Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-28

waste.
Several days after his return he was
wandering through forest in his ma
tive Voronezh, with six other men who
also had deserted. On hillside they OBJ
served detachment OF Gen. Denikin's
troops. Budenny and his companions
had one rife, four cartridges, one re-
volver, seven bullets and one sword
Thus armed, and with hts following of
six men, he waited until late in the
night and attacked Denikin's men while
they slept. So bewildered were the sleep
ing men by the unexpected assault that
they ran.
That night Budenny came into pos
session Of the following supplies, which
he quoted from much worn notebook:
Four machine guns, 275 horses, $50
rifles, 10000 bullets and 8 men of the
routed outfit, who joined him after their
comrades red. In addition, the fleeing
men abandoned much food. Budenny
and his men carried everything back To
the village.
Pedestrians, to Horse"
He was now In q peculiar position.
He had much valuable ammunition and
equipment. but he had only IA men, a
force not even sufiicient to care for the
captured horses. Then in the remote
village OF Polotovsk he issued q call
STA: "Proletarians, to horse" was his
command. Before nightfall that day,
February 26, 1918, he had so men, all
armed and equipped with the supplies
he had captured the night before. That
was the beginning of the famous
BudennevSkaya Konarmia (Budenny's
Horsemen), which broke the backbone
Of counter-revolution and foreign in
vasion. From villages surrounding his
own men came and offered themselves
in his service. BY the end OF the week
he commanded a force Of $50 men.
As the leader of this band he fought
everybody who came his way. He lived
in the forests and would emerge from
there at night. fall upon attachments
Of Denikin's army or upon freebooting
bands similar to his own, dispersc them
and capture their ammunition. When
he had $50 men to command he de-
cided upon q bold stroke, night at
tack on q detachment Of 5000 men OF
Denikin'S army.
That engagement probably decided
the fate OF the Bolsnevist regime in
Russia, although the Communist lead
ers in the Kremlln knew nothing about
it at the time. Budenny said to me:
Il staked all upon that fight. II /
won would gather around me thou
sands Of men and organize q powerful
army. II lost there would be no OBJ
ject in living any more"
He won. Under cover of darkness he
attacked the Denikin troops ana de-
feated them. Then something happened
that even Budenny had not expected.
Many Of Denikin's soldiers fed. A con-
siderable number persisted in the fight
ing. but the main body, about 1000 men
over to him. Overnight he became COM
mander of formidable force.
From that day he changed his guerrilla
tactics. He engaged superior forces in
broad daylight and defeated them. His
army kept increasing, but Still he owed
allegiance to nobody. He was a free
booter at the head Of q band of night
ing men who were willing to battle
friend or foe. This was typical OF the
early period Of the civil war. It was
Just what has been happening in China
during the last decade.
Cast His Lot with Soviets.
Other bandit chieftains arose in diff
ferent parts Of Russia and proceeded to
roam through the country. Such was
MachnO in the Donetz Coal Basin;
Petlura, in the Ukrainia OPetlura was
aSsassinated in Paris few years agoI
Others were Bulak Bulakovich, Hetman
Zeleni, Attaman SkoropadSki, Gen.
Semionof, In Siberia. tSemiOnof Is the
leader who Is reported to be organic
ing Russian exiles in China for action
against Russia in the event Of war;.
Budenny remembered the betrayal OF
the Russian cavalry. He had not for
gotten the humiliation of Russia. which
he attributed to Csarist misrule. He
felt that the Denikins. the Kolchaks
and the Ydenitches were no better than
those who had led his squadron into the
Massaurian swamps He decided to cast
his lot with the Soviet. BY the Summer
of 1919 he had command over q force
of $4,000 on horseback. He then de-
cided to strike.
Moscow was in danger The rem
nants of Kolchaks army were lowering
on the fringe OF the Ural Mountains.
Ydenitch was threatening Leningrad.
In the south Denikin had conquered all
Of Ukrainia. Denikin took Kharhov
and was moving irresistibly against
Moscow. August, 1919, found Denikin
at the gates of Kursk, about $50 miles
from the Red capital. He took Kursk
after infiicting disastrous defeat upon
the Red army.
In the Kremlin Trotsky was dramat-
i8ing the war with slogans When
Denikin took Kursk and began the
movement against Oreol, TrotsEy issued
one of his famous pfonounciamentoS
"Oreol." he said, lis the Red Verdun.
They tthe MonarchiStS under Denikin)
shall not pass" But in less than three
weeks Oreol fell, and Denikin moved
up to within little more than 200 miles
of MOSCOW.
Disaster Comes Suddenly.
At this juncture something happened
that stunned Europe. An army, the
existence of which was not even known
tn the bolSheViki struck Denkin at
Kursk and drove his forces from that
city. thereby cutting of half Of his
army, which centered at Oreol. Soon
Denikin's entire line, from the Black
Sea to It's fartheSt advanced position
beyond Oreol crumbled under the ham
merinR of the mounted army which
had emerged so suddenly.
The army that drove Denikin from
Kursk marched into the city. When It
reached the public square, the man At
the head of the column stood up in
his stirrupS and addressed his fol-
lowers:
This war We are going to win" It
was Budenny speaking. He remem-
bered Russia's feeble efforts against
Germany. His followers replied with a
spirited burst of song, Lead us, Bra
tushka Oittle brother) Buderny. Lead
us to battle, to glory and to death lea
struggle Is" lThese lines are from
the March Budenny.O
Budennys cry, "Proletarians, to
horsel" re-echoed wherever he appeared
with his riders Peasants abandoned
their farms. Cab drivers unhitched
their horses and reported to him.
Suuadrons of Denikin's Cossacks desert
ed and went over to Budenny.
When Budenny took KharKov, the
IL H. arntN