In the Civil War, out of 100 commanders of the red armies, 82 were military specialists. Of these, regular officers - 62. 5 people changed the Soviet power. One betrayal played a fatal role in the fate of our hero city, which bore the name Tsaritsyn in those years.
What are you uneducated boors!
The sun was rising. The sky was blue, the air was warmer, filled with bird noise. But the eight passengers of the car were now not up to the beauties of nature. They looked around anxiously, afraid to see the pursuit.
The farmstead was left behind, the overloaded car trudged along the off-road, shuddering heavily on bumps, now and then falling into potholes. Finally, the meanders of the Medveditsa River sparkled ahead. At the crossing the fugitives were met by a hundred Cossacks, peaks swaying overhead.
“Here is the guard of honor,” Nikolai Dmitrievich thought unhappily for some reason. - Now they will bring the bread and salt. Or a glass on a saber. "
An officer separated from the ranks, accompanied by three Cossacks, drove up to the car, said casually:
- General, by order of my superiors, I will arrest you. Take the trouble to hand over your checker, revolver and valuables.
“Here's to you, grandmother, and St. George's Day! Nikolai Dmitrievich gasped mentally. - Here is your word of honor of the Don Cossack! After all, they promised an honorable surrender, with the abandonment of the weapon.
But he didn't say anything out loud. Obediently he sat down in the car that had rolled over, a cornet sat down next to him, put the barrel of a revolver to the prisoner's temple, and made an evil promise:
- If you try to run, I'll shoot you.
The column began to move, on every bump the muzzle hit painfully in the temple of Nikolai Dmitrievich, he was seriously afraid of an accidental shot. And gloomy thoughts swarmed in my head: “These are idiots of high flight! The commander of the IX Soviet Army voluntarily came to you, brought information and documents of extreme importance, and you turn your nose away from him. What uneducated boors you are! "
Such were the circumstances of the flight from the Bolsheviks of Nikolai Dmitrievich Vsevolodov, commander of the IX Army, with his entire family. It happened on June 22, 1919, near the Sennaya farm, which was located 40 km from Mikhailovka. Vsevolodov himself recalled everything that happened, in his declining years found himself in New York and published his memoirs here.
Curious reading, I must admit. A participant in the First World War and the Civil War, Vsevolodov gives details of events, draws portraits of famous figures on different sides of the barricades. True, one cannot completely trust the memoirist - the old years, the obvious bias (not to say - a lie) do not allow relying on memories as a completely reliable source.
To begin with, Mr. Vsevolodov was not a general. He, constantly stumbling on the career ladder, rose to the rank of colonel of the General Staff in the pre-revolutionary Russian Empire. Moreover, without being in battles and campaigns, but only wiping breeches in various staff positions. However, he managed to become a knight of three orders: St. Stanislav 3rd and 2nd degree and St. Anna. For what deeds - God knows.
The Colonel's fate kept
Comparing various documents and studies (here the main merit belongs to the famous Russian historian Andrei Ganin), you come to the conclusion that the main driving force in the life of Nikolai Dmitrievich was personal interest. And the main motto is everything to the family! And he was strong and almost always and everywhere was with him, wherever fate threw him. His wife and three children followed him everywhere, for the sake of them he did the seemingly unthinkable and incredible in the conditions of war and revolutionary times.
It should be noted that fate, by and large, kept the colonel. The October Revolution began for him with his arrest and placement in prison. Many of his classmates disappeared there in the execution cellars. But Nikolai Dmitrievich remained alive and actively began his military career in the service of the victorious class. In 1918 he was already Chief of Staff of the IX Army.
The family, of course, is with him. In addition to fulfilling troublesome official duties, Nikolai Dmitrievich brought in animals - cows, pigs, and sold milk. How he managed to combine a high military post and low commerce, only he himself knows. But this practical vein will save the family in subsequent wanderings.
As a military leader, he is directly responsible for the fall of Red Verdun - Tsaritsyn. Vsevolodov, in violation of a direct order from the high command, instead of an offensive, organized the retreat of his army. As a result, Wrangel defeated the neighboring X army defending Tsaritsyn, and the city was taken by the Wrangel troops on June 30, 1919.
The most interesting thing is that, no matter how Vsevolodov tried later, to present his actions as thoughtful and initially aimed at defeating the red units, the researchers are inclined to conclude that this happened due to the mediocrity of the commander.But the fact is that the information provided by the colonel to the command of the whites allowed them, in addition to Tsaritsyn, to seize the cities of Balashov and Borisoglebsk. However, Vsevolodov and his family, as the reader already knows, was not met with bread and salt in the White Camp at first. The colonel was under investigation for half a year without receiving any assistance. But the commercial talent worked here too. Vsevolodov somehow managed to get a heating car, bought in the rear all sorts of shortages, such as soap, pins, matches, threads and other things, and successfully launched trade in the Taganrog markets.
In December 1919, the investigation concluded that Vsevolodov brought a lot of benefits to the White movement, he was accepted into secondary staff positions. Here his talent as a journalist was cut through, he was often published in the White Guard newspapers - his articles regularly appeared on the desk of the head of the Cheka Felix Dzerzhinsky, or even Lenin himself.
Vsevolodov's later life resembles an adventure novel. Even before the complete defeat of the whites, the colonel managed to take the family to Constantinople. Here he first started a car business, then opened a teahouse. Moved to Budapest soon after. He worked as a taxi driver. He managed to create a jazz orchestra, in which his two sons played - the former army commander himself rather briskly drummed on the keys of the piano.
During the Second World War, Vsevolodov was already the owner of a coffee shop. Then - a throw to the American continent: Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and the final - in the United States, where in 1964 his memories came out. Nikolai Vsevolodov was already 85 years old. More information about him is not available.
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