Vilna Military District

Vilna Military District (Russian: Ви́ленский вое́нный о́круг) was a military district of the Imperial Russian Army. The district was formed in 1862 as part of Russian military reforms and was responsible for parts of modern Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. The district was disbanded at the beginning of the First World War in July 1914, and its headquarters were used to form another district farther to the rear.

Vilna Military District
Map of the district in 1912
Active1862–1914
CountryRussian Empire
BranchImperial Russian Army
TypeMilitary district
Garrison/HQVilna
Commanders
Notable
commanders

History

In the Russian Empire, military districts were first formed by Dmitry Milyutin in 1862–64 to replace the pre-existing Military Inspectorates. The military districts were organised to include civilian administration regions of gubernyas and uyezds. The Vilna Military District was created on 6 July 1862. The district headquarters were in Vilna (now Vilnius, Lithuania),[1] and were formed from the headquarters of the 1st Army Corps, which it replaced. In 1864, the district opened the Vilna Junker Infantry School to prepare non-commissioned officers.

In 1870, it had the second highest concentration of troops in the military district system after the Warsaw Military District, with 78,180 men. By 1871, the district's troops had been reduced to seven infantry divisions, a cavalry brigade, a demining brigade and four reserve battalions, an organization proposed in 1864. The district commander often simultaneously held the position of Governor-General of Vilna.[2]

On 17 July 1914, just before the beginning of the First World War, martial law was imposed in the district. After the outbreak of the war later that month, the district headquarters became the headquarters of the new Dvinsk Military District. Combat units stationed in the district at the time became part of the new 1st Army, under the command of district commander Paul von Rennenkampf.[1]

Area covered
Military Districts of the Russian Empire, 1913

The Vilna Military District comprised the following gubernyas:[1]

Military units

The following units were based in the Vilna Military District upon the outbreak of the First World War in 1914:[3]

Commanders

The district was commanded by the following officers:[1]

  • Lieutenant General and Adjutant General Vladimir Nazimov (6 July 1862 – 1 May 1863)
  • General of Infantry Mikhail Nikolaevich Muravyov (May 1863 - April 1865)
  • Adjutant General, Engineer General Konstantin Petrovich von Kaufmann (17 April 1865 - October 1866)
  • Adjutant General, Lieutenant General Eduard Trofimovich Baranov (9 October 1866 -2 March 1868)
  • Adjutant General, Lieutenant General Alexander Lvovich Potapov (28 February 1868 - July 1874)
  • Lieutenant General (Promoted to General of cavalry April 1878) Pyotr Albedinsky (22 July 1874 – 18 May 1880)
  • General of engineers Eduard Totleben (18 May 1880 – 19 June 1884)
  • General of infantry Alexander Nikitin (23 September 1884 – 11 March 1886)
  • General of infantry Nikolay Ganetsky (13 March 1886 – 11 February 1895)
  • General of infantry and Adjutant General Vitaly Trotsky (1897–1901)[4]
  • General of infantry Alexander Gurchin (1901–1902)[5]
  • General of infantry Oskar Grippenberg (10 November 1902 – 11 September 1904)
  • General of infantry Alexander Freze (12 October 1904 – 19 December 1905)[6]
  • Lieutenant General (Promoted to General of infantry 1906) Konstantin Krzhivitsky (1905–1909)
  • Lieutenant General (Promoted to General of infantry 1910) Sergei Gershelman (17 March 1909 – 17 November 1910, died of illness)[7]
  • Lieutenant General (Promoted to General of infantry 6 December 1910) Fyodor Martson (23 November 1910 – 17 January 1913)
  • General of cavalry and Adjutant General Paul von Rennenkampff (20 January 1913 – 19 July 1914)

Commanders of the Dvinsk Military District
  • General of Infantry Alexei Evgrafovich Churin (19 July - 30 August 1914)
  • Engineer-general Prince Nikolai Evseevich Tumanov (30 August 1914 - 14 September 1915)
  • Infantry General Dmitry Petrovich Zuyev (16 September 1915 - 25 April 1917)

References
  1. "Виленский военный округ" [Vilna Military District]. Regiment.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  2. Khavanski, Aliaksandr (2017). "Military district system introduction on the territory of Belarus in the 60s of the XIX century" (PDF). European Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (1): 24–26.
  3. Likhotvorik, Alexey (4 April 2015). "Варшавский военный округ" [Structure of the Warsaw Military District]. grwar.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  4. "Троцкий, Виталий Николаевич" [Trotsky, Vitaly Nikolaevich]. Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian). St. Petersburg. 1901.
  5. "Гурчин, Александр Викентьевич" [Gurchin, Alexander Vikentievich]. Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian). St. Petersburg. 1905.
  6. Likhotvorik, Alexey (5 February 2017). "Фрезе Александр Александрович" [Alexander Alexandrovich Frese]. grwar.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  7. Ivanov, Andrei (2008). "«Честно и грозно в духе исконно-русских начал». О московском генерал-губернаторе Сергее Константиновиче Гершельмане (1854−1910)" ["With honesty and strictness, in the spirit of the Russian traditions": Moscow Governor General S.K. Gershelman]. Московский журнал [Moscow Journal]. История государства Российского [History of the Russian Government] (in Russian) (9 (213)): 12–17.

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