View source for Dmitry Shcherbachev

{{short description|Russian General of the Infantry (1857–1932)}}

{{Redirect|Shcherbachev|similarly spelled surnames|Shcherbachov}}

{{Family name hatnote|Grigoryevich|Shcherbachev|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2018}}

{{Infobox military person
|name= Dmitry Shcherbachev
|native_name= {{Langx|ru|Дми́трий Григо́рьевич Щербачёв}}
|native_name_lang= ru
|birth_date= {{OldStyleDate|18 February|1857|6}}
|death_date= {{Death date and age|1932|1|18|1857|2|6|df=y}}
|birth_place= [[Ruza, Ruzsky District, Moscow Oblast|Ruza]], [[Moscow Governorate]], [[Russian Empire]]
|death_place= [[Nice]], [[Third French Republic|France]]
|placeofburial= [[Cimetière orthodoxe de Caucade]], [[Nice]], [[France]]
|placeofburial_label= Place of burial
|image= 1930 - Generalul rus Dmitri Scerbaciov.png
|image_size= 
|caption= General Dmitry Shcherbachev in 1930
|nickname=
|allegiance = {{flag|Russian Empire|1914}}<br>{{flag|Russian Republic}}<br>{{flag|Ukrainian People's Republic}}<br>{{flagicon|Russian Republic}} [[White Movement]]
|branch = {{flagicon|Russian Empire|1914}} [[Russian Imperial Army]]<br>{{flagicon|Ukrainian People's Republic}} [[Ukrainian People's Army]]<br>{{flagicon|Russian Republic}} [[White Army]]
|serviceyears= 1873–1920
|rank=[[General of the Infantry (Imperial Russia)|General of the Infantry]] 
|commands=[[9th Army Corps (Russian Empire)|9th Army Corps]] (1912-1915)<br>[[11th Army (Russian Empire)|11th Army]] ([[WW1]] in 1915)<br>[[7th Army (Russian Empire)|7th Army]] (WW1 in 1915-1917)<br>[[Romanian Front (Russian Empire)|Romanian Front]] (WW1 in 1917)
|battles=[[Russo-Japanese War]]<br>[[World War I]]<br>[[Russian Civil War]]
|laterwork=
}}
'''Dmitry Grigoryevich Shcherbachev''' ({{langx|ru|Дми́трий Григо́рьевич Щербачёв}}; {{OldStyleDate|18 February|1857|6}}{{snd}}18 January 1932) was a general in the Russian Army during [[World War I]] and one of the leaders of the [[White Movement]] during the [[Russian Civil War]].

== Biography ==
=== Early life ===
[[File: Sherbachev 2-97.jpg|thumb|right|Coat of arms of the [[Shcherbachev family]] ([[:ru:Щербачёвы|ru]])]]
Shcherbachev was born on {{OldStyleDate|6 February|1857|18}} (6th was according to the [[Julian calendar]] at use in Russia at the time) near [[Ruza, Ruzsky District, Moscow Oblast|Ruza]], [[Moscow Governorate]] in the [[Russian Empire]]. He came from the [[Russian nobility|Russian noble]] [[Shcherbachev family]] ([[:ru:Щербачёвы|ru]]) which originated from the [[Golden Horde]]. His father was [[Major-General]] Grigory Dmitryevich Shcherbachev.

=== Military career ===
Shcherbachev graduated from the [[Gymnasium (school)|Orel Military Gymnasium]] in 1873 and the [[Mikhailovsky Artillery School]] in 1876. In 1877, he was transferred to the [[Imperial Guard (Russia)#Guards Rifle Brigade|Life Guards Horse Artillery Brigade]] by the ensign, and he reached the rank of [[second lieutenant]] by 1878, and [[first lieutenant]] by 1881.

In 1884, Shcherbachev graduated from the [[General Staff Academy (Imperial Russia)|Nikolayev Academy of General Staff]] in the first category, after which he stayed in the [[Petersburg Military District]]. He served in the [[Imperial Guard (Russia)|Imperial Guards]] until 1907, after which he became the head of the Nikolayev Military Academy, and played an important role in introducing reforms into the academy. In 1912, he became the commander of the [[9th Army Corps (Russian Empire)|9th Army Corps]], which he led into WWI.

=== World War I ===
General Shcherbachev commanded the [[11th Army (Russian Empire)|11th Army]], replacing General [[Andrey Selivanov]], who resigned due to poor health. His army participated in the [[Battle of Galicia|Invasion of Galicia]] in the [[Southwestern Front (Russian Empire)|Southwestern Front]]. After the successful battle on the [[Austria-Hungary|Austrian]] soil, he took the initiative and took possession of the city of [[Lviv|Lemberg]], for which he was awarded the [[Order of St. George]] of the 4th degree and was also awarded the [[Gold Sword for Bravery|St. George Sword]]. 
[[File:1911 Shcherbachev.jpg|thumb|right|300px|General Shcherbachev (second row sitting-9th one from the left) with the graduates of the Nikolayev academy of General Staff]]
[[File:Staff of Russian army, WWI south-west front.jpg|thumb|300px|right|General Shcherbachev (fourth one from the left in the first row, [[Alexander Guchkov]] and General [[Aleksei Brusilov|Brusilov]] to his left)]]
{{quote|For the fact that in the battles of the mountains. Lemberg and in especially persistent battles under the mountains. The Rawa-Russian manifestation of a special viability and tireless energy in the management of troops, thanks to a coalition result, remote attempts at battle, and also troops took many guns, charging boxes, ammunition, prisoners, and the direct fall of the mountains. Lemberg is obligated to its orders.}}

In mid-September 1914, he led the siege detachment (6.5 divisions), which carried out the siege of the [[Przemyśl fortress|Fortress of Przemyśl]]. On September 2, his detachment conducted an unsuccessful assault on the fortress, and inflicted the main blow at [[Siedliska, Przemyśl County|Sedliski]]. On September 25 (October 8), a relief force of Austro-Hungarian troops approached the fortress, and on September 9, the siege detachment of General Shcherbachev was disbanded.

{{quote|For the excellent leadership of the troops entrusted to him by the army in the battles of the second half of August 1915, of which the battles of August 24–25 under the Island and Draganovka were especially successful, and in the battles of 11-15th and 22-25th September and 8th, October 1915, with the troops of this army during the period from August 17 to October 10 taken prisoner 934 officers and 52895 lower ranks and captured 36 guns and 149 machine guns.}}

In October 1915, he was promoted to [[General of the Infantry (Imperial Russia)|General of the Infantry]], and was appointed to [[adjutant-general|general-adjutant]] . He also replaced [[Vladimir Nikolayevich Nikitin|Vladimir Nikitin]] as commander of the [[7th Army (Russian Empire)|7th Army]]. Under his command, the 7th Army was able to win numerous battles at the [[Strypa River]] during the [[Brusilov Offensive]].

===February Revolution===
Shortly after the [[February Revolution]], Shcherbachev was appointed deputy to the Commander-in-Chief of the [[Romanian Front (Russian Empire)|Romanian Front]] (King [[Ferdinand I of Romania|Ferdinand I]]), replacing General [[Andrei Zayonchkovski]]. The front was established in 1916 to connect to the defeated [[Romanian Land Forces|Romanian Army]], also to prevent the threats to the south of Russia. As deputy commander-in-chief of the front, he had four Russian and two Romanian armies subordinate to him.

In July 1917, the Russo-Romanian forces commanded by General [[Alexandru Averescu]] defeated the Austro-German forces at [[Battle of Mărăști|Mărăști]], but they failed to develop further success due to the telegram from the minister-chairman of the [[Russian Provisional Government|Provisional Government]], [[Alexander Kerensky]], who ordered the stop of the offensive in connection with the German breakthrough at [[Ternopil|Tarnopol]]. In late July to August 1917, the Russo-Romanian forces successfully repelled the Austro-German forces led by German [[Generalfeldmarschall]] [[August von Mackensen]] at [[Battle of Mărășești|Mărășești]].

===Russian Civil War===
General Shcherbachev managed to prevent the disintegration and was able to keep order in the army for some time under the influence of the [[October Revolution|revolutionary events]] and [[Bolshevik]] agitation. In late October 1917, he learned the front-line committee decided not to recognize the [[Russian SFSR|Bolshevik power]]. In the end of 1917, Shcherbachev and his loyal troops were able to establish connection with General [[Mikhail Alekseyev]], the former chief of staff of the army during WW1, who had arrived at the [[Don River (Russia)|Don]], where the Bolsheviks were assembled. As a result, the Romanian Front had the idea of creating a Corps of Russian Volunteers for its subsequent dispatch to the Don. In early November 1917, an organization was formed in [[Iași]], the purpose of which was the formation of a reliable detachment capable of becoming the basis for the creation of the [[White Army]]. The organization not only unified officers, but also soldiers. This work was all supervised by General Shcherbachev.

In December 1917, with the consent of Shcherbachev, Romania invaded [[Bessarabia]]. Under the pretext that the Russian and Romanian border and maintaining the order and tranquility in the rear of Romanian Army. In January 1918, the Romanians met the [[Red Army|Reds]] and fighting broke out between them, the Romanian division which moved to the left bank of the [[Dniester River]], was defeated. A peace treaty was signed in Iași, and the Romanians undertook to clean Bessarabia. However, the Germans came to the aid of Romania. On the same day, Romania surrendered and signed a treaty with Germany and Austria-Hungary, One of the coalitions concluded that Bessarabia would be transferred to Romania. In April 1918 Shcherbachev refused to hold the office and informed the Allied ambassadors in Iași. After that, he went to the estate granted by the Romanian king.

In early January 1919, Shcherbachev arrived in [[France]] through [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]] and [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]]. After arriving, he formed a representative office, which was in charge of supplying the White Army, and to form volunteer armies from Russian prisoners of war. In February, Admiral [[Alexander Kolchak]] confirmed his post. He also chaired the Military and Naval Commission of the Russian Political Conference which - led by the Russian Political Delegation - represented the White Russian Governments at the Peace Conference in Versailles. Leaving [[Paris]] at May with M. S. Adzhemov and V.V. Vyrubov. In June 1919, General Shcherbachev arrived in [[Yekaterinodar]] to General [[Anton Denikin]]'s bid, where he persuaded General Denikin to recognize the supreme position of Admiral Kolchak.

In May 1920, due to a disagreement with Lieutenant-General [[Pyotr Wrangel]] about the acceptability of the cases with  [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]], he resigned his post. He was subsequently replaced by General [[Yevgeni Miller]]. Based on his assessment of the international situation, Shcherbachev believed that the denying assistance to the Poles was far more in line with the interest of the Whites. In his opinion, if the Poles were completely defeated by the Reds, France might defend the Poles by deploying huge numbers of troops to launch large-scale attacks against the Reds, or the victorious Bolsheviks might be distracted by the defeated Poles or even by the Germans.

In either case, the position of Wrangel's Army would be greatly improved. So Shcherbachev advised General Wrangel not to launch any offensive, diverting the Bolshevik forces from the [[Polish-Soviet War|Polish Front]].

===Later life===
After his resignation, he moved to [[Nice]], where he lived on a pension that was appointed to him by the Romanian Government. He was a monarchist, and was a member of the Sovereign of the Conference under [[Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich]].

=== Death ===
He died January 18, 1932. He was buried with military honors by a French battalion of {{lang|fr|[[Chasseurs Alpins]]}} in the [[Cimetière orthodoxe de Caucade|Russian Orthodox Cemetery]] in Nice. His funeral was attended by French representatives, Marshal [[Constantine Prezan]], the Romanian commander-in-chief during WWI, General [[Nikolai Yudenich]], the hero from the [[Caucasus Campaign]], and many more.

==Honours==
===Domestic===
*[[File:Order of Saint Stanislaus Ribbon.PNG|40px]] [[Order of Saint Stanislaus (House of Romanov)|Order of St. Stanislaus]], 3rd class (1879)
*[[File:Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar.svg|40px]] [[Order of St. Anna]], 3rd class (1885)
*[[File:Order of Saint Stanislaus Ribbon.PNG|40px]] Order of St. Stanislaus, 2nd class (1888)
*[[File:Saint vladimir (bande).png|40px]] [[Order of St. Vladimir]], 4th class (1891)
*[[File:Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar.svg|40px]] Order of St. Anna, 2nd Class (1896)
*[[File:Saint vladimir (bande).png|40px]] Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class (1899)
*[[File:Order of Saint Stanislaus Ribbon.PNG|40px]] Order of St. Stanislaus, 1st class (1905)
*[[File:Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar.svg|40px]] Order of St. Anna, 1st class (5.6.1911)
*[[File:RUS Order of Saint George 4th class ribbon 2000.svg|40px]] [[Order of St. George]], 4th class (EP 27.9.1914)
*[[File:Saint vladimir (bande).png|40px]] Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd class with swords (VP 19.2.1915)
*[[File:Order of Glory Ribbon Bar.svg|40px|link=Golden Sword of St. George]] [[Gold Sword for Bravery|St. George Sword]] (VP 23.4.1915)
*[[File:RUS Order of Saint George 3rd class ribbon 2000.svg|40px]] Order of St. George, 3rd class (VP 27.10.1915)
*[[File:RUS Order White Eagle BAR.png|40px]] [[Order of the White Eagle (Russian Empire)|Order of the White Eagle]] (1915)
*[[File:Russian Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky ribbon bar.svg|40px]] [[Order of St. Alexander Nevsky]] (VP 6.7.1916)

===Foreign===
*{{flag|French Third Republic}}: 
**[[File:Legion Honneur Officier ribbon.svg|40px]] [[Legion of Honour]], officer's cross (1897)
**[[File:Legion Honneur Commandeur ribbon.svg|40px]] Legion of Honour, commander's cross (1911)
**[[File:Legion Honneur GC ribbon.svg|40px]] Legion of Honour, grand’croix (1918)
*{{flag|Kingdom of Romania}}:
**[[File:Ro1ocr.gif|40px]] [[Order of the Crown (Romania)|Order of the Crown]], commander's cross (1899)
**[[File:Order of Michael the Brave ribbon.svg|40px]] [[Order of Michael the Brave]], 3rd class
**[[File:Order of Michael the Brave ribbon.svg|40px]] Order of Michael the Brave, 2nd class
*{{flagicon|Oldenburg}} [[Grand Duchy of Oldenburg]]:
**[[File:OLD Order of Peter Frederick Louis ribbon.svg|40px]] [[House and Merit Order of Peter Frederick Louis]], officer's cross (1903)
*{{flag|Kingdom of Italy}}:
**[[File:Cavaliere SSML BAR.svg|40px]] [[Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus]], commander's cross (1903)
*{{flag|Qing dynasty}}:
**[[File:Ribbon bar of the Chinese Order of the Double Dragon.svg|40px]] [[Order of the Double Dragon]], 2nd class (1911)
**[[File:Ribbon bar of the Chinese Order of the Double Dragon.svg|40px]] Order of the Double Dragon, 3rd class (1911)
*{{flag|Kingdom of Montenegro}}:
**[[File:ME Order of Danilo I Member BAR.svg|40px]] [[Order of Prince Danilo I]], 1st class (1912)
*{{flag|Kingdom of Serbia}}:
**[[File:Order of Saint Sava - Ribbon bar.svg|40px]] [[Order of St. Sava]], 1st class (1912)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Acović|first=Dragomir|title=Slava i čast: Odlikovanja među Srbima, Srbi među odlikovanjima|year=2012|location=Belgrade|publisher=Službeni Glasnik|pages=632}}</ref>

==External links==
*[http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/shcherbachev.htm Short biography]
{{Commons category|Dimitry Shcherbachov}}

==References==
{{more footnotes|date=June 2016}}
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shcherbachev, Dmitry}}
[[Category:1857 births]]
[[Category:1932 deaths]]
[[Category:Imperial Russian Army generals]]
[[Category:Russian military personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:People of the Russian Civil War]]
[[Category:White movement generals]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Third Degree]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Gold Sword for Bravery]]
[[Category:Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Romania)]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Michael the Brave, 2nd class]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Sava]]
[[Category:Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France]]
[[Category:Imperial Nikolayev Military Academy alumni]]