Alexander Kutepov

Who was Alexander Kutepov?

Alexander Pavlovich Kutepov was a leader of the anti-communist Volunteer Army during the Russian Civil War.

Kutepov graduated from Junker Infantry School in St.Petersburg in 1904. As a young infantry officer he fought in the Russo-Japanese War, where he was wounded in action and decorated for valor. In 1906 he was transferred to the Preobrazhensky Regiment, an elite guards regiment. During World War I he received several decorations for bravery and was again severely wounded in action. During the course of the war he rose from company, to battalion, to commander of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. As such he became the last commander of this historic regiment.

After the October Revolution, Kutepov joined the anti-Bolshevik Volunteer Army at the very outset of the Russian Civil War. At the start of the Ice March in early 1918, Kutepov was a company commander of an officer's regiment. After the death in battle of Colonel Nezhentsev, Kutepov took over the command of the Kornilov Shock Regiment, and after the death of the commander of the 1st Infantry Division he became its commander.