COALITIOPJ VARFARE D'J!:Ii.IG TXE ALLIED 1YTER'IE:iTIOP.i

IN HORTII RUSSIA, 1915-1919

A t h e s i s p r e s e n t e d t o t h e Facul 'q of t h e U.3. Army Command and General. S t a f f ' Colle,qe i n p a r t i a l

f u l f i l l m e n t of t h e requi rements f o r t h e degree

IUSTER OF I I ILITARY ART A!!3 SC1E::CE

by

BRUCE S. EEALS, 3IM,USA 9.h., Auburn U n i v e r s i t y , 1974

F o r t Leavenviorth, !imsas 1981

MASTER OF MILITARY ART AND S C I E N C E

THESIS APPROVAL PAGE

Name of candidate Bruce S . Beals , hWJ. USA

T i t l e of t h e s i s C o a l i t i o n Warfare During The A l l i e d

In t e rven t ion i n North Russia , 1918-1919.

Approved by:

Thes is Committee Chairman

. -t.--. Member, Graduate Facul ty

Member, Consulting Facul ty

Accepted t h i s /$d day of & 1981 byD i r e c t o r , Graduate Degree Programs.

The opinions and conclusiions expressed he re in a r e those of t h e s tuden t au thor and do no:t n e c e s s a r i l y r ep resen t the views o f t he U.S . Army Command and General S t a f f College o r any o t h e r govern- ment agency. (References t o t h i s s tudy should include t h e fore- going s ta tements . )

C O A L I T I O N WARFARE D U R I N G THE ALLIED INTERVENTION I N NORTH

RUSSIA, 1918-1919, by Major Bruce S . Bea l s , I N , 105 pages ,

Two months before World War I ended, t he P res iden t of t he United S t a t e s , along w i t h t he l e a d e r s of Great B r i t i a n , France, I t a l y , and s e v e r a l o t h e r A l l i e d n a t i o n s , committed nea r ly 20,000 s o l d i e r s t o w a r i n North Russia. Almost a yea r a f t e r t h e a r m i s t i c e on t h e Western Front A l l i ed t roops were s t i l l f i g h t i n g i n t he snowy wastes of a far o f f , s t r a n g e l a n d , f o r unc lea r and ambiguous reasons.

T h i s t h e s i s examines t h e background t o t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n , t he r e l a t i o n s h i p s between t h e A l l i e s , t he A l l i e d m i l i t a r y opera- t i o n s , and the reasons f o r the u l t i m a t e f a i l u r e of t h e North Russian Expedi t ionary Force. The s tudy focuses on the deci- s i o n s t h a t l e d t o t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n a t Archangel, t h e command r e l a t i o n s h i p s between t h e pr imary m i l i t a r y and p o l i t i c a l p lay-ers, and the impact o f the unique c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f each o f t h e A l l i e d f o r c e s on t h e conduct of combat ope ra t ions a g a i n s t t h e Bolsheviks.

Source ma te r i a l f o r t h i s s tudy has been taken from t h e accounts o f American, B r i t i s h , and Canadian o f f i c e r s , a f t e r - a c t i o n re-p o r t s , and u n i t h i s t o r i e s . Other information comes from French, Canadian , Aus t r a l i an , Engl ish, and American sources .

The impact o f t he extremes of weather, vas tnes s of t h e country, ub iqui tous na tu re of t he enemy, l e n g t h of supply l i n e s , l a c k of f i r e suppor t , confusion of t he command s t r u c t u r e , and d i s -t i n c t motives of each of t he Al l i ed f o r c e s a l l combined t o s p e l l t h e i n e v i t a b l e f a i l u r e of t he A l l i e s i n North Russia. T h i s t h e s i s s c r u t i n i z e s each of t hese elements and concludes by d iscuss ing those c r u c i a l f a c t o r s t h a t in f luenced the coa l i - t i o n warfare e f f o r t .

1IAPS:

Xllie.: S x p e d i t i o n s t o !!cssiz 1918-1920.

P-rea o f O;;erat.ion - Archangel Provi r ice

i I C G C E - i.

N! '

A L L I E D EXPEDITIONS TO RUSE

1918 - 1920

(West P o i n t Atlas o f American Wars)

-In t roduc t ion

I n 1959 Nikita Khrushchev said i n Los h g e l e s ,

"We remember the g r i m days when American s o l d i e r s went t o our s o i l , headed by t h e i r g e n e r a l s t o he lp our klhite Guards combat t h e new revo lu t ion . . . A l l t h e c a p i t a l i s t c o u n t r i e s of Europe and America marched on ou r country t o s t r a n g l e the new revolu-tion.. .Never have any of ou r s o l d i e r s been on American s o i l , bu t your s o l d i e r s wer on Russian s o i l . Those a r e t h e f a c t s . " ?

Overshadowed by the te rmina t ion of t h e F i r s t World War,

t h e Bolshevik Revolut ion, t he League o f Nations deba te , and

P r e s i d e n t l;Jilsonfs post-war p o l i t i c a l problems, t h e North

Russian Expedi t ion has been viewed as a sideshow t o 'the

"Great Warffand has rece ived l i t t l e a t t e n t i o n . The e n t i r e

ep isode , from t h e dec i s ions t h a t l e d t o the i n t e r v e n t i o n

i n e a r l y 1919 t o t he evacuat ion of f o r c e s i n the f a l l of

1 9 1 9 , w a s c h a r a c t e r i z e d by extremes of motive, p e r s o n a l i t y ,

t e r r a i n , and weather , Thc? m i l i t a r y ope ra t ions i n the

Archangel reg ion proved t o be as d i f f i c u l t as any i n modern

h i s t o r y . F ight ing i n extreme c o l d , seemingly endless for-

e s t s of f i r and p i n e , and faced w i t h l i t t l e or no hope of

resupply o r re inforcement , t he A l l i e s b a t t l e d t o su rv ive

a g a i n s t t h e b r u t a l Russian elements as wel l as numerical ly

s u p e r i o r Sov ie t f o r c e s . These f a c t o r s , combined w i t h t h e

almost impossible command r e l a t i o n s h i p s , d ive r se p o l i t i c a l

cons ide ra t ions , and e s s e n t i a l d i f f e r e n c e s i n s o c i a l and

c u l t u r a l t r a d i t i o n s , l e d t o a campaign wrought with over-

optimism, n a i v e t e , ignorance, and p e r i o d i c despe ra t ion .

The seeds o f resentment and l ack of coopera t ion between the

A l l i e s were p l an ted i n the misinformation and absence of

o b j e c t i v e and d i r e c t i o n centered around t h e purposes given

f o r t he i n t e r v e n t i o n . These s e p a r a t e and v a r i e d motives ,

coupled w i t h a bewilder ing command r e l a t i o n s h i p were u l t i -

mately re f lec . ted i n t h e conduct of m i l i t a r y ope ra t ions . To

a g r e a t e x t e n t , t h e success or f a i l u r e of t h e A l l i e d c o a l i -

t i o n was determined before the f i rs t s o l d i e r s tepped ashore

at Archangel.

T h i s t h e s i s focuses on the r e l a t i o n s h i p s between the

A l l i e d m i l i t a r y f o r c e s involved i n the rdorth Russian expe-

d i t i o n and those elements of t he r e l a t i o n s h i p s t h a t u l t i -

mately con t r ibu ted t o t h e outcome of t he c o a l i t i o n e f f o r t

a g a i n s t t h e S o v i e t s . One method of judging t h e f i n a l

r e s u l t s of t h e c o a l i t i o n endeavor would be t o cons ider t h e

campaign i n the con tex t o f v i c t o r y or d e f e a t . If such a

method is s e l e c t e d , then the a s s o c i a t i o n of t he American,

French, and o t h e r n a t i o n a l f o r c e s under the command of

B r i t i s h o f f i c e r s should be regarded as an a b j e c t f a i l u r e .

The Al l i ed f o r c e s d i d n o t accomplish t h e i r ass igned missions

of l i n k i n g up wi th the Czechoslovakian Corps and subsequent ly

c r e a t i n g a m i l i t a r y atmosphere i n which the a n t i a o l s h e v i k

f o r c e s could d e f e a t t he Sov ie t s . The u l t i m a t e evacuat ion

of a l l A l l i ed f o r c e s from North Russ ia i n l a t e 1 9 1 9 , and the

ensuing v i c t o r y of t h e Red f o r c e s s e r v e s t o emphasize t h e

degree of d e f e a t s u f f e r e d by the A l l i e s .

2

If the f i n a l a p p r a i s a l i s based on t h e success or

f a i l u r e of p l a toons , companies, and i n d i v i d u a l s t o overcome

d i f f e rences i n language, t a c t i c s , equipment, a n d combat

exper ience , i n a h o s t i l e l and , then the A l l i e d e f f o r t should

be assessed as a resounding accomplishment.

T h i s t h e s i s a t t empt s t o l o o k beyond the more obvious

problems normally a s s o c i a t e d wi th c o a l i t i o n warfare . Nat ional

i n t e r e s t s , i n t e r n a t i o n a l p o l i t i c s , and p a t r i o t i c chauvinism

a l l have an important p a r t t o play i n any mul t i -na t iona l

m i l i t a r y ope ra t ion . Perhaps more important than these m a n -

i f o l d elements a r e the i n d i v i d u a l , seemingly i n s i g n i f i c a n t

i n c i d e n t s , p e r c e p t i o n s , and circumstances t h a t i n f l u e n c e t h e

u l t i m a t e outcome of an engagement, b a t t l e , campaign, or war.

The o b j e c t i v e s of t h e A l l i e d i n t e r v e n t i o n seem t o be as ~~~ ~ ~~~~~ ~ ~~~ ~.~~

numerous as t h e n a t i o n a l f o r c e s who p a r t i c i p a t e d . 'With the

Bolshevik Revolution o f November, 1917 , and the subsequent

s ign ing o f t he Trea ty o f Brest-Litovsk i n March, 1918, t he

A l l i e s saw d i s a s t e r around the corner . The t r e a t y between

t h e Germans and the nevr r evo lu t iona ry government would

r e l e a s e an es t ima ted one hundred and for ty-seven German and

Austrian Div i s ions f o r duty on the 'Western Front . Winston

C h u r c h i l l , then B r i t i s h Ll inis ter o f Munitions, t o l d the

Imper ia l War Cabine t , "Above a l l t h i n g s r e c o n s t i t u t e t h e

f i g h t i n g f r o n t i n t h e E a s t . . . I f we cannot. . .no end can be

d iscerned t o t h e w a r . We must no t t ake 'No' f o r an answer

e i t h e r from America or from Japan. It2

3

Another cons ide ra t ion was t h e A l l i e d war m a t e r i a l t h a t

had been provided t o t h e Russian government p r i o r t o the

Bolshevik Revolution. T h i s huge s t o c k p i l e of equipment and

s u p p l i e s was supposedly s t o r e d i n warehouses and dumps i n

Archangel and was vulnerable t o cap tu re by German t roops

ope ra t ing from Finland.

Add i t iona l ly , t h e r e was t he ques t ion of the Czechoslo-

vakian Corps . This u n i t , once p a r t o f t he Imperial Russian

Army, had been i s o l a t e d i n Russia a f t e r t h e f a l l o f t he Czar

and had begun a march t o Vladivostok i n March, 1918, f o r t he

purpose o f redeploying t o the Western Front . This i d e a was

f u l l y supported by t h e A l l i e s , e s p e c i a l l y the French. By

May, 1918, t he Czechs were i n c o n f l i c t wi th the Sov ie t s

along the Trans-Siberian railway. Although the Czech Corps

c o n t r o l l e d long s e c t o r s o f the r a i l r o a d , they were s p l i t

i n t o two elements , s epa ra t ed by Sov ie t f o r c e s , The p l i g h t

of t h e Czech Corps and the desire on t h e p a r t of t he A l l i e s

t o in t roduce t h e Corps i n t o a c t i o n of t h e Western F r o n t was

o f f e r e d as another reason f o r i n t e r v e n t i o n .

Among the A l l i e d t r o o p s t h e r e seemed t o be a good dea l

of confusion as t o t h e i r purpose i n North Russia. The

announcements o€ t h e m i l i t a r y a u t h o r i t i e s va r i ed and d i d n o t

c l e a r l y s t a t e t h e o b j e c t o f t he exped i t ion . B r i t i s h General

Headquarters publ ished a pamphlet for t roop consumption wi th

t h e fol lowing reasons f o r the A l l i e d a c t i o n i n North Russia:

1. To form a m i l i t a r y b a r r i e r i n s i d e which the Russians could reorganize themselves t o d r i v e Out t h e German invader .

A

2 . To assist the Russians t o reorganize t h e i r army by i n s t r u c t i o n , s u p e r v i s i o n , and example on more reasonable p r i n c i p l e s than t h e o l d regime a u t o c r a t i c d i s c i p l i n e .

3 . To reorganize t h e food s u p p l i e s , making up the d e f i c i e n c i e s from a l l i e d c o u n t r i e s . To o b t a i n f o r expor t t he s u r p l u s s u p p l i e s of goods, such as f l a x , t imber , e t c . To f i l l s t o r e s h i p s br inging food, thus main-t a i n i n g the economical sh ipping p o l i c y ,

American f o r c e s were informed t h a t they were s e n t t o

Russia " to guard m i l i t a r y s t o r e s which may subsequent ly be

needed by Russian f o r c e s , and t o render such a i d as may be

acceptab le t o t h e Russians i n the o rgan iza t ion of t h e i r own

se l f -defense . ,,4

F i n a l l y , because t h e r e seemed t o be continued confu-

s i o n as t o why A l l i e d s o l d i e r s were dying i n North Russ ia ,

B r i t i s h Headquarters i s sued t h i s proclamation:

There seems t o be among t h e t roops a very i n d i s t i n c t i d e a of what we a r e f i g h t i n g f o r here i n North Russia. T h i s can be explained i n a few words. We a r e up a g a i n s t Bolshevism, which means anarchy pure and s imple. Look at Russ ia a t t h e p re sen t moment. The power i s i n t h e hands of a few men, mostly Jews, who have succeeded i n br inging the country t o such a s t a t e t ha t o r d e r i s nonexis ten t . Bol-shevism has grown upon the uneducated masses t o such an e x t e n t t h a t Russia i s d i s i n t e g r a t e d and h e l p l e s s , and t h e r e f o r e we have come t o he lp h e r g e t r i d o f t he d i s e a s e t h a t is e a t i n gh e r u p . We a r e no t here t o conquer Russia , bu t we w a n t t o he lp he r and s e e h e r a g r e a t power. When o r d e r is r e s t o r e d he re , we s h a l l c l e a r o u t , bu t only when we have a t t a i n e d our o b j e c t , and t h a t i s t h e r e s t o r a t i o n of Russia.

T h i s w a s t he d i r e c t oppos i te of wha t t he Americans had

been i n s t r u c t e d . It i s no t s u p r i s i n g t h a t f r i c t i o n , sus-

p i c i o n , and misunderstanding between t h e A l l i e s w a s developing

5

from the start. The confusion and ambiguity over t h e a c t u a l

purpose of t he i n t e r v e n t i o n would become one more f a c t o r i n

a s e r i e s of i s s u e s t h a t would l e a d t o a f r u s t r a t i n g and

d i f f i c u l t campaign.

The answer t o t h e ques t ion of success or f a i l u r e seems

t o be found i n t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p s tha t formed between t h e

A l l i e s . The p e r s o n a l i t i e s , n a t i o n a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , and

customs of t h e i n d i v i d u a l s and u n i t s involved i n the expe-

d i t i o n p lay a most important r o l e i n t h e subsequent develop-

ment of t h e A l l i e d a f f i l i a t i o n .

Among the commanders t h e r e vras incompetence as we l l as

b r i l l i a n c e ; genuine c a r e for t he we l fa re of t he t roops as

w e l l as c a l l o u s n e s s ; and profess iona l i sm as wel l as ca ree r -

i s m . For t h e i n d i v i d u a l s o l d i e r t h e r e were, among o t h e r

problems, ques t ions about medical c a r e , mail from home,

drunken commanders, p r o f i t e e r i n g among r e a r detachment t r o o p s ,

and cons t an t j ea lousy over t h e q u a n t i t y and q u a l i t y o f food

and supp l i e s .

The s t r a i n of combat a g a i n s t a f a n a t i c a l enemy, i n a

wretched land , i gnoran t o f purpose and f i g h t i n g i n t h e sha-

dow of t h e a r m i s t i c e on the \Jestern F ron t , r e s u l t e d i n

mut in i e s , d i sobedience , and i n t e r - A l l i e d r e l a t i o n s t h a t were

s t r a i n e d t o t h e l i m i t . Nerves and pa t i ence were s t r e t c h e d

t o the p o i n t t h a t t h e American commander requested t h a t t he

' , . . .p resent f o r c e be e n t i r e l y rep laced as e a r l y as p r a c t i -

c a b l e . . . a i t h an adequate fo rce commensurate w i t h i t s miss ion ,

6

suppl ied and equipped s o t h a t i t can ope ra t e i n an American

, I 6way.

Chapter t h r e e explores the major combat a c t i o n s between

September 1918 and t h e evacuat ion from Archangel i n October ,

1 9 1 9 . The focus of t h i s chap te r i s n o t on "Grand S t r a t egy"

o r d e t a i l e d r e p o r t s of f r i e n d l y and enemy o r d e r o f b a t t l e .

The small u n i t a c t i o n s and r e l a t i o n s between the l e a d e r s and

subord ina tes of t hose p la toons and companies a r e the s u b j e c t

of t h i s examination. The engagements on the Archangel-Vologda

r a i l r o a d , The Vaga River , and the Dvina River are recounted,

f o r i t was t hese b a t t l e s t h a t accounted f o r t h e major i ty of

A l l i e d combat i n t e r a c t i o n or, as i t i s c a l l e d today, i n t e r -

o p e r a b i l i t y . T h i s t h e s i s draws on t h e d e s c r i p t i v e accounts

of s e v e r a l of t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s i n these a c t i o n s . Through

t h e i r reminiscences one is a b l e t o feel t h e admira t ion , d i s -

g u s t , camaraderie , and f r u s t r a t i o n born ou t of t he need t o

t r u s t your l i f e t o a s o l d i e r o f another n a t i o n a l i t y , i n a

s t r a n g e land , under t h e most arduous circumstances, i n a

mutually misunderstood war. It was t hese i n t e r p e r s o n a l

t r a n s a c t i o n s , on t h e s o l d i e r t o s o l d i e r l e v e l , t h a t played

such a key role i n t h e success o r f a i l u r e of c o a l i t i o n com-

b a t i n t h e exped i t ion t o Archangel.

Although t h e war wi th Germany ended on 11 November, 1918,

t he l as t A l l i e d f o r c e d i d n o t depa r t Archangel u n t i l 12 Octo-

b e r , 1919. A l b e i t t h e o r i g i n a l j u s t i f i c a t i o n s f o r in te rven-

t i o n were centered on Germany, no t one German p r i s o n e r was

7

taken i n DJorth Xussia, nor was t h e r e any evidence of German

involvement i n the combat a c t i o n s a g a i n s t t he A l l i e s . I n

t h e e n t i r e conduct o f t h e North Russian expedi t ion t h e r e

was no f i r m connect ion between t h e S o v i e t s and t h e Germans.

The r e l a t i o n s h i p s between t h e A l l i e d p a r t i c i p a n t s were

formed out of t he p o l i t i c a l and m i l i t a r y a c t u a l i t i e s of t h e

moment, and r e s u l t e d i n a con t rad ic to ry and confusing s e t

of circumstances wi th in which t h e A l l i e d mi l i ta ry commanders

were forced t o a c t . V i th t h i s i n t r o d u c t i o n , we shall

approach the ques t ion of c o a l i t i o n warfare during the

A l l i e d i n t e r v e n t i o n i n North Russia , and the background t o

t h a t i n t e r v e n t i o n .

8

Motes

1. N e w York Times, 20 September, 1959.

2 . E.M. Ha l l iday , The lanorant Armies, Award Books, New Yorlc, 1964, Pg. 16.

. . . 3 . A.,Chronic le r (John Cudahy), Archangel- The American War

With Russia_, A.C. NcClurg & Go., Chicago, 1924, P a . 31.

5. Cudahy, Op. C i t . , Dg. 31-32.

6 . George Evans Stewar t , Stewart Papers , Report o f Expedi-t i o n t o t h e I h r m a n Coast, Spec ia l C o l l e c t i o n s , United S t a t e s H i l l t a r y Academy Library , West P o i n t , New Y O P k .

9

CHAPTER 1

Background t o the I n t e r v e n t i o n

I n o rde r t o understand the r e l a t i o n s h i p s between the

Al l i ed f o r c e s during t h e expedi t ion t o North Russia , one must

look a t the circumstances and dec i s ions t h a t l e d t o the com-

mitment of m i l i t a r y f o r c e s .

The e n t i r e complexion o f the war i n Europe changed on 3

March 1918, when a Sov ie t Government de l ega t ion , headed by

Leon Trotsky, nego t i a t ed a sepa ra t e peace wi th Germany. Since

Movember, 1917, when t h e Bolshevik dominated Sovie t government

took power from t h e Kerensky government, t he A l l i e s had been

i n a cons tan t s t a t e o f exaspera t ion over Sov ie t a c t i o n s . The

s e c r e t t r e a t i e s between Russia , B r i t i a n , France, I t a l y , and

Japan were published by the new Sovie t government. The war

d e b t , incured by t h e C z a r i s t government, was repudiated. But

t h e most s e r i o u s breach between the Sov ie t s and A l l i e s was t h e

s e p a r a t e peace s igned a t Brest-Litovsk. The r ami f i ca t ions O f

t h i s a c t were c r i t i c a l t o the Al l i ed cause. The Germans would

now be ab le t o t r a n s f e r approximately f o r t y d i v i s i o n s from t h e

Eas t e rn t o the Western f r o n t . T h i s would allow t h e Germans t o

enjoy a numerical s u p e r i o r i t y of n e a r l y 2 1 7 d i v i s i o n s t o the

A l l i e d s t r e n g t h of 173 d i v i s i o n s , o r a l i t t l e more than a two

m i l l i o n man d i f f e rence . 1

I t w a s apparent t o Al l i ed m i l i t a r y l e a d e r s , and p o l i t i c i a n s ,

t h a t t he s i t u a t i o n was grave. I n l a t e hIarch, 1918 the GemanS

10

began an o f fens ive on the Xestern Front t h a t succeeded i n

pushing the B r i t i s h back nea r ly t h i r t y miles . More than eve r ,

i t appeared c r i t i c a l t o r e c o n s t i t u t e an Eas te rn Front and s t o p

t h e t r a n s f e r of German t roops and m a t e r i e l from Russia. A s

t h e f u l l impact of t h e g r e a t German o f fens ive began t o be f e l t ,

t he planners and p o l i t i c i a n s had v i s i o n s of German p r i s o n e r s

being re leased i n Russia t o r e i n f o r c e u n i t s on the :destern

Front . These v i s i o n s became nightmares as t h e A l l i e s pondered

t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f t hese p r i sone r s being armed and equipped

w i t h t he very weapons and s u p p l i e s t ha t t he A l l i e s had provided

t o t h e Czar’s A r m y , s u p p l i e s then s t o c k p i l e d at a number of

Russian p o r t c i t i e s . Winston Church i l l , then B r i t i s h Min i s t e r

of Munitions, t o l d the Imperial War Cabinet tha t : “Above all

t h ings r e c o n s t i t u t e t he f i g h t i n g f r o n t i n the E a s t . . . If we

cannot . . . no end can be discerned t o t h e w a r . ” 2

There were o t h e r reasons f o r i n t e r v e n t i o n bes ides t h e poten-

t i a l mi l i t a ry advantage t h e Germans would enjoy w i t h t he s h i f t

of t roops from East t o West, and the p o s s i b l e s e i z u r e by t h e

Sov ie t s of t h e prec ious w a r s u p p l i e s at Archangel and Vladivos-

tok. There w a s t h e p l i g h t of t he Czechoslovak Corps.

I n t h e sp r ing of 1918, fol lowing t h e s ign ing of t he Treaty

of Brest-Litovsk, a f o r c e of approximately 40,000 Czech s o l d i e r s

was making i ts way from t h e Ukraine t o Vladivostok. T h i s u n i t ,

which had been f i g h t i n g the Germans as p a r t of t h e Imper ia l

Russian A r m y , was t o become part of an i n t e r e s t i n g and absurd

p lan tha t would even tua l ly be a key element of the A l l i e d i n t e r -

11

ven t ion i n Archangel. For t h e moment, t h e Czech l eg ion vas

making f o r the p o r t o f Vladivostok where i t would embark f o r

France and the i les te rn Front , v i a t h e United S t a t e s . I t was

intended t h a t upon arrival i n France the Czechs would t ake

t h e i r p lace i n t h e t r enches under French command.

The Czech s i t u a t i o n presented s e v e r a l i n t e r e s t i n g prob-

lems, no t t he l e a s t o f which was geographic . The Czech Corps

w a s spread ou t along the Trans-Siberian Rai l road , from Kiev t o

Vladivostok, w i t h l i t t l e o r no communication between sub-uni t s .

The prospec t of an armed, organized m i l i t a r y u n i t , p rev ious ly

loyal t o t he Czar , t r a n s i t i n g the h e a r t o f Russia posed a d i f -

f i c u l t p o l i t i c a l ques t ion t o the S o v i e t s . On 1 4 I k r c h , 1918,

t h e Sov ie t Government gave o rde r s t o a l low the Czechs t o depa r t

f o r t he P a c i f i c Russian p o r t , On 26 €larch t h e o rde r s were

a l t e r e d . The Czech Legion w a s e a s i l y t h e l a r g e s t group o f

armed and d i s c i p l i n e d t roops i n Russia at the time. Also, most

of i t s s e n i o r o f f i c e r s were Russian and suspected t o be anti-

Bolshevik. The f o r c e could become a t h r e a t t o the new Sov ie t

l e a d e r s h i p , e s p e c i a l l y i f i t l i nked up w i t h t he Cossacks o r the

Japanese i n S i b e r i a .

The amended o r d e r s , i s sued by Joseph S t a l i n , P e o p l e ' s

Commissar for N a t i o n a l i t i e s , s t a t e d t h a t t he Czechs were t o

move t o Vladivostolc, "not as f i g h t i n g u n i t s b u t as groups O f

f r e e c i t i z e n s , t ak ing wi th them a c e r t a i n q u a n t i t y o f arms f o r

s e l f defense a g a i n s t t he a t t a c k o f coun te r - r evo lu t ion i s t . , ,3

Between 26 i k r c h and 1 4 A p r i l t he Czechs moved eastward i n

a r a t h e r sporadic manner, t h e i r r a t e o f transit depending on t h e

w h i m s and a t t i t u d e s o f t h e l o c a l Sov ie t a u t h o r i t i e s . Some l o c a l

l e a d e r s ignored Moscow.l's i n s t r u c t i o n s while o t h e r s a t tempted

t o enforce them t o the l e t t e r . The movement was f u r t h e r com-

p l i c a t e d by the Japanese landing at Vladivostok on 5 A p r i l .

Lenin assumed t h a t t he Japanese a c t i o n s were p a r t o f an A l l i e d

invas ion and ordered t h a t t he Czechs no t be allowed t o proceed.

On 10 Apr i l Lenin was informed tha t t h e Japanese landings were

completed and two days l a t e r he canceled the o rde r h a l t i n g the

Corps' movement. 4

On 14 Apr i l t h e Czechs decided t h a t no more arms would be

surrendered and t h a t t hose v o l u n t a r i l y surrendered previous ly

would be recovered. They also intended t o ob ta in c o n t r o l of t he

t r a i n s and f u e l i n those a r e a s where t h e i r f o r c e s were loca ted .

The Czech l e a d e r s h i p informed t h e Sov ie t s t h a t t h e only reason

f o r t h e i r movement t o Vladivostok w a s t o g e t t o France and he lp

t h e A l l i e s , and t h a t t h e Corps r e t a i n e d "old b r o t h e r l y f e e l i n g s

towards Russian democracy." But, " i n the event of i r r e s p o n s i b l e

elements engaging i n ope ra t ions a g a i n s t Czech u n i t s , they w i l l

be met wi th due r e s i s t a n c e . " 5

lilhile t he Czechs were i s s u i n g t h e i r r e s o l u t i o n t o the

S o v i e t s , t he B r i t i s h and French were debat ing how the Czechs

should be employed. The French d e s i r e d t o cont inue wi th the

o r i g i n a l p lan t o t r a n s p o r t t he Czechs from Vladivostok t o France.

The B r i t i s h , who were t o f u r n i s h the t r a n s p o r t , doubted t h a t t h e

e f f o r t requi red was r e a l l y worth i t and f e l t tha.t t h e Corps

might play a more important r o l e w i th in Russia. Options included

moving n o r t h t o : . ;urmas;c ac:Archanse l or c o n c e n t r a t i n g i n

S i b e r i a . Another p l a n c a l l e d for a l i n k cg m'th a Cossack

l e a d e r such as Semenov, o p e r a t i n a i n t h e E a s t . G HOT;: t h e s e

B r i t i s h p l a n s would c o u n t e r t h e renewed German p r e s s u r e on t h e

! ies te rn F ron t was n o t v e r y c l e a r . A s a consequence, Clemen-

ceau d i s a g r e e d w i t h t h e S r i t i s h proposal and pushec: for adop-

t i o n o f t h e French plan.

On 1 A p r i l t h e B r i t i s h biar O f f i c e informed t h e Czechoslo-

vak !,!ational C o u n c i l , t h e p o l i t i c a l r e p r e s e n t a t i v e o f t h e

Czech l e g i o n , t h a t i t had doub t s abou t t he f e a s i b i l i t y o f g e t -

t i n 2 t h e Corps from S i b e r i a t o Europe v i a t h e Uni ted S t a t e s ,

and proposed t h a t t h e Czechs be used t o assist t h e J a p a n e s e i n

S i b e r i a or t o p r o t e c t t h e S o r t h ?,ussian Yhite Sea p o r t s frorn

German a c t i o n s . Both t h e Czech Z a t i o n a l Counci l and t h e

French opposed t h i s i d e a .

A t t h e end of A p r i l an i m p o r t a n t change i n the French

p o s i t i o n prom3ted t h e Permanent i . : i l i t a r y R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f

The Supreme !Jar Counc i l t o d i scuss t h e q u e s t i o n o f t h e Czech

Corps. The r e s u l t o f t h e counci l meet ing was a J o i n t ?!ate

(P!o. 2 5 ) s t a t i n g t h a t t he fas tes t way t o remove t h e Czech

Corps xas t o s end t h o s e t r o o p s t h a t had n o t pas sed e a s t of

Oms!: t o h r c h a n z e l and !.Iurmanslc 7;fhile t h e remainder o f the Czech

fo rces shou ld c o n t i n u e t o V l a d i v o s t o k . The n o t e added t h a t

w h i l e t h e Czech t r o o p s were : ? /a i t ing t o embar!< f o r France t h e y

c o u l d be p r o f i t a b l y employed i n de fend ing Archamgel, ITurma?sk,

and t h e ::urnan Railway. A s a r e s u l t of t h i s a p p r e n t A l l i e d

14

compromise, a B r i t i s h i n s t r u c t o r s taff was s e n t t o Plurnanslc

i n Iflay t o t r a i n and o r g a r i z e the Czechs f o r t he subsequent

mission of defending t h e North Eussian p o r t s . General Tasker

H. B l i s s , t h e American r e p r e s e n t a t i v e at these d i s c u s s i o n s ,

abs t a ined from t ak ing a p o s i t i o n p r imar i ly because of P res i -

dent Wilson 's view t h a t t he Permanent Mili tary Representa t ives

should n o t become involved i n p o l i t i c a l ma t t e r s . 7

I n a d d i t i o n t o the i n s t r u c t o r s ta f f , the B r i t i s h ass igned

a m i l i t a r y mission of 560 o f f i c e r s , a machinegun company, an ,

i n f a n t r y company, and an engineer company, all t o be gar r i soned

a t I~lurmanslc. The t roops would guard the p o r t while t r a i n i n g

was conducted f o r t he Czechs. Th i s f o r c e , cornnanded by LIajor-

General Maynard, was composed of t roops belonging t o a phys ica l

ca tegory s o low as t o r ende r them u n f i t f o r du ty i n France. A t

t h e same t ime, General Idaynard saw h i s command as more t h a n j u s t

a t r a i n i n g and s e c u r i t y cadre . When ready t o take the f i e l d , "

General !laynard wrote , " the whole fo rce was t o endeavor t o j o i n

hands with the pro-al ly f o r c e s i n S i b e r i a , and then t o assist in

opening up a new f r o n t a g a i n s t Germany. There was a s u b t l e

y e t i r r evocab le change i n the o r i g i n a l concept of t he movement

of t he Czechs Corps t o t h e Western Front and t he opening of a

second f r o n t talcins p l a c e , What was i n i t i a l l y intended t o be a

b a s i c movement of f o r c e s from one t h e a t e r of ope ra t ions t o

another t h e a t e r was t ak ing on a much broader meaning. Not only

'were A l l i e d f o r c e s being introduced i n t o North Russia and S i b e r i a ,

but t he ques t ion of who these f o r c e s would be f a c i n g Pras i n t h e

15

minds of both t h e A l l i e s and the new Sov ie t l e a d e r s .

The h ighes t body developing A l l i e d p o l i c y on t h e Czech-

Sov ie t ques t ion vras the Permanent M i l i t a r y Representa t ives o f

t he A l l i e d Supreme tlar Council. The p e r s o n a l i t i e s o f t h i s

body warrant a t t e n t i o n f o r i t vras t hey who formulated the

i n t e r v e n t i o n i n North Russia as p a r t of t h e grand s t r a t e g y f o r

d e f e a t i n g t h e Germans. They a l s o c r e a t e d t h e genera l r e s e r v e ,

decided on t h e d i s p o s i t i o n of t he American Army, and determined

sh ipping p r i o r i t i e s t o dea l v r i t h t h e German submarine t h r e a t .

The men ass igned as Permanent M i l i t a r y Representa t ives

were d i s t ingu i shed gene ra l o f f i c e r s who n o t only were arnong

t h e most famous of t h e i r c o u n t r i e s ' martial l e a d e r s bu t were

also l o y a l t o t h e i r p o l i t i c a l mas ters . They met t h r e e t imes

each week i n V e r s a i l l e s and d iscussed methods for prosecut ing

t h e war. It was at t h e s e meetings t h a t t h e concept of a Russian

i n t e r v e n t i o n was born.

The members inc luded France ' s Idaxime 'Veyand, f u t u r e Com-

manding General o f t h e French Army and an important f i g u r e i n

t h e d e f e a t and su r rende r of t he French i n 1940. Great B r i t a i n ' s

r e p r e s e n t a t i v e vras General Henry H . IJi lson. Xilson vrould become

Chief of The Imper ia l S t a f f and l a t e r be a s s a s s i n a t e d by I r i s h

t e r r o r i s t s i n 1 9 2 2 . Luig i Conte Cadorna sat i n for I t a l y , bu t

because h i s country was a l a t e e n t r a n t on t h e A l l i e d s i d e , and

he had been t h e Commanding General of The I talian Army at t h e

time of its d e f e a t i n October, 1 9 1 7 , he had l i t t l e t o o f f e r at

t h e s e s s i o n s . L ieu tenant General Tasker H . B l i s s was 'iloodrow

16

' : i ilson's r e p r e s e n t a t i v e . B l i s s had graduated from ::jest P o i n t

i n 1875 and was cons idered an i n t e l l e c t u a l w i th in the Army.

IHe had been promoted d i r e c t l y from major t o b r i g a d i e r gene ra l

dur ing the Spanish-American War ca.nd as Chief-of-Staff had

planned t h e mob i l i za t ion of t he American Army i n 1917. 9

The s u b j e c t o f an A l l i e d i n t e r v e n t i o n i n Russ i a began t o

be d iscussed by the Permanent X i l i t a r y Representa t ives Tvrhen

i t became obvious t h a t a s e p a r a t e peace between the Germans

and t he Russians vras i n t h e making. General bleyganci suggested

t h a t a Japanese f o r c e , superv ised by an A l l i e d Commission,

should occupy t h e Trans-Sib'erian Railway from Vladivostok t o

Narbin, This a c t i o n would deny Germany access t o A l l i e d sup-

p l i e s , as well as a sea p o r t on the P a c i f i c coas t of Russia .

B l i s s informed S e c r e t a r y o f 'Jar Newton D . Baker o f Ileygand's

proposal . "The i n t e r v e n t i o n , I t wrote B l i s s , "over a l a r g e p a r t

of S i b e r i a , of a l a r g e Japanese Army, r a i s e s the ques t ion of when

and how they can be made t o g e t ou t . I have o f t e n thought t h a t

t h i s war, i n s t e a d o f being the 1.ast one, may be only t h e breeder

of s t i l l more. tllo I n r e t r o s p e c t , t hese were prophet ic words by

a concerned and i n t e l l i g e n t o f f i c e r .

The recommendation vras forwarded t o the Supreme War Council

f o r P res iden t Wi lson ' s approval . :Wilson r e j e c t e d t h e proposal

because he f e l t t h a t a u n i l a t e r a l Japanese move i n t o S i b e r i a

would only se rve t o antagonize the Russians.

The B r i t i s h were eager t o in t e rvene i n Russia . They knew

t h a t a world-vide Sov ie t sponsored p r o l e t a r i a n r evo lu t ion would

1 7

have a d i r e i n p a c t on t h e empire, e s p e c i a l l y Ind ia . I n l a t e

1 9 1 7 the B r i t i s h began sending l i m i t e d suppor t t o s e v e r a l anti-

3olshevilc elements i n Russia , and the impos i t ion o f €:laynard's

f o r c e at Murmansk in su red B r i t i s h c o n t r o l o f the primary start-

ing p o i n t f o r any i n t e r v e n t i o n i n Northern European Russia. The

only problem was t h e l a c k of t roops needed t o c a r r y ou t an in-

t e r v e n t i o n i n a country as v a s t as Russia. Sorflehow, Yoodrow

Vlilson, P res iden t of t he one na t ion t h a t had not been b l e d white

by f o u r years o f t r e n c h warfare, must be coaxed, c a j o l e d , or

i n t imida ted i n t o provid ing American men f o r a m i l i t a r y i n t e r -

vent ion i n North Russia.

!Yilson's m a n i n Russia was hnbassador David R . F ranc i s .

During t h e early p a r t of 1918 Francis had become i n c r e a s i n g l y

concerned about t he removal o f A l l i e d s t o r e s from Archangel by

t h e Sov ie t s . The Reds d i d no t pay for t he s u p p l i e s nor d i d they

inform the A l l i e s f o r what purposes they were s e i z i n g the mater-

i e l s . F ranc i s informed the Sov ie t a u t h o r i t i e s t h a t t h e A l l i e s

d e s i r e d t h a t t he s t0 re sb . e r e t a i n e d f o r use on the Vestern Front ,

bu t he rece ived no r ep ly from Xoscoe. These m i l i t a r y s u p p l i e s ,

which included small arms, s h e l l s of all t y p e s , t r u c k s , a r t i l l e r y ,

barbed wi re , copper vrire, and metal p i g s for t he product ion o f

a r t i l l e r y , were needed on the Vlestern Front , and t h a t , p l u s the

f ac t t h a t t h e S o v i e t s apparent ly had no i n t e n t i o n o f paying for

t he goods they took , i r k e d F r a n c i s . The s e n i o r diplomat was

concerned tha t the s t o r e s would fall i n t o the hands O f t h e

Gerrflans and would be used a g a i n s t t h e A l l i e s . He a l s o viewed

18

t he Sovie t a c t i o n s as nothing more than common th i eve ry and

f e l t s t r o n g l y t h a t t he A l l i e s should in t e rvene t o p r o t e c t

t h e i r i n t e r e s t s . A t t he end of Nay, 1918, Vice Counsel Fe l ix

Cole s e n t a d i spa tch from h i s pos t at Archangel t o t h e S t a t e

Department d i scuss ing h i s opinion of an i n t e r v e n t i o n i n Diorth

Russia. Cole f e l t t ha t he was c l o s e t o t h e pulse of t he people

and vras d i s tu rbed by those who were c a l l i n g f o r m i l i t a r y a c t i o n .

On 1 June Cole s e n t t h e following message:

In t e rven t ion w i l l begin on a small s c a l e but r;rith each s t e p forward w i l l grol;r i n scope and i n i ts demands f o r s h i p s , men, money, and m a t e r i a l s . . . The ground f o r landing an in t e rven t iona ry force has not been proper ly prepared. The n o r t h of Russia is nowhere near as pro-Ally as i t might be . . . In t e rven t ion i n the no r th of Russia w i l l mean t h a t we must feed the e n t i r e n o r t h of Russia containing from 500,000 t o 1,500,000 populet ion, ... In t e rven t ion can not reckon on a c t i v e support from Russians. A l l t h e f i g h t is out of Russia...€!o c h i l d can ever be convinced t h a t it i s spankedf o r i t s own b e n e f i t . . . . I n t e r v e n t i o n w i l l a l i e n a t e thousands o f anti-German Solsheviks. . .Every fo re igninvasion t h a t has gone deep i n t o Russia has been swallowed up. . . In t e rven t ion w i l l n o t engage t h r e e Germans i n Russia t o every one Al ly . . . I n t e rven t ion w i l l b e l i e all our promises t o the Russ ian people made s i n c e October 2 6 , 1917. We w i l l l o se t h a t moral s u p e r i o r i t y over Germany which i s a tower of s t r e n g t h t o us everywhere,. ..And a f t e r a l l , un less we a r e t o invade the whole of Russ ia , we shall no t have a f f e c t e d t h a t p a r t of Russia where the popula-t i o n is massed, mainly the c e n t e r and the south where the i n d u s t r i a l , rflininn and a g r i c u l t u r a ls t r e n g t h of Russia l i e s . . . . Yi

Ambassador Franc is received a copy of Co le ' s d i spa tch b u t

d i d no t accept h i s p o i n t of view b a s i c a l l y because C o l e ' s

opinions ran counter t o h i s own recommendation t o in t e rvene .

A s i t happened, t h o d i spa tch from Cole d i d no t a r r i v e i n Vash-

ington u n t i l 1 9 J u l y , a f t e r the f i n a l dec i s ion t o in t e rvene

19

had a l r e a d y been made. On 3 June t h e Permanent t ;I i l i . tary

R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s i s s u e d J o i n t TJote No. 31 which d e a l t wi th

t h e s i t u a t i o n a t Xurmansk and Archangel . The n o t e a d d r e s s e d

conce rn Over F i n n i s h c o o p e r a t i o n wi th Germany and F i n n i s h de-

s i g n s on Nor th Russ i a . I t also d i s c u s s e d t h e a v a i l a b i l i t y o f

t he Czech Corps t o s e r v e i n t h e Nor th and t h e p o s s i b i l i t y of

t h e Germans e s t a b l i s h i n g a submarine base i n t h e E.lurmanslc

a r e a . Host i m p o r t a n t l y , i t s t r e s s e d the need t o keep t h e

r e g i o n o u t of German hands th rough the i n t r o d u c t i o n of Allied

f o r c e s . On the assumpt ion t h a t a c e r t a i n number of Czechs

would be avai lable for d u t y a t Archange l , t h e B r i t i s h , French ,

I t a l ians , and Un i t ed S t a t e s would s e n d four t o s i x b a t t a l i o n s ,

wi th equipment and s u p p l i e s , t o t h e a r e a of Ikmm.nslc/Archangel.

The e x p e d i t i o n was t o be under B r i t i s h command.

Genera l B l i s s c o n c u r r e d w i t h t h i s Note based on h i s under-

s t a n d i n a of V i l s o n ' s c u r r e n t p o s i t i o n r e g a r d i n g t h e o c c u p a t i o n

o f t h e n o r t h e r n p o r t s . !.iilson s u p p o r t e d e f f o r t s t o keep t h e

Germans o u t and t o s e c u r e A l l i e d !Jar m a t e r i e l , b u t he opposed

t h e conduct o f m i l i t a r y o p e r a t i o n s from t h e p o r t a r e a s i n t o t h e

i n t e r i o r of R u s s i a . He also under s tood t h a t A l l i e d p a r t i c i p a -

t i o n would b e a p p r o s i m a t e l y e q u a l t o i n s u r e t h a t .the Un i t ed 1 2S ta t e s f o r c e ~ r o u l d be no more than one o r two b a t t a l i o n s .

The ? r e s i d e n t ' s p o s i t i o n , as p e r c e i v e d by B l i s s , vras b e s t

e x p r e s s e d by an e a r l i e r message from !:'ilson i n which h o s a i d :

" . . . R u s s i a ' s m i s f o r t u n e s impose upon u s a t t h i s t ime t h e o b l i -

g a t i o n of unslwerving f i d e l i t y t o t he p r i n c i p l e o f Russ i an ter-

20

r i t o r i a l i n t e g r i t y and p o l i t i c a l independence. 9u.t t he Tres-

i d e n t is h e a r t i l y i n sympathy with any p r a c t i c a l m i l i t a r y

e f f o r t which can b e made a t and from r,;urmanslc or A r c h a g e l ,

bu t such e f f o r t s should proceed i f a t all upon the su re sym-

pathy of t he Russian people and should no t have as t h e i r u l t i -

mate o b j e c t any r e s t o r a t i o n o f t he a n c i e n t regime or any o t h e r

i n t e r f e r e n c e wi th t h e p o l i t i c a l l i b e r t y of t h e Russian g e o p l e . ,113

I t should be understood t h a t along w i t h the vague i n s t r u c -

t i o n s from his Cormacler-in-Chief, B l i s s had no s e n i o r p o l i t i c a l

r e p r e s e n t a t i v e at t h e Council t o coord ina te wi th o r c o n s u l t ,

A f t e r t h e F i r s t Sess ion of t he Supreme 'Tar Counci l , i n Novem-

b e r , 1917, 'Vilson re fused t o be per sona l ly represented and a l l

d i scuss ions of t h e P r ime Minis te rs had t o be s e n t t o !.lashington

f o r 1!/ilson's approval , a f t e r t h e i r adopt ion by the o t h e r s . T h i s

arrangement was no t only d i f f i c u l t f o r B l i s s bu t made for an

environment of d i s t r u s t , confusion and misunderstanding. T h i s

arrangement he lps t o exp la in the time l a g i n communications

between B l i s s and WLlson and demonstrates how easy it was f o r

t he B r i t i s h and French t o p r e v a i l on t h e ques t ion of t he Horth

Russian i n t e r v e n t i o n .

On 1 June, two days before the Supreme Vlar Council ended

i t s debate on J o i n t Plote No. 31, Vilson au thor ized d i v e r t i n g

t roops from France t o 1.lurmansk. He a l s o detached the USS

Olympia, Dewey's f l a g s h i p at Idanila Eay, t o Uorth Russian

waters . Sec re t a ry of War Newton D . Baker, i n one of t h e few

disagreements he eve r had wi th 'Vlilson, l a t e r s t a t e d : "I

2 1

convinced him t h a t i t ( t h e d ive r s ion of t r o o p s ) was unv i se ,

b u t he t o l d me t h a t he f e l t ob l iged t o do i t anyhow because

t h e B r i t i s h and French 'viere p re s s ing i t on h i s a t t e n t i o n s o

hard and he had re fused s o many of t h e i r r eques t s that they

were beginning t o f e e l he was no t a good a s s o c i a t e , much l e s s

a good Ally." 14

Wilson had p rev ious ly expressed some wi l l i ngness t o send

American t roops t o North Russia i f Foch agreed t o the d iver -

s i o n . Lord Milner , t he Sec re t a ry of S t a t e f o r Var i n the D r i -

t i s h government, informed i:!ilson t h a t he had spoken 'with Foch

and that he was aware o f t he importance of t h e North Russian

ma t t e r and was w i l l i n g t o a l l o w t h e d i v e r s i o n of American

f o r c e s . i3ilner f u r t h e r asked that an American fo rce of t h r e e

b a t t a l i o n s of i n f a n t r y and machineguns, two b a t t e r i e s of a r t i l -

l e r y , t h r e e companies of eng inee r s , a n d t h e requi red medical

and a d m i n i s t r a t i v e suppor t be d ispa tched . l5 The f o r c e would

be under B r i t i s h command.

:>:hen Sec re t a ry of \!ar Balter and t h e Chief of S t a f f , Peyton

C . March, saw I.:Iilner's r eques t t o Wilson t h e i r f i rs t r e a c t i o n

vJas s u r p r i s e t h a t B l i s s had accepted the p rov i s ion f o r B r i t i s h

command o f t h e A l l i e d f o r c e . They were also s t r o n g l y opposed

t o the employment of such a l a r g e American f o r c e . Baker s e n t

a telegram t o E l i s s asking about t h e ques t ion of command and

i n s t r u c t i n g B l i s s t o pe r sona l ly speak t o Foch about t he d iver -

s i o n of American f o r c e s f r o m the ::Jestern Front . 1:fhen B l i s s

l e a rned that Xi lne r had increased the l e v e l of American t roop

2 2

commitment from t h e one t o two b a t t a l i o n s proposed a t the L'ar

Counci l , he was i nd ignan t . 3liss saw Foch, as i n s t r u c t e d , and

l ea rned t h a t because of t he improving s i t u a t i o n on the :Vestern

Front t he d ive r s ion of one o r two b a t t a l i o n s would no t h inde r

t he American e f f o r t i n France. 16

The argument about t h e s i z e o f t h e American fo rce cont in-

ued throughout June, bu t c u r i o u s l y , t he ques t ion of comma?ci

d i d no t o f f i c i a l l y come up aga in . From 2 through 4 J u l y the

Supreme ';Tar Council met a t V e r s a i l l e s where they heard a r e p o r t

on the North Russian s i t u a t i o n from S i r E r i c Geddes, F i r s t L o r d

of The Admiralty. His r e p o r t expressed t h e views of Major

General Freder ick C . Poole, t he o v e r a l l E r i t i s h commander i n

Korth Russ i a . Poole favored expansion o f t h e e n t i r e plan for

an i n t e r v e n t i o n and f e l t t h a t an A l l i e d occupation was neces-

s a r y i n o r d e r t o r e t a i n "bridgeheads i n t o Russia from the

n o r t h from which f o r c e s can even tua l ly advance r ap id ly t o t h e

c e n t e r of Russ i a , . .., , I7

B l i s s , who had been susp ic ious o f t he B r i t i s h i n t e n t i o n s

all a long , was appal led by Poole's concept o f t he ope ra t ion and

sro- te Sec re t a ry o f ':!ar Baker t h a t t he B r i t i s h p r o j e c t was too

ambi t ious and vague. B l i s s f e l t t h a t t he b e s t t he A l l i e s could

hope for was t o hold onto the nor thern p o r t s during win te r anci

s t a t e d t h a t : "Our A l l i e s want the United S t a t e s t o commit it-

self t o exped i t ions t o var ious p l aces where, a f t e r t he war, 'tlley

alone will have any s p e c i a l i n t e r e s t s . . .,318 Nei ther Baker o r I.Iarch saw any value i n a North Russian

2 3

e x p e d i t i o n b u t t h e P r e s i d e n t n e v e r t h e l e s s dec ided t o honor

t h e B r i t i s h r e q u e s t f o r t h r e e i n f a n t r y b a t t a l i o n s . aalcer

l a t e r sa id: "The e x p e d i t i o n was nonsense from t h e beg inn ing

and al'ways seemed t o me t o be one o f t h o s e s i d e s h o w born o f

d e s p a r a t i o n and o r g a n i z e d f o r the purpose o f keeping up home

mora le . . ..I 1 1 9

On 1 7 J u l y V i l s o n f o r m a l l y n o t i f i e d the A l l i e d govern-

ments o f h i s d e c i s i o n . The Uni ted S t a t e s government, t h e

message so lemnly s t a t e d ,

...y i e l d s , also t o t h e judgement o f the SupremeCommand i n t h e m a t t e r o f e s t a b l i s h i n g a small f o r c e at Hurmansk, t o gua rd t h e m i l i t a r y s t o r e s at Kola, and t o make it s a f e f o r Xuss ian f o r c e s t o come t o g e t h e r i n o rgan ized b o d i e s i n t he n o r t h . B u t . . . i t c m go no f u r t h e r . . . . I t i s n o t i n a p o s i t i o n , and has no e x p e c t a t i o n o f be ing i n a p o s i t i o n , t o t a k e p a r t i n o r g a n i z e d i n t e r v e n t i o n i n adequa te f o r c e from.. .i.:urnanslc and Archangel . I t . . . w i l l . . . f e e l o b l i g e d t o withdraw t h e s e f o r c e s , i n o r d e r t o acid them t o t he f o r c e s at the w e s t e r n f r o n t , i f t h e p l a n s . .. s h o u l d deve lop i n t o o t h e r s i n c o n s i s t e n t w i t h t h e p o l i c y t o which t h e Government o f t h e Uni ted S t a t e s f e e l s c o n s t r a i n e d t o r e s t r i c t i t s e l f . 2o

The P r e s i d e n t had dec ided t o p r o v i d e t h r e e b a t t a l i o n s of

i n f a n t r y and t h r e e companies o f e n g i n e e r s t o t h e Nor th Russ i an

e x p e d i t i o n a r y f o r c e . The m a t t e r was c l o s e d . T h i s , i n e s s e n c e ,

was how approx ima te ly 4,500 American men o f t h e 339th I n f a n t r y

Regiment, the 337th F i e l d H o s p i t a l and t h e 310th Eng inee r B a t -

t a l i o n , under B r i t i s h command, became i n v o l v e d i n one of the

most f u t i l e a d i l l - a d v i s e d mi l i ta ry o p e r a t i o n s i n A n e r i c m

h i s t o r y ~

'Xilson t<rould, l a t e r i n t h e summer O f 1 9 1 8 , c i r c u l a t e an

24

aide-memoir6 amonf; t he A l l i e s i n which he attempted t o j u s t i f y

h i s d.ecision t o send AmerFcan t roops i n t o Russia. T h i s paper,

eloquent and sometimes c o n t r a d i c t o r y , pu t f o r t h t h e ar&ument

t h a t :

M i l i t a r y a c t i o n is admissable i n Russ ia , as the Government of t h e United S t a t e s sees the circum- s t a n c e s , only t o he lp the Czecho-Slovaks consol-i d a t e t h e i r f o r c e s and g e t i n t o success fu l coop- e r a t i o n with t h e i r S l a v i c Itinsmen and t o s t eady any e f f o r t s a t self-government or se l f -defense i n which the Russians themselves may be w i l l i n g to accept a s s i s t a n c e . Vhether from Vladivostok or from Murmansk and Archangel, t he only l e g i t i m a t e o b j e c t f o r which American or A l l i e d t roops can be employed, i t submi ts , i s t o guard m i l i t a r y s t o r e s and t o render such a id as may be acceptab le t o the R u s s i a n s i n the o rgan iza t ion of t h e i r OVM se l f -defense . . . t h e United S t a t e s i s glad t o con-t r i b u t e t h e small fo rce at i t s d i s p o s a l f o r t h a t purpose, 21.

2 5

NOTES

1. Richard G o l d h u r s t , The Midnight Yar, :Iew York, 1.IcGral.i-H i l l , 1970 , pg . 3 .

2 . E.N. H a l l i d a y , Op. C i t . , p y . 1 6 .

3. James Bunyan, I n t e r v e n t i o n , C i v i l ',;ar and Communism i n R u s s i a , April-December 1918, Jocuments anu i , l a l ;e r ia l s , B a l t i m o r e , Johns Hopkins P r e s s , 1 Y 3 G , P z . 81.

4. John S i l v e r l i g h t , The V i c t o r s ' Dilemma, New Y O r K , ::ley-b r i g h t and T a l l e y , 1970, Pg . 34.

5 . m n y a n , Op. C i t . , Pg. 83.

6 . Richard H . U l l m a n , AnRlo-Soviet R e l a t i o n s , 1917-1921, Vol. I: I n t e r v e n t i o n and The War, P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y

7. George F. Xennan, Soviet-American R e l a t i o n s , 1917-1920, V o l . 11: The 3 e c i s i o n t o I n t e r v e n e , P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1958, P g . 146.

8. Hajor Genera l S i r C . Maynard, The ;.Iurmans!c Ven tu re , Hodcer and S tough ton , N . D . , Pg . 1 2 .

9 . G o l d h u r s t , Op. C i t . , Pg. 4.

10. Peyton C . March, The PIation a t !!Jar, New York, l )ouhleuay, Doran, 1932, Pg. 100.

11. P a p e r s R e l a t i n g t o t h e F o r e i z n R e l a t i o n s o f t h e Un i t ed S t a t e s , 1918, R u s s i a . U.S. Government P r i n t i n , ? O f f i c e , Vashington D . C . , 1932 , Vol 11, Pg. 477-404.

1 2 , Kennan, Op. C i t . , Pg. 365-367.

13, Ray S t a n n a r d Bake r , Vioodrow V i l s o n : L i f e and L e t t e r s , VOl 8: A r m i s t i c e . New Yoric. Doubleday. Doran, 1 9 3 9 , P,g. 1'ic

14. I b i d . , Pg. 147.

15. Kennan, O p . C i t . , Tg . 368.

1 6 . F r e d e r i c k P a l m e r , rlevrton i). Baker: America a t !.:ar, D O d d , Head & C o . , NeIw York, 1931, '$01 11, Pg. 317.

17 . Fore ign R e l a t i o n s , 1918, R u s s i a , Vol 11, Op. C i t . , ? g . 243, 246.

26

IS. Palmer, 0 9 . C i t . , ?g . 319.

1 9 . B a k e r , Vol 8 , Op. C i t . , Pg. 284.

2 0 . Fore ign R e l a t i o n s , 1918, S u s s i a , V o l . TI, O p . C i t . , P,g. 287-290 .

2 1 . S t a n l e y S . J a d o s , Documents on Russian-American R e l a t i o n s , Washington, D . C . , C a t h o l i c i l n i v e r s l t y 01' America, 1Y65, Pg. 51-52.

27

CHAiiTER 2 . .

The R e l a t i o n s h i p s 3etween T h e A l l i e s

The 339 th I n f a n t r y Regiment served :.rith The Nor th Russian

E x p e d i t i o n a r y Force f o r r e l a t i v e l y i n c o n s e q u e n t i a l r e a s o n s .

The conman<er o f t h e 3 3 9 t h , Colonel George Evans Stewart , !./as

one o f t h e few American o f f i c e r s iwho had s e r v e d i n Alaska, m d

t h e reg iment was c o n v e n i e n t l y encamped f o r e n b a r k a t i o n on t h e

London-Aldershot C a n a l i n S u r r e y , England. The u n i t had been

r e c r u i t e d at F o r t C u s t e r , T:!ichigan i n 1915 and was composed

p r i m a r i l y o f d r a f t e e s and o f f i c e r s from the mid-western p a r t

o f America. The 339 th was p a r t o f t h e 8 5 t h D i v i s i o n an6 when

t h e y a r r i v e d i n England i n t h e summer o f 1918, i t was w i t h t h e

h i g h and n o b l e m i s s i o n o f k i l l i n g Germans on t h e b a t t l e f i e l d s

o f France.

On 6 h g u s t , 1918, a message marked " S e c r e t " a r r i v e d f o r

S t e w a r t from t h e !iar O f f i c e i n London. I t informed him tha t

t h e 339th I n f a n t r y Iiegiment, 1st B a t t a l i o n , 310th Eng inee r

Regiment, 337 th F i e l d H o s p i t a l Company, and 337 th Ambulance

Company s h o u l d be p r e p a r e d for immediate s e r v i c e i n Russia.

It also i n s t r u c t e d S t e w a r t t h a t :

KO animals will be talcen, b u t a l l v e h i c l e s , s a d d l e r y , and h a r n e s s w i l l accompany t h e u n i t s : t h e u n i t s w i l l m o b i l i z e i n acco rdance w i t h D r i t i s h m o b i l i z a t i o n s t o r e t a b l e s ; B r i t i s h p e r s o n a l equipment w i l l be i s s u e d and any American equipment w i l l be t u r n e d i n at A l d e r s h o t ; t h a t Russian r i f l e s , Russ ian p a t - t e r n Lewis g u n s , and Russ i an p a t t e r n C o l t machine- guns w i l l be i ssuec : i n l i e u of t h e E n f i e l d r i f l e s t h a t t h e Americans have t r a i n e d vrit:?; and American o f f i c e r s w i l l be i s s u e d , f r e e o f c h a r g e , a s p e c i a l

2 8

: .iixter k i t a t the cocmence7ent o f t h e :.;inter i n tk,c theeti-e o f o:x?rc.tions. 1

O n 9 l .u~ustC o n l i d e n t i a l ai-der i:o . 1, >;eadquarters ,

icam Ex?e c! itionary Force , f o rxally 6esizi1at e c! the hneric2.3

u n i t s as >art o f the IIurmansk Expeditionawy "orce zu?d a:cFoifi-Le~

Colonel Stewar.l; as t h e corni:,andinz o i ' f i c e r o f the detac?:::.ent.

It ?rovic:,ec! t h e 3 3 9 t h I v i t h 1 , C O O pa i r s of skis, 5,500 ;airs

o l srAovishoes, 7,500 wir,ter r , occas ins , 50 lon; U.i, c) ,c r o s s cct s---

50 i c e t o n z s , ancl s l i ? - o n z a r n e n t s of ?.:bite n a . t e r i e l t o r x k e

the t r o o 9 s l e s s C. i s t inguishaSle on tlie sno'vi. 2

Stewart an2 h i s nen vere not happy a b o u t having t o g i v e

wp t h e i r 2ersona.l %e&ro r t h e E n f i e l e r i f l e s . One o f f i c e r no ted :

' Y o s t d i s h e c r t e n i n g of a l l irere t h e R u s s i m r i f l s s i s s u e d to t he i n f a n t r y . The;. '.;ere x m u f a c t u r e r ; i n o u r c o u n t r y Sy t h e mi l l io I> for t h e use of t l k ? I m p e r i a l A m y ; Lon2 , aw!c:.:arG J i e c e s , v i t h f l i n s y b o l t :-,echanisrns that f r e c u e n t l y jm:nec;. These l;rea-,ons h a 2 n e v e r 'seen tarseted by the Anerica>.s, and t h e i r s i g h t i n g s y s t e m 1mre c a l c u l a t e d i n R u s s i m paces inste2.d o f y a r d s . They had a loir v e l o c i t y and .;;ere thoroughly u n s a t i s f a c t o r y . The u n r e l i a b i l i t y of the r i f l e l p r i a e arm o f t h e i n fan -t r y , was an i rcgor tan t f a c t o r i n t h e l o m r i n g o fA l l i e d mora le . 113

? r i o r t o d e p a r t i n g f o r :!orth Russ i a -the order r e q u i r i n x the

t u r n - i n of p e r s o n a l gea r was r e s c i n d e d , b u t the Russizn :jea-

pons ;./ere i s s u e d .

The o t h e r members of General ?ool I s All iec! E : q e d i t i o n a r g

Force viere ZL~I i n t e r e s t i n g c o l l e c t i o n of f ixh t i i ?g ineil f r 0 i . G

s e v e r a l c o u n t r i e s . The a r i t i s h c o n t i n g e n t c o n s i s t e c of an

i n f a n t r y 3ri2a.de numbering n e a r l y 4500 men. The b r i g a c e was

made up p r i m a r i l y of 2oyal S c o t s and "sritish s o l d i e r s c l a s s i -

f i e d as cate,Tory C 3 . T h i s c l a s s i f i c a t i o n meant t h e y viere

u n f i t f o r t h e a rduous t a s k s o f f i e l d o p e r a t i o n s , but c o u l d

per form g a r r i s o n o r g x r d d u t y . !.;any o f t h e s e men wore

!.:ound s t r ipes won i n France and Selgiurn.' Also i n c l u d e d i n

t h e 3 r i t i s h s t r e n g t h vas a grou? o f t h r e e o f f i c e r s and s i x

s e r g e a n t s from t h e A u s t r a l i a n I m p e r i a l Fo rces . These men had

been s p e c i a l l y chosen and t r a i n e e t o a c t as a d v i s o r s t o t h e

'Yhite Xussian Army troops. Later i n t h e ca!npaign, o v e r oxe

hundred A u s t r a l i m s :iould vo lun- t ee r f o r d u t y i n Kor th R u s s i a 5 as p a r t o f t h e Dritis!i Army.

The B r i t i s h o f f i c e r s were o f tYxo b a s i c a r o u s s . One con-

s i s t e d of o f f i c e r s ,who had s e e n combat on t h e i J e s t e rn F r o n t

and were i n Nor th R u s s i a because they twere p r o f e s s i o n a l mil-

i t a r y men o r l oved a d v e n t u r e . The o t h e r group ~wasmade ug

o f o f f i c e r s viho had n o t s e e n conba t a d viewed t h e ?:orth

R u s s i m o p e r a t i o n as an o p p o r t u n i t y t o make a nane f o r them-

s e l v e s . A f t e r all, the :iar sppeared t o be comin.? t o an end

and t h i s might be t h e i r o n l y chance t o g a i n a r e p u t a t i o n t h a t

mi,c$it prove v a l u a b l e a f t e r the 7:rar.

The Frer.ch e lement i n c l u d e d approx ima te ly 970 f:len o f t h e

2 i s t C o l o n i a l I n f a n t T y s a t t a l i o n , v i t h t v o m a c h i n e p n sec-

t i o n s an6 tvo s e c t i o n s of s e v e n t y - f i v e 7 . i l l i m e t e r a r t i l l e r y

attachec' : . The 2 i s t C o l o n i a l vas a d i s t ingu i s ! i ed u n i t tha%

30

had s e e n sorne o f t h e most v i o l e n t f i g h t i n s on the ' ? e s t e r n

F ron t at Chemin d e s 3arnes i n 1917. The u n i t had been so

decirnatec! t h a t i t !ras d e a c t i v a t e d i n France anc! t hen r e a c t i -

v a t e d f o r t h e Kor th Russ ian e x p e d i t i o n . :;any of t he riren v:ho

j o i n e d the 2 1 s t b e f o r e d e p a r t i n g France had j u s t a r r i v e d frcrn

t h e Middle E a s t and vere i n v e r y poor h e a l t h . 6

From Canada came t h e 1 6 t h S r i g a d e Canaciian Fie16 A r t i l l e r y .

The Br igade c o n s i s t e d o f t h e 6 7 t h and 6 8 t h F l a t t e r i e s v i t h s i x

e i g h t e e n pounders each . The ariga.de had 497 o f f i c e r s and men

who had , f o r t h e most p a r t , s e r v e d i l l F rance . These volun-

teers had an e x c e l l e n t r e p u t a t i o n as gunners and harcl f i . z h t e r s . 7

The f o r c e also i n c l u d e d 860 S e r b s , 1 , 1 8 9 Italians, 449 P o l e s ,

5 J a p a n e s e , 43 Icoreans, 262 Ch inese , and an unrecorded number

o f South Africans, L i t h u a n i a n s , F i n n s , anci a n t i - a o l s h e v i k

White Russians.' One e s t i m a t e p u t s t h e t o t . a l number of A l l i e d

Forces at 1 , 4 2 4 o f f i c e r s and 25,GlG e n l i s t e d men.' The con-

bat o r d e r o f b a t t l e i n c l u d e d one regirnent o f American infan-

t r y , one b r i g a d e o f a r i t i s h i n f a n t r y , one b a t ' t a l i o n of French

i n f a n t r y , two s e c t i o n s o f French a r t i l l e r y and machineguns,

one b r i g a d e of Canadian a r t i l l e r y , one armored t r a i n , one 155

and one 77 m i l l i m e t e r Russiarr holvii tzers, f o r a t o t a l o f abou t 109,500 f r o n t l i n e t roops .

The 339 th and i t s s u p p o r t t r o o p s d e p a r t e d England aboard

t h e Tydeus, IJagoya, and Somali on 27 Augus t , 1918. An in-

f l u e n z a ep idemic broke o u t at once and n e a r l y 500 of t he

5 ,500 Americans were s i c k . A f t e r e i , gh t days at: sea a11

51

3 2

Stewart t o d i v e r t h i s fo rce t o Archangel . 12

Upon the i r a r r i v a l , t h e Americar.s found t h e s i t u a t i o n some-

what d i f f e r e n t from what t h e y had expec ted . On 4 September t h e

t r o o p s h i p s docked at Archangel and on t h e 5th, t h e 2nd J a t t a l i o n ,

339 th I n f a n t r y T,e,yiment e s t a b l i s h e d t h e i r camp at Smolney B a r -

r a c k s . The 3 rd B a t t a l i o n carne a s h o r e the same day and moved

Out if i imediately for t h e r e l i e f o f t h e f o r c e s l o c a t e d on t h e

Archangel-Volosda r a i l w a y . On 7 September t h e 1st Z a t t a l i o n

eiabarlied on two b a r g e s , towed by B r i t i s h t u g s , and moved up t h e

Evina R ive r towards a l i nk -up w i t h B r i t i s h f o r c e s o p e r a t i n g

n e a r Berez ink . 13

The s i c k 'diere unloaded from t h e s h i p s and t r a n s p o r t e d t o

t h e Russian Red C r o s s h o s p i t a l a t Archangel . The American rnedical

o f f i c e r , Kajor J o n a s Lonely, asked t h e B r i t i s h f o r a s s i s t a n c e

b u t ivas t o l d t h a t t h e B r i t i s h h o s p i t a l ~ i o u l dtake o n l y the

American o f f i c e r s and t h e e n l i s t e d Glen would have t o s t a y on

t h e s h i p s . Longly r e f u s e d t o make any d i s t i n c t i o n b e t m e n t h e

o f f i c e r and e n l i s t e d men and informed t h e a r i t i s h that he would

open an American h o s p i t a l . The young medica l o f f i c e r ' s a c t i o n s

'were b locked by t h e s taff o f Genera l P O O l e , based on t h e lack

of Arxrican medica l s u p p l i e s , personnel. , and equipment. Longly

went t o the American Rec! Cross r e p r e s e n t a t i v e i n Archa-igel and

e x p l a i n e d t h e s i t u a t i o n . Almost a t once , t h e deputy co rmis s ion -

er, ?.ir. C . T . ~ Y i l l i a n st u r n e d o v e r f i v e Red Cross h o s p i t a l t r a i n s

t h a t c o n t a i n e d t o n s o f medica l s u p p l i e s t h a t had been s e n t .to

2uss i a p r i o r t o t h e 3olshevi;c Bevo lu t ion . T!;o v o l u n t e e r n u r s e s

33

a ided Longly, one of whom would l a t e r be awarded the Florence

Night ingale Iledal f o r he r s e r v i c e s i n Archangel. 14

A f t e r e s t a b l i s h i n g t h e h o s p i t a l Kajor Longly r a i s e d t h e

American f l a g over i t , i n v i o l a t i o n o f General P o o l e ' s o r d e r s .

Poole had previous ly decreed t h a t on ly the Union Jack would be

flown i n Archangel. >!hen a B r i t i s h staff o f f i c e r appeared a t

t h e American h o s p i t a l and ordered Longly t o haul Cown t h e Stars

and S t r i p e s , Longly produced some armed guards and re fused .

That a c t i o n ended the debate and Longly proved t o be the only

A l l i e d o f f i c e r t o win an argument w i th General Poole concerning 15

which f l a g would be flown.

The c o a l i t i o n r e l a t i o n s h i p g o t o f f t o a rocky s t a r t and

went downhill r a p i d l y . The Americans observed t h a t many of t he

B r i t i s h o f f i c e r s wore the i n s i g n i a of high rank bu t drew pay of

lower grades. This p o l i c y was appa ren t ly t o i n s u r e t h a t t he

B r i t i s h always outranked t h e i r American A l l i e s . The a r i t i s h

promoted s u b a l t e r n s t o Lieutenant Colonel and made s e r g e a n t s i n t o

temporary majors . General Poole wanted t o be c e r t a i n t h a t i f

and when t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n became a l a r g e s c a l e A l l i e d ope ra t ion

t h a t t he Engl i sh would be f i rmly i n c o n t r o l of i t .16

The Americans a l s o complained t h a t t h e B r i t i s h took food

intended f o r the s i c k and wounded and served i t i n the s e r g e a n t ' s

messes. T h i s might have been overlooked except t ha t t h e wounded

were f e d a s t eady d i e t of t e a , jwx, and bread. The s i t u a t i o n

was made worse vihen Colonel Stewart r e c a l l e d an American medical

o f f i c e r f o r r e f u s i n g a S r i t i s h o f f i c e r ' s o r d e r t o have American

34

medical personnel d i g l a t r i n e s f o r t h e 3 r i t i s h o f f i c e r ' s

q u a r t e r s .

There were also charges tha t the B r i t i s h neg lec ted s e v e r a l

Americans and r equ i r ed them t o do o r d e r l y d u t i e s . F i n a l l y ,

Colonel S t e -xwt cour t -mar t i a l l ed one American s o l d i e r f o r

r e f u s i n g t o do scrub work i n a Yritish h o s p i t a l . The es tab-

l ishment o f t he American rece iv ing and convalescent h o s p i t a l s

i n Archcangel cured most of t hese problems.17

The 3rd B a t t a l i o n , 339th I n f a n t r y moved d i r e c t l y from the

s h i p s t o the Archangel-Vologda r a i l r o a d l i n e . The mission o f

t h e 3rd Z a t t a l i o n was t o move south along t h e railroad t o

Obozerskaya and relieve p a r t of t he French 2 1 s t Co l lon ia l 3at-

t a l i o n . Obozerskaya was loca ted approximately 70 miles south

of Archangel. From Obozerskaya the 3rd B a t t a l i o n was t o cont inue

sou th along the r a i l r o a d t o v e r s t 466%. and make con tac t wi th the

French.

When t h e 3rd B a t t a l i o n , commanded by Najor Charles 3 . Young,

contac ted the French B a t t a l i o n , t h e o f f i c e r i n charge came o u t

o f h i s dugout and i n d i c a t e d t h a t he expected a Russian a r t i l -

l e r y a t t a c k a t any moment. LIajor Young ordered the American

t roops d ispersed and began t o r e l i e v e the French of t h e i r p O S i -

t i o n . That n i g h t t h e American's s u f f e r e d t h e i r f i rs t c a s u a l t y

*A v e r s t was .66 o f a mile o r 1 , 1 6 4 yards . Each v e r s t on t h e r a i l r o a d was marked, with the numbers going from south t o n o r t h .

35

of t h e campaign, a s o l d i e r s h o t i n the l e g by a s e n t r y who

f i r e d without wa i t ing f o r a response t o h i s cha l lenge . I t was

a t the p o i n t tha t the doughboys f u l l y r e a l i z e d t h a t : "Guard

duty a t Archangel was aiming now t o be a r e a l war, on a small

s c a l e bu t i n t e n s i v e . " 18

How were these Americans drawn i n t o combat, under B r i t i s h

O f f i c e r s , n e a r l y 100 mi les from Archangel, where, according t o

P r e s i d e n t Wilson, t h e i r d u t i e s were l i m i t e d t o performing

"guard duty"? T h i s ques t ion i s key t o an examination of t h e

r e l a t i o n s h i p between t h e A l l i e s .

The command r e l a t i o n s h i p between Colonel Stewart and Gen-

e r a l Poole w a s b a s i c a l l y e s t a b l i s h e d by P r e s i d e n t \Lt lson 's

dec i s ion t o commit American t roops under B r i t i s h command. T h i s

s i t u a t i o n became c l e a r e r a f t e r t h e Americans a r r i v e d i n Arch- 1

angel . Immediately a f t e r S tewar ts arrival a t Archangel, Ambas-

sador F ranc i s c a l l e d him t o h i s apartment where t h e ambassador

asked Stewart i f he had any o rde r s f o r him. Stewart r e p l i e d

t h a t he d i d not . F ranc i s then asked what o r d e r s Stewart had

rece ived . S tewar t said h i s o rde r s were t o r e p o r t t o General

Poole , t h e commander of t h e A l l i e d Forces. Franc is responded:

' I 1 i n t e r p r e t ou r p o l i c y here . If I should t e l l you n o t t o

obey one o f General P o o l e ' s o r d e r s what would you do?" S tewar t 19r e p l i e d t h a t he would obey F ranc i s .

F ranc i s had con tac t ed t h e S t a t e Department e a r l i e r and

reques ted that the ranking o f f i c e r be pu t Itin c l o s e touch" wi th

him. When t h e S t a t e Department informed General March, Chief

36

of S t a f f , of F r a n c i s ' r eques t , March s t a t e d t h a t he d i d n ' t want

the ambassador t o have anything t o do w i t h t h e t roops . The

S t a t e Department, through Assistant Sec re t a ry of S t a t e Long

informed P r e s i d e n t Wilson of March's a t t i t u d e and i n a subse-

quent War Council meeting, Wilson ordered March t o inform

S t e w a r t t o comply with F ranc i s ' reques t . On 13 September F ranc i s

rece ived a telegram from the S t a t e Department s t a t i n g : "It i s

important t h a t you and Colonel Stewart should keep i n c lose

personal touch. You a p p r e c i a t e , o f course , t h a t i n m i l i t a r y

ma t t e r s Colonel S tewar t is under General Poole. ,,20

The command r e l a t i o n s h i p was f u r t h e r complicated when, on

17 September, S tewar t rece ived a cab le from American P I i l i t a r y

Headquarters i n London i n response t o a r eques t f o r guidance

i n what must have been an ambiguous and c o n t r a d i c t o r y predic-

ament. The cab le s t a t e d :

Reference your telegram following, repea ted f o r your informat ion and guidance. ...f o r t a c t i c a l purposes and f o r a d m i n i s t r a t i v e ma t t e r s invol- ving t h e e n t i r e command he is under the j u r i s - d i c t i o n of A l l i e d Gommanders. Supp l i e s w i l l be fu rn i shed by the E r i t i s h . I n ma t t e r s of i n t e r n a l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n he w i l l be governed

by21our own o r d e r s , r e g u l a t i o n s , and i n s t r u c t i o n s .

On 14 October t h e war o f f i c e r e c a l l e d General Poole t o

England, o s t e n s i b l y t o confer on f u t u r e ope ra t ions . The p r i -

mary reason f o r P o o l e ' s depar ture 'was because Ambassador

F ranc i s had informed the S t a t e Department of P o o l e ' s i n t e r -

f e rences i n Russian p o l i t i c a l affairs and over o p t i m i s t i c re-

p o r t s . The S t a t e Department contac ted t h e B r i t i s h Foreign

Of f i ce and informed them t h a t i f Poole continued t o medcile i n

37

Russian domestic a f fa i r s , "The 'Jnited S t a t e s shall be com-

p e l l e d t o cons ide r 1;rithdrawal of American t roops from B r i t i s h

s u p e r i o r demands.... ,,22

The B r i t i s h could n o t a f f o r d t o have the Americans wi th -

draw at t h i s p o i n t , and rep laced P o o l e w i th Najor General

'Vlilliam Edmund I r o n s i d e as Commander-in-Chief of t he North

Russian A l l i e d Expedi t ionary Force.

On 8 November, 1918, t h ree days be fo re the a r m i s t i c e ,

t h e one man who could have most d i r e c t l y inf luenced t h e r o l e

of American t roops depar ted Archangel. Ambassador F ranc i s

was talcen ill and l e f t Russia f o r a p r o s t a t e ope ra t ion i n

England. His replacement, De!:/itte C l in ton Poole (no r e l a t i o n

t o General Poole) former Charge d ' A f f a i r s i n Finland d i d no t

have the i n f l u e n c e o r a u t h o r i t y of F ranc i s . With the depar-

t u r e of Franc is came t h e t o t a l sub juga t ion of t he American

f o r c e s t o B r i t i s h command a u t h o r i t y .

General I r o n s i d e proved t o be s t r i k i n g l y d i f f e r e n t from

Poole . T o t a l l y dedica ted t o the m i l i t a r y and l i t t l e i n t e r -

e s t e d i n p o l i t i c s , I r o n s i d e s e t about t o p o s i t i o n h i s f o r c e

i n a more f avorab le s t a n c e f o r t h e coming win te r and inevi -

t a b l e Bolshevik a t t a c k s . A s t he new Commander-in-Chief inspec-

t e d h i s A l l i e d f o r c e s he noted t h a t if it were no t f o r t he

l 'untrained cond i t ion of t he United S t a t e s i n f a n t r y i n t h e

Archangel Force", he would no t have been forced i n t o p u t t i n g

t h e C 3 ca tegory Sco t s i n t o the l i n e and could have kept them

f o r Archangel g a r r i s o n duty. *' I-Ie also observed t h a t ;

38

"The United S t a t e s t roops were of f i n e physique, but they had no .experience o f war and when they a r r i v e d t h e i r m i l i t a r y t r a i n i n g :.ras most i n p e r f e c t . They had been drawn from D e t r o i t and had the ad-vantage of possess ing many men of Rus- sian and P o l i s h e x t r a c t i o n , which gave them t h e advantage of having many i n t e r - p r e t e r s , of whom t h e r e was a g r e a t l a c k i n the o t h e r two con t ingen t s , 1124

On one of h i s f irst v i s i t s t o an American u n i t i n t he

f i e l d , I r o n s i d e viewed the doughboys inexperience f i r s t hand.

I n h i s words:

"The whole company was l i n e d o u t , peer ing i n t o the f o r e s t w i th t h e i r arms at the ready. No c l e a r i n g s had been made f o r even a modest f i e l d o f f i r e , I explained t o the company commanrkr what he should do , so t h a t a few s e n t r i e s could watch while t he remain- d e r of h i s men r e s t e d or took t h e i r meals. He s t a r e d a t me i n obvious amazement and then b u r s t ou t vr i th , 'what! , r e s t i n t h i s h e l l i s h bombardment! A t t he moment a few shells were f a l l i n g v ide i n t h e f o r e s t . ~ ~

They had a l o t t o l e a r n , . ,.1125

I r o n s i d e I s dea l ings w i t h Colonel S t em. r t may have i n f l u -

enced h i s opinion of t h e American s o l ~ d i e r . Shor t ly b e f o r e

Poolefsdepa r tu re f o r England and I r o n s i d e ' s assumption of

command, I r o n s i d e v i s i t e d Stcywart w i th the i n t e n t i o n of aslc-

i n g the American co lone l t o assume command of t h e A l l i ed

f o r c e s on t h e railaiay f r o n t . This element was composed o f

Americans, French, and D r i t i s h t roops .

I r o n s i d e found Ste7;iart i n h i s o f f i c e a t the Archangel

Y.M.C.A. A f t e r t h e i n i t i a l g r e e t i n g s , S-teTwart launched i n t o

a s e r i e s or" complaints about h i s problems i n adminis te r ing h i s

troops ':!hen they viere s o widely d i spe r sed . Steyvart a l s o c i t e d

39

t h e lack of a r t i l l e r y , engineers , and medical elements. Iron-

s i d e took t h i s oppor tuni ty t o o f f e r command of the railway

column t o Stewart . The American co lone l sat s i l e n t l y f o r

s e v e r a l minutes, then re fused . He s t a t e d t h a t i f he l e f t

Archangel he would be exceeding h i s i n s t r u c t i o n s . I r o n s i d e

pressed t h e i s s u e , b u t Stewart would n o t budge. The B r i t i s h

commander could n o t understand how a s o l d i e r who had been

awarded The Medal o f Honor f o r heroism during t h e P h i l l i p p i n e

insur rec t ion- the equ iva len t o f The V i c t o r i a Cross could re-

f u s e an o f f e r f o r a combat command. I r o n s i d e l e f t Stewart and

went immediately t o t h e commander of French f o r c e s , Commandant

Lucas, who accepted the o f f e r without h e s i t a t i o n . 26

Stewart appa ren t ly took h i s i n s t r u c t i o n s t o remain i n

Archangel q u i t e l i t e r a l l y . H e v i s i t e d the American u n i t s a t

t h e f r o n t twice only during the e n t i r e North Russian campaign.

H e a t tended the f u n e r a l s e r v i c e f o r t he first American casual-

t i e s on the r a i l r o a d f r o n t and made an inspec t ion t o u r t o t h e

Dvina f r o n t , where he l o s t a mi t ten and accused a j u n i o r o f f i c e r

of s t e a l i n g it . The ma t t e r was s e t t l e d when the mi t ten was

found where i t was dropped by t h e co lone l . 27

Shor t ly a f t e r I r o n s i d e ' s v i s i t t o S tewar t and F r a n c i s ' de-

p a r t u r e for England, Colonel Stewart cabled American Headquar-

t e r s i n London wi th the fol lowing message:

November 14 1918 Men of t h i s command have performed most e x c e l l e n t s e r v i c e under t h e most t r y i n g c l i m a t i c condi t ions o f c o l d , snow, wet and miry marshes ( t u n d r a ) . Having had former s e r v i c e i n A l a s k a I do n o t

40

contemplate v r i t h equanimity t h e e f f e c t on the numerical s t r e n g t h of m y command o f f i e l d s e r -v i c e i n t h e A r t i c under the most p r i m i t i v e and unsan i t a ry cond i t ions un le s s d i c t a t e d by urgent and impera t ive mi l i ta ry n e c e s s i t y . A l l i e s have no t been rece ived wi th the h o s p i t a l i t y the ob- j e c t of t h i s expedi t ion vrarranted. A c e r t a i n amount of d i s t r u s t of motive ev iden t ly permeates Russian mind. The original. o b j e c t of t h i s expe-d i t i o n no Longer e x i s t s . The win te r p o r t of Archangel w i l l be p r a c t i c a b l e f o r nav iga t ion twenty t o t h i r t y days longer and then c l o s e s u n t i l June. My in fe rence i s p l a i n Immediate cons ide ra t ion reques ted . Stewart

Stewart s a w t h e problems t h a t would come about Iviith t he

onse t of w in te r . He a l s o f e l t t h a t wi th t h e s ign ing o f t he

a r m i s t i c e on 11 Uovember any reason for remaining i n North

Russia vras voided. The war was over on the Western Front and

the Germans no longer posed a t h r e a t t o the A l l i e s o r t h e i r

s u p p l i e s . S t e w a r t ' s apparent motive i n sending the message of

14 November was t o f o r c e a dec i s ion on evacuat ion be fo re t h e

p o r t of Archangel was f rozen f o r the win te r of 1918-1919.

Stewart rece ived a r ep ly on 1 December s t a t i n g t h a t t he dispo-

s i t i o n of t roops i n North Russia Tias going t o be cliscussed. upon

t h e convening of t h e peace conference and that the B r i t i s h f e l t

t h a t t he p o r t would be open u n t i l December. Once the p o r t was

closed i t would be f e a s i b l e t o wi thdraw through I.lurmanok, 29

The Americans were n o t t he o n l y A l l i e d f o r c e ques t ion ing

t h e reasons f o r cont inued f i g h t i n g a f t e r t h e a r m i s t i c e . The

French, upon hear ing of t he c e s s a t i o n of f i g h t i n g on the (Ves-

t e r n Front , r e fused t o cont inue t o perform combat d u t i e s . The

commander of the French f o r c e s , Commandant Lucas, convinced

41

t h e French t roops t h a t t h e Kmerica?s could n o t hold o f f the

Russians without t h e a s s i s t a n c e of the French s o l d i e r s . 3e-

cause the French and Americans admired and respec ted each o t h e r ,

t h e French responded and took up t h e i r arms.

A s mentioned p rev ious ly , t he 2 1 s t Colonia l :vas r e c o n s t i -

t u t e d a f t e r i t was v i r t u a l l y destroyed i n France. Xany of t he

men who f i l l e d t h e b a t t a l i o n ' s ranks were no t vo lun tee r s or

were taken from o t h e r u n i t s i n the French A r m y , tiany o f t h e

men, l i k e those i n t h e B r i t i s h con t ingen t , had been wounded or

s u f f e r e d from s e r i o u s a i lments anc! were not; f i t f o r a c t i v e com-

b a t duty. I n s p i t e o f t hese shortcominc2s, t h e u n i t fought

brave ly i n the per iod p r i o r t o the a r m i s t i c e .

As t h e Russian :.rinter approached, t h e French s o l d i e r s be-

gan t o complain, l i k e the Americans, t h a t t he a r i t i s h supp l i ed

t h e i r o m t roops wi th b e t t e r food, equipment, and h e a l t h ca re

than t h e i r a l l i e s . The French a.lso complained about t h e B r i -

t i s h opera ted m a i l s e r v i c e and l a c k o f in format ion from France.

The B r i t i s h r e p l y t o a l l of t hese charges was t h a t they t r e a t e d

all of t h e A l l i e d f o r c e s i n the scme manner.

Another problem was the very high inc idence of venera l

d i s e a s e among the French t roops . From December 1918 through

I h y 1919 t h e r e were 109 cases of vene ra l d i s e a s e ve rses 38

o t h e r non-combat r e l a t e d i l l n e s s e s . The reason f o r t h i s high

r a t e , according t o t h e French, 7vas the r e f u s a l on the p a r t of

B r i t i s h Headquarters t o a l l o w the opera t ion of p r o s t i t u t e s ,

inspec ted and superv ised by the French mil i tary a u t h o r i t i e s .

42

This a c t i v i t y , r o u t i n e l y accepted by t h e French, :./as designed

t o keep up the French nora l e 'xhile c o n t r o l l i n g d i s e a s e . The

3 r i t i s h d isapproval was seen by the French as a r i d i c u l o u s

o b s t a c l e t o good h e a l t h and chee r fu lness .

F i n a l l y , when a ba t - t a l ion of Yorkshires staged a sh0r.t

mutiny and the 3 r i t i s h blamed the i n c i d e n t on the bad example

of t he French t r o o p s , t he French m i l i t a r y and governnent reac-

t e d . The French c i t e d a l l of t h e previous accusa t ions and s a i d

the absence OF a formal d e c l a r a t i o n of war a g a i n s t t he Euss ians ,

argued a g a i n s t t h e French being i n t:orth Russia. In a d d i t i o n

t o these accusa t ions a French p o l i t i c i a n claimed t h a t t he Amer-

i can t roops w r e " t o t a l l y c o n t m i n a t e d by 3olshevik i d e a s " , and

i n t u r n s e t a bad exanple f o r t he French t roops . 3" The Ameri-

c G n s re turned the f a v o r by claiming t h a t i t was the French,

no t t h e Y a n k s , i.iho were contaminated. For the most p a r t , t he

Americans and French go t a long we11 at t h e i n d i v i d u e l s o l d i e r

l e v e l . .One member of t he 339th rei;ieinbered the French as:

.,, t h o s e lmah-sheen I gunners i n b l u e on the r a i l r o a d who s t roked t h e i r f i e l d p e t s w i t h p r i d e and poured s teady l i n e s of f i r e i n t o the p ine woods ywhere lay t he Reds who were e n c i r c l i n z t h e Aiiericans I : : i t h

r i f l e a d machinegun f i r e . EIo;,i t h e Yankee s o l -d i e r s l i k e d then . And many a pl.easant drauzht they had from t he b i g pinaud canteen t h a t always came f r e s h from t h e huge cask. I-Iovi cour teous ly they taught t he doughboy machine gunner the lit-t l e arts o f digging i n and r e Jo iced a t the r ap id progress of the American.31

The Canadians were apprec ia ted and l i l t ed by a l l of . the

A l l i e s . This could have been because they had t r a d i t i o n a l

t i e s w i t h each of t he major members o f t h e e sped i t ion or

43

because they :.rere a r e a l i t i v e l y sinall u n i t t h a t p rovided t h e

n o s t c r i t i c a l e lement of combat suppor t - a r . t i 1 l e ry .

T h e C a n e d i m o p i n i o n of t h e Americsn s o l d i e r :!as, i n

many r e s p e c t s , t h e - s a n e as t h e i3ritish view. The command in^

o f f i c e r o f t he 6 8 t h Z a t t e r y , ?!aJor Yalter I-'.yLe, admired t h e -i

Americms as good a l l i e s , b u t f e l t t h a t ; " t h e new, u n t r i e d

i n f a n - t r y w i t h .;rhom ?re a r e a s s o c i a t e d i n our work, vere ve ry

g r e e n snd i t was ve ry l i f f i c u l t t o a r r i v e at a prope r under-

s t a n d i n g o f c o n d i t i o n s . I,32

On t h e o t h e r h a d , the Americans looked on t h e Canadians

as

"tough gunners seasoned and s c a r r e d by f o u r y e a r s o r b a r r a g e s and bombardments i n F rance , r a t h e r keen f o r t h e a c v e n t u r e o f Forth Russia 7;ihile f i g h t i n g v r a s on arld t ho rough ly 'fec!u;,' when t h e r e ';!as a l u l l i n the exc i t emen t .

One o f t h e t r a i t s - tha t~- theAner i cans d i d n o t admire i n

t h e Canadians was t h e i r p r o 2 e n s i t y t o s t r i g t h e R u s s i a dead

o f any th ing of v a l u e , such as boots -and h igh f u r h a t s . One

American o f f i c e r observec! tha t t h e C a n a d i a n s v e r e l i k e ,

"school boys on a h i l a r i o u s ! io l idxye Yet t h e r e was n o t h i n g debased or v i c i o u s abou t t h e s e Caxtd ians , They were unde l ibe re . t e , unpremed- i t a t e d murde re r s , who had l e a r n e d w e l l t h e n i c e l e s s o n s o f 1war and 1oo:;ec: upon k i l l i n g as t h e climax o f a d a y ' s a d v e n t u r e , a ~:ielcom-ed 'orec& i n t h e tedium o f t h e cull n i l i t a r j ~ r o u t i n e . Generous h e a r t e d , ha rdy , xho le sou led m u r d e r e r s . . . . I t 2 4

The r e l a t i o n s bet:,reen t h e C a l a d i a n s aid I 3 r i t i s h :.rere

u s u a l l y good, p r i m a r i l y because of t h e t r a d i t i o n a l c u l t u r a l 2nd

; 3 o l i t i c a l t i e s t he t.,;!o c o u n t r i e s en2oyeld. 'The one e::ce;?tion

r, L:

occurred i n e a r l y iIarch, 1 9 1 9 , fo l lo i i ing a mutiny by the

Yorlcshires and French and an a l l e g e d r e f u s a l of t he Amer-

i c a n s t o r e t u r n t o duty a t the f r o n t . The Canadians, nor-

mally congenial t o B r i t i s h command a u t h o r i t y , began t o

complain because they were n o t gran ted the same allowances

as t h e S r i t i s h . In A p r i l , General I r o n s i d e co r rec t ed the

s i t u a t i o n a n d s t a t e d : "The Canadians o u t he re , e s p e c i a l l y

the A r t i l l e r y Brigade, have been the backbone of t he expedi-

t i o n . i i35

It is p o s s i b l e t h a t t h i s i n c i d e n t l e d Canadian Prime

Min i s t e r S i r Robert Bordon t o inform 3 r i t i sh Sec re t a ry of

S t a t e f o r War, Winston C h u r c h i l l , on 18 Nay, t h a t :

"Beyond ques t ion i t is imperat ive t h a t t he Canadian Forces now at Archangel should be withdrawn without delay. Nany of t hese t roops were s e n t i n t h e f i rs t i n s t a n c e f o r i n s t r u c t i o n a l purposes. Doubtless they have no t ob jec ted t o t h e a c t i v e s e r v i c e which has been s u b s t i t u t e d for t he or iginal . purpose. Recent ly , t h e r e has been un fo r tuna te evi- dence of keen resentment on t h e i r part ....However, I have no r i g h t t o speak f o r t he o t h e r s b u t I do i n s i s t t h a t t h e Canadians shall be withdrawn immediately. 1136

Vi th in three i~ieelcs,on 11 June, t h e Canadians were on t h e i r

way home from PJorth Russia.

The r e l a t i o n s h i p s between t h e major A l l i e d p a r t i c i 2 a n t s

were determined by s e v e r a l f a c t o r s , Among these were; t he

cloudy command arrangement which caused misunderstanding and

resentment, t h e i n d i v i d u a l p e r s o n a l i t i e s of t he m i l i t a r y and

p o l i t i c a l l e a d e r s involved i n the exped i t ion , t he b a s i c

45

c u l t u r a l and s o c i a l d i f f e r e n c e s 5et:reen t h e A l l i e s , a d t h e

v a r i e d and d i f f e r i n g o b j e c t i v e s t h a t e a c h n a t i o n unde r s tood as

t h e r e a s o n for m i l i t a r y a c t i o n i n ?,forth R u s s i a .

For G e n e r a l s P o o l e and I r o n s i d e t h e r e was no q u e s t i o n o f

who was i n command. of t h e A l l i e d Forces . From t h e i r p o i n t o f

v iew, t h e y had been g i v e n t h e m i s s i o n t o l e a d an A l l i e d expedi -

t i o n by the Permanent i d i l i t a r y R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . I n h e r e n t i n

t h a t task was the t a c t i c a l employment, o r g a n i z a t i o n , adminis-

t r a t i o n , and s u p p l y o f t h o s e f o r c e s a s s i g n e d . Those f o r c e s

would r e a c t t o B r i t i s h p e r o g a t i v e s and t h e commanders o f t h o s e

f o r c e s would b e s u b j e c t t o t h e same a u t h o r i t y as i f t h e y were

o f f i c e r s i n t h e E n g l i s h Army. The American p e r s p e c t i v e was

s l i g h t l y d i f f e r e n t . A p p a r e n t l y , i t !.;as ? r e s i d e n t I ; ' i lson's i n -

t e n t t o s a t i s f y t h e demands o f t h e E r i t i s h by send ing American

~~ ~F o r c e s t o t h e PJorth Russ i an E x p e d i t i o n a r y Force . Bu t , a.t t h e

same t i m e , he s o u g h t t o have some c i v i l i a n c o n t r o l of t h e oper -

a t i o n a l a s p e c t s of t h e campaign by i n s t r u c t i n g i:!arch t o in fo rm~~

t h e American cominander t o s t a y " i n c l o s e touch" w i t h t h e h e r -

i c a n Ambassador. Consequent ly , t he American P r e s i d e n t had

c r e a t e d a conmand r e l a t i o n s h i p t h a t would a l low Uni ted S t a t e s

Army t r o o p s t o be used i n o f f e n s i v e o p e r a t i o n s a g c i n s t Russ i an

s o l d i e r s , comnianded by B r i t i s h o f f i c e r s . A t t h e same t i m e , he

f o r c e d the local commander i n t o a p o s i t i o n where he was respoii-

s i b l e t o t h e s e n i o r m i l i t a r y o f f i c e r o f an A l l i e d n a t i o n , and

also t h e s e n i o r American p o l i t i c a l o f f i c e r p r e s e n t . I n e s s e n c e ,

t h e commander o f the American F o r c e s :.!as i n an iEp0ssibI.e s i t u -

a t i o n . 4G

The p e r s o n a l i t i e s of the commanders and p o l i t i c i a n s invol-

ved played a c r i t i c a l p a r t i n t he A l l i e d c o a l i t i o n . 'The B r i t i s h ,

and e s p e c i a l l y General Poole , tended t o be overbearing and over-

conf iden t . One American o f f i c e r noted t h a t t he

. . . p hilosophy of P;orth Russia and G a l l i p o l i ; t h i s attachment of t he B r i t i s h mind t o an a s t r i c t e d f a i t h i n England and her imper ia l d e s t i n y t o r u l e the peoples of t h e rrorld, contemptious of obsta- c l e s and d i f f i c u l t i e s and p e r i l s i n unknown a l i e n lands t h a t appear very r e a l t o o t h e r t h a n B r i t i s h mental processes . '1:Ie'll j u s t rush up t h e r e and r e e s t a b l i s h t h e g r e a t Russian A r m y - reorganize the vast f o r c e s o f t h e Tsa r ' , said an e b u l l i e n t o f f i c e r i n England, wearing the red tabs and hatband of t h e General S t a f f . 'One good Al l i ed s o l d i e r can out- f i g h t twenty Bolsheviks ' was the u s u a l boas t O f t h e commanding o f f i c e r (General Poole) i n the e a r l y dayso f t he f i g h t i n g . rt37

The Americans, on t h e o t h e r hand, were i n i t i a l l y represen-

t e d by the equa l ly f o r c e f u l Ambassador Franc is . A f t e r h i s de-

p a r t u r e , t he submissive Colonel Stewart was a l l t h a t s tood be-

tween the B r i t i s h o f f e n s i v e p l ans and t h e s t a t e d po l i cy of

us ing American t roops f o r g a r r i s o n guards i n Archangel. I t i s

easy t o be c r i t i c a l o f Colonel Stewart who, i n t h e words of

General I rons ide . ' I . ..was worrying about h i s p o s i t i o n , should

an a r m i s t i c e be Signed i n Europe." To be f a i r , one must ac-

knowledge that the American co lone l had the i n s i g h t and con-

ce rn f o r h i s t roops t o reques t evacuat ion before the c los ing

of t h e po r t s . It appears t h a t he attempted t o inform h i s su-

p e r i o r s i n London of t he m i l i t a r y a n d p o l i t l c a l r e a l i t i e s of

Archangel bu t e i t h e r d i d not do i t f o r t h r i g h t l y enough o u t o f

r e s p e c t f o r h i s s u p e r i o r s o r was s o overwhelmed by circum-

s t ances t h a t he was unable t o c l e a r l y a r t i c u l a t e i n t h e f a c t s

47

of the moment.

The b a s i c c u l t u r a l and s o c i a l d i f f e r e n c e s between t h e

A l l i e s had a g r e a t impact on the r e l a t i o n s between the m i l i t a r y

f o r c e s . The h ighly s t r u c t u r e d system o f t h e B r i t i s h o f f i c e r

co rps , w i th i ts obvious c l a s s consciousness and s o c i a l strata

o r i e n t a t i o n , con t r a s t ed sha rp ly w i t h t h e more analogous Ameri-

can and French t r a d i t i o n s . The i d e a of tait ing food from hospi-

tal r a t i o n s and providing i t t o an o f f i c e r ' s mess was n o t only

a l i e n t o t h e American concept of concern f o r the common s o l d i e r ,

b u t reminded many o f t he American t roops o f abuses t h a t had

occurred e a r l i e r i n United S t a t e s h i s t o r y . The French also had

d i f f i c u l t i e s w i th t h e B r i t i s h approach t o c e r t a i n ques t ions o f

s o c i a l or p o l i t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e . 'These d i s p a r i t i e s stemmed

from long s tanding customs and t r a d i t i o n s as well as t h e p o l i t -

i c a l c l imate that had inf luenced the- 'French A r m y during the

y e a r s s i n c e 1 9 1 4 .

F i n a l l y , t he r e l a t i o n s between the A l l i ~ e s were a f f e c t e d by

t h e percept ions of n a t i o n a l o b j e c t i v e s by those p e r s o n a l i t i e s

most d i r e c t l y involved i n the conciuc-t of t he expedi t ion. The

o r i g i n a l aims of an Allied-Czech l ink-up ope ra t ion , s e c u r i t y of

A l l i e d s u p p l i e s , and development of an Eas te rn Front a g a i n s t

t h e Germans no longe r had a p p l i c a t i o n a f t e r t h e s ign ing of t he

a r m i s t i c e . Almost immediately the Americans and French quest ioned

t h e need t o remain i n Xorth Russia and e i t h e r refused t o cont inue

t h e f i g h t o r reques ted evacuat ion. The 3ritish p o s i t i o n was

expressed by General Finlayson, commander of t he DVina River

4%

Force. "There w i l l be no f a l t e r i n g i n o u r purpose t o reclove

the s t a i n of Eolshevism from Russia 2nd c i v i l i z a t i o n . ,138 Gen-

e ra1 I rons ide saw h i s miss ion , a f t e r t h e a r m i s t i c e , i n t he

fol lowing terms:

" l t seemed t o me t h a t t he A l l i e s would now pro- ceed wi th t h e l i b e r a t i o n o f F in land , P o l a n d , Es'chonia, L i thuan ia , La t iva , and perhaps even the Ukraine. The nevi Russian Empire which would emerge would be something much smaller then i t had been i n t he o l d imper ia l days, hoyvever s t rong t he Solsheviks became. t.Iy t a s k was s t i l l the one o u t l i n e d t o me by S i r Henry 1;:ilson - t o hold. t he f o r t u n t i l t he P rov i s iona l Governnent could organ-i z e i t s f o r c e s . A proper se t t l emen t of t h e Russian f r o n t i e r s i n Europe could be made only after t h e d e f e a t of t h e Eolsheviks

It is no t s u r p r i s i n g , cons ider ing the many o p p o r t u n i t i e s

f o r misunderstanding, disagreement, and confusion, t h a t the

A l l i e s r a i l e d t o produce a u n i t e d , harmonious c o a l i t i o n . I t

i s also no t surpr i s ing , t h a t t h e complexi t ies o f t he command

r e l a t i o n s h i p s , p e r s o n a l i t i e s , n a t i o n a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , and

s t r a t e g i c and p o l i t i c a l o b j e c t i v e s all impacted upon the coiiibat

e f f e c t i v e n e s s and e f f i c i e n c y o f the A l l i e d elements, Ul t imate ly ,

t hese problems i n f luenced the success of m i l i t a r y OperatiOnS,

o u r next area of i n t e r e s t .

49

IIotes

1. George Evans Stewart , Regort of E x p e d i t i o n t o The I-iurman C o a s t , S p e c i a l C o l l e c t i o n s , Un i t ed States X i l i t a r y Acader,y, !:Jest P o i n t New York.

2. I S i d . , C a b l e s . . .

3 . A . C h r o n i c l e r ( John Cuclahy), Archangel , The American ?Jar V i t h R u s s i a , A . C . McClurg & Co., Chicago , 1924. Pg. 6 3 .

4. I b i d , Pg. 51.

5 . P e t e r Burness , The F o r g o t t e n !Jar i n Kor th Russia , A u s t r a l i a n Defense J o u r n a l , No. 2 2 , i<ay/June 80, Pg. 31.

6 . P . Facon, Les t h t i n e r i e s Dans Le Corps E x p e d i t i o n n a i r e Fran-c i s en Russ i e Du Nord, 1918-1919, Revue d ' H i s t o i r e IJonderne e t Contemporaine , Vol. XXIV, P a r i s , Ju ly-Sept 1977, Pg . 450.

. . . . . . . 7. Leonid I..Strakhovslcy, The C a n a d i a n A r t i l l e r y B r i g a i e i n

Morth Russia, 1918-1919, The Canadian H i s t o r i c a l Review, V o l . X X X I X . 1958. The U n i v e r s i t v o f Toronto P res s . Toron to . Canada, Pg; 126-i27.

I

8 . Grea t B r i t i a n , A r m y , The Evacua t ion o f Morth R u s s i a , 1919, H i s M a j e s t y ' s S t a t i o n a r y O f f i c e , London, 1920.

9. Facon, Op. C i t . , Pg. 456.

10. Cudahy, Op. C i t . , Pg. 53.

11. Capt J o e 1 R . Moore, L i e u t . Harry H. Nead, L i e u t . Lewis E . Jahns, 339 th U . S . I n f a n t r y , The H i s t o r y of The American E x p e d i t i o n F i g h t i n g t h e Bolshevilci , Campaigning i n North Russia, 1918-1919, P o l a r Bear P u b l i s h i n g Co., D e t r o i t , 1920, P g . 15.

12. H a l l i d a y , Op. C i t . , Pg. 28-29.

13. S t e w a r t, Op. C i t ., Cables .

14. Xoore, Mead, J a h n s , Op. C i t . , Pg. 16.

15. G o l d h u r s t , Op. C i t . , Pg. 99.

16 . 13oore, tlead, Jahns, Op. C i t . , P g . 17 .

17. I b i d . , Pg. 17-19.

12. I b i d . , Pg. 19-21.

50

-. . . . , . . , . . . . . . . 19. David R . F ranc is , R u s s i a From t h e American Embassy, A p r i l

1918, S c r i b n e r ' s ~i-Yorlc,22iCCI I_

20. Stewar t , Op. C i t ., Cables .

I b i d . , Cables .2 1

2 2 . I b i d ,

2 3 .

24. I b i d . , Tg. 28.

25. I b i d . , Pg. 32.

2G. I b i d . , Pg. 33-34.

27. Goldhurst, Op. Cit., Pg. 139.

28. Stewar t , Op. C i t . , Cables.

29. I b i d .

30. Facon, Op. C i t . ? g , 459-474.

31. Noore, Kead, Jahns , Op. C i t . , Pg. 231-232.

- ~ --32. Canada, Un i t H i s t o r y , Korth Russian Expedi t ionary Force lGth Briil;ade, C . F . A . , 110 d a t e .

33. cudaizy, Op. C i t . , Pg. 52.

34. Ibicl . , Pg. 52.

3 5 . Strakhovsky, Op. C i U . , PG. 141.

36. I b i d . , Pg. 143.

37. Cudahy, Op. C i t . . , pg. 4-5.

3%* I b i d . , Pg. 37.

39. I r o n s i d e , OD. Cit., 22. 5 6 .

51

Chap te r Three

A l l i e d i , ! i l i t a ry O p e r a t i o n s

A p a r t i c i p a n t i n t h e Plorth R u s s i a n e x p e d i t i o n d e s c r i b e d

t h e Archangel area i n t h e fo l lovr ing manner:

The P r o v i n c e o f Archangel s t r e t c h e s from t h e Norwegian f r o n t i e r a c r o s s t h e A r c t i c Ocean e a s t o f t he Ural i!lountains o f S i b e r i a . I t i n c l u d e s the Kola P e n i n s u l a , which l i e s ywell n o r t h o f t h e A r c t i c C i r c l e , and t h e f u r t h e r - most p o i n t s o u t h i s below s ix ty - two degrees l a t i t u d e . The t o t a l area i s s i x t i m e s that o f t h e ave rage American s t a t e , I t i s a pov-e r t y dis t ressed and c h e e r l e s s , d e s t i t u t e r e g i o n , which d u r i n g t h e r e i g n of t h e Romanoffs, l i k e S i b e r i a , was o f t e n a p l a c e of e x i l e and asylum f o r p o l i t i c a l d i s s i d e n t s . Var accen-t u a t e d t he p o v e r t y of t h e p r o v i n c e and t h e on ly i n d u s t r y i s a.t t h e p o r t of Archangel , where l a rge t i m b e r m i l l s , oxwned most ly by S r i t i s h c a p i t a l , l i n e b o t h s i d e s o f t h e har- b 0 r . l

Th i s same o b s e r v e r e x p l a i n e d how Ivan The T e r r i b l e founded

t h e p o r t d u r i n g t h e s i x t e e n t h c e n t u r y . I t had , s i n c e t h a t t i m e ,

been a S r i t i s h t r a d i n g p o s t . Archangel was a c i t y o f s t a r k

c o n t r a s t s . Greek Orthodox p r i e s t s , w i t h t h e i r long r o b e s , and

the on ion domed c a t h e d r a l , s h a r e d t h e same s t r e e t s w i t h modern

b u i l d i n g s , e l e c t r i c l i g h t s , and an up-to-date tramway. Befo re

t h e war Archangel P r o v i n c e had abou t t h r e e hundred and f i f t y

thousand p e o p l e , w i t h abou t s i x t y thousand r e s i d i n g i n t he

c i t y o f Archangel . The o n l y o t h e r p o p u l a t i o n c e n t e r s of con-

sequence were ' l i n e g a , a t t h e no r the rnmos t bend i n t h e P i n e g a

R i v e r , v;ith pe rhaps t h r e e thousand i n h a l a i t a n t s , and Shenkursk ,

two hundred m i l e s s o u t h o f Archangel on t h e Vaga River, w i t h

52

abou t f o u r thousand r e s i d e n t s , T h e r e n a i n d e r o f t h e ? r o v ~ i n c e 1s

populace were found i n small v i l l a g e s o f t!,ro or t h r e e hundred

l o g houses , much l i k e t h e c a b i n s o f t h e Ainerican f r o n - t i e r ,

The i n h a b i t a n t s o f t h e s e small s e t t l e m e n t s yvere p r i m a r i l y

peasan t s , or mouj iks , who c l e a r e d t h e area f o r a. fevi hundred

y a r d s around t h e i r houses and a t t e m p t e d t o grow !.Theat, f l a x ,

and p o t a t o e s d u r i n g t h e s h o r t growing s e a s o n . During t h e !;in-

t e r t h e peop le remained i n d o o r s and s p e n t t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e i r

t ime s i t t i n g a round large ovens or f i r e p l a c e s , d i s c u s s i n g t h e

wea the r . One o f f i c e r o f t h e 339th I n f a n t r y Regiment no ted :

To t h e doughboy p e n e t r a t i n g r a p i d l y i n t o t h e i n t e r i o r o f Xor th R u s s i a , whether by r a i l r o a d or by b a r g e or by more slow-moving c a r t trans-p o r t , h i s f i r s t impress ion !:/as that o f an end-less expanse o f f o r e s t and svianp \with h e r e and t h e r e an a r e a o f h i g h e r l a n d . Never a long p e a s a n t ' s house on t h e t r a i l was s e e n . They l i v e d i n v i l l a g e s . Fe1.v were t he improved roads;^^- -These x-oads-~-ran- f r o r v i l l a g e t o v i l l a g e ~

t h rough p i n e vioods, c r o s s i n g s t r e a m and wide rivers by wooden b r i d g e s and c r o s s i n s swamps, where i t was t o o much t o c i r c u i t them, by cord- uroy . The s o l d i e r saw a. .people s t r u g g l i n g w i t h n a t u r e as he had h e a r d o f h i s g r a n d f a t h e r s s t r u g - g l i n g i n p i o n e e r days i n America.;!

Archangel P r o v i n c e was approx ima te ly t h r e e hundred and

t h i r t y thousaqd s q u a r e m i l e s o f t u n d r a and t h i c k f i r f o r e s t s ;

an area almost as l a r g e as France and Germany combined.

Through t h e p r o v i n c e c u t numerous r i v e r s and s t r e a m s , t h e lar-

g e s t be ing t h e Dvina. Archangel , l i k e t h e r e s t o f r io r th R u s s i a ,

was n o t i n d u s t r i a l i z e d . The peop le were p r i m a r i l y occupied

w i t h f i s h i n g , t r a p p i n g , f a rming , and woodcut t ing . The c l i m a t e

was humid and warn i n t h e summer and sub-zero i n t h e l o n g

5 3

w i n t e r . S t a r t i n g i n October t h e n i g h t s l e n g t h e n u n t i l , by

l a t e December t h e y a r e a lmos t twen ty - fou r hour s l o n g . conver-

s e l y , d u r i n g t h e summer months, p e r i o d s o f s u n l i g h t las t from

e a r l y morning u n t i l l a t e at n i g h t , John Cudahy, an American

o f f i c e r on t h e Archangel f r o n t , wro te :

" L i f e became a v e r y s t a l e , f l a t d r a b t h i n g i n t h e v a s t s t r e t c h e s o f c h e e r l e s s snow r e a c h i n g fa r across t h e r i v e r t o t h e murky, brooding s k i e s and t h e encompassing s h e e t e d f o r e s t s , so g h o s t l y and s o s t i l l , where d e a t h prowled i n t h e shadows. S t r o n g men were made cowards by t h e cumula t ive depres- s i o n o f t h e unbroken n i g h t and i t s c r u s h i n g i n f l u e n c e on t h e s p i r i t : f o r t h e s e v e r e s t b a t t l e s of t h e campaign were f o u g h t d u r i n g t h e c o l d b l a c k months o f v i in t e r . "3

The n a t u r e o f t h e t e r r a i n and weather was t o have an

i m p o r t a n t impact on t h e u l t i m a t e outcome o f t h e A l l i e d or,er-

a t i o n s . The A l l i e s b e l i e v e d o f f e n s i v e o p e r a t i o n s had t o be

conducted e i t h e r p r i o r to t h e c l o s i n g o f t h e p o r t i n l a t e

November or f o l l o w i n g t h e s p r i n g thaw i n l a t e ?.larch. Once

t h e h a r b o r 'was i c e d i n f o r t he w i n t e r t h e r e would be no

r e s u p p l y or r e i n f o r c e m e n t from England , and i n o r d e r t o con-

d u c t o f f e n s i v e o p e r a t i o n s , a c o n s t a n t and r e l i a b l e s u p p l y

o f men and m a t e r i e l must be a v a i l a b l e . The w i n t e r f r e e z e

also p r o h i b i t e d t h e movement o f S r i t i s h gunboats on t h e r ivers

ups t ream from Archangel . Th i s e f f e c t i v e l y den ied t h e A l l i e s

a pr imary s o u r c e o f f i r e s u p p o r t and t r a n s p o r t a t t h e most

remote p o s i t i o n s . T h i s r e d u c t i o n o f f i r e s u p p o r t a n d n o b i l i t y ,

r e s u l t i n g from t h e s e v e r e w i n t e r c o n d i t i o n s , became one o f t h e

pr ime f a c t o r s d e t e r m i n i n z t h e t a c t i c s and o v e r a l l s t r a t e g y of

54

t he ? ; in te r canpaian of 1918-1919.

I n the opening days o f October, 1 9 1 3 , the Alliec! Fosi-

t i o n s resembled t h e f i v e f i n g e r s of a hand wi th the pa ln n t

Archangel. From e a s t t o rest .the small f i n g e r reached uinega

on the Pinega River ; the second, T o u l g a s on the Dvina River:

t h e t h i r d , Shenkursk on the Vaga River ; t he index f i n g e r ,

Obozerskaya, on t h e Archangel-Vologada ra i lway; and t he thurnb,

Onega, on Onega E a y of t he ?!hite Sea. There tias l i t t l e coiil-

munication or c o n t a c t between the o u t l y i n g p o s i t i o n s , Each

" f r o n t " as I t was c a l l e d , 'was i n f a c t =an advance pos t of a

s e r i e s of blockhouses, somewhat l i k e the s:nal2 riooden f o r t s

of t h e American f r o n t i e r , These ou tpos t s were u s u a l l y grouped

around a v i l l a g e or group of small towns l i k e Shenkursk. ae-

tween the " f ron t s " was an a lmos t impassable b a r r i e r of f o r e s t ,

b r u s h , and svrarnp-like tundra wi th nunerous ~STriSiistreaEis~CSid-

lakes i n t e r s p e r s e d .

Between September and October the A l l i e s had moved r a p i d l y

o u t from Archangel i n an at tempt t o d r i v e the aolshevilis ou t

of Archangel Province be fo re the onse t o f w in te r . General

Poole, d e s p i t e h i s l a c k of p o l i t i c a l f i n e s s e , was a good tac-

t i c i a n and recognized what must be accomplished i f h i s f o r c e s

.;{ere t o push s o u t h from Archangel and s t i l l be ab le t o nain-

t a i n con tac t betveen h i s f l ank elements and a c e r t a i n degree

o f r e a r a r e a s e c u r i t y at Archangel. He was aware t h a t as the

f i n g e r s between t h e r a i l r o a d and Dvina f r o n t s opened he was

o f f e r i n g the enemy a n oppor tuni ty t o s t r i k e through t h e middle

55

and e i t h e r envelop his Slan!cs or d r i v e s t r a i z h t t o 9.rchangel

i t s e l f . The En t sa River served as an east-west h a r r i e r be-

tween the r a i l r o a d f r o n t and Dvina f r o n t and the small r i v e r

t o w of Kodish vras t he key p o i n t t h a t would serve t o p r o t e c t

h i s flanks. Poole also recognizec! t h a t Se rezn ik , a t the junc-

t i o n of the Vaga and Dvina Rivers was vulnerable t o a Red

a t t a c k and, i f cap tu red , would c u t o f f h i s f o r c e s t o t h e

south . Therefore , i t must be secured as soon as p o s s i b l e ,

The i d e a of t a k i n g Volosda before win te r was abandoned

early i n t he campaign. Poole decided i n s t e a d t o take P l e s e t -

skaya, a r a i l c e n t e r halfway between Archangel and Vologda.

Although t h e t e r r a i n was d i f f i c u l t and t h e A l l i e s were numer-

i c a l l y i n f e r i o r , Poole's p l a n was w e l l conceived and by t h e

t ime win te r a r r i v e d t h e A l l i e s he ld Onega i n the wes t , Obozer-

skaya on t h e r a i l r o a d , Kodish on t h e E m t s a , Shenkursk on the

Vaga and Toulgas on the Dvina. 4

On 5 September t h e 3rd B a t t a l i o n of t he 339th I n f a n t r y

Regiment had moved, a t B r i t i s h i n s i s t a n c e , d i r e c t l y from the

docks o f Archangel to t h e r a i l r o a d f r o n t . A f t e r an a l l - n i g h t

t r a i n r i d e , t h e b a t t a l i o n a r r i v e d a t Obozerskaya where they

were t o r e l i e v e t h e advance elements of t he French 2 1 s t Col-

o n i a l B a t t a l i o n . A member o f t he American u n i t noted:

Obozerskaya, about one hundred mi l e s sou th o f Archangel, i n a few days took on t h e appear- ance of an a c t i v e f i e l d base f o r aggress ive advance on t h e enemy. Here were the r a p i d as-sembling o f f i g h t i n g u n i t s ; of t r a n s p o r t and supply u n i t s ; of r a i l r o a d r e p a i r i n g crews, Russian, under B r i t i s h o f f i c e r s ; of s i g n a l s ;

56

o f armored au tomobi l e , o u r n e a r e s t approach t o a t a n k , which s t u c k i n t h e mud and broke t h rough t h e f r a i l Russlci b r i d g e s and was u s e l e s s ; of t h e f e v e r i s h c l e a r i n g and smooth-i n g of a landin<% f i e l d n e a r t h e s t a t i o n for o u r supp ly of spav ined a i r p l a n e s t h a t had a l r e a d y done t h e i r b i t on the !.!estern F r o n t ;o f the improvement o f o u r f e r o c i o u s - l o o k i n g armored t r a i n , w i t h i t s c o a l - c a r mounted nava l guns, b u t t r e s s e d w i t h s and bags and preceded by a similar c a r b r i s t l i n g w i t h machine guns and Lewis a u t o m a t i c s i n t h e hands o f a motley crew of P o l i s h gunners and i tussk i gunners and a D r i t i s h s e r g e a n t or t . ~ / o . ~

" A l l p a t r o l s must be a g g r e s s i v e and i t must be impressed on all ranks t h a t we a r e f i g h t i n g an o f f e n s i v e war, and n o t a d e f e n s i v e one , A l l p o s t s must b e h e l d t o t h e las t as vre do n o t i n -t e n d t o g i v e up any ground which we have made good.

These o r d e r s from Colone l Guard, B r i t i s h commander o f l'A"

Force on t h e r a i l r o a d f r o n t , were i n t e n d e d t o s a t i s f y Genera l

F i n l a y s o n and Co lone l S u t h e r l a n d , Poole ' s deputy an?, f r o n t

commander. The growing American and French g raveya rds at

Obozerskaya v e r i f i e d t h e o f f e n s i v e n a t u r e o f t h e b a t t l e s on

t h e r a i l r o a d f r o n t .

On 2 8 September , F in l ayson appeared a- t S u t h e r l a n d ' s head-

q u a r t e r s and , a p p a r e n t l y n o t s a t i s f i e d v i t h t h e tempo o f com-

S a t , o r d e r e d an iinmediate advance down the r a i l r o a d t o V e r s t s

453 a n d 455, abou t t e n m i l e s s o u t h o f Obozerskaya.

S u t h e r l a n d tasked one company of French i n f a n t r y and tvro

companies of Arnericar i n f a n t r y , s u p p o r t e d by i 'olish gunners

manning f i e l d zuns and t h e armored t r a i n t o make a c o o r d i n a t e d

attack on t h e Russ i an p o s i t i o n s and s e i z e a. key r a i l r o a d b r i d g e .

57

iSajor Charles D . Young was i n char,ge o f t h e 3rd 3 a t t a l i o n ,

and i n accordance i::ith S u t h e r l a . n d ' s p l a n , divicied two of h i s

companies i n t o s e p a r a t e f o r c e s t o conduct a converg ing f lank

a t tack on t h e Red p o s i t i o n s , I-Ie also d e t a c h e d a machine gun

s e c t i o n and twenty-one o t h e r Americans t o m a n t h r e e S t o k e s

m o r t a r s t o s u p p o r t t h e French , who were -to a t t a c k d i r e c t l y

down t h e r a i l r o a d . I t i s n o t e d t h a t t h e Americans a s s i g n e d

t h e m i s s i o n o f manning t h e S t o k e s m o r t a r s had n e v e r used or

been t r a i n e d on t h e s e \weapons p r i o r t o this o c c a s i o n . 7

The Americans xere t o move i n t o t h e i r a t tack p o s i t i o n s

d u r i n g t h e n i g h t and commence t h e a s s a u l t a t f i rs t l i g h t . A t

t h e same t ime, t h e P o l e s and Americans would s u p p o r t t h e French

i n f a n t r y 5y f i r e as they made a f r o n t a l a s s a u l t , down t h e rail-

way, on t h e enemy f o r t i f i c a t i o n s and b r idge .

S u t h e r l a n d ' s plan seemed s i m p l e enough i n c o n c e p t , b u t

t h e e x e c u t i o n was t o prove t o o complex and hence a f a i l u r e .

A r e c o n n a i s s a n c e o f the r o u t e t he Americans x e r e t o take t o

t he a s s a u l t p o s i t i o n s had n o t been perfomled because o f t h e

s h o r t n o t i c e g i v e n t h e Americans by Co lone l S u t h e r l a n d . Only

o u t d a t e d f o r e s t e r ' s maps were a v a i l a b l e and t h e most a c c u r a t e

i n t e l l i g e n c e on t h e enemy t r o o p d i s p o s i t i o n s had been p r o v i d e d

by l o c a l ?woodcut ters who were at b e s t d i s i n t e r e s t e d a n d at

w o r s t p r o - D ~ l s h e v i k . ~ An American o f f i c e r n o t e s :

"It i s a s t o r y t h a t was t o be d u p l i c a t e d o v e r anC: o v e r by one American f o r c e a f t e r a n o t h e r on t h e v a r i o u s f r o n t s i n t h e r a i n y f a l l s e a s o n , o n e r a t i n a under B r i t i s h o f f i c e r s who t o o k desparate chances and a c t e d on t h e t h e o r y t h a t 'you Americans, I as

58

C o l . Su ther land said, 'can do i t somehow, you lcnovr. ' And as, t o numbers, :.fhy, ' t e n Americans are as good as a hundred S o l o s , a r e n ' t they?"I9

The Americans moved out i n the e a r l y evening and soon

became l o s t . The narrow f o r e s t t r a i l s , c u t by the engineers

of P e t e r t he Grea t , qu ick ly became deep w i t h c l i n g i n g , s l imy

mud and bog t h a t forced men t o t h e i r knees. One of t he o f f i -

c e r s p re sen t recounts :

So the a t t a c k e r s went f o r t h over unknown ground, and soon were stumbling i n a blackness s o dense tha t one f i l e could no t see even the o u t l i n e of t he preceeding f i l e . The s ink ing bog made the march d i s t r e s s i n g l y arduous, y e t f o r hours the company kept r e s o l u t e l y on, when, without warn-i n g , t h e f o r e s t p a r t e d and the sodden way t e r -minated i n a wide s h e e t of open water.1°

The Americans turned back and reappeared on the r a i l r o a d , nea r

t h e i r o r i g i n a l p o i n t of depa r tu re , at about 0630 hours on the

morning of 29 September. Major Young recorded i n h i s a f t e r -

a c t i o n r e p o r t t h a t :

The a t t a c k w a s made a t about 0630. Few of the enemy were met and they immediately r e t i r e d . The informat ion rece ived by L ieu t . May, Command-ing t h i s column, from the a d j u t a n t , 'A' f o r c e , (Capt. G r i f f e n , B r i t i s h A r m y ) as t o l o c a t i o n s of machinegun emplacements and t r enches was found t o be i n a c c u r a t e , and t h e r e was a l a c k of i n i t i a t i v e on the part of the o f f i c e r i n command, ( G r i f f e n ) i n t h a t he d i d n o t imme- d i a t e l y , by reconnaissance, inform himself as t o t h e exac t l o c a t i o n of t he p o s i t i o n s e l l

The French a t t a c k , supported by t h e P o l i s h and America1

gunners, succeeded i n d r i v i n g the Reds ou t O f t h e i r p o s i t i o n

b u t , as soon 2s t h e a r t i l l e r y ceased, t h e enemy re tu rned t o

occupy t h e i r entrenchments. A p la toon from "1" Company was

dispatchec! t o r e i n f o r c e the French and was imnediatelY

59

a t t a c k e d by t h e R u s s i a n s . T,wo p l a t o o n s from "?:I1' C o n p a y

moved forward a long - x i t h t h e r ema inde r of "I" Comcany m.d t h e

enemy was t u r n e d back by 1500 h o u r s . The A l l i e s had t a k e n

t h e b r i d g e d i s p i t e t h e f a i l u r e o f S u t h e r l a n d ' s o r i g i n a l plan.

The a c t i o n r e s u l t e d i n 2 Americans k i l l e d , 18 wounded,

and 11 m i s s i n g . French t r o o p s s u f f e r e d : 11 wounded, aqd

11 m i s s i n g . S e v e r a l o f t h e American a n d French s o l d i e r s

r e p o r t e d as m i s s i n g : rere , i n f a c t , c a p t u r e d by the enemy dur-

i n g one of the f i e r c e Russ i an c o u n t e r a t t a c k s . Rccore ing t o

C a p t a i n Joel ; :oore, commander of one o f t h e e l emen t s a t t empt -

i n g t h e u n s u c c e s s f u l f l a n k i n z a t t a c k :

Many of t h e c a s u a l t i e s :.!ere s u f f e r e d by t h e reso-l u t e p l a t o o n a t t h e b r i d g e . B u t t h e e i g h t O t h e r s <who Twere :+rounded, two o f thein m o r t a l l y , owed t h e i r u n f o r t u n a t e c o n d i t i o n t o t h e a l t o g e t h e r unnecessa ry and i l l - a d v i s e d attempt by Co l . Suther lanc! t o s h e l l t he b r i d g e which was b e i n g helc! b y his^ o m ~ ~ t _ r o o p s . ~-~~~ ~~ ~~~

He had t h e pan icky ic:ez t h a t t h e Eed Guards :/ere coming or s o i n g t o come a c r o s s that b r i d g e and o r d e r e d t h e s h r a p n e l which c u t up t h e p l a t o o n of "i.I" Coinpany vi i th i t s h a i l o f l e a d i n s t e a d of t h e Reds who had h a l t e d 700 yards a-vay and t hemse lves were s h e l l i n g t h e b r i d g e b u t t o no e f f e c t . Iiot on ly t h a t , b u t when Col. S u t h e r l a n d was informed t h a t h i s a r t i l l e r y was g e t t i n g h i s o m t r o o p s , he f irst asked on one t e l e p h o n e f o r a n o t h e r q u a r t o f whiskey and l a t e r c a l l e d up h i s a r t i l l e r y o f f i c e r and o r d e r e d t h e d e a d l y fire to l e n g t h e n range.12

A t t h i s p o i n t Co lone l S u t h e r l a n d o r d e r e d a :.!ithdra!.:el,

t h i n k i n g t h a t t h e Reds had c a p t u r e d the r a i l r o a d b r i d g e .

k j o r J. Crooks TJichols , ;rho had j u s t r e p l a c e d i.!ajor Young

as t h e commander o f t h e 3 r d 3 a t t a l i o n , countermanded t h e

o r d e r and f o r two n o r e d q s and n i g h t s , ;.:ith t h e a s s i s t a c e

o f t h e F rench , h e l d on -to t h e t h r e e r9ile.5 o f advance that

S O

had been gained. The Reds would hsve t o v d t u n t i l t he

f o l l o v i n z yea r t o r ega in c o n t r o l of t h e b r idze . 13

The advance on P le se t skaya began t o slorr i n October. The

A l l i e s a t tempted t o push south along the r a i l r o a d bu t discov-

e red t h a t t h e Reds had cons t ruc ted s t r o n g f o r t i f i c a t i o n s and

viere supported by Iieavj a r t i l l e r y and armored t r a i n s . They

also began t o understand t h a t t he t e r r a i n i n Xorth Russia gave

a d i s t i n c t advantage t o the defender . T h e heavy f o r e s t s ,

s ' w ~ ~ pbogs, and meandering s t ream and t ra i ls severely r c s t r i c t -

ed crosscountry movement and forced t h e a t t a c k e r t o remain on

the major r i v e r s a i d roads. The d i f f i c u l t t e r r a i n also pro-

vided i d e a l l o c a t i o n s and m a t e r i e l f o r defens ive p o s i t i o n s that

were formidable a g a i n s t even a numerical ly s u p e r i o r f o e .

On 16 October t h e eneniy countera t tacked a g a i n s t "I"Com-

pany of t he 3rd E a t t a l i o n i n the v i c i n i t y of v e r s t 445 and

i n f l i c t e d moderate c a s u a l t i e s . I n t h i s a c t i o n the French re-

fused t o f i g h t because they had g o t t e n word of the proposed

a r m i s t i c e of t h e ':Jestern Front . A f t e r about one hour the

French, a t the urg ing of t h e i r b a t t a l i o n commander, r e j o i n e d

the Americans. The French were considered e x c e l l e n t f i z h t e r s

by t h e Americans and B r i t i s h , bu t had a tendency t o b a l k a t

awkward t imes . A s t h e a r m i s t i c e cane and went, t h i s propen-

s i t y became more f r equen t . 14

The Archangel-Vologda f r o n t would e s s e n t i a l l y s t a b i l i z e

i n October, 1918, and remain so u n t i l t he sp r ing of 1 9 1 9 . The

A l l i e s would no t be a b l e t o advance any f u r t h e r than v e r s t 4.45,

61

abou t t d e n t y m i l e s s o u t h o f Obozerskaya. There would be many

small u n i t a c t i 0 r . s w i t h minor g a i n s and l o s s e s , u s u a l l y r e s u l t -

i n g i n t h e c o n s o l i d a t i o n of a f o r m a l l y occupied p o s i t i o n .

The S o v i e t s s t r u c k t h e f irst blow o f s p r i n g on !::arch 1 7 ,

a t t h e v i l l a g e o f E o l s h i e Ozerlci on the road between Obozer-

s k a y a and Onega. The motive behind the enemy o f f e n s i v e was

t h e p r e v e n t i o n o f r e s u p p l y from ; k m m n s k and t o produce a

t h r e a t t o t h e A l l i e d rear a t Obozerskaya.

B o l s h i e O z e r k i , l oca t ed abou t twenty m i l e s wes t o f Obozer-

skaya, was g a r r i s o n e d by a s m a l l F rench , American, a n d A l l i e d

Russian f o r c e . By c o i n c i d e n c e , Colonel Lucas, t h e French com-

mandant and R a i l r o a d F r o n t Commander, w a s a t Chekuevo, l o c a t e d

between B o l s h i e Oze rk i and Obozerskaya, when t h e a s s a u l t came.

Lucas, e s c o u r t e d by an American patrol, d e p a r t e d immedia te ly

f o r Obozerskaya. About one vers t o u t s i d e o f Obozerskaya t h e

p a t r o l was a t t a c k e d and d i s p e r s e d . Lucas a r r i v e d i n Obozer-

s k a y a t h e n e x t day w i t h a f r o s t b i t t e n l e f t hand and was in-

formed t h a t General Ironsl.de had r e l i e v e d him and was t a k i n g 15cha rge o f t h e o p e r a t i o n .

The a t t a c k at B o l s h i e Ozerlci caugh t t h e A l l i e d f o r c e o f

abou t 50 men by complete s u r p r i s e , On 18 ?:larch, about 1 2 0 0

h o u r s , t h e French o f f i c e r i n charge s u r r e n d e r e d the g a r r i s o n

a f t e r a w e l l c o o r d i n a t e d enemy a r t i l l e r y and i n f a n t r y a t t a c k ,

The A l l i e d p r i s o n e r s were taken t o Vologda and he ld u n t i l

e a r l y May when t h e y were r e l e a s e d as p a r t O f a p r i s o n e r ex-

change. 16

6 2

Both the A l l i e s and t h e S o v i e t s b rough t un s u b s t a n - t i a l

amounts o f i n f a n t r y and a r t i l l e r y f o r t h e coming b a t t l e .

General I r o n s i d e committed near ly 600 American, Z r i t i s h , F rench ,

T o l i s h , and A l l i e d Russ i an t r o o p s . By 2 3 :larch, when the So-

v i e t s began t h e i r main attack, the A l l i e s :;!ere well dug i n ,

t ho rough ly s u p p l i e d w i t h food and arnmunition, and s u p p o r t e d

by French-Russian a r t i l l e r y p i e c e s w i t h a i r p l a n e o b s e r v a t i o n . 17

The S o v i e t a s s a u l t , conducted by t h e 2nd iiosco:.;, 9 6 t h

S a r a t o v , and 2nd Kazan Regiments , c o n t i n u e d u n t i l 4 A p r i l .

A f t e r a s e r i e s of savage a t t a c k s , c o u n t e r - a t t a c k s , and a r t i l -

l e r y d u e l s , the enemy r e t i r e d . The b a t t l e 'was t h e h igh p o i n t

o f A l l i e d coopera , t ion and c o o r d i n a t i o n and proved t o he very

c o s t l y t o the S o v i e t s . The i n t e n s i t y o f combat was c o i i s i s t a n t l y

f i e r c e and one o b s e r v e r no ted :

T h e Americans had n e v e r had s u c h s h o o t i n g . They knet- t h e enemy losses were g r e a t from the numbers of bodies found and from s t a t e m e n t s of p r i s o n e r s and d e s e r t e r s , L a t e r a c c o u n t s o f o u r Americzi s o l d i e r s who were ambushed and c a p t u r e d , t o G e t h e r .with s t a t e m e n t s t h a t appeared i n Bo l shev ik n e m - pape r s p l a c e d the losses v e r y h i g h , T h e old Rus-s i a n g e n e r a l massed up i n all o v e r seven thousand men i n t h i s s p e c t a c u l a r and w e l l - n i s h s u c c e s s f u l t h r u s t . find h i s l o s s e s from k i l l e d i n a c t i o n , lwounded, m i s s i n g and f r o s t b i t t e n YIere a d m i t t e d 13by t h e rjolshevilc r e p o r t s t o be Over two thousancl.

The o n l y n o t e o f A l l i e d d i s c o r d o c c u r r e d when sorm

P o l i s h t r o o p s r e f u s e d t o advance agai?,:jt t h e S o v i e t s , An

American o f f i c e r p r e s e n t drelw h i s p i s t o l , t ! i reatened t o s h o o t

t h e P o l i s h o f f i c e r s , and the u n i t t ook up tlie a t t ack w i t h o u t

f u r t h e r h e s i t a t i o n . 1 9

S o l s h i e Oze rk i 1;m.s t h e l as t rlajor b a t t l e f o r tile Aneri-

53

c a n s i n ;:orth Russia.. A r t i l l e r y exchanzes sJnd g a t r o l l i n g

a c t i o n c o n t i n u e d u n t i l A p r i l , b u t l a r z e r s c a l e t roor , move-

ments v e r e r e s t r i c t e c ! b y t h e coming o f s g r i n g a i d s u b s e q u e n t

so?;,qy ground c o n d i t i o n s . Although o f f i c i a l orders had n o t

a r r i v e d , t h e v i thc i ra~wal o f American f o r c e s seemed a s s u r e d .

Consequen t ly , the companies of t h e 339 th b e g m p u l l i n g back

t o Archangel and, :.:ere r e p l a c e d by A l l i e d Russ i zns t r a i n e d ane

commanded by t h e 2 r i t i s h .

Genera l Toole viewed t h e f o r c e on t h e Dvina R ive r as t h e

key t o t he e n t i r e campaign i n Nor th 2 u s s i a . I-!e f e l t t h a t Kot-

las must be talcen p r i o r t o t h e o n s e t o f ..:inter i n o r d e r t o

move on t o Viatlta and a l i n k ug >vi th t h e Czech C o r p s i n t h e

s p r i n g . I n September , when t h e 339th I n f a n t r y a r r ivec ! i n

Archange l , P o o l e a l r e a d y had a f o r c e l o c a t e d a t Bereznilc, 150

miles s o u t h e a s t o f Archangel on t h e Dvina R ibe r . From i3erez

nilc, l o c a t e d a t t h e j u n c t i o n o f t h e 3 v i n a and t h e Vaga r ive r s ,

i t was abou t 250 miles t o Ko t l a s . P o o l e ' s "C" Fo rce , coinposed

o f %GO i 3 r i t i s h i n f a n t r y , 110 Russ ian i n f a n t r y , 35 L i t h u a n i a n

i n f a n t r y , and one s e c t i o n o f 18 pounder s , maimed by Russ ian

g u n n e r s , ':/as opposec: by abou t 2000 Red Guards h e a d q u a r t e r e d at

Toulgas , 40 n i l e s u p s t r e m i from Sereznii: .

F i v e days a f t e r d e p a r t i n g Archa??:el, t h e men o f t h e 1st

B a . t t a l i o n , 339th I n f a n t r y a r r i v e d a t Eereznilc. E n r o u t e , two

doughboys d i e d o f i n f l u e n z a anc! 'wre b u r i e d upon a r r i v a l at

t h e r iver v i l l a g e t h a t s e r v e d as h e a d q u a r t e r s f o r "C" Fo rce .

6 4

One company o f Americans wa.s l e f t a t Jerezni ic f o r s e c u r i t y

and t h e remainckr o f t h e f o r c e moved s o u t h a l o n g t h e Ljvina

and 'Jaga r i v e r s t o j o i n t h e " C " Force . The enemy deci t ied to

make h i s s t and a t S e l t z o , t h i r t y m i l e s ups t ream from Eereznilc

and well o v e r two hundred m i l e s s o u t h e a s t of Archangel . T h i s

was t o be t he l i m i t o f t h e A l l i e d advance on t h e Dvina R i v e r .

On the fnorning o f 1 9 September , less t han tTwo weeks a f t e r

t he a r r iva l o f t h e Americans, t h e b a t t l e f o r S e l t z o bezan. The

v i l l a g e sat n e a r the avina, on t h e s o u t h w e s t e r n s i d e o f t h e

r i v e r , sur rounded by swamp and p e a t bogs . The on ly e a s y ap-

Droach was a l o n s a narro!v road t h a t p a r a l l e d the r i v e r and

e n t e r e d t h e v i l l a g e from t h e n o r t h . The eneniy den ied t h i s

approach by f l o o d i n g i t and f o r c e d t h e A l l i e s t o a t t a c k a c r o s s

t h e open s7;iamp. One company o f American i n f a n t r y deployed and

began t o wade t h rough t h e waist deep marsh. About 1500 y a r d s

from t h e v i l l a g e t he S o v i e t s opened ug w i t h machineguns and

a r t i l l e r y . ;Without maps, a r t i l l e r y s u p p o r t , o r p r o t e c t i v e

c o v e r , t h e Americans bunched t o g e t h e r and t r i e d t o d i g i n wi th-

o u t drowning i n t h e mud. 20

Another company o f Royal S c o t s and Americans tnoveci t h r o u g h

a woodline on t h e f l a n k o f t h e v i l l a g e i n an a t t e m p t t o aEsis t

t h e Americans caugh t i n t h e open , The f l a n k i n g ' f o r c e rras

t a k e n under f i r e by t h e Red a r t i l l e r y and f o r c e d t o t a k e c o v e r

t o avo id d e s t r u c t i o n . A s n i g h t a r r i v e r ? , t h e txo All iec! e l e -

ments found themse lves pinnec! down by S o v i e t au tomat i c ?ma.-

pons and i n d i r e c t f i r e and unab le t o r e t u r n t h e f a v o r . Cecause

6 5

o f t h e Amer ican ' s p o s i t i o n i n t h e open swamp, e a c h time t h e y

a t t e m p t e d t o maneuver or taice t h e enemy unde r f i r e , t h e y

were s u b j e c t e d t o i n t e n s e small a r n s and machinegun f i r e .

A l s o , t h e A l l i e s had no a r t i l l e r y a v a i l a b l e f o r t h e i r ovm u s e .

The 1st D a t t a l i o n commander, L i e u t e n a n t Colonel Jmes

Corb ley , had been a b s e n t from t h e e n t i r e f i g h t . For t h e

b e t t e r p a r t o f the d a y , and i n t o t h e n i g h t , he was t r y i n g t o

g e t t h e A l l i e d Russ i an e r t i l l e r y , l e d by B r i t i s h o f f i c e r s , t o

move up and s u p 9 o r t t h e t r a p p e d i n f a n t r y e l e m e n t s . A f t e r

spend ing an e n t i r e n i g h t caugh t i n t h e open , t h e Aner i cans

f i n a l l y were a b l e t o maneuver towards t h e v i l l a g e when the

A l l i e d a r t i l l e r y began t o f i r e . A t t h e s a n e t i n e , t h e A l l i e s

t ook s e v e r a l S o v i e t gunboa t s t h a t had been :sroviding t h e enemy

wi th e f f e c t i v e s u p p o r t s i n c e t h e start of t h e b a t t l e unde r

f i r e . ':!ith t h e i r i n d i r e c t f i r e s u p p o r t f a l l i n g on S e l t z o , t h e

Xll ies advanced and. d rove o u t t h o s e Red Guards that had n o t

a l r e a d y e v a c u a t g d , i.101:' hoyvrever, t h e Aner i cans end S c o t s 'Yere

tL&en unde r f i r e by t h e gunboats that proved t o be beyond t f le 2 1r a g e o f t h e A l l i e d a r t i l l e r y .

The A l l i e s q u i c k l y abmdonec! S e l t z o t h e morning ester .the

attac!; and moved downs t r ew, t o v a r d T o u l g a s . T h i s d e c i s i o n iias

made by t h e a r i t i s h command base6 on i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t t h e ?OF-

u l a t i o n o f Shen!cursk d e s i r e d a l a r g e Al l i ec ! force t o be pre-

sen- t durinn, the w i n t e r t o hold o f f the S o v i e t s . The f a c t t k c t

t h e A l l i e s were o b v i o u s l y outgunned on t h e 5 v i n a mi.2h-k have

also had some b e a r i n g on the d e c i s i o n . The lac!< o f 3 r i t i s h

6 6

n a v a l s u p p o r t OR the 3 v i n a :./asc result o f a staff d e c i s i o n

nade i n Archangel . The E r i t i s h m o n i t o r s had been ;.rithc:ra;:'n,

f e a r f u l o f b e i n g c a u z h t by t h e i c e t h a t :./asexpec te? t o b e g i n

forming i n Oc tobe r but a c t u a l l y d ie n o t come u n t i l mid-l:oven-

h e r . The wi thdrawal o f t h e mon i to r s had been o r d e r e d i?y P o o l e ' s

s ta f f vri-thout t h e knowledge o f t h e "C" Force Weadquar te rs .

Consequen t ly , t h e gunboa t s iviere n o t a v a i l a b l e f o r r i r e support ..o r t r a n s p o r t o f t h e S e l t z o f o r c e f o l l o w i n g the b a t t l e . .:any

o f t h e A l l i e d s o l d i e r s Tirere s u f f e r i n g from t r e n c h f o o t and

$;rounds b u t had t o be carried o u t or :,rail: under t h e i r own power

because o f t h e d e p a r t u r e of t he p n b o a t s . G e n e r d I r o n s i d e ,

who was Genera l P o o l e ' s deputy a t t he t i m e , r e c o r d s :

...I r e c e i v e d an u r g e n t telegram from Genera l Fin layson . A p p a r e n t l y , on h i s a r r i v a l at t h e Dvina h e a d q u a r t e r s he h a l found t h a t t h e 3ri-t i s h gunboa t s on the r i v e r had bcen v i i thd iwm ... w i t h o u t n o t i f i c a . t i o n hav ing been made t o t he commander on t h e s p o t . The 2 o l s h e v i k s h i p s . , . h a d sudden ly r e t u r n e d . . . a n d s u b j e c t e d our d e f e n c e s t o a heavy boinbarlment, .. .The enemy s h i p s had s t o o d o u t s i d e t h e range of o u r f i e l d - g u n s and much o f our p r e c i o u s w i n t e r cove r had been d e s t r o y e d . I took ?he t e l eg ram o v e r t o Genera l P o o l e , who s e n t f o r t h e a d n i r a l t o come and e x p l a i n , There follo'wed a sorlievihat h e a t e d a rgument , !which ended i n t h e admiral pro- ducing a p a p e r f rom h e a d q u a r t e r s , a u t h o r i z i n g t h e wi thd rawa l o f t h e gunboa t s . . . .The s taff had o m i t t e d t o in fo rm t h e Dvina Column.22

The Dvina f r o n t ev idenced some o f the same c h a r a c t e r i s -

t i c s as t h e r a i l r o a d f r o n t . On b o t h f r o n t s t h e r e ~:oulC:i i e

f i e r c e f i g h t i n g w i t h a v a r i e t y o f mai2ons, a l t e r n a t e advance

and r e t r e a t , anl c la i ly c a s u a l t i e s , !!"en t h e two s ides met ,

t h e y f o u g h t w i t h e v e r y t h i n g they !lad i r , c l u d i n & , i n i?u;Gst,

c, 7

221919, mustard. m d l a c h r y n a t o q g2.s. The primary d i f f e r e n c e

between the t:io f r o n t s ';;as t h e t o t a l i s o l a t i o n exper ienced on

t h e Dvina f r o n t d u r i n g t h e w i n t e r . ' X t h t h e f r e e z i n g o f t he

r i v e r s , t r a n s p o r t a t i o n was l i m i t e d t o t h e ho r se drawn s l e d or

"Drosky". The extreme l e n g t h of l i n e s o f communication and

t h e u b i q u i t o u s n a t u r e of t h e enemy made d u t y on the Dvina a?d

Vaga r i v e r f r o n t s l o n e l y and p e r i l o u s .

A t t h e same t ime t h e S e l t z o o p e r a t i o n iwas t a k i n g p l a c e

a g a i n s t s t i f f S o v i e t o p p o s i t i o n , two p l a t o o n s o f 11 Conpmy,

3 3 9 t h I n f a n t r y e n t e r e d Shenkurslc vri-thout f i r i n g a s h o t . Shen-

kurslc was t h e second l a r g e s t c i t y i n t h e Province and occupied

a cornmanding p o s i t i o n on a h igh b l u f f above t h e Vaga R i v e r .

I t s f o u r thousand c i t i z e n s were thought t o be an t i -Bo l shev ik

p r i m a r i l y because o f t h e i r p r o s p e r i t y and s o c i a l l i n k s w i t h

t he Noscow a r i s t o c r a t s , Shenlcurslc had been a f a v o r i t e summer

r e s o r t be fo re t h e war and vras "a g e n e r a t i o n removed from mou-

j i k pover ty and encha in ing i g n o r a n c e , and consc ious ly S u p e r i o r

t o t h e humble l o g h u t s t h a t below n o r t h and s o u t h t r a i l e d t h e

r i v e r . ,,24

On 1 9 September a r econna i s sance element cont inued s o u t h

a long t h e Vaga t o l o c a t e t he enemy. A t Rodvino, a small v i l -

l a g e t e n mi l e s from Shenkursk, t h e f o r c e o f about 100 Americans

and 50 A l l i e d R u s s i a n s came under f i r e from bo th s i d e s of t h e

r i v e r , The RlZied f o r c e ' s paddleboat was h i t and beached al-

most immediately. Cap ta in O t t o Odjard, the funer icm comman-

d e r , o rde red an a t t a c k a c r o s s the beach and drove o f f the Red

6 5

f o r c e s t h r o u g h a combina t ion of s u r p r i s e and a u d a c i t y r a t h e r

t h a n s u p e r i o r numbers or f i r e p o w e r .

Odjard's A l l i e d f o r c e c o n t i n u e d t o push o u t f rom Shen-

k u r s k i n a n e f f o r t t o secure the a r e a a round t h i s i m p o r t a n t

r i v e r c i t y . A s w i n t e r approached , and t h e p r o s p e c t of t h e

f r e e z e became more imminent, t h e s e c u r i t y element rras f o r c e d

t o vrithdraw t o U s t Padenga, a small v i l l a g e f i f t e e n x i l e s

s o u t h o f Shenkursk . T h i s v i l l a g e was t o be t h e f a r t h e s t

p e n e t r a t i o n of t h e main body of the A l l i e d E x p e d i t i o n a r y Force .

F a l l ended w i t h Genera.1 Poole f a i l i n , 7 t o o b t a i n any of

h i s o b j e c t i v e s , "A" F o r c e , on t h e Archangel-Vologda r a i l w a y ,

was h a l t e d n e a r Obozerskaya, S O m i l e s s h o r t O f I l e s e t s k q r a

and a lmost 200 miles from t h e i r o r i g i n a l o b j e c t i v e of V O l O g d a .

On t h e Dvina, I tC l ' Force had talcen S e l t z o , t h e n withdrawn t o

Tou lgas , and was n e a r l y 200 m i l e s from K o t l a s , i ts f i r s t g o a l .

Between IfAtt and I 1 C " F o r c e s a group of S r i t i s h , l h i e r i c m , F rench ,

and A l l i e d Xuss i ans were f i a h t i n g n e a r Kodish on t h e E i n t s a

R i v e r . T h i s A l l i e d e l e m e n t , "i;" F o r c e , was under t i le conrna?d

of Colonel Henderson of t h e famous "l3la.clc !.!atc!i" ReZi::ient,

Dur ing t h e l a t e r p a r t o f September i . t f o u g h t numerous small

b u t b i t t e r engagements t o s e c u r e t h e viilnerrable c e n t e r a g a i n s t

enemy p r o b e s .

A t t h e sane t ime t h a t t h e s e bloody a c t i o n s vere t a k i n z

p l a c e n e a r Archange l , Secretar ; , of S t a - t e 2 o S e r t Lansin:: 5ras

conc lud ing that ? . i l i t a r y e c t i v i t i e s i n :lorti1 Russia 've1-e

6 3

-f u t i l e , On 26 Septex!:er, Lansin.: cablec'. Hi::bass&Or T r m c i s :

It i s i n the opinio!; o f t h e C,overnrnent or' t h e Uni ted S t a t e s p l a i n t h a t no g E t h e r i n g o f my e f f e c t i v e f o r c e s by the Russ ians i s ho;jed f o r . !.ie s h a l l i n s i s t that the o t h e r governments , 30

fa r as OUi' c o o p e r a t i o n i s conce rned , t h a t all m i l i t a r y e f f o r t i n F o r t h e r n R u s s i a be g i v e n kip, e x c e p t t he g u a r d i n g o f t h e ?arts t h e m e l v e s and as much c o u n t r y round abou t them as imy deve lop threa-ter?ing c o n d i t i o n s , 25

D e s p i t e t h i s c l a r i f i c a t i o n o f t h e Axericar? r o l e , ..u n i t e d

S t a t e s f o r c e s were f i g h t i n 2 deep i n t h e i n t e r i o r of n u s s i a an<

would c o n t i n u e t o f i z h t u n t i l 1919. An3aasador F r a n c i s , heed-

l e s s o f L a n s i n g ' s i n s t r u c t i o n s , a l lowed 3ritish connar,ders t o

use American t r o o p s x i t h l i t t l e o r no regard f o r Co lone l Ste'w-

a r t ' s p o s i t i o n as t h e c o m a n d e r o f Uni.ted States F o r c e s . Fr2n-

c i s , who ha rbored an i n t e n s e p e r s o n a l hatrec! for Bolshevism,

s t a t e s :

I s h a l l encourage An!erican t r o o p s t o proceed t o such p o i n t s i n t h e i n t e r i o r as X o t l a s , Suiihonn, and Vologcla as at t h o s e p l a c e s , as ire11 as P e t r o -grad and i.losCol//i, are s t o r e d war s u p p l i e s !ihich t h e S o v i e t Government, i n v i o l a t i o n of i t s pron-ises and ag reemen t s , t r a n s f e r r e d from Archangel . Fur thermore I s h a l l encouraxe Anericarr t r o o p s t o obey t h e commands o f C-eneral T o o l e i n h i s e f f o r t t o e f f e c t a j u n c t i o n with t h e Czechos lovaks an6 t o r e l i e v e them from t h e mennce !rhich s u r r o u n d s them; t h a t menace is noEina l1y B o l s h e v i k s b u t 2,5 is v i r t u a l l y i n s p i r e d an?. d i r e c t e d by Germany.

?he t h r e a t from G e r m a n y ';!as o f f i c i a l l y ended on 11 iiovern-

ber, 1915, w i t h t h e s i g n i n g of t h e 2 r : n i s t i c e . T h i s ::ate -as

a l s o t h e be,ginning o f t h e v i n t e r canpz ign i n Xorth R u s s i a .

Gene ra l Toole d e p a r t e d f o r England on 14 October and Genera l

I r o n s i d e becane t!ie z c t i n g Commander-in-Chief be l i ev in - : tihat

70

i f ? o o l e r e t u r n e d z t a l l , i t w o u l d n ' t be u n t i l a f te r t h e

s p r i n g thzw. I r o n s i d e who, u n l i k e Poole , hati made nilmerous

V i s i t s t o t h e f r o n t unde r s tood t h e c i i l i t a r y problems t h a t had

been l e f t t o him. He saw the f u - t i l i t y o f a t t e m o t i n g a l i n k

up w i t h t h e Czechs and de termined t h a t h i s most immediate

task was t o e s t a b l i s h t e n a b l e d e f e n s i v e p o s i t i o n s f o r t h e v in -

t e r . S h e l t e r and p r o t e c t i o n f o r h i s t r o o p s were h i s b i z g e s t

p roblems, and he d e c i d e d t h a t a. s e r i e s o f l o g b lockhouses ,

p r o t e c t e d by barbed-wire and manned b y machj.ne.2un crews

s h o u l d be e s t a b l i s h e d b e f o r e t h e o n s e t o f wj.nter. He a l s o

r e a l i z e d t h a t a l a r g e s c a l e conmitment o f A l l i e d t r o o p s from

the home c o u n t r i e s was h i g h l y u n l i k e l y and t h a t h i s l ong r ange

p l a n s s h o u l d p r o v i d e f o r t he e v e n t u a l e v a c u a t i o n of A l l i e d

f o r c e s from Nor th Russia . IWith t h e s e f a c t o r s i n mind, I ron -~ ~ ~

s i d e i s s u e d o r d e r s t o e a c h of h i s f o r c e s t o p r e p a r e f o r defen-

s i v e o p e r a t i o n s d u r i n g t h e w i n t e r months.

On 11 November, while the res t o f t h e w e s t e r n w o r l d was

r e j o i c i n g i n t h e n e w o f t h e armistice on t h e 'Western F r o n t ,

B Company, 3 3 9 t h I n f a n t r y , a company o f Royal S c o t s , and a

s e c t i o n of Canad ian A r t i l l e r y were f i g h t i n g a d e s p e r a t e b a t -

t l e on the Dvina River , a t Tou lgas , some f i f t y m i l e s sowth

of Berezn ik . 27 One American o f f i c e r e x p l a i n s , "Toulgas was t h e

d u p l i c a t e of t housands of similar v i l l a g e s th roughou t t h i s pro-

v i n c e . I t c o n s i s t e d of a group o f low, d i r t y log houses hud-

,128d l e d t o g e t h e r on a h i l l , s l o p i n g down t o a broad p l a n . . . . The same o f f i c e r r e c o u n t s t h e commencement Or ' t h e b a t t l e :

7 1

On t h e mornin2 o f ;loveraber 1 1 t h vrhile some o f t h e men were s t i l l engaged i n e a t i n g t h e i r b r e a k f a s t s and w h i l e t he p o s i t i o n s ..rere o n l y abou t ha l f manned, suddenly from t h e f o r e s t s s u r r o u n d i n g t h e upper v i l l a g e t h e enemy emersed i n at tack f o r m a t i o n . A l l hands 'were immedia te ly mustered i n t o p o s i t i o n t o r e p e l t h i s advancing wave of i n f a n t r y . I n t h e nean-t ime the 9010 a t t a c k e d w i t h abou t f i v e hundred men from our r e a r , having made a t h r e e c!ay march t h r o u g h xhat had been r e p o r t e d as impassab le swamp, Hundrees o f t h e enemy appea red as i f by magic from t h e f o r e s t s , svmrmed i n upon t h e h o s p i t a l v i l l a g e and immedia te ly took p o s s e s s i o n . I n m e d i a t e l y t h e h o s p i t a l v i l l a g e 'was i n t h e i r hands, t h e Do10 t h e n commenced a despe r -a t e advance upon o u r guns.29

The S o v i e t s deployed i n t o squad a t t a c k f o r m a t i o n s and

began . t h e i r a s s a u l t on the A l l i e d p o s i t i o n s . An i 'merican

Lewis gun crew opened f i r e and slowed t h e a t - t a c k e r s u n t i l t h e

Canadian gunners c o u l d s:rin;: t h e i r 'xeapons abou t t o f a c e t h e

enemy. F i r s t L i e u t e n a r t John Cudahy, a p l a t o o n l e a d e r i n 3

Compmy, d e s c r i b e s t he Canadian a c t i o n s :

They s:rore f i n e , f u l l c h e s t e d , C m a d i a n b l a s p h e n i e s t h a t were a g l o r y t o h e a r , cramned s h r a g n e l i n t o t h e i r g u n s , encl t u r n e d t e r r i 5 l e b las ts i n ~ t o t h e incoming rnasses thzt exploded arnong -thein m d s h a t t e r e d t h e n i n t o g h a s t l y Cismenbered c o r p s e s and h u r l e d bloocl and human f l e s h :.ride i n t h e a i r i n s i c k e n i n g , s p l a t t e r i n g atoms. The more :ieight o f t h o s e approach inq g rea t numbers irould have sha-ken and t u r n e d o r d i n a r y t r o o p s , f o r t h e o n s l a u z h t was n o t s t o p p e d u n t i l l e s s t h a n 2 i f t y y a r d s from t h e guns ; b u t t h e C a n a d i a n s v e r e n o t o r d i n w y men and

30t h e y gave n o t t h e s l i g h t e s t hope o f b e i n 3 t u r n e d .

The f i g h t for T o u l g a l a s t e d f o u r days aqd t h e t i d e of

b a t t l e f l o x e d a l t e r n a t e l y i n f a v o r o f t h e A l l i e s znc! t h e R e * s .

On the second day o f t h e ensagement t h e S o v i e t s b rought f i v e

zunboa t s doi.rn r i v e r f r o n S e l t z o m d sihelled t h e A l l i e d ? o s i -

t i o n s : r i th r e l a t i v e i r , ? u n i t y from t h e s h o r t e r - r z n z e C z w 6 C i m

7 5 ' s . On t h e mornir.2 o f t h e f o u r t h ::ay t ~ o2la ' toons of . h e r -

7 2

i c a n s , l e d by Lieutenant Cudahy , li..a.de a c o u n t e r a t t a c k or, t h e

n a i n enerny f o r c e . m i l e t h e Royal S c o t s h e l d t h e ~ r i , : : ~ ~ i ~ y

A l l i e d p o s i t i o n s and p r o v i d e < a b a s e o f f i r e , t h e Americans

maneuvered throu,qh the t h i c k f i r f o r e s t i n z. s u r n r i s e flank

attack. Taking f u l l advantage o f t h e i r unexpec ted a s s a u l t ,

t h e small A-mericsn e lement s e t t h e enemy o b s e r v a t i o n 3 o s t s

a f i r e and t h e r e s u l t i n g e:cplosions dece ived t h e Red C u a - 6 ~as

t o t h e actual s i z e aiid s t r e n g t h o f the A l l i e d f o r c e . Conse-

q u e n t l y , t h e S o v i e t s fled i n p a n i c b e f o r e what t hey ap :>arent ly

though t vas at l e a s t an A l l i e d r eg imen t . Cudahy rem.arks:

The Americans d a r e d no-t p u r s u e , f o r t o c:o s o would have r e v e a l e d t h e i r t r u e s t r e n g t h , a i d they, were ou t n u r h e r e d f o u r t o one. E e s i d e s , t hey !.rere t o o e l a t e d a t b e i n g r i d of t h e enemy t o g i v e him t h e chance t o r e t u r n t o t he a t t a c k . They c o n t e n t e d themse lves w i t h t2!<inz p r i s o n e r t h o s e s t r a g g l e r s vrno cou ld n o t keep pace 7;rith t h e l e a d e r l e s s r a b b l e t h a t d i s p e r s e d i n t o t h e forest,31 . .~ ~

The A l l i e s had s u c c e s s f u l l y h e l d o f f a major S o v i e t a t t a c k ,

a l l e g e d l y l e d by T r o t s k y h i m s e l f , and had ! ; i l led Chief Com~ian-

d e r Foukes, one o f t h e a b l e s t Red Guard l e a d e r s . 32 I n a c l i i t i o n

t o a g r e a t number of dead , wounded, a.nc: c a p t u r e d , t h e S o v i e t s

l o s t t h e w i l l t o f i g h t , at l e a s t f o r the moment. The A l l i e s

ha6 s u f f e r e d abou t one hundred c a s u a l . t i e s owt o f t!ieir S i x

huncired m a n f o r c e , w i t h t h e Royal S c o t s t a k i n g t h e 1.10rSt pun-

i shment . T h e a a j o r i t y of t h e A l l i e d k i l l e d and :.rounded . ?e re

the r e s u l t o f enerng s h e l l i n g r a t h e r t!mn small arms f i r e .

L ieu- tenant Cudahy e x p l a i n s t h a t :

"It v/as noon vhen the b lockhouse was h i t . I t crumpled l i k e p a p e r under t h e i m p a c t , a i d one

7 3

m a n , drenched r . r i t h a w e l t e r o f b lood , was seen t o drag himself from the wreckage and craTwl back t o t h e p r i e s t ' s house. S h e l l s , t o s s i n z geysers of d i r t =and d e b r i s , s t r u c k a l l around, and ploughed a deep c i r c u l a r furrow v i t h i n a r a d i u s of f i v e yards of t he dea th house, Ivihere seven Americans sat w i t h blanched f a c e s and s e t t e e t h , count ing the seconds between -the hideous success ive whine of t h e plunging s h e l l s and wai t ing s i l e n t l y f o r c e r t a i n des t ruc t ion .1133

The no r the rn half o f Toulgas was burned because the A l l i e s

d i d no t have enough men t o occupy the e n t i r e v i l l a g e and be-

cause an a t t a c k e r could use the small houses f o r o u t p o s t s a n d

cover i n the event of a renewed a s s a u l t . An observer d e s c r i b e s

t h e d e s t r u c t i o n of t he hamlet:

The f irst snow f l o a t e d down from a d a r k fore-boding sky , dread announcer of a c r u e l a r c t i c w in te r . Soon t h e houses were r o a r i n g flames. The woman sat upon had- fa sh ioned c r a t e s wherein w e r e all t h e i r most pr ized household goods, and abandoned themselves t o a paroxysm of weeping d e s p a i r , whi le t he c h i l d r e n sh r i eked s t r i d e n t l y , v i c t im of a l l t he r e a l i s t i c h o r r o r s t h a t only childhood can conjure . Nitchevoo, f a t e had de-creed t h a t they should s u f f e r t h i s burden, and s o they accepted i t without ques t ion . Rut when we thought of t h e brave chaps whose l i v e s had been talcen from those flaming homes, for our c a s u a l t i e s had been heavy, n e a r l y one hundred men k i l l e d and wounded, vre s t i f l e d our compas-s i o n and looked on the b l az ing scene as a j u b i l a n tbonf i r e .34

Following t h e Toulgas b a t t l e t he enemy made p e r i o d i c

probes t o t e s t t h e c o n s t a n t l y improving Al l i ed defenses . 3ur -

ing December the 310th EnEineers a s s i s t e d t h e i n f a t r y and

a r t i l l e r y i n the c o n s t r u c t i o n of w i n t e r q u a r t e r s and f o r t i f i -

c a t i o n s . The S o v i e t s a t tempted a m a j o r a t t a c k i n l a t e Jan-

u a r y , 1919 , and a j a i n i n February, b u t were dr iven o f f by t h e

A l l i e s on both occas ions ,

74

The supremacy o f t h e d e f e n s e '.?asbecorflina e v i d e n t as

w i n t e r a r r i v e d i n : lorth Russ i a . Y i t h t h e advm- tage o f l a r g e ,

well b u i l t and s u p p l i e d l o g b lockhouses , sur rounded by barbed

wire and p r o t e c t e d by several machine gms, the A l l i e s cou ld

e f f e c t i v e l y h o l d o f f t h e n u m e r i c a l l y s u p e r i o r enemy. D e s p i t e

t h e S o v i e t s advantage i n l a r g e c a l i b e r a r t i l l e r y , t h e ex t reme

c o l d and deep snow made o f f e n s i v e o p e r a t i o n s a l n o s t i m p o s s i 3 l e .

Vhen an attack :'as a t t e m p t e d t h e r e s u l t s were u s u a l l y i n c o n c l u -

s i v e and c o s t t h e f o r c e conduc t ing t h e o f f e n s i v e a c t i o n an

e x c e s s i v e number of c a s u a l t i e s .

The r e s o u r c e f u l n e s s of t h e Americans ? r m also becorninz

v e r y obvious . An o f f i c e r no ted :

I n a few h o u r s - or few days a t most , t h e Americans s o l d i e r would have dug i n s e c u r e l y and made h i inse l f r u d e l y co in fo r t ab le . Tha t rude comfor t !;;auld last till some E r i t i s h o f f i c e r d e c i d e d t o ' p u t on a b i t o f a show' or till the Reds i n overwhelming numbers o r w i t h tremendous a r t i l l e r y pounding - o r both combined, compel led t h e yanks t o f i g h t them-selves i n t o a. new p o s i t i o n and go th rough t h e A r c t i c r i g o r s of t r e n c h work a g a i n i n

35ze ro wea the r f o r a few days .

The Americans a l s o had a c e r t a i n i n g e n u i t y f o r making a

q u i c k p r o f i t . One o f f i c e r r e t u r n i n X t o Archangel from t h e

v r i l c 1 . s of Yor th R u s s i a compl.ained:

And o v e r a c r o s s t h e h a r b o r a t B a k a r i t z a , ( f i rch- zingel) a w e l l - f e e Su3ply Coi:lpmy .:latched o v e r mountains o f r a t i o n s ~ n c lsu ;>p l i e s t h a t her! been brough t all t h e way from far o f f h e r i c a ; s u p p l i e s and l i t t l e gooc? t h i n g s and cor.iforta that would hab-e h e a r t e n e d and brough t nev l i f e and hope t o t h e l o n e l y , abandoned !nen on t h e far f i s h t i n & l i n e s i n t h e snow. These s u p p l i e s n e v e r r eached -the f r o n t , b u t t h e Supnly Company, v r i t h A mri can bus i n ess shrevdness and Arnerican

7 5

a p t i t u d e f o r t r n d i n g , a c q u i r e d % r e a t 5undles of r u b l e s , and a.t t h e ma.rlcet p l a c e conver'tec! t h e s e i n t o s t a b l e s t e r l i n g , and cane o u t of R u s s i a i n t h e s p r i n g t i n e <with p l e a s a n t men-o r i e s o f E tea-ist :.!inter; l i k e w i s e a small f o r t u n e s e c u r e l y h i d i n t h e i r o l i v e dra.12 b r e e c h e s . 35

I t d i d n ' t t a k e 1on.g f o r t he more e n t e r p r i s i n g s o l d i e r s of the

E x p e d i t i o n a q r Force t o f i n d a way t o make the most o f . the i r

advantageous p o s i t i o n . T h i s oppor tunism had t z k e n p l a c e i n

p r e v i o u s Yiars and : ~ o u l d s u r e l y be r e p e a t e d i n c o n f l i c t s t o

come.

The S r i t i s h also had t he i r sha re o f t a i n t e d l o a i s t i c a l

a c t i v i t i e s i n f i rc i iangel , One American o f f i c e r estimated t h a t

t h e B r i t i s h Genera l Headquar t e r s had s i x hundred s u r p l u s o f f i -

c e r s and f o r t y -thousa-ld c a s e s o f S c o t c h ib-hislcejr cached i n

Archange l , The Arnerican doesn ' t s a y what purpose t h e whiskey

was i n t endec i~t ~ o- s e r v e , b u t - s t a t e s r t h a t ,~

"Some o f t h e o f f i c e r s had come f r a n k l y i n search o f a ' cushy j o b ' i n a zone t h e y though t s a f e l y removed f r o n po i son g a s e s and bombardments and all t h e h i d e o u s muck o f t h e t r e n c h e s . O t h e r s , much t o t h e i r d i s g u s t , had been s e n t t o t h e p o l a r re -g i o n s because some one i n H e a d q u a r t e r s had t h o u z h t t h e y p o s s e s s e d some p e c u l i a r q u a l i f i c a t i o n t o com-mand o r ' g e t o n ' wi th imaginary R u s s i a r eg imen t s t ha t were t o s p r i n g t o t h e A l l i e d S tanda rd . "37

The c o r r u p t i o n o f Archangel had i t s e f f e c t s on t h e Rus-

sians as Twell as t h e A l l i e s . On 11 December, 1 9 1 8 , s o l d i e r s

of t h e Anglo-Slavic Legion mutined a t Nevslcy aar rnc lcs i n Arch-

a n g e l , Co lone l S u t h e r l a n d , . i n command o f A l l i e d f o r c e s i n

Archangel s i n c e h i s r e l i e f on t h e railway f r o n t , o r d e r e d Col-

o n e l S t e w a r t t o p r o v i d e the American t r o o p s s t a t i o n e d at O l g a

76

Barracks t o assist i n p u t t i n g doywn the mutiny.

Headquarters Company, 339th I n f a n t r y moved ou t and took

up p o s i t i o n s on Pe t rog radsk i S t r e e t w i th f o u r Lewis guns and

t h r e e t r ench mor ta rs . A t e x a c t l y 1400 hours Colonel Suther-

land gave the o r d e r t o commence f i r i n g i n t o the windows and

doors of t he ba r racks . A f t e r about f i f t e e n minutes the nwti-

n e e r s , holding a white f l a g , came. o u t of t he bar rzcks s s d

sur rendered . There were no American c a s u a l t i e s and Colonel

S t ewar t , i n h i s o f f i c i a l r e p o r t , s t a t e s t h a t t h i r t e e n of t he

r i n g l e a d e r s s u f f e r e d dea th under o r d e r s of t h e Russian Com-

nand. 3a Another American o f f i c e r ' s vers ion of the a c t i o n i s

more embellished than Colonel S t e w a r t ' s o f f i c i a l account:

Meanv/hile G . N . Q . had ordered out t he American IHQ I Company t r ench mortar s e c t i o n and a s e c t i o n of t h e American iinchine Gun Conpnny to t r y bomb and b u l l e t argument on the S . B . A . L ' s (Anglo-S lav ic Legion) who were ba r r i cad ing t h e i r bar-r i c k s and po in t ing machine guns from t h e i r win- dows. Promptly on the minute, according t o o r d e r s , t h e n a s t y , and t o t he Americans p i t i -f u l l y d i sag reeab le j o b , was begun. I n a s h o r t time a white f l a g f l u t t e r e d a s i g n of submission. A few minutes later t o the immense d i s g u s t o f the doughboys, a company of Engl i sh Tommies who by a l l r u l e s t o r i g h t and reason should have been the ones t o c l ean up the mutinous mess i n t o which the B r i t i s h o f f i c e r s had g o t t e n the S.B.A.L.'s, now hove i n t o s i g h t , coming up t h e r e c e n t l y bu l l e t -wh i s t l i ng b u t now deadly q u i e t s t r e e t , w i t h r i f l e s s lung on t h e i r shou lde r s , crawling along s lowly at s i x t y t o the minute pace - in-s t e a d of a r i o t - c a l l double t ime, and s inging t h e i r i n s u l t i n g ve r s ion of 'Over There the Yanks are Running, Running, everywhere, e t c . ' And t h e i r o l d fishmonger r e se rve o f f i c e r - he wore Colonel ' s i n s i g n i a , wiped o f f h i s r.fhislcey svieat i n unconcealed r e l i e f . [His b a t t l e of Archangel had been c u t s h o r t by the Americans....'Ve a r e bound t o comment t h a t we be l i eve i t never would have occurred i f a t a c t f u l , honest American

77

o f f i c e r had been i n cha rge of t h e S.B.A.L. Americans know how t a c t l e s s and bu l l -doz ing some B r i t i s h o r d e r s - n o t rnanytc be s u r e -cou ld be. We f o r t u n a t e l y had b l u f f s enough t o o f f s e t t h e b u l l - d o z i n g s , A s tormy t h r e a t by a s n e e r i n g , drunken o f f i c e r t o t u r n t h e Canadian a r t i l l e r y on t h e bloornin' Yanks cou ld be met by a c o l d - a s - s t e e l r e j o i n e r t ha t t h e S r i t i s h o f f i c e r iiould p l e a s e r e a l i z e h i s drunken c o n d i t i o n and t a k e bac!c t h e s n e e r i n g t h r e a t and come a c r o s s 7v;ith a r e a s o n a b l e o r d e r o r s u f f e r t h e immediate consequences . And t h e n u s u a l l y t h e tvo cou ld co-o ie ra te , Such i.s a p a r t n e r s h i p war i n c i d e n t . 59

American t r o o p s viewed t h e i 3 r i t i sh h e a d q u a r t e r s i n Arch-

a n g e l 2s t h e s o u r c e o f many problems. Zany c la imed t h a t

doughboys who were s e n t on temporar:r d u t y w i t h t h e 3ritish

were k e p t i n d e f i n i t e l y and t h e Arrerican h e a d q u a r t e r s had a

t endency t o f o r g e t abou t i ts s o l d i e r s . Some American o f f i c e r s

f e l t Colonel S t e w a r t had l o s t t ouch w i t h h i s b a t t a l i o n and

company commanders because the he r i ca i ? uni. ' is were s h i f t e d ~~ ~ ~~~~

~ ~~

abou t Archanee l P r o v i n c e w i t h o u t any c o n s i d e r a t i o n g i v e n t o

the 3 3 9 t h Regimenta l Commander, One o f f i c e r r e p o r t e d :

He had a d i s c o u r a g i n g t ime even i n z e t t i n g his few g e n e r a l o r d e r s d i s t r i b u t e d t o t he American t r o o p s . No wonder t h a t o f t e n an American o f f i -c e r or s o l d i e r r e p o r t i n g i n from a f r o n t by o r d e r o f p e r m i s s i o n o f a S r i t i s h f i e l d o f f i c e r , d i d n o t f e e l that American H e a d q u a r t e r s was h i s real, h e a d n u a r t e r s and i n pu re i g n o r a n c e was g u i l t y of - o m i t t i n g some du ty or f a i l i n g t o com-p l y w i t h some Archangel r e s t r i c t i o n t ha t had been o r d e r e d by American H e a d q u a r t e r s . A s t o g e n e r a l o r d e r s from American C e a d q u a r t e r s d e a l - i n g with t h e a c t i o n o f t r o o p s i n t h e f i e l d , t h o s e were so few a n d o f so l i . t t l e i m p r e s s i v e n e s s t h a t t h e y have been f o r g o t t e n . 40

T h i s same o f f i c e r f e l t tha t Co lone l Steviart, a l t h o u g h

unab le t o i n f l u e n c e t h e t a c t i c a l employment, t r a n s p o r t , s u p p l y ,

7 8

or medical c a r e o f a good p o r t i o n o f h i s command, s h o u l d

have d i r e c t l y c o n t r o l l e d t h o s e u n i t s and o f f i c e r s i n Archangel .

Somehow the doughboy f e l t t h a t t h e v e r y l i m i t e d and much complained abou t s e r v i c e o f h i s own American Supply U n i t , t h a t l i v e d f o r the most p a r t on t h e fa t o f t h e land i n B a k a r i t z a , shou ld have been c o r r e c t e d by h i s commanding o f f i c e r who sat i n American H e a d q u a r t e r s , And t h e y f e l t whether c o r r e c t l y o r n o t , t h a t t h e c o u r t - m a r t i a l s e n t e n c e s of Major C.G. Young,who a c t e d as summary c o u r t o f f i c e r at Sinolny af te r he was r e l i e v e d o f his commmd i n t h e f i e l d , were u n n e c e s s a r i l y harsh. And. t h e y b l a - med t h e i r connanding o f f i c e r , Colonel S t e w a r t , f o r n o t ta l ; ing n o t e o f that f a c t when he re-viewed and approved themed1

Genera l I r o n s i d e a t t empted a l i i a i t e d o f f e n s i v e i n l a t e

December t o t a k e E m t s a , a l a r g e v i l l a g e halfway betlween Verst

445 011 t h e R a i l r o a d F r o n t and ?lesetska.ya. Xe f e l t t h a t b y

occupying E n t s a i n t he west and Shenkurslc i n t he eas t , he

woulcl be s e c u r e f o r t h e remainder o f t h e w i n t e r .

I r o n s i d e p lanned a c o o r d i n a t e d three-pronged attack

a g a i n s t E m t s a u s i n g f o r c e s from t h e Onega R i v e r Fr0n.l;; t r o o p s

From t h e Vaga F r o n t t o t a k e Xodish; and elemeli ts from t h e

Railway F ron t t o a t t a c k s o u t h towards Plesets!caya. I r o n s i d e

'was s u r e h e would be s u c c e s s f u l because all i n t e l l i g e n c e re-

p o r t s i nd ica t ed . t h a t t h e S o v i e t s were exhaus ted and underman-

ned .

The o f f e n s i v e began on 29 December rrhen "G" Cor--,ipar.y, 339th

I n f a n t r y and some Russ ian v o l u n t e e r s moved up t h e Onega R i v e r

and engaged a s t r o n , % Red f o r c e at Turchasova. G y 31 3ecember

79

"G" Company vrithdrey:: a f t e r s u f f e r i n g heavy c a s u a l t i e s . The

French Fore ign Legion u n i t , made up o f Russ i an v o l u n t e e r s

commanded by French o f f i c e r s , de l ayed t h e i r a t t a c k a long t h e

r a i l w a y f r o n t when t h e y d i s c o v e r e d t h e y d i d n o t have t h e cor -

r e c t t ype o f snowshoes and would need an a d d i t i o n a l f o r t y -

e i g h t hour s t o r e a c h t h e i r d e s t i n a t i o n . The S o v i e t s r e a l i z e d

immedia te ly that t h e A l l i e s were p r e p a r i n g a major a t t a c k and

s h e l l e d t h e r a i l l i n e wi th approx ima te ly 1,500 rounds o f ar-

t i l l e r y , f u r t h e r h a l t i n g t h e French advance. 42

Hearing o€ t h e c a n c e l l a t i o n o f t h e French a t t a c k , I r o n -

s i d e rushed t o t h e f r o n t t o meet w i t h Co lone l Lucas , t h e

French commander. I r o n s i d e l e a r n e d t h a t Lucas had v i o l a t e d

o r d e r s by n o t c o o r d i n a t i n g p l a n s wi th t h e Americans. A t al-

most t h e same moment Companies "E" and "K" o f t he 339 th , sup-

p o r t e d by Canadian A r t i l l e r y , began t h e i r attack on KodiSh.

Two thousand Red Guards defended Kodish and t h e i r r e s i s -

t a n c e was s t r o n g e r t h a n expec ted . The Americans pushed s l o w l y

forward and s e c u r e d Kodish. They accompl ished t h e i r m i s s i o n

d e s p i t e t he f a i l u r e o f t he French and w i t h o u t a second s u p p o r t -

i n g a t t a c k t ha t was supposed t o be nade by a machinegun com-

pany o f the K i n g ' s L i v e r p o o l Regiment. The B r i t i s h u n i t

f a i l e d t o show up f o r the a t tack b e c a u s e , as Genera l I r o n s i d e

p u t i t , "The Co lone l i n q u e s t i o n had succurnbed t o t!ie f e s t i v -

i t i e s o f t h e s e a s o n . " I n 0-ther words , t h e 3ritish commander

was drunk , 4.3

A f t e r the a b o r t i v e l i m i t e d o f f e n s i v e i n l e t e December,

80

I r o n s i d e became concerned w i t h J u s t na in ta . in i i -3 h i s p r e s e n t

p o s i t i o n s . !<ismost v u l n e r a b l e o u t p o s t !'ms at Shenlcurst .

According t o Co lone l S t e w a r t t h e v a l u e o f t h i s Vaza R i v e r

v i l l a g e was i t s s u b s t a n t i a l number of w e l l - b u i l t d v e l l i n g s

t h a t p rovided shelter f o r A l l i e d rmn and material. 44 A l l i e s

occup ied t h e C i t y , w i t h o u t r e s i s t a n c e on 18 September , 1918,

and t h e S o v i e t s n e v e r s e r i o u s l y t h r e a t e n e d t h e occuga t ion f o r c e

u n t i l t h e end o f December. I3y J a n u a r y , 1919, a lmost 2000

American, Z r i t i s h , C2nadi2n , and A l l i e d Russ i ans occup ied

Shenkursk. The A l l i e s e s t a b l i s h e d t h r e e s e c u r i t y o u t p o s t s

s o u t h o f Shenkursk , V i so rka Gora, U s t ?adenga , 2~1dK i j n i Gora,

for t h e purpose o f e a r l y :.rarning. 45

On t h e morning o f 19 Janua ry t h e S o v i e t s begaii an attack

t h a t would prove t o be t h e t u r n i n g p o i n t o f t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n .

L i e u t e n a n t Harry Nead, a long w i t h f o r t y - f i v e men from "A"

Company, 3 3 9 t h , was loca ted at l l i j n i Gora , t h e s o u t h e r n most

A l l i e d s t r o n g p o i n t . L i e u t e n a n t Ilead t e l l s o f the i n i t i a l

a t t a c k :

On t h e morning o f t h a t fa ta l n i n e t e e n t h day o f J a n u a r y , j u s t at dawn t h e enemy's a r t i l l e r y which had been s i l e n t now f o r s e v e r a l weeks, opened up a t e r r i f i c bombardment on o u r p s i -t i o n i n X i j n i Gora. T h i s a r t i l l e r y wan concea led i n t h e dense f o r e s t on the o p p o s i t e bank o f t h e Vaga far beyond t h e range o f o u r own a r t i l l e r y . A f t e r abou t an h o u r ' s v i o l e n t s h e l l i n g the bar-r a g e suddenly l i f t e d . I n s t a n t l y , from t h e deep snow and r a v i n e s e n t i r e l y su r round ing u s , i n p e r f e c t a t t a c k f o r m a t i o n , arose hundreds of t h e enemy c l a d i n w h i t e un i forms and t h e a t t a c k was 011.46

Mead and h i s men h e l d o f f t h e a t t a c k w i t h t h e i r machine-

81

guns u n t i l i t !Yas obv ious t h a t t h e y were a b o u t t o be o v e r r u n .

A s the Yanks evacua ted t h e o u t p o s t and headed for U s t Padenga,

t h e nex t A l l i e d p o s i t i o n , t h e S o v i e t s cc t down t h e Americans

w i t h r i f l e and a u t o m a t i c weapons f i r e . O f t h e f o r t y - f i v e men

Mead had i n N i j n i Gora t h a t morning, o n l y he and seven o t h e r s

made it t o U s t Padenga. Nead q u i c k l y r e a l i z e d t h a t he would

n o t be a b l e t o d e l a y a t U s t Padenga or c o l l e c t h i s wounded o r

dead, H e and t h e remainder of h i s men moved d i r e c t l y t o V i s -

o r k a Gora, t h e las t o u t p o s t b e f o r e Shenkursk . The Reds, n o t

r e a l i z i n g t h a t U s t Padenga had been abandoned, a t t a c k e d t h e

empty v i l l a g e w i t h a r t i l l e r y and ground t r o o p s . The Canadian

a r t i l l e r y , a l o n g w i t h t h e remain ing s o l d i e r s o f "A" Company,

t ook t h e enemy u n d e r f i r e from V i s o r k a Gora and i n f l i c t e d

heavy c a s u a l t i e s on t h e S o v i e t a t t a c k e r s . On 20 J a n u a r y t h e

Reds made t h e i r attack on V i s o r k a Gora w i t h an e s t i m a t e d 1000

men. 47 The Canadian a r t i l l e r y s t o p p e d t h e enemy by f i r i n g

s h r a p n e l rounds i n t o t h e oncoming waves o f S o v i e t s o l d i e r s .

The B r i t i s h command at Shenkursk o r d e r e d the Amer icms

and Canadians t o e v a c u a t e Visorlca Gora on 2 2 J anua ry and r e -

t r e a t t o Shenkursk . The enemy had su r rounded Shenkursk and

i t appeared t h a t t h e y were a t t e m p t i n g t o c u t t h e e scape r o u t e

t o t h e n o r t h and a n n i h i l n t e t h e A l l i e d t r o o p s . The f o r c e a t

Visorlca Gora withdrew th rough t h e S o v i e t s and then h a l t e d for

a res t at Spasslcoe, a small v i l l a g e a b o u t four m i l e s s o u t h

of Shenkursk. The enemy occupied b o t h s i d e s o f t h e Vaxa and

had g o t t e n between Spasskoe a?l Shenkursk . L i e u t e n a n t Xead

82

t e l l s o f t h e -withdra:Yal:

Ye f i n a l l y d e c i d e d that under c o v e r of darkness and i n t h e c o n f u s i o n and mamy movements t hen on f o o t , 'vie cou ld p o s s i b l y n a r c h s t r a i g ! i t up t h e r i v e r r i g h t between the v i l l a g e s , and t h o s e on one s i d e viould mis t ake us f o r o t i i e r s on t h e o p p o s i t e bank. Our p l a n workerJ t o p e r f e c t i o n and 'vie g o t t h r o u g h s a f e l y w i t h one s h o t be ing f i r e d by some s u s g i c i o u s eneny s e n t r y , b u t iwhich d i d u s no harm, 2nd we con t inued s i l e n t l y on o u r vay .48

The comnand a.t Bereznilc saw tha t t!ie S'nenkurslc f o r c e would

have t o b r e a k o u t or S e d e s t r o y e d . Colonel Sharman, t h e C a n a -

d i a n a r t i l l e r y commander, anti commander o f t n e Vaga i i i vc r

f o r c e , infornied Colonel G r a h m , the B r i t i s h cocimander at Shen-

k u r s k , t h r t he :ias a u t h o r i z e d t o abandon Shenkurslc immedia te lg .

Graham o r d e r e d t h e e v a c u a t i o n t o b e & i n a t midn igh t , 2 4 January.

The o r d e r d i r e c t e d each i n d i v i d u a l ev2.cuate on ly :./hat

he cou ld c a r r y on h i s pe r son . A l l e q u i p n e n t , suy ,p l i e s , r n t i o n s ,

and h o r s e s were t o be l e f t b e h i n d , unharmed. To destroy t h e s e

i t e m s c;iould o n l y a l e r t t h e enemy o f t h e gending e v a c u a t i o n ,

The B r i t i s h a l s o o r d e r e d t h e Canadians t o l e a v e t h e i r zuns

and t h e Americans t o abandon t h e i r -xounded, b o t h b e i n g t o o

d i f f i c u l t t o c n r r y o u t under t h e c i r c u n s t m c e s . 3 0 t h the C a -

n a d i a n s mc! Americans d isobeyed t h e o r d e r .

A t miclni,ght t h e column moved o u t on a sinall lo,&n,~ t r a i l

a v o i d i n g t h e main road headin;! n o r t h , :ihich had been c u t by

t h e enemy. S h o r t l y a f t e r d e p a r t i n g , t v o comixmies of A l l i P C ;

Russians d e s e r t e d t o t h e enemy, b u t a p p a r e n t l y d i d n o t b e t r a y

t h e e v a c u a t i o n . L i e u t e n a n t ;.lead, a member o f t h e r e n r ;uard

e x p l a i n s :

83

Hour a f te r hour !.re f l o u n d e r e d and s t r u g z l e d th rough t h e snolvr m d b i t t e r c o l d . The artil-l e r y m d h o r s e s ahead o f u s had c u t the t r a i l i n t o a net:.iorl; o f h o l e s , s l i d e s , a i d da>gerous p i t f a l l s r e n d e r i n g o u r f o o t i n g s o u n c e r t a i n and t r e a c h e r o u s t h a t t h e wonder i s t h a t -we e v e r succeeded i n r e g a i n i n g t h e r i v e r t r a . i l a l i v e . A t this t ime !.re were all ,wearing the Shackle-ton b o o t , a b o o t designee', by S i r E r n e s t Shack- l e t o n of A n t a r c t i c farr,e, arld :.iho :.;as one o f t h e a d v i s o r y staff i n Archangel . T h i s b o o t , which was w a r m and comfor t ab le f o r one remain-i n g s t a t i o n a r y , .., :!as v e r y i m p r a c t i c a b l e a n i wel l n i g h u s e l e s s for marchinz . . . .Some of t h e men unab le t o l o n g e r c o n t i n u e t h e n a r c h c a s t away t h e i r b o o t s and k e p t go ing i n t h e i r stocic- i n g f e e t , . .:./ith t h e r e s u l t t h a t on t h e fOllOwiiig day many were s u f f e r i n g from s e v e r e l y f r o s t b i t t e n f e e t . 5 0

A t 1700 h o u r s on 25 J v l u a r y the column a r r i v e d a t Sheg-

o v a r i , app rox ima te ly 20 m i l e s t o t h e n o r t h , where two p l a t o o n s

of " C " and '9'' TheseCompanies, 339th I n f a n t r y were w a i t i n g .

p l a t o o n s c o n s t i t u t e d t h e g a r r i s o n a t Shegovar i and had been

a t t a c k e d by an enemy f o r c e on 21 J a n u a r y i n m a t t e m p t t o c u t

t h e A l l i e d l i n e of communication. The enemy 'was d r i v e n o f f ,

d e s p i t e heavy l o s s e s t o t h e Americans. Immediately a f t e r t h e

A l l i e d column a r r i v e d at Shegovar i t h e enemy a g a i n a t t a c k e d .

The Canadians, who had l o s t f o u r o f t h e i r s i x guns d u r i n g the

r e t r e a t , t u r n e d t h e remain ing two on t h e enemy and s topped

t h e assaul t . A t dawn on 26 J a n u a r y t h e column c r o s s e d t h e

Vaga and burned Shegovar i as t h e y d e p a r t e d . L i e u t e n a n t John

Cudahy w r o t e , . . , "Shegovar i !7as added t o t h e sum o f Russ ian 51v i l l a g e s f e d t o t h e fires o f t h e A l l i e d c a u s e . . . . ' '

From Shegovar i the A l l i e s wi thdrew t o V i s t a v k a , a b o u t

f i v e m i l e s s o u t h o f K i t s a and n e a r l y t h i r t y - f i v e m i l e s from

84

Dvina Force H e a d q u a r t e r s a t S e r e z n i k . The A.llies dug i n at

Vistavlca and h e l d o f f numerous enemy i n f a n t r y and a r t i l l e r y

a t t a c k s u n t i l 9 Xarch, 1 9 1 9 , ?when ne'v d e f e n s i v e p o s i t i o n s were

e s t a b l i s h e d at !<itsa. The A l l i e d p l a n was t o hold o f f t he

enemy on t h e Vaga as far s o u t h as p o s s i b l e u n t i l t h e s p r i n g

thaw c m e i n A p r i l , and then rrithdraiv t o Archangel , b u r n i n z

e v e r y t h i n g i n t h e i r wake. 5 2 The p e r i o d from iinrch u n t i l t h e

d e p a r t u r e o f t h e Americ2.n t r o o p s i n June vas kno:.in as t h e

s p r i n g d e f e n s i v e .

On 17 April 3 r i g a d i e r Genera l ! i i lds P . Richardson E r r i v e d

i n Archangel t o t a k e conmand o f a l l American f o r c e s i n :!orth

R u s s i a and supe rv i se t h e i r e v a c u a t i o n . Richardson !lad s e r v e d

i n Alaska and :;/as b e s t knoirn f o r his c o n s t r u c t i o n o f t h e "Eich-

a rdson I-Iighway" . Along w i t h Genera l Iiicharcison c a m . t h i r t y -

f i v e o f f i c e r s and 265 e n l i s t e d men o f a railroad company t o

assist i n t h e t r a n s p o r t o f American f o r c e s .

The d e c i s i o n t o withdraw American f o r c e s Twas a r e s u l t o f

t a l k s t h a t began i n J a n u a r y . One o f t h e f i rs t items discussec':

a t t h e peace conTerence i n P a r i s was t h e problem o f t h e Russian

i n t e r v e n t i o n . iIarshal Foch proposed t h a t an A l l i e d f o r c e , com-

posed p r i m a r i l y o f Americans, march on Liosco~w and d e f e a t t h e

Bo l shev iks once and for a l l . 53 1Vlilson responded t o F o c h ' s 2ro-

p o s a l by o f f e r i n g his o p i n i o n t h a t Solshevism cou ld n o t be

b rough t under c o n t r o l by f o r c e . On 22 J a n u a r y :.lilson i n v i t e d

a l l t h e i n t e r e s t e c l p a r t i e s t o a confe rence at P r i n l c i p o , on t h e

85

Sea o f Xarmora n e a r Turkey, !./ilson hoped t h a t t h e c o n f e r e n c e

would undo 3olsheviIc c r e d i b i l i t y and g i v e t h e p o l i t i c a l pro-

c e s s i n R u s s i a an o p p o r t u n i t y t o emerge. The o n l y problem

was t h a t t h e E o l s h e v i k s were t h e o n l y Russ i ans t o a c c e p t t h e

i n v i t a t i o n .

The peace t a l k s ground t o a h a l t i n February when t h e

B r i t i s h Prime I . ! in i s te r Lloyd George d e g a r t e d for London t o

d e a l w i t h c i v i l s tr ikes f o l l o w i n g the E n g l i s h g e n e r a l e l e c -

t i o n , Clemenceau 'vas s h o t and wounded i n an a s s a s s i n a t i o n

a t t e m p t , and b!ilson r e t u r n e d t o t h e Un i t ed S t a t e s . Enrou te

t o America !./ilson h e l d a meet ing w i t h Ambassador F r a n c i s who

was a l s o r e t u r n i n g t o America foll.ovring s u r g e r y i n England.

F r a n c i s d e t a i l e d h i s p l a n f o r an A l l i e d i n t e r v e n t i o n t h a t

would d e c i s i v e l y d e f e a t t h e B o l s h e v i k s . F r a n c i s d e s c r i b e s

t he meet ing w i t h t he P r e s i d e n t i n h i s p a p e r s :

I o u t l i n e d my recommendation a b o u t R u s s i a t o him. I-Ie r e p l i e d t h a t s end ing American s o l d i e r s t o Russia a f t e r the a r m i s t i c e had been s i g n e d would be v e r y unpopu la r i n America. I ven tu red t o d i f f e r w i t h him; I expres sed t h e opin io i i that many o f t h e 2,000,000 s o l d i e r s he had i n Europe were d i s a p p o i n t e d t h a t t h e a r m i s t i c e xas s i g n e d b e f o r e t h e y c o u l d engage i n a b a t t l e . I said 'you cou ld g e t 50,000 v o l u n t e e r s o u t o f t h e 2,000,000 of American s o l d i e r s ~ V J ~ O be 1rouI.d g l a d t o go t o R u s s i a . . . . I54

':iilson t o l d F r a n c i s he had d i s c u s s e d h i s recomnendetion

7;rith Lloyd George and Clemenceau and t h e y b o t h indica.t ,ed i f

o r d e r e d t o R u s s i a , t h e B r i t i s h and French s o l d i e r s would

r e f u s e t o go or mutiny .

A s a r e s u l t o f grorwing p r e s s u r e from t h e Congress and h i s

8,5

ovn assessment of the s i t u a t i o n , 'Yilsor. x i r e d S e c r e t e r y o f

;Jar Dzker , on 16 F e b r u a r y , t o r e c a l l t h e American . troo?s f r o n

i !or th Russ i a . On 18 February Saker , i n t h e i:!evr York Times,

e x p l a i n e d t h a t t h e d i s p a t c h o f 720 v o l u n t e e r s for r a i l r o a d

d u t y i n Russia was t o "assure g r e a t e r safet:r for Jmer i can

f o r c e s and f a c i l i t a t e t h e prompt ~ ~ ~ i - t h c l r a v i ~ . lt r o o p s i n ?!orthof

Russia a t t h e e a r l i e s t o p p o r t u n i t y . t ha t vieather c o n d i t i o n s i n

t h e s p r i n g p e r m i t . C h a r a c t e r i s t i c a l l y , t h e American t r o o p s

l e a r n e d abou t t h e v i thd ram.1 p l a n s throug!i ,the ne:ispapers

r a t h e r t han from t h e i r commandin;: o f f i c e r . T h e !!ar Denartment

f a i l e d t o inform Colonel S t e v a r t of t h e d e c i s i o n .

E i g h t e e n days p r i o r t o t h e a r r i v a l o f Genera l Richardson

an a l l e g e d mutiny o c c u r r e d i n the ranks o f Aner ican f o r c e s ,

pe rhaps e v i d e n c i n g t h e i r d e c l i n i n g morale, O n 30 Karch, 1919,

"I" Company, 339th I n f a n t r y , commanded by C a p t a i n :-Iorz,tio G .

Yinslovi was p r e p a r i n g t o move from Smolny Z a r r a c k s i n Arch-

a n g e l t o t h e Rai1wa:r F r o n t . There had been some d i s c o n t e n t

among t h e t r o o p s because of d e l a y s i n Iiiail s e r v i c e and t h e

r e c e n t d i v i s i o n o f t he coispany as a r e s u l t o f e. f i r e i n the i r

b a r r a c k s .

The company was o r d e r e d t o pack t h e i r equipment an:! loac!

t h e i r s l e i g h s i n p r e p a r a t i o n f o r t h e novement t o t h e f r o n t .

The first s e r g e a n t and s e n i o r p l a t o o n l e n d e r no ted a c e r t a i n

d i l a t o r i n e s s i n t h e s o l d i e r s r o u t i n e an< ove rhea rd a n u n j c r

o f men c o n p l a i n i n g abou t having t o 20 t o t h e f i z h t i n g f r o n t

$7

While Russ ian t r o o p s remained i n Archangel and d r i l l e d . Cap-

t a i n Winslow a r r i v e d , l i s t e n e d t o the g r i e v a n c e s , and t h e n

c a l l e d Colonel S t e w a r t t o in form h i m o f t h e problem. The

Regimental Commander immediately h e l d a meet ing at t h e Y.M.C.A.

wi th t h e members o f I 1 I " Company where he read them The A r t i -

c l e s o f War, informed them o f t h e c u r r e n t m i l i t a r y s i t u a t i o n

i n Nor th R u s s i a , d i s p e l l e d all rumors, and answered any ques-

t i o n s posed t o h i m . Whether i t was the A r t i c l e s o f IYar or

S t e w a r t ' s s p e e c h tha t convinced t h e t r o o p s t o move o u t for t h e

f r o n t is n o t r e c o r d e d . R e g a r d l e s s , f o l l o w i n g t h e mee t ing , "I"

Company boarded the t r a i n s f o r t h e Railway F r o n t .

T h e fo l lov i ing d a y , 31 Elarch, t h e a r i t i s h r e l e a s e d a c a b l e

i n London w i t h t h e s t o r y o f an a l l e g e d mutiny of American

t r o o p s i n Nor th R u s s i a . The B r i t i s h ':Jar O f f i c e urged men t o

v o l u n t e e r f o r d u t y i n Nor th R u s s i a where i t was a l l e g e d that

t h e i r E n g l i s h comrades had been l e f t unsuppor ted by t h e

mutinous Americans. 56

There f o l l o w e d an immediate i n v e s t i g a t i o n by t h e A c t i n g

I n s p e c t o r G e n e r a l , American Forces i n Nor th Russ i a . H i s i n -

q u i r y produced the f o l l o w i n g f i n d i n g s :

The c o n c l u s i o n s o f t he i n s p e c t o r 'were that from such ev idence as cou ld be o b t a i n e d t h e a l l e g e d mutiny was n o t h i n g l i k e as s e r i o u s as had been r e p o r t e d , b u t t h a t i t was o f s u c h a n a t u r e t h a t i t cou ld have been handled by a company o f f i c e r o f f o r c e . The i n s p e c t o r recoc!ii,ended t o t he Com-manding G e n e r a l , American F o r c e s , ;forth R u s s i a , t h a t t h e m a t t e r be dropped and c o n s i d e r close^!.^^ Colonel Stelwart s t a t e d t o t h e p r e s s , r,-,on his arr ival i n

t h e Uni ted S t a t e s t h e fo l lo iv ing J u l y :

88

I dic? not have t o take any c1iscii;linary a c t i o n a g a i n s t e i t h e r an o f f i c e r or s o l d i e r o f the reniment i n connection :.rith the m a t t e r , s o you m a y Judge t h a t the r e p o r t s t h a t have agpeared have been ve ry , very g r e a t l y exaggerated. Every s o l d i e r connected with the i n c i d e n t perforiried h i s du ty as a s o l d i e r . And as fa.r as I g concerned, I th ink the ma t t e r should be c losed .

The Americans :./ere not- t he only Allieci t roops accused of

mutinous behavior , I n February R b a t t a l i o n o f Yorltshire3

re fused t o r e l i e v e an A%?rican unit on t h e Onega F r o n t , Gen-

eral I r o n s i d e personally in te rvened a n d conduc-Led the court-

nartial of the trio S r i t i s h se rgean t s who led the mu.ting. Iron-

s i d e sentenced then t o be sho t b u t t h e i r sentences !!ere con-

muted t o l i f e inprisonment because of s e c r e t i n s t r u c t i o n s f r o n

the King, forb idding the dea th penalty, The 23.s'~ French Col-

onial. E a t t a l i o n r e fused on zevera l occas ions t o r e t u r n to t h e

front, basing t h e i r a c t i o n s on t h e l ack o f a formal dec lara-

t i o n of war a g a i n s t t he Sov ie t s . Even t h e Poles refused t o

f i g l i t when the S r i t i s h j a i l e d t h e i r p r i e s t . 59

I n l a t e Apr i l t he 3rd IIorth R u s s i m R i f l e Regii:lent r e l i e v e d

the Americans a t Tou lgas . Before t h e Americans a r r i v e d j a c k

i n Archangel, on 25 A p r i l , t he iiussians had murdered t h e i r

o f f i c e r s , and defec t ed t o t he Eeds, I r o n s i d e p u t t oge the r a

f o r c e of 3ri t ish i n f a n t r y and C a n a d i a a r t i l l e r y and re.toolc

Toulgas i n 1.iay. For a l l p r a c t i c a l purposes the coa l i - t i on

e f f o r t 7;ia.s f i n i s h e d and the '?Tar i n !:or-th Russia hat! hecorne a

R r i t i s h a f fa i r . ..The f irst .Americans departed i n :lay alon:: w i t h t!ie Yyench.

89

A second ~ i - o u pof yanks enbar!ied on 3 June fo l lowed by the

Canadians on 11 June anc! the remainin.2 American combat troo2,s

on 16 and 27 J u n e . Senei-a1 Richardson and h i s h e a d q u a r t e r s

l e f t on 2 3 August . The & i e r i c a n s had s u f f e r e d 109 k i l l e d i n

a c t i o n ; 35 died as a r e s u l t of :.iounds suffereci in e c t i o n ; 10C

d i e d as a r e s u l t of a c c i d e n t s or d i s e a s e ; and 305 were :,iounde6. SO

The 3ritisii x e r e t o have one more o p p o r t u n i t y t o offencl

t h e i r American A l l i e s . ';:hen t h e c!oug:?boys a r r i v e d i n F r m c e

and a t t empted t o cash i n t h e i r E n g l i s h pounds s t e r l i n g t h e y

found that t h e r a t e of exchange a t i.!hich they had been p a i d

was on ly a p p l i c a b l e i n S o r t h Russia.. Consequen t ly , t he t r o o p s

of the P!orth Russian E x p e d i t i o n a r y Force receivcc: feyver dol-

lars t h a n t h e i i - f e l l o w s o l d i e r s :,:ho had f o u g h t i n France a d

had been pa id i n fmericm o r French c u r r e n c y . 61

90

NOTES

1. Cudahy, Op. C i t . , PI. 41.

2 . I4oore, Head, Jahns, Op. C i t . , Pg . 157 .

3. CI:dahy, Op. C i t . , Pg. 159, 47 ,

4. G o l d h u r s t , Op. C i t . , Pg. 102 .

5. Moore, I.Iead, J a h n s , Op. C i t . , Pg. 2 1 .

6 . I b i d . , Pg. 21.

7 . Cudahy, O p . C i t . , Pg. 89.

8. H a l l i d a y , Op. C i t . , Pg. 53.

9. Moore, :,lead, J a h n s , Op. C i t . ,P<T. 24.

10. Cudahy, Op. C i t . , Pg . 90.

11. Stewart, Op. C i t . , Vologda R a i l e a y O p e r a t i o n .

1 2 . Noore, Mead, J a h n s , Op. C i t . , Pg . 2G.

13. I b i d . , Pg. 2G.

14. I b i d . , Pg. 2 8 .

15 . Stewart, Op, C i t . , B o l s h i e o z e r k i e .

16. I b i d .

17 . Noore, Nead, Jahns, Op. C i t . , Pg. 190.

18. I b i d . Pg. 192.

19 . S t e w a r t , Op, C i t ., B o l s h i e o z e r k i e .

20. G o l d h u r s t , Op . c i t . , ? g . 107.

- _21. hoore, iIead, J a h n s , O p . C i t . , Pg. 33-34.

22. I r o n s i d e , Op. C i t . , Pg. 34-35.

2 3 . Burness, Op. C i t . , P g . 34.

24. Cudahy, Op. C i t . , Pg. 175.

25. S t e w a r t , Op. C i t . , C a b l e s .

26. Francis , O p . C i t . , Pg. 274.

91

XOTES

27. Cudahy, Op. C i t . , D g . 141.

28. ?:Ioore, !.!cad, Jahns , OF. C i t . , Pg. 105.

29. I b i d . , Pg. 105-105.

30. Cudahy, Op. C i t . , ? g . 145-145.

31. I b i d . , Pg. 155.

32. i.loore, !:!cad, J a h n s , Op. C i t . , Pg. 103-109.

33. Cudahy, Op. C i t . , Pg. 150.

34* Moore, Mead, Jahns , On. C i t . , Pg. 1 0 9 .

35. Ibicl . , Pg. 114.

36. Cudahy, Op, C i t . , Pg. 76.

37. I b i d . , Pg. 7 6 ,

38. Stecrar t , 02. C i t ,, .Repor t of Kutiny of Anglo-Slavic Legion.

39, Xoore, ;.lead, Jahns , Op. C i t . , Pg. 179.

40. I b i d . , Pg. 45.

41. I b i d . , Pg. 45.

42, Goldhurst , op. C i t . , Pg. 168.

43. I b i d . Pg. 169.

44. Stewar t , Op. C i t . , Shenkursk.

45. Ibic!, , Shenlcurslc.

46. i ioore , !.Iead, Jahns , Op. C i t , , Pz. 136.

47. Goldl iurs t , op. C i t . , Pg. 174.

48. :.Ioore, I.;eacl, Jalins, O p . C i t . , Pg. 139.

40,. I h i d . , T g . 142.

50. I b i d . , Pg. 143.

51. Cu?ahy, 012. C i t . , PZ. 186.

52. ; .oore ,.. i.iea:!, Jahns , Op. C i t . , ? g . 3.49.

9%

PiOTZS

53. G o l d h u r s t , 02. Cit. ?z. 1 Z O .

54. Franc5s , Oi;. Cit., I g . 310.

55. The !!ew Yorlc Times, Februa ry 1 9 , 1919,

56. Xoore, :Iea.d, Ja l ins , O p . Cit., Pg. 2 2 5 .

57. Ibid,, p, 227.

58. I'sid., PJ. 225-22F.

59 a G o l d h u r s t , Op. Cit., P y . 196. ..

6 0 . l.!arch, 03. Cit., Pg. 150.

61. G o l d h u r s t , Op. Cit., P.2. 211.

9 3

Even be fo re the depar ture o f t he Ai:?ericans, French, aid

C a n a d i a z s , t he 3 r i t i s h 7;;ere cons ider ing the evacuat ion of i :or th

Russia. On 4 A p r i l General I r o n s i d e receivecl a ca5le f r o n t h e

Va.r Of f i ce s t a t i n g :

A l t h o ~ i g hyou a r e c u t o f f from your country bythe i c e , you are n o t fo~got%en. ' .:hatever nay be the p lan o f a c t i o n tovrerds 3 u s s i a deci::ec? on by The League o f i.!ations, we i n t e n d t o re-l i e v e you a t t h e e a r l i e s t p o s s i b l e moment, and e i t h e r b r i n g the 1whole f o r c e a!.ray or re!Jlace you by fresh men. You xi11 be baci; home in time t o s e e t h i s y e a r ' s ha rves t ga thered i n , if you con in -ue t o d i s p l a y t h a t undaunter?. S r i t i s h s p i r i t . . . . E' Two s g e c i a l cont ingents of a.bout 5 ,000 men each were

being prepared i n England t o r e i n f o r c e t h e 3 r i t i s h troor;s onee

the o t h e r R l l i e n depEr ted . Each o f t hese br igade s i z e u n i t s

was composed of two b a t t a l i o n s o f ' i n f a n t r y , one mac:iine gun

b a t t a l i o n , one b a t t e r y of f i e l d a r t i l l e r y , two light t r e n c h

n o r t a r b a t t e r i e s , one f i e l d engineer congany, one s i g n a l COG--p a y , and one horse t r a n s u o r t conpcny. L

T h e u n i t s :.rere t o 5e-

D a r t f o r Archangel on 1 and 15 Kay. A General S t z T f re301-t to

General Henry Yi l son , Chief of t h e Imper ia l General S t z f f ,

stated :

D i f f i c u l t y has been experienced i n obta in ing 6o:i:e of the personnel , e s p e c i a l l y i n f a n t r y , ! ? o y ~ 2A m y Serv ice Corps and Royal Army Xeciical Corps. It is hoped 'notiever, t h a t t h e ? u b l i c qige2.1 f o r v o l -Lmteers nade on the 9 t h of April ? r i l l producethe nuizbers r equ i r ed f o r both con t ingen t s . 3

Only e i g h t C.ays befo re the pub l i c c a l l f o r vo lun tee r s t o j o i n

a PTorth "Lissim r e l i e f force, the 3 r i t i s h Tres s re;mrtei t h e

9 4

allegeci m t i n y o f American t r o o r s E t iirchang;el. The reriuest

f o r vo lun tee r s b r o u g h t i n ve t e rans o f L,,'.-e 'Vestern Front, r z :

r e c r u i t s , and former CanadiLq mci m.A u s t r a l i a n s o l d i e r s . Lnese

t r o o p s were organized and t r anspor t ed t o Archaqgel V;here tney

quick ly deployed on t h e Dvina a i d Railway Fronts .

O n 7 July I rons ic le ' s las t hope f o r an e f r e c t i v e Russian

f i g h t i n g . f o r c e Taied away when a b a t t a l i o n o f former aols!levik

p r i s o n e r s and d e s e r t e r s turned on t h e i r Z r i t i s h o f f i c e r s 2nd

k i l l e d them. I r o n s i d e ,wrote l a t e r , "The mutiny.. .had caused me

a g r e a t e r shock than I l i k e d t o admi t , even i n my inne rnos t

thoughts . I no';; f e l t a d i s t i n c t urge t o e:ctricate myself and my

t roops as quickly as I could. ,,4

On 15 Ju ly t h e E r i t i s h Genoral S t a f f Qroposeu. a t ime tab le

f o r t he evacuat ion o f t he e n t i r e Archangel Force, One. br igade

would d e p a r t 21 September, another on 2 1 October, and a l l Z r i -

t i s h shipping !/auld be c l e a r of t he :;'bite Sea by 1 2Jovember.

General-Lronside f e l t t h a t t he conduct of t he evacuat ion could

be f a c i l i t a t e d b y B r i t i s h announcernent o f h e r p o s t eva.cuation

p o l i c y . If t h e B r i t i s h planned t o cont inue support o f t he 10-

c a l government then large amounts of food and .mater ie1 would

be needed. T h i s show of continued suppor t would r eas su re t h e

l o c a l Russians and reduce the chance o f i n t e r f e r e n c e by the

Sov ie t s or pro-Allied Russian f o r c e s . If the government in-

tended t o d i scon t inue suppor t t o North Russia than large num-

b e r s of ant i -Bolsheviks would r e q u i r e evacuat ion a long :.:it;?

t h e B r i t i s h t roops . I n t h i s case i t was not l i k e l y t h a t t he

B r i t i s h rvould be allowed t o vfithdra;.f unmolested. 5

95

On G August I r o n s i d e subni t tec ' . h i s p l a n o f e v a c u e t i o n

t o t h e IVar O f f i c e , I t c a l l e d f o r t h e embarka t ion o f 26,500

s o l d i e r s and c i v i l i a n s i n f i ve s e p a r a t e movements between 20

August ancl 2 1 Septen!;er. 6 On 10 August , t o g a i n t ime for t h e

e v a c u a t i o n , I r o n s i d e nounted h i s las t o f f e n s i v e w i t h t he nerrly

arrived rel ief f o r c e . ::!ith a r t i l l e r y s u p p o r t and a n observa-

t i o n b a l l o o n t o assist i n t h e c o n t r o l o f t h e b a t t l e , an a l l

E r i t i s h b r i g a d e a t t a c k e d an enemy f o r c e on t h e Dvina, n e a r

S e l t s o . The s u r p r i s e a s s a u l t , t h e f i rs t t o use mustard gas

i n ?Ior th Russ ia , r e s u l t e d i n two thousand enemy p r i s o n e r s ,

e i g h t e e n f i e l d guns c a p t u r e d , and l a r g e amounts o f mimunition

and s u p p l i e s d e s t r o y e d . The a t t a c k was s o s u c c e s s f u l t h a t i t . became obvious t o Genera l I r o n s i d e t h a t t a e S o v i e t s c o u l d no-t

h i n d e r the Uritish : r i thdra!~i l .

On 2 0 September E r i t i s h t r o o 9 s began b o a r d i n 2 t h e trans-

p o r t s f o r hone. The following day I r o n s i d e s u p e r v i s e d the

d e s t r u c t i o n of B r i t i s h m i l i t a r y equipment . The A l l i e d Rus-

sian commander begged t h e B r i t i s h cornnander t o allor.? h i m to

keep t h e m a t e r i e l bu t I r o n s i d e was s u r e i f he d i d n o t d e s t r o y

t h e equipment i t avould f a l l i n t o t h e hands o f the S o v i e t s .

On 27 September Genera l I r o n s i d e and t h e l as t t r a n s p o r t cle-

par ted Archangel . 3 r i t i s h c a s u a l t i e s for the e n t i r e opera-

t i o n nurnberecl 1 9 F o f f i c e r s and 677 e n l i s t e d men k i l l e d o r

rrounded. 3

The Xor th Russ i an i n t e r v e n t i o n i s a c l a s s i c exani-,le of

$6

v h a t happens :;;hen p o l i t i c a m and aenerals c1i;ell on t h e cer-

t a i n t y o f v i c t o r y ra.i;her thnn t h e p o s s i S i l i t y o f de fe2 . t .

? r e s i d e n t ':ilson v i s u a l i z e d American t r o o p s g m r d i n g the s u g p i y

d e p o t s a t Archangel and l i v i n g off t h e Russ ian c o u n t r y s i d e .

C h u r c h i l l t hough t t h e Czechs would na!:e quic!: ivorl: o f t h e Dol-

slheviks and e f f e c t a r a p i d l i n k un wi th .tile A l l i e d f o r c e s .

Genera l Poo le e n v i s i o n e d d i s c i p l i n e d A l l i e d t r o o p s rzarchizz

on Xoscolw snc: d i s p e r s i n g t h e Red r a b b l e .

Gene:-a1 I r o n s i d e haci a. h c t t e r g r a s p o f t h e m i l i t a r y s i t -

u a t i o n i n :!orth R u s s i a than any o t h e r c h a r a c t e r i n t he i n t e r v e n -

t i o n . H i s d e s c r i p t i o n of R u s s i a ' s v a s t n e s s r:i$t remind some

h e r i c a n s o f t h e i r most r e c e n t e x p e r i e n c e Iwith m i l i t a r y opera-

t i o n s i n remote and h o s t i l e l a n d s :

To m e i t as l i k e a g r e a t s t i c k y pudding , a hand cou ld be t h r u s t e a s i l y i n t o i t . Every- where i t zzve way so long as t h e t h r u s t con-t i n u e d . Immediately t he t h r u s t c e a s e d t h e mass began t o c l o s e s t e a d i l y on t h e hand, ?wrist, and a .m. There t h e n came a t e r r i b l e f e a r t h a t t h e hand cou ld n e v e r be 'vi i thdravm.

Segard ing t h e f l a v r s i n t h e A l l i e d c o a l i t i o n e f f o r t s ,

many cou ld h e e x p l a i n e d by t h e f a i l u r e o f t h e p l a y e r s t o aci-

h e r e t o The P r i n c i p l e s o f The A l l i e s cbmmitted inade-

-:Field ;Ianual ( R I ) 100-1, t h e Army, s t a t e s : "The P r i n c i g l e s o f \Jar are f u n d m e n t a l c o n c e p t s , t h e r e s u l t o f c e n t u r i e s of t r a d i t i o n and e x p e r i e n c e . These p r i n c i p l e s a r e i n t e r - r c l a t e d and , depending on t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s , nay t e n d t o r e i n f o r c e one a n o t h e r , or t o be i n c o n f l i c t . Consequen t ly , t h e emphasis on any p a r t i c u l a r p r i n c i p l e or group o f p r i n c i p l e s r : i l1 v a r y w i t h t h e s i t u a t i o n . " The P r i n c i p l e s i n c l u d e : O b j e c t i v e , Offer i s ive , I.iass, Economy o f F o r c c , I:aneuver, Un i ty o f Comand, S e c u r i t y , S u r p r i s e , and S i m p l i c i t y .

9 7

q u a t e f o r c e s , u n d e r e s t i m a t e d the enemy, f s i l e d t o d e f i n e

t h e m i l i t a r y commitment, d i d n o t g e n e r a t e p o p u l a r Russ ian

s u p p o r t , and had no s i n z l e d e f i n i t e o b j e c t i v e .

Every m i l i t a r y o p e r a t i o n must have a c l e a r l y d e f i n e d ,

d e c i s i v e , and a t t a i n a b l e o b j e c t i v e . The A l l i e d i n t e r v e n t i o n

i n Piorth R u s s i a had none. The concep t o f t h e o b j e c t i v e must

go beyond p l a c e names l i k e Shenkurs!c a n d Tou lgas . There is

also t h e need f o r a moral o b j e c t i v e . I n R u s s i a , t h e A l l i e d

s o l d i e r n e v e r f u l l y unde r s tood '::hy he vras f i g h t i n g . Unlike

t h e B r i t i s h at ?,Ions, t h e French a t Verdun, t h e Americans at

Chateau-Thier ry , or f o r that m a t t e r , t h e S o v i e t s i n Xorth

R u s s i a ; t h e i n d i v i d u a l t r o o p e r d i d n o t have a moral purpose

i n h i s a c t i o n s o t h e r t h a n p e r s o n a l s u r v i v a l . The p o l i t i c i a n s

and g e n e r a l s , i n t he i r warn and c o m f o r t a b l e war rooms, f a i l e d

t o s e l e c t and c o o r d i n a t e s t r a t e g i c o r e t h i c a l o b j e c t i v e s f o r

t h e m i l i t a r y f o r c e s o f t h e i r n a t i o n s .

Because o f t h e s i z e o f PJorth R u s s i a , t h e n a t u r e o f t h e

t e r r a i n and enemy, the inadequacy o f h i s own f o r c e s , and t h e

lack o f clear p o l i t i c a l o b j e c t i v e s , Gene ra l Toole ar,d l a t e r

Gene ra l I r o n s i d e were unab le t o p l a n , i n i t i a t e , and t o s u s t a i n

o f f e n s i v e a c t i o n . I n t h e i r a t t e m p t s t o assume t h e o f f e n s i v e ,

t h e y v i o l a t e d o t h e r p r i n c i p l e s . I n f e c t e d w i t h over-opt imism,

Poo le f a i l e d t o c o n c e n t r a t e h i s f o r c e s at t h e c r i t i c a l times

and p l a c e s f o r c o n c l u s i v e r e s u l t s . I n s t e a d , he chose t o d i s -

p e r s e h i s u n i t s on s e v e r a l f r o n t s a n d a t t e m p t e d an advance on

the enemy from d i f f e r e n t d i r e c t i o n s a t t h e same t ime . T h i s

98

s t r a t e g y iiiight have Seen success fu l on a b a t t l e f i e l d Tvrhere

maneuver and m o b i l i t y 'viere poss ib l e . In the ~vioods of Xort:?

Russia , where dece?t ion mcl s u r p r i s e ve re d i f f i c u l t t o ac!iieve,

t he p r i n c i p l e o f mass 'was paramount.

Except at the p la toon or company l e v e l , t h e A l l i e s i ,T-

nored t h e concept of concent ra t ing f o r c e s t o achieve combat

s u p e r i o r i t y at t h e d e c i s i v e p o i n t . iUliec: u n i t s spread ou t

t o the e a s t , sou th , and west of Arc!iany:el, r a r e l y coordinated

t h e i r o p e r a t i o n s , a n d becane vulnerable t o encirclement !jy

t he enemy. T h i s cons t an t t h r e a t fro::\a l l s i d e s had a psycho-

l o g i c a l as wel l as m a t e r i a l impack on t h e e f f e c t i v e n e s s of t h e

A l l i e d s o l d i e r and his commanders.

Econorny of f o r c e was a p r i n c i p l e used repeatedly and

s u c c e s s f u l l y by S o v i e t s but overlooked by the A l l i e s . i lany

Al l iecYoff icers could no t understand V i h y t h e enemy, r y i t h super-

ior nunbers and a r t i l l e r y , d i d n o t d r i v e t h e Allies into t h e . .

!:rhite Sea. The Sov ie t s were masters i n the'economny of f o r c e . .

mission. Based on t h e i r m i l i t a r y and^ p o l i t i c a l exper ience ,

t he Bolsheviks d e a l t vrith t he most s e r i o u s t h r e a t f i rs t . A t .. . . .

t h e t i n e of t h e FIorth Russian i n t e r v e n t i o n , t he soviets irere ...

faced w i t h a g r e a t e r menace from t h e ':Jiii,te Russian f o r c e s i n

t h e south and ea.st than frocl the A l l i e s i n Archasgel Trovince.

Some m i g h t argue t h a t of al.1 t h e p r i n c i p l e s , u n i t y of

command was served b e s t . T r u e , t he A l l i e s d i d i n v e s t t he

S r i t i s h commanders : . r i t i i a u t h o r i t y over all of the m i l i t a r y

f o r c e s . '?hat t h e 3-1~lishZcnerals failecl t o do :;as coordinztie

'79

the a c t i o n o f all t h o s e f o r c e s to? ia rds a common o b j e c t i v e .

The r e l a t i o n s h i p s between t h e A l l i e s d i d n o t l e n d themselves

t o a u n i f i e d command. The i n a b i l i t y o f one command t o d i r e c t

and c o n t r o l a m u l t i - n a t i o n a l f o r c e i n a c o a l i t i o n e f f o r t was

a d i r e c t r e s u l t o f t h e d i v e r s e n a t i o n a l o b j e c t i v e s . One

American o f f i c e r n o t e d :

There a r e r a c i a l d i f f e r e n c e s , r a c i a l p r e j u d i c e s r a c i a l d i s p a r i t i e s , and r a c i a l a s p e r i t i e s t h a t canno t be g a i n s a i d even under t h e i n f l u e n c e o f m i l i t a r y d i s c i p l i n e , and e x p e r i e n c e has shown t h a t s o l d i e r s y i e l d a more r eady obedience t o l e a d e r s who s p e a k t h e i r own l anguage ; ung% rsta n d t h e ph i losophy o f t h e i r d a i l y l i v e s , . . , .

The same o f f i c e r commented on t h e B r i t i s h f a i l u r e t o g a i n t h e

r e s p e c t and a l l e g i a n c e o f t h e i r A l l i e s by s t a t i n g t h a t t h e i r ,

.. .“muddling, b l u n d e r i n g , and f u d d l i n g , t h e l a c k o f under-

s t a n d i n g , t h e b r u t a l a r rogance and c o l d c o n c e i t , and a p p a r e n t

hear t lessness and want o f sympathy t h a t are f o r e v e r B r i t i s h , I’

a l i e n a t e d t h e othe.r , m i l i t a r y f o r c e s .

I f t h e r e was one p r i n c i p l e ‘chat t h e A l l i e s d i d f o l l o w

i t was s i m p l i c i t y , L a c k o f i n t e l l i g e n c e , inadequacy o f f o r c e s ,

and r e s t r i c t i o n o f movement, f o r c e d t h e A l l i e s t o d e v i s e s i m -. .

p l e p 1 a n s . a n d methods o f o p e r a t i o n . Added t o t h e s e r e s t r i c t i o n s

were long l i n e s o f communications, poor t r a n s p o r t , l a c k o f f i r e

s u p p o r t , and u n b e l i e v a b l y h a r s h weather c o n d i t i o n s . Seldom

were o p e r a t i o n s orders misunders tood . I t was more f r e q u e n t

that i c ;o l a t ed commanders e i t h e r f a d l e d t o c a r r y o u t o r d e r s

from h i g h e r h e a d q u a r t e r s or modif ied them f o r t h e i r own pur-

p o s e s ,

1oc

O f a11 t h e s e irflperfections i n t h e A l l i e d c o a l i t i o n e f f o r - t ,

t he worst <was t he f a i l u r e t o synchronize t h e i r n a t i o n a l i n t e r -

e s t s i n the North Russian i n t e r v e n t i o n . Woodrow Vilson wanted

t o s ee a democratic Russia. France wanted he r war loans r epa id .

The B r i t i s h des i r ed t r a d e concessions and p r o t e c t i o n f o r he r

empire. These d ive rgen t p o l i t i c a l motives i n e v i t a b l y inf luenced

the Al l i ed commanders i n the f i e l d and r e s u l t e d i n d i f f e r i n 2 and

sometimes c o n f l i c t i n g m i l i t a r y approaches t o the problems faced

i n 'North Russia .

The long range impact of the f a i l u r e of a c o a l i t i o n war-

fare i n North Russia i s d i f f i c u l t t o judge. Unquestionably,

t he expedi t ion experiences con t r ibu ted t o some American d i s -

t r u s t and d i s l i k e o f t he B r i t i s h .that continued i n t o the f irst

yea r s o f t h e Seco'nd World War. The B r i t i s h contempt f o r Amer -

---Lean m i1it a r y a ' ~ i was^ ~ e i . ~ n - t ~ ~ r l y ~ o ~ f f s e ; t b y'lit y the--fcdcfiia b1e

capac i ty o f t he United S t a t e s t o produc'e'weapons and essen-

t i a l war supp l i e s . The c o a l i t i o n e f f o r t mounted during the .~ .

Second kJorld \Jar is noth ing s h o r t of a.miracle . bonsider ing it

included t h e same cast of c h a r a c t e r s as the Morth''Russian in-

t e r v e n t i o n , a s c a n t twenty-three yea r s Later. ' . '.The' c r u c i a l

f a c t o r con t r ibu t ing t o the turnabout was the u n i t y of objec-

t i v e shared by the A l l i e s i n t h e i r b a t t l e a g a i n s t Germany. It

was t h i s very element t h a t was missing i n t h e p o l i t i c a l and

m i l i t a r y f a b r i c of t h e North Russian Expedi t ionary Force.

George F. ICennan sugges ts t h a t t he Cold "Jar began wi th the

A l l i e d i n t e r v e n t i o n i n North Russia. He maintains tha t t h i s

101

i n c i d e n t was t he cause t h a t turned the Coirmunist l e a d e r s awzy

from the 'Yest and forced the witiidravral of one-sixth of t he

w o r l d ' s popula t ion from the i n t e r n a t i o n a l p o l i t i c a l and econ-

omic scene . l2 Others have claimed t h a t A l l i e d a c t i o n s had

l i t t l e impact on f u t u r e 5olshevik p o l i c i e s . ':'hichever theory

one wishes t o a c c e p t , t h e f a c t s of t he i n t e r v e n t i o n remain

unchanged. The A l l i e d c o a l i t i o n e f f o r t s f a i l e d . They f a i l e d

because n a t i o n s wi th clifferi.ng and d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e i n t e r e s t s

d i d no t r e so lve t h e s e d i f f e r e n c e s before engaging i n j o i n t

m i l i t a r y ope ra t ions . The A l l i e s committed m i l i t a r y u n i t s t o

b a t t l e , without a common o b j e c t i v e and without a r e s o l u t i o n

of n a t i o n a l d i f f e r e n c e s . These b a s i c flairs i n the c o a l i t i o n

e f f o r t contribu%ecl t o t h e f a i l u r e of t he A l l i e d Expedi t ion t o

North Russia ,

102

NOTES

1. Great B r i t i a n , A r m y , O p . C i t . , At tached Paper F.

2. I b i d . , At tached Pape r G .

3 . I b i d .

4. I r o n s i d e , Op. C i t . , Tg. 160.

5. Great B r i t i a n , Army, Op. C i t . , A t t ached P a p e r R.

6 . I b i d . , At tached Pape r U.

7. Burness , Op. C i t . , Pg. 34.

8 . George E . S t e w a r t , The White Armies o f Russia: A Chron ic l e

of Coun te r r evo lu t ion and A l l i e d I n t e r v e n t i o n , I:ew Yoric,

1933, Pg. 204.

9 . I r o n s i d e , Op. C i t . , Pg. 130.

10. cudahy, Op. C i t . , Pg. 74-75.

11. I b i d . , Pg. 74.

1 2 . Kennan, Op. C i t . , Pg. 470-472;- ~

103

BLBLIOGRAPHY

Canada, Unit H i s t o r y , IJorth R u s s i a n Exped i t iona ry Force , 1 6 t h Br igade , Canad2an F i e l d A r t i l l e r y , Toronto , No d a t e .

G r e a t B r i t i a n , Army, The Evacuat ion of North Russia , 1919, His N a j e s t y l s S t a t i o n a r y O f f i c e , London, 1920.

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