Evgeny Aleksandrovich Radkevich
General of the Infantry Evgeny Aleksandrovich Radkevich | |
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Native name | Евгений Александрович Радкевич |
Born | Vitebsk Governorate, Russian Empire | 16 September 1851
Died | 1930 (aged 78–79) Soviet Union |
Allegiance |
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Years of service | 1872–1912, 1914–1918, 1918–1923 |
Rank | General of the infantry |
Commands held |
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Battles/wars |
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Awards |
Evgeny Aleksandrovich Radkevich (Russian: Евгений Александрович Радкевич; 16 September 1851 – 1930) was an Imperial Russian Army general of the infantry and a member of the Russian Empire's Military Council. He saw combat during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 and the Russo-Japanese War and served as a commander of Russian field armies during World War I.
Biography
Early life
Descended from hereditary nobles of the Vitebsk Governorate, Radkevich was born there on 16 September 1851. He studied in the Polotsk cadet corps. On 15 August 1869 he entered the 2nd Konstantinovsk Military School. He transferred to the Nikolaev Engineering School, from which he graduated in the first category on 22 June 1872.
Early military service
After graduation, Radkevich was
From 12 September to 1 November 1885, Radkevich served in the Caucasian Military District. In 1886 he graduated from the Artillery Officer School.
On 30 July 1889, Radkevich was promoted to
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War began on 8 February 1904, and on 18 June 1904 the Imperial Russian Army began the formation of the 6th Siberian Army Corps, consisting of the 55th and 72nd Infantry Divisions. On 27 July 1904, Radkevich's 10th Artillery Brigade became part of the new corps. The corps completed its formation in July 1904, and in September 1904 it became part of the 1st Manchurian Army. He saw action with the 10th Artillery Brigade in the Battle of Shaho in October 1904. On 11 December 1904, he became chief of artillery of the 6th Siberian Army Corps, and in that position participated in the Battle of Sandepu in January 1905. On 4 February 1905 he became provisional commander of the 72nd Infantry Division, leading it in the Battle of Mukden in February–March 1905. Official approval of his command of the division was promulgated on 27 May 1905. For his Russo-Japanese War service he was awarded the Order of Saint Stanislaus First Class with Swords, the Order of Saint Anna First Class with Swords, and the Golden Weapon for Bravery.
Between the wars
After the Russo-Japanese War ended in August 1905, Radkevich remained in command of the 72nd Infantry Division. From 3 February 1906 to 14 June 1908 he commanded the
From 14 June 1908 to 1 September 1912, Radkevich was commander of the
World War I
The Russian Empire entered
In October and November 1914, the 10th Army fought local battles without any connection with the main operations on the
In February 1915, the 3rd Siberian Army Corps participated in the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes. On 7 February 1915, the German 8th Army attacked the left flank of the Russian 10th Army. The next day, the German 10th Army launched an offensive in the rear of the Russian 10th Army, inflicting a major blow on the right flank of the 3rd Siberian Army Corps, driving the 26th Army Corps out of its positions and forcing it to retreat. The retreat exposed the left flank of the 20th Army Corps, which the Germans subsequently surrounded and defeated in the vicinity of the Augustów Forest. On the left flank of the 10th Army in the Ełk–Rajgród sector. Radkevich's 3rd Siberian Corps alone confronted the German 8th and 10th Armies (totaling about three corps) and held off three German attacks, saving the 10th Army from complete destruction. Even the German General Erich Ludendorff expressed admiration for Radkevich's actions.
After the German defeat of the 10th Army in the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes, Radkevich relieved
Revolution and Russian Civil War
In the wake of the
In the October Revolution in 1917, the Bolsheviks toppled the Russian Provisional Government and the Russian Civil War began. On 21 March 1918, Radkevich was dismissed from the service, and he officially retired again in November 1918.
In 1918 he was mobilized in the
A 72-year-old Radkevich, a former
Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic], he received a special ration. Before starting classes, Radkevich opened his bag and laid out tiny sandwiches on a snow-white napkin. "Sir Junker, do not offend the old mother" — so he called his wife — "she prepared it for you, eat, we still have left, do not be shy!" It was impossible to refuse: the eyes of this wise and kind man shone very kindly.He cared for us as sons. In the evenings he came to our room [and] sat down at the table. He wiped his sweating face and said in a voice that allowed no objections: "Come on, gentlemen, show your calendars. How did you prepare for tomorrow?" [We would] carefully check our notes [and] drawings, correct errors, explain them. Somehow he brought a beautiful folder, pulled out from it photographs of his sons, officers, just like him, who had switched over to serve the people. He joyfully, excitedly talked about his meeting with Lenin.
I agreed with him about everything, we understood each other perfectly. And I immediately obeyed him, and the three of us joined the Red Army. The "old mother" was against it, but we persuaded her ...
He talked a lot about the Russo-Japanese [War] and World War I. "And you know, in 1915, I presented to
His Majesty the Emperor of Russiadocuments on the subject of the assignment of the rank of Colonel Nikolai Iosifovich Bettikher; in those years he commanded a heavy artillery division for me..." And it became clear to us why the commandant of the school was pulled at the sight of this teacher.Radkevich was always busy. The cleanly decorated topography room was filled by cadets during free hours. Maps, schemes of various scales hung on the walls, [and] educational exhibits were neatly arranged. On the tables lay massive multi-colored pencils, erasers, workbeds, sheets of Whatman paper, tracing paper — the general brought most of these scarce things from home. Radkevich circulated among the cadets, advised them, showed them things. We studied here not only topography - the old teacher willingly gave advice on other disciplines.
When choosing a presidium at ceremonial meetings, he received dozens of votes. Shy, he climbed onto the stage and sat modestly in the second row. "The commissioner or the head of the school approached him and sat next to him."[1]
In 1923, Radkevich retired due to age. He died in 1930.
Personal life
Radkevich was a member of the Russian Orthodox Church. Although his last name is spelled universally as "Radkevich," all his relatives bore (and still bear) the surname Rodkevich (Ukrainian: Родкевич), the Ukrainian spelling of the Russian "Radkevich."
Radkevich's wife was Elena Ivanovna Rodkevich nee Linovitskaya (1859-1935), the daughter of an Imperial Russian Army colonel, who acquired a
Radkevich's two eldest children were his daughters Inna Evgenievna Dushkevich nee Rodkevich (21 June 1883–1965) and Kira Evgenievna Rodkevich (25 September 1884, Saint Petersburg — 1935). Kira was educated at the Kherson girls' gymnasium and lived in Leningrad in the 1930s. She committed suicide in 1935 after the arrest that year of her mother and her eldest brother, Vadim. She was rehabilitated on 6 September 1989 by a decision of the Leningrad prosecutor's office.
Radkevich's eldest son, Vadim Evgenievich Rodkevich (13 June 1886, Tsarskoye Selo – 19 May 1937), graduated from the Second Moscow Cadet Corps. During World War I he served as an officer in the Imperial Russian Army. In the 1930s he lived in Leningrad. Deemed like his mother a "particularly dangerous element" by the Soviet government, he was arrested on 17 March 1935 and sent to Orenburg for five years. On 26 September 1936 he was arrested again in Orenburg. On 3 March 1937, he was sentenced by the Special Conference of the NKVD to five years in prison for participating in a counter-revolutionary organization and was imprisoned at Buzuluk, where he died. He was rehabilitated on 29 February 2008 by the decision of the prosecutor's office of St. Petersburg.
Radkevich's second son, Igor Evgenievich Rodkevich (13 October 1888—?), also graduated from the 2nd Moscow Cadet Corps, and then the Tomsk Technological Institute. In 1911, he was expelled from the Russian Empire until 1913 for participating in a strike at the Tomsk Technological Institute. In World War I he served as an officer in the Imperial Russian Army.
Rodkevich's youngest son, Gleb Evgenievich Rodkevich, (20 June 1892–1929), graduated from the Łódź Classical Gymnasium and the 2nd Moscow Cadet Corps. He participated in World War I from 1914, first as a staff captain, then as a captain of the Life Guards of the 2nd Artillery Brigade, and he was awarded with St. George Sword for bravery by Order No. 689 of the Russian 11th Army of 10 November 1917. During the Russian Civil War he fought in the White Army, serving from 1918 to 1920 first as the commander of an artillery battery, then as the commander of a division. In 1920 he was arrested by the Bolsheviks, transferred to Moscow, and imprisoned in Butyrka prison. At the end of 1920, he was sentenced to imprisonment until the end of the Russian Civil War and was detained at the Novospassky Monastery. On 23 May 1924 he was sentenced to two years in prison and served time in the Solovki prison camp. He was rehabilitated on 10 April 1992 by a decision of the prosecutor's office of the Leningrad Military District.
Awards and honors
- Order of Saint Anna, Third Class, with Swords and Bow (13 July 1877)
- Order of Saint Vladimir, Fourth Class, with Swords and Bow (28 May 1880)
- Order of Saint Stanislaus, Second Class (26 February 1886)
- Order of Saint Anna, Second Class (1 February 1887)
- Order of Saint Vladimir, Third Class (15 May 1899)
- Order of Saint Stanislaus, First Class with Swords (11 June 1905)
- Order of Saint Anna, First Class, with Swords (8 October 1905)
- Golden Weapon for Bravery (7 April 1906)
- Order of Saint Vladimir, Second Class (6 November 1911)
- Order of St. George, Fourth Class (22 September 1914)
- Order of the White Eagle with Swords (25 October 1914)
- Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky with Swords (25 December 1915)
References
Footnotes
- ^ Plaskov, G. D., Под грохот канонады (Under the Roar of the Cannonade), Military Publishing, 1969., p. 98.
Bibliography
- "Evgeny Aleksandrovich Radkevich". «Russian army in a Great war» project. (in Russian)
- Биография Е. А. Радкевича на сайте Русская Императорская Армия Archived 2019-02-13 at the Wayback Machine. (in Russian)
- Биография Е. А. Радкевича на сайте «Хронос». (in Russian)
- Фотографии с Е. А. Радкевичем на сайте РГАКФД. (in Russian)
- Краткие биографии родственников Е. А. Радкевича на сайте «Заклеймённые властью». (in Russian)
Further reading
- Волков С. В. Офицеры российской гвардии: Опыт мартиролога. — М.: Русский путь, 2002. (in Russian)
- Журнал «Разведчик», 1914 год, № 1250. (in Russian)
- Каменский М. П. Гибель ХХ корпуса. — Петербург: Гиз, 1921. (in Russian)
- Керсновский А. А. История Русской армии. — М.: Голос, 1992—1994. (in Russian)
- Левицкий Н. А. Русско-японская война. — М.: Изд-во Эксмо, Изографус; СПб.: Terra Fantastica 2003. (in Russian)
- Пласков Г. Д. Под грохот канонады. — М.: Воениздат, 1969. (in Russian)