Historical Dictionary of the Russian Civil Wars, 1916-1926

SEMIRECH′E ARMY. The origins of this White formation in Central Asia lay in the fact that the overwhelming majority of members of the Semirech′e Cossack Host refused to recognize Soviet power in 1917 and drove the Bolsheviks from the urban centers of their region, including Vernyi (later Alma-Ata, now Almaty), in a series of risings in the spring of 1918. Soviet forces regrouped and, in March–April 1918, temporarily reasserted control, but the revolt of the Czechoslovak Legion galvanized resistance across the region. By the autumn of 1918, much of the Semirech′e countryside was again in the hands of various Cossack formations, which in October of that year, united in the 2nd Independent Steppe Corps (and under the command of Ataman B. V. Annenkov), became subordinate to the Omsk government. Over the following months (November 1918–April 1919), this force battled against the Turkestan Red Army, achieving considerable success and assuring control of most of Semirech′e for the Whites, although from the summer of 1919 onward, this control began to crumble. In October 1919, as the forces of Admiral A. V. Kolchak’s Russian Army began to disintegrate, the Semirech′e (Independent) Army was created, on the basis of the 2nd Steppe Corps, again under the command of Annenkov, which was then joined by the remnants of the Orenburg Army of Ataman A. I. Dutov. Its constituent parts (as of 1 February 1920) were the Northern (Front) Group (which included the Orenburg contingent), under Major General A. S. Bakich; the Central Group, under Annenkov; and the Southern Group, under Major General A. F. Shcherbakov.

The Northern and Southern Groups of the Semirech′e Army suffered decisive defeats against Red forces in March–April 1920 and retreated across the border into Chinese Turkestan (Xinjiang/Sinkiang), where they were joined, on 25 May 1920, by Annenkov’s group. The Chinese authorities regarded these heavily armed refugees with grave suspicion, however, and most of the men spent many months in prisons and camps in Chinese Turkestan. In early 1920, some 5,000 members of the army returned to Soviet Russia, while others headed to Mongolia with General Bakich and united with the Asiatic Cavalry Division of General R. F. Ungern von Sternberg.

SEMIRECH′E COSSACK HOST. This Cossack host, with its capital at Vernyi (later Alma-Ata, now Almaty), was created in Semirech′e oblast′ in 1867, from elements of the neighboring Siberian Cossack Host. By the early 20th century, it occupied some 5,000 square miles of land and had a population of some 45,000, settled among 19 stanitsy and 15 smaller settlements. From the Host 3 cavalry regiments and 12 detached squadrons were raised during the First World War.

During the civil wars, the Host leadership supported the anti-Bolshevik cause and rose against Soviet rule from April 1918, capturing Sergiopol′ (8 August 1918) and Lepinsk (29 August 1918). The forces of the Host were then incorporated into the Semirech′e Army of Admiral A. V. Kolchak’s Russian Army. When the latter collapsed, the majority of the Semirech′e Cossacks retreated into Chinese Turkestan (Xinjiang/Sinkiang) in March–April 1920, some of them subsequently making their way to Vladivostok to join the Far Eastern (White) Army. At the same time the Host was formally disbanded by the Soviet government, as part of its policy of de-Cossackization.

The Host Atamans of the Semirech′e Cossack Host during the civil-war period were Major General A. M. Ionov (from 13 February 1918) and Major General A. F. Shcherbakov (from February 1920).

SEMIRECH′E FRONT. This Red front was created on 28 June 1918, according to the orders of the regional commissar of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, to combat White forces of the Semirech′e Cossack Host and the Semirech′e Army, commanded by Ataman B. V. Annenkov, that were advancing from Semipalatinsk toward Sergiopol′. By October 1919, some 7,500 men were operational on the Semirech′e Front, organized into the following units: the 1st Vernensk Worker-Peasant Infantry Regiment; the 1st and 4th Pishpeksk Infantry Regiments; the 4th Semirech′e Infantry Regiment; the 5th, 6th, and 7th Cavalry Regiments; the Tokmaksk unit; and an artillery division.