Don Cossack Kozma Kryuchkov - first St. George cavalier of First World War

By Order No. 17 of the 1st Army dated August 2 (15), 1914, the St. George Cross of the 4th degree was awarded to Kozma Kryuchkov, commander of the 6th sotnia of the 3rd Don Cossack Regiment, for his actions during the war. On the 12th day of the conflict, Kryuchkov led a patrol of four horsemen and attacked a German patrol of 22 soldiers, overturning them and inflicting 16 wounds on the enemy. The hero's bravery was recognized by General of Cavalry Pavel von Rennenkampf, who personally presented him with the award.

Kozma Kryuchkov was born in 1890 (some sources say 1888) in the farm of Nizhne-Kalmykovsky, Ust-Khoperskaya Stanitsa, in the Donskoy Army region. In 1911, he joined the military service in the 3rd Don Cossack Regiment, named after Ataman Ermak, and by the start of the First World War, he had risen to the rank of commander. After general mobilization was announced, the regiment moved to Kovno, near the border with East Prussia, where the 6th Cossack sotnia, in which Kozma served, was assigned to reconnaissance duties under the 3rd battalion of the 105th Orenburg Infantry Regiment of the 27th Division of the 3rd Army Corps under General P.K. Rennenkampf's 1st Cavalry Army.

On July 30 (August 12), 1914, at the Alexandrovo Cossack outposts, enemy forces were spotted - a platoon from the 2nd Squadron of the 9th Cavalry Chasseur Regiment, part of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade, which was part of the German 8th Army's 1st Division. After coming under fire from infantry from the 105th Orenburg Regiment, and suffering losses, the commander, Lt. Cmdr. Harry Douglas, was killed, and the enemy began to retreat. Near the village of Lyubovo, Cossack Patrol No. 3, led by Vasily Astakhov, spotted 20 German soldiers. After sending one Cossack to report to the infantry regiment commander P. M. Komarov, Vasily Astakhov and Cossacks Mikhail Ivankov, Kozma Kryuchkov, and Ivan Shchegolkov, began to pursue the enemy.

The information about what happened next is somewhat contradictory. According to the account of K. Kryuchkov, published in the newspaper "Priazovsky Krai" in August 1914, the Cossacks took a convenient position and dismounted, then began firing at the German hunters. Seeing that there were only four of them, the hunters rushed to attack. While the Cossacks were riding, they managed to kill an officer with a rifle. After that, hand-to-hand combat began.

However, later, the commander of the 6th Cossack Sotnia, Yesaul N. N. Popov, and the commander of the 105th Orenburg Infantry Regiment, Colonel P. D. Komarov, informed their superiors that V. Astakhov killed the officer when he was leaving the chase and saw an enemy cavalryman rushing at him.

In any case, the main event was a hand-to-hand battle, during which the four Cossacks valiantly repelled the attacks of the enemy. K. Kryuchkov, who was briefly surrounded, fought off several hunters at once, skillfully wielding a pike he had snatched from one of them. Later, during a medical examination, 16 stab wounds were found on K. Kryuchkov's back, shoulders, and forearms, as well as a pierced ear and three fingers cut by a broadsword. His colleagues also sustained multiple superficial wounds.

According to the journal of military operations of the 6th Sotnia of the 3rd Don Cossack Regiment, the battle was halted by the arrival of infantry, who fired at enemy cavalry and forced them to retreat. The wounded Cossacks were taken to the infirmary in Calvaria, where they received medical treatment. In addition to the officer who was killed by V. Astakhov, it was reported that K. Kryuchkov cut the neck of a German Jaeger, and M. Ivankov and I. Shchegolkov both wounded an opponent. The official list of casualties for the 9th Cavalry Chasseur Regiment indicates that as of September 11, 1914, two men from the 2nd Squadron had died: Oberleutnant Harry Douglas and Huntsman Heinrich Fistelman.

On the third day after the battle, August 2nd (15th), by order of the 1st Army No. 17 and on the basis of paragraph 7 of paragraph 67 of the Statute, K. Kryuchkov was awarded the St. George Cross of the 4th degree.

By Order No. 36 of the 1st Army, dated August 11th (24th), 1914, based on paragraph 3 of Article 145 of the Statute, the fellow Cossacks who were "under the command of the commanding officer Kozma Kryuchkov" were also awarded St. George medals. However, V. Astakhov, who was senior on the road, was not awarded. At the same time, the infantrymen of the 105th Orenburg Regiment, who had successfully fired on the German Jaegers, were left without any awards.

The news of the first St. George Cavalier in the Russian Army was widely reported by the press, turning K. Kryuchkov into a national hero. In many articles and essays, as well as on postcards and other printed materials, the battle on the border with the German patrol was described in increasingly impressive terms: the number of German horsemen who were killed reached 14, with 12 of them being defeated by K. Kryuchkov.

His portrait was decorated with boxes of sweets, matches, and cigarettes, and poems and songs were written about him. This active campaign of propaganda greatly contributed to boosting the morale of Russian soldiers during the early stages of the war.

Afterwards, K. Kryuchkov was awarded the Order of St. George of the 3rd degree and ended the war as a cornet. After being demobilized, he returned to the Don and participated in the Civil War on the side of the White Army. He died in a battle near the village of Lopukhovka in Saratov Province on August 18, 1919. He was buried in the cemetery of his home village.

Lit.: Базанов С. Н. Судьба первого георгиевского кавалера Первой мировой // Военно-исторический журнал. – 2002. – № 2. – С. 79; Он же [Электронный ресурс] URL: http://www.august-1914.ru/bazanov4.html; Венков А. В. Подвиг Козьмы Крючкова // Донской временник. Год 2014-й. – 2013. – Вып. 22. – С. 102–106; Он же [Электронный ресурс] URL: http://donvrem.dspl.ru//Files/article/m5/2/art.aspx?art_id=1286; Нелипович С. Г. «Вырвались от противника и прибыли порезанные и израненные…». Документы РГВИА о подвиге первого георгиевского кавалера Великой войны К. Ф. Крючкова // Отечественные архивы. – 2014. – № 5. С. 74–84; Рудакова В. Первый герой Первой мировой // Историк. – 2019 (декабрь). – № 60.

Based on the materials of Presidential Library:

The feat of the Don Cossack Kozma Kryuchkov // Russian Cossacks: [digital collection];

World War I (1914-1918): [digital collection];

The first Kuban ("Ice") campaign of the Volunteer Army // 1918: [digital collection].