Cossack Timeline
A Concise History of the First World War
and the Russian Civil War with Emphasis on the Involvement of Cossacks
Prepared by William Anikouchine Ph.D.
Copyright © 1999 by William Alexander Anikouchine Ph.D.
This is an abbreviated historical time line has been extracted from Luckett's "The White Generals", Alexis Wrangel's "General Wrangel", Pipes' "A Concise History of the Russian Revolution", "One Cossack's Life and Fate" by Gabriel Solodukhine and other sources.
1914
18 July - The Russian Imperial army stood at 1,423,000 men as Russia mobilized for WWI. The forces consisted of 117 regiments of about 1200 men each. These were: 1) 12 guards, 2) 21 dragoons, 3) 17 lancers, 4) 18 hussars, 5) 3 native cavalry from the Caucasus and Turkestan, 5 border guards and 5) 41 Cossack regiments.
End of 1914 - Russia has 6,553,000 men under arms. The front was 700 miles long or more if the Romanian front is included. People were sent to the front without rifles, ammunition, officers or NCO's. However the mobilized Cossacks had been ready for war since the 16th century because of perennial conflicts with Ottomans, Turks, Caucasus Mountain tribes and the like. The Cossacks consisted of 104 regiments and 161 separate sotnyas (groups of 100). They were deployed on the western front facing the Germans and Austro-Humgarians and on the southern front facing the Turks.
1915
Summer - Russian army in full retreat.
August - Tsar Nicolai II took command of the military, removed Grand Duke Nicolai Nicolaievich as the Commander in Chief and made him the Commander in Chief of the Caucasus front. General N.N. Yudenich was actually the effective commander there. The Tsar replaced the Commander in Chief by General M.V. Alekseev who was made Chief of staff.
1916
Summer - Successful offensive by Russians. General A.A. Brusilov given the credit.
November - General Alekseev collapses at HQ in Mogilev. He goes to Sevastopol to recuperate.
30 December - 31 December - Rasputin killed in St. Petersburg.
1917
Late February - General Alekseev returns to Mogilev HQ.
8 March - The Tsar is at Mogilev when rioting starts in St. Petersburg.
12 March - The tsarist regime collapses.
14 March - Formation of the St. Petersburg Soviet by the bolsheviks. They issue Order #1 advocating mutiny and murder of officials and military officers. Mutinies occur at Helsinki and Kronstadt.
15 March - Tsar abdicates in favor of his brother Grand Duke Michael.
17 March - Grand Duke Michael declines to accept the post if it is not offered by a constituent assembly which has to be formed as well.
12 March to 17 March - The Duma forms a provisional government with Prince G.E. Lvov as Prime Minister, A.I. Gutchkov as Minister of War and A.F. Kerensky as Minister of Justice.
Late March - Prince Lvov resigns, A.I. Gutchkov takes over with Kerensky as Deputy.
12 May - Gutchkov resigns leaving Kerensky as Minister of War of the provisional government.
4 June - Kerensky replaces General Alekseev (General A.I. Denikin was his chief of staff) with General A.A. Brusilov who then sacked the Cosssack Ataman General A.M. Kaledin and General N.N. Yudenich.
Late June - Kerensky's offensive.
29 June - Attack to north with 31 divisions and 1000 guns against the threat to Riga and St. Petersburg.
3 July - Front becomes static.
6 July - Attack to the south against the Austro-Hungarian line in Carinthia with three armies and General Gutor in overall command. The armies were the 7th 11th and the 8th with General L.G. Kornilov commanding. When Germans reinforced the Austrian troops and attacked the 11th army, it retreated leaving the flanks of the other two armies exposed. They too retreated.
16 July - Bolshevik uprising in St. Petersburg. Put down by 20 July.
24 July - Kerensky replaces General Gutor with General Kornilov as Commander in Chief of the southern front. Kornilov demands reinstatement of the death penalty and summary courts martial.
1 August - Kerensky replaces Brusilov with Kornilov as supreme Commander in Chief.
19 August - Kornilov puts 3rd cavalry corps between Riga, St. Petersburg and Mogilev.
26 August - Kornilov goes to Moscow for a State Conference. He stayed on his military train, but with the pomp of a Tsar.
27 August - Kornilov addresses the conference telling of desertions, murder of senior officers and of the German threat to Riga and St Petersburg. General Kaledin demands that the Soldier's Soviets be abolished.
3 September - Riga falls to the Germans. Some said that Kornilov let it happen.
6 September - Kornilov tells Kerensky's man Savinkov of his plan to march on St. Petersburg and declare martial law to prevent another Bolshevik uprising. General Krymov was given command of the 3rd cavalry corps for this operation.
9 September - Kerensky replaces General Kornilov as Commander in Chief with General Lukomsky. General Kornilov sends General Krymov on march to St. Petersburg. General Denikin commanding the southwestern front declared loyalty to Kornilov.
100 September - Krymov halts at Luga within a day's march of St. Petersburg. He sets up his Headquarters there, but loses communication with Kornilov and is infiltrated by Bolshevik propagandists. He could not move by rail and was still too far away to mount an assault on St. Petersburg. General Alekseev convinced General Krymov to come to St. Petersburg.
12 Septermber - General Krymov went to St. Petersburg. Kerensky accused him of knowing that Kornilov was in revolt and that no threat of Bolshevik uprising existed. Krymov shoots himself. Kornilov hears of Krymov's failure and asks Kaledin's Cossacks to advance. Kaledin says no because his troops cannot be trusted. Generals Denikin and Markov were already arrested by Comissars.
14 September - General Alekseev goes to Kornilov at Mogilev. A message from Kerensky tells Alekseev to arrest the heads of the general staff. He does and resigns two weeks later. The prisoners were taken to the Hotel Metropol.
17 September - The provisional government releases Trotsky from Kresty prison. Kerensky was in Mogilev as Commander in Chief. He transferred Kornilov's regiment to the south west front, moved the imprisoned staff officers from Mogilev to a former monastery in Bykhov and made General N.N. Dukhonin at HQ in Mogilev Commander in Chief.
18 September-27 September - The Don Krug (circle of elders) discussed Kaledin's 27 Aug speech and refuse to turn him over to Kerensky as requested.
6 November - Lenin comes out of hiding. The Bolshevik revolution begins. Kerensky made General P.N. Krasnov (from the N front) in military control of St. Petersburg. Kerensky ordered the 1st, 4th and 14th Don regiments to march on St. Petersburg to defend the provisional government.
7 November - St. Petersburg in Bolshevik hands.
11 November - Yunkers staged a rising. Kerensky flees, joins Krasnov and marches on Tsarskoye Selo (now called Pushkin) with Cossacks. The Yunkers uprising is put down.
12 November - Krasnov halts his advance on St. Petersburg. His troop disintegrates. Kerensky flees.
15 November - Alekseev and his Aide de camp arrived in Novocherkask. All but the 5 full generals were released from Bykhov. Establishment of General Alekseev's Volunteer Army.
20 November - General Dukhonin was asked to seek an armistice with the Germans. He didn't, saying that he would not obey such an order. He was replaced by Krylenko.
2 December - Generals Romanovsky, Markov, Denikin, Lutomsky and Kornilov leave Bykhov.
3 December - General Dukhonin shot at Mogilev while addressing troops from train taking him back to St. Petersburg under arrest. Russian and German delegations meet and negotiate a truce.
9 December - Alekseev's newly formed Volunteer army paraded in Novocherkask. The generals from Bykhov arrive over the next few days.
10 December - Rostov taken by a revolutionary coup; Kaledin's troops refused to put down the uprising.
15 December - Crushing bolshevik insurrection in Rostov and the arrival there of General Kaledin. Alekseevs Volunteers put down uprising.
19 December - Arrival of General Kornilov at Novocherkassk.
31 December - Political, military and Cossack leaders convince Kornilov to align with Alekseev and Kaledin and so obtain supplies and financial support from the allies. Denikin wrote a declaration stating that Alekseev was to be in charge of finance, civil government and relations with the allies, Kornilov was to be the Commander in Chief and Kaledin was to administer the Don territories and head the Don Cossacks.
The following is a translation of the veteran's chronicle of events that constituted the Ice March of the White (Volunteer) Army at the onset of the anti-Bolshevik campaign following the Russian Revolution.
1918
7 January - Order appointing General Kornilov commander in chief.
9 January - Calling up of the entire Volunteer Army.
Mid January - Red Guards move into Don Basin. Confronted by a White officer's battalion under Colonel Kutepov who outnumbered, had to retreat. Kaledin's army of the Don was infiltrated by Red agents who urged mutiny. The army and Kaledin's government disintegrated. Kornilov and Alekseev decide they cannot defend Novocherkask or Rostov.
30 January - Passage of the Volunteer Army from Novocherkassk to Rostov.
11 February - Suicide of General Kaledin upon news that Kornilov will leave Rostov.
22 February - Departure of the Volunteer Army from Rostov on the First March.
23 February - Volunteer Army in Stanitzas (Cossack villages) Aksai and Olginskaya.
24 February - Reds occupy Rostov.
28 February - Battle before leaving Stanitza Homutovskaya.
1 March - Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed. Supreme Military Soviet formed.
6 March - Battle at Stanitza Lezhanka.
8 March - Entry of the Volunteer Army into the Kuban (Stanitza Ploskaya).
11 March - Crossing the railway at Stanitza Staro- Leushkovskaya.
12 March - Removal of Soviet government to Moscow.
13 March - Trotsky appointed President of the Military Soviet and Commissar of War.
13 March - Volunteer Army in Stanitza Iraklievsk.
13 March - Joining with the First Kuban Division under General Pokrovsky from Ekaterinodar.
14 March - Battle at Berezanskaya.
14 March - Aoul Takhtamuka. Aoul Shendzhi.
15 March - Battle near Visyelki (Zhuravskaya Khutor).
16 March - Second battle near Visyelki.
16 March - Arrival of Volunteer Army at Penzenskaya.
17 March - Battle near Korenovskaya (Kornivetskaya?).
18 March - The Volunteer Army turns southward.
19 March - Battle below Ust-Labinsk. The Volunteer Army crosses the Kuban River.
19 Mar - Movement to Aoul Dvoryansk and Aoul Takhtamukhabl. Crossing of the Kuban River at Dvoryansk. Battle.
20 March-22 March - Battle for possession of the Gatumka crossing. Movement toward Stanitza Kaluzhskaya.
20 March - Battle at Nekrasovskaya.
21 March - March with battles to Khutor Kisilevskaya.
22 March - Battle at Filippovskaya.
23 March-24 March - Battle at Kaluzhskaya. Arrival of horsemen from General Kornilov.
23 March - Battle at Ryazanskaya.
27 March - Joining of the Volunteer Army and General Pokrovsky's Kuban army.
28 March-30 March - Ice march, battle below Stanitza Novo-Dimitrievskaya at night. General Markov commanded.
1 April-13 April - Battle near Ekaterinodar. Volunteer army crossed Kuban River.
9 April - Reds attack and are repulsed
11 April - Death of Colonel Nezhentsov, commander of the Kornilov regiment. White partisans under General Kasanovich breach Red defenses but retreated from the new position.
13 April - Death of General Kornilov. Departure from Ekaterinodar.
14 April - Battle at Andreevskaya.
15 April - Battle in German colony of Gnachbay. Burial of General Kornilov.
16 April - Seizure of armored train by General Markov. Stanitza Dyadkovskaya.
18 April - Zhuravskaya Khutor. Cross railroad.
19 April - Stanitza Beysugskaya. Battle near Vladimirskaya Khutor.
23 April-24 April - Battle at Stanitza Ilinskaya (birthplace of Gabriel Solodukhine).
25 April-27 April - Battle at Stanitza Rashevatskaya.
30 April - Cross railroad between Stanitza Malorossiskaya and Stanitza Mirskaya. Battle at Stanitza Gorkobalkovskaya.
1 May - Stanitza Lezhanka.
2 May - Battle in Stanitza Lezhanka.
3 May - Battle in Stanitza Yegorlikskaya.
5 May - Stanitza Yegorlikskaya. General Romanovsky now Denikin's Chief-of-Staff.
6 May - Battle at Stanitza Yegorlikskaya and Gulyai- Borisovskaya.
8 May - Battles in Stanitzas Mechetenskaya, Nezamaevskaya and Ekaterinovskaya. General Drozdovsky takes Novocherkassk.
9 May - Battles in Stanitzas Mechetenskaya, Veseloskaya and Ekaterinovskaya. 10 May - Battles at Stanitzas Sosika (Sisoka?), Krilovskaya and N. (Nizhny ?) Mihaelovskaya.
11 May - Battles at Krilovskaya and N. Mihaelovskaya.
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Note: Many of the names of towns and stanitzas were changed by the soviets. Tsarskoye Selo is now Pushkin; Ekaterinodar is now Krasnodar; Kavkazskaya is now Kropotkin ... etc.
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Easter - Volunteer Army leaves the Kuban and goes to Don territory. Alekseev and Denikin attend to finance and politics. A white terror was perpetrated by men hurt by the Bolsheviks.
May-June - Morale is high. A large flow of recruits comes from the north. By mid June they numbered 9,000, half of whom were Kuban Cossacks.
23 June - The Volunteer army sets out for Ekaterinodar with 21 guns and 3 armored cars. 100,000 Reds under Peter Sorokin were in the Kuban south of Rostov. Denikin split the Volunteer Army into 4 units and headed southwest toward Torgovaya.
25 June - The railroad station captured. The northernmost unit under General Markov took Shablienskaya and then intercepted Reds fleeing Torgovaya. Markov killed by a random shell. General Krasnov (who was in favor of negotiating with the Germans) contained the Reds that occupied Tsaritsyn on the Volga River. The Reds southwest of Denikin were thus cut off. Denikin captures Belaya Glina and takes 5,000 prisoners.
15 July - Denikin captures Tikhoretskaya. His forces were then 20,000 men. He captured 3 armored trains, 50 field guns, rifles, ammunition and an airplane. Sorokin moved south to defend Ekaterinodar leaving Krasnov free to head toward Tsaritsyn (later called Stalingrad by the soviets).
21 July - Colonel A.G. Shkouro captures Stavropol. Reds counterattack. Denikin sends reinforcements to Shkouro. Sorokin attacks Denikin from the rear. A severe battle ensued but the Whites held.
7 August - Reds retreat to Ekaterinodar to defend it.
14 August - Denikin defeats the Red Taman army guarding Sorokins left flank.
15 August - Denikin encounters Reds in the outskirts of Ekaterinodar.
16 August - Denikin enters downtown Ekaterinodar and then pursues the remnants of the Red Taman Army (from the Taman Peninsula) to Novorossisk.
26 August - Denikin takes Novorossisk. The Red Taman army breaks for the Volga River.
10 September - Reds take Kazan on the west flank of the Ural Mountains. All Reds in the Kuban head eastward. The Whites pursue and are counterattacked in the eastern Kuban district. General Wrangel goes to Ekaterinodar from Kiev and the Crimea. He is given command of a division.
8 October - Death of General Alekseev. Cancer suspected.
26 October - Sorokin captures Stavropol. Sorokin killed by the Reds.
11 November - Armistice signed ending WWI. Allied ships appear in Black Sea off Novorossisk.
Early November - Denikin surrounds Stavropol.
14 November - Wrangel charges the city. The Reds break out to the east.
15 Novenber - Stavropol falls to the Whites. Denikin pursues the Reds.
20 November - Whites break the Taman Army. Mop-up operations conducted.
18 December - French land in Odessa. Krasnov's Don army fighting Reds on 2 fronts. Morale declines. 15,000 desert.
1919
3 January - Denikin sends Wrangel to the Terek River district to clean out the Reds there. The Red line is broken in a week. Kislovodsk taken after Reds commit atrocities there. Shkouro's cavalry harries the fleeing Reds.
8 January - Krasnov joins forces with Denikin.
20 January - The Reds were in full retreat. Remnants fled into Astrakhan.
end January - General Mai-Mayevsky advances into the Donetz basin. Denikin calls a council of war. Denikins plan to proceed into the Donetz and on to Moscow prevails. Wrangel opposed, wanting instead to head east and join Kolchak's forces before advancing on Moscow.
14 February - Krasnov resigns. General Afrikan Bogayevsky is selected as his successor. The Don army falls back from the north. Green anarchists appear behind the White's lines in the Kuban. Nestor Mahkno's peasant army originates in the Ukraine and southwest to the Sea of Azov. Reds attack the French in Kherson. The French fleet in Sevastopol mutinies.
Early April - Reds attack Manych River front and get within 15 miles of Rostov.
3 April - French to withdraw within 72 hours from Odessa.
16 AprIl - Whites leave Sevastopol under cover of French troops.
25 April - French let Reds into Stavropol as per agreement thus exposing Denikin's left flank.
End of April - Manych front is stagnant. Wrangel takes command of the white cavalry.
Early May - Deserters from Krasnov's army of the Don rose up against the Reds in the upper Don region. Denikin now fighting on three fronts: 1) the Donetz Basin, 2) the north Don region and 3) the Manych River front.
17 May - Wrangel fords the Manych and attacks Veliknyazheskaya. He takes 15,000 prisoners, 55 guns and 150 machine guns. Mai-Mayevsky defeats the 8th and 13th Red armies with the help of Cossack recruits. The Don army beats the Red 9th army.
12 June - Wrangel reaches Tsaritsyn. Denikin does not give him the requested artillery and infantry support.
13 June - Wrangel attacks but cannot overcome Red defenses. He falls back. He lost one quarter of his men and officers.
18 June - Whites in the Crimea begin an offensive. Mai-Mayevsky blocks the isthmuses connecting the Crimean peninsula with the mainland to prevent the Reds from escaping the Crimea. Nestor Makhno splits with the Reds. His base in Gulyay Pole was raided by General Shkouro in early June. Henceforth Makhno attacked both Reds and Whites. He kills envoys from the whites seeking alliance. He kills Grigorev, a former Red.
27 June - Kharkov falls to Kutepov, one of Mai-Mayevsky's generals.
28 Jun - Reinforcements for Wrangel arrive from Denikin.
29 June - Reds in the Crimea give up. Wrangel resumes attack on Tsaritsyn.
1 July - The Reds were beaten. Mop-up operations commence.
2 July - Wrangel enters Tsaritsyn. Denikin arrives.
Early August - Makhno issues his Order #1.
Mid-August - Reds counterattack and force Wrangel's advance to the north to stop and retreat to Tsaritsyn begins.
Late August - Mamontov raid northward to Tambov.
30 August - Denikin advances up the Dnieper River and captures Kiev having passed through Makhno's territory.
20 September - Mai-Mayevsky moves up the Moscow-Rostov railway and captures Kursk.
26 September - Makhno defeats General Schilling's forces, moves east and captures Alexandrovsk.
6 October - The Army of the Don now under Sidorin takes Voronezh. Mai-Mayevsky takes Chernigov.
13 October - Mai-Mayevsky takes Orel.
Mid October - Denikin threatens Moscow. Whites overextended. Yudenich attacks St. Petersburg.
20 October - Reds counterattack in sectors west of Orel, east of Voronezh and in between.
23 October - Whites fail to take St. Petersburg and fall back to Gatchina.
24 October - Mai-Mayevsky's forces leave Orel. Sidorin leaves Voronezh leaving Shkouro to cover their retreat. Shkouro is defeated. Whites fall back to Kursk. Reds under Budenny cut the Kursk-Kiev railway.
8 November - Lloyd George advises the British to quit supporting the Whites.
11 November - Reds defeat Mamontov's Don Cossacks at Kastornaya on the Kursk-Voronezh railway.
12 November - Wrangel sends Pokrovsky to arrest separatists in Ekaterinodar. His Cossacks put down street fighting there.
14 November - Kolchak leaves Omsk and flees to Irkutsk where he is captured and killed on 7 February 1920. Yudenich's Whites retreat to Narva.
17 November - Reds take Kursk.
19 November - Pokrovsky hangs the separatist Kalabukhov. Wrangel arrives.
9 December - Wrangel replaces Mai-Mayevsky, goes to the front and replaces Mamonov with Ulagai.
Mid December - 42,000 White troops sick.
16 December - Reds take Kiev. Schilling is driven back toward Odessa.
30 December - Reds reach Ekatineroslav.
1920
3 January - Tsaritsyn falls to the Reds.
5 January - Taganrog falls to the Reds, and then Novocherkassk.
8 January - Rostov falls to the Reds.
Mid January - Denikin attempts to hold the line at the Don and Manych Rivers.
7 February - Odessa falls and General Schilling abandons his post. His units and civilians flee on British ships. Wrangel resigns and goes to Constantinople.
16 Feburary - General Pavlov and 12,000 Don Cossacks defeat Dumenko's Red cavalry but cannot take Torgovaya.
25 February - Pavlov attacks Budenny and is defeated.
14 March - Denikin dismisses Romanovsky and sends him to the Crimea.
17 March - The Reds take Ekaterinodar. The Whites retreat to the Black Sea coast.
27 March - The Reds take Novorossisk. Denikin and 50,000 Whites leave on British ships bound for the Crimea.
4 April - Denikin appoints Wrangel as his successor. Wrangel and his chief of staff Chatilov arrive from Constantinople. Denikin and Romanovsky go to Constantinople on the British "Emperor of India". There Romanovsky is shot and Denikin goes to Malta bound for the U.K.
25 April - The Poles under Pilsudski attack the Reds in the Ukraine.
7 May - The Poles take Kiev.
6 June - Wrangel invades the Tauride (ancient name for the Crimea) Plain via Perkop and via ships to the Azov coast.
10 June - The Reds drive the Poles out of Kiev.
End of June - Wrangel controls the Tauride.
July - Reds under Tukashevsky attack Poland.
August - Ulagai leads an amphibious assault on the Azov coast of the Kuban and Nazarov advances into the Don region. Both operations fail.
14 August-17 August - Poles stop the Reds at the Vistula River.
Early September - Ulagai returns to the Crimea.
September - Wrangel uses Don Cossacks under Kutepov to force the Reds to retreat to the north.
9 October - Wrangel attacks across the Dnieper River at Uchkelka and at Alexandrovsk.
12 October - The Reds sign a peace treaty with the Poles.
13 October - The whites under Vitovsky attack Kahovka. Bobko, killed by a shell, was replaced by Naumenko who was then wounded by shrapnel.
21 October - Whites in full retreat.
28 October - Reds attack into Tauridia.
29 October - Wrangel orders Abramov to guard the pass to the Taganach bridge into the Crimea.
2 November - Most of the whites were over the bridge and in the Crimea.
7 November - The Reds attack Perkop.
11 November - Kutepov orders retreat. Evacuation of Sevastopol and the Crimea continues. Odessa under red control.
14 November - Evacuation complete at Sevastopol. 126 vessels were organized by General Wrangel to accomplish the evacuation. Other ships, American, French and British participated.
15 November - Pickup at Yalta. The USS 'St. Louis' picked up troops at Sevastapol and the USS 'Overton' picked up troops at Yalta. The British destroyer 'Seraph' picked up a platoon of Horse Guards at Sevastapol.
16 November - Pickup at Theodosia. 126 craft with 145,693 persons aboard head to Constantinople. First Kuban Division was diverted to Kertch and was not picked up at Theodosia as planned. Wrangel ordered General Abramov to embark the Kuban Cossacks that were at Kertch. He did so.
End of November - Makhno defeated, but escapes from Russia.
End of the year - The French help feed and house the refugee army and care for the sick. Wrangel reorganizes the army into: 1) First Army Corps under General Kutepov (camped on the Gallipoli peninsula), 2) Don Cossack Corps (including the Terek-Astrakhan Cossack division) under General Abramov (camped in Chataldzhi, Turkey) and 3) Kuban Cossack Corps under General Fostokov (camped on the Greek island of Lemnos). Civilians are camped in and around Constantinople and were helped by the American Red Cross. Wrangel sends emissaries and General Chatilov to expedite placing his charges in Greece, Rumania, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria.
December - The political climate in France changed from the right-wing which aided the Cossack refugees to a left-wing government that catered to the Bolsheviks in Russia. Their intent was to liquidate Wrangel's army as quickly as possible.
1921
13 February - As a result of French propaganda, Cossacks on Lemnos were persuaded to return to Russia with full amnesty guaranteed by the French. 550 persons left on the 'Rashid Pasha' for Novorossisk.
15 February - Wrangel reviews the troops at Gallipoli. Army organization and discipline had been accomplished.
27 February-28 February - The ships 'Don' and the 'Rashid Pasha' take 5,869 persons to Odessa for repatriation. 500 were shot on the spot upon arrival in Odessa; the rest were sent to slave labor camps.
30 April - 1,029 persons left Lemnos for Brazil on the ship 'Rion'.
23 May - 1,300 persons left Lemnos for Bulgaria on the ship 'Kerasund'.
29 May - The ship 'Rashid Pasha' took 2,807 persons to Serbia.
3 June - 2,000 persons left Lemnos for Serbia on the ship 'Kerasund'.
14 June - The ship 'Rashid Pasha' took 2,154 persons to Batum for repatriation.
25 June - 1,027 persons left Lemnos for Bulgaria aboard the ship 'Samara'. 725 persons returned to Lemnos on 8 July.
9 July - 903 persons left Lemnos for Bulgaria.
21 July - 9 more persons went to Batum aboard the ship 'Kerasund' for repatriation.
28 August - 1,187 persons left Lemnos for Bulgaria on the Ship '410'.
30 August - 1,212 persons left Lemnos for Bulgaria on the ship '412'.
12 September - 1,185 persons left Lemnos for Bulgaria on the ship '410'.
15 October - The Italian freighter 'Adria' sailing from Russia rammed and sank the 'Lucullus', Wrangel's quarters. Wrangel moves to the Russian embassy.
1922
10 July - Terek Cossack Alexander Dmitri Anikouchine completes a 2-month course in agricultural mechanics at Sophia, Bulgaria.
1923
3 June - Alexander D. Anikouchine leaves Sofia, Bulgaria and arrives in Tsaribrod, Yugoslavia.
4 June - Alexander D. Anikouchine. arrives in Belgrade, Serbia.
5 June - Alexander D. Anikouchine leaves Serbia and traverses Italy.
6 June - Alexander D. Anikouchine arrives in France.
11 July - Bulgarian army stages a coup expelling the leftist government of Stambousky which had expelled 58 senior Russian refugee officers and had persecuted the Russian refugee army.
14 October 1923 - Kuban Cossack George Nikishin completes a 4-month course of training in Sophia, Bulgaria.
1924
1925
April - General Shkouro assembles Cossacks from Bulgaria and France to form a Djigit (trick riding) Troupe.
25 May - First performance of the Djigit Troupe in Buffalo Stadium, Paris.
29 June - Alexander Dmitri Anikouchine residing at Champs de Mars, Paris.
1 July - Alexander D. Anikouchine lands at Dover, England. He remains in the U.K. with the troupe until at least 24 December.
1926
22 January - Alexander D. Anikouchine residing at 132 Rue Emile Zola, Paris.
4 February - A. Melikoff and S. Protzenko arrive NY on the ship 'SS Olympic' (30 hours late).
5 May - Djigit Troupe embarks from La Havre aboard the ship 'SS France'.
12 May Wednesday - Ship 'SS France' docks in AM at New York from Le Havre. 110 to 112 persons taken to Ellis Island to determine if bond is required. A. Melikoff pays $500 bond and is allowed in country for 6 months maximum.
16 May - $56,000 blanket bond secured by Carl Holstein of Cossacks Inc., 342 Madison Avenue. 110 or 112 released early afternoon and proceed to Hotel Roosevelt where they are turned away - no reservations! The troupe stayed at the Hotel Forrest on West 49th Street. The Madison Square Garden is on 8th between 49th and 50th street.
29 May Saturday - Opening at Madison Square Garden for 16 day engagement. Reviews bad.
30 May Sunday - A. Melikoff and S. Prozenko and 3 or 4 other Madison Square Garden operations persons arrested by over zealous cop for violating "Sunday" (blue) law.
1 June - Sesquicentennial Exhibition opens at Philadelphia
2 June - A. Melikoff and S. Protzenko in court for violation of blue law. Case dismissed by judge.
4 June - A. Melikoff and S. Prozenko lead parade of Cossacks to President (General) Grants tomb. A. Melikoff is a distant relative of Grant.
8 June - Rehearsal for an annual air show performance at Miller Field on Staten Island.
13 June Sunday - Last show of Madison Square Garden engagement.
15 June Tuesday - Open in Cleveland for 7 days at Public Hall.
21 June Monday - Last show in Cleveland according to one report.
24 June Thursday - Cleveland engagement closes. Troupe checks out and proceeds to Nickel Plate Railroad station at 9th and Front Street to catch train for Chicago. A. Melikoff goes to New York city with proceeds of the engagement ostensibly to negotiate for increased payment. The troupe returns to the hotel. Rumor has it that the principal financier of the djigit show in America died. Several of the troupe abandon the group and disperse to avoid being returned to France.
25 June Friday - Telegram received from A. Melikoff advising: "Stay in Cleveland. Don't board train for Chicago. Lawyer being sent from New York". S. Protzenko obtains writ of attachment and sheriff's deputies rush to Railroad station and attach 43 horses and saddles bound for New York. S. Protzeko says that $16,000 in salaries not paid. At one point the troupe attempts to sell horses and gear but is prevented by train authorities.
29 June Tuesday - Notice comes that the troupe should disband and the djigits should disperse because the finance company will no longer support them. Many left the troupe despite the admonitions of S. Protzenko and A. Melikoff that with their visas and contract with MGM they could remain in the USA until filming of "The Cossacks" by L. Tolstoi and starring John Gilbert started in the beginning of October. Nonetheless over half of the troupe, mainly musicians, singers and dancers, fled leaving a troup of only 50 men. Only a few djigits fled. About 30 Cossacks, including A. D. Anikouchine, sought refuge at St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox church on Starkweather Avenue at Cleveland. They were given space in the basement of the nun's quarters and remained there until jobs were obtained for them.
3 July or 10 July Saturday - Troupe gives two performances in the Armory at Akron Ohio.
27 July - Troupe begins engagement at Sesquicentennial in Philadelphia PA.
12 August - Troupe in Philadelphia practicing. Two riders break their ankles.
16 August Monday - Troupe opens in the Philadelphia Sesquicentennial Stadium. Then came 2 weeks of rain. Only 4 of 12 scheduled performances could be given.
26 August - Rain continues. Final show canceled. Booking was obtained for the troupe to perform at the Missouri State Fair in St. Louis. St. Louis was called for an advance to pay troupe. The troupe's one-week engagement was lengthened another week. S. Protzenko went to Hollywood California to arrange for the troupe to proceed there for the filming as per their contract.
9 September - Telegram received from S. Protzenko stating that production of the film had been postponed for a year. The troupe was to disperse but provide their addresses. Eleven djigits elected to proceed to Hollywood on their own. They purchased three cars and with their families drove through Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona to Los Angeles California, all over extremely poor roads. The eleven were:
A. G. Klous, his wife and son George, age 5.
Mihail Sokol
Grigori Lashko
Fedor Erishov
Andrei Stadnik
Jacob Shtikletsky
Nikita Sakhno
Ivan Kopil and his wife
Makar Izbenko
Gabriel Solodukhine
Alexander Krot and his wife.
The trip took 18 days and nights.
October - The Cossacks were given parts in the MGM production of L. Tolstoi's "Sunday".
December 1926 and January 1927 - The Cossacks had parts as horse riders in MGM's "Last Battle", a story of Custer's last stand. They played both indians and cavalry.
1927
April - The djigits worked as doubles for the stars in several films. The 8 of the original 11 Cossacks that were left worked as Argentinian cowboys and as doubles in the film "The Gaucho" starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Lupe Velez.
August - MGM signs a contract with the remaining djigits for appearing in "The Cossacks" starring John Gilbert and Rene Adore.
1928
March - Filming of "The Cossacks" completed. The Cossacks were released from their contract. Some stayed in Hollywood and were joined by others such as Terenty Globa. They worked in the filming of "Gone With The Wind". The rest dispersed to circuses and touring equestrian troupes that traveled throughout the world. Stephan Seline formed such a troupe. The circuses included the Barnes circus, the Miller Brothers circus and the Ringling Brothers circus.