Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel (27 August [O.S. 15 August] 1878 – 25 April 1928), nicknamed the "Black Baron", was a Russian military officer who served as a commanding general in the anti-Bolshevik Volunteer Army during the Russian Civil War. In 1920, he became the last commander-in-chief of the White forces in Southern Russia, which he reorganized as the Russian Army.
A scion of the prominent Baltic German Wrangel noble family, Wrangel initially pursued a civilian career at his father's behest, graduating as a mining engineer, but later decided on a military career after volunteering for service in the Russo-Japanese War. A graduate of the Imperial General Staff Academy, he distinguished himself during World War I, becoming one of the first Russian officers to be awarded the Order of St. George for heroism. He rose to the rank of major general.
After the October Revolution, Wrangel joined the Volunteer Army in August 1918 and was given command of major cavalry formations. He became known for his aggressive leadership and battlefield successes in the Northern Caucasus. In 1919, he captured the strategic city of Tsaritsyn but soon clashed with his superior, Anton Denikin, over the latter's Moscow Directive, a plan Wrangel considered strategically flawed. The growing rivalry led to his dismissal from command in December 1919.
Following Denikin's resignation in April 1920, Wrangel was elected commander-in-chief of the shattered White forces in Crimea. He established the Government of South Russia and attempted to win popular support with a wide-ranging series of reforms, including a radical land reform. After initial military successes against the Red Army, his forces were defeated, and he organized a mass evacuation from Crimea in November 1920, successfully evacuating over 145,000 people. In exile, he remained a leader of the White movement and founded the Russian All-Military Union (ROVS) in 1924. He is remembered as the last commander of the White Army, a more able administrator and strategist than his predecessors, who took command when the White cause was already considered lost.
Pyotr Wrangel was born in Novoalexandrovsk, Kovno Governorate in the Russian Empire (now Zarasai, Lithuania) on 28 August 1878, the eldest of three brothers. He was a scion of the Wrangel family, a Baltic German noble house that had served the rulers of Sweden, Prussia, Austria, and Russia for over 700 years. The family produced seven field marshals, seven admirals, and dozens of generals. His ancestor, the Swedish Field Marshal Herman Wrangel, was the father of Carl Gustaf Wrangel, who built Skokloster Castle. By the nineteenth century, branches of the family had established themselves in the Russian Empire, including Baron Ferdinand von Wrangel, the explorer and governor-general of Alaska.
Pyotr's father, Baron Nikolai Egorovich Wrangel, was a humanist, art connoisseur, and writer who had rebelled against the family's military tradition. Nikolai later wrote a memoir, From Serfdom to Bolshevism, detailing his life and experiences. Pyotr's mother, Maria Dimitrievna Dementieva-Maikova, was the daughter of an impoverished officer but was well-educated and interested in social reform. The family lived in a liberal, cultured atmosphere in Rostov-on-Don, where Nikolai was a director of several companies.
Following his father's wishes, Wrangel was sent to a civilian school. His father, interested in gold mining in Siberia, decided that Pyotr should become a mining engineer and enrolled him in the School of Mines in Saint Petersburg. A dutiful son, Wrangel studied diligently and graduated first in his class, receiving a gold medal. Before pursuing his engineering career, he was required to complete his compulsory military service. For the Wrangel family, this meant joining the prestigious Horse Guards of the Russian Imperial Guard’s 1st Guards Cavalry Division; which his father described as the "Family Regiment".
He entered the army on 13 September 1901. Life in the Horse Guards appealed to him, and he decided to apply for a permanent commission. As with all Guards regiments, a commission required a ballot vote by the regiment's officers. According to his son, on the eve of the ballot, Wrangel celebrated his expected promotion and, on returning home, drew his sword and decapitated a row of young trees planted outside the residence of his senior colonel, the humorless Prince Troubetzkoy. The Prince ensured Wrangel was blackballed, and he left for Siberia to begin his engineering career, reconciled to his new life. He began work as a chemical engineer in eastern Siberia.
Wrangel's life was changed by the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904. As a reserve lieutenant, he volunteered for combat duty in the Far East. Along with fifteen other officers from the Horse Guards, he was assigned to the 2nd Argun Cossack Regiment of the Trans-Baikal Cossack Host. During the war, he wrote long, descriptive letters home, which his mother later had published in a historical journal. These letters reveal his keen powers of observation and his feel for the life of a combat officer.
In one of his first actions, he led a scouting party deep into Manchuria to reconnoiter the town of Kindisian. After a perilous night mission, he confirmed the town was clear of large enemy forces. He was awarded his first combat decorations for his bravery during the war. Having found his vocation in soldiering, he decided to stay in military service after the war ended. He was transferred to the 55th Dragoon Regiment, based in Finland.
During the 1905 Russian Revolution, Wrangel was sent with a detachment under General Orlov to the Baltic region to quell nationalist unrest. In 1907, he was temporarily attached to the Horse Guards in St. Petersburg, pending entry to the Nicholas Imperial General Staff Academy. According to his son, his previous indiscretion had been forgotten. During a regimental parade, Tsar Nicholas II, the regiment's honorary commander, noticed the tall officer in a line dragoon uniform with several combat decorations. Upon learning it was Captain Wrangel, the Tsar declared, "I want Captain Wrangel in my regiment." Wrangel became a full-fledged officer of the Horse Guards without the need for a ballot.
Wrangel became known among his fellow officers as "Piper" for his taste for Piper-Heidsieck champagne. In 1908, he married Olga Ivanenko, the daughter of a wealthy Ukrainian landowner. She was a well-educated woman who had trained as a nurse. The couple had four children: Helen, Peter, Nathalie, and later a son, Alexis, born in exile.
Wrangel entered the Staff College, where his previous degree in civil engineering made subjects like mathematics and engineering easy for him. He graduated among the top of his class. In a characteristic move, he turned down the opportunity for a staff position, explaining, "I would be a poor staff officer...I am of too independent a mind!" He returned to a line command in the Horse Guards.
At the start of World War I, Wrangel, holding the rank of captain, was given command of a cavalry squadron. On 6 August 1914, his squadron participated in the attack on German positions at Kaushen in East Prussia. The German artillery battery was well-camouflaged and inflicting heavy casualties on the Russian forces. After other officers had been killed, Wrangel took command and led a desperate cavalry charge against the battery. The charge was largely successful, though most of the horses and many of the men were killed by gunfire. Wrangel's own horse was killed under him, but he survived to help capture the two remaining guns. For this act of heroism, he was one of the first Russian officers of the war to be awarded the Order of St. George (4th class).
This action brought him to prominence. In September 1914, he was made Chief of Staff of the Joint Guards Cavalry Division under General Pavel Skoropadsky. In April 1915, he was awarded the St. George Sword and promoted to colonel. He was offered the command of a line cavalry regiment, and to the surprise of many, he requested the Nertchinsk Trans-Baikal Cossack Regiment, with whom he had served in the Russo-Japanese War. He had great respect for the Cossacks' bravery and knew them well. By 1916 he was commanding the Tsarevich's Own Regiment of Nerchinsk Cossacks.