unrecorded number
o f South Africans, L i t h u a n i a n s , F i n n s , anci a n t i - a o l s h e v i k
White Russians.' One e s t i m a t e p u t s t h e t o t . a l number of A l l i e d
Forces at 1 , 4 2 4 o f f i c e r s and 25,GlG e n l i s t e d men.' The con-
bat o r d e r o f b a t t l e i n c l u d e d one regirnent o f American infan-
t r y , one b r i g a d e o f a r i t i s h i n f a n t r y , one b a t ' t a l i o n of French
i n f a n t r y , two s e c t i o n s o f French a r t i l l e r y and machineguns,
one b r i g a d e of Canadian a r t i l l e r y , one armored t r a i n , one 155
and one 77 m i l l i m e t e r Russiarr holvii tzers, f o r a t o t a l o f abou t 109,500 f r o n t l i n e t roops .
The 339 th and i t s s u p p o r t t r o o p s d e p a r t e d England aboard
t h e Tydeus, IJagoya, and Somali on 27 Augus t , 1918. An in-
f l u e n z a ep idemic broke o u t at once and n e a r l y 500 of t he
5 ,500 Americans were s i c k . A f t e r e i , gh t days at: sea a11
51
3 2
Stewart t o d i v e r t h i s fo rce t o Archangel . 12
Upon the i r a r r i v a l , t h e Americar.s found t h e s i t u a t i o n some-
what d i f f e r e n t from what t h e y had expec ted . On 4 September t h e
t r o o p s h i p s docked at Archangel and on t h e 5th, t h e 2nd J a t t a l i o n ,
339 th I n f a n t r y T,e,yiment e s t a b l i s h e d t h e i r camp at Smolney B a r -
r a c k s . The 3 rd B a t t a l i o n carne a s h o r e the same day and moved
Out if i imediately for t h e r e l i e f o f t h e f o r c e s l o c a t e d on t h e
Archangel-Volosda r a i l w a y . On 7 September t h e 1st Z a t t a l i o n
eiabarlied on two b a r g e s , towed by B r i t i s h t u g s , and moved up t h e
Evina R ive r towards a l i nk -up w i t h B r i t i s h f o r c e s o p e r a t i n g
n e a r Berez ink . 13
The s i c k 'diere unloaded from t h e s h i p s and t r a n s p o r t e d t o
t h e Russian Red C r o s s h o s p i t a l a t Archangel . The American rnedical
o f f i c e r , Kajor J o n a s Lonely, asked t h e B r i t i s h f o r a s s i s t a n c e
b u t ivas t o l d t h a t t h e B r i t i s h h o s p i t a l ~ i o u l dtake o n l y the
American o f f i c e r s and t h e e n l i s t e d Glen would have t o s t a y on
t h e s h i p s . Longly r e f u s e d t o make any d i s t i n c t i o n b e t m e n t h e
o f f i c e r and e n l i s t e d men and informed t h e a r i t i s h that he would
open an American h o s p i t a l . The young medica l o f f i c e r ' s a c t i o n s
'were b locked by t h e s taff o f Genera l P O O l e , based on t h e lack
of Arxrican medica l s u p p l i e s , personnel. , and equipment. Longly
went t o the American Rec! Cross r e p r e s e n t a t i v e i n Archa-igel and
e x p l a i n e d t h e s i t u a t i o n . Almost a t once , t h e deputy co rmis s ion -
er, ?.ir. C . T . ~ Y i l l i a n st u r n e d o v e r f i v e Red Cross h o s p i t a l t r a i n s
t h a t c o n t a i n e d t o n s o f medica l s u p p l i e s t h a t had been s e n t .to
2uss i a p r i o r t o t h e 3olshevi;c Bevo lu t ion . T!;o v o l u n t e e r n u r s e s
33
a ided Longly, one of whom would l a t e r be awarded the Florence
Night ingale Iledal f o r he r s e r v i c e s i n Archangel. 14
A f t e r e s t a b l i s h i n g t h e h o s p i t a l Kajor Longly r a i s e d t h e
American f l a g over i t , i n v i o l a t i o n o f General P o o l e ' s o r d e r s .
Poole had previous ly decreed t h a t on ly the Union Jack would be
flown i n Archangel. >!hen a B r i t i s h staff o f f i c e r appeared a t
t h e American h o s p i t a l and ordered Longly t o haul Cown t h e Stars
and S t r i p e s , Longly produced some armed guards and re fused .
That a c t i o n ended the debate and Longly proved t o be the only
A l l i e d o f f i c e r t o win an argument w i th General Poole concerning 15
which f l a g would be flown.
The c o a l i t i o n r e l a t i o n s h i p g o t o f f t o a rocky s t a r t and
went downhill r a p i d l y . The Americans observed t h a t many of t he
B r i t i s h o f f i c e r s wore the i n s i g n i a of high rank bu t drew pay of
lower grades. This p o l i c y was appa ren t ly t o i n s u r e t h a t t he
B r i t i s h always outranked t h e i r American A l l i e s . The a r i t i s h
promoted s u b a l t e r n s t o Lieutenant Colonel and made s e r g e a n t s i n t o
temporary majors . General Poole wanted t o be c e r t a i n t h a t i f
and when t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n became a l a r g e s c a l e A l l i e d ope ra t ion
t h a t t he Engl i sh would be f i rmly i n c o n t r o l of i t .16
The Americans a l s o complained t h a t t h e B r i t i s h took food
intended f o r the s i c k and wounded and served i t i n the s e r g e a n t ' s
messes. T h i s might have been overlooked except t ha t t h e wounded
were f e d a s t eady d i e t of t e a , jwx, and bread. The s i t u a t i o n
was made worse vihen Colonel Stewart r e c a l l e d an American medical
o f f i c e r f o r r e f u s i n g a S r i t i s h o f f i c e r ' s o r d e r t o have American
34
medical personnel d i g l a t r i n e s f o r t h e 3 r i t i s h o f f i c e r ' s
q u a r t e r s .
There were also charges tha t the B r i t i s h neg lec ted s e v e r a l
Americans and r equ i r ed them t o do o r d e r l y d u t i e s . F i n a l l y ,
Colonel S t e -xwt cour t -mar t i a l l ed one American s o l d i e r f o r
r e f u s i n g t o do scrub work i n a Yritish h o s p i t a l . The es tab-
l ishment o f t he American rece iv ing and convalescent h o s p i t a l s
i n Archcangel cured most of t hese problems.17
The 3rd B a t t a l i o n , 339th I n f a n t r y moved d i r e c t l y from the
s h i p s t o the Archangel-Vologda r a i l r o a d l i n e . The mission o f
t h e 3rd Z a t t a l i o n was t o move south along t h e railroad t o
Obozerskaya and relieve p a r t of t he French 2 1 s t Co l lon ia l 3at-
t a l i o n . Obozerskaya was loca ted approximately 70 miles south
of Archangel. From Obozerskaya the 3rd B a t t a l i o n was t o cont inue
sou th along the r a i l r o a d t o v e r s t 466%. and make con tac t wi th the
French.
When t h e 3rd B a t t a l i o n , commanded by Najor Charles 3 . Young,
contac ted the French B a t t a l i o n , t h e o f f i c e r i n charge came o u t
o f h i s dugout and i n d i c a t e d t h a t he expected a Russian a r t i l -
l e r y a t t a c k a t any moment. LIajor Young ordered the American
t roops d ispersed and began t o r e l i e v e the French of t h e i r p O S i -
t i o n . That n i g h t t h e American's s u f f e r e d t h e i r f i rs t c a s u a l t y
*A v e r s t was .66 o f a mile o r 1 , 1 6 4 yards . Each v e r s t on t h e r a i l r o a d was marked, with the numbers going from south t o n o r t h .
35
of t h e campaign, a s o l d i e r s h o t i n the l e g by a s e n t r y who
f i r e d without wa i t ing f o r a response t o h i s cha l lenge . I t was
a t the p o i n t tha t the doughboys f u l l y r e a l i z e d t h a t : "Guard
duty a t Archangel was aiming now t o be a r e a l war, on a small
s c a l e bu t i n t e n s i v e . " 18
How were these Americans drawn i n t o combat, under B r i t i s h
O f f i c e r s , n e a r l y 100 mi les from Archangel, where, according t o
P r e s i d e n t Wilson, t h e i r d u t i e s were l i m i t e d t o performing
"guard duty"? T h i s ques t ion i s key t o an examination of t h e
r e l a t i o n s h i p between t h e A l l i e s .
The command r e l a t i o n s h i p between Colonel Stewart and Gen-
e r a l Poole w a s b a s i c a l l y e s t a b l i s h e d by P r e s i d e n t \Lt lson 's
dec i s ion t o commit American t roops under B r i t i s h command. T h i s
s i t u a t i o n became c l e a r e r a f t e r t h e Americans a r r i v e d i n Arch- 1
angel . Immediately a f t e r S tewar ts arrival a t Archangel, Ambas-
sador F ranc i s c a l l e d him t o h i s apartment where t h e ambassador
asked Stewart i f he had any o rde r s f o r him. Stewart r e p l i e d
t h a t he d i d not . F ranc i s then asked what o r d e r s Stewart had
rece ived . S tewar t said h i s o rde r s were t o r e p o r t t o General
Poole , t h e commander of t h e A l l i e d Forces. Franc is responded:
' I 1 i n t e r p r e t ou r p o l i c y here . If I should t e l l you n o t t o
obey one o f General P o o l e ' s o r d e r s what would you do?" S tewar t 19r e p l i e d t h a t he would obey F ranc i s .
F ranc i s had con tac t ed t h e S t a t e Department e a r l i e r and
reques ted that the ranking o f f i c e r be pu t Itin c l o s e touch" wi th
him. When t h e S t a t e Department informed General March, Chief
36
of S t a f f , of F r a n c i s ' r eques t , March s t a t e d t h a t he d i d n ' t want
the ambassador t o have anything t o do w i t h t h e t roops . The
S t a t e Department, through Assistant Sec re t a ry of S t a t e Long
informed P r e s i d e n t Wilson of March's a t t i t u d e and i n a subse-
quent War Council meeting, Wilson ordered March t o inform
S t e w a r t t o comply with F ranc i s ' reques t . On 13 September F ranc i s
rece ived a telegram from the S t a t e Department s t a t i n g : "It i s
important t h a t you and Colonel Stewart should keep i n c lose
personal touch. You a p p r e c i a t e , o f course , t h a t i n m i l i t a r y
ma t t e r s Colonel S tewar t is under General Poole. ,,20
The command r e l a t i o n s h i p was f u r t h e r complicated when, on
17 September, S tewar t rece ived a cab le from American P I i l i t a r y
Headquarters i n London i n response t o a r eques t f o r guidance
i n what must have been an ambiguous and c o n t r a d i c t o r y predic-
ament. The cab le s t a t e d :
Reference your telegram following, repea ted f o r your informat ion and guidance. ...f o r t a c t i c a l purposes and f o r a d m i n i s t r a t i v e ma t t e r s invol- ving t h e e n t i r e command he is under the j u r i s - d i c t i o n of A l l i e d Gommanders. Supp l i e s w i l l be fu rn i shed by the E r i t i s h . I n ma t t e r s of i n t e r n a l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n he w i l l be governed
by21our own o r d e r s , r e g u l a t i o n s , and i n s t r u c t i o n s .
On 14 October t h e war o f f i c e r e c a l l e d General Poole t o
England, o s t e n s i b l y t o confer on f u t u r e ope ra t ions . The p r i -
mary reason f o r P o o l e ' s depar ture 'was because Ambassador
F ranc i s had informed the S t a t e Department of P o o l e ' s i n t e r -
f e rences i n Russian p o l i t i c a l affairs and over o p t i m i s t i c re-
p o r t s . The S t a t e Department contac ted t h e B r i t i s h Foreign
Of f i ce and informed them t h a t i f Poole continued t o medcile i n
37
Russian domestic a f fa i r s , "The 'Jnited S t a t e s shall be com-
p e l l e d t o cons ide r 1;rithdrawal of American t roops from B r i t i s h
s u p e r i o r demands.... ,,22
The B r i t i s h could n o t a f f o r d t o have the Americans wi th -
draw at t h i s p o i n t , and rep laced P o o l e w i th Najor General
'Vlilliam Edmund I r o n s i d e as Commander-in-Chief of t he North
Russian A l l i e d Expedi t ionary Force.
On 8 November, 1918, t h ree days be fo re the a r m i s t i c e ,
t h e one man who could have most d i r e c t l y inf luenced t h e r o l e
of American t roops depar ted Archangel. Ambassador F ranc i s
was talcen ill and l e f t Russia f o r a p r o s t a t e ope ra t ion i n
England. His replacement, De!:/itte C l in ton Poole (no r e l a t i o n
t o General Poole) former Charge d ' A f f a i r s i n Finland d i d no t
have the i n f l u e n c e o r a u t h o r i t y of F ranc i s . With the depar-
t u r e of Franc is came t h e t o t a l sub juga t ion of t he American
f o r c e s t o B r i t i s h command a u t h o r i t y .
General I r o n s i d e proved t o be s t r i k i n g l y d i f f e r e n t from
Poole . T o t a l l y dedica ted t o the m i l i t a r y and l i t t l e i n t e r -
e s t e d i n p o l i t i c s , I r o n s i d e s e t about t o p o s i t i o n h i s f o r c e
i n a more f avorab le s t a n c e f o r t h e coming win te r and inevi -
t a b l e Bolshevik a t t a c k s . A s t he new Commander-in-Chief inspec-
t e d h i s A l l i e d f o r c e s he noted t h a t if it were no t f o r t he
l 'untrained cond i t ion of t he United S t a t e s i n f a n t r y i n t h e
Archangel Force", he would no t have been forced i n t o p u t t i n g
t h e C 3 ca tegory Sco t s i n t o the l i n e and could have kept them
f o r Archangel g a r r i s o n duty. *' I-Ie also observed t h a t ;
38
"The United S t a t e s t roops were of f i n e physique, but they had no .experience o f war and when they a r r i v e d t h e i r m i l i t a r y t r a i n i n g :.ras most i n p e r f e c t . They had been drawn from D e t r o i t and had the ad-vantage of possess ing many men of Rus- sian and P o l i s h e x t r a c t i o n , which gave them t h e advantage of having many i n t e r - p r e t e r s , of whom t h e r e was a g r e a t l a c k i n the o t h e r two con t ingen t s , 1124
On one of h i s f irst v i s i t s t o an American u n i t i n t he
f i e l d , I r o n s i d e viewed the doughboys inexperience f i r s t hand.
I n h i s words:
"The whole company was l i n e d o u t , peer ing i n t o the f o r e s t w i th t h e i r arms at the ready. No c l e a r i n g s had been made f o r even a modest f i e l d o f f i r e , I explained t o the company commanrkr what he should do , so t h a t a few s e n t r i e s could watch while t he remain- d e r of h i s men r e s t e d or took t h e i r meals. He s t a r e d a t me i n obvious amazement and then b u r s t ou t vr i th , 'what! , r e s t i n t h i s h e l l i s h bombardment! A t t he moment a few shells were f a l l i n g v ide i n t h e f o r e s t . ~ ~
They had a l o t t o l e a r n , . ,.1125
I r o n s i d e I s dea l ings w i t h Colonel S t em. r t may have i n f l u -
enced h i s opinion of t h e American s o l ~ d i e r . Shor t ly b e f o r e
Poolefsdepa r tu re f o r England and I r o n s i d e ' s assumption of
command, I r o n s i d e v i s i t e d Stcywart w i th the i n t e n t i o n of aslc-
i n g the American co lone l t o assume command of t h e A l l i ed
f o r c e s on t h e railaiay f r o n t . This element was composed o f
Americans, French, and D r i t i s h t roops .
I r o n s i d e found Ste7;iart i n h i s o f f i c e a t the Archangel
Y.M.C.A. A f t e r t h e i n i t i a l g r e e t i n g s , S-teTwart launched i n t o
a s e r i e s or" complaints about h i s problems i n adminis te r ing h i s
troops ':!hen they viere s o widely d i spe r sed . Steyvart a l s o c i t e d
39
t h e lack of a r t i l l e r y , engineers , and medical elements. Iron-
s i d e took t h i s oppor tuni ty t o o f f e r command of the railway
column t o Stewart . The American co lone l sat s i l e n t l y f o r
s e v e r a l minutes, then re fused . He s t a t e d t h a t i f he l e f t
Archangel he would be exceeding h i s i n s t r u c t i o n s . I r o n s i d e
pressed t h e i s s u e , b u t Stewart would n o t budge. The B r i t i s h
commander could n o t understand how a s o l d i e r who had been
awarded The Medal o f Honor f o r heroism during t h e P h i l l i p p i n e
insur rec t ion- the equ iva len t o f The V i c t o r i a Cross could re-
f u s e an o f f e r f o r a combat command. I r o n s i d e l e f t Stewart and
went immediately t o t h e commander of French f o r c e s , Commandant
Lucas, who accepted the o f f e r without h e s i t a t i o n . 26
Stewart appa ren t ly took h i s i n s t r u c t i o n s t o remain i n
Archangel q u i t e l i t e r a l l y . H e v i s i t e d the American u n i t s a t
t h e f r o n t twice only during the e n t i r e North Russian campaign.
H e a t tended the f u n e r a l s e r v i c e f o r t he first American casual-
t i e s on the r a i l r o a d f r o n t and made an inspec t ion t o u r t o t h e
Dvina f r o n t , where he l o s t a mi t ten and accused a j u n i o r o f f i c e r
of s t e a l i n g it . The ma t t e r was s e t t l e d when the mi t ten was
found where i t was dropped by t h e co lone l . 27
Shor t ly a f t e r I r o n s i d e ' s v i s i t t o S tewar t and F r a n c i s ' de-
p a r t u r e for England, Colonel Stewart cabled American Headquar-
t e r s i n London wi th the fol lowing message:
November 14 1918 Men of t h i s command have performed most e x c e l l e n t s e r v i c e under t h e most t r y i n g c l i m a t i c condi t ions o f c o l d , snow, wet and miry marshes ( t u n d r a ) . Having had former s e r v i c e i n A l a s k a I do n o t
40
contemplate v r i t h equanimity t h e e f f e c t on the numerical s t r e n g t h of m y command o f f i e l d s e r -v i c e i n t h e A r t i c under the most p r i m i t i v e and unsan i t a ry cond i t ions un le s s d i c t a t e d by urgent and impera t ive mi l i ta ry n e c e s s i t y . A l l i e s have no t been rece ived wi th the h o s p i t a l i t y the ob- j e c t of t h i s expedi t ion vrarranted. A c e r t a i n amount of d i s t r u s t of motive ev iden t ly permeates Russian mind. The original. o b j e c t of t h i s expe-d i t i o n no Longer e x i s t s . The win te r p o r t of Archangel w i l l be p r a c t i c a b l e f o r nav iga t ion twenty t o t h i r t y days longer and then c l o s e s u n t i l June. My in fe rence i s p l a i n Immediate cons ide ra t ion reques ted . Stewart
Stewart s a w t h e problems t h a t would come about Iviith t he
onse t of w in te r . He a l s o f e l t t h a t wi th t h e s ign ing o f t he
a r m i s t i c e on 11 Uovember any reason for remaining i n North
Russia vras voided. The war was over on the Western Front and
the Germans no longer posed a t h r e a t t o the A l l i e s o r t h e i r
s u p p l i e s . S t e w a r t ' s apparent motive i n sending the message of
14 November was t o f o r c e a dec i s ion on evacuat ion be fo re t h e
p o r t of Archangel was f rozen f o r the win te r of 1918-1919.
Stewart rece ived a r ep ly on 1 December s t a t i n g t h a t t he dispo-
s i t i o n of t roops i n North Russia Tias going t o be cliscussed. upon
t h e convening of t h e peace conference and that the B r i t i s h f e l t
t h a t t he p o r t would be open u n t i l December. Once the p o r t was
closed i t would be f e a s i b l e t o wi thdraw through I.lurmanok, 29
The Americans were n o t t he o n l y A l l i e d f o r c e ques t ion ing
t h e reasons f o r cont inued f i g h t i n g a f t e r t h e a r m i s t i c e . The
French, upon hear ing of t he c e s s a t i o n of f i g h t i n g on the (Ves-
t e r n Front , r e fused t o cont inue t o perform combat d u t i e s . The
commander of the French f o r c e s , Commandant Lucas, convinced
41
t h e French t roops t h a t t h e Kmerica?s could n o t hold o f f the
Russians without t h e a s s i s t a n c e of the French s o l d i e r s . 3e-
cause the French and Americans admired and respec ted each o t h e r ,
t h e French responded and took up t h e i r arms.
A s mentioned p rev ious ly , t he 2 1 s t Colonia l :vas r e c o n s t i -
t u t e d a f t e r i t was v i r t u a l l y destroyed i n France. Xany of t he
men who f i l l e d t h e b a t t a l i o n ' s ranks were no t vo lun tee r s or
were taken from o t h e r u n i t s i n the French A r m y , tiany o f t h e
men, l i k e those i n t h e B r i t i s h con t ingen t , had been wounded or
s u f f e r e d from s e r i o u s a i lments anc! were not; f i t f o r a c t i v e com-
b a t duty. I n s p i t e o f t hese shortcominc2s, t h e u n i t fought
brave ly i n the per iod p r i o r t o the a r m i s t i c e .
As t h e Russian :.rinter approached, t h e French s o l d i e r s be-
gan t o complain, l i k e the Americans, t h a t t he a r i t i s h supp l i ed
t h e i r o m t roops wi th b e t t e r food, equipment, and h e a l t h ca re
than t h e i r a l l i e s . The French a.lso complained about t h e B r i -
t i s h opera ted m a i l s e r v i c e and l a c k o f in format ion from France.
The B r i t i s h r e p l y t o a l l of t hese charges was t h a t they t r e a t e d
all of t h e A l l i e d f o r c e s i n the scme manner.
Another problem was the very high inc idence of venera l
d i s e a s e among the French t roops . From December 1918 through
I h y 1919 t h e r e were 109 cases of vene ra l d i s e a s e ve rses 38
o t h e r non-combat r e l a t e d i l l n e s s e s . The reason f o r t h i s high
r a t e , according t o t h e French, 7vas the r e f u s a l on the p a r t of
B r i t i s h Headquarters t o a l l o w the opera t ion of p r o s t i t u t e s ,
inspec ted and superv ised by the French mil i tary a u t h o r i t i e s .
42
This a c t i v i t y , r o u t i n e l y accepted by t h e French, :./as designed
t o keep up the French nora l e 'xhile c o n t r o l l i n g d i s e a s e . The
3 r i t i s h d isapproval was seen by the French as a r i d i c u l o u s
o b s t a c l e t o good h e a l t h and chee r fu lness .
F i n a l l y , when a ba t - t a l ion of Yorkshires staged a sh0r.t
mutiny and the 3 r i t i s h blamed the i n c i d e n t on the bad example
of t he French t r o o p s , t he French m i l i t a r y and governnent reac-
t e d . The French c i t e d a l l of t h e previous accusa t ions and s a i d
the absence OF a formal d e c l a r a t i o n of war a g a i n s t t he Euss ians ,
argued a g a i n s t t h e French being i n t:orth Russia. In a d d i t i o n
t o these accusa t ions a French p o l i t i c i a n claimed t h a t t he Amer-
i can t roops w r e " t o t a l l y c o n t m i n a t e d by 3olshevik i d e a s " , and
i n t u r n s e t a bad exanple f o r t he French t roops . 3" The Ameri-
c G n s re turned the f a v o r by claiming t h a t i t was the French,
no t t h e Y a n k s , i.iho were contaminated. For the most p a r t , t he
Americans and French go t a long we11 at t h e i n d i v i d u e l s o l d i e r
l e v e l . .One member of t he 339th rei;ieinbered the French as:
.,, t h o s e lmah-sheen I gunners i n b l u e on the r a i l r o a d who s t roked t h e i r f i e l d p e t s w i t h p r i d e and poured s teady l i n e s of f i r e i n t o the p ine woods ywhere lay t he Reds who were e n c i r c l i n z t h e Aiiericans I : : i t h
r i f l e a d machinegun f i r e . EIo;,i t h e Yankee s o l -d i e r s l i k e d then . And many a pl.easant drauzht they had from t he b i g pinaud canteen t h a t always came f r e s h from t h e huge cask. I-Iovi cour teous ly they taught t he doughboy machine gunner the lit-t l e arts o f digging i n and r e Jo iced a t the r ap id progress of the American.31
The Canadians were apprec ia ted and l i l t ed by a l l of . the
A l l i e s . This could have been because they had t r a d i t i o n a l
t i e s w i t h each of t he major members o f t h e e sped i t ion or
43
because they :.rere a r e a l i t i v e l y sinall u n i t t h a t p rovided t h e
n o s t c r i t i c a l e lement of combat suppor t - a r . t i 1 l e ry .
T h e C a n e d i m o p i n i o n of t h e Americsn s o l d i e r :!as, i n
many r e s p e c t s , t h e - s a n e as t h e i3ritish view. The command in^
o f f i c e r o f t he 6 8 t h Z a t t e r y , ?!aJor Yalter I-'.yLe, admired t h e -i
Americms as good a l l i e s , b u t f e l t t h a t ; " t h e new, u n t r i e d
i n f a n - t r y w i t h .;rhom ?re a r e a s s o c i a t e d i n our work, vere ve ry
g r e e n snd i t was ve ry l i f f i c u l t t o a r r i v e at a prope r under-
s t a n d i n g o f c o n d i t i o n s . I,32
On t h e o t h e r h a d , the Americans looked on t h e Canadians
as
"tough gunners seasoned and s c a r r e d by f o u r y e a r s o r b a r r a g e s and bombardments i n F rance , r a t h e r keen f o r t h e a c v e n t u r e o f Forth Russia 7;ihile f i g h t i n g v r a s on arld t ho rough ly 'fec!u;,' when t h e r e ';!as a l u l l i n the exc i t emen t .
One o f t h e t r a i t s - tha t~- theAner i cans d i d n o t admire i n
t h e Canadians was t h e i r p r o 2 e n s i t y t o s t r i g t h e R u s s i a dead
o f any th ing of v a l u e , such as boots -and h igh f u r h a t s . One
American o f f i c e r observec! tha t t h e C a n a d i a n s v e r e l i k e ,
"school boys on a h i l a r i o u s ! io l idxye Yet t h e r e was n o t h i n g debased or v i c i o u s abou t t h e s e Caxtd ians , They were unde l ibe re . t e , unpremed- i t a t e d murde re r s , who had l e a r n e d w e l l t h e n i c e l e s s o n s o f 1war and 1oo:;ec: upon k i l l i n g as t h e climax o f a d a y ' s a d v e n t u r e , a ~:ielcom-ed 'orec& i n t h e tedium o f t h e cull n i l i t a r j ~ r o u t i n e . Generous h e a r t e d , ha rdy , xho le sou led m u r d e r e r s . . . . I t 2 4
The r e l a t i o n s bet:,reen t h e C a l a d i a n s aid I 3 r i t i s h :.rere
u s u a l l y good, p r i m a r i l y because of t h e t r a d i t i o n a l c u l t u r a l 2nd
; 3 o l i t i c a l t i e s t he t.,;!o c o u n t r i e s en2oyeld. 'The one e::ce;?tion
r, L:
occurred i n e a r l y iIarch, 1 9 1 9 , fo l lo i i ing a mutiny by the
Yorlcshires and French and an a l l e g e d r e f u s a l of t he Amer-
i c a n s t o r e t u r n t o duty a t the f r o n t . The Canadians, nor-
mally congenial t o B r i t i s h command a u t h o r i t y , began t o
complain because they were n o t gran ted the same allowances
as t h e S r i t i s h . In A p r i l , General I r o n s i d e co r rec t ed the
s i t u a t i o n a n d s t a t e d : "The Canadians o u t he re , e s p e c i a l l y
the A r t i l l e r y Brigade, have been the backbone of t he expedi-
t i o n . i i35
It is p o s s i b l e t h a t t h i s i n c i d e n t l e d Canadian Prime
Min i s t e r S i r Robert Bordon t o inform 3 r i t i sh Sec re t a ry of
S t a t e f o r War, Winston C h u r c h i l l , on 18 Nay, t h a t :
"Beyond ques t ion i t is imperat ive t h a t t he Canadian Forces now at Archangel should be withdrawn without delay. Nany of t hese t roops were s e n t i n t h e f i rs t i n s t a n c e f o r i n s t r u c t i o n a l purposes. Doubtless they have no t ob jec ted t o t h e a c t i v e s e r v i c e which has been s u b s t i t u t e d for t he or iginal . purpose. Recent ly , t h e r e has been un fo r tuna te evi- dence of keen resentment on t h e i r part ....However, I have no r i g h t t o speak f o r t he o t h e r s b u t I do i n s i s t t h a t t h e Canadians shall be withdrawn immediately. 1136
Vi th in three i~ieelcs,on 11 June, t h e Canadians were on t h e i r
way home from PJorth Russia.
The r e l a t i o n s h i p s between t h e major A l l i e d p a r t i c i 2 a n t s
were determined by s e v e r a l f a c t o r s , Among these were; t he
cloudy command arrangement which caused misunderstanding and
resentment, t h e i n d i v i d u a l p e r s o n a l i t i e s of t he m i l i t a r y and
p o l i t i c a l l e a d e r s involved i n the exped i t ion , t he b a s i c
45
c u l t u r a l and s o c i a l d i f f e r e n c e s 5et:reen t h e A l l i e s , a d t h e
v a r i e d and d i f f e r i n g o b j e c t i v e s t h a t e a c h n a t i o n unde r s tood as
t h e r e a s o n for m i l i t a r y a c t i o n i n ?,forth R u s s i a .
For G e n e r a l s P o o l e and I r o n s i d e t h e r e was no q u e s t i o n o f
who was i n command. of t h e A l l i e d Forces . From t h e i r p o i n t o f
v iew, t h e y had been g i v e n t h e m i s s i o n t o l e a d an A l l i e d expedi -
t i o n by the Permanent i d i l i t a r y R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . I n h e r e n t i n
t h a t task was the t a c t i c a l employment, o r g a n i z a t i o n , adminis-
t r a t i o n , and s u p p l y o f t h o s e f o r c e s a s s i g n e d . Those f o r c e s
would r e a c t t o B r i t i s h p e r o g a t i v e s and t h e commanders o f t h o s e
f o r c e s would b e s u b j e c t t o t h e same a u t h o r i t y as i f t h e y were
o f f i c e r s i n t h e E n g l i s h Army. The American p e r s p e c t i v e was
s l i g h t l y d i f f e r e n t . A p p a r e n t l y , i t !.;as ? r e s i d e n t I ; ' i lson's i n -
t e n t t o s a t i s f y t h e demands o f t h e E r i t i s h by send ing American
~~ ~F o r c e s t o t h e PJorth Russ i an E x p e d i t i o n a r y Force . Bu t , a.t t h e
same t i m e , he s o u g h t t o have some c i v i l i a n c o n t r o l of t h e oper -
a t i o n a l a s p e c t s of t h e campaign by i n s t r u c t i n g i:!arch t o in fo rm~~
t h e American cominander t o s t a y " i n c l o s e touch" w i t h t h e h e r -
i c a n Ambassador. Consequent ly , t he American P r e s i d e n t had
c r e a t e d a conmand r e l a t i o n s h i p t h a t would a l low Uni ted S t a t e s
Army t r o o p s t o be used i n o f f e n s i v e o p e r a t i o n s a g c i n s t Russ i an
s o l d i e r s , comnianded by B r i t i s h o f f i c e r s . A t t h e same t i m e , he
f o r c e d the local commander i n t o a p o s i t i o n where he was respoii-
s i b l e t o t h e s e n i o r m i l i t a r y o f f i c e r o f an A l l i e d n a t i o n , and
also t h e s e n i o r American p o l i t i c a l o f f i c e r p r e s e n t . I n e s s e n c e ,
t h e commander o f the American F o r c e s :.!as i n an iEp0ssibI.e s i t u -
a t i o n . 4G
The p e r s o n a l i t i e s of the commanders and p o l i t i c i a n s invol-
ved played a c r i t i c a l p a r t i n t he A l l i e d c o a l i t i o n . 'The B r i t i s h ,
and e s p e c i a l l y General Poole , tended t o be overbearing and over-
conf iden t . One American o f f i c e r noted t h a t t he
. . . p hilosophy of P;orth Russia and G a l l i p o l i ; t h i s attachment of t he B r i t i s h mind t o an a s t r i c t e d f a i t h i n England and her imper ia l d e s t i n y t o r u l e the peoples of t h e rrorld, contemptious of obsta- c l e s and d i f f i c u l t i e s and p e r i l s i n unknown a l i e n lands t h a t appear very r e a l t o o t h e r t h a n B r i t i s h mental processes . '1:Ie'll j u s t rush up t h e r e and r e e s t a b l i s h t h e g r e a t Russian A r m y - reorganize the vast f o r c e s o f t h e Tsa r ' , said an e b u l l i e n t o f f i c e r i n England, wearing the red tabs and hatband of t h e General S t a f f . 'One good Al l i ed s o l d i e r can out- f i g h t twenty Bolsheviks ' was the u s u a l boas t O f t h e commanding o f f i c e r (General Poole) i n the e a r l y dayso f t he f i g h t i n g . rt37
The Americans, on t h e o t h e r hand, were i n i t i a l l y represen-
t e d by the equa l ly f o r c e f u l Ambassador Franc is . A f t e r h i s de-
p a r t u r e , t he submissive Colonel Stewart was a l l t h a t s tood be-
tween the B r i t i s h o f f e n s i v e p l ans and t h e s t a t e d po l i cy of
us ing American t roops f o r g a r r i s o n guards i n Archangel. I t i s
easy t o be c r i t i c a l o f Colonel Stewart who, i n t h e words of
General I rons ide . ' I . ..was worrying about h i s p o s i t i o n , should
an a r m i s t i c e be Signed i n Europe." To be f a i r , one must ac-
knowledge that the American co lone l had the i n s i g h t and con-
ce rn f o r h i s t roops t o reques t evacuat ion before the c los ing
of t h e po r t s . It appears t h a t he attempted t o inform h i s su-
p e r i o r s i n London of t he m i l i t a r y a n d p o l i t l c a l r e a l i t i e s of
Archangel bu t e i t h e r d i d not do i t f o r t h r i g h t l y enough o u t o f
r e s p e c t f o r h i s s u p e r i o r s o r was s o overwhelmed by circum-
s t ances t h a t he was unable t o c l e a r l y a r t i c u l a t e i n t h e f a c t s
47
of the moment.
The b a s i c c u l t u r a l and s o c i a l d i f f e r e n c e s between t h e
A l l i e s had a g r e a t impact on the r e l a t i o n s between the m i l i t a r y
f o r c e s . The h ighly s t r u c t u r e d system o f t h e B r i t i s h o f f i c e r
co rps , w i th i ts obvious c l a s s consciousness and s o c i a l strata
o r i e n t a t i o n , con t r a s t ed sha rp ly w i t h t h e more analogous Ameri-
can and French t r a d i t i o n s . The i d e a of tait ing food from hospi-
tal r a t i o n s and providing i t t o an o f f i c e r ' s mess was n o t only
a l i e n t o t h e American concept of concern f o r the common s o l d i e r ,
b u t reminded many o f t he American t roops o f abuses t h a t had
occurred e a r l i e r i n United S t a t e s h i s t o r y . The French also had
d i f f i c u l t i e s w i th t h e B r i t i s h approach t o c e r t a i n ques t ions o f
s o c i a l or p o l i t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e . 'These d i s p a r i t i e s stemmed
from long s tanding customs and t r a d i t i o n s as well as t h e p o l i t -
i c a l c l imate that had inf luenced the- 'French A r m y during the
y e a r s s i n c e 1 9 1 4 .
F i n a l l y , t he r e l a t i o n s between the A l l i ~ e s were a f f e c t e d by
t h e percept ions of n a t i o n a l o b j e c t i v e s by those p e r s o n a l i t i e s
most d i r e c t l y involved i n the conciuc-t of t he expedi t ion. The
o r i g i n a l aims of an Allied-Czech l ink-up ope ra t ion , s e c u r i t y of
A l l i e d s u p p l i e s , and development of an Eas te rn Front a g a i n s t
t h e Germans no longe r had a p p l i c a t i o n a f t e r t h e s ign ing of t he
a r m i s t i c e . Almost immediately the Americans and French quest ioned
t h e need t o remain i n Xorth Russia and e i t h e r refused t o cont inue
t h e f i g h t o r reques ted evacuat ion. The 3ritish p o s i t i o n was
expressed by General Finlayson, commander of t he DVina River
4%
Force. "There w i l l be no f a l t e r i n g i n o u r purpose t o reclove
the s t a i n of Eolshevism from Russia 2nd c i v i l i z a t i o n . ,138 Gen-
e ra1 I rons ide saw h i s miss ion , a f t e r t h e a r m i s t i c e , i n t he
fol lowing terms:
" l t seemed t o me t h a t t he A l l i e s would now pro- ceed wi th t h e l i b e r a t i o n o f F in land , P o l a n d , Es'chonia, L i thuan ia , La t iva , and perhaps even the Ukraine. The nevi Russian Empire which would emerge would be something much smaller then i t had been i n t he o l d imper ia l days, hoyvever s t rong t he Solsheviks became. t.Iy t a s k was s t i l l the one o u t l i n e d t o me by S i r Henry 1;:ilson - t o hold. t he f o r t u n t i l t he P rov i s iona l Governnent could organ-i z e i t s f o r c e s . A proper se t t l emen t of t h e Russian f r o n t i e r s i n Europe could be made only after t h e d e f e a t of t h e Eolsheviks
It is no t s u r p r i s i n g , cons ider ing the many o p p o r t u n i t i e s
f o r misunderstanding, disagreement, and confusion, t h a t the
A l l i e s r a i l e d t o produce a u n i t e d , harmonious c o a l i t i o n . I t
i s also no t surpr i s ing , t h a t t h e complexi t ies o f t he command
r e l a t i o n s h i p s , p e r s o n a l i t i e s , n a t i o n a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , and
s t r a t e g i c and p o l i t i c a l o b j e c t i v e s all impacted upon the coiiibat
e f f e c t i v e n e s s and e f f i c i e n c y o f the A l l i e d elements, Ul t imate ly ,
t hese problems i n f luenced the success of m i l i t a r y OperatiOnS,
o u r next area of i n t e r e s t .
49
IIotes
1. George Evans Stewart , Regort of E x p e d i t i o n t o The I-iurman C o a s t , S p e c i a l C o l l e c t i o n s , Un i t ed States X i l i t a r y Acader,y, !:Jest P o i n t New York.
2. I S i d . , C a b l e s . . .
3 . A . C h r o n i c l e r ( John Cuclahy), Archangel , The American ?Jar V i t h R u s s i a , A . C . McClurg & Co., Chicago , 1924. Pg. 6 3 .
4. I b i d , Pg. 51.
5 . P e t e r Burness , The F o r g o t t e n !Jar i n Kor th Russia , A u s t r a l i a n Defense J o u r n a l , No. 2 2 , i<ay/June 80, Pg. 31.
6 . P . Facon, Les t h t i n e r i e s Dans Le Corps E x p e d i t i o n n a i r e Fran-c i s en Russ i e Du Nord, 1918-1919, Revue d ' H i s t o i r e IJonderne e t Contemporaine , Vol. XXIV, P a r i s , Ju ly-Sept 1977, Pg . 450.
. . . . . . . 7. Leonid I..Strakhovslcy, The C a n a d i a n A r t i l l e r y B r i g a i e i n
Morth Russia, 1918-1919, The Canadian H i s t o r i c a l Review, V o l . X X X I X . 1958. The U n i v e r s i t v o f Toronto P res s . Toron to . Canada, Pg; 126-i27.
I
8 . Grea t B r i t i a n , A r m y , The Evacua t ion o f Morth R u s s i a , 1919, H i s M a j e s t y ' s S t a t i o n a r y O f f i c e , London, 1920.
9. Facon, Op. C i t . , Pg. 456.
10. Cudahy, Op. C i t . , Pg. 53.
11. Capt J o e 1 R . Moore, L i e u t . Harry H. Nead, L i e u t . Lewis E . Jahns, 339 th U . S . I n f a n t r y , The H i s t o r y of The American E x p e d i t i o n F i g h t i n g t h e Bolshevilci , Campaigning i n North Russia, 1918-1919, P o l a r Bear P u b l i s h i n g Co., D e t r o i t , 1920, P g . 15.
12. H a l l i d a y , Op. C i t . , Pg. 28-29.
13. S t e w a r t, Op. C i t ., Cables .
14. Xoore, Mead, J a h n s , Op. C i t . , Pg. 16.
15. G o l d h u r s t , Op. C i t . , Pg. 99.
16 . 13oore, tlead, Jahns, Op. C i t . , P g . 17 .
17. I b i d . , Pg. 17-19.
12. I b i d . , Pg. 19-21.
50
-. . . . , . . , . . . . . . . 19. David R . F ranc is , R u s s i a From t h e American Embassy, A p r i l
1918, S c r i b n e r ' s ~i-Yorlc,22iCCI I_
20. Stewar t , Op. C i t ., Cables .
I b i d . , Cables .2 1
2 2 . I b i d ,
2 3 .
24. I b i d . , Tg. 28.
25. I b i d . , Pg. 32.
2G. I b i d . , Pg. 33-34.
27. Goldhurst, Op. Cit., Pg. 139.
28. Stewar t , Op. C i t . , Cables.
29. I b i d .
30. Facon, Op. C i t . ? g , 459-474.
31. Noore, Kead, Jahns , Op. C i t . , Pg. 231-232.
- ~ --32. Canada, Un i t H i s t o r y , Korth Russian Expedi t ionary Force lGth Briil;ade, C . F . A . , 110 d a t e .
33. cudaizy, Op. C i t . , Pg. 52.
34. Ibicl . , Pg. 52.
3 5 . Strakhovsky, Op. C i U . , PG. 141.
36. I b i d . , Pg. 143.
37. Cudahy, Op. C i t . . , pg. 4-5.
3%* I b i d . , Pg. 37.
39. I r o n s i d e , OD. Cit., 22. 5 6 .
51
Chap te r Three
A l l i e d i , ! i l i t a ry O p e r a t i o n s
A p a r t i c i p a n t i n t h e Plorth R u s s i a n e x p e d i t i o n d e s c r i b e d
t h e Archangel area i n t h e fo l lovr ing manner:
The P r o v i n c e o f Archangel s t r e t c h e s from t h e Norwegian f r o n t i e r a c r o s s t h e A r c t i c Ocean e a s t o f t he Ural i!lountains o f S i b e r i a . I t i n c l u d e s the Kola P e n i n s u l a , which l i e s ywell n o r t h o f t h e A r c t i c C i r c l e , and t h e f u r t h e r - most p o i n t s o u t h i s below s ix ty - two degrees l a t i t u d e . The t o t a l area i s s i x t i m e s that o f t h e ave rage American s t a t e , I t i s a pov-e r t y dis t ressed and c h e e r l e s s , d e s t i t u t e r e g i o n , which d u r i n g t h e r e i g n of t h e Romanoffs, l i k e S i b e r i a , was o f t e n a p l a c e of e x i l e and asylum f o r p o l i t i c a l d i s s i d e n t s . Var accen-t u a t e d t he p o v e r t y of t h e p r o v i n c e and t h e on ly i n d u s t r y i s a.t t h e p o r t of Archangel , where l a rge t i m b e r m i l l s , oxwned most ly by S r i t i s h c a p i t a l , l i n e b o t h s i d e s o f t h e har- b 0 r . l
Th i s same o b s e r v e r e x p l a i n e d how Ivan The T e r r i b l e founded
t h e p o r t d u r i n g t h e s i x t e e n t h c e n t u r y . I t had , s i n c e t h a t t i m e ,
been a S r i t i s h t r a d i n g p o s t . Archangel was a c i t y o f s t a r k
c o n t r a s t s . Greek Orthodox p r i e s t s , w i t h t h e i r long r o b e s , and
the on ion domed c a t h e d r a l , s h a r e d t h e same s t r e e t s w i t h modern
b u i l d i n g s , e l e c t r i c l i g h t s , and an up-to-date tramway. Befo re
t h e war Archangel P r o v i n c e had abou t t h r e e hundred and f i f t y
thousand p e o p l e , w i t h abou t s i x t y thousand r e s i d i n g i n t he
c i t y o f Archangel . The o n l y o t h e r p o p u l a t i o n c e n t e r s of con-
sequence were ' l i n e g a , a t t h e no r the rnmos t bend i n t h e P i n e g a
R i v e r , v;ith pe rhaps t h r e e thousand i n h a l a i t a n t s , and Shenkursk ,
two hundred m i l e s s o u t h o f Archangel on t h e Vaga River, w i t h
52
abou t f o u r thousand r e s i d e n t s , T h e r e n a i n d e r o f t h e ? r o v ~ i n c e 1s
populace were found i n small v i l l a g e s o f t!,ro or t h r e e hundred
l o g houses , much l i k e t h e c a b i n s o f t h e Ainerican f r o n - t i e r ,
The i n h a b i t a n t s o f t h e s e small s e t t l e m e n t s yvere p r i m a r i l y
peasan t s , or mouj iks , who c l e a r e d t h e area f o r a. fevi hundred
y a r d s around t h e i r houses and a t t e m p t e d t o grow !.Theat, f l a x ,
and p o t a t o e s d u r i n g t h e s h o r t growing s e a s o n . During t h e !;in-
t e r t h e peop le remained i n d o o r s and s p e n t t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e i r
t ime s i t t i n g a round large ovens or f i r e p l a c e s , d i s c u s s i n g t h e
wea the r . One o f f i c e r o f t h e 339th I n f a n t r y Regiment no ted :
To t h e doughboy p e n e t r a t i n g r a p i d l y i n t o t h e i n t e r i o r o f Xor th R u s s i a , whether by r a i l r o a d or by b a r g e or by more slow-moving c a r t trans-p o r t , h i s f i r s t impress ion !:/as that o f an end-less expanse o f f o r e s t and svianp \with h e r e and t h e r e an a r e a o f h i g h e r l a n d . Never a long p e a s a n t ' s house on t h e t r a i l was s e e n . They l i v e d i n v i l l a g e s . Fe1.v were t he improved roads;^^- -These x-oads-~-ran- f r o r v i l l a g e t o v i l l a g e ~
t h rough p i n e vioods, c r o s s i n g s t r e a m and wide rivers by wooden b r i d g e s and c r o s s i n s swamps, where i t was t o o much t o c i r c u i t them, by cord- uroy . The s o l d i e r saw a. .people s t r u g g l i n g w i t h n a t u r e as he had h e a r d o f h i s g r a n d f a t h e r s s t r u g - g l i n g i n p i o n e e r days i n America.;!
Archangel P r o v i n c e was approx ima te ly t h r e e hundred and
t h i r t y thousaqd s q u a r e m i l e s o f t u n d r a and t h i c k f i r f o r e s t s ;
an area almost as l a r g e as France and Germany combined.
Through t h e p r o v i n c e c u t numerous r i v e r s and s t r e a m s , t h e lar-
g e s t be ing t h e Dvina. Archangel , l i k e t h e r e s t o f r io r th R u s s i a ,
was n o t i n d u s t r i a l i z e d . The peop le were p r i m a r i l y occupied
w i t h f i s h i n g , t r a p p i n g , f a rming , and woodcut t ing . The c l i m a t e
was humid and warn i n t h e summer and sub-zero i n t h e l o n g
5 3
w i n t e r . S t a r t i n g i n October t h e n i g h t s l e n g t h e n u n t i l , by
l a t e December t h e y a r e a lmos t twen ty - fou r hour s l o n g . conver-
s e l y , d u r i n g t h e summer months, p e r i o d s o f s u n l i g h t las t from
e a r l y morning u n t i l l a t e at n i g h t , John Cudahy, an American
o f f i c e r on t h e Archangel f r o n t , wro te :
" L i f e became a v e r y s t a l e , f l a t d r a b t h i n g i n t h e v a s t s t r e t c h e s o f c h e e r l e s s snow r e a c h i n g fa r across t h e r i v e r t o t h e murky, brooding s k i e s and t h e encompassing s h e e t e d f o r e s t s , so g h o s t l y and s o s t i l l , where d e a t h prowled i n t h e shadows. S t r o n g men were made cowards by t h e cumula t ive depres- s i o n o f t h e unbroken n i g h t and i t s c r u s h i n g i n f l u e n c e on t h e s p i r i t : f o r t h e s e v e r e s t b a t t l e s of t h e campaign were f o u g h t d u r i n g t h e c o l d b l a c k months o f v i in t e r . "3
The n a t u r e o f t h e t e r r a i n and weather was t o have an
i m p o r t a n t impact on t h e u l t i m a t e outcome o f t h e A l l i e d or,er-
a t i o n s . The A l l i e s b e l i e v e d o f f e n s i v e o p e r a t i o n s had t o be
conducted e i t h e r p r i o r to t h e c l o s i n g o f t h e p o r t i n l a t e
November or f o l l o w i n g t h e s p r i n g thaw i n l a t e ?.larch. Once
t h e h a r b o r 'was i c e d i n f o r t he w i n t e r t h e r e would be no
r e s u p p l y or r e i n f o r c e m e n t from England , and i n o r d e r t o con-
d u c t o f f e n s i v e o p e r a t i o n s , a c o n s t a n t and r e l i a b l e s u p p l y
o f men and m a t e r i e l must be a v a i l a b l e . The w i n t e r f r e e z e
also p r o h i b i t e d t h e movement o f S r i t i s h gunboats on t h e r ivers
ups t ream from Archangel . Th i s e f f e c t i v e l y den ied t h e A l l i e s
a pr imary s o u r c e o f f i r e s u p p o r t and t r a n s p o r t a t t h e most
remote p o s i t i o n s . T h i s r e d u c t i o n o f f i r e s u p p o r t a n d n o b i l i t y ,
r e s u l t i n g from t h e s e v e r e w i n t e r c o n d i t i o n s , became one o f t h e
pr ime f a c t o r s d e t e r m i n i n z t h e t a c t i c s and o v e r a l l s t r a t e g y of
54
t he ? ; in te r canpaian of 1918-1919.
I n the opening days o f October, 1 9 1 3 , the Alliec! Fosi-
t i o n s resembled t h e f i v e f i n g e r s of a hand wi th the pa ln n t
Archangel. From e a s t t o rest .the small f i n g e r reached uinega
on the Pinega River ; the second, T o u l g a s on the Dvina River:
t h e t h i r d , Shenkursk on the Vaga River ; t he index f i n g e r ,
Obozerskaya, on t h e Archangel-Vologada ra i lway; and t he thurnb,
Onega, on Onega E a y of t he ?!hite Sea. There tias l i t t l e coiil-
munication or c o n t a c t between the o u t l y i n g p o s i t i o n s , Each
" f r o n t " as I t was c a l l e d , 'was i n f a c t =an advance pos t of a
s e r i e s of blockhouses, somewhat l i k e the s:nal2 riooden f o r t s
of t h e American f r o n t i e r , These ou tpos t s were u s u a l l y grouped
around a v i l l a g e or group of small towns l i k e Shenkursk. ae-
tween the " f ron t s " was an a lmos t impassable b a r r i e r of f o r e s t ,
b r u s h , and svrarnp-like tundra wi th nunerous ~STriSiistreaEis~CSid-
lakes i n t e r s p e r s e d .
Between September and October the A l l i e s had moved r a p i d l y
o u t from Archangel i n an at tempt t o d r i v e the aolshevilis ou t
of Archangel Province be fo re the onse t o f w in te r . General
Poole, d e s p i t e h i s l a c k of p o l i t i c a l f i n e s s e , was a good tac-
t i c i a n and recognized what must be accomplished i f h i s f o r c e s
.;{ere t o push s o u t h from Archangel and s t i l l be ab le t o nain-
t a i n con tac t betveen h i s f l ank elements and a c e r t a i n degree
o f r e a r a r e a s e c u r i t y at Archangel. He was aware t h a t as the
f i n g e r s between t h e r a i l r o a d and Dvina f r o n t s opened he was
o f f e r i n g the enemy a n oppor tuni ty t o s t r i k e through t h e middle
55
and e i t h e r envelop his Slan!cs or d r i v e s t r a i z h t t o 9.rchangel
i t s e l f . The En t sa River served as an east-west h a r r i e r be-
tween the r a i l r o a d f r o n t and Dvina f r o n t and the small r i v e r
t o w of Kodish vras t he key p o i n t t h a t would serve t o p r o t e c t
h i s flanks. Poole also recognizec! t h a t Se rezn ik , a t the junc-
t i o n of the Vaga and Dvina Rivers was vulnerable t o a Red
a t t a c k and, i f cap tu red , would c u t o f f h i s f o r c e s t o t h e
south . Therefore , i t must be secured as soon as p o s s i b l e ,
The i d e a of t a k i n g Volosda before win te r was abandoned
early i n t he campaign. Poole decided i n s t e a d t o take P l e s e t -
skaya, a r a i l c e n t e r halfway between Archangel and Vologda.
Although t h e t e r r a i n was d i f f i c u l t and t h e A l l i e s were numer-
i c a l l y i n f e r i o r , Poole's p l a n was w e l l conceived and by t h e
t ime win te r a r r i v e d t h e A l l i e s he ld Onega i n the wes t , Obozer-
skaya on t h e r a i l r o a d , Kodish on t h e E m t s a , Shenkursk on the
Vaga and Toulgas on the Dvina. 4
On 5 September t h e 3rd B a t t a l i o n of t he 339th I n f a n t r y
Regiment had moved, a t B r i t i s h i n s i s t a n c e , d i r e c t l y from the
docks o f Archangel to t h e r a i l r o a d f r o n t . A f t e r an a l l - n i g h t
t r a i n r i d e , t h e b a t t a l i o n a r r i v e d a t Obozerskaya where they
were t o r e l i e v e t h e advance elements of t he French 2 1 s t Col-
o n i a l B a t t a l i o n . A member o f t he American u n i t noted:
Obozerskaya, about one hundred mi l e s sou th o f Archangel, i n a few days took on t h e appear- ance of an a c t i v e f i e l d base f o r aggress ive advance on t h e enemy. Here were the r a p i d as-sembling o f f i g h t i n g u n i t s ; of t r a n s p o r t and supply u n i t s ; of r a i l r o a d r e p a i r i n g crews, Russian, under B r i t i s h o f f i c e r s ; of s i g n a l s ;
56
o f armored au tomobi l e , o u r n e a r e s t approach t o a t a n k , which s t u c k i n t h e mud and broke t h rough t h e f r a i l Russlci b r i d g e s and was u s e l e s s ; of t h e f e v e r i s h c l e a r i n g and smooth-i n g of a landin<% f i e l d n e a r t h e s t a t i o n for o u r supp ly of spav ined a i r p l a n e s t h a t had a l r e a d y done t h e i r b i t on the !.!estern F r o n t ;o f the improvement o f o u r f e r o c i o u s - l o o k i n g armored t r a i n , w i t h i t s c o a l - c a r mounted nava l guns, b u t t r e s s e d w i t h s and bags and preceded by a similar c a r b r i s t l i n g w i t h machine guns and Lewis a u t o m a t i c s i n t h e hands o f a motley crew of P o l i s h gunners and i tussk i gunners and a D r i t i s h s e r g e a n t or t . ~ / o . ~
" A l l p a t r o l s must be a g g r e s s i v e and i t must be impressed on all ranks t h a t we a r e f i g h t i n g an o f f e n s i v e war, and n o t a d e f e n s i v e one , A l l p o s t s must b e h e l d t o t h e las t as vre do n o t i n -t e n d t o g i v e up any ground which we have made good.
These o r d e r s from Colone l Guard, B r i t i s h commander o f l'A"
Force on t h e r a i l r o a d f r o n t , were i n t e n d e d t o s a t i s f y Genera l
F i n l a y s o n and Co lone l S u t h e r l a n d , Poole ' s deputy an?, f r o n t
commander. The growing American and French g raveya rds at
Obozerskaya v e r i f i e d t h e o f f e n s i v e n a t u r e o f t h e b a t t l e s on
t h e r a i l r o a d f r o n t .
On 2 8 September , F in l ayson appeared a- t S u t h e r l a n d ' s head-
q u a r t e r s and , a p p a r e n t l y n o t s a t i s f i e d v i t h t h e tempo o f com-
S a t , o r d e r e d an iinmediate advance down the r a i l r o a d t o V e r s t s
453 a n d 455, abou t t e n m i l e s s o u t h o f Obozerskaya.
S u t h e r l a n d tasked one company of French i n f a n t r y and tvro
companies of Arnericar i n f a n t r y , s u p p o r t e d by i 'olish gunners
manning f i e l d zuns and t h e armored t r a i n t o make a c o o r d i n a t e d
attack on t h e Russ i an p o s i t i o n s and s e i z e a. key r a i l r o a d b r i d g e .
57
iSajor Charles D . Young was i n char,ge o f t h e 3rd 3 a t t a l i o n ,
and i n accordance i::ith S u t h e r l a . n d ' s p l a n , divicied two of h i s
companies i n t o s e p a r a t e f o r c e s t o conduct a converg ing f lank
a t tack on t h e Red p o s i t i o n s , I-Ie also d e t a c h e d a machine gun
s e c t i o n and twenty-one o t h e r Americans t o m a n t h r e e S t o k e s
m o r t a r s t o s u p p o r t t h e French , who were -to a t t a c k d i r e c t l y
down t h e r a i l r o a d . I t i s n o t e d t h a t t h e Americans a s s i g n e d
t h e m i s s i o n o f manning t h e S t o k e s m o r t a r s had n e v e r used or
been t r a i n e d on t h e s e \weapons p r i o r t o this o c c a s i o n . 7
The Americans xere t o move i n t o t h e i r a t tack p o s i t i o n s
d u r i n g t h e n i g h t and commence t h e a s s a u l t a t f i rs t l i g h t . A t
t h e same t ime, t h e P o l e s and Americans would s u p p o r t t h e French
i n f a n t r y 5y f i r e as they made a f r o n t a l a s s a u l t , down t h e rail-
way, on t h e enemy f o r t i f i c a t i o n s and b r idge .
S u t h e r l a n d ' s plan seemed s i m p l e enough i n c o n c e p t , b u t
t h e e x e c u t i o n was t o prove t o o complex and hence a f a i l u r e .
A r e c o n n a i s s a n c e o f the r o u t e t he Americans x e r e t o take t o
t he a s s a u l t p o s i t i o n s had n o t been perfomled because o f t h e
s h o r t n o t i c e g i v e n t h e Americans by Co lone l S u t h e r l a n d . Only
o u t d a t e d f o r e s t e r ' s maps were a v a i l a b l e and t h e most a c c u r a t e
i n t e l l i g e n c e on t h e enemy t r o o p d i s p o s i t i o n s had been p r o v i d e d
by l o c a l ?woodcut ters who were at b e s t d i s i n t e r e s t e d a n d at
w o r s t p r o - D ~ l s h e v i k . ~ An American o f f i c e r n o t e s :
"It i s a s t o r y t h a t was t o be d u p l i c a t e d o v e r anC: o v e r by one American f o r c e a f t e r a n o t h e r on t h e v a r i o u s f r o n t s i n t h e r a i n y f a l l s e a s o n , o n e r a t i n a under B r i t i s h o f f i c e r s who t o o k desparate chances and a c t e d on t h e t h e o r y t h a t 'you Americans, I as
58
C o l . Su ther land said, 'can do i t somehow, you lcnovr. ' And as, t o numbers, :.fhy, ' t e n Americans are as good as a hundred S o l o s , a r e n ' t they?"I9
The Americans moved out i n the e a r l y evening and soon
became l o s t . The narrow f o r e s t t r a i l s , c u t by the engineers
of P e t e r t he Grea t , qu ick ly became deep w i t h c l i n g i n g , s l imy
mud and bog t h a t forced men t o t h e i r knees. One of t he o f f i -
c e r s p re sen t recounts :
So the a t t a c k e r s went f o r t h over unknown ground, and soon were stumbling i n a blackness s o dense tha t one f i l e could no t see even the o u t l i n e of t he preceeding f i l e . The s ink ing bog made the march d i s t r e s s i n g l y arduous, y e t f o r hours the company kept r e s o l u t e l y on, when, without warn-i n g , t h e f o r e s t p a r t e d and the sodden way t e r -minated i n a wide s h e e t of open water.1°
The Americans turned back and reappeared on the r a i l r o a d , nea r
t h e i r o r i g i n a l p o i n t of depa r tu re , at about 0630 hours on the
morning of 29 September. Major Young recorded i n h i s a f t e r -
a c t i o n r e p o r t t h a t :
The a t t a c k w a s made a t about 0630. Few of the enemy were met and they immediately r e t i r e d . The informat ion rece ived by L ieu t . May, Command-ing t h i s column, from the a d j u t a n t , 'A' f o r c e , (Capt. G r i f f e n , B r i t i s h A r m y ) as t o l o c a t i o n s of machinegun emplacements and t r enches was found t o be i n a c c u r a t e , and t h e r e was a l a c k of i n i t i a t i v e on the part of the o f f i c e r i n command, ( G r i f f e n ) i n t h a t he d i d n o t imme- d i a t e l y , by reconnaissance, inform himself as t o t h e exac t l o c a t i o n of t he p o s i t i o n s e l l
The French a t t a c k , supported by t h e P o l i s h and America1
gunners, succeeded i n d r i v i n g the Reds ou t O f t h e i r p o s i t i o n
b u t , as soon 2s t h e a r t i l l e r y ceased, t h e enemy re tu rned t o
occupy t h e i r entrenchments. A p la toon from "1" Company was
dispatchec! t o r e i n f o r c e the French and was imnediatelY
59
a t t a c k e d by t h e R u s s i a n s . T,wo p l a t o o n s from "?:I1' C o n p a y
moved forward a long - x i t h t h e r ema inde r of "I" Comcany m.d t h e
enemy was t u r n e d back by 1500 h o u r s . The A l l i e s had t a k e n
t h e b r i d g e d i s p i t e t h e f a i l u r e o f S u t h e r l a n d ' s o r i g i n a l plan.
The a c t i o n r e s u l t e d i n 2 Americans k i l l e d , 18 wounded,
and 11 m i s s i n g . French t r o o p s s u f f e r e d : 11 wounded, aqd
11 m i s s i n g . S e v e r a l o f t h e American a n d French s o l d i e r s
r e p o r t e d as m i s s i n g : rere , i n f a c t , c a p t u r e d by the enemy dur-
i n g one of the f i e r c e Russ i an c o u n t e r a t t a c k s . Rccore ing t o
C a p t a i n Joel ; :oore, commander of one o f t h e e l emen t s a t t empt -
i n g t h e u n s u c c e s s f u l f l a n k i n z a t t a c k :
Many of t h e c a s u a l t i e s :.!ere s u f f e r e d by t h e reso-l u t e p l a t o o n a t t h e b r i d g e . B u t t h e e i g h t O t h e r s <who Twere :+rounded, two o f thein m o r t a l l y , owed t h e i r u n f o r t u n a t e c o n d i t i o n t o t h e a l t o g e t h e r unnecessa ry and i l l - a d v i s e d attempt by Co l . Suther lanc! t o s h e l l t he b r i d g e which was b e i n g helc! b y his^ o m ~ ~ t _ r o o p s . ~-~~~ ~~ ~~~
He had t h e pan icky ic:ez t h a t t h e Eed Guards :/ere coming or s o i n g t o come a c r o s s that b r i d g e and o r d e r e d t h e s h r a p n e l which c u t up t h e p l a t o o n of "i.I" Coinpany vi i th i t s h a i l o f l e a d i n s t e a d of t h e Reds who had h a l t e d 700 yards a-vay and t hemse lves were s h e l l i n g t h e b r i d g e b u t t o no e f f e c t . Iiot on ly t h a t , b u t when Col. S u t h e r l a n d was informed t h a t h i s a r t i l l e r y was g e t t i n g h i s o m t r o o p s , he f irst asked on one t e l e p h o n e f o r a n o t h e r q u a r t o f whiskey and l a t e r c a l l e d up h i s a r t i l l e r y o f f i c e r and o r d e r e d t h e d e a d l y fire to l e n g t h e n range.12
A t t h i s p o i n t Co lone l S u t h e r l a n d o r d e r e d a :.!ithdra!.:el,
t h i n k i n g t h a t t h e Reds had c a p t u r e d the r a i l r o a d b r i d g e .
k j o r J. Crooks TJichols , ;rho had j u s t r e p l a c e d i.!ajor Young
as t h e commander o f t h e 3 r d 3 a t t a l i o n , countermanded t h e
o r d e r and f o r two n o r e d q s and n i g h t s , ;.:ith t h e a s s i s t a c e
o f t h e F rench , h e l d on -to t h e t h r e e r9ile.5 o f advance that
S O
had been gained. The Reds would hsve t o v d t u n t i l t he
f o l l o v i n z yea r t o r ega in c o n t r o l of t h e b r idze . 13
The advance on P le se t skaya began t o slorr i n October. The
A l l i e s a t tempted t o push south along the r a i l r o a d bu t discov-
e red t h a t t h e Reds had cons t ruc ted s t r o n g f o r t i f i c a t i o n s and
viere supported by Iieavj a r t i l l e r y and armored t r a i n s . They
also began t o understand t h a t t he t e r r a i n i n Xorth Russia gave
a d i s t i n c t advantage t o the defender . T h e heavy f o r e s t s ,
s ' w ~ ~ pbogs, and meandering s t ream and t ra i ls severely r c s t r i c t -
ed crosscountry movement and forced t h e a t t a c k e r t o remain on
the major r i v e r s a i d roads. The d i f f i c u l t t e r r a i n also pro-
vided i d e a l l o c a t i o n s and m a t e r i e l f o r defens ive p o s i t i o n s that
were formidable a g a i n s t even a numerical ly s u p e r i o r f o e .
On 16 October t h e eneniy countera t tacked a g a i n s t "I"Com-
pany of t he 3rd E a t t a l i o n i n the v i c i n i t y of v e r s t 445 and
i n f l i c t e d moderate c a s u a l t i e s . I n t h i s a c t i o n the French re-
fused t o f i g h t because they had g o t t e n word of the proposed
a r m i s t i c e of t h e ':Jestern Front . A f t e r about one hour the
French, a t the urg ing of t h e i r b a t t a l i o n commander, r e j o i n e d
the Americans. The French were considered e x c e l l e n t f i z h t e r s
by t h e Americans and B r i t i s h , bu t had a tendency t o b a l k a t
awkward t imes . A s t h e a r m i s t i c e cane and went, t h i s propen-
s i t y became more f r equen t . 14
The Archangel-Vologda f r o n t would e s s e n t i a l l y s t a b i l i z e
i n October, 1918, and remain so u n t i l t he sp r ing of 1 9 1 9 . The
A l l i e s would no t be a b l e t o advance any f u r t h e r than v e r s t 4.45,
61
abou t t d e n t y m i l e s s o u t h o f Obozerskaya. There would be many
small u n i t a c t i 0 r . s w i t h minor g a i n s and l o s s e s , u s u a l l y r e s u l t -
i n g i n t h e c o n s o l i d a t i o n of a f o r m a l l y occupied p o s i t i o n .
The S o v i e t s s t r u c k t h e f irst blow o f s p r i n g on !::arch 1 7 ,
a t t h e v i l l a g e o f E o l s h i e Ozerlci on the road between Obozer-
s k a y a and Onega. The motive behind the enemy o f f e n s i v e was
t h e p r e v e n t i o n o f r e s u p p l y from ; k m m n s k and t o produce a
t h r e a t t o t h e A l l i e d rear a t Obozerskaya.
B o l s h i e O z e r k i , l oca t ed abou t twenty m i l e s wes t o f Obozer-
skaya, was g a r r i s o n e d by a s m a l l F rench , American, a n d A l l i e d
Russian f o r c e . By c o i n c i d e n c e , Colonel Lucas, t h e French com-
mandant and R a i l r o a d F r o n t Commander, w a s a t Chekuevo, l o c a t e d
between B o l s h i e Oze rk i and Obozerskaya, when t h e a s s a u l t came.
Lucas, e s c o u r t e d by an American patrol, d e p a r t e d immedia te ly
f o r Obozerskaya. About one vers t o u t s i d e o f Obozerskaya t h e
p a t r o l was a t t a c k e d and d i s p e r s e d . Lucas a r r i v e d i n Obozer-
s k a y a t h e n e x t day w i t h a f r o s t b i t t e n l e f t hand and was in-
formed t h a t General Ironsl.de had r e l i e v e d him and was t a k i n g 15cha rge o f t h e o p e r a t i o n .
The a t t a c k at B o l s h i e Ozerlci caugh t t h e A l l i e d f o r c e o f
abou t 50 men by complete s u r p r i s e , On 18 ?:larch, about 1 2 0 0
h o u r s , t h e French o f f i c e r i n charge s u r r e n d e r e d the g a r r i s o n
a f t e r a w e l l c o o r d i n a t e d enemy a r t i l l e r y and i n f a n t r y a t t a c k ,
The A l l i e d p r i s o n e r s were taken t o Vologda and he ld u n t i l
e a r l y May when t h e y were r e l e a s e d as p a r t O f a p r i s o n e r ex-
change. 16
6 2
Both the A l l i e s and t h e S o v i e t s b rough t un s u b s t a n - t i a l
amounts o f i n f a n t r y and a r t i l l e r y f o r t h e coming b a t t l e .
General I r o n s i d e committed near ly 600 American, Z r i t i s h , F rench ,
T o l i s h , and A l l i e d Russ i an t r o o p s . By 2 3 :larch, when the So-
v i e t s began t h e i r main attack, the A l l i e s :;!ere well dug i n ,
t ho rough ly s u p p l i e d w i t h food and arnmunition, and s u p p o r t e d
by French-Russian a r t i l l e r y p i e c e s w i t h a i r p l a n e o b s e r v a t i o n . 17
The S o v i e t a s s a u l t , conducted by t h e 2nd iiosco:.;, 9 6 t h
S a r a t o v , and 2nd Kazan Regiments , c o n t i n u e d u n t i l 4 A p r i l .
A f t e r a s e r i e s of savage a t t a c k s , c o u n t e r - a t t a c k s , and a r t i l -
l e r y d u e l s , the enemy r e t i r e d . The b a t t l e 'was t h e h igh p o i n t
o f A l l i e d coopera , t ion and c o o r d i n a t i o n and proved t o he very
c o s t l y t o the S o v i e t s . The i n t e n s i t y o f combat was c o i i s i s t a n t l y
f i e r c e and one o b s e r v e r no ted :
T h e Americans had n e v e r had s u c h s h o o t i n g . They knet- t h e enemy losses were g r e a t from the numbers of bodies found and from s t a t e m e n t s of p r i s o n e r s and d e s e r t e r s , L a t e r a c c o u n t s o f o u r Americzi s o l d i e r s who were ambushed and c a p t u r e d , t o G e t h e r .with s t a t e m e n t s t h a t appeared i n Bo l shev ik n e m - pape r s p l a c e d the losses v e r y h i g h , T h e old Rus-s i a n g e n e r a l massed up i n all o v e r seven thousand men i n t h i s s p e c t a c u l a r and w e l l - n i s h s u c c e s s f u l t h r u s t . find h i s l o s s e s from k i l l e d i n a c t i o n , lwounded, m i s s i n g and f r o s t b i t t e n YIere a d m i t t e d 13by t h e rjolshevilc r e p o r t s t o be Over two thousancl.
The o n l y n o t e o f A l l i e d d i s c o r d o c c u r r e d when sorm
P o l i s h t r o o p s r e f u s e d t o advance agai?,:jt t h e S o v i e t s , An
American o f f i c e r p r e s e n t drelw h i s p i s t o l , t ! i reatened t o s h o o t
t h e P o l i s h o f f i c e r s , and the u n i t t ook up tlie a t t ack w i t h o u t
f u r t h e r h e s i t a t i o n . 1 9
S o l s h i e Oze rk i 1;m.s t h e l as t rlajor b a t t l e f o r tile Aneri-
53
c a n s i n ;:orth Russia.. A r t i l l e r y exchanzes sJnd g a t r o l l i n g
a c t i o n c o n t i n u e d u n t i l A p r i l , b u t l a r z e r s c a l e t roor , move-
ments v e r e r e s t r i c t e c ! b y t h e coming o f s g r i n g a i d s u b s e q u e n t
so?;,qy ground c o n d i t i o n s . Although o f f i c i a l orders had n o t
a r r i v e d , t h e v i thc i ra~wal o f American f o r c e s seemed a s s u r e d .
Consequen t ly , the companies of t h e 339 th b e g m p u l l i n g back
t o Archangel and, :.:ere r e p l a c e d by A l l i e d Russ i zns t r a i n e d ane
commanded by t h e 2 r i t i s h .
Genera l Toole viewed t h e f o r c e on t h e Dvina R ive r as t h e
key t o t he e n t i r e campaign i n Nor th 2 u s s i a . I-!e f e l t t h a t Kot-
las must be talcen p r i o r t o t h e o n s e t o f ..:inter i n o r d e r t o
move on t o Viatlta and a l i n k ug >vi th t h e Czech C o r p s i n t h e
s p r i n g . I n September , when t h e 339th I n f a n t r y a r r ivec ! i n
Archange l , P o o l e a l r e a d y had a f o r c e l o c a t e d a t Bereznilc, 150
miles s o u t h e a s t o f Archangel on t h e Dvina R ibe r . From i3erez
nilc, l o c a t e d a t t h e j u n c t i o n o f t h e 3 v i n a and t h e Vaga r ive r s ,
i t was abou t 250 miles t o Ko t l a s . P o o l e ' s "C" Fo rce , coinposed
o f %GO i 3 r i t i s h i n f a n t r y , 110 Russ ian i n f a n t r y , 35 L i t h u a n i a n
i n f a n t r y , and one s e c t i o n o f 18 pounder s , maimed by Russ ian
g u n n e r s , ':/as opposec: by abou t 2000 Red Guards h e a d q u a r t e r e d at
Toulgas , 40 n i l e s u p s t r e m i from Sereznii: .
F i v e days a f t e r d e p a r t i n g Archa??:el, t h e men o f t h e 1st
B a . t t a l i o n , 339th I n f a n t r y a r r i v e d a t Eereznilc. E n r o u t e , two
doughboys d i e d o f i n f l u e n z a anc! 'wre b u r i e d upon a r r i v a l at
t h e r iver v i l l a g e t h a t s e r v e d as h e a d q u a r t e r s f o r "C" Fo rce .
6 4
One company o f Americans wa.s l e f t a t Jerezni ic f o r s e c u r i t y
and t h e remainckr o f t h e f o r c e moved s o u t h a l o n g t h e Ljvina
and 'Jaga r i v e r s t o j o i n t h e " C " Force . The enemy deci t ied to
make h i s s t and a t S e l t z o , t h i r t y m i l e s ups t ream from Eereznilc
and well o v e r two hundred m i l e s s o u t h e a s t of Archangel . T h i s
was t o be t he l i m i t o f t h e A l l i e d advance on t h e Dvina R i v e r .
On the fnorning o f 1 9 September , less t han tTwo weeks a f t e r
t he a r r iva l o f t h e Americans, t h e b a t t l e f o r S e l t z o bezan. The
v i l l a g e sat n e a r the avina, on t h e s o u t h w e s t e r n s i d e o f t h e
r i v e r , sur rounded by swamp and p e a t bogs . The on ly e a s y ap-
Droach was a l o n s a narro!v road t h a t p a r a l l e d the r i v e r and
e n t e r e d t h e v i l l a g e from t h e n o r t h . The eneniy den ied t h i s
approach by f l o o d i n g i t and f o r c e d t h e A l l i e s t o a t t a c k a c r o s s
t h e open s7;iamp. One company o f American i n f a n t r y deployed and
began t o wade t h rough t h e waist deep marsh. About 1500 y a r d s
from t h e v i l l a g e t he S o v i e t s opened ug w i t h machineguns and
a r t i l l e r y . ;Without maps, a r t i l l e r y s u p p o r t , o r p r o t e c t i v e
c o v e r , t h e Americans bunched t o g e t h e r and t r i e d t o d i g i n wi th-
o u t drowning i n t h e mud. 20
Another company o f Royal S c o t s and Americans tnoveci t h r o u g h
a woodline on t h e f l a n k o f t h e v i l l a g e i n an a t t e m p t t o aEsis t
t h e Americans caugh t i n t h e open , The f l a n k i n g ' f o r c e rras
t a k e n under f i r e by t h e Red a r t i l l e r y and f o r c e d t o t a k e c o v e r
t o avo id d e s t r u c t i o n . A s n i g h t a r r i v e r ? , t h e txo All iec! e l e -
ments found themse lves pinnec! down by S o v i e t au tomat i c ?ma.-
pons and i n d i r e c t f i r e and unab le t o r e t u r n t h e f a v o r . Cecause
6 5
o f t h e Amer ican ' s p o s i t i o n i n t h e open swamp, e a c h time t h e y
a t t e m p t e d t o maneuver or taice t h e enemy unde r f i r e , t h e y
were s u b j e c t e d t o i n t e n s e small a r n s and machinegun f i r e .
A l s o , t h e A l l i e s had no a r t i l l e r y a v a i l a b l e f o r t h e i r ovm u s e .
The 1st D a t t a l i o n commander, L i e u t e n a n t Colonel Jmes
Corb ley , had been a b s e n t from t h e e n t i r e f i g h t . For t h e
b e t t e r p a r t o f the d a y , and i n t o t h e n i g h t , he was t r y i n g t o
g e t t h e A l l i e d Russ i an e r t i l l e r y , l e d by B r i t i s h o f f i c e r s , t o
move up and s u p 9 o r t t h e t r a p p e d i n f a n t r y e l e m e n t s . A f t e r
spend ing an e n t i r e n i g h t caugh t i n t h e open , t h e Aner i cans
f i n a l l y were a b l e t o maneuver towards t h e v i l l a g e when the
A l l i e d a r t i l l e r y began t o f i r e . A t t h e s a n e t i n e , t h e A l l i e s
t ook s e v e r a l S o v i e t gunboa t s t h a t had been :sroviding t h e enemy
wi th e f f e c t i v e s u p p o r t s i n c e t h e start of t h e b a t t l e unde r
f i r e . ':!ith t h e i r i n d i r e c t f i r e s u p p o r t f a l l i n g on S e l t z o , t h e
Xll ies advanced and. d rove o u t t h o s e Red Guards that had n o t
a l r e a d y e v a c u a t g d , i.101:' hoyvrever, t h e Aner i cans end S c o t s 'Yere
tL&en unde r f i r e by t h e gunboats that proved t o be beyond t f le 2 1r a g e o f t h e A l l i e d a r t i l l e r y .
The A l l i e s q u i c k l y abmdonec! S e l t z o t h e morning ester .the
attac!; and moved downs t r ew, t o v a r d T o u l g a s . T h i s d e c i s i o n iias
made by t h e a r i t i s h command base6 on i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t t h e ?OF-
u l a t i o n o f Shen!cursk d e s i r e d a l a r g e Al l i ec ! force t o be pre-
sen- t durinn, the w i n t e r t o hold o f f the S o v i e t s . The f a c t t k c t
t h e A l l i e s were o b v i o u s l y outgunned on t h e 5 v i n a mi.2h-k have
also had some b e a r i n g on the d e c i s i o n . The lac!< o f 3 r i t i s h
6 6
n a v a l s u p p o r t OR the 3 v i n a :./asc result o f a staff d e c i s i o n
nade i n Archangel . The E r i t i s h m o n i t o r s had been ;.rithc:ra;:'n,
f e a r f u l o f b e i n g c a u z h t by t h e i c e t h a t :./asexpec te? t o b e g i n
forming i n Oc tobe r but a c t u a l l y d ie n o t come u n t i l mid-l:oven-
h e r . The wi thdrawal o f t h e mon i to r s had been o r d e r e d i?y P o o l e ' s
s ta f f vri-thout t h e knowledge o f t h e "C" Force Weadquar te rs .
Consequen t ly , t h e gunboa t s iviere n o t a v a i l a b l e f o r r i r e support ..o r t r a n s p o r t o f t h e S e l t z o f o r c e f o l l o w i n g the b a t t l e . .:any
o f t h e A l l i e d s o l d i e r s Tirere s u f f e r i n g from t r e n c h f o o t and
$;rounds b u t had t o be carried o u t or :,rail: under t h e i r own power
because o f t h e d e p a r t u r e of t he p n b o a t s . G e n e r d I r o n s i d e ,
who was Genera l P o o l e ' s deputy a t t he t i m e , r e c o r d s :
...I r e c e i v e d an u r g e n t telegram from Genera l Fin layson . A p p a r e n t l y , on h i s a r r i v a l at t h e Dvina h e a d q u a r t e r s he h a l found t h a t t h e 3ri-t i s h gunboa t s on the r i v e r had bcen v i i thd iwm ... w i t h o u t n o t i f i c a . t i o n hav ing been made t o t he commander on t h e s p o t . The 2 o l s h e v i k s h i p s . , . h a d sudden ly r e t u r n e d . . . a n d s u b j e c t e d our d e f e n c e s t o a heavy boinbarlment, .. .The enemy s h i p s had s t o o d o u t s i d e t h e range of o u r f i e l d - g u n s and much o f our p r e c i o u s w i n t e r cove r had been d e s t r o y e d . I took ?he t e l eg ram o v e r t o Genera l P o o l e , who s e n t f o r t h e a d n i r a l t o come and e x p l a i n , There follo'wed a sorlievihat h e a t e d a rgument , !which ended i n t h e admiral pro- ducing a p a p e r f rom h e a d q u a r t e r s , a u t h o r i z i n g t h e wi thd rawa l o f t h e gunboa t s . . . .The s taff had o m i t t e d t o in fo rm t h e Dvina Column.22
The Dvina f r o n t ev idenced some o f the same c h a r a c t e r i s -
t i c s as t h e r a i l r o a d f r o n t . On b o t h f r o n t s t h e r e ~:oulC:i i e
f i e r c e f i g h t i n g w i t h a v a r i e t y o f mai2ons, a l t e r n a t e advance
and r e t r e a t , anl c la i ly c a s u a l t i e s , !!"en t h e two s ides met ,
t h e y f o u g h t w i t h e v e r y t h i n g they !lad i r , c l u d i n & , i n i?u;Gst,
c, 7
221919, mustard. m d l a c h r y n a t o q g2.s. The primary d i f f e r e n c e
between the t:io f r o n t s ';;as t h e t o t a l i s o l a t i o n exper ienced on
t h e Dvina f r o n t d u r i n g t h e w i n t e r . ' X t h t h e f r e e z i n g o f t he
r i v e r s , t r a n s p o r t a t i o n was l i m i t e d t o t h e ho r se drawn s l e d or
"Drosky". The extreme l e n g t h of l i n e s o f communication and
t h e u b i q u i t o u s n a t u r e of t h e enemy made d u t y on the Dvina a?d
Vaga r i v e r f r o n t s l o n e l y and p e r i l o u s .
A t t h e same t ime t h e S e l t z o o p e r a t i o n iwas t a k i n g p l a c e
a g a i n s t s t i f f S o v i e t o p p o s i t i o n , two p l a t o o n s o f 11 Conpmy,
3 3 9 t h I n f a n t r y e n t e r e d Shenkurslc vri-thout f i r i n g a s h o t . Shen-
kurslc was t h e second l a r g e s t c i t y i n t h e Province and occupied
a cornmanding p o s i t i o n on a h igh b l u f f above t h e Vaga R i v e r .
I t s f o u r thousand c i t i z e n s were thought t o be an t i -Bo l shev ik
p r i m a r i l y because o f t h e i r p r o s p e r i t y and s o c i a l l i n k s w i t h
t he Noscow a r i s t o c r a t s , Shenlcurslc had been a f a v o r i t e summer
r e s o r t be fo re t h e war and vras "a g e n e r a t i o n removed from mou-
j i k pover ty and encha in ing i g n o r a n c e , and consc ious ly S u p e r i o r
t o t h e humble l o g h u t s t h a t below n o r t h and s o u t h t r a i l e d t h e
r i v e r . ,,24
On 1 9 September a r econna i s sance element cont inued s o u t h
a long t h e Vaga t o l o c a t e t he enemy. A t Rodvino, a small v i l -
l a g e t e n mi l e s from Shenkursk, t h e f o r c e o f about 100 Americans
and 50 A l l i e d R u s s i a n s came under f i r e from bo th s i d e s of t h e
r i v e r , The RlZied f o r c e ' s paddleboat was h i t and beached al-
most immediately. Cap ta in O t t o Odjard, the funer icm comman-
d e r , o rde red an a t t a c k a c r o s s the beach and drove o f f the Red
6 5
f o r c e s t h r o u g h a combina t ion of s u r p r i s e and a u d a c i t y r a t h e r
t h a n s u p e r i o r numbers or f i r e p o w e r .
Odjard's A l l i e d f o r c e c o n t i n u e d t o push o u t f rom Shen-
k u r s k i n a n e f f o r t t o secure the a r e a a round t h i s i m p o r t a n t
r i v e r c i t y . A s w i n t e r approached , and t h e p r o s p e c t of t h e
f r e e z e became more imminent, t h e s e c u r i t y element rras f o r c e d
t o vrithdraw t o U s t Padenga, a small v i l l a g e f i f t e e n x i l e s
s o u t h o f Shenkursk . T h i s v i l l a g e was t o be t h e f a r t h e s t
p e n e t r a t i o n of t h e main body of the A l l i e d E x p e d i t i o n a r y Force .
F a l l ended w i t h Genera.1 Poole f a i l i n , 7 t o o b t a i n any of
h i s o b j e c t i v e s , "A" F o r c e , on t h e Archangel-Vologda r a i l w a y ,
was h a l t e d n e a r Obozerskaya, S O m i l e s s h o r t O f I l e s e t s k q r a
and a lmost 200 miles from t h e i r o r i g i n a l o b j e c t i v e of V O l O g d a .
On t h e Dvina, I tC l ' Force had talcen S e l t z o , t h e n withdrawn t o
Tou lgas , and was n e a r l y 200 m i l e s from K o t l a s , i ts f i r s t g o a l .
Between IfAtt and I 1 C " F o r c e s a group of S r i t i s h , l h i e r i c m , F rench ,
and A l l i e d Xuss i ans were f i a h t i n g n e a r Kodish on t h e E i n t s a
R i v e r . T h i s A l l i e d e l e m e n t , "i;" F o r c e , was under t i le conrna?d
of Colonel Henderson of t h e famous "l3la.clc !.!atc!i" ReZi::ient,
Dur ing t h e l a t e r p a r t o f September i . t f o u g h t numerous small
b u t b i t t e r engagements t o s e c u r e t h e viilnerrable c e n t e r a g a i n s t
enemy p r o b e s .
A t t h e sane t ime t h a t t h e s e bloody a c t i o n s vere t a k i n z
p l a c e n e a r Archange l , Secretar ; , of S t a - t e 2 o S e r t Lansin:: 5ras
conc lud ing that ? . i l i t a r y e c t i v i t i e s i n :lorti1 Russia 've1-e
6 3
-f u t i l e , On 26 Septex!:er, Lansin.: cablec'. Hi::bass&Or T r m c i s :
It i s i n the opinio!; o f t h e C,overnrnent or' t h e Uni ted S t a t e s p l a i n t h a t no g E t h e r i n g o f my e f f e c t i v e f o r c e s by the Russ ians i s ho;jed f o r . !.ie s h a l l i n s i s t that the o t h e r governments , 30
fa r as OUi' c o o p e r a t i o n i s conce rned , t h a t all m i l i t a r y e f f o r t i n F o r t h e r n R u s s i a be g i v e n kip, e x c e p t t he g u a r d i n g o f t h e ?arts t h e m e l v e s and as much c o u n t r y round abou t them as imy deve lop threa-ter?ing c o n d i t i o n s , 25
D e s p i t e t h i s c l a r i f i c a t i o n o f t h e Axericar? r o l e , ..u n i t e d
S t a t e s f o r c e s were f i g h t i n 2 deep i n t h e i n t e r i o r of n u s s i a an<
would c o n t i n u e t o f i z h t u n t i l 1919. An3aasador F r a n c i s , heed-
l e s s o f L a n s i n g ' s i n s t r u c t i o n s , a l lowed 3ritish connar,ders t o
use American t r o o p s x i t h l i t t l e o r no regard f o r Co lone l Ste'w-
a r t ' s p o s i t i o n as t h e c o m a n d e r o f Uni.ted States F o r c e s . Fr2n-
c i s , who ha rbored an i n t e n s e p e r s o n a l hatrec! for Bolshevism,
s t a t e s :
I s h a l l encourage An!erican t r o o p s t o proceed t o such p o i n t s i n t h e i n t e r i o r as X o t l a s , Suiihonn, and Vologcla as at t h o s e p l a c e s , as ire11 as P e t r o -grad and i.losCol//i, are s t o r e d war s u p p l i e s !ihich t h e S o v i e t Government, i n v i o l a t i o n of i t s pron-ises and ag reemen t s , t r a n s f e r r e d from Archangel . Fur thermore I s h a l l encouraxe Anericarr t r o o p s t o obey t h e commands o f C-eneral T o o l e i n h i s e f f o r t t o e f f e c t a j u n c t i o n with t h e Czechos lovaks an6 t o r e l i e v e them from t h e mennce !rhich s u r r o u n d s them; t h a t menace is noEina l1y B o l s h e v i k s b u t 2,5 is v i r t u a l l y i n s p i r e d an?. d i r e c t e d by Germany.
?he t h r e a t from G e r m a n y ';!as o f f i c i a l l y ended on 11 iiovern-
ber, 1915, w i t h t h e s i g n i n g of t h e 2 r : n i s t i c e . T h i s ::ate -as
a l s o t h e be,ginning o f t h e v i n t e r canpz ign i n Xorth R u s s i a .
Gene ra l Toole d e p a r t e d f o r England on 14 October and Genera l
I r o n s i d e becane t!ie z c t i n g Commander-in-Chief be l i ev in - : tihat
70
i f ? o o l e r e t u r n e d z t a l l , i t w o u l d n ' t be u n t i l a f te r t h e
s p r i n g thzw. I r o n s i d e who, u n l i k e Poole , hati made nilmerous
V i s i t s t o t h e f r o n t unde r s tood t h e c i i l i t a r y problems t h a t had
been l e f t t o him. He saw the f u - t i l i t y o f a t t e m o t i n g a l i n k
up w i t h t h e Czechs and de termined t h a t h i s most immediate
task was t o e s t a b l i s h t e n a b l e d e f e n s i v e p o s i t i o n s f o r t h e v in -
t e r . S h e l t e r and p r o t e c t i o n f o r h i s t r o o p s were h i s b i z g e s t
p roblems, and he d e c i d e d t h a t a. s e r i e s o f l o g b lockhouses ,
p r o t e c t e d by barbed-wire and manned b y machj.ne.2un crews
s h o u l d be e s t a b l i s h e d b e f o r e t h e o n s e t o f wj.nter. He a l s o
r e a l i z e d t h a t a l a r g e s c a l e conmitment o f A l l i e d t r o o p s from
the home c o u n t r i e s was h i g h l y u n l i k e l y and t h a t h i s l ong r ange
p l a n s s h o u l d p r o v i d e f o r t he e v e n t u a l e v a c u a t i o n of A l l i e d
f o r c e s from Nor th Russia . IWith t h e s e f a c t o r s i n mind, I ron -~ ~ ~
s i d e i s s u e d o r d e r s t o e a c h of h i s f o r c e s t o p r e p a r e f o r defen-
s i v e o p e r a t i o n s d u r i n g t h e w i n t e r months.
On 11 November, while the res t o f t h e w e s t e r n w o r l d was
r e j o i c i n g i n t h e n e w o f t h e armistice on t h e 'Western F r o n t ,
B Company, 3 3 9 t h I n f a n t r y , a company o f Royal S c o t s , and a
s e c t i o n of Canad ian A r t i l l e r y were f i g h t i n g a d e s p e r a t e b a t -
t l e on the Dvina River , a t Tou lgas , some f i f t y m i l e s sowth
of Berezn ik . 27 One American o f f i c e r e x p l a i n s , "Toulgas was t h e
d u p l i c a t e of t housands of similar v i l l a g e s th roughou t t h i s pro-
v i n c e . I t c o n s i s t e d of a group o f low, d i r t y log houses hud-
,128d l e d t o g e t h e r on a h i l l , s l o p i n g down t o a broad p l a n . . . . The same o f f i c e r r e c o u n t s t h e commencement Or ' t h e b a t t l e :
7 1
On t h e mornin2 o f ;loveraber 1 1 t h vrhile some o f t h e men were s t i l l engaged i n e a t i n g t h e i r b r e a k f a s t s and w h i l e t he p o s i t i o n s ..rere o n l y abou t ha l f manned, suddenly from t h e f o r e s t s s u r r o u n d i n g t h e upper v i l l a g e t h e enemy emersed i n at tack f o r m a t i o n . A l l hands 'were immedia te ly mustered i n t o p o s i t i o n t o r e p e l t h i s advancing wave of i n f a n t r y . I n t h e nean-t ime the 9010 a t t a c k e d w i t h abou t f i v e hundred men from our r e a r , having made a t h r e e c!ay march t h r o u g h xhat had been r e p o r t e d as impassab le swamp, Hundrees o f t h e enemy appea red as i f by magic from t h e f o r e s t s , svmrmed i n upon t h e h o s p i t a l v i l l a g e and immedia te ly took p o s s e s s i o n . I n m e d i a t e l y t h e h o s p i t a l v i l l a g e 'was i n t h e i r hands, t h e Do10 t h e n commenced a despe r -a t e advance upon o u r guns.29
The S o v i e t s deployed i n t o squad a t t a c k f o r m a t i o n s and
began . t h e i r a s s a u l t on the A l l i e d p o s i t i o n s . An i 'merican
Lewis gun crew opened f i r e and slowed t h e a t - t a c k e r s u n t i l t h e
Canadian gunners c o u l d s:rin;: t h e i r 'xeapons abou t t o f a c e t h e
enemy. F i r s t L i e u t e n a r t John Cudahy, a p l a t o o n l e a d e r i n 3
Compmy, d e s c r i b e s t he Canadian a c t i o n s :
They s:rore f i n e , f u l l c h e s t e d , C m a d i a n b l a s p h e n i e s t h a t were a g l o r y t o h e a r , cramned s h r a g n e l i n t o t h e i r g u n s , encl t u r n e d t e r r i 5 l e b las ts i n ~ t o t h e incoming rnasses thzt exploded arnong -thein m d s h a t t e r e d t h e n i n t o g h a s t l y Cismenbered c o r p s e s and h u r l e d bloocl and human f l e s h :.ride i n t h e a i r i n s i c k e n i n g , s p l a t t e r i n g atoms. The more :ieight o f t h o s e approach inq g rea t numbers irould have sha-ken and t u r n e d o r d i n a r y t r o o p s , f o r t h e o n s l a u z h t was n o t s t o p p e d u n t i l l e s s t h a n 2 i f t y y a r d s from t h e guns ; b u t t h e C a n a d i a n s v e r e n o t o r d i n w y men and
30t h e y gave n o t t h e s l i g h t e s t hope o f b e i n 3 t u r n e d .
The f i g h t for T o u l g a l a s t e d f o u r days aqd t h e t i d e of
b a t t l e f l o x e d a l t e r n a t e l y i n f a v o r o f t h e A l l i e s znc! t h e R e * s .
On the second day o f t h e ensagement t h e S o v i e t s b rought f i v e
zunboa t s doi.rn r i v e r f r o n S e l t z o m d sihelled t h e A l l i e d ? o s i -
t i o n s : r i th r e l a t i v e i r , ? u n i t y from t h e s h o r t e r - r z n z e C z w 6 C i m
7 5 ' s . On t h e mornir.2 o f t h e f o u r t h ::ay t ~ o2la ' toons of . h e r -
7 2
i c a n s , l e d by Lieutenant Cudahy , li..a.de a c o u n t e r a t t a c k or, t h e
n a i n enerny f o r c e . m i l e t h e Royal S c o t s h e l d t h e ~ r i , : : ~ ~ i ~ y
A l l i e d p o s i t i o n s and p r o v i d e < a b a s e o f f i r e , t h e Americans
maneuvered throu,qh the t h i c k f i r f o r e s t i n z. s u r n r i s e flank
attack. Taking f u l l advantage o f t h e i r unexpec ted a s s a u l t ,
t h e small A-mericsn e lement s e t t h e enemy o b s e r v a t i o n 3 o s t s
a f i r e and t h e r e s u l t i n g e:cplosions dece ived t h e Red C u a - 6 ~as
t o t h e actual s i z e aiid s t r e n g t h o f the A l l i e d f o r c e . Conse-
q u e n t l y , t h e S o v i e t s fled i n p a n i c b e f o r e what t hey ap :>arent ly
though t vas at l e a s t an A l l i e d r eg imen t . Cudahy rem.arks:
The Americans d a r e d no-t p u r s u e , f o r t o c:o s o would have r e v e a l e d t h e i r t r u e s t r e n g t h , a i d they, were ou t n u r h e r e d f o u r t o one. E e s i d e s , t hey !.rere t o o e l a t e d a t b e i n g r i d of t h e enemy t o g i v e him t h e chance t o r e t u r n t o t he a t t a c k . They c o n t e n t e d themse lves w i t h t2!<inz p r i s o n e r t h o s e s t r a g g l e r s vrno cou ld n o t keep pace 7;rith t h e l e a d e r l e s s r a b b l e t h a t d i s p e r s e d i n t o t h e forest,31 . .~ ~
The A l l i e s had s u c c e s s f u l l y h e l d o f f a major S o v i e t a t t a c k ,
a l l e g e d l y l e d by T r o t s k y h i m s e l f , and had ! ; i l led Chief Com~ian-
d e r Foukes, one o f t h e a b l e s t Red Guard l e a d e r s . 32 I n a c l i i t i o n
t o a g r e a t number of dead , wounded, a.nc: c a p t u r e d , t h e S o v i e t s
l o s t t h e w i l l t o f i g h t , at l e a s t f o r the moment. The A l l i e s
ha6 s u f f e r e d abou t one hundred c a s u a l . t i e s owt o f t!ieir S i x
huncired m a n f o r c e , w i t h t h e Royal S c o t s t a k i n g t h e 1.10rSt pun-
i shment . T h e a a j o r i t y of t h e A l l i e d k i l l e d and :.rounded . ?e re
the r e s u l t o f enerng s h e l l i n g r a t h e r t!mn small arms f i r e .
L ieu- tenant Cudahy e x p l a i n s t h a t :
"It v/as noon vhen the b lockhouse was h i t . I t crumpled l i k e p a p e r under t h e i m p a c t , a i d one
7 3
m a n , drenched r . r i t h a w e l t e r o f b lood , was seen t o drag himself from the wreckage and craTwl back t o t h e p r i e s t ' s house. S h e l l s , t o s s i n z geysers of d i r t =and d e b r i s , s t r u c k a l l around, and ploughed a deep c i r c u l a r furrow v i t h i n a r a d i u s of f i v e yards of t he dea th house, Ivihere seven Americans sat w i t h blanched f a c e s and s e t t e e t h , count ing the seconds between -the hideous success ive whine of t h e plunging s h e l l s and wai t ing s i l e n t l y f o r c e r t a i n des t ruc t ion .1133
The no r the rn half o f Toulgas was burned because the A l l i e s
d i d no t have enough men t o occupy the e n t i r e v i l l a g e and be-
cause an a t t a c k e r could use the small houses f o r o u t p o s t s a n d
cover i n the event of a renewed a s s a u l t . An observer d e s c r i b e s
t h e d e s t r u c t i o n of t he hamlet:
The f irst snow f l o a t e d down from a d a r k fore-boding sky , dread announcer of a c r u e l a r c t i c w in te r . Soon t h e houses were r o a r i n g flames. The woman sat upon had- fa sh ioned c r a t e s wherein w e r e all t h e i r most pr ized household goods, and abandoned themselves t o a paroxysm of weeping d e s p a i r , whi le t he c h i l d r e n sh r i eked s t r i d e n t l y , v i c t im of a l l t he r e a l i s t i c h o r r o r s t h a t only childhood can conjure . Nitchevoo, f a t e had de-creed t h a t they should s u f f e r t h i s burden, and s o they accepted i t without ques t ion . Rut when we thought of t h e brave chaps whose l i v e s had been talcen from those flaming homes, for our c a s u a l t i e s had been heavy, n e a r l y one hundred men k i l l e d and wounded, vre s t i f l e d our compas-s i o n and looked on the b l az ing scene as a j u b i l a n tbonf i r e .34
Following t h e Toulgas b a t t l e t he enemy made p e r i o d i c
probes t o t e s t t h e c o n s t a n t l y improving Al l i ed defenses . 3ur -
ing December the 310th EnEineers a s s i s t e d t h e i n f a t r y and
a r t i l l e r y i n the c o n s t r u c t i o n of w i n t e r q u a r t e r s and f o r t i f i -
c a t i o n s . The S o v i e t s a t tempted a m a j o r a t t a c k i n l a t e Jan-
u a r y , 1919 , and a j a i n i n February, b u t were dr iven o f f by t h e
A l l i e s on both occas ions ,
74
The supremacy o f t h e d e f e n s e '.?asbecorflina e v i d e n t as
w i n t e r a r r i v e d i n : lorth Russ i a . Y i t h t h e advm- tage o f l a r g e ,
well b u i l t and s u p p l i e d l o g b lockhouses , sur rounded by barbed
wire and p r o t e c t e d by several machine gms, the A l l i e s cou ld
e f f e c t i v e l y h o l d o f f t h e n u m e r i c a l l y s u p e r i o r enemy. D e s p i t e
t h e S o v i e t s advantage i n l a r g e c a l i b e r a r t i l l e r y , t h e ex t reme
c o l d and deep snow made o f f e n s i v e o p e r a t i o n s a l n o s t i m p o s s i 3 l e .
Vhen an attack :'as a t t e m p t e d t h e r e s u l t s were u s u a l l y i n c o n c l u -
s i v e and c o s t t h e f o r c e conduc t ing t h e o f f e n s i v e a c t i o n an
e x c e s s i v e number of c a s u a l t i e s .
The r e s o u r c e f u l n e s s of t h e Americans ? r m also becorninz
v e r y obvious . An o f f i c e r no ted :
I n a few h o u r s - or few days a t most , t h e Americans s o l d i e r would have dug i n s e c u r e l y and made h i inse l f r u d e l y co in fo r t ab le . Tha t rude comfor t !;;auld last till some E r i t i s h o f f i c e r d e c i d e d t o ' p u t on a b i t o f a show' or till the Reds i n overwhelming numbers o r w i t h tremendous a r t i l l e r y pounding - o r both combined, compel led t h e yanks t o f i g h t them-selves i n t o a. new p o s i t i o n and go th rough t h e A r c t i c r i g o r s of t r e n c h work a g a i n i n
35ze ro wea the r f o r a few days .
The Americans a l s o had a c e r t a i n i n g e n u i t y f o r making a
q u i c k p r o f i t . One o f f i c e r r e t u r n i n X t o Archangel from t h e
v r i l c 1 . s of Yor th R u s s i a compl.ained:
And o v e r a c r o s s t h e h a r b o r a t B a k a r i t z a , ( f i rch- zingel) a w e l l - f e e Su3ply Coi:lpmy .:latched o v e r mountains o f r a t i o n s ~ n c lsu ;>p l i e s t h a t her! been brough t all t h e way from far o f f h e r i c a ; s u p p l i e s and l i t t l e gooc? t h i n g s and cor.iforta that would hab-e h e a r t e n e d and brough t nev l i f e and hope t o t h e l o n e l y , abandoned !nen on t h e far f i s h t i n & l i n e s i n t h e snow. These s u p p l i e s n e v e r r eached -the f r o n t , b u t t h e Supnly Company, v r i t h A mri can bus i n ess shrevdness and Arnerican
7 5
a p t i t u d e f o r t r n d i n g , a c q u i r e d % r e a t 5undles of r u b l e s , and a.t t h e ma.rlcet p l a c e conver'tec! t h e s e i n t o s t a b l e s t e r l i n g , and cane o u t of R u s s i a i n t h e s p r i n g t i n e <with p l e a s a n t men-o r i e s o f E tea-ist :.!inter; l i k e w i s e a small f o r t u n e s e c u r e l y h i d i n t h e i r o l i v e dra.12 b r e e c h e s . 35
I t d i d n ' t t a k e 1on.g f o r t he more e n t e r p r i s i n g s o l d i e r s of the
E x p e d i t i o n a q r Force t o f i n d a way t o make the most o f . the i r
advantageous p o s i t i o n . T h i s oppor tunism had t z k e n p l a c e i n
p r e v i o u s Yiars and : ~ o u l d s u r e l y be r e p e a t e d i n c o n f l i c t s t o
come.
The S r i t i s h also had t he i r sha re o f t a i n t e d l o a i s t i c a l
a c t i v i t i e s i n f i rc i iangel , One American o f f i c e r estimated t h a t
t h e B r i t i s h Genera l Headquar t e r s had s i x hundred s u r p l u s o f f i -
c e r s and f o r t y -thousa-ld c a s e s o f S c o t c h ib-hislcejr cached i n
Archange l , The Arnerican doesn ' t s a y what purpose t h e whiskey
was i n t endec i~t ~ o- s e r v e , b u t - s t a t e s r t h a t ,~
"Some o f t h e o f f i c e r s had come f r a n k l y i n search o f a ' cushy j o b ' i n a zone t h e y though t s a f e l y removed f r o n po i son g a s e s and bombardments and all t h e h i d e o u s muck o f t h e t r e n c h e s . O t h e r s , much t o t h e i r d i s g u s t , had been s e n t t o t h e p o l a r re -g i o n s because some one i n H e a d q u a r t e r s had t h o u z h t t h e y p o s s e s s e d some p e c u l i a r q u a l i f i c a t i o n t o com-mand o r ' g e t o n ' wi th imaginary R u s s i a r eg imen t s t ha t were t o s p r i n g t o t h e A l l i e d S tanda rd . "37
The c o r r u p t i o n o f Archangel had i t s e f f e c t s on t h e Rus-
sians as Twell as t h e A l l i e s . On 11 December, 1 9 1 8 , s o l d i e r s
of t h e Anglo-Slavic Legion mutined a t Nevslcy aar rnc lcs i n Arch-
a n g e l , Co lone l S u t h e r l a n d , . i n command o f A l l i e d f o r c e s i n
Archangel s i n c e h i s r e l i e f on t h e railway f r o n t , o r d e r e d Col-
o n e l S t e w a r t t o p r o v i d e the American t r o o p s s t a t i o n e d at O l g a
76
Barracks t o assist i n p u t t i n g doywn the mutiny.
Headquarters Company, 339th I n f a n t r y moved ou t and took
up p o s i t i o n s on Pe t rog radsk i S t r e e t w i th f o u r Lewis guns and
t h r e e t r ench mor ta rs . A t e x a c t l y 1400 hours Colonel Suther-
land gave the o r d e r t o commence f i r i n g i n t o the windows and
doors of t he ba r racks . A f t e r about f i f t e e n minutes the nwti-
n e e r s , holding a white f l a g , came. o u t of t he bar rzcks s s d
sur rendered . There were no American c a s u a l t i e s and Colonel
S t ewar t , i n h i s o f f i c i a l r e p o r t , s t a t e s t h a t t h i r t e e n of t he
r i n g l e a d e r s s u f f e r e d dea th under o r d e r s of t h e Russian Com-
nand. 3a Another American o f f i c e r ' s vers ion of the a c t i o n i s
more embellished than Colonel S t e w a r t ' s o f f i c i a l account:
Meanv/hile G . N . Q . had ordered out t he American IHQ I Company t r ench mortar s e c t i o n and a s e c t i o n of t h e American iinchine Gun Conpnny to t r y bomb and b u l l e t argument on the S . B . A . L ' s (Anglo-S lav ic Legion) who were ba r r i cad ing t h e i r bar-r i c k s and po in t ing machine guns from t h e i r win- dows. Promptly on the minute, according t o o r d e r s , t h e n a s t y , and t o t he Americans p i t i -f u l l y d i sag reeab le j o b , was begun. I n a s h o r t time a white f l a g f l u t t e r e d a s i g n of submission. A few minutes later t o the immense d i s g u s t o f the doughboys, a company of Engl i sh Tommies who by a l l r u l e s t o r i g h t and reason should have been the ones t o c l ean up the mutinous mess i n t o which the B r i t i s h o f f i c e r s had g o t t e n the S.B.A.L.'s, now hove i n t o s i g h t , coming up t h e r e c e n t l y bu l l e t -wh i s t l i ng b u t now deadly q u i e t s t r e e t , w i t h r i f l e s s lung on t h e i r shou lde r s , crawling along s lowly at s i x t y t o the minute pace - in-s t e a d of a r i o t - c a l l double t ime, and s inging t h e i r i n s u l t i n g ve r s ion of 'Over There the Yanks are Running, Running, everywhere, e t c . ' And t h e i r o l d fishmonger r e se rve o f f i c e r - he wore Colonel ' s i n s i g n i a , wiped o f f h i s r.fhislcey svieat i n unconcealed r e l i e f . [His b a t t l e of Archangel had been c u t s h o r t by the Americans....'Ve a r e bound t o comment t h a t we be l i eve i t never would have occurred i f a t a c t f u l , honest American
77
o f f i c e r had been i n cha rge of t h e S.B.A.L. Americans know how t a c t l e s s and bu l l -doz ing some B r i t i s h o r d e r s - n o t rnanytc be s u r e -cou ld be. We f o r t u n a t e l y had b l u f f s enough t o o f f s e t t h e b u l l - d o z i n g s , A s tormy t h r e a t by a s n e e r i n g , drunken o f f i c e r t o t u r n t h e Canadian a r t i l l e r y on t h e bloornin' Yanks cou ld be met by a c o l d - a s - s t e e l r e j o i n e r t ha t t h e S r i t i s h o f f i c e r iiould p l e a s e r e a l i z e h i s drunken c o n d i t i o n and t a k e bac!c t h e s n e e r i n g t h r e a t and come a c r o s s 7v;ith a r e a s o n a b l e o r d e r o r s u f f e r t h e immediate consequences . And t h e n u s u a l l y t h e tvo cou ld co-o ie ra te , Such i.s a p a r t n e r s h i p war i n c i d e n t . 59
American t r o o p s viewed t h e i 3 r i t i sh h e a d q u a r t e r s i n Arch-
a n g e l 2s t h e s o u r c e o f many problems. Zany c la imed t h a t
doughboys who were s e n t on temporar:r d u t y w i t h t h e 3ritish
were k e p t i n d e f i n i t e l y and t h e Arrerican h e a d q u a r t e r s had a
t endency t o f o r g e t abou t i ts s o l d i e r s . Some American o f f i c e r s
f e l t Colonel S t e w a r t had l o s t t ouch w i t h h i s b a t t a l i o n and
company commanders because the he r i ca i ? uni. ' is were s h i f t e d ~~ ~ ~~~~
~ ~~
abou t Archanee l P r o v i n c e w i t h o u t any c o n s i d e r a t i o n g i v e n t o
the 3 3 9 t h Regimenta l Commander, One o f f i c e r r e p o r t e d :
He had a d i s c o u r a g i n g t ime even i n z e t t i n g his few g e n e r a l o r d e r s d i s t r i b u t e d t o t he American t r o o p s . No wonder t h a t o f t e n an American o f f i -c e r or s o l d i e r r e p o r t i n g i n from a f r o n t by o r d e r o f p e r m i s s i o n o f a S r i t i s h f i e l d o f f i c e r , d i d n o t f e e l that American H e a d q u a r t e r s was h i s real, h e a d n u a r t e r s and i n pu re i g n o r a n c e was g u i l t y of - o m i t t i n g some du ty or f a i l i n g t o com-p l y w i t h some Archangel r e s t r i c t i o n t ha t had been o r d e r e d by American H e a d q u a r t e r s . A s t o g e n e r a l o r d e r s from American C e a d q u a r t e r s d e a l - i n g with t h e a c t i o n o f t r o o p s i n t h e f i e l d , t h o s e were so few a n d o f so l i . t t l e i m p r e s s i v e n e s s t h a t t h e y have been f o r g o t t e n . 40
T h i s same o f f i c e r f e l t tha t Co lone l Steviart, a l t h o u g h
unab le t o i n f l u e n c e t h e t a c t i c a l employment, t r a n s p o r t , s u p p l y ,
7 8
or medical c a r e o f a good p o r t i o n o f h i s command, s h o u l d
have d i r e c t l y c o n t r o l l e d t h o s e u n i t s and o f f i c e r s i n Archangel .
Somehow the doughboy f e l t t h a t t h e v e r y l i m i t e d and much complained abou t s e r v i c e o f h i s own American Supply U n i t , t h a t l i v e d f o r the most p a r t on t h e fa t o f t h e land i n B a k a r i t z a , shou ld have been c o r r e c t e d by h i s commanding o f f i c e r who sat i n American H e a d q u a r t e r s , And t h e y f e l t whether c o r r e c t l y o r n o t , t h a t t h e c o u r t - m a r t i a l s e n t e n c e s of Major C.G. Young,who a c t e d as summary c o u r t o f f i c e r at Sinolny af te r he was r e l i e v e d o f his commmd i n t h e f i e l d , were u n n e c e s s a r i l y harsh. And. t h e y b l a - med t h e i r connanding o f f i c e r , Colonel S t e w a r t , f o r n o t ta l ; ing n o t e o f that f a c t when he re-viewed and approved themed1
Genera l I r o n s i d e a t t empted a l i i a i t e d o f f e n s i v e i n l a t e
December t o t a k e E m t s a , a l a r g e v i l l a g e halfway betlween Verst
445 011 t h e R a i l r o a d F r o n t and ?lesetska.ya. Xe f e l t t h a t b y
occupying E n t s a i n t he west and Shenkurslc i n t he eas t , he
woulcl be s e c u r e f o r t h e remainder o f t h e w i n t e r .
I r o n s i d e p lanned a c o o r d i n a t e d three-pronged attack
a g a i n s t E m t s a u s i n g f o r c e s from t h e Onega R i v e r Fr0n.l;; t r o o p s
From t h e Vaga F r o n t t o t a k e Xodish; and elemeli ts from t h e
Railway F ron t t o a t t a c k s o u t h towards Plesets!caya. I r o n s i d e
'was s u r e h e would be s u c c e s s f u l because all i n t e l l i g e n c e re-
p o r t s i nd ica t ed . t h a t t h e S o v i e t s were exhaus ted and underman-
ned .
The o f f e n s i v e began on 29 December rrhen "G" Cor--,ipar.y, 339th
I n f a n t r y and some Russ ian v o l u n t e e r s moved up t h e Onega R i v e r
and engaged a s t r o n , % Red f o r c e at Turchasova. G y 31 3ecember
79
"G" Company vrithdrey:: a f t e r s u f f e r i n g heavy c a s u a l t i e s . The
French Fore ign Legion u n i t , made up o f Russ i an v o l u n t e e r s
commanded by French o f f i c e r s , de l ayed t h e i r a t t a c k a long t h e
r a i l w a y f r o n t when t h e y d i s c o v e r e d t h e y d i d n o t have t h e cor -
r e c t t ype o f snowshoes and would need an a d d i t i o n a l f o r t y -
e i g h t hour s t o r e a c h t h e i r d e s t i n a t i o n . The S o v i e t s r e a l i z e d
immedia te ly that t h e A l l i e s were p r e p a r i n g a major a t t a c k and
s h e l l e d t h e r a i l l i n e wi th approx ima te ly 1,500 rounds o f ar-
t i l l e r y , f u r t h e r h a l t i n g t h e French advance. 42
Hearing o€ t h e c a n c e l l a t i o n o f t h e French a t t a c k , I r o n -
s i d e rushed t o t h e f r o n t t o meet w i t h Co lone l Lucas , t h e
French commander. I r o n s i d e l e a r n e d t h a t Lucas had v i o l a t e d
o r d e r s by n o t c o o r d i n a t i n g p l a n s wi th t h e Americans. A t al-
most t h e same moment Companies "E" and "K" o f t he 339 th , sup-
p o r t e d by Canadian A r t i l l e r y , began t h e i r attack on KodiSh.
Two thousand Red Guards defended Kodish and t h e i r r e s i s -
t a n c e was s t r o n g e r t h a n expec ted . The Americans pushed s l o w l y
forward and s e c u r e d Kodish. They accompl ished t h e i r m i s s i o n
d e s p i t e t he f a i l u r e o f t he French and w i t h o u t a second s u p p o r t -
i n g a t t a c k t ha t was supposed t o be nade by a machinegun com-
pany o f the K i n g ' s L i v e r p o o l Regiment. The B r i t i s h u n i t
f a i l e d t o show up f o r the a t tack b e c a u s e , as Genera l I r o n s i d e
p u t i t , "The Co lone l i n q u e s t i o n had succurnbed t o t!ie f e s t i v -
i t i e s o f t h e s e a s o n . " I n 0-ther words , t h e 3ritish commander
was drunk , 4.3
A f t e r the a b o r t i v e l i m i t e d o f f e n s i v e i n l e t e December,
80
I r o n s i d e became concerned w i t h J u s t na in ta . in i i -3 h i s p r e s e n t
p o s i t i o n s . !<ismost v u l n e r a b l e o u t p o s t !'ms at Shenlcurst .
According t o Co lone l S t e w a r t t h e v a l u e o f t h i s Vaza R i v e r
v i l l a g e was i t s s u b s t a n t i a l number of w e l l - b u i l t d v e l l i n g s
t h a t p rovided shelter f o r A l l i e d rmn and material. 44 A l l i e s
occup ied t h e C i t y , w i t h o u t r e s i s t a n c e on 18 September , 1918,
and t h e S o v i e t s n e v e r s e r i o u s l y t h r e a t e n e d t h e occuga t ion f o r c e
u n t i l t h e end o f December. I3y J a n u a r y , 1919, a lmost 2000
American, Z r i t i s h , C2nadi2n , and A l l i e d Russ i ans occup ied
Shenkursk. The A l l i e s e s t a b l i s h e d t h r e e s e c u r i t y o u t p o s t s
s o u t h o f Shenkursk , V i so rka Gora, U s t ?adenga , 2~1dK i j n i Gora,
for t h e purpose o f e a r l y :.rarning. 45
On t h e morning o f 19 Janua ry t h e S o v i e t s begaii an attack
t h a t would prove t o be t h e t u r n i n g p o i n t o f t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n .
L i e u t e n a n t Harry Nead, a long w i t h f o r t y - f i v e men from "A"
Company, 3 3 9 t h , was loca ted at l l i j n i Gora , t h e s o u t h e r n most
A l l i e d s t r o n g p o i n t . L i e u t e n a n t Ilead t e l l s o f the i n i t i a l
a t t a c k :
On t h e morning o f t h a t fa ta l n i n e t e e n t h day o f J a n u a r y , j u s t at dawn t h e enemy's a r t i l l e r y which had been s i l e n t now f o r s e v e r a l weeks, opened up a t e r r i f i c bombardment on o u r p s i -t i o n i n X i j n i Gora. T h i s a r t i l l e r y wan concea led i n t h e dense f o r e s t on the o p p o s i t e bank o f t h e Vaga far beyond t h e range o f o u r own a r t i l l e r y . A f t e r abou t an h o u r ' s v i o l e n t s h e l l i n g the bar-r a g e suddenly l i f t e d . I n s t a n t l y , from t h e deep snow and r a v i n e s e n t i r e l y su r round ing u s , i n p e r f e c t a t t a c k f o r m a t i o n , arose hundreds of t h e enemy c l a d i n w h i t e un i forms and t h e a t t a c k was 011.46
Mead and h i s men h e l d o f f t h e a t t a c k w i t h t h e i r machine-
81
guns u n t i l i t !Yas obv ious t h a t t h e y were a b o u t t o be o v e r r u n .
A s the Yanks evacua ted t h e o u t p o s t and headed for U s t Padenga,
t h e nex t A l l i e d p o s i t i o n , t h e S o v i e t s cc t down t h e Americans
w i t h r i f l e and a u t o m a t i c weapons f i r e . O f t h e f o r t y - f i v e men
Mead had i n N i j n i Gora t h a t morning, o n l y he and seven o t h e r s
made it t o U s t Padenga. Nead q u i c k l y r e a l i z e d t h a t he would
n o t be a b l e t o d e l a y a t U s t Padenga or c o l l e c t h i s wounded o r
dead, H e and t h e remainder of h i s men moved d i r e c t l y t o V i s -
o r k a Gora, t h e las t o u t p o s t b e f o r e Shenkursk . The Reds, n o t
r e a l i z i n g t h a t U s t Padenga had been abandoned, a t t a c k e d t h e
empty v i l l a g e w i t h a r t i l l e r y and ground t r o o p s . The Canadian
a r t i l l e r y , a l o n g w i t h t h e remain ing s o l d i e r s o f "A" Company,
t ook t h e enemy u n d e r f i r e from V i s o r k a Gora and i n f l i c t e d
heavy c a s u a l t i e s on t h e S o v i e t a t t a c k e r s . On 20 J a n u a r y t h e
Reds made t h e i r attack on V i s o r k a Gora w i t h an e s t i m a t e d 1000
men. 47 The Canadian a r t i l l e r y s t o p p e d t h e enemy by f i r i n g
s h r a p n e l rounds i n t o t h e oncoming waves o f S o v i e t s o l d i e r s .
The B r i t i s h command at Shenkursk o r d e r e d the Amer icms
and Canadians t o e v a c u a t e Visorlca Gora on 2 2 J anua ry and r e -
t r e a t t o Shenkursk . The enemy had su r rounded Shenkursk and
i t appeared t h a t t h e y were a t t e m p t i n g t o c u t t h e e scape r o u t e
t o t h e n o r t h and a n n i h i l n t e t h e A l l i e d t r o o p s . The f o r c e a t
Visorlca Gora withdrew th rough t h e S o v i e t s and then h a l t e d for
a res t at Spasslcoe, a small v i l l a g e a b o u t four m i l e s s o u t h
of Shenkursk. The enemy occupied b o t h s i d e s o f t h e Vaxa and
had g o t t e n between Spasskoe a?l Shenkursk . L i e u t e n a n t Xead
82
t e l l s o f t h e -withdra:Yal:
Ye f i n a l l y d e c i d e d that under c o v e r of darkness and i n t h e c o n f u s i o n and mamy movements t hen on f o o t , 'vie cou ld p o s s i b l y n a r c h s t r a i g ! i t up t h e r i v e r r i g h t between the v i l l a g e s , and t h o s e on one s i d e viould mis t ake us f o r o t i i e r s on t h e o p p o s i t e bank. Our p l a n workerJ t o p e r f e c t i o n and 'vie g o t t h r o u g h s a f e l y w i t h one s h o t be ing f i r e d by some s u s g i c i o u s eneny s e n t r y , b u t iwhich d i d u s no harm, 2nd we con t inued s i l e n t l y on o u r vay .48
The comnand a.t Bereznilc saw tha t t!ie S'nenkurslc f o r c e would
have t o b r e a k o u t or S e d e s t r o y e d . Colonel Sharman, t h e C a n a -
d i a n a r t i l l e r y commander, anti commander o f t n e Vaga i i i vc r
f o r c e , infornied Colonel G r a h m , the B r i t i s h cocimander at Shen-
k u r s k , t h r t he :ias a u t h o r i z e d t o abandon Shenkurslc immedia te lg .
Graham o r d e r e d t h e e v a c u a t i o n t o b e & i n a t midn igh t , 2 4 January.
The o r d e r d i r e c t e d each i n d i v i d u a l ev2.cuate on ly :./hat
he cou ld c a r r y on h i s pe r son . A l l e q u i p n e n t , suy ,p l i e s , r n t i o n s ,
and h o r s e s were t o be l e f t b e h i n d , unharmed. To destroy t h e s e
i t e m s c;iould o n l y a l e r t t h e enemy o f t h e gending e v a c u a t i o n ,
The B r i t i s h a l s o o r d e r e d t h e Canadians t o l e a v e t h e i r zuns
and t h e Americans t o abandon t h e i r -xounded, b o t h b e i n g t o o
d i f f i c u l t t o c n r r y o u t under t h e c i r c u n s t m c e s . 3 0 t h the C a -
n a d i a n s mc! Americans d isobeyed t h e o r d e r .
A t miclni,ght t h e column moved o u t on a sinall lo,&n,~ t r a i l
a v o i d i n g t h e main road headin;! n o r t h , :ihich had been c u t by
t h e enemy. S h o r t l y a f t e r d e p a r t i n g , t v o comixmies of A l l i P C ;
Russians d e s e r t e d t o t h e enemy, b u t a p p a r e n t l y d i d n o t b e t r a y
t h e e v a c u a t i o n . L i e u t e n a n t ;.lead, a member o f t h e r e n r ;uard
e x p l a i n s :
83
Hour a f te r hour !.re f l o u n d e r e d and s t r u g z l e d th rough t h e snolvr m d b i t t e r c o l d . The artil-l e r y m d h o r s e s ahead o f u s had c u t the t r a i l i n t o a net:.iorl; o f h o l e s , s l i d e s , a i d da>gerous p i t f a l l s r e n d e r i n g o u r f o o t i n g s o u n c e r t a i n and t r e a c h e r o u s t h a t t h e wonder i s t h a t -we e v e r succeeded i n r e g a i n i n g t h e r i v e r t r a . i l a l i v e . A t this t ime !.re were all ,wearing the Shackle-ton b o o t , a b o o t designee', by S i r E r n e s t Shack- l e t o n of A n t a r c t i c farr,e, arld :.iho :.;as one o f t h e a d v i s o r y staff i n Archangel . T h i s b o o t , which was w a r m and comfor t ab le f o r one remain-i n g s t a t i o n a r y , .., :!as v e r y i m p r a c t i c a b l e a n i wel l n i g h u s e l e s s for marchinz . . . .Some of t h e men unab le t o l o n g e r c o n t i n u e t h e n a r c h c a s t away t h e i r b o o t s and k e p t go ing i n t h e i r stocic- i n g f e e t , . .:./ith t h e r e s u l t t h a t on t h e fOllOwiiig day many were s u f f e r i n g from s e v e r e l y f r o s t b i t t e n f e e t . 5 0
A t 1700 h o u r s on 25 J v l u a r y the column a r r i v e d a t Sheg-
o v a r i , app rox ima te ly 20 m i l e s t o t h e n o r t h , where two p l a t o o n s
of " C " and '9'' TheseCompanies, 339th I n f a n t r y were w a i t i n g .
p l a t o o n s c o n s t i t u t e d t h e g a r r i s o n a t Shegovar i and had been
a t t a c k e d by an enemy f o r c e on 21 J a n u a r y i n m a t t e m p t t o c u t
t h e A l l i e d l i n e of communication. The enemy 'was d r i v e n o f f ,
d e s p i t e heavy l o s s e s t o t h e Americans. Immediately a f t e r t h e
A l l i e d column a r r i v e d at Shegovar i t h e enemy a g a i n a t t a c k e d .
The Canadians, who had l o s t f o u r o f t h e i r s i x guns d u r i n g the
r e t r e a t , t u r n e d t h e remain ing two on t h e enemy and s topped
t h e assaul t . A t dawn on 26 J a n u a r y t h e column c r o s s e d t h e
Vaga and burned Shegovar i as t h e y d e p a r t e d . L i e u t e n a n t John
Cudahy w r o t e , . . , "Shegovar i !7as added t o t h e sum o f Russ ian 51v i l l a g e s f e d t o t h e fires o f t h e A l l i e d c a u s e . . . . ' '
From Shegovar i the A l l i e s wi thdrew t o V i s t a v k a , a b o u t
f i v e m i l e s s o u t h o f K i t s a and n e a r l y t h i r t y - f i v e m i l e s from
84
Dvina Force H e a d q u a r t e r s a t S e r e z n i k . The A.llies dug i n at
Vistavlca and h e l d o f f numerous enemy i n f a n t r y and a r t i l l e r y
a t t a c k s u n t i l 9 Xarch, 1 9 1 9 , ?when ne'v d e f e n s i v e p o s i t i o n s were
e s t a b l i s h e d at !<itsa. The A l l i e d p l a n was t o hold o f f t he
enemy on t h e Vaga as far s o u t h as p o s s i b l e u n t i l t h e s p r i n g
thaw c m e i n A p r i l , and then rrithdraiv t o Archangel , b u r n i n z
e v e r y t h i n g i n t h e i r wake. 5 2 The p e r i o d from iinrch u n t i l t h e
d e p a r t u r e o f t h e Americ2.n t r o o p s i n June vas kno:.in as t h e
s p r i n g d e f e n s i v e .
On 17 April 3 r i g a d i e r Genera l ! i i lds P . Richardson E r r i v e d
i n Archangel t o t a k e conmand o f a l l American f o r c e s i n :!orth
R u s s i a and supe rv i se t h e i r e v a c u a t i o n . Richardson !lad s e r v e d
i n Alaska and :;/as b e s t knoirn f o r his c o n s t r u c t i o n o f t h e "Eich-
a rdson I-Iighway" . Along w i t h Genera l Iiicharcison c a m . t h i r t y -
f i v e o f f i c e r s and 265 e n l i s t e d men o f a railroad company t o
assist i n t h e t r a n s p o r t o f American f o r c e s .
The d e c i s i o n t o withdraw American f o r c e s Twas a r e s u l t o f
t a l k s t h a t began i n J a n u a r y . One o f t h e f i rs t items discussec':
a t t h e peace conTerence i n P a r i s was t h e problem o f t h e Russian
i n t e r v e n t i o n . iIarshal Foch proposed t h a t an A l l i e d f o r c e , com-
posed p r i m a r i l y o f Americans, march on Liosco~w and d e f e a t t h e
Bo l shev iks once and for a l l . 53 1Vlilson responded t o F o c h ' s 2ro-
p o s a l by o f f e r i n g his o p i n i o n t h a t Solshevism cou ld n o t be
b rough t under c o n t r o l by f o r c e . On 22 J a n u a r y :.lilson i n v i t e d
a l l t h e i n t e r e s t e c l p a r t i e s t o a confe rence at P r i n l c i p o , on t h e
85
Sea o f Xarmora n e a r Turkey, !./ilson hoped t h a t t h e c o n f e r e n c e
would undo 3olsheviIc c r e d i b i l i t y and g i v e t h e p o l i t i c a l pro-
c e s s i n R u s s i a an o p p o r t u n i t y t o emerge. The o n l y problem
was t h a t t h e E o l s h e v i k s were t h e o n l y Russ i ans t o a c c e p t t h e
i n v i t a t i o n .
The peace t a l k s ground t o a h a l t i n February when t h e
B r i t i s h Prime I . ! in i s te r Lloyd George d e g a r t e d for London t o
d e a l w i t h c i v i l s tr ikes f o l l o w i n g the E n g l i s h g e n e r a l e l e c -
t i o n , Clemenceau 'vas s h o t and wounded i n an a s s a s s i n a t i o n
a t t e m p t , and b!ilson r e t u r n e d t o t h e Un i t ed S t a t e s . Enrou te
t o America !./ilson h e l d a meet ing w i t h Ambassador F r a n c i s who
was a l s o r e t u r n i n g t o America foll.ovring s u r g e r y i n England.
F r a n c i s d e t a i l e d h i s p l a n f o r an A l l i e d i n t e r v e n t i o n t h a t
would d e c i s i v e l y d e f e a t t h e B o l s h e v i k s . F r a n c i s d e s c r i b e s
t he meet ing w i t h t he P r e s i d e n t i n h i s p a p e r s :
I o u t l i n e d my recommendation a b o u t R u s s i a t o him. I-Ie r e p l i e d t h a t s end ing American s o l d i e r s t o Russia a f t e r the a r m i s t i c e had been s i g n e d would be v e r y unpopu la r i n America. I ven tu red t o d i f f e r w i t h him; I expres sed t h e opin io i i that many o f t h e 2,000,000 s o l d i e r s he had i n Europe were d i s a p p o i n t e d t h a t t h e a r m i s t i c e xas s i g n e d b e f o r e t h e y c o u l d engage i n a b a t t l e . I said 'you cou ld g e t 50,000 v o l u n t e e r s o u t o f t h e 2,000,000 of American s o l d i e r s ~ V J ~ O be 1rouI.d g l a d t o go t o R u s s i a . . . . I54
':iilson t o l d F r a n c i s he had d i s c u s s e d h i s recomnendetion
7;rith Lloyd George and Clemenceau and t h e y b o t h indica.t ,ed i f
o r d e r e d t o R u s s i a , t h e B r i t i s h and French s o l d i e r s would
r e f u s e t o go or mutiny .
A s a r e s u l t o f grorwing p r e s s u r e from t h e Congress and h i s
8,5
ovn assessment of the s i t u a t i o n , 'Yilsor. x i r e d S e c r e t e r y o f
;Jar Dzker , on 16 F e b r u a r y , t o r e c a l l t h e American . troo?s f r o n
i !or th Russ i a . On 18 February Saker , i n t h e i:!evr York Times,
e x p l a i n e d t h a t t h e d i s p a t c h o f 720 v o l u n t e e r s for r a i l r o a d
d u t y i n Russia was t o "assure g r e a t e r safet:r for Jmer i can
f o r c e s and f a c i l i t a t e t h e prompt ~ ~ ~ i - t h c l r a v i ~ . lt r o o p s i n ?!orthof
Russia a t t h e e a r l i e s t o p p o r t u n i t y . t ha t vieather c o n d i t i o n s i n
t h e s p r i n g p e r m i t . C h a r a c t e r i s t i c a l l y , t h e American t r o o p s
l e a r n e d abou t t h e v i thd ram.1 p l a n s throug!i ,the ne:ispapers
r a t h e r t han from t h e i r commandin;: o f f i c e r . T h e !!ar Denartment
f a i l e d t o inform Colonel S t e v a r t of t h e d e c i s i o n .
E i g h t e e n days p r i o r t o t h e a r r i v a l o f Genera l Richardson
an a l l e g e d mutiny o c c u r r e d i n the ranks o f Aner ican f o r c e s ,
pe rhaps e v i d e n c i n g t h e i r d e c l i n i n g morale, O n 30 Karch, 1919,
"I" Company, 339th I n f a n t r y , commanded by C a p t a i n :-Iorz,tio G .
Yinslovi was p r e p a r i n g t o move from Smolny Z a r r a c k s i n Arch-
a n g e l t o t h e Rai1wa:r F r o n t . There had been some d i s c o n t e n t
among t h e t r o o p s because of d e l a y s i n Iiiail s e r v i c e and t h e
r e c e n t d i v i s i o n o f t he coispany as a r e s u l t o f e. f i r e i n the i r
b a r r a c k s .
The company was o r d e r e d t o pack t h e i r equipment an:! loac!
t h e i r s l e i g h s i n p r e p a r a t i o n f o r t h e novement t o t h e f r o n t .
The first s e r g e a n t and s e n i o r p l a t o o n l e n d e r no ted a c e r t a i n
d i l a t o r i n e s s i n t h e s o l d i e r s r o u t i n e an< ove rhea rd a n u n j c r
o f men c o n p l a i n i n g abou t having t o 20 t o t h e f i z h t i n g f r o n t
$7
While Russ ian t r o o p s remained i n Archangel and d r i l l e d . Cap-
t a i n Winslow a r r i v e d , l i s t e n e d t o the g r i e v a n c e s , and t h e n
c a l l e d Colonel S t e w a r t t o in form h i m o f t h e problem. The
Regimental Commander immediately h e l d a meet ing at t h e Y.M.C.A.
wi th t h e members o f I 1 I " Company where he read them The A r t i -
c l e s o f War, informed them o f t h e c u r r e n t m i l i t a r y s i t u a t i o n
i n Nor th R u s s i a , d i s p e l l e d all rumors, and answered any ques-
t i o n s posed t o h i m . Whether i t was the A r t i c l e s o f IYar or
S t e w a r t ' s s p e e c h tha t convinced t h e t r o o p s t o move o u t for t h e
f r o n t is n o t r e c o r d e d . R e g a r d l e s s , f o l l o w i n g t h e mee t ing , "I"
Company boarded the t r a i n s f o r t h e Railway F r o n t .
T h e fo l lov i ing d a y , 31 Elarch, t h e a r i t i s h r e l e a s e d a c a b l e
i n London w i t h t h e s t o r y o f an a l l e g e d mutiny of American
t r o o p s i n Nor th R u s s i a . The B r i t i s h ':Jar O f f i c e urged men t o
v o l u n t e e r f o r d u t y i n Nor th R u s s i a where i t was a l l e g e d that
t h e i r E n g l i s h comrades had been l e f t unsuppor ted by t h e
mutinous Americans. 56
There f o l l o w e d an immediate i n v e s t i g a t i o n by t h e A c t i n g
I n s p e c t o r G e n e r a l , American Forces i n Nor th Russ i a . H i s i n -
q u i r y produced the f o l l o w i n g f i n d i n g s :
The c o n c l u s i o n s o f t he i n s p e c t o r 'were that from such ev idence as cou ld be o b t a i n e d t h e a l l e g e d mutiny was n o t h i n g l i k e as s e r i o u s as had been r e p o r t e d , b u t t h a t i t was o f s u c h a n a t u r e t h a t i t cou ld have been handled by a company o f f i c e r o f f o r c e . The i n s p e c t o r recoc!ii,ended t o t he Com-manding G e n e r a l , American F o r c e s , ;forth R u s s i a , t h a t t h e m a t t e r be dropped and c o n s i d e r close^!.^^ Colonel Stelwart s t a t e d t o t h e p r e s s , r,-,on his arr ival i n
t h e Uni ted S t a t e s t h e fo l lo iv ing J u l y :
88
I dic? not have t o take any c1iscii;linary a c t i o n a g a i n s t e i t h e r an o f f i c e r or s o l d i e r o f the reniment i n connection :.rith the m a t t e r , s o you m a y Judge t h a t the r e p o r t s t h a t have agpeared have been ve ry , very g r e a t l y exaggerated. Every s o l d i e r connected with the i n c i d e n t perforiried h i s du ty as a s o l d i e r . And as fa.r as I g concerned, I th ink the ma t t e r should be c losed .
The Americans :./ere not- t he only Allieci t roops accused of
mutinous behavior , I n February R b a t t a l i o n o f Yorltshire3
re fused t o r e l i e v e an A%?rican unit on t h e Onega F r o n t , Gen-
eral I r o n s i d e personally in te rvened a n d conduc-Led the court-
nartial of the trio S r i t i s h se rgean t s who led the mu.ting. Iron-
s i d e sentenced then t o be sho t b u t t h e i r sentences !!ere con-
muted t o l i f e inprisonment because of s e c r e t i n s t r u c t i o n s f r o n
the King, forb idding the dea th penalty, The 23.s'~ French Col-
onial. E a t t a l i o n r e fused on zevera l occas ions t o r e t u r n to t h e
front, basing t h e i r a c t i o n s on t h e l ack o f a formal dec lara-
t i o n of war a g a i n s t t he Sov ie t s . Even t h e Poles refused t o
f i g l i t when the S r i t i s h j a i l e d t h e i r p r i e s t . 59
I n l a t e Apr i l t he 3rd IIorth R u s s i m R i f l e Regii:lent r e l i e v e d
the Americans a t Tou lgas . Before t h e Americans a r r i v e d j a c k
i n Archangel, on 25 A p r i l , t he iiussians had murdered t h e i r
o f f i c e r s , and defec t ed t o t he Eeds, I r o n s i d e p u t t oge the r a
f o r c e of 3ri t ish i n f a n t r y and C a n a d i a a r t i l l e r y and re.toolc
Toulgas i n 1.iay. For a l l p r a c t i c a l purposes the coa l i - t i on
e f f o r t 7;ia.s f i n i s h e d and the '?Tar i n !:or-th Russia hat! hecorne a
R r i t i s h a f fa i r . ..The f irst .Americans departed i n :lay alon:: w i t h t!ie Yyench.
89
A second ~ i - o u pof yanks enbar!ied on 3 June fo l lowed by the
Canadians on 11 June anc! the remainin.2 American combat troo2,s
on 16 and 27 J u n e . Senei-a1 Richardson and h i s h e a d q u a r t e r s
l e f t on 2 3 August . The & i e r i c a n s had s u f f e r e d 109 k i l l e d i n
a c t i o n ; 35 died as a r e s u l t of :.iounds suffereci in e c t i o n ; 10C
d i e d as a r e s u l t of a c c i d e n t s or d i s e a s e ; and 305 were :,iounde6. SO
The 3ritisii x e r e t o have one more o p p o r t u n i t y t o offencl
t h e i r American A l l i e s . ';:hen t h e c!oug:?boys a r r i v e d i n F r m c e
and a t t empted t o cash i n t h e i r E n g l i s h pounds s t e r l i n g t h e y
found that t h e r a t e of exchange a t i.!hich they had been p a i d
was on ly a p p l i c a b l e i n S o r t h Russia.. Consequen t ly , t he t r o o p s
of the P!orth Russian E x p e d i t i o n a r y Force receivcc: feyver dol-
lars t h a n t h e i i - f e l l o w s o l d i e r s :,:ho had f o u g h t i n France a d
had been pa id i n fmericm o r French c u r r e n c y . 61
90
NOTES
1. Cudahy, Op. C i t . , PI. 41.
2 . I4oore, Head, Jahns, Op. C i t . , Pg . 157 .
3. CI:dahy, Op. C i t . , Pg. 159, 47 ,
4. G o l d h u r s t , Op. C i t . , Pg. 102 .
5. Moore, I.Iead, J a h n s , Op. C i t . , Pg. 2 1 .
6 . I b i d . , Pg. 21.
7 . Cudahy, O p . C i t . , Pg. 89.
8. H a l l i d a y , Op. C i t . , Pg. 53.
9. Moore, :,lead, J a h n s , Op. C i t . ,P<T. 24.
10. Cudahy, Op. C i t . , Pg . 90.
11. Stewart, Op. C i t . , Vologda R a i l e a y O p e r a t i o n .
1 2 . Noore, Mead, J a h n s , Op. C i t . , Pg . 2G.
13. I b i d . , Pg. 2G.
14. I b i d . , Pg. 2 8 .
15 . Stewart, Op, C i t . , B o l s h i e o z e r k i e .
16. I b i d .
17 . Noore, Nead, Jahns, Op. C i t . , Pg. 190.
18. I b i d . Pg. 192.
19 . S t e w a r t , Op, C i t ., B o l s h i e o z e r k i e .
20. G o l d h u r s t , Op . c i t . , ? g . 107.
- _21. hoore, iIead, J a h n s , O p . C i t . , Pg. 33-34.
22. I r o n s i d e , Op. C i t . , Pg. 34-35.
2 3 . Burness, Op. C i t . , P g . 34.
24. Cudahy, Op. C i t . , Pg. 175.
25. S t e w a r t , Op. C i t . , C a b l e s .
26. Francis , O p . C i t . , Pg. 274.
91
XOTES
27. Cudahy, Op. C i t . , D g . 141.
28. ?:Ioore, !.!cad, Jahns , OF. C i t . , Pg. 105.
29. I b i d . , Pg. 105-105.
30. Cudahy, Op. C i t . , ? g . 145-145.
31. I b i d . , Pg. 155.
32. i.loore, !:!cad, J a h n s , Op. C i t . , Pg. 103-109.
33. Cudahy, Op. C i t . , Pg. 150.
34* Moore, Mead, Jahns , On. C i t . , Pg. 1 0 9 .
35. Ibicl . , Pg. 114.
36. Cudahy, Op, C i t . , Pg. 76.
37. I b i d . , Pg. 7 6 ,
38. Stecrar t , 02. C i t ,, .Repor t of Kutiny of Anglo-Slavic Legion.
39, Xoore, ;.lead, Jahns , Op. C i t . , Pg. 179.
40. I b i d . , Pg. 45.
41. I b i d . , Pg. 45.
42, Goldhurst , op. C i t . , Pg. 168.
43. I b i d . Pg. 169.
44. Stewar t , Op. C i t . , Shenkursk.
45. Ibic!, , Shenlcurslc.
46. i ioore , !.Iead, Jahns , Op. C i t , , Pz. 136.
47. Goldl iurs t , op. C i t . , Pg. 174.
48. :.Ioore, I.;eacl, Jalins, O p . C i t . , Pg. 139.
40,. I h i d . , T g . 142.
50. I b i d . , Pg. 143.
51. Cu?ahy, 012. C i t . , PZ. 186.
52. ; .oore ,.. i.iea:!, Jahns , Op. C i t . , ? g . 3.49.
9%
PiOTZS
53. G o l d h u r s t , 02. Cit. ?z. 1 Z O .
54. Franc5s , Oi;. Cit., I g . 310.
55. The !!ew Yorlc Times, Februa ry 1 9 , 1919,
56. Xoore, :Iea.d, Ja l ins , O p . Cit., Pg. 2 2 5 .
57. Ibid,, p, 227.
58. I'sid., PJ. 225-22F.
59 a G o l d h u r s t , Op. Cit., P y . 196. ..
6 0 . l.!arch, 03. Cit., Pg. 150.
61. G o l d h u r s t , Op. Cit., P.2. 211.
9 3
Even be fo re the depar ture o f t he Ai:?ericans, French, aid
C a n a d i a z s , t he 3 r i t i s h 7;;ere cons ider ing the evacuat ion of i :or th
Russia. On 4 A p r i l General I r o n s i d e receivecl a ca5le f r o n t h e
Va.r Of f i ce s t a t i n g :
A l t h o ~ i g hyou a r e c u t o f f from your country bythe i c e , you are n o t fo~got%en. ' .:hatever nay be the p lan o f a c t i o n tovrerds 3 u s s i a deci::ec? on by The League o f i.!ations, we i n t e n d t o re-l i e v e you a t t h e e a r l i e s t p o s s i b l e moment, and e i t h e r b r i n g the 1whole f o r c e a!.ray or re!Jlace you by fresh men. You xi11 be baci; home in time t o s e e t h i s y e a r ' s ha rves t ga thered i n , if you con in -ue t o d i s p l a y t h a t undaunter?. S r i t i s h s p i r i t . . . . E' Two s g e c i a l cont ingents of a.bout 5 ,000 men each were
being prepared i n England t o r e i n f o r c e t h e 3 r i t i s h troor;s onee
the o t h e r R l l i e n depEr ted . Each o f t hese br igade s i z e u n i t s
was composed of two b a t t a l i o n s o f ' i n f a n t r y , one mac:iine gun
b a t t a l i o n , one b a t t e r y of f i e l d a r t i l l e r y , two light t r e n c h
n o r t a r b a t t e r i e s , one f i e l d engineer congany, one s i g n a l COG--p a y , and one horse t r a n s u o r t conpcny. L
T h e u n i t s :.rere t o 5e-
D a r t f o r Archangel on 1 and 15 Kay. A General S t z T f re301-t to
General Henry Yi l son , Chief of t h e Imper ia l General S t z f f ,
stated :
D i f f i c u l t y has been experienced i n obta in ing 6o:i:e of the personnel , e s p e c i a l l y i n f a n t r y , ! ? o y ~ 2A m y Serv ice Corps and Royal Army Xeciical Corps. It is hoped 'notiever, t h a t t h e ? u b l i c qige2.1 f o r v o l -Lmteers nade on the 9 t h of April ? r i l l producethe nuizbers r equ i r ed f o r both con t ingen t s . 3
Only e i g h t C.ays befo re the pub l i c c a l l f o r vo lun tee r s t o j o i n
a PTorth "Lissim r e l i e f force, the 3 r i t i s h Tres s re;mrtei t h e
9 4
allegeci m t i n y o f American t r o o r s E t iirchang;el. The reriuest
f o r vo lun tee r s b r o u g h t i n ve t e rans o f L,,'.-e 'Vestern Front, r z :
r e c r u i t s , and former CanadiLq mci m.A u s t r a l i a n s o l d i e r s . Lnese
t r o o p s were organized and t r anspor t ed t o Archaqgel V;here tney
quick ly deployed on t h e Dvina a i d Railway Fronts .
O n 7 July I rons ic le ' s las t hope f o r an e f r e c t i v e Russian
f i g h t i n g . f o r c e Taied away when a b a t t a l i o n o f former aols!levik
p r i s o n e r s and d e s e r t e r s turned on t h e i r Z r i t i s h o f f i c e r s 2nd
k i l l e d them. I r o n s i d e ,wrote l a t e r , "The mutiny.. .had caused me
a g r e a t e r shock than I l i k e d t o admi t , even i n my inne rnos t
thoughts . I no';; f e l t a d i s t i n c t urge t o e:ctricate myself and my
t roops as quickly as I could. ,,4
On 15 Ju ly t h e E r i t i s h Genoral S t a f f Qroposeu. a t ime tab le
f o r t he evacuat ion o f t he e n t i r e Archangel Force, One. br igade
would d e p a r t 21 September, another on 2 1 October, and a l l Z r i -
t i s h shipping !/auld be c l e a r of t he :;'bite Sea by 1 2Jovember.
General-Lronside f e l t t h a t t he conduct of t he evacuat ion could
be f a c i l i t a t e d b y B r i t i s h announcernent o f h e r p o s t eva.cuation
p o l i c y . If t h e B r i t i s h planned t o cont inue support o f t he 10-
c a l government then large amounts of food and .mater ie1 would
be needed. T h i s show of continued suppor t would r eas su re t h e
l o c a l Russians and reduce the chance o f i n t e r f e r e n c e by the
Sov ie t s or pro-Allied Russian f o r c e s . If the government in-
tended t o d i scon t inue suppor t t o North Russia than large num-
b e r s of ant i -Bolsheviks would r e q u i r e evacuat ion a long :.:it;?
t h e B r i t i s h t roops . I n t h i s case i t was not l i k e l y t h a t t he
B r i t i s h rvould be allowed t o vfithdra;.f unmolested. 5
95
On G August I r o n s i d e subni t tec ' . h i s p l a n o f e v a c u e t i o n
t o t h e IVar O f f i c e , I t c a l l e d f o r t h e embarka t ion o f 26,500
s o l d i e r s and c i v i l i a n s i n f i ve s e p a r a t e movements between 20
August ancl 2 1 Septen!;er. 6 On 10 August , t o g a i n t ime for t h e
e v a c u a t i o n , I r o n s i d e nounted h i s las t o f f e n s i v e w i t h t he nerrly
arrived rel ief f o r c e . ::!ith a r t i l l e r y s u p p o r t and a n observa-
t i o n b a l l o o n t o assist i n t h e c o n t r o l o f t h e b a t t l e , an a l l
E r i t i s h b r i g a d e a t t a c k e d an enemy f o r c e on t h e Dvina, n e a r
S e l t s o . The s u r p r i s e a s s a u l t , t h e f i rs t t o use mustard gas
i n ?Ior th Russ ia , r e s u l t e d i n two thousand enemy p r i s o n e r s ,
e i g h t e e n f i e l d guns c a p t u r e d , and l a r g e amounts o f mimunition
and s u p p l i e s d e s t r o y e d . The a t t a c k was s o s u c c e s s f u l t h a t i t . became obvious t o Genera l I r o n s i d e t h a t t a e S o v i e t s c o u l d no-t
h i n d e r the Uritish : r i thdra!~i l .
On 2 0 September E r i t i s h t r o o 9 s began b o a r d i n 2 t h e trans-
p o r t s f o r hone. The following day I r o n s i d e s u p e r v i s e d the
d e s t r u c t i o n of B r i t i s h m i l i t a r y equipment . The A l l i e d Rus-
sian commander begged t h e B r i t i s h cornnander t o allor.? h i m to
keep t h e m a t e r i e l bu t I r o n s i d e was s u r e i f he d i d n o t d e s t r o y
t h e equipment i t avould f a l l i n t o t h e hands o f the S o v i e t s .
On 27 September Genera l I r o n s i d e and t h e l as t t r a n s p o r t cle-
par ted Archangel . 3 r i t i s h c a s u a l t i e s for the e n t i r e opera-
t i o n nurnberecl 1 9 F o f f i c e r s and 677 e n l i s t e d men k i l l e d o r
rrounded. 3
The Xor th Russ i an i n t e r v e n t i o n i s a c l a s s i c exani-,le of
$6
v h a t happens :;;hen p o l i t i c a m and aenerals c1i;ell on t h e cer-
t a i n t y o f v i c t o r y ra.i;her thnn t h e p o s s i S i l i t y o f de fe2 . t .
? r e s i d e n t ':ilson v i s u a l i z e d American t r o o p s g m r d i n g the s u g p i y
d e p o t s a t Archangel and l i v i n g off t h e Russ ian c o u n t r y s i d e .
C h u r c h i l l t hough t t h e Czechs would na!:e quic!: ivorl: o f t h e Dol-
slheviks and e f f e c t a r a p i d l i n k un wi th .tile A l l i e d f o r c e s .
Genera l Poo le e n v i s i o n e d d i s c i p l i n e d A l l i e d t r o o p s rzarchizz
on Xoscolw snc: d i s p e r s i n g t h e Red r a b b l e .
Gene:-a1 I r o n s i d e haci a. h c t t e r g r a s p o f t h e m i l i t a r y s i t -
u a t i o n i n :!orth R u s s i a than any o t h e r c h a r a c t e r i n t he i n t e r v e n -
t i o n . H i s d e s c r i p t i o n of R u s s i a ' s v a s t n e s s r:i$t remind some
h e r i c a n s o f t h e i r most r e c e n t e x p e r i e n c e Iwith m i l i t a r y opera-
t i o n s i n remote and h o s t i l e l a n d s :
To m e i t as l i k e a g r e a t s t i c k y pudding , a hand cou ld be t h r u s t e a s i l y i n t o i t . Every- where i t zzve way so long as t h e t h r u s t con-t i n u e d . Immediately t he t h r u s t c e a s e d t h e mass began t o c l o s e s t e a d i l y on t h e hand, ?wrist, and a .m. There t h e n came a t e r r i b l e f e a r t h a t t h e hand cou ld n e v e r be 'vi i thdravm.
Segard ing t h e f l a v r s i n t h e A l l i e d c o a l i t i o n e f f o r t s ,
many cou ld h e e x p l a i n e d by t h e f a i l u r e o f t h e p l a y e r s t o aci-
h e r e t o The P r i n c i p l e s o f The A l l i e s cbmmitted inade-
-:Field ;Ianual ( R I ) 100-1, t h e Army, s t a t e s : "The P r i n c i g l e s o f \Jar are f u n d m e n t a l c o n c e p t s , t h e r e s u l t o f c e n t u r i e s of t r a d i t i o n and e x p e r i e n c e . These p r i n c i p l e s a r e i n t e r - r c l a t e d and , depending on t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s , nay t e n d t o r e i n f o r c e one a n o t h e r , or t o be i n c o n f l i c t . Consequen t ly , t h e emphasis on any p a r t i c u l a r p r i n c i p l e or group o f p r i n c i p l e s r : i l1 v a r y w i t h t h e s i t u a t i o n . " The P r i n c i p l e s i n c l u d e : O b j e c t i v e , Offer i s ive , I.iass, Economy o f F o r c c , I:aneuver, Un i ty o f Comand, S e c u r i t y , S u r p r i s e , and S i m p l i c i t y .
9 7
q u a t e f o r c e s , u n d e r e s t i m a t e d the enemy, f s i l e d t o d e f i n e
t h e m i l i t a r y commitment, d i d n o t g e n e r a t e p o p u l a r Russ ian
s u p p o r t , and had no s i n z l e d e f i n i t e o b j e c t i v e .
Every m i l i t a r y o p e r a t i o n must have a c l e a r l y d e f i n e d ,
d e c i s i v e , and a t t a i n a b l e o b j e c t i v e . The A l l i e d i n t e r v e n t i o n
i n Piorth R u s s i a had none. The concep t o f t h e o b j e c t i v e must
go beyond p l a c e names l i k e Shenkurs!c a n d Tou lgas . There is
also t h e need f o r a moral o b j e c t i v e . I n R u s s i a , t h e A l l i e d
s o l d i e r n e v e r f u l l y unde r s tood '::hy he vras f i g h t i n g . Unlike
t h e B r i t i s h at ?,Ions, t h e French a t Verdun, t h e Americans at
Chateau-Thier ry , or f o r that m a t t e r , t h e S o v i e t s i n Xorth
R u s s i a ; t h e i n d i v i d u a l t r o o p e r d i d n o t have a moral purpose
i n h i s a c t i o n s o t h e r t h a n p e r s o n a l s u r v i v a l . The p o l i t i c i a n s
and g e n e r a l s , i n t he i r warn and c o m f o r t a b l e war rooms, f a i l e d
t o s e l e c t and c o o r d i n a t e s t r a t e g i c o r e t h i c a l o b j e c t i v e s f o r
t h e m i l i t a r y f o r c e s o f t h e i r n a t i o n s .
Because o f t h e s i z e o f PJorth R u s s i a , t h e n a t u r e o f t h e
t e r r a i n and enemy, the inadequacy o f h i s own f o r c e s , and t h e
lack o f clear p o l i t i c a l o b j e c t i v e s , Gene ra l Toole ar,d l a t e r
Gene ra l I r o n s i d e were unab le t o p l a n , i n i t i a t e , and t o s u s t a i n
o f f e n s i v e a c t i o n . I n t h e i r a t t e m p t s t o assume t h e o f f e n s i v e ,
t h e y v i o l a t e d o t h e r p r i n c i p l e s . I n f e c t e d w i t h over-opt imism,
Poo le f a i l e d t o c o n c e n t r a t e h i s f o r c e s at t h e c r i t i c a l times
and p l a c e s f o r c o n c l u s i v e r e s u l t s . I n s t e a d , he chose t o d i s -
p e r s e h i s u n i t s on s e v e r a l f r o n t s a n d a t t e m p t e d an advance on
the enemy from d i f f e r e n t d i r e c t i o n s a t t h e same t ime . T h i s
98
s t r a t e g y iiiight have Seen success fu l on a b a t t l e f i e l d Tvrhere
maneuver and m o b i l i t y 'viere poss ib l e . In the ~vioods of Xort:?
Russia , where dece?t ion mcl s u r p r i s e ve re d i f f i c u l t t o ac!iieve,
t he p r i n c i p l e o f mass 'was paramount.
Except at the p la toon or company l e v e l , t h e A l l i e s i ,T-
nored t h e concept of concent ra t ing f o r c e s t o achieve combat
s u p e r i o r i t y at t h e d e c i s i v e p o i n t . iUliec: u n i t s spread ou t
t o the e a s t , sou th , and west of Arc!iany:el, r a r e l y coordinated
t h e i r o p e r a t i o n s , a n d becane vulnerable t o encirclement !jy
t he enemy. T h i s cons t an t t h r e a t fro::\a l l s i d e s had a psycho-
l o g i c a l as wel l as m a t e r i a l impack on t h e e f f e c t i v e n e s s of t h e
A l l i e d s o l d i e r and his commanders.
Econorny of f o r c e was a p r i n c i p l e used repeatedly and
s u c c e s s f u l l y by S o v i e t s but overlooked by the A l l i e s . i lany
Al l iecYoff icers could no t understand V i h y t h e enemy, r y i t h super-
ior nunbers and a r t i l l e r y , d i d n o t d r i v e t h e Allies into t h e . .
!:rhite Sea. The Sov ie t s were masters i n the'economny of f o r c e . .
mission. Based on t h e i r m i l i t a r y and^ p o l i t i c a l exper ience ,
t he Bolsheviks d e a l t vrith t he most s e r i o u s t h r e a t f i rs t . A t .. . . .
t h e t i n e of t h e FIorth Russian i n t e r v e n t i o n , t he soviets irere ...
faced w i t h a g r e a t e r menace from t h e ':Jiii,te Russian f o r c e s i n
t h e south and ea.st than frocl the A l l i e s i n Archasgel Trovince.
Some m i g h t argue t h a t of al.1 t h e p r i n c i p l e s , u n i t y of
command was served b e s t . T r u e , t he A l l i e s d i d i n v e s t t he
S r i t i s h commanders : . r i t i i a u t h o r i t y over all of the m i l i t a r y
f o r c e s . '?hat t h e 3-1~lishZcnerals failecl t o do :;as coordinztie
'79
the a c t i o n o f all t h o s e f o r c e s to? ia rds a common o b j e c t i v e .
The r e l a t i o n s h i p s between t h e A l l i e s d i d n o t l e n d themselves
t o a u n i f i e d command. The i n a b i l i t y o f one command t o d i r e c t
and c o n t r o l a m u l t i - n a t i o n a l f o r c e i n a c o a l i t i o n e f f o r t was
a d i r e c t r e s u l t o f t h e d i v e r s e n a t i o n a l o b j e c t i v e s . One
American o f f i c e r n o t e d :
There a r e r a c i a l d i f f e r e n c e s , r a c i a l p r e j u d i c e s r a c i a l d i s p a r i t i e s , and r a c i a l a s p e r i t i e s t h a t canno t be g a i n s a i d even under t h e i n f l u e n c e o f m i l i t a r y d i s c i p l i n e , and e x p e r i e n c e has shown t h a t s o l d i e r s y i e l d a more r eady obedience t o l e a d e r s who s p e a k t h e i r own l anguage ; ung% rsta n d t h e ph i losophy o f t h e i r d a i l y l i v e s , . . , .
The same o f f i c e r commented on t h e B r i t i s h f a i l u r e t o g a i n t h e
r e s p e c t and a l l e g i a n c e o f t h e i r A l l i e s by s t a t i n g t h a t t h e i r ,
.. .“muddling, b l u n d e r i n g , and f u d d l i n g , t h e l a c k o f under-
s t a n d i n g , t h e b r u t a l a r rogance and c o l d c o n c e i t , and a p p a r e n t
hear t lessness and want o f sympathy t h a t are f o r e v e r B r i t i s h , I’
a l i e n a t e d t h e othe.r , m i l i t a r y f o r c e s .
I f t h e r e was one p r i n c i p l e ‘chat t h e A l l i e s d i d f o l l o w
i t was s i m p l i c i t y , L a c k o f i n t e l l i g e n c e , inadequacy o f f o r c e s ,
and r e s t r i c t i o n o f movement, f o r c e d t h e A l l i e s t o d e v i s e s i m -. .
p l e p 1 a n s . a n d methods o f o p e r a t i o n . Added t o t h e s e r e s t r i c t i o n s
were long l i n e s o f communications, poor t r a n s p o r t , l a c k o f f i r e
s u p p o r t , and u n b e l i e v a b l y h a r s h weather c o n d i t i o n s . Seldom
were o p e r a t i o n s orders misunders tood . I t was more f r e q u e n t
that i c ;o l a t ed commanders e i t h e r f a d l e d t o c a r r y o u t o r d e r s
from h i g h e r h e a d q u a r t e r s or modif ied them f o r t h e i r own pur-
p o s e s ,
1oc
O f a11 t h e s e irflperfections i n t h e A l l i e d c o a l i t i o n e f f o r - t ,
t he worst <was t he f a i l u r e t o synchronize t h e i r n a t i o n a l i n t e r -
e s t s i n the North Russian i n t e r v e n t i o n . Woodrow Vilson wanted
t o s ee a democratic Russia. France wanted he r war loans r epa id .
The B r i t i s h des i r ed t r a d e concessions and p r o t e c t i o n f o r he r
empire. These d ive rgen t p o l i t i c a l motives i n e v i t a b l y inf luenced
the Al l i ed commanders i n the f i e l d and r e s u l t e d i n d i f f e r i n 2 and
sometimes c o n f l i c t i n g m i l i t a r y approaches t o the problems faced
i n 'North Russia .
The long range impact of the f a i l u r e of a c o a l i t i o n war-
fare i n North Russia i s d i f f i c u l t t o judge. Unquestionably,
t he expedi t ion experiences con t r ibu ted t o some American d i s -
t r u s t and d i s l i k e o f t he B r i t i s h .that continued i n t o the f irst
yea r s o f t h e Seco'nd World War. The B r i t i s h contempt f o r Amer -
---Lean m i1it a r y a ' ~ i was^ ~ e i . ~ n - t ~ ~ r l y ~ o ~ f f s e ; t b y'lit y the--fcdcfiia b1e
capac i ty o f t he United S t a t e s t o produc'e'weapons and essen-
t i a l war supp l i e s . The c o a l i t i o n e f f o r t mounted during the .~ .
Second kJorld \Jar is noth ing s h o r t of a.miracle . bonsider ing it
included t h e same cast of c h a r a c t e r s as the Morth''Russian in-
t e r v e n t i o n , a s c a n t twenty-three yea r s Later. ' . '.The' c r u c i a l
f a c t o r con t r ibu t ing t o the turnabout was the u n i t y of objec-
t i v e shared by the A l l i e s i n t h e i r b a t t l e a g a i n s t Germany. It
was t h i s very element t h a t was missing i n t h e p o l i t i c a l and
m i l i t a r y f a b r i c of t h e North Russian Expedi t ionary Force.
George F. ICennan sugges ts t h a t t he Cold "Jar began wi th the
A l l i e d i n t e r v e n t i o n i n North Russia. He maintains tha t t h i s
101
i n c i d e n t was t he cause t h a t turned the Coirmunist l e a d e r s awzy
from the 'Yest and forced the witiidravral of one-sixth of t he
w o r l d ' s popula t ion from the i n t e r n a t i o n a l p o l i t i c a l and econ-
omic scene . l2 Others have claimed t h a t A l l i e d a c t i o n s had
l i t t l e impact on f u t u r e 5olshevik p o l i c i e s . ':'hichever theory
one wishes t o a c c e p t , t h e f a c t s of t he i n t e r v e n t i o n remain
unchanged. The A l l i e d c o a l i t i o n e f f o r t s f a i l e d . They f a i l e d
because n a t i o n s wi th clifferi.ng and d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e i n t e r e s t s
d i d no t r e so lve t h e s e d i f f e r e n c e s before engaging i n j o i n t
m i l i t a r y ope ra t ions . The A l l i e s committed m i l i t a r y u n i t s t o
b a t t l e , without a common o b j e c t i v e and without a r e s o l u t i o n
of n a t i o n a l d i f f e r e n c e s . These b a s i c flairs i n the c o a l i t i o n
e f f o r t contribu%ecl t o t h e f a i l u r e of t he A l l i e d Expedi t ion t o
North Russia ,
102
NOTES
1. Great B r i t i a n , A r m y , O p . C i t . , At tached Paper F.
2. I b i d . , At tached Pape r G .
3 . I b i d .
4. I r o n s i d e , Op. C i t . , Tg. 160.
5. Great B r i t i a n , Army, Op. C i t . , A t t ached P a p e r R.
6 . I b i d . , At tached Pape r U.
7. Burness , Op. C i t . , Pg. 34.
8 . George E . S t e w a r t , The White Armies o f Russia: A Chron ic l e
of Coun te r r evo lu t ion and A l l i e d I n t e r v e n t i o n , I:ew Yoric,
1933, Pg. 204.
9 . I r o n s i d e , Op. C i t . , Pg. 130.
10. cudahy, Op. C i t . , Pg. 74-75.
11. I b i d . , Pg. 74.
1 2 . Kennan, Op. C i t . , Pg. 470-472;- ~
103
BLBLIOGRAPHY
Canada, Unit H i s t o r y , IJorth R u s s i a n Exped i t iona ry Force , 1 6 t h Br igade , Canad2an F i e l d A r t i l l e r y , Toronto , No d a t e .
G r e a t B r i t i a n , Army, The Evacuat ion of North Russia , 1919, His N a j e s t y l s S t a t i o n a r y O f f i c e , London, 1920.
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