Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel
(27 August 1878- 1928)
Wrangel was born on 27th August 1878, in Mukuliai, Lithuania. The Wrangel family descended from Baltic nobility and Pyotr was distantly related to the famed Arctic explorer Ferdinand von Wrangel. After graduating from the Rostov Technical School in 1896 and the Institute of Mining Engineering Petrograd in 1901, Wrangel volunteered for the prestigious Life Guards Cavalry and was commissioned a reserve officer in 1902. He soon resigned his commission. In 1904, he reenlisted and was assigned to the 2nd Regiment of the Transbaikal Cossack Corps. In December 1904, he was promoted to a lieutenant. After the Russo-Japanese War, he was reassigned to the 55th Finnish Dragoon Regiment. In 1907, he returned to the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. Wrangel graduated from the Mykolayiv Imperial General Staff Academy in 1910. With the start of WWI, Wrangel was promoted to captain and assigned commander of a cavalry squadron. In October 1915, Wrangel was transferred to the Southwestern Front, and was appointed commander of the 1st Regiment of the Transbaikal Cossacks. This unit was very active in Galicia against the Austrians. Wrangel distinguished himself in the Brusilov Offensive. He became a Major General in January 1917, taking overall command of the Ussuri Cavalry Division. |
|
He was awarded the George Cross for his defense of the Zbruch River in 1917.
Following the end of WWI, he resigned and retired to Yalta, Crimea in 1917. He was arrested by the Bolsheviks at the end of 1917 and escaped to Kiev. In August 1918, he joined the Anti-Bolshevik Volunteer Army, where he was given command of the 1st Cavalry Division and the rank of major general within the White movement.
Constant disagreement with Volunteer Army leader Anton Denikin led to Wrangel being stripped of his titles and commandship and departure to Constantinople in February 1920. However, Denikin resigned in March 1920 and Wrangel returned as Commander-in-Chief of Whites Forces in Crimea in April. He became Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Anti-Bolshevik Volunteer Army.
After defeats in which he lost 1/2 of his men, he organized a successful mass evacuation on the shores of the Black Sea. Wrangel gave every soldier the choice of either remaining in Russia or leaving with Wrangel and facing the unknown. Most chose the latter.
Wrangel travelled with his Volunteer Army via Turkey and Tunisia to Croatia. In 1924, he established the Russian All-Military Union, an organization aiming to fight for the rights of ex-soldiers and ex-militiamen living abroad. They settled in Brussels in 1927, where Wrangel worked as an engineer.
Wrangel was poisoned by his butler's brother who apparently was a Soviet secret agent, in 1928. Wrangel's funeral was held in Brussels, but he was re-interred in Belgrade, Serbia in 1928.
