Battle of Inčukalns

The Battle of Inčukalns was the first battle during the Latvian War of Independence. The Battle was an attempt by the Baltische Landeswehr in order to delay the Red Army's time to occupy Riga, the 4 Landeswehr companies faced 2 Latvian Riflemen regiments, delaying them for a whole day and giving enough time for the Latvian Provisional Government to evacuate from Riga. After heavy fighting the Landeswehr were driven away from Inčukalns station, but the battles near Līgatne and Inčukalns delayed the Red Army's to advance to Riga.
==Conduct of hostilities==
===Preliminary battles===
On 25 December, the 1st and 2nd Landeswehr companies a machine gun team under the leadership of Captain Loebbecke, and the 2nd platoon of the Strike Group left Riga by train in the direction to Cēsis. Meanwhile, the 1st Riga Latvian Company, which was attacked by the Bolsheviks, refused to fight against the Latvian Rifleme, and remained in the barracks in Riga, when it was fired upon by the British fleet. After the suppression of the rebellion, two Latvian companies were disbanded, and the leaders of the rebellion were executed.
The first clash with the cavalry patrol of the Red Army took place near the Līgatne station, and units of the 4th Latvian Riflemen Regiment on December 28 near the Ieriķi station. The platoon of the Landeswehr strike group retreated with the battle to Līgatni, where it was attacked by the 1st company of the 4th Latvian Riflemen regiment, 8 Landeswehrs fell in the battle.
The 1st and 2nd companies of the Landeswehr, the machine gun platoon and the half-battery of artillery and 2 howitzers were brought from Riga and established themselves in the old trenches of the First World War at the strategically important Inčukalns station. There they were joined by the poorly armed Cēsis company of Latvian volunteers, who were stationed at Inčukalns station and others in the Manor buildings approximately 3 km north of the station, but didn't participate in the battles.
In Cēsis, where the government of Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic was located at that time, a discussion of a upcoming battle plan took place. The war commissar of the 2nd Novgorod division, Jānis Fabriciuss, requested that the 1st and 2nd three-inch cannon batteries of the 2nd light artillery division be assigned to the front station, aswell as supplementing the existing 850 men with mobilized peasants. Roberts Apinis, commissar of the 2nd brigade, took charge of the operation. According to the battle plan, the 4th Latvian Riflemen regiment was to trying to occupy the Landeswehr positions near Inčukalns Manor, while the 1st Regiment was to attack the railway station frontally, but in the afternoon to bypass the railway station from the south-east through the frozen marsh, broke into it from the exposed flank under the cover of darkness.V. Bērziņš. Latviešu strēlnieki – drāma un traģēdija. Rīga: LVI apgāds, 1995., 135.-136. lpp.
===Battle===
On the morning of 31 December, the artillery of the 4th Latvian Riflemen regiment started shelling the Landeswehr positions in Inčukalns Manor, while the 1st Latvian Riflemen regiment approached the Inčukalns railway station. The Landeswehr held their positions but the strategic situation significantly deteriorated in the positions of the left wing of the 3 km long front line near the Manor, where captain Kliments Didorovs of the Russian company were driven from their positions. The 1st platoon of the 1st company of the Latvian Riflemen remains in the Manor as a reserve, while the other platoons continued the attack. On the night of 1 January the Latvian Riflemen started a shock attack. The 1st Latvian Riflemen regiment attacked the Inčukalns station from the south but from the leftover barbed wire fences from World War I got stuck. Landeswehr regrouped for defense, but a counteroffensive from the Strike Group forced the Red Army to retreat 2km from Inčukalns. In the battle near the Manor, the commander of the 4th Latvian Riflemen regiment killed the commander of the Landeswehr gun battery.
Most of the soldiers of the Landeswehr infantry retreated to Garkalne station and were received early in the morning by the train coming from Riga, who led the 1st and 3rd platoons of the Strike Group and two light field guns to Inčukalns. Oskars Kalpaks was supposed to come to Inčukalns for help, but remained in Riga.31. decembrī ar Apsardzības ministra pavēli Nr. 578. iecēla Kalpaku par latviešu daļu frontē komandieri un deva rīkojumu nekavējoši sazināties ar kap. Balodi par instruktoru rotas apbruņošanu kaujas apstākļiem un došanos uz fronti. – LVVA, 1468. f., 1. apr., 130. l., 35. lp.
In the morning of 1 January the 4th Latvian Riflemen regiment attacked Inčukalns from the side of the Manor, in the afternoon the Latvian Riflemen attacked the Landeswehr's left wing and they started panicking. The Latvian general Mārtiņš Peniķis later described the battle: "At first, the young boys of both Riga companies did not survive, and entire groups disappeared into the nearby forest in panic"Peniķis M. Sarkano spēku iebrukums Latvijā : 1918./19. gadu mijā. // Militārais apskats. 1932. Nr.2., 3.-15. lpp.. The Shock Group on the right wing could not withstand the attack of the 1st Latvian Riflemen regiment and began to retreat. Roberts Apinis said in his memories: "They held out for quite a long time, and only when the chains of the 4th Latvian Riflemen regiment were about to break into Inčukalna from one side, and the 1st Latvian Riflemen regiment from the other - to finally return the road to Riga, the Germans started to flee".Latvju strēlnieku vēsture. II sējuma II daļa. Prometejs, 1934., 128.-131. lpp.
The Iron Division's armored train covered the retreat of the Landeswehr, but all the guns, most of machine guns and many small arms went to the BolsheviksЦентральный государственный архив Советской Армии (ЦГАСА), ф, 1574, оп. 1, д. 166, лл. 3-4. The Landeswehr at Inčukalns lost 35 killed and around 100 wounded, and in the Red Army 70 killed and 150 wouned.Andersons E. Latvijas vēsture : 1914-1920. Stokholma: Daugava , 1967., 375. lpp.Фабрициус Я.Ф., Траванский A.B. Исторические заметки о гражданской войне в Прибалтике (ответ на статью К.Янэля) // Война и революция. 1928. № 12
==Aftermath==
The German government representative, August Winnig announced that the German troops would not defend Riga. On 1 January, 1919, most German occupation authorities had left Riga on 2 January at around 7:00 and the Latvian Provisional Goverment along with the Separate Student Troupe left Riga by the train and retreated to Jelgava. The remaining units of the Latvian Provisional Goverment under the command of Oskars Kalpaks retreated from Riga on 3 January.
On January 4 the Revolutionary Military Council created the Soviet Latvian Army, and till March was lead by at the time Commander-in-Chief Jukums Vācietis.Enciklopēdija "Rīga". Rīga, 1988., 49 lpp.
Category:Battles of the Latvian War of Independence
Category:1918 in Latvia
Category:Conflicts in 1918
Category:Battles in 1918
Category:Battles of the Russian Civil War involving Germany
Category:December 1918 events