Armenian volunteer units

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the World War I volunteer battalions. For the present day Armenian Volunteer Corps, see Armenian Volunteer Corps.

Armenian volunteer units
Andranik Ozanian

Drastamat Kanayan

Arshak Gavafian

Hamazasp Srvandztyan

Sargis Mehrabyan

The Armenian volunteer units (

Middle Eastern theater of World War I
.

Background

Keri of the 4th battalion, Hamazasp of the 3rd battalion, Vartan of regiment of Ararat

In August 1914, following Germany's declaration of war against Russia, Count

Tiflis, Yerevan and Alexandrapol.[1]

Establishment

The establishment of Armenian volunteer units in the Russian army dates back to the summer of 1914.

Count Illarion Ivanovich Vorontsov-Dashkov consulted with the Mayor of Tbilisi Alexander Khatisian, the primate of Tbilisi, Bishop Mesrop Ter-Movsisian, and the prominent civic leader Dr. Hakob Zavriev about the creation of Armenian volunteer detachments.[2] These units would be employed on the Caucasus front in World War I
.

The Armenian volunteer units, mostly from the Caucasus region, were impatient to take arms "to liberate their homeland".

Armenian irregular units.[4]

  • 1st. Armenian battalion
    1st. Armenian battalion
  • 2nd Armenian battalion
    2nd Armenian battalion
  • 3rd Armenian battalion
    3rd Armenian battalion
  • 4th Armenian battalion
    4th Armenian battalion

Order of Battle, 1914

Armen Garo

The acting commander

Illarion Ivanovich Vorontsov-Dashkov
.

  • Armenian volunteer corps
    • 1st battalion (
      Andranik Ozanian
      )
    • 2nd battalion (Drastamat Kanayan and Armen Garo)
    • 3rd battalion (
      nom de guerre
      Hamazasp)
    • 4th battalion (
      nom de guerre
      Keri)
    • Regiment Ararat (
      nom de guerre
      Vartan)

Andranik's detachment was assigned to the

Kars Oblast. Enver Pasha's offensive had a great chance of success if all three wings of the Third Army could reach their objectives on time. The Ottoman Tenth Army corps, during its march from Olti to Sarikamish, suffered a delay of 24 hours in the Barduz Pass due to the resistance of the "4th battalion of the Armenian volunteers".[5] This delay enabled the Russian Caucasus Army to concentrate a sufficient force around Sarikamish, resulting in the destruction of the Ottoman Third Army in the Battle of Sarikamish.[6]

Order of Battle, 1915

The acting commander

Andranik Ozanian under Viceroyalty of the Caucasus Nicholas Nikolaevich
.

During the siege of Van there were 20,000 Armenian volunteer units serving in the Russian army.[7] The Russian army entered Van on 16 May 1915.[8][9] Later on 15 October, under heavy fight around the region Lake Van, these battalions had lost five hundred Armenian soldiers and there were more than twelve hundred wounded or missing.[10]

Order of Battle, 1916

The volunteer detachment contingents, fighting under Armenian commanders, were observed in the Russian Caucasian Army as rifle battalions under Russian officers.

Armenian irregular units (Fedayee).[10]

Order of Battle, 1917

The Russian Caucasus Front collapsed following the

abdication of the Tsar. In 1917, the Armenian Congress of Eastern Armenians asked the Armenian soldiers and officers scattered throughout Russian occupied regions to gradually be brought together.[11] The plan was to mobilize Armenians on the Caucasian front. With that purpose in view, an Armenian Military Committee was formed with General Bagradouni as its president.[11] These Armenian conscripts and volunteers from the Russian Army later established the core of the armed forces of the First Republic of Armenia
.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Armenian volunteer units.

References

  1. ISBN 0-520-00574-0
    .
  2. ^ a b Hovannisian "The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times " p 280
  3. ^ The Washington Post Friday, 12 November 1914. ARMENIANS JOIN RUSSIANS; the extended information is the image detail for explanation
  4. ^ By Joan George "Merchants in Exile: The Armenians of Manchester, England, 1835–1935" page 184
  5. ^ (Pasdermadjian 1918, pp. 21)
  6. ^ (Pasdermadjian 1918, pp. 22)
  7. ^ July, 1915 Letter from Mr. E. Vartanian, an Armenian-American Volunteer in the Russian Service, to His Brother-in-law in Egypt; Dated 9/22 July 1915, and Published in the Armenian Journal "Houssaper," of Cairo.
  8. ^ Richard G Hovannisian, Armenians' road to Independence in The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times: Foreign Dominion to Statehood
  9. Andranik Ozanian
    ."
  10. ^ a b c Like One Family: The Armenians of Syracuse by Arpena S. Mesrobian p,53
  11. ^ a b (Pasdermadjian 1918, pp. 38)

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Armenian_volunteer_units&oldid=1184749164"