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TheTaman Army (Russian:Таманская армия) was an armed group within theRed Army, operating in the south of Russia during theRussian Civil War. It existed from August 27, 1918 to February 1919. The name derives from theTaman Peninsula, where the army was formed.
The Taman Army was formed on August 27, 1918 inGelendzhik on the Taman Peninsula. It counted some 30,000 men, mostly workers fromNovorossiisk and sailors of ships of the Black Sea Fleet, who had chosen the Bolsheviks side and sunk their own ships in June 1918.
The Army was formed when the Bolsheviks in the Taman Peninsula found themselves isolated, because the German interventionist forces hadtaken the Crimea andRostov-on-Don, and the White Army under Denikin hadchased the Red army from their positions inEkaterinodar on August 16 of that year. The units included I. I. Matveev's Ukrainian infantry regiment, E. O. Kovtiuh's group, and Sfonov's North Kuban Cavalry regiment.[1]
Ivan Matveyev was elected as general commander of the Army, his deputy wasYepifan Kovtyukh, the chief of staff was G. N. Baturin and the commissioner N. K. Kicha.
It was decided to march in three columns from the Taman overTuapse to the Northern Caucasus, to join the bulk of the Red Army there. The Taman Army was joined by a mass of some 25,000 refugees, which greatly impeded progress and actions. The tactical difficulties were great and the three columns were organized in the following way:
On August 28 the first column occupiedArkhipo-Osipovka and on September 1Tuapse, after defeating a Georgian infantry division, capturing armament and supplies. On September 2, the Army reached the main mountain range of the Caucasus nearKhadyzhensk.
On 11 September, Matveev defeated aVolunteer Army force underViktor Pokrovsky atBelorechensk, and evaded another force under the command of Kolosovskii.[1]
On September 14, after regrouping with the second and third columns, the White defensive line North of Belorechensk was attacked, reachingDondukovskaya on September 18, where the bulk of theRed Army of the Northern Caucasus was found.
The Taman Army was added to theRed Army of the Northern Caucasus, which was commanded byIvan Sorokin.[1] They fought together against theVolunteer Army and on September 26 the first column capturedArmavir.
On 7 October, inPyatigorsk, disagreements arose between Ivan Matveyev and Ivan Sorokin, and Sorokin ordered the arrest and execution of Matveyev.[1]: 187–188
The 3 columns of the Taman Army were reorganized into two infantry divisions, three of cavalry and one brigade of artillery.
In October–November, the Taman Army participated in the persistent fighting aroundStavropol.[1]: 189
On December 3, the Army received the Red Honorary Revolutionary Flag of the RSFSR. Shortly after, the remains of the Army were reorganized as the 3rd Taman rifle division, which during theNorthern Caucasus Operation (1918–1919), under pressure from the enemy's superior forces retreated to theAstrakhan region, where it was disbanded.
The March of the Taman Army, escaping encirclement by the enemy Whites, was romanticised in the novelThe Iron Flood (1924) byAlexander Serafimovich.[2][3][1]
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