Battle of Barnaul (1918)
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Battle of Barnaul | |||||||
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Part of the Eastern Front of the Russian Civil War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Czechoslovaks | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
160 | 50 |
The Battle of Barnaul was a series of engagements from 13 June to 15 June 1918, during the Russian Civil War. The battle involved several; different factions in the Siberian region. The Red Guards and White movement were the main combatants.
Background
After the outbreak of the
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/Siberian_Cities_Map.png/220px-Siberian_Cities_Map.png)
A crucial target of the White's campaign was the city of Novonikolaevsk, which was a node where Altai Railway (part of future Turkestan–Siberia Railway) connected to the Trans-Siberian Railway. The Whites captured Novonikolaevsk during the night of May, 25–26. The following day civilians, former soldiers, and officers began to organize anti-Bolsheviks detachments.
News of the revolt reached the Red Guards stationed in the city of Barnaul and an offensive was organized to recapture the city. They imposed martial law on the whole Altai Railway line, made Altayskaya station its capital, and proceeded to meet attackers near the Cherepanovo.
In response, the White Army - through the
On June 5, the Red Guards' train left Cherepanovo and began to move north. The two trains carrying the opposing forces met near the Evsino station. After some shots, the Reds began to flee, destroying roads and bridges as they retreated.
On June 8, the Whites tried to cross the
On June 9, the Reds received information about the Whites in their rear area. In the evening, a team of the Reds stealthily attacked the Whites' column, which was in the process of encircling the Reds' position. At first the Reds' attack was successful, but as the Whites counterattacked, they suffered losses and had to retreat to the Altayskaya station.
On June 10, members of Barnaul Revolution Committee came to the Altayskaya. They organized a meeting with the local population and explained the necessity of keeping such an important railway station. The Red Guards with the help of the local population began to dig tranches near the bridge over the Chesnokovka River.
The Whites, however, were able to instigate a revolt within Barnaul so that, on June 11, the Red Guards had to leave the trenches and return to the city to suppress it. Whites from the Novonikolaevsk captured Altayskaya without a fight on June 12. There they found a map of Barnaul and its surroundings. By this time, the army received word that a reinforcement of 200 men on a ship that sailed from Novonikolaevsk was underway under the command of colonel A.A.Budkevich.
The Battle at Barnaul
Reds fortified the bridge over the
Aftermath
Whites captured about 200 Red Guards after the Battle of Barnaul and, on the next day, killed all Reds of Hungarian nationality.
Those Reds, who retreated from Barnaul to Aleysk, united into one partisan detachment under the command of P.F. Sukhov. This detachment fought in White's rear area for two months before suffering a crushing defeat.
By 1920, a Red Guard officer assessed the success of the White movement in Barnaul, highlighting fundamental mistakes in the policy formulated in Moscow. In a telegram protesting this development, the missive stated that the negligence "alienated from us the poorest part of the middle peasants and the poor peasants," strengthening the position of the enemy.[2]
References
- ^ Bullock, David; Bujeiro, Ramiro (2012). The Czech Legion 1914–20. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. p. 392.
- ISBN 0-7735-1349-3.