Херсонська дивізія УНР (грудень 1918 – лютий 1919 рр.)

Abstract

At the beginning of December 1918, Ataman Grigoriev displaced the Hetman’s troops from Aleksandria and informed the Ataman-in-Chief of the UNR forces Simon Petliura that he recognized the Directorate of the UNR and submitted his detachments to the Army of the UNR. Soon the troops of the Ataman were named the Kherson Division and became a part of the South-Eastern group of the UNR Army. This group was the core part of the Southern Front which was formed as a counteraction to the troops of the Entente and the White Guards, located on the Black Sea Coast of Ukraine. The Kherson Division of the UNR consisted of four infantry and one cavalry regiments and two batteries of the field cannons. On 12 December 1918, the Republican Troops of the Eastern Kherson Region entered Mykolaiv. Ataman Grigoriev issued an order, which restored all the laws of the UNR. However, he did not manage to retain Mykolaiv. In the second half of December, the German troops, at the Entente’s request, attacked unexpectedly and forced the insurgents to evacuate Mykolaiv. On 31 December 1918, Grigoriev’s military units appeared again near the city and forced the Germans to accept the Ataman’s ultimatum. However, at the beginning of January 1919, the UNR lost Mykolaiv again because of the inconsistency of actions between the highest republican command and Grigoriev. The Ataman troops were relocated to the area of Novyi Buh – Snigurivka. On 18 February 1919, in Kharkov, Grigoriev met with Vladimir Antonov-Ovsienko, who informed the Ataman of the Soviet command’s intention to reorganize his troops as a separate Red Army brigade. On 19 February, the 1st Zadniprovska Infantry Division under the command of Dybenko was created by the order of Skachko, who commanded the Group of the Kharkiv Direction Troops. The 26 united insurgent detachments of Grigoriev (formerly, the Kherson Division of the UNR) were renamed into the 1st Zadniprovska Brigade; and the Ataman became the Combrig (i.e. the Brigade Commander).