Historical Dictionary of the Russian Civil Wars, 1916-1926

The first 12th Red Army was created by an order of the Revvoensovet of the Southern Front on 3 October 1918, in accordance with a directive of the Revvoensovet of the Republic of 11 September 1918, from various formations operating around Astrakhan and the eastern reaches of the North Caucasus. It was attached to the Southern Front, then (from 3 November 1918) the Caspian–Caucasian sector of the Southern Front, and later (from 8 December 1918) the Caspian–Caucasian Front. The army suffered from its isolation from other Red centers and from the thinly populated region in which it operated, and it consisted initially of only the Astrakhan (later the 33rd) Rifle Division. Consequently, its attempts to capture the railways from Gudermes to Petrovsk and Kizliar to Chervlennaia were thwarted by the Whites. On 13 February 1919, its ranks were swelled by elements of the 11th Red Army that had retreated from the North Caucasus, but it was still unable to hold off the attacks of the Armed Forces of South Russia (AFSR) in a front stretching from the North Caucasus to the Donbass. The army was disestablished on 13 March 1919. Commanders of the first 12th Red Army were A. I. Antonomov (3 October–15 November 1918, although he never took up the post); V. L. Stepanov (3 October 1918–14 February 1919); and N. A. Zhdanov (14 February–13 March 1919). Its chief of staff was D. A. Severin (3 October 1918–13 March 1919).

The second 12th Red Army was created on 16 June 1919, by an order of the Revvoensovet of the Republic, from elements of the 1st Ukrainian Soviet Army and the 3rd Ukrainian Soviet Army. It was attached to the Western Front, then (from 10 January 1920) the South-West Front, the Western Front (from 14 August 1920), and once more the South-West Front (from 27 September 1920). Its complement included the 1st Ukrainian Soviet Rifle Division (June–August 1919); the 7th (March–December 1920), 24th (June 1920), 25th (May–December 1920), 44th (June 1919–April 1920 and June–December 1920), 45th (June-October 1919 and March–April 1920), 46th (June–July 1919), 47th (September 1919–April 1920), 57th (February–March 1920), 58th (September 1919–August 1920 and September–November 1920), and 60th (August 1919–February 1920) Rifle Divisions; the Independent VOKhR Rifle Division (November–December 1920); and the 17th Cavalry Division (February–May 1920, and, in its reconstituted form, in October 1920).

In June 1919, the 12th Red Army occupied a region encompassing most of southern Ukraine (Kherson, Nikolaev, Odessa, Tiraspol′, Kamenets-Podol′skii) and was engaged in battles with forces of the AFSR and the Ukrainian Army. Its position was weakened in July–August of that year, as the AFSR captured Khar′kov, Poltava, and eventually Kiev (14 August 1919). When the White offensive was turned, the 12th Red Army went back on the offensive, recapturing Kiev (December 1919). With the onset of the Soviet–Polish War, it was driven out of Kiev (April 1920), but then formed part of the offensive on the South-West Front that recaptured the Ukrainian capital in June 1920. The army was disestablished on 25 December 1920. Commanders of the second 12th Red Army were N. G. Semenov (16 June–8 September 1919); S. A. Mezheninov (10 September 1919–10 June 1920); G. K. Voskanov (10 June–20 August 1920); N. N. Kuz′min (acting, 20 August–26 October 1920); and N. V. Lisovskii (26 October–25 December 1920). Its chiefs of staff were G. Ia. Kutyrev (16 June–2 October 1919); V. K. Sedachev (2 October 1919–13 October 1920); M. V. Molkochanov (13–16 October 1920); V. D. Latynin (17 October–17 November 1920); and I. D. Modenov (17 November–23 December 1920).

Twenty-six (baku) Commissars. The Twenty-Six Commissars (sometimes called the Baku Commissars) were the group of Bolsheviks, Dashnaks, and members of the Party of Left Socialists-Revolutionaries executed by firing squad, in controversial circumstances, between the stations of Pereval and Akhcha-Kuyma, on the Transcaspian Railway, on 20 September 1918.