«Even though Volunteer fighters made their mistakes and sins, only those who do nothing make no mistakes». Memoirs of Volunteer Army officers in 1918–1920 left by Major General Konstantin A. Kelner

Abstract

This research article focuses on characterization of Volunteer Army officers who fought in the Russian Civil War being part of the White armies of South Russia. Quoted memoirs by Major General Konstantin A. Kelner reveal inner relationships and image of the 1st Volunteer Army Corps units of the Armed Forces of South Russia in 1918–1920. An analysis of this historical document has been made and the first full-scale biography of the memoirist has been introduced. The memoirs written by Kelner in 1930 provide a detailed description of the best known «colored» (for their uniforms) regiments of the Volunteer Army: Drozdovites, Markovites, Kornilovites and Alekseevites. The general doesn’t focus just on the glitzy front of their life, but also on negative aspects of the Volunteer movement, which deserves special attentio

Keywords

• volunteer army
• armed forces of south russia (afsr)
• the russian army of general pyotr n. wrange
• volunteer army officers
• 1st army corps
• «colored» regiments
• drozdovites
• kornilovites
• markovites
• alekseevites