Georgy Merchule | |
|---|---|
 Georgy Merchule in 1898. | |
| Native name | Георгий Мерчуле |
| Birth name | Pasha (Паша) |
| Born | December 6, 1864 Ilori, Kutaisi Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | January 1918 (aged 53) 2 versts from Vladikavkaz, Terek Oblast, Russian Empire |
| Cause of death | Murdered by Cossacks |
| Allegiance |  Russian Empire (1886–1917) Russian Republic (1917) |
| Service | Imperial Russian Army Russian Army |
| Years of service | 1886–1917 |
| Rank | colonel |
| Commands | Ingush cavalry regiment (11 September 1914 – May 1917) |
| Known for | First commander of the Ingush cavalry regiment |
| Awards | See #awards |
| Alma mater | Stavropol classical men's gymnasium |
Georgy Alekseevich Merchule (born Pasha; Russian: Георгий Алексеевич Мерчуле, IPA: [ɡʲɪərɡʲɪj ɐlʲɪksʲɪ(j)ɪvʲɪt͡ɕ mʲɪrt͡ɕʉlʲe]; 6 December 1864 – January 1918) was a Russian colonel, best known for being the first to command the Ingush cavalry regiment of Caucasian Native Cavalry Division.
Born in the village of Ilori of the Sukhumi okrug on 6 December 1864, Merchule soon found himself studying at the Stavropol classical men's gymnasium at the Gorsky department (Gorsky boarding school). After graduating from the gymnasium, he entered Nikolai Cavalry School in St. Petersburg on 1 September 1884. After graduating from the Nikolai Cavalry School, Merchule served in the 45th (later 18th) Seversky Dragoon Regiment in Kavminvody, North Caucasus from 1886 to 1896. Merchule entered the Officer Cavalry School to take a course on 20 October 1896 and after completing the course successfully, returned back to serve in the regiment on 24 September 1898. He soon found himself become a teacher in the Cavalry School on 27 December.
On 11 September 1914, Merchule was appointed the commander of the Ingush Cavalry Regiment of the Caucasian Native Cavalry Division. He found himself successful in leading the regiment in many battles and task as well rescuing the regiment from extreme situations. For his success at the Battle near Tsu-Babino on 15 February 1915 he was awarded the Cross of St. George (Russia); the Order of St. Vladimir 3rd degree with swords for the Battle near the village of Ustye-nad-Prutom on 2 May 1915. Merchule also defeated an Austrians near the area of Yasenev-Polny on 27 May 1915 and Germans near the village of Jeziorany on 28 July 1916. From 18 April to 18 May 1917, Merchule temporarily commanded the 3rd brigade with combined responsibilities for commanding the Ingush Cavalry Regiment. With his Dmitry Bagration's return on 18 May, he appointed Alexander Gagarin the commander of the 3rd Brigade and Merchule the commander of the Ingush Cavalry Regiment.
On 22 May 1917, Merchule fell ill and left for medical treatment. He was replaced by Aslanbek Kotiev, the commander of the rifle division of the 3rd Caucasus Cossack Division on 25 May as temporary commander and from 7 June as the legal commander. In early June 1917, Dmitry Bagration, in connection with the Merchule's resigned, even noted in his order that in future Merchule will replace him. However, with tensions rising in the Terek Oblast, Merchule was killed by Cossacks in the beginning of January 1918.
Background
editMerchule was born to an Abkhazian family in the village of Ilori of the Sukhumi okrug on 6 December 1864. According to his Brief Note on Service, he came "from the nobles of the Kutaisi Governorate". According to Ezut Gabelia, his father Aleksei was a well-known teacher throughout the Sukhumi okrug.[1] Merchule was an Eastern Orthodox Christian.[2] He studied at the Stavropol classical men's gymnasium at the Gorsky department (Gorsky boarding school). After graduating from the gymnasium, he entered Nikolai Cavalry School in St. Petersburg on 1 September 1884.[1]
Career
edit
After graduating from the Nikolai Cavalry School, ranked cornet, Merchule visited Abkhazia and then arrived at Kavminvody, North Caucasus, to serve in the 45th (later 18th) Seversky Dragoon Regiment in the end of October 1886. Having served in the regiment for 10 years, Merchule, now ranked as staff captain, entered the Officer Cavalry School to take a course on 1 November 1896. Having completed the course successfully, he was expelled from school back to the regiment on 6 October 1898.[1]
Due to Merchule being held in high esteem at the Officer Cavalry School—they remembered him as an experienced rider and a skilled officer who could become a teacher at this school, he was appointed to the school by the Highest order on 27 December. In the coming 1899, he arrived at the school and worked as assistant head of the "training riders course" up until 5 October when he became assistant head of the "training officers course in the officer department". In January 1903, Mercule was promoted to captain. On 1 January 1910, Merchule already had the rank of a lieutenant colonel and held the position of head of a department at the Officer Cavalry School. On 18 April he was promoted to colonel.[1]
On 11 September 1914, Colonel Merchule was appointed the commander of the Ingush Cavalry Regiment of the Caucasian Native Cavalry Division. He arrived from St. Petersburg in Vladikavkaz, the administrative seat of Nazran okrug. On 14 September, Merchule's younger brother, Dorisman Merchule, who in battles would earn two St. George's Crosses and promotion to the rank of ensign, joined the Ingush regiment as an ordinary horseman.[1]
The Ingush Cavalry Regiment began its fighting in the Carpathians near the village of Rybne. Later, in the award presentations to his commander, Colonel Georgy Alekseevich Merchule, in the information “Rewards for the current campaign”, the Order of St. will be listed first. Vladimir 4th degree with swords and a bow with which he will be awarded, according to the Highest Order of January 9, 1915, “ "for the battle near the village of Rybna on December 13, 1914.
28 February 1915 was one of the brightest days in the combat history of the Caucasian Native Cavalry Division, when they captured important Central Powers' strongholds near the northwestern part of the city of Stanislav—in the villages of Brin and Tsu-Babino. In the morning, the Ingush regiment and part of the Circassian Cavalry Regiment crossed the Lomnitsa River and began an attack on Tsu-Babino. The Ingush played an important role, taking the village. Merchule was later awarded the Saint George Sword "for the fact that on 15 February [N.S. 28 February] 1915, while commanding a regiment, he drove the enemy out of the trenches near the village. Tsu-Babino, and then from the village itself and held his position until the end of the battle."[1]
On 15 May, the Ingush, after a fierce battle, captured the strategically very important village of Ustye-nad-Prutom, from where there were convenient fords for crossing to the southern bank of the Dniester river. Merchule was later awarded the Order of Saint Vladimir 3rd class with swords "for the battle near the village of Ustye-nad-Prutom on 2 May [N.S. 15 May] 1915". From 15 May, units of the Caucasian Native Cavalry Division, including the Ingush Cavalry Regiment, were tasked with holding Russian advanced position on the right bank of the Prut. The Germans repeatedly failed to knock the regiment down positions, thanks to the initiative and management of Merchule. This continued until 7 June when the Germans bypassed Russian right flank and the regiments of the Caucasian Native Cavalry Division received orders to cover the withdrawal of Russian forces to positions near the Dniester. The Ingush regiment was tasked with being the rearguard regiment of the division. Here Merchule showed his military prowess to the fullest. By noon on 9 June, the 3rd brigade of the division, covering the withdrawal of units from the Prut river, approached the village of Yasenev-Polny, where Yakov Yuzefovich ordered Merchule to stop with the regiment and stay here until the evening to allow the headquarters of the 2nd Cavalry Corps to withdraw from the town of Horodenka cavalry corps, convoys, medical units and rear institutions.[1]
At about two o'clock in the afternoon of 11 June 1915, a 400-hundred Austrian infantry battalion occupied the village of Toporontsy, located on a hill, and, turning into thick chains, began to descend to Yasenev-Polny. At this time, the Ingush found themselves under heavy fire from Vrayase artillery. Under its cover, the Austrian battalion moved forward, getting closer and closer to the positions occupied by the Ingush regiment, and could rush into an attack at any moment. Seeing this, Merchule personally led two hundred in a mounted attack on the Austrian infantry and so overwhelmed the enemy that he forced them to show their rear and suspend their offensive. Meanwhile, the headquarters of the 2nd Cavalry Corps and all our units managed to clear Gorodenka and cross the Dniester to its left bank; while the Austrians were fleeing, the Ingush killed up to 70 of their men, losing 17 horsemen and 9 horses in this case. Until the evening Austrian forces didn't dare to attack again. Dmitry Bagration, commander of the Caucasian Native Cavalry Division, recalls[1]
Thus, thanks to the exceptional valor of Colonel Merchule, his personal courage and dedication, the task assigned to the 3rd Brigade was brilliantly completed.
On the night of 10 June 1915 the Ingush, the last of the units of the 2nd Cavalry Corps, crossed to the left bank of the Dniester. Meanwhile, Merchule received an order to take under guard with his regiment the area along the Dniester line—from Usechka to Zalishchiki. Following them, the Austrians and Germans approached the Dniester. But their attempts to cross to the shore were repulsed with Merchule personally bypassing the positions and encouraging the Ingush who were extremely exhausted by 4 days of continuous fighting. He himself also didn't rest for all these 4 days.[1]
On 29 September 1915, at 8 o’clock in the morning, the Magyar infantry brigade, supported by strong artillery fire, went on the offensive to the neighboring area occupied by the Ingush regiment near the village of Petlikovce-Nove. Under the pressure of superior enemy forces, offering him fierce resistance, the Ingush were forced to retreat. With the approach of hundreds of the Tatar regiment, however, Merchule led them into a counterattack.[1]
Merchule, by the order of Polovtsev, rushed hundreds of Ingush to the attack against the Germans who defended in the village of Ezerany. The Ingush delivered the final blow to the enemy. Immediately after the battle for Ezerany, Merchule sent a telegram to the head of the Terek Oblast, Lieutenant General Fleisher, which was published on 2 August [O.S. 21 July] 1916 in the Terskie Vedomosti newspaper under the heading Feat of the Ingush[1]:
I and the officers of the Ingush Cavalry Regiment are proud and happy to bring to the attention of Your Excellency and ask to convey to the valiant Ingush people about the dashing cavalry attack on July 15th [ N.S. 28 July]. Like a mountain collapse, the Ingush fell on the Germans and crushed them in a formidable battle, littering the battlefield with the bodies of killed enemies, taking with them many prisoners and taking two heavy guns and a lot of military booty.
The glorious Ingush horsemen will now celebrate the Bayram holiday, joyfully remembering the day of their heroic feat, which will forever remain in the chronicles of the people who sent their best sons to defend their common Motherland.
On 8 December 1916, Dmitry Bagration was appointed to the reserve ranks of the Kyiv Military District. From 18 April 1917, the commander of the 3rd brigade, Alexander Gagarin, was appointed the commander of Caucasian Native Cavalry Division while Merchule was appointed the temporary commander of the 3rd brigade with combined responsibilities for commanding the Ingush Cavalry Regiment. On 18 May, Bagration returned to the division as its commander after his charges of adherence to the Imperial Regime and disloyalty to the Provisional Government were cleared. With his return, he appointed Gagarin the commander of the 3rd Brigade and Merchule the commander of the Ingush Cavalry Regiment.[1]
On 22 May 1917, Merchule fell ill and sent a telegram to the division commander Dmitry Bagration that he left for treatment according to the conclusion of the medical commission. As of May 1917, Colonel Aslanbek Kotiev was the commander of the rifle division of the 3rd Caucasian Cossack Division. From this position, he was appointed temporary commander of the Ingush regiment, which he accepted on 25 May, and on 7 June, based on a telegram from the headquarters of the Southwestern Front, he was appointed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armies the legal commander of Ingush Cavalry Regiment. In early June 1917, Dmitry Bagration, in connection with the appointment of Colonel Aslanbek Kotiev as commander of the Ingush Cavalry Regiment instead of the ill Merchule, noted in his order that in future Merchule will replace him.[1]
Death
editAccording to most sources, Merchule, his younger brother, Dorisman Merchule, and rittmaster Salam Nalgiev were killed by the Cossacks 2 versts from Vladikavkaz in January of 1918;[3] according to Anatoly Markov, Merchule was killed by the Bolsheviks in Vladikavkaz.[1]
Assessment
editOn 13 June 1905, the head of the Officer Cavalry School, Major General Aleksei Brusilov, a future famous military leader during the World War I, signed his petition and A brief note on the service of Captain Merchule, who is a permanent member of the Officer Cavalry School, and has been nominated for renaming to lieutenant colonel, previously served term "for distinguished service".[1]
Cornet Anatoly Lvovich Markov, who served under Merchule's command, in his memoirs In the Ingush Cavalry Regiment, published in the Parisian emigrant magazine Military Story in 1957, writes about him:[1]
Colonel Georgy Alekseevich Merchule, a permanent officer of the Officer Cavalry School from the famous “change of gods,” as the School’s instructor officers were called in the cavalry, received the regiment during its formation and commanded it until disbandment... He was a dry, short Abkhazian, with a sharp beard "a la Henry the 4th". Always quiet, calm, he made a wonderful impression on us.
Dmitry Bagration recalls that during the period of hostilities of the Ingush regiment[1]:
Colonel Merchule discovered remarkable military talent and showed rare courage. With his composure and perseverance, he repeatedly rescued the regiment from extreme situations.
Awards
editFor distinguished service in "peacetime" Merchule was awarded the Order of St. Stanislav 3rd and 2nd degree, St. Anna 3rd and 2nd degree.[1]
References
editSources
edit- Almazov, Issa (2014). "О Мерчуле Г.А. и Ивченко В.Я. (уточнение фактов)" [About Merchule G.A. and Ivchenko V.Ya. (clarification of facts)]. «Россия и Кавказ в Первой мировой войне 1914—1918 гг.: Основные военные кампании, геополитические и социо-культурные итоги»: Международная научно-практическая конференция, Посвященная 100-летию начала Первой мировой войны 1914-1918 гг. и сформированию Кавказской туземной конной дивизии (Дикая дивизия): Сборник тезисов докладов ["Russia and the Caucasus in the First World War 1914-1918: Main military campaigns, geopolitical and socio-cultural results": International scientific and practical conference, Dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War of 1914-1918. and the formation of the Caucasian native cavalry division (Wild Division): Collection of abstracts of reports] (PDF) (in Russian). Nazran: Kep. pp. 20–24.
{{cite book}}: line feed character in|title=at position 173 (help) - Dolgieva, Marem (2014). "Командиры Ингушского конного полка Кавказской туземной дивизии, 1914-1917 гг." [Commanders of the Ingush Cavalry Regiment Caucasian native division, 1914-1917.]. «Россия и Кавказ в Первой мировой войне 1914—1918 гг.: Основные военные кампании, геополитические и социо-культурные итоги»: Международная научно-практическая конференция, Посвященная 100-летию начала Первой мировой войны 1914-1918 гг. и сформированию Кавказской туземной конной дивизии (Дикая дивизия): Сборник тезисов докладов ["Russia and the Caucasus in the First World War 1914-1918: Main military campaigns, geopolitical and socio-cultural results": International scientific and practical conference, Dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War of 1914-1918. and the formation of the Caucasian native cavalry division (Wild Division): Collection of abstracts of reports] (PDF) (in Russian). Nazran: Kep. pp. 66–71.
{{cite book}}: line feed character in|title=at position 173 (help) - Opryshko, Oleg (2007). Кавказская конная дивизия. 1914-1917. Возвращение из небытия [Caucasian Cavalry Division. 1914-1917. Return from oblivion] (in Russian) (2nd ed.). Nalchik: El-Fa. pp. 1–512.