Pyotr Krasnov

Pyotr Nikolayevich Krasnov (, September 22 (10 old style), 1869 — January 17, 1947), sometimes referred to in English as Peter Krasnov, was Lieutenant General of the Russian army when the revolution broke out in 1917, and one of the leaders of the counterrevolutionary White movement afterward.

Russian Army

Pyotr Krasnov was born in 1869 in Saint Petersburg, son to lieutenant-general Nikolay Krasnov and grandson to general Ivan Krasnov. In 1888, Krasnov graduated from Pavlovsk Military School and later served in the Ataman regiment of the Life Guards. During World War I, he commanded a Cossack brigade and a division, in August–October 1917, of the 3rd Cavalry Corps. During the October Revolution, Alexander Kerensky appointed Krasnov commander of the army, which was sent to Petrograd from the front to suppress the Bolshevik revolution (see Kerensky-Krasnov uprising). However, Krasnov was defeated and taken prisoner. He was released by the Soviet authorities on the condition that he would not continue his struggle against the revolution. He agreed to this but reneged on his promise to do so.

Russian Civil war

Krasnov fled to the Don region and in May 1918, in Novocherkassk, was elected Ataman of the Don Cossack Host. With support from Germany, he equipped the army, which would oust the Soviets from the Don region in May–June 1918. By the middle of June, a Don Army was in the field with 40,000 men, 56 guns and 179 machine-guns. In the second half of 1918, Krasnov...
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