“Energy, indefatigability and an honest attitude to business are visible everywhere”. Documents on the management of the personal security guard and of the train of ataman G.M. Semenov, the commander-in-chief of all armed forces of the Russian Eastern border land (1920)

Abstract

The article deals with the analysis of the documents stored in the fonds of the Russian State Military Archives and related to the management of the train of ataman G.M. Semenov, the commander-in-chief of all armed forces of the Russian Eastern border land, and his personal guards who served on the train from April to October 1920. The main aspect of this work is documentary. The example of a small unit shows the entire set of the official documents that regulated and were used in the management process. The article notes the compliance of the specific composition of the identified documents with the system of the military documentation of the pre-revolutionary period, characteristic of the “white” armies. Attention is also drawn to the use, in the preparation and execution of the documents and while working with them, of the normative acts issued before the Great Russian Revolution of 1917, thus demonstrating the adherence to the traditions of the Russian Imperial Army in the field of letter-writing and office work. Regulations, instructions, orders, commands, reports, memos, etc. allow studying the activities and the life of such a military unit as a personal security guard and the train on which the commander-in-chief of all armed forces of the Russian Eastern border land, made trips to the front.