Officers from the First World War. Generals of the First World War. Abolition of lower military ranks

Yanushkevich, Nikolai Nikolaevich (1863–1918). He was educated at the Nikolaev Cadet Corps and at the Mikhailovsky Art. school, from where in 1883 he was released as a second lieutenant in the 3rd Guards. and green. artillery brigade. He graduated from the course at the Academy of the General Staff in 1896. All of his further service was spent in the St. Petersburg offices. Along the way, from 1910 he was a professor of military administration at the Military Academy.

Yudenich Nikolai Nikolaevich

Yudenich, Nikolai Nikolaevich, b. in 1862 Received. military education in the 3rd military. Alekseevsky school, from where he graduated in 1881. - Guards Lithuanian regiment. Finish Academy of the General Staff in 1887. His further service took place in various military headquarters: during the Russo-Japanese War, Yu commanded the 18th rifleman. regiment, and was wounded. In 1905 - corps of the 2nd brigade, 3rd rifleman. div. In 1907 - general. - Quartermaster of the Caucasian Military headquarters. env.

Evert Alexey Ermolaevich

Evert, Alexey Ermolaevich (1850–1916). He was educated at the 1st Moscow Military Gymnasium and at the 3rd Military School. Aleksandrovsky School, from where he graduated in 1876. - Volyn Guard Regiment, with which he participated in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877–1878. Graduate. General Staff Academy in 1882. Served in various military headquarters and commanded the 130th infantry for about a year. Kherson regiment. During the Russo-Japanese War he was from Oct. 1904 gen. - Quartermaster under Commander-in-Chief Kuropatkin, and then from March 1905, beginning. headquarters of the 1st Manchurian Army also under Kuropatkin.

Shcherbachev Dmitry Grigorievich

Shcherbachev, Dmitry Grigorievich, b. in 1857. He received his education in the Oryol military. gymnasium and in Mikhailovsky art. school He began his service in 1876 in the 3rd Cavalry Battalion and in the Guards. horse artillery brigade. Finish Academy of General headquarters in 1884. Served at various headquarters in St. Petersburg. In 1906 - beginning. 1st Finnish Infantry. div. brigades. From 1907 to 1912 – beginning. Military Academy.

Cheremisov, Vladimir Andreevich, b. in 1871. He was educated at the Baku Real School and studied at the Military School. courses Moscow. infantry cadet school, from where he was graduated in 1891 as a second lieutenant in the 17th artillery. brigade. Finish General Staff Academy in 1899. Served in various troops. headquarters. In 1908 - beginning. Cavalry headquarters div. In 1911 - teacher. Military Academy. During the World War, Ch. in 1915 held the position of general. - Quartermaster of the 5th Army, but was removed from the General Staff for omission in service and after that commanded a brigade.

Sukhomlinov Vladimir Alexandrovich

Sukhomlinov, Vladimir Alexandrovich, b. in 1843. Educated in 1st Petersburg. cadet corps and in the Nikolaevsky cavalry. school, from where in 1867 he graduated as a cornet in l. - Guards Uhlan regiment to Warsaw. Finish Academy of the General Staff in 1874 During the Russian Tour. war (1877–1878) was at the disposal of the commanders-in-chief. Danube Army. In 1878 - head of affairs at the Academy of the General Staff. In 1884, he joined the 6th Pavlograd Dragoon Regiment. In 1886 - beginning. officer cavalry schools. In 1897 - beginning. 10th Cav. div. In 1899 - beginning. headquarters of the Kyiv military. env. In 1902 - assistant. Commander of the Kyiv Military. env.

Sivers Thaddey Vasilievich

Sievers, Thaddeus Vasilievich (1853–1916). He was educated at a classical gymnasium and at the Warsaw Infantry. cadet school, from where he graduated in 1872 to St. Petersburg. green regiment. He took part in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877–1878, commanding a company. Finish Academy of the General Staff in 1881. Served for various purposes. staff positions. He commanded the 16th Gren for about a year. Mingrelian regiment. In 1904 - commanded the 27th infantry. division. In 1906 - beginning. Vilensky headquarters. military districts. In 1908 - commanded the 16th Army. bldg. In 1911 - 10th Army Corps. bldg. During the World War, S. commanded the 10th Army, which in February 1915 suffered a severe defeat from the Germans. Generals Eichhorn and Belov, and that means. part of it, surrounded in the Augustow forests, laid down its arms. After this, S. was dismissed and soon died.

Alekseev Mikhail Vasilievich (1857-1918)

Since 1914, during World War I, he headed the headquarters of the Southwestern Front. In the spring of 1915, he led the retreat of Russian troops through Lithuania and Poland, called the Great Retreat in the history of the war.

He was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree. From August 1915 – chief of staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

Brusilov Alexey Alekseevich (1853-1926)

As commander of the 8th Army, he took part in the Battle of Galicia. In the so-called Rohatyn battles, he defeated the 2nd Army of Austria-Hungary, capturing 20 thousand prisoners and 70 guns. On August 20, Galich was conquered. Then the 8th Army takes part in the battles of Rava-Russkaya and near Gorodok.

In the summer of 1916, he was the initiator of the so-called Lutsk breakthrough, which was later named after him. The essence of the strategy was the simultaneous offensive of all armies along the entire front line. In 1916, Brusilov headed the Southwestern Front, which allowed him to act relatively freely.

Denikin Anton Ivanovich (1872-1947)

During the First World War, he commanded the 4th Infantry Brigade, nicknamed the “iron” brigade by the troops. In 1914, he launched a counterattack against Austrian troops in Galicia and captured the Hungarian city of Meso-Laborcs.

In 1915, his brigade was expanded to a division and became part of the Kaledin 8th Army. Denikin took a direct part in the Brusilov breakthrough. His “Iron Division” captured Lutsk and captured 20,000 people from the enemy army.

Since 1916 - Lieutenant General of the General Staff. In 1917 he commanded the western and southwestern fronts.

For valor in the Battle of Gorodok, Anton Ivanovich was awarded the Arms of St. George. For an unexpected counterattack against the Austrians in Galicia he received the Order of St. George, 4th degree. After the capture of Lutsk, he received the rank of lieutenant general.

Kaledin Alexey Maksimovich (1861-1918)

Active participant in the Brusilov breakthrough. As part of the 8th Army of the Southwestern Front, Kaledin's cavalry has always been an active fighting force. Victory reports from the front during the battles in Galicia in 1914 regularly included the name of the commander of the 12th Cavalry Division, Kaledin. After Brusilov headed the Southwestern Front in the spring of 1916, he recommended Kaledin instead of himself as commander of the 8th Army, which later found itself at the epicenter of the Lutsk breakthrough, and always found itself in the most difficult sectors of the front

French commanders

Foch Ferdinand (1851-1929)

Met in Nancy as commander of the 20th Corps. He was soon appointed commander of the 9th French Army, which withstood the 2nd German armies in the Battle of the Marne River and, despite numerical losses, held Nancy for the second time.

In 15-16 years. Commanded Army Group North. He took part in the attack on Artois and the Battle of the Somme, which ended in victory for the Germans. After which General Foch was relieved of his post.

Joffre Joseph Jacques (1852-1931)

Commander-in-Chief of the Northern and Northeastern Armies of France. The fighting took place in the territories of France and Belgium. Germany sought to capture Paris. Five German armies were rushing towards the gap created between Amiens and Verdun. General Joffre left three army corps for the defense of the capital. At the end of 1914, the French offensive operations were scattered.

General Joffre led the French armies for 2 years - from the end of 1914 to the end of 1916. After the Verdun massacre, in which France lost 315 thousand, he was removed from the post of Commander-in-Chief.

Generals of Germany

Ludendorff Erich (1865-1937)

Since 1914, he led the actions of German troops on the Eastern Front, and since 1916 he led all German troops.

Hindenburg Paul (1847-1934)

In the fall of 1914, General of Infantry Paul Hindenburg was appointed commander of the 8th German Army stationed in East Prussia. And in October of the same year - commander-in-chief of Germany on the Eastern Front.

In 1916, he became famous among the German troops for disrupting the offensive of Russian troops near the Naroch River. He counterattacked the Russians and thereby stopped their advance.

English commanders

French John Denton Pinkston (1852-1925)

He was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force in France. Not being subordinate to the French command, he made decisions authoritarianly, without coordinating his actions with the French command. The discord in the actions of the armies only harmed the conduct of military operations, which only benefited the enemy. On August 20, 1914, in the Maubeuge-Le Cateau zone, the expeditionary forces were supposed to march together with the French on Soigny. On August 24, Field Marshal French began the withdrawal of his troops.

Yudenich Nikolai Nikolaevich

Evert Alexey Ermolaevich

Shcherbachev Dmitry Grigorievich

Sukhomlinov Vladimir Alexandrovich

Sivers Thaddey Vasilievich

Erast Nikolaevich Giatsintov. August 1914. Tsarskoe Selo.

On the 101st anniversary of the start of the First World War, we publish the memoirs of an eyewitness to the events. Erast Nikolaevich Giatsintov's receipt of the officer rank coincided with the beginning of the First World War, and he immediately went to the front as a young officer.

Later, in emigration, having already become a rather sought-after chemist, he left an audio tape where he dictated his life and testament to his descendants. Erast Nikolaevich He was proud that he fought in the Russian army against the Bolsheviks under the leadership of Wrangel, and before that he served in the imperial army of Russia, went through the entire First World War from its very beginning until the Bolshevik coup. The memoirs of Erast Nikolaevich describe that time well and quite objectively, conveying the entire atmosphere of the upheavals taking place in Russia from the point of view of a patriot and an officer, which is why this narrative is valuable.

We are portrayed as some kind of monsters or as saints. This is all nonsense. We have never been one or the other.

Erast Nikolaevich Giatsintov.

In May 1914, as usual, we set out for the camp, not knowing in what fateful year we did this. It seems that at the end of June news was received that Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, had been killed in Serbia by the Serb Gavrilo Princip. Well, everyone got worried and began to wonder what would happen. And since everyone expected a war with Germany and Austria, they were sure that this matter would not go away so easily, and, of course, they were indignant against diplomats who could eliminate all this peacefully. But we did not imagine what a disaster this war would lead Russia to!

We were not released in July, as usual, but on July 12, an officer ran into the barracks (I was then in the senior class barracks, where information was posted every day about how many days were left until promotion to officers, that is, until August 6) and shouted: “ Put a zero! Put a zero! Now we’re going to the Church of the Transfiguration, where you will be promoted to officer.” Well, the commotion was, of course, incredible. The senior class went to the Church of the Transfiguration, and we, the middle class, since the junior class had already been sent on vacation, began to think about what would happen to us now. The senior cadets returned as second lieutenants, but we were left for the third camp training and did not receive leave this year. We went through the third camp training, preparing for the officer rank that we were supposed to receive.

Just before the war, in early July, French President Poincaré visited Russia. On July 10, a review was scheduled for all troops and schools that were in Krasnoye Selo and serving camp training. Of course, I cannot forget this parade. A lot of troops were assembled - infantry, cavalry, artillery. Everyone was in field uniform, that is, everyone was dressed the same in khaki shirts. Against the background of this monotony, two spots stood out very much: the Guards crew, which was dressed in white shirts with turn-down blue collars, and the 4th battalion of the Imperial Family Rifles, which were in their traditional crimson shirts. A tour of all troops began. The Emperor rode on horseback, and the Empress with Poincaré and the heir, the Tsarevich, rode in a carriage. Of course, as always, banners and standards bowed before the Emperor - this is an amazingly beautiful sight. We were all on horseback, and the Emperor rode past us. We kept the checkers “on guard” (these were those that were not included in the cavalry squad, but were on foot). Then, as usual, we passed by the Tsar’s bolster, on which, in addition to the Tsar’s name, was Poincaré, dressed in a black tailcoat, but with St. Andrew’s blue ribbon, which the Sovereign Emperor had granted him. The procession was very long.

* That is, production as lieutenant in 3 years..- V.B.

After Poincare's departure, on July 19, war was declared. It was announced to our already senior class that we would remain for the third additional camp meeting in order to learn shooting and other tactical sciences. We were in an enthusiastic mood. We were all rushing to the front as quickly as possible in order to lay down our lives for our Tsar and for our Fatherland. Many, unfortunately, succeeded. About 50 percent of my peers at the school were killed or seriously wounded and died from their wounds.

I ended up in the 3rd Grenadier Artillery Brigade and was assigned to the 2nd Battery. I remember as now, the day of August 24, 1914, when we from St. Petersburg, where we had been transported the day before, went to Tsarskoe Selo to be promoted to officer. The acting head of the school, Colonel Butyrkin, ordered us to put on our leave uniform, we were all wearing spurs and with this we “cut up the Mikhailovs” (Mikhailovsky School - V.B.), who were in combat uniform, that is, most of them were without spurs , since spurs were awarded only during vacation time. And during combat time, only cadets and fireworks wore spurs. Since Grand Duke Alexei Nikolaevich was included in the lists of our school and even wore the uniform of a senior cadet harness, our sergeant majors of the 1st and 2nd batteries, together with the head of the school, or rather, Colonel Butyrkin, who performed his position, went to the Alexander Palace, where they presented bouquets for the Empress and the Grand Duchesses, and then they returned importantly in the carriage and got out of the carriages in front of the formation and took their appropriate places. The envy of the “Mikhailovs,” that is, the Mikhailovsky School, knew no bounds. First of all, we were all Spurs. And secondly, our sergeants introduced themselves to the Grand Duchesses and the Empress! After some time, the Sovereign Emperor came out onto the porch of the Catherine Palace. He said a short word, congratulated us on our promotion to the first officer rank and concluded with the words: “Serve me and serve Russia.” And tears appeared in his wonderful eyes: he knew that most of us would face death on the battlefield.

We put on the order (under shoulder straps - V.B.), which was distributed to every cadet, about promotion to officers, and after breakfast in the Catherine Palace we went to the Tsarskoye Selo station and went to St. Petersburg in a cadet uniform, with the order under the shoulder straps. And all the railway employees and officers we met greeted us, shook hands and congratulated us on our promotion to officers. So we arrived at our school, put on our officer’s uniform and went home until the evening.

In an officer's uniform, I went to my dying sister Vera to appear to her in a new form. But, unfortunately, she died that same night. This, of course, greatly darkened my joy and the joy of my parents in the fact that I graduated from college and got into a good unit.

We somehow became more mature that day. We realized what a duty we now had and that we would command soldiers who would unquestioningly carry out our orders. This, of course, is a big burden that fell on the shoulders of a 19-year-old boy.

Great War. Southwestern Front

My unit was on the Southwestern Front, so I had to go through Kyiv. In Tsarskoe Selo, my father accompanied me to the station. The mother felt that after the death of her daughter she could not send her fourth son, the youngest, to the front.

We happily drove to Moscow, where, of course, I did not fail to (visit. - V.B.) Uncle Volodya’s house to see Sofochka again before a possible separation forever. They accompanied me, and Uncle Volodya, and Aunt Liza, and Sofochka, to the station, where we boarded a special carriage, which was provided to newly promoted officers.

We stayed in Kyiv very briefly - a few hours. After which we went to our places. We reached the last station, where we had to change to a peasant cart and look for our battery.

I arrived, I don’t remember what date in August (or maybe the very beginning of September 14) and reported to the brigade headquarters. Our brigade was commanded by Major General Ilkevich. He assigned me to the 2nd battery, which I found in position a day later. And at first it seemed to me that apart from our grenadier division, no one was fighting at all. There was no information about neighbors either to the right or to the left. Sometimes there were skirmishes, but a serious battle, the first in which I took part, took place on September 24, 1914.

So we wandered around Galicia, experiencing all sorts of inconveniences, since we were separated from our convoys. We did not have any food except what we bought from the local population. These were mainly geese, which we had to eat without salt, since the population had no salt, and without bread. Pretty disgusting food, but I had to settle for it. The Galician peasants treated us very well, as they considered us their brothers in faith.

And so it lasted until October. In October, they finally transferred us north, to the Vistula River near New Alexandria. And there I received my first independent baptism of fire. I was ordered to move my guns to the very bank of the Vistula in order to knock down the pontoon bridge, which, as we expected, the Austrians would move across the Vistula to attack our positions.

I arrived on the bank of the Vistula, examined the entire area, set up guns and began to carefully wait for the Austrians to appear. But they didn't show up. On October 13, we ourselves crossed the Vistula on a pontoon bridge. The horses were led, shells, shrapnel and red and white grenades were exploding all around - this is a distinctive feature of Austrian shells. We crossed to the other side and found a rather sad picture: the 70th second-rate division was retreating in quite great disorder, and with them the Ural Cossacks. We took up position for the night, which was obviously October 12, because the main battle was on October 13, and opened fire on the Austrian positions. The next day, early in the morning, after corresponding artillery fire, our valiant Phanagorian Grenadier General Field Marshal Suvorov (his favorite!) regiment went on the attack and shot down the Hungarians who were defending the outskirts of the Vistula River. The Phanagorians lost a lot of soldiers and officers. I still remember Colonel Dzheshkovsky, whose hilt of his saber was knocked off by a shell and his entire cloak was riddled with shrapnel shells (fragments - V.B.). The battlefield we entered after the Hungarians had retreated was covered with the corpses of Russians, Phanagorians, and Hungarians, who were very valiant soldiers. They all died in a bayonet battle, but our Phanagorians were victorious, and we moved forward, west, towards the city of Krakow.

With continuous battles, sometimes small, sometimes larger, we reached Krakow by November. There were 12 miles left to the city itself. They hit us with very large guns - Austrian fortress artillery up to and including 12-inch shells. When such a projectile flies, it seems as if a train is flying right at your head - such a noise and whistle, and the explosion, of course, is absolutely amazing. The funnels are colossal.

I then received an even more important assignment. One company of the 12th Grenadier Emperor Alexander III Astrakhan Regiment was subjected to flanking fire from three machine guns, which were very well camouflaged and very difficult to distinguish. This happened in the forest, and I was sent as a forward observer - until the very end of the war. Only sometimes I had to be on the battery itself. The forward observer usually had to sit in infantry lines, and this was considered a dangerous job. Arriving there, at the company, I could not immediately discover where this machine-gun nest was located. I had to move in front of the chains, and only then I established with precision where this machine-gun nest was located. Thus, I lay between two chains: ours were behind me, and the Austrians were in front.

I spent three days at this observation point, returning to the battery only after dark. In the end, we managed to find this nest and destroy it with fire from our battery. For this, the chief of artillery, Colonel Pozoev, nominated me for the Order of St. George, 4th degree, but the brigade commander rejected this proposal, deciding that I was “too young.” And I only received Stanislav 3rd degree with swords and a bow.

After 10 days of fierce fighting on the outskirts of the city of Krakow (and there was a fortress of the same name), one fine morning - either the 10th or 12th of November, we woke up and suddenly saw that there was no one in front of us: the Austrians retreated to fortress. We were already preparing to move closer and occupy both the fortress and the city of Krakow. And suddenly, completely unexpectedly for us, we received an order from army headquarters that we must retreat. This seemed completely unthinkable to us, because we had achieved such colossal successes (to go from the Vistula to Krakow is more than one hundred miles, and all the time with victories!), and suddenly, when we were already on the eve of taking the city, we received an order instead of an offensive - to retreat ! It turns out, as we soon learned, the supply of shells was exhausted...

If my memory serves me correctly, it was only towards the end of December or maybe even at the beginning of January 1915 that we settled on a position on the Nida River, north of Baranovichi. Baranovichi is the place where the Headquarters of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, the so-called Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian armies, was located - which was wrong, since only the Sovereign could be Supreme and no Grand Duke could claim this title.

I have always felt great antipathy towards Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich. Very tall, always wearing the uniform of His Majesty’s Hussar Life Guards (regiment - V.B.), with a large plume on his fur cap, he was unusually rude, harsh and very strict. This was the perfect antipode of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, whom we, cadets, cadets and officers, adored in the full sense of the word. Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich had completely opposite character traits. Firstly, it must be said that he was a great intriguer. He was not very respectful of the Emperor and wanted to play a role and seemed to even pretend that he could replace the Emperor and be Nicholas III. I don’t know how true this is, but I am firmly convinced and know from the sources that I have now read that he participated in the conspiracy of the palace coup together with our left-wing figures, among whom the main role was played by Guchkov, Milyukov, Kerensky, Prince Lvov and, unfortunately , our generals, including even Adjutant General Alekseev, a cunning, cross-eyed general, very smart, a good strategist, but absolutely not a loyal subject. Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich and his brother Peter Nikolaevich were married to Montenegrin princesses - Militsa and Anastasia Nikolaevna.

The heir to the throne, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, was sick with hemophilia. This is a disease when the blood loses its clotting properties, so that the slightest cut can be fatal. This disease is transmitted hereditarily through the female line. It started with the English Queen Victoria. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and the Spanish queen passed this disease on to their eldest sons. Every time the heir became ill and bruised himself, he suffered internal hemorrhage, and this caused him incredible suffering. No specialists - neither Russian nor foreign - could heal him and could not stop his pain. But as soon as Rasputin appeared in the palace or even simply responded to a telegram with a telegram, the heir felt better. Therefore, I do not understand how the Empress and the Tsar can be accused of being attached to Rasputin. But all the rumors that Rasputin had some influence on state affairs are, in my opinion, nonsense spread by the left.

Everything was limited to the fact that dignitaries and all sorts of crooks, greedy for titles, ranks and orders, turned to Rasputin for help or patronage, and Rasputin wrote illiterate notes to the Emperor or Empress. All this was greatly exaggerated, but, of course, it was inflated by high society. And in the end it was decided to put an end to Rasputin. This terrible crime was committed with the participation of Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich (who, however, was not a physical murderer), right-wing deputy Purishkevich and the young prince Felix Yusupov, who, for some unknown reason, never got to the front and never smelled gunpowder. The so-called “Rasputinism” was fanned by both the high society and the State Duma, especially by its left-wing deputies, and this poison of gossip and all sorts of malicious inventions captured the whole of St. Petersburg, starting even with benevolent monarchist circles, and from there spread throughout Russia. Rasputin's main opponents were the Grand Duchesses Anastasia and Militsa Nikolaevna, who, of course, greatly influenced their husbands, Nikolai Nikolaevich and Pyotr Nikolaevich. So Nikolai Nikolaevich, being the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, even allowed himself the following phrase when Rasputin wanted to appear at Headquarters: “If he comes, I will hang him.”

Well, this is my distraction due to the fact that I am now reading a lot of all sorts of memoirs about this, and now I will return again to the description of my life at the front.

So, we began a retreat from Krakow, expecting its capture and victorious movement further, forward, into the depths of Austria and Germany. But instead I had to taste the cup of bitter retreat. The retreat itself has a demoralizing effect on the psyche of the troops. You endlessly walk during the day and often at night without spending the night - in late autumn and early spring, spending the night either in the snow or in the rain. Lack of food, horses are exhausted to the last degree, people too. But in general, much less attention was paid to people than to horses. The main thing is that the horses are well-fed and that they can pull the guns and move us forward.

Thus the end of autumn and the beginning of winter passed. Finally, in 1915, constantly retreating and often engaging (in clashes - V.B.) with the enemy who was pressing on us in rearguard battles, we found ourselves either in January or in February, I don’t remember, on the river Nida, north of Baranovichi. We stopped at winter positions, dug in, and made dugouts for soldiers and officers. There was even a bathhouse built near the hitching post, in which one could have a good wash and get in complete order.

The everyday days at the front have begun. And front-line days in winter stops, or in any kind of stops at all, are hard work. Each officer in turn had to go to the battery, to the observation post, which remained day and night under the direction of the officer on duty. These shifts changed, we left the officer's dugout, walked partly along the top of the trenches, partly along the communication paths, when the enemy shelling intensified, and there, at the observation post, we spent 12 hours until the shift came. In this rest in the officer's dugout, of course, there was nothing like what they say. Alcoholic drinks were delivered to us extremely rarely, and there was no drunkenness. But the game of cards flourished. They played preference, screw, commercial games, but sometimes young people from neighboring batteries appeared - then they played “piece of iron”, or, in other words, “nine”. We lost money, but they only play for money in cash, and our treasurer did not give us any advances towards our salaries. Both soldiers and officers were well fed. The soldier's sample was brought to the officer's dugout, where, starting with the battery commander and ending with the most junior officer, everyone had to try what our soldiers were fed. The food was quite good. The only thing we needed was shells; often there was nothing to fire at a very clearly visible and accessible enemy position. This is how our monotonous life went: during the day, when it was calm, we rode our horses so that they would not stagnate. I received a lot of books from my parents, so my battery-working friends and I had plenty of reading. There were skirmishes in which we were forced to remain silent due to a lack of shells. I remember how once, on March 1, 1915, just when I was the battery officer on duty, strong artillery fire was opened on us from three batteries, one of which was heavy - 6 inches. They shot wonderfully, the hits were brilliant - everything exploded around the battery. But we had to remain silent, since it was forbidden to shoot and was allowed only in case of emergency, that is, an attack by enemy infantry. This shooting found me in the officer's dugout, which was dug on an independent battery specifically for the overnight stay of the duty officer. Hearing the first explosions, I, of course, jumped out of this dugout and headed to the telephone, or rather, to the telephone dugout, to report to the battery commander that our battery was under heavy fire. Before I had time to reach the telephone trench, the gunner of the 1st gun, standing outside and covering himself only with a gun shield, called me, whom I, of course, will not forget even now. His last name was Boy. He asked me something, and... at that time a 6-inch shell hit the telephone dugout itself. And, of course, everyone who was there was killed. If this Boy had not detained me with some completely empty question, I would have died that day with everyone else.

By spring, the combat situation became more and more lively. Machine guns and gunfire crackled more often, especially from the Germans, since we still had a severe shortage of shells. This did not allow us to respond appropriately to the fire of the German batteries. Thus came the spring of 1915, which brought us nothing but grief. The Germans began to press again, we still had very few shells, they dispensed them, like in a pharmacy - a tablespoon at a time, and with strict instructions to shoot only in extreme cases. This had a great effect on our psyche, and under pressure from German troops we had to continue our retreat. The commander-in-chief continued to be Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, who, as I believe, was more French than Russian - because he could sacrifice Russian troops completely freely only for the purpose of helping the French and British.

During these retreating battles, I was especially left within memory of July 13, which in the order for all troops of the Russian army was called “the battle of the Siberian grenadiers.” This regiment was commanded by Colonel Tokarev, who was killed in the same battle. I was at the battery, since the battery commander had chosen a very successful observation post, which did not require the assistance of a forward observer. The enemy artillery found our battery, and we came under fire from four batteries, one of them was 6-inch, one was 42-line, and two were 3-inch. There was horror at the battery: the shells were exploding, but that day we were ordered to open fire, since the Siberian Grenadier Regiment, which was in the rearguard and covered the retreat of the main forces, was very pressed. We have lost a lot of people. In this battle I was wounded in the arm, in the chest and was very badly shell-shocked by the explosion of a heavy shell. But, after lying down in the trench for a while, I did not evacuate, but remained in the ranks.

So, constantly fighting rearguard action, our division continued to retreat along with the entire Russian army. There seemed to be no end to it. I don’t remember - either in August or in September they received an order that the Sovereign Emperor assumed supreme command of the entire Russian army, and Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich was sent to the Caucasus as the Sovereign’s deputy on the Turkish Front (Caucasian). It must be emphasized that the Sovereign took upon himself this difficult and responsible responsibility of the Commander-in-Chief of the entire Russian army not at the moment of victories, when he could have decorated his head with a laurel wreath, but precisely at the most difficult time, when there were neither shells nor reinforcements of well-trained . By the end, or rather, by the autumn of 1915, the cadre army had turned into something completely different. The infantry regiments lost almost all their regular officers, non-commissioned officers, as well as soldiers, and were replenished with spare parts, which, of course, were not nearly as good as the regular troops. The artillery and cavalry are relatively well preserved. There were career officers and non-commissioned officers who returned from the rear after healing their wounds, thus our artillery and cavalry represented a disciplined military unit. In the infantry, there were often cases when not only companies, but also battalions had to be commanded by warrant officers who did not have sufficient military training and were promoted to officers after a 4-month course. This certainly did not help morale. And at such a time, the Emperor shouldered this impossible task.

And... a miracle happened in the full sense of the word! We suddenly stopped and took our winter positions. Shells, rifle and machine gun cartridges began to arrive in sufficient quantities, and our front came to life. As I said, the front stopped after that. We began to receive large quantities of military equipment and additional personnel. The officers were returning after recovering from their wounds. And the front, or rather the army, acquired its combat effectiveness.

It is completely incomprehensible why St. Petersburg circles, the Duma and all other liberal elements rebelled so much against the Sovereign taking over the main command of the army. For us, front-line soldiers, this was completely incomprehensible. We took this for granted: the Sovereign should command us, and not some Grand Duke, even if he accepted the post of Supreme Commander-in-Chief. The army grew stronger, stopped in its place, dug in, and 1916 began. We had more than enough shells. We were ready to make the final offensive and crush the German Empire.

This year I had to take part in the action taken by our immortal hero, Lieutenant Bakhmach of the Phanagorian Regiment. On the other side of the river there was an isolated farm in which German scouts, or perhaps even a platoon or two, had settled down and were greatly harassing our chains. We decided to bring out the guns at night and at dawn to directly fire at this isolated house, as it was called in Polish - folwark, and after the shelling, when no resistance could be offered, Lieutenant Bakhmach was supposed to break into this house and, having captured the surviving Germans, bring them to us.

This mission was entrusted to me. At night we went to a position in the forest, and as soon as dawn began, I opened fire on this house with direct fire. After firing approximately 20 grenade and shrapnel shots, Lieutenant Bakhmach crossed the river, broke into the house, took the surviving Germans and returned back. Of course, soon our gun was hit by furious fire from all nearby German batteries. I withdrew all my soldiers, since it was impossible to resist the battery (fire. - V.B.) one gun. He took them several fathoms away from the shells, and we stepped forward under a hail of exploding grenades and shrapnel. The mission was completed one hundred percent!

At night we safely brought the guns back to the battery. This is such a bright battle in winter positions, when life flows unusually monotonously. We drank a lot of tea, since there were no other drinks. And all day long the orderlies kept boiling water ready, and almost every minute someone demanded to be served tea. Thus passed the winter (1915-1916 - V.B.).

In the spring of 1916, we fought a battle on Stokhod, this is a very swampy place. And the rest of the summer there were battles all the time, and we no longer retreated, but very often advanced. I must say that at the end of 1915 I developed appendicitis. My stomach hurt terribly, and nothing our divisional doctor did helped. They sent me to a field hospital, where they determined that inflammation of the cecum was in full swing.

They evacuated me to St. Petersburg, but through Moscow. I had already recovered from the acute attack, and here, in the apartment of the Moscow Giatsintovs, I met with some military doctor named Saltanov. He examined me and confirmed the diagnosis that it was appendicitis, and it needed to be cut out. Well, I still spent several days in Moscow. And then one day I was riding in a cab with Sofochka, and she told me that she was going to get married. Well, I didn’t show any sign, and then I found out that they didn’t want to tell me this news at the war, because they were afraid that I would deliberately expose my head out of grief. But nothing happened: I was ready for this and knew that she could never be my wife.

After that, I came to St. Petersburg, where I had surgery on New Year’s Eve. My father arranged for me to work in the wonderful private hospital of the Dutch ambassador. His daughters were sisters of mercy, and we spent a very comfortable and good time there. And the infirmary was purely for officers. On New Year's Day, all the officers received silver cigarette cases as a gift from the ambassador, and those who were no longer on a diet drank champagne and felt completely at home.

I was discharged from the hospital and spent some time at home, since everything was quiet at the front and I was entitled to a month's leave after the operation. Then I returned to the front, and it felt like coming to my own home. The coachman met me, I asked him about the officers, about the horses, what battery news - I found myself again in a familiar environment.

The front became more and more animated. We had a lot of shells, so there was no refusal to open fire, as was the case in 1915. They opened hurricane fire at the request of any infantry warrant officer who thought there was some kind of revival going on at night, similar to a German offensive. And life went on as normal. Duty at the battery, duty at the observation post, going to the forward observation post, examining enemy positions. In the evening, when it gets dark, play a card game. This is how life flows calmly, like a worker, at the front, and you don’t have to think that the front is something especially heroic and that all they think about is accomplishing some kind of feat.

Every day, when possible, we rode our horses. We drove, of course, not far, so that at any moment we could return to the battery and take our place. And I jumped on my Narcissus, that was the name of my horse. He was bay, with a white bald spot on his forehead, a very good jumper and a very fast horse. Once I raised the barrier too high - he touched it with his front legs and turned it over in the air.

Both found themselves on the ground: he was on his back, and I was spread out like a frog.

This year, a memorable day for me is April 24, when I completely unexpectedly received a letter from Sofochka that she agreed to be my wife and wanted to get married as soon as possible. I was simply shocked - I never expected this. And already in the fall of 1916 I arrived in Moscow as a groom.

In general, since my cadet days, after the end of the performance, I always walked near the artistic entrance, waiting for Sofochka to appear. Sometimes we walked home, sometimes we rode in a cab. This happened during my cadet years, when I visited Moscow, and during my cadet years, and now, during my officer years, when I was her official fiancé. Time passed wonderfully. I went to St. Petersburg, told my parents about my happiness, and they were all extremely pleased that a completely unexpected happiness for me had come true.

February Revolution and the disintegration of the army

Our army was considered outside of politics. Therefore, we received newspapers occasionally; the mail mainly brought letters to the soldiers and to us officers from our loved ones. Some soldiers had to read the letters - there followed endless bows from all sorts of Semenov, Mari, Afanasiev, and so on, and so on. The relationship we had with the soldiers was such that we could not have wished for anything better. We didn’t think about any politics and all this St. Petersburg gossip, all this Rasputinism and all this nasty stuff remained completely in the shadows and in no way concerned the army.

I’m talking about the army, that is, the front, not the headquarters where they delved into all this. I must tell you that, having served in both the imperial and the Volunteer Army, I was always at the battery - I was a forward observer during the Great War, a quartermaster on campaigns, that is, I went forward to distribute premises for the batteries, and never as a treasurer, I was not an adjutant. And it didn’t go anywhere beyond the battery. In the Volunteer Army, I started as a soldier, as I will tell you later, but I was also never in any rear areas, so I don’t know rear life at all.

I have already said that we lived very friendly with the soldiers. Our favorite pastime was playing little towns. These are wooden blocks that had to be knocked out with sticks, throwing them from a distance beyond the fenced, or rather, outlined, city limits. That's what it was called - towns. And in this game I succeeded and very often beat not only officers, but also soldiers.

They lived without being interested in any politics and without hearing anything about it. Suddenly in the month of February (1917 - V.B.) the news of the revolution in St. Petersburg spread. We could not even imagine that troops took part in this uprising. At first they were somewhat distrustful of this and thought that there would be generals who would soon bring all these rebel gentlemen to the Christian faith.

At the very beginning of March (I think the 3rd or 4th) the news reached the battery that the Sovereign Emperor had abdicated the throne for himself and his son and transferred the throne to his brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich. And then an order was read that Mikhail Alexandrovich had abdicated the throne, and we were waiting for some kind of Constituent Assembly that would establish the form of government in Russia.

For us, front-line soldiers and career officers, it was what is called “out of the blue.” No one ever thought that Russia could become some kind of republic and that such things were possible. Alas, this turned out to be possible due to the fact that the Sovereign was surrounded not by adjutant generals, but by traitor generals led by Alekseev, the Sovereign’s chief of staff. Alekseev, however, was ill and was in Crimea, but he had a meeting there with left-wing cadet leaders or even socialists, who persuaded him to take part in this conspiracy. The same applies to Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, to whom a delegation went to the Caucasus with a proposal to ascend the throne and eliminate one way or another, not even stopping at killing, the legitimate Russian Tsar. According to the duty of their oath, both Alekseev and Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich had to warn the Sovereign Emperor about these proposals. But neither one nor the other did this, and thus both turned out to be participants in the misfortune of both the dynasty and our entire Russia.

At the end of February, General Alekseev returned to the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. So he took an active part in the abdication of the throne of the Sovereign Emperor. At first they demanded a “responsible government” that would be responsible not to the Sovereign, but to the State Duma. Then the demands went further and further, and finally General Alekseev sent all the commanders-in-chief of the fronts a telegram in which he proposed to ask the Emperor to abdicate the throne. Unfortunately, all front commanders agreed to this and sent their telegrams asking the Emperor to abdicate the throne. What finished off the Sovereign, of course, was a telegram from Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, who “begged on his knees to abdicate the throne.”

The Emperor found himself completely alone, cut off from his family. If he had been with his family, the Empress would probably have influenced him not to abdicate the throne - which led to the death of our Motherland. The conspiracy of the commanders-in-chief was deeply conceived. Previously, they did not read the order of the farewell Sovereign Emperor. The Emperor's telegram to his brother Mikhail Alexandrovich was not reported! which was signed “your faithful brother Nicholas” and addressed to “Emperor Michael”. This was all part of the plans of our traitor generals, headed by, as I said, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich and Adjutant General Alekseev. Adjutant General Alekseev subsequently founded the White Army and thereby partially rehabilitated the honor of Russia and, as they say, until the end of his life he could not forgive himself for the role he played in the abdication of the Sovereign. But God will be his judge. In any case, he is not the hero of my novel. Just like General Kornilov, who immediately after the revolution was appointed commander of the troops of the Petrograd district and arrested the Empress and her children. And they found themselves, completely innocent children, under the arrest of an unbridled crowd of unruly rear soldiers, for whom the main incentive for the revolution was “not to go to the front,” not to expose their precious lives to danger, but to “serve the revolution.”

I spent several days in St. Petersburg, returned to Moscow, attended a meeting of cadets (political cadets, not our corps cadets - the KD party), which at its meeting proclaimed that it was renouncing the monarchy...

I returned from Moscow in the most depressing state of mind. I saw that the government was falling apart, and I could not find any order, even minimal, in any of the capitals - everyone seemed to have gone crazy.

I returned to the battery as if to my own home - the same soldiers, the same officers, horses, everything was familiar, and the old order was maintained. Our, as I said, cavalry and artillery units were very little affected by the revolution, and the same order was maintained as it was before, in pre-revolutionary times.

In August 1917, signs of decay appeared among our soldiers. The orders of the officers were carried out reluctantly, and sometimes were not carried out at all. I resisted this and did everything possible (and achieved this!) to ensure that all my orders were carried out accurately.

At the end of August I went on vacation, submitting a report for permission to marry Sofochka. Having received this permission, I went first to Moscow, then to St. Petersburg. And this time Moscow and St. Petersburg made an even worse impression on me than it did at Easter. Already the appearance of the soldiers in no way resembled warriors, but these were some kind of slack crowds of people who did not salute the officers, who were husking sunflower seeds and spitting on the pavements and panels. Actually there was something terrible. The intelligentsia behaved more than modestly, trying not to catch the eye of the unbridled crowds.

After staying in Moscow for some time, I went to St. Petersburg to receive a blessing for my father and mother’s wedding. All this time flashed by for me like a dream. On September 23, I returned to Moscow, and our wedding was scheduled for the 24th. There was some misunderstanding here. The priest agreed to marry us, despite the fact that we were cousins, but at the last minute, when everyone was already in the church, his wife, “mother,” burst in and said that the bishop would under no circumstances allow the wedding to take place. may take place... Well, there was some difficulty. We left this church and went to look for a more accommodating priest. They found one in Butyrka prison, who married us for a thousand rubles. It was September 24, 1917.

These three weeks of vacation, which I received on the occasion of my marriage, flashed by for me like a magical dream.

Returning to the battery after a three-week absence, I did not recognize it at all. People walked around looking gloomy, taciturn, and distrustful. The officers were the same, and to my surprise, I received the appointment of commander of my battery, that is, the 2nd battery of our own brigade. Life went on as normal. There were all the same duties - only when we went to the observation post on duty, they shot at us not from the front, that is, not from the Germans, but from our own infantry soldiers from behind! It was quite unpleasant, but we artillerymen stood out because we had trousers of a different color. So they hit without a miss, and they knew that we would not allow them to “fraternize” with the Germans and conclude some kind of stupid separate peace.

But one evening, it was already in October, just before the Bolshevik revolution, the fireworksman on duty called me by phone and said that all the soldiers at the hitching post had staged a rally and that even the orderlies, that is, those who were supposed to be constantly at the battery near the guns, they also went to the hitching post and the battery is empty. I ordered the fireworksman by telephone to immediately gather everyone, not excluding the riders, leaving only a few people to watch the horses at the battery position. I went alone and immediately felt something wrong. The words were heard: “The killer is coming!” I was reminded that I commanded a battery to bring the Ostrolensky infantry regiment into obedience. Then, indeed, 80 people were killed by the fire of my battery and about a hundred people were wounded. But I want to emphasize that if they had acted in the same way on the entire front, then it would have cost much less in human lives than what happened after the Bolsheviks gained the upper hand and destroyed. then many tens of millions of Russian people.

Soldiers surrounded me and began to say that they could not serve like this, that I had introduced the old regime, that I was a murderer, and so on and so forth, and that they no longer wanted to obey me. Fortunately, I kept my cool enough and did not pull out my revolver, since I was alone among the angry crowd of soldiers, they surrounded me, approaching me closer and closer. In the end, several old soldiers and fireworks cleared the passage and took me out of the circle of soldiers who were ready to tear me to pieces. I had to go to my officer’s dugout, and from there I reported to the division commander about everything that had happened and said that at the moment I do not consider it possible to remain in the position of battery commander and ask that someone else be appointed, more acceptable for the lower ranks. I was immediately sent to a field hospital and from there I was evacuated to Moscow, where I arrived after the Bolshevik revolution.

And statesmen. After much persuasion, including with the participation of trustees in London, where Bailey had previously decided to donate the paintings, Cope accepted the offer to take on a huge canvas, which was supposed to depict 22 naval officers of the British Empire. Cope's choice of the subject was driven by his own interest in the Royal Navy, for which he admitted to feeling "a bit of a sailor". Two years later, in 1921, the painting was completed, after which it was exhibited at the Royal Academy, and then transferred to the collection of the National Portrait Gallery. For more than 50 years, since 1960, the work was not exhibited due to its poor condition. In 2014, on the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, the painting was finally restored and took its rightful place in the hall of the National Portrait Gallery.

Story

Arthur Stockdale Cope

In November 1918, art dealer Martin Leggatt telephoned the director of the National Portrait Gallery in London. James Milner, to discuss with him the order of the South African financier Sir Abraham Bailey, 1st Baronet Bailey, who wanted to preserve in the painting the memory of “the great warriors who were the instrument of salvation of the empire” and “valiant sailors who shared the greatness of the victory,” thereby demonstrating how “the empire conducts successful policies in colonies so far from her.” After consultations with Milner and the Chairman of the Gallery's Board of Trustees Lord Dillon With Baronet Bailey it was decided to expand the order. Bailey agreed to divide the order into two paintings, which would depict representatives of the army and navy separately, and then added a third - with statesmen. Bailey left the decision on choosing artists to paint paintings to the will of the gallery trustees, despite the fact that he had a large fortune and could easily afford to commission work from any artist of that time for any money. The choice fell on Arthur Stockdale Cope, a famous English artist. During his artistic career, which began in 1876, Cope exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts and Royal Society of Portrait Painters more than two hundred paintings, the sitters for which included the British monarchs Edward VII, George V and Edward VIII, Kaiser Wilhelm II and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Influenced by Walter Sickert and James Whistler, Cope used a muddy palette of browns and grays, creams and beiges with small splashes of red combined with chiaroscuro, which gave his traditional-style paintings a dramatic effect. In addition, Cope was a close friend of the Director of Naval Intelligence, Vice Admiral William Hall, which could well affect the artist’s level of understanding of the subject that he was instructed to depict.

On 10 January 1919, the Chairman of the Gallery's Board of Trustees, Lord Dillon, wrote to Cope and asked him to fulfill one of Bailey's commissions:

The Trustees accepted a proposal to make a gift to this gallery of three groups of the most distinguished contemporaries of British nationality in memory of their service to the Empire during the Great War. The donor wished to invite three different artists to paint these groups and left the selection of candidates to the will of our trustees. At the request of my colleagues and on their behalf, I want to find out from you whether you are ready to write one of these groups, namely the one that represents government officials.

Original text (English)
The Trustees have accepted an offer to have painted for presentation to this Gallery three groups of the most distinguished contemporaries of British nationality to commemorate their services to the Empire during the Great War. The donor, who desires that three different artists should be invited to paint these groups, has left the nominations in the hands of the Trustees. I am desired by my colleagues to enquire on their behalf whether you would be willing to undertake to paint one of these groups, namely that representing the statesmen.

Two days later, Cope wrote back to Lord Dillon, praising the honor of being asked to paint one of the group portraits, noting that “I do not know whether it is generally intended that artists should be given freedom to choose their subject, but, "With all due respect, I would - if it were possible - to a large extent prefer to paint a picture with sailors than with statesmen." Cope explained that the reasons for this decision were shaped by the opinions of many friends and his own interest in the fleet, admitting that he was "a bit of a sailor himself" while being "a little cold" in relation to politics. After this, a proposal to paint a group of statesmen was sent to John Singer Sargent, but he also refused, but at the same time took up the painting “Generals of the First World War”, while James Guthrie began work on the canvas “Statesmen of the First World War” . According to the historian Michael Howard By refusing to paint portraits of statesmen, Cope and Sargent thus expressed the widespread opinion among the public that it was politicians who were involved in starting the war. Eventually the trustees agreed to Cope's proposal and gave him a commission for a painting commemorating senior Royal Navy officers who served in the First World War.

The list of officers to be depicted in the painting was compiled by the Secretary of the Admiralty, Sir Oswin Murray in December 1918 at the suggestion of the gallery trustees. Murray made a list of 20 candidates, to which two more First Sea Lords were later added - Battenberg and Wemyss. Not wanting to have anything to do with this project, Admiral of the Fleet John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher (First Lord of the Admiralty in 1914-1915), who retired in scandal at the request of Churchill back in 1918, refused to be depicted in the painting. haven't talked to anyone for a while. Fleet Admiral Sir Henry Jackson(First Lord of the Admiralty in 1915-1916), and also Dudley de Chair And Reginald Tupper .

Composition

Nelson (Guzzardi)


Nelson's portrait and dial in the interior of the Admiralty meeting room		Weathervane dial in the Admiralty meeting room

The painting is painted in oil on canvas, and its dimensions are 264.1 × 514.4 cm. The painting depicts 22 senior officers of the Royal Navy, representing approximately 10 percent of the total number of admirals in service in 1914-1918. They sit and stand in the Admiralty Council Chamber in the Old Admiralty Building in Whitehall, designed by the architect in 1725 Thomas Ripley and rebuilt in the 19th century. The hall is decorated with massive wooden panels with classical style columns and decorative carvings with nautical themes, including images of navigational instruments. In the center of the wall of the hall there is a dial built into the panels, dating back to the 18th century and showing the direction of the wind at the moment using a weather vane mounted on the roof. On either side of the dial hang two paintings depicting scenes from naval battles from the age of sail. On the left side of the wall there is a full-length portrait of Horatio Nelson by Leonardo Guzzardi, as if reminding the viewer of the great military victories of the past, in particular the Battle of Trafalgar, during which the admiral himself died. It is noteworthy that important strategic issues were discussed not in this room, but in the offices of the first or second sea lords, where there were relevant maps and documents. The poses and arrangement of the figures of naval officers, some of whom had never even entered this Admiralty hall, were also a figment of the artist’s imagination. However, Cope arranged the characters in his picture in a more natural way than Sargent, but at the same time not in such an active conversation as Guthrie.

Photogravure from a painting, 1920s

In the center of the canvas, literally in the center of events, the first naval lord, Earl Beatty, stands in front of the table, as if exchanging glances with Nelson to gain approval for his actions during the war. Tyrwhitt And Keys standing next to Beatty, but at some distance, observing some kind of subordination, awaiting an order. On the left, under Nelson's portrait, stand three of Beatty's most loyal admirals - Alexander-Sinclair, Cowan, Brock, and this again may lead the viewer to believe that he is the heir to Nelson's genius. On the left side of the table, to the right of the portrait of Nelson and under the left edge of one of the paintings, three admirals stand in a separate group - Sir Arbuthnot, Sir Cradock and Sir Hood. All of them died in wartime - Arbuthnot and Hood at the Battle of Jutland, Cradock at the Battle of Coronel, and the portraits turned out to be posthumous. By placing them in the corner of the room furthest from the viewer, the artist may have hinted that they were already becoming part of the history and heritage of the Navy - just like Nelson himself. Stands alone near the right side of the table Baron Wemyss, who quarreled with Beatty during the transfer of affairs to him as his successor as First Sea Lord. Nearby are figures of Earl Jellicoe and his chief of staff Baronet Madden, which are the most symbolic images of the painting. Seated on the edge of the table with his back to Beatty, Madden leaned towards Jellicoe, who sat detachedly in his chair, deep in thought, which may lead the viewer to think about how much time they spent in long discussions during the anxiety-filled early days of the war after the creation of the Grand Fleet . On the table in the space between Beatty and Jellicoe are laid out papers and maps from the time of the Battle of Jutland, which may be the artist's allusion to their conflict of that period over assessing the effectiveness of the decisions made. According to critics, Jellicoe is shown here as a man mired in the past, spending his post-war days in the British Library searching for every scrap of information about his role in the battle, while Beatty is a man looking beyond the horizon, he is the future and hope of the fleet.

As critics have pointed out, the picture itself suggests that the fleet is immersed in its past - the ghosts of Nelson and the admirals killed in the war, sailing ships outdated for half a century, walls made of wood in the age of iron and steel, and the hall itself, in in which victories over Napoleon were also discussed and where there is not even a telephone. Some hint of the turbulent times ahead can be seen in the dial: it points not to France (the traditional British enemy), but to the northeast - across the North Sea directly to Germany, which seems to have just been defeated. Beatty looks into the distance as his subordinates discuss the path to the future, anxious and hopeful, as they face the consequences of international arms control, Treasury concerns, political resistance and shipbuilders' concerns. Nevertheless, Great Britain will emerge victorious from World War II, with the names of thousands of killed sailors and officers additionally engraved on the monuments, including two admirals: Lancelot Holland and Thomas Phillips, who sank along with their ships HMS Hood" and "H.M.S. Prince of Wales" - their ghosts would probably have joined the admirals of the First World War in the old Admiralty Hall.

Admiral Sir Edwin Alexander-Sinclair - Commander 1st Light Cruiser Squadron(1915-1917) and the 6th squadron of light cruisers (1917-1920);
Admiral Sir Walter Cowan, 1st Baronet Cowan - commander of the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron (1917-1921);
Admiral sir Osmond Brock- Chief of Staff of the Big Fleet (1916-1919);
Admiral sir William Goodenough- commander 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron (1913-1916);
Rear Admiral Sir Robert Arbuthnot, 4th Baronet Arbuthnot- commander 1st Cruiser Squadron (1915-1916);
Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock - Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies (1913-1914);
Rear Admiral Sir Horace Hood - Commander 3rd Battleship Squadron (1915-1916);
Fleet Admiral Sir Reginald Tyrwhitt, 1st Baronet Tyrwhitt- commander destroyer forces at Harwich (1914-1918);
Admiral Roger Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes- Commander of the Dover Patrol (1917-1918);
Admiral David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty - Commanding Officer 1st Battleship Squadron(1913-1916), Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet (1916-1919);
Vice Admiral Sir Trevelyan Napier - commander of the 2nd light cruiser squadron (1914-1915), commander of the 3rd light cruiser squadron (1915-1017), commander of the 1st light cruiser squadron (1917-1918), commander of the light cruiser forces (1918-1919);
Admiral sir Hugh Evan-Thomas- commander 5th combat squadron (1915-1918);
Admiral sir Arthur Leveson- Commander of the Australian Fleet (1917-1918);
Admiral sir Charles Madden, 1st Baronet Madden- Chief of Staff of the Big Fleet (1914-1916), commander of the 1st combat squadron (1916-1919);
Fleet Admiral Rosslyn Wemyss, 1st Baron Wester Wemyss- First Sea Lord (1917-1919).

Alexander-Sinclair, Cowan, Brock, Goodenough, Arbuthnot, Cradock, Hood, Tyrwitt, Keyes, Beattie, Napier, Evan-Thomas, Leveson, Madden, Wemyss
Browning, de Robeck, Pakenham, Bernie, Prince of Battenberg, Sturdy, Jellicoe

Admiral sir Montague Browning- commander of the 3rd squadron of cruisers (1916), commander in chief in North America and the West Indies (1916-1918), commander 4th combat squadron (1918-1919);
Admiral of the Fleet Sir John de Robeck, 1st Baronet de Robeck - Commander Mediterranean (1915-1916), Commander 2nd combat squadron (1916-1919);
Admiral sir