Komuch Detachments
Taken from Kappel' and the Kappelevtsy (Posev, Moscow, 2003).
The KOMUCH People's Army was a mix of units pieced together from various sources, and sent to the front as soon as possible. They tended, therefore, to form ad hoc groups, rather than formal brigades and divisions. The groups below are what was at the front, regardless of the position of the units in their formal divisional structure.
Samara Detachment (i.e. Kappel' Brigade)
11 July 1918
Detachment Commander – Lt-Col. G.S. Kappel'
Chief of Staff: – Staff-Capt. Maksimov
1st Battalion, 1st Samara Rifle Regiment – Capt. Buzkov
1st Company
2nd Company
3rd Company
Foot Scout Detachment
MG Detachment
Composite Regiment – Staff-Captain Kharitonov
1st Company, 10th Buguruslan Rifle Regiment
1st Siberian Company
St. George Platoon
Composite Artillery Divizion – Capt. Khlebnikov
1st Light Battery – 4 guns
Howitzer Battery – 2 guns
Composite Cavalry Divizion – Capt. Fel'dman
Squadron of Separate Horse Detachment
1st Sotnia Urals Cossack Regiment
5th Sotnia Urals Cossack Regiment (one platoon)
Horse Scouts Detachment – Lt. Bezruchenko
1st Horse-Artillery Battery – Capt. Vyrypaev
These units were small: there is a list for "summer 1918" showing the 1st Battalion companies as 130, 45 and 40 men, with 36 foot scouts; the 2nd Battalion companies as 67 and 121 men, with 22 in the St George platoon and 65 in the MG detachment. The Horse Squadron has 11 men, the 1st Sotnia has 140, the 5th has 26 and the Horse Scouts have 32 men.
There is an order, dated 25 July, making the detachment a Separate Rifle Brigade, to have two regiments. To achieve that the 1st Company, 2nd Samara Rifle Regiment was added to the units already drafted above. To this were to be added men from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 15th regiments – a total of 47 officers and 480 soldiers.
Simbirsk Forces Group
3 October 1918
Melekes (modern Dmitrovgrad)
Samara Lancer Divizion – 80 sabres, 2 MG
Samara Horse Battery – 4 light guns
1st to 4th Sotnias, Orenburg Cossack Regiment – 300 sabres
Railway Detachment
Demolition Detachment, Simbirsk Engineer Company
Moiseevka village (a.k.a. Moiseyevka)
9th Stavropol' Rifle Regiment – 300 rifles, 15 MGs
Koshki village
Samara Separate Brigade – 650 rifles, 12 MGs
1st and 5th Samara Batteries – 3 MGs
Samara Howitzer Battery – 3 Howitzers, 2 MGs
Samara Engineer Company – 1 MG
Nurlat station
Kazan Rifle Division – 1,000 men, 54 MGs
Urzhum Partisan Detachment – 200 men, 3 MGs
Ataman Sveshnikov Partisan Detachment – 45 sabres, 3 MGs
Kazan Militia – 40 men
1st Rifle Light Artillery Divizion – 11 guns, 3 MGs
Telegraph Company
Pis'myanka village
Simbirsk Rifle Division – 850 men, 15 MGs
Engineer and Sapper Company
1st and 2nd Simbirsk Batteries – 6 guns
Simbirsk Howitzer Battery
Kichuya station
Colonel Nechaev Cavalry Detachment – 126 sabres, 1 MG
Cossack Horse Battery – 4 light guns
(Cossack) Lt Kop'eva Separate Horse Detachment – 30 sabres
Pogruznaya station
Group HQ
Armoured car
"Station" in this case probably is a translation of stanitsa, and refers to a (usually) Cossack village.
5th Orenburg Rifle Division (People's Army)
1 October 1918
Infantry: 205 officers, 3,030 soldiers, with 100 MGs
Cavalry: 15 officers, 300 soldiers, with 20 MGs
Artillery: 120 officers, 1,250 soldiers, with 20 guns
Engineers: 30 officers, 400 soldiers