Literary and historical notes of a young technician. Wrangel Petr Nikolaevich

Baron, Russian military leader, lieutenant general (1918). Participant in the Civil War of 1918-1920, one of the leaders of the white movement, commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia (1920).

Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel was born on August 15 (27), 1878 in the city of Novoaleksandrovsk, Kovno province (now Zarasai in Lithuania) in the family of Baron Nikolai Egorovich Wrangel (1847-1923).

P. N. Wrangel spent his childhood and youth in: in this city, his father was the director of an insurance company. In 1896, the future military leader graduated from the Rostov Real School. In 1896-1901, he studied at the Mining Institute in, and received a degree in engineering.

In 1901, P. N. Wrangel volunteered in the Life Guards Horse Regiment. In 1902, having passed the exam at the Nikolaev Cavalry School, he was promoted to guard cornet and enlisted in the reserve. After this, the young officer left the army and went to, where he served as an official on special assignments under the governor general.

With the beginning of the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905, P. N. Wrangel returned to military service. The baron volunteered to join the active army and was assigned to the 2nd Verkhneudinsk Regiment of the Transbaikal Cossack Army. In December 1904, he was promoted to the rank of centurion "for distinguished service in cases against the Japanese" and awarded the Order of St. Anne, 4th class, and St. Stanislaus, 3rd class, with swords and bow. In January 1906, Baron Wrangel was appointed to the 55th Finnish Dragoon Regiment with the rank of staff captain. In 1907, he returned to the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment with the rank of lieutenant.

In 1910, P. N. Wrangel graduated from the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff, and in 1911, he graduated from the Officer Cavalry School course. At the beginning of the First World War, he was a squadron commander of the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment with the rank of captain. In October 1914, Baron Wrangel was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree, for a cavalry attack near Kaushen, during which an enemy battery was captured. In December 1914 he was promoted to colonel, and in June 1915 he was awarded the honorary Arms of St. George.

During the First World War, P. N. Wrangel commanded a regiment, brigade, and division, and in 1917 he was promoted to major general “for military distinction.” He was appointed to command the 3rd Cavalry Corps, but “due to the Bolshevik coup, he refused to serve the enemies of the Motherland and did not take command of the corps.”

In 1918, P. N. Wrangel came to the Don, where he joined the white movement and joined the Volunteer Army. In 1919 he became commander of the Caucasian Volunteer Army. Baron Wrangel's major military victory was the capture on June 30, 1919. In November 1919, P.N. Wrangel was appointed commander of the Volunteer Army forces operating in the Moscow direction. In December 1919, due to disagreements with the baron, he was forced to resign and go to Constantinople.

In March 1920, P. N. Wrangel took command of the Armed Forces of the South, replacing him in this post. In April 1920, he reorganized the All-Russian Socialist Republic into the Russian Army. During the period of leadership of the white movement, he made an unsuccessful attempt to create an independent state entity in Crimea.

In November 1920, P. N. Wrangel led the evacuation of the Russian army from Crimea. From that time on, he lived in exile in Turkey (1920-1922), Yugoslavia (1922-1927) and Belgium (1927-1928). In 1924, the baron created the Russian All-Military Union (ROVS), the most significant association of right-wing monarchist circles of the Russian emigration.

P. N. Wrangel died on April 25, 1928 in Brussels (Belgium). In 1929, his ashes were transferred to Belgrade and solemnly reburied in the Russian Church of the Holy Trinity.

Wrangel Pyotr Nikolaevich (1878-1928), baron, one of the leaders of the White movement, lieutenant general (1917).

Born on August 28, 1878 in the city of Novo-Alexandrovsk (Lithuania). Soon the family moved to Rostov-on-Don. Son of the director of an insurance company. After graduating from the Mining Institute (1901), he volunteered in the Life Guards Horse Regiment. A year later, he passed the exams for the rank of guard officer at the Nikolaev Cavalry School and was promoted to cornet.

During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. commanded a hundred of the 2nd Argun Cossack Regiment. He was distinguished by great personal courage, and was promoted twice in rank in two years. In 1910 he graduated from the Imperial Nicholas Military Academy.

Since 1912 he commanded a squadron of the Horse Regiment.

During the First World War, Wrangel became one of the first Russian officers to be awarded the Order of St. George for bravery.

In January 1917 he commanded a cavalry division. Wrangel's fame as a talented cavalry commander grew, and in July he was already heading the cavalry corps. In the summer of 1917, he was awarded the soldier's St. George Cross, 4th degree, for covering the infantry's retreat to the Sbrug River.

After the October Revolution, Wrangel went to the Crimea, and then to the Don, where he joined Ataman A. M. Kaledin, whom he helped in the formation of the Don Army.

After Kaledin's suicide in August 1918, he joined the ranks of the Volunteer Army and soon became the commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, and from November - the 1st Cavalry Corps. On December 27, 1918, he led the Volunteer Army - the most combat-ready unit of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia (VSYUR).

After the resignation of A.I. Denikin, by decision of the majority of the senior command staff, on March 22, 1920, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the AFSR. Wrangel tried to attract broad masses of peasants to the movement by adopting a new agrarian program. According to it, peasants received land ownership. But time had already been lost - practically only Crimea remained under the control of the Russian Army, as the White troops were called.

In May, Wrangel, having gathered the remnants of the army, launched an offensive in Northern Tavria. On the night of November 8–9, the Reds, at the cost of huge losses, managed to break through the defenses of Wrangel’s troops at Perekop and break into Crimea. On November 14, Wrangel was forced to evacuate to Turkey along with the army. About 150 thousand people moved to Istanbul on more than 120 ships. Since 1921, the former commander lived in the city of Serbski Karlovci (Yugoslavia), and since 1927 - in Brussels.

In 1924, the baron created the Russian All-Military Union, which united white military emigration. The Union intended to continue the war with the Bolsheviks and conduct sabotage actions.

Wrangel died suddenly on April 25, 1928 in Brussels; there is a version that he was poisoned by NKVD agents. In October 1929, the ashes were transferred to the Russian Church of the Holy Trinity in Belgrade

“Black Baron” Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel - pages of life. P. N. Wrangel was born in 1878 in the city of Novoaleksandrovsk (now Kaunas) in the family of a very famous and ancient family, which gave Europe 7 field marshals and admirals (among them F. Wrangel, an explorer of the Arctic, after whom the island was named ), about 30 generals, which may be why, having received the education of a mining engineer in 1901, Wrangel realized that he was more attracted to military service, and became a volunteer in the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment, and a year later, having passed exams in military affairs, he received the rank officer.

Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905 - Wrangel, commander of the hundred of the 2nd Argun Cossack Regiment, for personal military merits he was promoted 2 times, awarded the Orders of St. Anne and St. Stanislav.

In 1912, after graduating from the Imperial Nicholas Military Academy, Wrangel became the commander of one of the units of the Horse Regiment.

The “black baron” (so nicknamed for his habit of wearing a black Circassian cap) received the Order of St. George in World War I, and in 1917 his chest was adorned with the soldier’s St. George Cross of the 4th degree. Dispatches from the front described him as a talented and courageous officer.

The revolution that took place in October 1917 was negatively perceived by Wrangel, and he decided to step away from military affairs and, together with his wife and 3 children, settle in the Crimea, but peaceful life soon ended, his arrest by the Bolsheviks, dissatisfaction with the situation forced Pyotr Nikolaevich to take the path quest.

A special page in the life of a talented officer was his entry into the ranks of the Volunteer Army - the most combat-ready unit of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia, which he would lead in December 1918, and already in March 1920, by decision of the higher command, Wrangel appointed by the Commander-in-Chief of the AFSR. In this position, Pyotr Nikolaevich tried to expand the movement at the expense of the peasants, promising them the distribution of land as their own in the new agrarian program. However, the influence of the White Army at that time was already insignificant, limited to the territory of Crimea. The plan failed. And after the Reds captured Crimea in November 1920, Wrangel, together with the remnants of the army (approximately 150 thousand people), was evacuated to Turkey.

Since 1921, the “black baron” has been living in Yugoslavia in Serbski Karlovci and hatching plans for further struggle against the Bolsheviks. In this regard, in 1924, he worked to unite the White Guards in exile and created the Russian All-Military Union, the main goal of which was to continue the war with the Reds, conduct subversive work and organize sabotage.
In 1927, Wrangel, continuing his activities, moved to Brussels. Full of strength and energy, he suddenly died there in April 1928. According to one version, the white officer, at the instigation of the NKVD, was poisoned by a relative of a servant.
In 1929, the mortal remains of the rebellious baron were transported to Belgrade, to the Church of the Holy Trinity.

The “Black Baron” of the white movement belonged to a noble and ancient noble family of the Baltic Germans, which was very famous in Russia. Unlike other representatives of the Wrangel family, his father was not a military man, but an industrialist and financier. Pyotr Nikolaevich was born near present-day Kaunas in Lithuania on August 15, 1878, but he spent his childhood in Rostov-on-Don. There he graduated from the Rostov Real School, after which he entered the Mining Institute in St. Petersburg. Having received the specialty of a mining engineer (with a gold medal), Wrangel in 1902 passed the exams at the Nikolaev Cavalry School and was promoted to cornet. After which, after leaving the army, he left for Irkutsk, where he worked as an official under the governor. When the war with Japan began, Wrangel volunteered for the 2nd Verkhneudinsk Regiment of the Transbaikal Cossack Army. In December 1904, Cornet Wrangel received the rank of centurion “for distinction in affairs against the Japanese” and was awarded the Order of St. Anne, 4th class, and St. Stanislav, 3rd class, with swords and bow. After the war, with the rank of staff captain, he was transferred to the 55th Finnish Dragoon Regiment. From there he was immediately seconded to the Northern Detachment of Major General Orlov's Retinue, in which he took part in the suppression of revolutionary uprisings in the Baltic states. For this, in 1906, Nicholas II personally awarded Wrangel the Order of St. Anne, 3rd class. In 1907, under the patronage of the Emperor, he entered service with the rank of lieutenant in the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment, and in 1910 he graduated from the Nikolaev General Staff Academy. After this she studied at the Officer Cavalry School, and in 1912 Wrangel became commander of His Majesty's squadron.

With the outbreak of the First World War, he was with his regiment from the first day at the front. On August 6, 1914, commanding his squadron, Wrangel quickly captured artillery positions near Kaushenami in East Prussia. For this feat he was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree, and became one of the first of its holders to be awarded in this campaign. In September 1914, Captain Wrangel became chief of staff of the Combined Cavalry Division, commanded by General Pavel Skoropadsky. And two months later he received the rank of colonel and became an aide-de-camp of His Majesty’s retinue, which testified to his special closeness to the Emperor. In June 1915 he was awarded the St. George's Arms for bravery. In October 1915, Wrangel became commander of the 1st Nerchinsky Regiment of the Ussuri Division of the Transbaikal Cossack Army. The future leaders of the White movement in the east, Baron von Ungern and Ataman Semenov, fought under his command. In 1916, the Ussuri division was transferred to the Southwestern Front, where it took part in the Brusilov breakthrough. Being faithful to the idea of ​​​​the monarchy, Wrangel met the February Revolution sharply negatively, so the Provisional Government had no authority in his eyes. In the summer of 1917, already a major general, he was awarded the Soldier's Cross of St. George, 4th degree with a laurel branch, for his military merits. During the August speech of General Kornilov, Wrangel, being his supporter, was unable to send his cavalry corps to support him, after which he resigned.

Baron Wrangel during the Civil War

After the Bolsheviks came to power, Wrangel left with his family for Yalta, where he lived as a private citizen until the spring of 1918. He was arrested by the Sevastopol Cheka, but was soon released and hid in Tatar villages until the Germans arrived. After the expulsion of the Bolsheviks, he decides to re-enter military service and goes to Kyiv, where his former boss Pavel Skoropadsky was proclaimed Hetman of Ukraine. But Wrangel did not stay long in Kyiv. Convinced of the weakness of the Hetman's political position, in August 1918 he left for Yekaterinodar, where he joined the Volunteer Army. Since Wrangel had an excellent reputation in military circles, Denikin gave the 1st Cavalry Division under his command. As one of the volunteers later recalled, “The services that Wrangel provided to the army lived up to expectations. From the very beginning he showed himself to be an outstanding cavalry commander." In October, battles began for Armavir and Stavropol, and by the end of 1918, the entire North Caucasus was controlled by the Volunteer Army. The 11th Soviet Army was defeated, and its remnants retreated to Astrakhan. For his skillful command, Wrangel received the rank of lieutenant general and received the 1st Cavalry Corps under his command.

In January 1919, after the reorganization of the Volunteer Army, Wrangel became commander of the Caucasian Volunteer Army, and in February the Kuban Rada awarded him the Order of the Salvation of the Kuban, 1st degree. At the same time, Wrangel almost died of typhus, but soon recovered and in May took command of the Kuban Army. Thanks to his skillful leadership, the heavily fortified Tsaritsyn was taken by storm in June. Denikin, who arrived there, in a state of euphoria, issued the “Moscow Directive”, in which he designated Moscow as the main direction of attack. According to Wrangel, this order “was a death sentence for the troops of the South of Russia,” since before the march on Moscow it was necessary to first strengthen the Yekaterinoslav-Tsaritsyn line and create a large cavalry group in the Kharkov region as a reserve for the offensive. And most importantly, direct the main blow in the Volga region, to connect with Kolchak, after which the united white armies could hit the Reds with redoubled force. Denikin did not heed Wrangel’s arguments, which caused open confrontation between them, which was aggravated by the fact that each of them belonged to different social groups. The son of a serf peasant and a representative of a baronial family harbored hostility towards each other at a deep level. After the defeat of the Dobrarmiya, Wrangel was dismissed in February 1920 and went to Istanbul, but in April, after Denikin’s resignation, he returned to Crimea and assumed the post of Commander-in-Chief of the AFSR. Over the next six months he struggled to find allies for the White cause. An agreement was signed on the autonomy of the Don, Kuban, Terek and Astrakhan and the independence of the mountain federation of the North Caucasus was recognized. A military alliance was concluded with the army of the UPR Directory and unsuccessful attempts were made to attract the Makhnovists to their side. To create a new social base, land reform was carried out in the interests of the wealthy and middle peasants. But all these measures were taken too late, and Wrangel’s forces in the fight against Bolshevism were unequal.

After the Red Army broke through the Perekop line, an evacuation order was issued on October 29, 1920. On November 3, a squadron of 126 ships entered the open sea and headed for the Turkish shores, and in total about 145 thousand people left Crimea. For more than two years, the remnants of the White Army were in a military camp in Galipolli, after which they settled in Bulgaria and Serbia, which agreed to accept them. Wrangel himself, with his family and headquarters, moved to Belgrade, where he created the Russian All-Military Union, which united participants in the White movement in exile. In 1927, he moved to Brussels, where he got a job as an engineer in one of the companies, but on April 25, 1928, he suddenly died of tuberculosis. There is an assumption that he was poisoned by an NKVD agent. On October 6, 1929, Wrangel's ashes were reburied in the Russian Church of the Holy Trinity in Belgrade. On September 14, 2007, in the Serbian city of Sremski Karlovci, where Wrangel lived, a monument in the form of a bronze bust on a granite pedestal was inaugurated. Also in 2012, a memorial plaque was installed on the wall of the house where he was born in the Zarasai region of Lithuania in memory of him.

People of the older generation well remember the famous Bolshevik hit “White Army, Black Baron,” but not everyone knows that it so darkly referred to Wrangel Pyotr Nikolaevich, whose biography formed the basis of this article. And few people know that he received this nickname during his lifetime not for any dark deeds, but only because of his passion for the black Circassian coat, which he preferred to an ordinary uniform.

Famous graduate of the Mining Institute

Wrangel Pyotr Nikolaevich was born on August 15, 1878 in the city of Novoaleksandrovsk, Kovno province. He inherited his baronial title from his ancestors, whose names appear in chronicles dating back to the 13th century. Representatives of the Wrangel family also occupied a worthy place among statesmen and scientists of subsequent centuries.

In his younger years, Pyotr Nikolaevich hardly thought about a military career; in any case, in 1896 he entered the St. Petersburg Mining Institute, after graduating from which he became an engineer. However, belonging to the highest aristocratic circle meant having an officer rank, and in order not to break tradition, he served for two years as a volunteer in the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment, after which, having successfully passed the exam, he was promoted to cornet.

Official career and happy marriage

Having resigned, Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel went to Irkutsk, where he was offered a very promising position as an official on special assignments under the Governor General. This is how he would have lived, climbing the steps of the career ladder at a set time, if not for the Russo-Japanese War. Not considering himself the right to remain aloof from the events that took place in the Far East, Pyotr Nikolaevich returned to the army and took part in battles, where he was awarded a number of awards for his heroism and promoted to lieutenant. From now on, military service becomes his life's work.

Soon another important event occurs - he marries Olga Mikhailovna Ivanenko, the daughter of one of the dignitaries of the Highest Court. This marriage, the fruit of which was four children, was a true gift from heaven for both, and, having gone through the trials of the most difficult years together, the couple did not part until the death of Pyotr Nikolaevich.

New war and new differences

Returning to the capital, Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel continued his education, this time within the walls of the Nikolaev Military Academy, after graduating from which he met the First World War as a squadron commander of the Horse Regiment. The next three years became a period of amazing growth in his officer's career. Having served at the front as a captain, in 1917 he returned with the rank of major general - holder of most of Russia's highest military awards. This is how the Motherland celebrated the battle path of its devoted soldier.

The path to the Volunteer Army

He perceived the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks and the violence they committed as a crime, and, not wanting to participate in them, he and his wife left for Yalta, where at a dacha they owned he was soon arrested by local security officers. The Red Terror had not yet been unleashed, and people were not shot just for belonging to the noble class, therefore, not finding a reason for further detention, he was soon released.

When German units entered Crimea, Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel received relative freedom of movement, and, taking advantage of it, left for Kyiv, where he hoped to establish cooperation with Hetman Skoropadsky. However, having arrived there and familiarized himself with the situation, he soon became convinced of the weakness and unviability of his pro-German government and, leaving Ukraine, departed for Yekaterinodar, which was occupied at that time by the Volunteer Army.

In August 1918, Lieutenant General Wrangel took command of the 1st Cavalry Division of the Volunteer Army. In battles with the red units, he showed the same extraordinary leadership talent as he once did on the fronts of the First World War, only now his compatriots became his opponents, which could not but affect the general morale of the commander.

Nevertheless, putting above all else the duty of a soldier who has sworn an oath of allegiance to the Tsar and the Fatherland, he devotes himself entirely to the fight, and soon his military labors receive due appreciation - a new promotion in rank, this time he becomes a lieutenant general and a cavalier of new military awards

The tactics he developed have gone down in the history of military art, in which cavalry units are not dispersed along the front line, but gathered into a single fist inflict a crushing blow on the enemy, which in most cases decides the outcome of the entire battle. It was in this way that he managed to win a number of major victories in the North Caucasus and Kuban.

Master of the south of Russia

Despite the success that invariably accompanied his units, Wrangel was forced to resign at the height of the war. The reason for this was his disagreements with the commander of the Southern Front, General A.I. Denikin, only after whose departure he again continued his activities, taking his place.

From now on, Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel became the sovereign master of the south of Russia. The white movement, which had previously swept the entire country, was practically suppressed by the beginning of 1920, and the capture of Crimea by units of the Red Army was essentially only a matter of time. Nevertheless, even in such a situation, when the outcome of the war was already a foregone conclusion, for six months he retained in his hands this last stronghold of the former Russia.

Latest efforts

Pyotr Nikolaevich is trying to turn the tide of events by attracting to his side the most diverse segments of the population of the southern regions of the country. For this purpose, he developed an agrarian reform, if adopted, the bulk of agricultural land would become the property of peasants. Changes were also made to labor legislation to provide workers with increased wages. However, time was lost, nothing could be changed.

In the current situation, the only realistically feasible task was to ensure the evacuation of military units, as well as the civilian population who did not want to be under the rule of the Bolsheviks. Wrangel coped with this task brilliantly. Under his leadership, in November 1920, more than 146 thousand refugees were transported from Crimea to Constantinople. Together with them, Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel left his homeland forever.

They deserve special attention, because they indicate that, once abroad, Wrangel did not fall out of the sight of the Russian special services; a real hunt was organized for him. The first link in this chain of events was an incident that occurred in the roadstead of Constantinople, where the yacht “Lucullus” was moored, on which Pyotr Nikolaevich lived with his family. One day she was sunk by a ship that came from Batum that crashed into her for no apparent reason. Then, fortunately, the couple were not injured, as they were on the shore.

Having moved to Europe and heading the union he created, which united more than 100 thousand former participants in the White movement, Pyotr Nikolaevich began to pose a real danger to the Bolsheviks, and on April 25, 1927, he was poisoned by a specially sent OGPU agent. Death overtook him in Brussels, where he worked as an engineer at one of the companies. His body was buried there.

How this and a number of other special operations to eliminate Wrangel were developed became known only during the years of perestroika after part of the archives of the special services were declassified. In subsequent years, the descendants of Wrangel Peter Nikolaevich transferred his ashes to Belgrade, where he was reburied in the fence of the Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity.

His children Elena (1909 - 1999), Natalya (1913 - 2013), Alexey (1922 - 2005) and Peter (1911 - 1999), unlike their father, turned out to be long-lived, but none of them returned to Russia. The current generation of Wrangels also has no connection with their historical homeland.