Russian General Kutepov Alexander Pavlovich: biography, service in the White Army, memory

The famous commander of the White movement, Aleksandr Pavlovich Kutepov, was born on September 28, 1882 in Cherepovets in the modest and inconspicuous family of a provincial official. Childhood and school years of the boy were in far northern Arkhangelsk. A small family affluence taught Alexander to the unpretentious Spartan life - a skill that came in handy for him in a difficult service.

early years

In 1902, after the Arkhangelsk gymnasium was over, the future general Kutepov entered the Vladimir Military School located in St. Petersburg. Gymnastic experience allowed the young man to easily overcome the theoretical course. However, he had a weak side - drill preparation. Kutepov faced with problems typical for all young people who entered military schools from civilian educational institutions. But despite the difficulties that met him at a new stage in his life, Alexander coped with all the challenges. He was helped by strong-willed perseverance and persistence, which already in adult life also more than once rescued the general.

In 1904 Alexander Pavlovich Kutepov graduated from the school and became second lieutenant in the 85th Infantry Regiment of Vyborg. A few months later, at a traditional solemn ceremony, Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich produced him in feldwebel.

In the Japanese War

No sooner had Alexander Kutepov come into the service, as the Russo-Japanese War began. Once at the front, he immediately, on his own initiative, was asked to join a detachment of scouts. Soon the young non-commissioned officer distinguished himself during the attack on the Japanese outpost. His squad received valuable trophies (rifles and machine guns). The formal chief of the Vyborg regiment was the cousin of the Russian Tsar Kaiser Wilhelm. He rewarded Kutepov with the Order of the German Crown. The scout and the native authority have noted also. During the Russo-Japanese War, Alexander Kutepov received the Order of St. Stanislaus of the 3rd degree, St. Anne of the 4th degree and St. Vladimir of the 4th degree.

At the end of the bloody conflict in the Far East, a skilful scout had to start training new recruits. Returning to Russia, he first plunged into revolutionary events (against the backdrop of failure in the war with Japan across the country, the 1905 revolution broke out). The future general Kutepov was traveling by train when dissatisfied strikers stopped the train and announced the creation of their own republic. The soldier did not lose his head and, uniting loyal soldiers around him, arrested a revolutionary committee that arranged riots at the railway station.

Troubled years

With the outbreak of World War I, Alexander Kutepov headed the 4th company of the Preobrazhensky regiment. On August 20, 1914, the battle near Vladislavov ended in injury for him. Soon the officer recovered and took part in several successful operations against the Germans. On the eve of the revolution, he became a colonel.

In February 1917 Kutepov received a long-awaited vacation and came to Petrograd. It is noteworthy that he was the only officer of his rank (colonel), who tried to stop the spontaneous metropolitan uprising, which ended with the abdication of the tsar. However, the detachment, which managed to assemble Kutepov, was too small on the background of the dissatisfied Petrograd mass of citizens.

Again at the front

After the February Revolution, the officer returned to the active army. In April, he headed the Life Guards Regiment of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. By the time this formation was almost the only battle-ready connection at the front. The rest of the party disintegrated under the influence of anti-war and revolutionary agitation.

Meanwhile, the Preobrazhensky regiment took part in the Tarnopol breakthrough. During this operation on July 7, 1917, Kutepov again distinguished himself in battle near the village of Mshany. For his exploits, he received the Order of St. George 3rd degree. In the Preobrazhensky regiment, the name of Alexander Kutepov became synonymous with determination, loyalty to duty and sacrificial service to the Motherland.

On South

With the coming to power of the Bolsheviks, the army, which fought with Germany and Austria-Hungary, finally collapsed. In December 1917, Kutepov left the front and went to Kiev. In the "mother of Russian cities" he joined the Volunteer Army. The active phase of the civil war has not yet begun. Opponents saved their strength and prepared for bloodshed.

The end of 1917 - the beginning of 1918. The future general Kutepov held in Taganrog, where he became the head of the local garrison. There he had to fight the Red Guards. In January 1918, White managed to break the pro-Bolshevik forces in a clash near Matveyev Kurgan. According to the memoirs of the commander-in-chief Anton Denikin, this was the first serious battle of the civil war.

It should be noted that a lot of ideological disputes arose between him and Kutepov. Denikin was quite liberal, while Alexander Pavlovich always had a strong monarchical view. Nevertheless, contrary to the differences about the appropriate nature of power, Kutepov always supported the commander-in-chief in military matters.

Against the Bolsheviks

From the very beginning, for all officers, the service in the White Army was extremely difficult and exhausting. The apotheosis of inhuman conditions of war was the "Ice" campaign on the Kuban (February - May 1918). In this operation, Kutepov headed one of the officers' mouths. In April, he began command of the Kornilov Regiment, then - the first infantry division.

In November, Alexander Pavlovich became a Major-General. On the eve of the White troops took Novorossiysk, and Denikin appointed Kutepov the Black Sea military governor. Such a choice seemed strange to many, since the military leader had never had any relation to civil administration before.

In the new position, the officer began to establish a strict order. His uncompromising measures against the enemies of white power became known as "Kutepia." The military governor was responsible for the security of Novorossiysk and the stability of supplies organized by foreign allies. With him, the port turned into the main base of external supply of white traffic. Kutepov organized a new headquarters and made him the boss of Nicholas de Robert. He became the right hand of Alexander Pavlovich and the executor of his military decrees.

At the head of the "colored" regiments

In January 1919, the already well-known Russian general led the First Army Corps, operating in the Donetsk basin. Winter and spring went to the regrouping of forces and the defense of eastern Ukraine. This was a period of great strain on all forces of the Volunteer Army.

Denikin's relations with many colleagues left much to be desired (his relations with Wrangel differed with particular nervousness). Therefore, the commander-in-chief delegated Kutepov (according to the rank, not the chief commander) more and more powers. In particular, Denikin handed him the "colored" regiments - the core of the White Army Guard.

The choice is due to the fact that Kutepov was known as an executive and diligent soldier, completely uninterested in politics. And it really was so. While some shared the skin of the undead bear and discussed the political future of the liberated Russia from the Bolsheviks, the general did his uneasy front-line business.

The last stage of the civil war

The military leader once again demonstrated his outstanding qualities during the Kharkov operation. For military distinctions, he was promoted to Lieutenant-General. Soon the offensive of the Volunteer Army began on Moscow. In the march to the capital of the capital, General Kutepov commanded the corps, with which he reached the Eagle. Then the operation choked and a retreat to distant Novorossiysk followed. Despite the defeat after the defeat, the Russian general was able to maintain the fighting efficiency of his subordinate volunteer divisions - Markovskaya, Kornilovskaya, Alekseevskaya and Drozdovskaya.

In the spring of 1920 Kutepov found himself in the Crimea, where Baron Wrangel appointed him commander of one of the last white corps. At the head of this formation, the officer went through the whole Northern Tavria. Contrary to the efforts of Alexander Pavlovich and other prominent commanders of the white movement, the Bolsheviks continued their offensive. In November 1920, Kutepov was evacuated from the Crimea.

Emigration

The Whiteguard general Kutepov, whose biography represents a typical example of the enemy expelled from the homeland of Soviet power, first stopped at Gallipoli. Here all the surviving units of Wrangel's army joined together. In December 1921, Kutepov, together with his corps, appeared in Bulgaria. Local authorities arrested him and expelled him from the country. The commander moved to Yugoslavia, where he became an assistant to the commander-in-chief of the Russian army.

In 1924, General Kutepov and his wife Lydia Davydovna Kut settled in Paris. The officer began to serve with the Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, whom most of the white emigres considered the head of the expelled Romanov house. The cousin uncle of the last Russian tsar appointed the famous officer as chairman of the ROVS - Russian Union of all-warriors.

What did Alexander Kutepov do in his new status? The general established contacts with secret anti-Soviet organizations that operated on the territory of the USSR. He hoped that with their help it would be possible if not to overthrow the Bolsheviks, at least to create their power a lot of problems. However, Kutepov's plan from the very beginning was a failure.

Death

"Anti-Soviet organizations" turned out to be cells created by the Chekists specifically to track down and eliminate active leaders of Russian emigration in Europe. The most serious failure of Kutepov was his cooperation with the "Trust", the management of which was conducted by the OGPU.

On January 26, 1930, Alexander Pavlovich was abducted by Soviet intelligence agents. A daring operation was carried out in Paris. Since that day, that day is considered the day of Kutepov's death, although the circumstances of his future fate still cause controversy among historians. In the Soviet era, information about the White Guard general was classified as "secret".

Only in 1989 there was information that Kutepov died on a Bolshevik steamboat that drove him to Novorossiysk. It is believed that the officer died because of a heart attack (perhaps it was caused by an excessive dose of morphine, introduced by the kidnappers). According to another version, the White Guard was taken to Moscow, where he disappeared on the Lubyanka.

Memory

Today there is at least one monument to General Kutepov. It is located in the main Russian cemetery of Paris Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois. Near it was built the cenotaph of the general. In the grave there are no remains, it performs a symbolic function.

The military leader did not leave his memoirs, but it was done for him by numerous contemporaries and comrades in the civil war and emigration. A collection of memories of the general was published in Russia in the 2000s. The publication clearly demonstrates who in fact was half-forgotten compatriots Alexander Pavlovich Kutepov. Quotations of his speeches at the front and fateful conversations with colleagues of the White Army represent a unique fresco of the events of the Russian Troubles.