The Volunteer Army
The southern front of the Civil War had several forces engaged in conflict with the Soviets; chief among these was the Dobrovol’cheskaia armiia or Volunteer Army. Lavr Kornilov, shown here, was commander-in-chief from its formation in the winter of 1917/18 until his death in April 1918, killed by an enemy shell. An experienced officer in the Imperial Russian Army, Kornilov was given charge of the Provisional Government’s army following the February Revolution. In that position, he led an attempted coup in the summer of 1917 to overthrow the powerful Petrograd Soviet. The coup failed and Kornilov was imprisoned. On escaping, he made his way to the south.
General Lavr Georgievich Kornilov / V. Pronin (1919) S586.d.91.2