Iași–Don March

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Map of the march of Drozdovsky's detachment

Medal of the Iași–Don March

The Iași–Don March, also known in Russia as Drozdovsky's March or the Romanian March, was a march of a Russian Volunteer detachment, led by Staff Colonel Mikhail Drozdovsky during the Russian Civil War. The detachment marched from Iași on the Romanian front to the Don, to join the White Russian Volunteer Army of General Lavr Kornilov and fight the Bolshevik enemy together. It took place between February 26 (New Style March 11) and April 24 (New Style May 7), 1918. This March, as well as the First Kuban Campaign, was a milestone in the formation of the White movement in Southern Russia.

The March[]

Colonel Drozdovsky, a staunch monarchist, had gathered around him in Iași after the October Revolution a detachment of between 800 and 1500 men, most of whom were young officers. Cut off from the rest of Russia after the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, the formation of an independent Ukrainian People's Republic and the destruction of the Odessa Soviet Republic by the advancing Germans, he decided to march to Novocherkassk on the Don to join the White Russian Volunteer Army.

The detachment consisted of a skirmisher regiment, a cavalry division (commanded by Chief of Staff Colonel Voïnalovitch), a mounted mountain battery, a light battery, a mortar company, a technical unit, a hospital and the train. This detachment, reinforced along the way by other small groups including Colonel Jebrak, marched 1,200 kilometers from March to May 1918 from Iași to Novocherkassk.

The march of the detachment coincided with the advance of the German and Austrian Armies in accordance with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. In spite of a certain mistrust, the Central forces behaved in a benevolent manner towards Drozdovsky and his men, not hindering their advance. Drozdovsky had to live with this uneasy situation, having no means to oppose the German and Austro-Hungarian troops.

Marching in closed order, the detachment arrived in Rostov-on-Don on May 4 and took the city after fierce fighting with the Red Army. The detachment suffered some 100 casualties, including Colonel Voïnalovitch. Leaving Rostov, Drozdovsky's men helped the Don Cossacks, in rebellion against Bolshevik power, to retake Novocherkassk. On the evening of May 7, 1918, the "Drozdovsky" detachment arrived in Novocherkassk under the acclamation of the inhabitants, bringing an end to the "Romanian march".