>>134907"Ataman" Annenkov
In many ways Annenkov was a typical adventurer of the Civil War period.
Relying on charisma and a fair amount of bluster, he set up a private army and gave himself the grand name of "Ataman". He found operating on the borderlands more to his liking as the main theatres became more conventional – in his case central Asia. He was ruthless with his own men and even more so with opponents, and did little to prevent atrocities.
Annenkov ran a disciplined force, capable of defeating the Red Army (unlike the Mad Baron) in more or less conventional warfare (unlike Makhno) over a period of many years (unlike Grigoriev). He didn't have separatist tendencies (unlike Shkuro) which meant he stayed in political favour.
History of the Annenkov Partisan Division in Siberia and Central Asia
Boris Annenkov was born a of a noble Siberian Cossack family. He enrolled at Odessa Military School before quickly rising through the ranks. He showed flashes of his independence from the start, including recruiting a partisan unit on the German front during the First World War. A monarchist, he retired back home in disgust at the revolution. At the end of 1917 he raised a partisan detachment formed mainly from Siberian Cossacks and soldiers of the 11th Siberian Rifle Division. By 1918 he was raiding in the Omsk region.
From this time on he styled himself "Ataman", but it appears this was in the traditional meaning of the word as a Cossack military leader, as he was not ataman of a host.
Building up a rifle brigade and cavalry brigade he took Omsk in mid-March, although he could only hold it briefly. When the Czech Legion started to fight the Soviets, in May, he linked up with them and helped re-take Omsk.
After this he moved west, drawing in many young Cossacks from both the Siberian and Orenburg Hosts impressed by his ruthlessness when dealing with the Bolsheviks. He took Verkhneuralsk after a heated battle, capturing a fair amount of booty. He followed this by crushing the revolutionary forces in Slavgorod and Pavlodar (southeast of Omsk), displaying his ruthless streak and caring little if his men committed atrocities. During this time he continued to maintain good relations with the Czechs.
His forces reached 1,500 men, in 4 regiments with an artillery divizion and support units, by mid-1918. In October they become the "Ataman Annenkov Partisan Division". At the end of the year he was moved to clear Reds from the Semirechye region, and specifically a stubborn rear area group around Cherkasskoe. This increased his prestige further and brought in more recruits, though he did take heavy losses.
In January Annenkov's Division included in its mounted brigade the Black Hussars and Life-Ataman Regiments for a total of 1,770 sabres. The infantry were 1,800 strong and he had six guns.
Although Annenkov himself seems to have stayed on Russian territory, his Cossack allies frequently crossed the Chinese border in the Altai-Urumqi region, to rest and resupply.
In the middle of 1919 the Ataman Annenkov Partisan Division had grown to a Rifle Brigade – 1st Rifle, 2nd Rifle and 3rd Composite Partisan Regiments and Manchurian Jäger Battalion – a Cavalry Brigade – Black Hussar and Barnaul Blue Lancer Regiments – and a Cossack Brigade – 1st Orenburg, 1st Partisan, 2nd Ust-Kamenogorsk, and 1st Kirghiz Horse Partisan Regiments. Operations however were spread over many hundreds of kilometres, and the Partisan Division was never formed as a single body at this time. Even regiments were split up into detachments for various operations or to protect rear areas.
In August Annenkov was made commander of the "Independent Semirechensk Army", which was all White forces in the Semirechye region. Until this point his relationship with the Semirechensk leadership had been poor, which affected operations, and he was even briefly arrested. Unity of command helped smooth coordination, but the Partisan Division continued to be operationally separate from the Cossack army throughout.
In early 1920 the Semirechye was over-run by supporters of the White cause fleeing the Red Army's advance, including a large number of Orenburg Cossacks under Ataman Dutov. They arrived tired, ill and desperate. A map (3) showing their path, and just how far the Semirechye was from the main fronts of the war.
Annenkov allowed the newcomers to stay, but insisted on taking military command. He sent most of the newcomers to the north, grouped his own forces in the centre, and posted the Semirechensk Cossacks largely to the south.
By March he realised that he could hold out no longer, and crossed the Chinese border into Xinjiang (Sinkiang) with most of his Partisan Division. (Large numbers could not make it, and those in the north usually opted to retreat with Kolchak's forces and others took a separate route into the Altai and entered the service of Chinese Warlords.)
In China he tried to keep his men together as a fighting force, hoping for a return to Russia. While he was initially quite successful, the Red Army increasingly crossed the border to harass him, and inevitably the Whites were drawn into local struggles between the Chinese and native warlords. Annenkov decided to take his men by train to Chita, where Semënov was still holding out. Quite a few made it, and formed a unit in Annenkov's name, which also passed on to Primorye. However, Annenkov himself was captured by the Chinese during the trip, then sold to the USSR. He was tried and executed in 1927.