Chapaev is a hero of the civil war. Chapaev. Legendary division commander (9 photos)

Legendary Soviet military leader, "people's commander" of the Civil War, commander of the 25th Infantry Division.

Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev (Chepaev) was born on January 28 (February 9), 1887. He was the sixth child in the family of Ivan Stepanovich Chepaev (1854-1921), a peasant in the village of Budaiki, Cheboksary district, Kazan province (now within the city).

In his youth, V. I. Chapaev worked for hire with his father and brothers (carpenter), he was able to learn to read and write. In the autumn of 1908 he was called to military service, but was soon retired.

With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, V. I. Chapaev was again mobilized. In 1915, he graduated from the training team, received the rank of junior non-commissioned officer, in October of the same year - senior. In 1915-1916, V. I. Chapaev fought in Galicia, Volhynia and Bukovina, was wounded three times. For courage and courage shown in battles, V. I. Chapaev was awarded three St. George's crosses and the St. George medal, and was also promoted to sergeant major.

V. I. Chapaev met the February Revolution of 1917 in the Saratov hospital, later moved to Nikolaevsk (now the city). In the summer of 1917, he was elected a member of the regimental committee; in December of the same year, at the garrison meeting of the 138th infantry reserve regiment in Nikolaevsk, the soldiers elected him regimental commander.

In September 1917, V. I. Chapaev joined the RSDLP (b). With the establishment of Soviet power in January 1918, he became the commissar of internal affairs of the Nikolaevsky district. At the beginning of the year, he formed a Red Guard detachment in the city and participated in the suppression of peasant uprisings in the district. From May 1918, V. I. Chapaev commanded a brigade in battles against the Ural White Cossacks and units of the Czechoslovak Corps, from September 1918 he was the head of the 2nd Nikolaev division.

From November 1918 to January 1919, V. I. Chapaev studied at the Academy of the General Staff in , then, at his personal request, he was sent to the front and appointed to the 4th Army as commander of the Special Alexander-Gai Brigade, which distinguished itself in battles near the village of Slamihinskaya (now the village of Zhalpaktal In Kazakhstan).

Since April 1919, V. I. Chapaev commanded the 25th Infantry Division, which distinguished itself in the Buguruslan, Belebeev and Ufa operations during the counteroffensive of the Eastern Front against the Admiral's troops. On July 11, 1919, the 25th division under the command of V.I. Chapaev released the city of Uralsk (now in Kazakhstan). In the battles to the north, the division commander was wounded. For the successful leadership of units and formations in battles with the enemy and the valor and courage shown at the same time, V. I. Chapaev was awarded the order Red Banner.

In July 1919, the 25th Rifle Division released the city of Uralsk besieged by the White Cossacks. In August 1919, parts of the division took the city of Lbischensk, Ural Region (now the village of Chapaev in Kazakhstan) and the village of Sakharnaya. During the fighting, V. I. Chapaev showed high organizational and military abilities, was distinguished by a strong will, determination and courage.

At dawn on September 5, 1919, the White Guards suddenly attacked the headquarters of the 25th division, located in Lbischensk. The Chapayevites, led by their commander, courageously fought against the superior forces of the enemy. In this battle, V.I. Chapaev died. The circumstances of his death have not been fully elucidated. According to the most common version, the wounded commander tried to swim across the Ural River, but died under enemy fire.

The legendary image of V. I. Chapaev, the textbook "people's commander" of the Civil War, was largely formed thanks to the novel by the former military commissar of the 25th division D. A. Furmanov "Chapaev" (1923) and the film of the same name based on it (1934).

When on February 9 (January 28), 1887, in the village of Budaika, Cheboksary district, Kazan province, the sixth child was born in the family of the Russian peasant Ivan Chapaev, neither mother nor father could even think about the glory that awaits their son.

Chapai's childhood.

Rather, they thought about the upcoming funeral - the baby, named Vasenka, was born seven months old, was very weak and, it seemed, could not survive. However, the will to live was stronger than death- the boy survived and began to grow to the delight of his parents.
Vasya Chapaev did not even think about any military career - in poor Budaika there was a problem of everyday survival, there was no time for heavenly pretzels.
The origin of the family name is interesting. Chapaev's grandfather, Stepan Gavrilovich, was engaged in unloading timber and other heavy cargo floating down the Volga at the Cheboksary pier. And he often shouted “chap”, “chain”, “chap”, that is, “cling” or “hooking”. Over time, the word "chepay" stuck to him as a street nickname, and then became the official surname.
It is curious that the red commander himself subsequently wrote his last name precisely as “Chepaev”, and not “Chapaev”.
The poverty of the Chapaev family drove them in search of a better life to the Samara province, to the village of Balakovo. Here, Father Vasily had a cousin who acted as a patron of the parish school. The boy was assigned to study, hoping that over time he would become a priest.

Heroes are born of war.

In 1908, Vasily Chapaev was drafted into the army, but a year later he was dismissed due to illness. Even before leaving for the army, Vasily started a family by marrying the 16-year-old daughter of a priest, Pelageya Metlina. Returning from the army, Chapaev began to engage in a purely peaceful carpentry trade. In 1912, while continuing to work as a carpenter, Vasily moved to Melekess with his family. Until 1914, three children were born in the family of Pelageya and Vasily - two sons and a daughter.
The whole life of Chapaev and his family was turned upside down by the First World War. Called up in September 1914, Vasily went to the front in January 1915. He fought in Volhynia in Galicia and proved himself to be a skilled warrior. Chapaev finished the First World War with the rank of sergeant major, being awarded the soldier's St. George's crosses of three degrees and the St. George medal.

In the autumn of 1917, the brave soldier Chapaev joined the Bolsheviks and unexpectedly showed himself to be a brilliant organizer. In the Nikolaevsky district of the Saratov province, he created 14 detachments of the Red Guard, which took part in the campaign against the troops of General Kaledin. On the basis of these detachments, in May 1918, the Pugachev brigade was created under the command of Chapaev. Together with this brigade, the self-taught commander recaptured the city of Nikolaevsk from the Czechoslovaks.
The fame and popularity of the young commander grew before our eyes. In September 1918, Chapaev led the 2nd Nikolaev division, which instilled fear in the enemy. Nevertheless, the steep temper of Chapaev, his inability to obey unquestioningly led to the fact that the command considered it a good thing to send him from the front to study at the Academy of the General Staff.
... Already in the 1970s, another legendary red commander Semyon Budyonny, listening to jokes about Chapaev, shook his head: “I told Vaska: study, you fool, otherwise they will laugh at you! So you didn’t listen!”

Ural, Ural River, his grave is deep...

Chapaev really did not stay long at the academy, again going to the front. In the summer of 1919, he led the 25th Rifle Division, which quickly became legendary, as part of which he carried out brilliant operations against Kolchak's troops. On June 9, 1919, the Chapaevs liberated Ufa, on July 11 - Uralsk.
During the summer of 1919, Divisional Commander Chapaev managed to surprise the regular white generals with his talent as a commander. Both comrades-in-arms and enemies saw in him a real military nugget. Alas, Chapaev did not have time to really open up.
The tragedy, which is called Chapaev's only military mistake, occurred on September 5, 1919. Chapaev's division was rapidly advancing, breaking away from the rear. Parts of the division stopped to rest, and the headquarters was located in the village of Lbischensk.

On September 5, whites numbering up to 2000 bayonets under the command of General Borodin, having made a raid, suddenly attacked the headquarters of the 25th division. The main forces of the Chapayevites were 40 km from Lbischensk and could not come to the rescue.
The real forces that could resist the whites were 600 bayonets, and they entered into battle, which lasted six hours. He hunted for Chapaev himself special squad which, however, did not succeed. Vasily Ivanovich managed to get out of the house where he lodged, gather about a hundred fighters who were retreating in disorder, and organize defense.
On the circumstances of the death of Chapaev for a long time conflicting information circulated until in 1962 the daughter of division commander Claudius received a letter from Hungary in which two Chapaev veterans, Hungarians by nationality, who were personally present during the last minutes of the division commander's life, told what really happened.
During the battle with the whites, Chapaev was wounded in the head and stomach, after which four Red Army soldiers, having built a raft from the boards, managed to transport the commander to the other side of the Urals. However, Chapaev died of his wounds during the crossing.

The Red Army soldiers, fearing the mockery of the body by the enemies, buried Chapaev in the coastal sand, throwing branches at this place.
Active searches The graves of the divisional commander were not kept immediately after the Civil War, because the version set forth by the commissar of the 25th division Dmitry Furmanov in his book “Chapaev” became canonical - as if the wounded divisional commander drowned while trying to swim across the river.
In the 1960s, Chapaev's daughter tried to search for her father's grave, but it turned out that this was impossible - the channel of the Urals changed its course, and the bottom of the river became the final resting place of the red hero.

Birth of a legend.

Not everyone believed in Chapaev's death. Historians involved in the biography of Chapaev noted that among the Chapaev veterans there was a story that their Chapai swam out, was rescued by the Kazakhs, had typhoid fever, lost his memory and now works as a carpenter in Kazakhstan, remembering nothing about his heroic past.
fans white movement they like to give to the Lbischensky raid great importance, calling it a major victory, but it is not. Even the defeat of the headquarters of the 25th division and the death of its commander did not affect the overall course of the war - the Chapaev division continued to successfully destroy enemy units.
Not everyone knows that the Chapayevites avenged their commander on the same day, September 5th. General Borodin, commander of the white raid, who was victoriously passing through Lbischensk after the defeat of Chapaev's headquarters, was shot by a Red Army soldier Volkov.
Historians still cannot agree on what was actually the role of Chapaev as a commander in the Civil War. Some believe that he really played a prominent role, others believe that his image is exaggerated due to art.

Indeed, a book written by the former commissar of the 25th division, Dmitry Furmanov, brought Chapaev wide popularity.
During life, the relationship between Chapaev and Furmanov could not be called simple, which, by the way, will be best reflected later in jokes. Chapaev's romance with Furmanov's wife Anna Steshenko led to the fact that the commissar had to leave the division. However, Furmanov's writing talent smoothed out personal contradictions.
But the real, boundless glory of both Chapaev, and Furmanov, and others now folk heroes overtook in 1934, when the Vasiliev brothers made the film "Chapaev", which was based on Furmanov's book and the memoirs of the Chapaevs.
Furmanov himself was not alive by that time - he died suddenly in 1926 from meningitis. And the author of the script for the film was Anna Furmanova, the wife of the commissar and the mistress of the divisional commander.

It is to her that we owe the appearance in the history of Chapaev of Anka the machine gunner. The fact is that in reality there was no such character. The prototype was the nurse of the 25th division, Maria Popova. In one of the battles, the nurse crawled up to the wounded elderly machine gunner and wanted to bandage him, but the soldier, heated by the battle, pointed a revolver at the nurse and literally forced Maria to take a place behind the machine gun.
The directors, having learned about this story and having an assignment from Stalin to show the image of a woman in the Civil War in the film, came up with a machine gunner. But Anna Furmanova insisted that her name would be Anka.
After the release of the film, both Chapaev, and Furmanov, and Anka the machine gunner, and orderly Petka (in real life- Pyotr Isaev, who really died in the same battle with Chapaev) forever went to the people, becoming an integral part of it.

Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev is a well-known commander of the "red" troops, a participant in the First World War and the Civil War. He became famous for his heroism and charisma.

Chapaev's homeland is the village of Budaika, Kazan province. The future military leader was born into a family of simple peasants and was the sixth child. Chapaev was born in February 1887. The personality of Chapaev is one of the mysteries of the history of the Civil War. Even the origin of the surname is a topic worthy of a separate story. Chapaev himself signed "Chepaev". One of the family legends became known thanks to the story of Vasily Chapaev's brother, Mikhail. According to his story, Vasily Ivanovich's grandfather - Stepan Gavrilovich, whose official surname was "Gavrilov" - was the head of the artel, was engaged in loading logs. He supervises the loading process and often repeated the word "Chepai" or "Take it." This is how the nickname Chapai arose, which later turned into the surname Chapaev, which was worn by the descendants of Stepan Gavrilovich.

Researchers deduce the origin of the surname from the Turkic language. None of the versions has been proven, since there is no exact evidence.

When Vasily Ivanovich was a child, the family moved to the Samara province in the village of Balakovo, where the boy was sent to study at a parochial school. It was planned that Chapaev would receive basic knowledge and become a priest, like many of his ancestors, but this did not happen.

In 1908, Chapaev was drafted into the army, but a year later he was assigned to the reserve - the reasons for this are not clear. Thus, he became a militia warrior. There are two reasons for this event: official version says that Chapaev had health problems, so he was unsuitable for military service, the unofficial version - Chapaev was politically unreliable. After being transferred to the reserve, Chapaev becomes a carpenter - he was in this job until the start of the First World War.

The beginning of a military career

In September 1914, Chapaev was called to the front. Place of service - the city of Atkarsk, where Vasily Ivanovich served in the reserve of infantry troops. A year later, Chapaev began to actively participate in the battles as part of the infantry on the Southwestern Front (Galicia, Volyn). Chapaev showed courage and courage, which was marked by the St. George medal.

Chapaev ended World War I with the rank of sergeant major. During the hostilities he was wounded, but this did not prevent him from distinguishing himself in battle and becoming a professional military man.

Chapaev met the beginning of the 1917 revolution in a Saratov hospital. He supported the ideas of the Bolsheviks and became a member of the RSDLP (b). From December 1917 he was appointed commissar in the Nikolaevsky district.

Years of the Civil War

At the first stage of the Civil War, Chapaev was involved in the organization of the Red Guard in the county - he led 14 detachments. The first goal of Chapaev during the hostilities was the troops of Kaledin, in the spring he led the campaign against Uralsk.

In the spring of 1918, by decision of Chapaev, the Red Guard was reorganized into 2 regiments. The command was carried out by Chapaev. 2 regiments became known as the Pugachev brigade. Under this name, the regiments participated in battles with the Czechoslovaks. Under the leadership of Chapaev, the city of Nikolaevsk was recaptured and renamed Pugachev. At the second stage of the Civil War, Chapaev was the commander of the 2nd Nikolaev division, later, until 1919, he worked at the academy General Staff. After that, he was appointed commissar of internal affairs in the Nikolaevsky district.

After commanding positions, Chapaev continued career. From the spring of 1919 he commanded a rifle division. At this stage, Chapaev's troops participated in the battles against the "white" detachments of Kolchak. In the summer of the same year, Uralsk and Ufa were captured. The capture of Ufa could have been fatal for Chapaev - he was seriously wounded by a machine gun.

Chapaev's death

The death of Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev is one of the mysteries of the history of the Civil War. During one of the raids, Colonel N. Borodin, the commander of the Cossack detachments, managed to surprise the headquarters of the 25th division in the city of Lbischensk. Chapaev died in an ode to the battle, but the circumstances of the death of the commander have not been fully clarified.

Before the start of the Borodin raid, the defense of Lbischensk was organized by a divisional school - it was a small force, but practically the only one, since the division itself was located 50-70 km from the city.

The reconnaissance pilots did not report that Borodin's troops were approaching the city. According to sources, after the battle, the pilots went over to the side of the "whites". The attack on the city caused panic - the defense was not organized - most of the "Reds" were killed or captured. A small group of people broke through to the Ural River - they were shot right on the shore. Was captured military equipment"reds".

Chapaev himself tried to organize resistance to the attackers, but was seriously wounded. The "Reds" decided to take him across the river and save him, but the brigade commander died of his wound. The Hungarians buried him in the reeds on the shore so that the enemies would not find his body. At the present moment, it is difficult to confirm or refute this - the place where, according to information, Chapaev was buried, is located at the depth of the river, since it has changed its course.

A more common version of death - Chapaev was wounded when he swam across the Urals, and drowned.

Many modern historians insist that Chapaev was taken prisoner and died there. According to another version, he did not die in captivity either - Chapaev survived and lived on the territory of Kazakhstan until the 60s inclusive. It is believed that he swam across the river, was ill for a long time, after which he lost his memory.

Chapaev Vasily Ivanovich (born January 28 (February 9), 1887 - September 5, 1919) - Soviet military leader, a prominent participant in the Civil War. Since 1918 he was the commander of a detachment, brigade and 25th rifle division, which played important role in the defeat of troops in the summer of 1919. In the city of Lbischensk, he was taken by surprise by the Ural Cossacks, during the battle he was wounded and drowned while trying to swim across the Urals.

Origin. early years

Vasily is from a Chuvash peasant family with nine children. Chapaev's grandfather was a serf. Father is a carpenter. Vasily's childhood passed in the city of Balakovo, Samara province. He attended a parochial school (1898-1901), because of the difficult financial situation in the family, Chapaev dropped out of school and went to work. Vasily worked from the age of 12 for a merchant, after that he worked as a sex worker in a tea shop, as an assistant organ grinder, and helped his father in carpentry. 1908 - was drafted into the army.

World War I

After military service, Chapaev returned home. At that time, he had already managed to get married, and when the First World War began, his family already had three children. During World War I, he served in the 326th Belgorai Infantry Regiment. Was injured. 1916 - promoted to sergeant major. Vasily Ivanovich took part in the famous, there was a shell shock, several wounds, for military work and personal courage he was awarded three St. George's crosses and the St. George medal.

October Revolution and Civil War (briefly)

1917, September - Member of the CPSU. 1917 - was in a hospital in Saratov, then moved to Nikolaevsk, where in December 1917 he was appointed commander of the 138th reserve infantry regiment, and in January 1918 he was appointed commissar of internal affairs of the Nikolaevsky district.

The beginning of 1918 - Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev formed the Red Guard detachment and was engaged in the suppression of the kulak-SR rebellions in the Nikolaevsky district. 1918, May - commanded a brigade in combat operations against the Ural White Cossacks and White Czechs. 1918, September - head of the 2nd Nikolaev division.

1918, November - Vasily Ivanovich was sent to study at the Academy of the General Staff, where he was until January 1919. Then, at his personal request, he was sent to the front and appointed to the 4th Army as commander of the Special Alexander-Gai Brigade.

April 1919 - commander of the 25th Infantry Division, which distinguished itself in the Buguruslan, Belebeev and Ufa operations during the counteroffensive of the Eastern Front against Kolchak's troops.

July 11, 1919 - The 25th division under the command of the legendary commander liberated Uralsk.

Chapaev's death

Chapaev Vasily Ivanovich died during a surprise attack by the White Guards on the headquarters of the 25th division. This happened on September 5, 1919 in the city of Lbischensk, West Kazakhstan region, which was in the rear and well guarded. It seemed to the Chapaevites that nothing could threaten them there.

Chapaev's division was cut off from the main forces of the Red Army and suffered heavy losses. In addition to 2 thousand Chapaevs, there were almost the same number of mobilized peasants in the city, but they did not have any weapons. The commander could count on 600 bayonets. The main forces of the division were located 40-70 km from the city.

All these facts led to the fact that an unexpected attack by a Cossack detachment in the early morning of September 5 turned out to be disastrous for the Chapaevs. Most of the famous division was shot or captured. Only a few Red Guards managed to break through to the banks of the Ural River, including Chapaev, who was mortally wounded in the stomach.

Vasily Ivanovich was hastily buried in the coastal sand, showered with reeds so that the Cossacks could not find the grave and abused the body. Such information was subsequently confirmed by other participants in the events. However, the legend embodied in books and movies turned out to be more tenacious, that the divisional commander dies in the stormy waves of the Ural River.

Description of contemporaries

Fyodor Novitsky, chief of staff of the 4th Army, described Vasily Ivanovich as follows: “A man of about 30, of medium height, thin, clean-shaven, neatly combed, entered the office slowly and very respectfully. The divisional commander was dressed not only neatly, but also exquisitely: a beautifully tailored overcoat made of good material, a gray lambskin hat with a gold braid on top, smart reindeer cloak boots with fur outside. He wore a Caucasian-style saber, with rich silver trim, and a Mauser pistol neatly fitted to the side.

Personal life

Legendary Divisional Commander was the eternal loser on the personal front. His first wife, the petty-bourgeois Pelageya Metlina, whom Vasily Ivanovich's parents disliked, calling her the "urban white hand", gave birth to three children for him, but she did not wait for her husband from the front - she went to a neighbor. Chapaev was very upset by this betrayal - he loved his wife. Chapaev often repeated to his daughter Claudia: “Oh, and you are beautiful. She looks like her mother."

The second companion of the divisional commander, however, already a civilian, was also called Pelageya. She was the widow of his comrade-in-arms, Pyotr Kamishkertsev, to whom Vasily promised to take care of his family. At first, he sent her benefits, after which they decided to move in together. However, history repeated itself - during the absence of her husband, Pelageya had an affair with a certain Georgy Zhivolozhinov. Once Chapaev caught them together and almost killed an unfortunate lover.

When the passions subsided, Pelageya decided to make peace, taking the children, went to her husband's headquarters. The children were allowed to see their father, but she was not. They say that after that she took revenge on Chapaev, informing the whites about the small number of forces standing in Lbischensk.

IN Last year In his life, Chapaev also had affairs with a certain Tanka the Cossack (the daughter of a Cossack colonel, with whom he was forced to part under the moral pressure of the Red Army) and the wife of Commissar Furmanov, Anna Nikitichnaya Steshenko, which led to a sharp conflict with Furmanov and caused Furmanov to be recalled from the division shortly before Chapaev's death.

Chapaevsky myth

Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev did not immediately become a legend: the death of a division commander during the Civil War was not something exceptional. Chapaev's myth took shape over several years. The first step towards the glorification of the commander of the 25th division was the novel by Dmitry Furmanov, where Vasily Ivanovich was shown as a nugget and, despite his simplicity, excessive gullibility and a penchant for self-praise, a real folk hero.

The success of the film "Chapaev" was deafening: over 40 million viewers watched it in 2 years, and Stalin watched it 38 (!) times in a year and a half. The queues at the box office turned into demonstrations.

Among the real historical figures of the past, one cannot find another who would become an integral part of Russian folklore. What to talk about if one of the varieties of checkers games is called "chapaevka".

Chapai's childhood

When on January 28 (February 9), 1887 in the village of Budaika, Cheboksary district, Kazan province, in the family of a Russian peasant Ivan Chapaev the sixth child was born, neither mother nor father could even think about the glory that awaits their son.

Rather, they thought about the upcoming funeral - the baby, named Vasenka, was born seven months old, was very weak and, it seemed, could not survive.

However, the will to live was stronger than death - the boy survived and began to grow to the delight of his parents.

Vasya Chapaev did not even think about any military career - in poor Budaika there was a problem of everyday survival, there was no time for heavenly pretzels.

The origin of the family name is interesting. Chapaev's grandfather, Stepan Gavrilovich, was engaged in unloading timber and other heavy cargo floating down the Volga at the Cheboksary pier. And he often shouted “chap”, “chain”, “chap”, that is, “cling” or “hooking”. Over time, the word "chepay" stuck to him as a street nickname, and then became the official surname.

It is curious that the red commander himself subsequently wrote his last name precisely as “Chepaev”, and not “Chapaev”.

The poverty of the Chapaev family drove them in search of a better life to the Samara province, to the village of Balakovo. Here, Father Vasily had a cousin who acted as a patron of the parish school. The boy was assigned to study, hoping that over time he would become a priest.

Heroes are born of war

In 1908, Vasily Chapaev was drafted into the army, but a year later he was dismissed due to illness. Even before leaving for the army, Vasily started a family by marrying the 16-year-old daughter of a priest Pelageya Metlina. Returning from the army, Chapaev began to engage in a purely peaceful carpentry trade. In 1912, while continuing to work as a carpenter, Vasily moved to Melekess with his family. Until 1914, three children were born in the family of Pelageya and Vasily - two sons and a daughter.

Vasily Chapaev with his wife. 1915 Photo: RIA Novosti

The whole life of Chapaev and his family was turned upside down by the First World War. Called up in September 1914, Vasily went to the front in January 1915. He fought in Volhynia in Galicia and proved himself to be a skilled warrior. Chapaev finished the First World War with the rank of sergeant major, being awarded the soldier's St. George's crosses of three degrees and the St. George medal.

In the autumn of 1917, the brave soldier Chapaev joined the Bolsheviks and unexpectedly showed himself to be a brilliant organizer. In the Nikolaevsky district of the Saratov province, he created 14 detachments of the Red Guard, which took part in the campaign against the troops of General Kaledin. On the basis of these detachments, in May 1918, the Pugachev brigade was created under the command of Chapaev. Together with this brigade, the self-taught commander recaptured the city of Nikolaevsk from the Czechoslovaks.

The fame and popularity of the young commander grew before our eyes. In September 1918, Chapaev led the 2nd Nikolaev division, which instilled fear in the enemy. Nevertheless, the steep temper of Chapaev, his inability to obey unquestioningly led to the fact that the command considered it a good thing to send him from the front to study at the Academy of the General Staff.

Already in the 1970s, another legendary red commander Semyon Budyonny, listening to jokes about Chapaev, shook his head: “I told Vaska: study, you fool, otherwise they will laugh at you! So you didn’t listen!”

Ural, Ural River, his grave is deep...

Chapaev really did not stay long at the academy, again going to the front. In the summer of 1919, he led the 25th Rifle Division, which quickly became legendary, as part of which he carried out brilliant operations against the troops. Kolchak. On June 9, 1919, the Chapaevs liberated Ufa, on July 11 - Uralsk.

During the summer of 1919, Divisional Commander Chapaev managed to surprise the regular white generals with his talent as a commander. Both comrades-in-arms and enemies saw in him a real military nugget. Alas, Chapaev did not have time to really open up.

The tragedy, which is called Chapaev's only military mistake, occurred on September 5, 1919. Chapaev's division was rapidly advancing, breaking away from the rear. Parts of the division stopped to rest, and the headquarters was located in the village of Lbischensk.

On September 5, whites numbering up to 2000 bayonets under the command General Borodin, having made a raid, suddenly attacked the headquarters of the 25th division. The main forces of the Chapayevites were 40 km from Lbischensk and could not come to the rescue.

The real forces that could resist the whites were 600 bayonets, and they entered into battle, which lasted six hours. Chapaev himself was hunted by a special detachment, which, however, did not succeed. Vasily Ivanovich managed to get out of the house where he lodged, gather about a hundred fighters who were retreating in disorder, and organize defense.

Vasily Chapaev (center, sitting) with military commanders. 1918 Photo: RIA Novosti

Conflicting information circulated about the circumstances of Chapaev's death for a long time, until in 1962 the daughter of the division commander Claudia did not receive a letter from Hungary, in which two Chapaev veterans, Hungarian by nationality, who were personally present during the last minutes of the life of the divisional commander, told what really happened.

During the battle with the whites, Chapaev was wounded in the head and stomach, after which four Red Army soldiers, having built a raft from the boards, managed to transport the commander to the other side of the Urals. However, Chapaev died of his wounds during the crossing.

The Red Army soldiers, fearing the mockery of the body by the enemies, buried Chapaev in the coastal sand, throwing branches at this place.

An active search for the grave of the divisional commander was not carried out immediately after the Civil War, because the version set forth by the commissar of the 25th division became canonical Dmitry Furmanov in his book "Chapaev" - as if the wounded commander drowned, trying to swim across the river.

In the 1960s, Chapaev's daughter tried to search for her father's grave, but it turned out that this was impossible - the channel of the Urals changed its course, and the bottom of the river became the final resting place of the red hero.

Birth of a legend

Not everyone believed in Chapaev's death. Historians involved in the biography of Chapaev noted that among the Chapaev veterans there was a story that their Chapai swam out, was rescued by the Kazakhs, had typhoid fever, lost his memory and now works as a carpenter in Kazakhstan, remembering nothing about his heroic past.

Fans of the white movement like to attach great importance to the Lbischensky raid, calling it a major victory, but this is not so. Even the defeat of the headquarters of the 25th division and the death of its commander did not affect the overall course of the war - the Chapaev division continued to successfully destroy enemy units.

Not everyone knows that the Chapayevites avenged their commander on the same day, September 5th. General in command of the white raid Borodin, victoriously passing through Lbischensk after the defeat of Chapaev's headquarters, was shot dead by a Red Army soldier Volkov.

Historians still cannot agree on what was actually the role of Chapaev as a commander in the Civil War. Some believe that he really played a prominent role, others believe that his image is exaggerated due to art.

Painting by P. Vasiliev “V. I. Chapaev in battle. Photo: reproduction

Indeed, a book written by the former commissar of the 25th division brought Chapaev wide popularity. Dmitry Furmanov.

During life, the relationship between Chapaev and Furmanov could not be called simple, which, by the way, will be best reflected later in jokes. Chapaev's romance with Furmanov's wife Anna Steshenko led to the fact that the commissar had to leave the division. However, Furmanov's writing talent smoothed out personal contradictions.

But the real, boundless glory of both Chapaev and Furmanov, and other now folk heroes overtook in 1934, when the Vasiliev brothers made the film "Chapaev", which was based on Furmanov's book and the memoirs of the Chapaevites.

Furmanov himself was not alive by that time - he died suddenly in 1926 from meningitis. And the author of the script for the film was Anna Furmanova, the wife of the commissar and the mistress of the divisional commander.

It is to her that we owe the appearance in the history of Chapaev of Anka the machine gunner. The fact is that in reality there was no such character. The prototype was the nurse of the 25th division Maria Popova. In one of the battles, the nurse crawled up to the wounded elderly machine gunner and wanted to bandage him, but the soldier, heated by the battle, pointed a revolver at the nurse and literally forced Maria to take a place behind the machine gun.

The directors, having learned about this story and having a task from Stalin to show in the film the image of a woman in the Civil War, they came up with a machine gunner. But on the fact that her name will be Anka, she insisted Anna Furmanova.

After the release of the film, both Chapaev, and Furmanov, and Anka the machine gunner, and orderly Petka (in real life - Peter Isaev, who really died in the same battle with Chapaev) forever went to the people, becoming an integral part of it.

Chapaev is everywhere

The life of Chapaev's children was interesting. The marriage of Vasily and Pelageya actually broke up with the outbreak of the First World War, and in 1917 Chapaev took the children from his wife and raised them himself, as far as military life allowed.

The eldest son of Chapaev, Alexander Vasilievich, followed in the footsteps of his father, becoming a professional military man. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, 30-year-old Captain Chapaev was the commander of a battery of cadets at the Podolsk Artillery School. From there he went to the front. Chapaev fought in a family way, honor famous father without shame. He fought near Moscow, near Rzhev, near Voronezh, was wounded. In 1943, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, Alexander Chapaev participated in the famous battle of Prokhorovka.

Alexander Chapaev completed his military service with the rank of Major General, holding the position of Deputy Chief of Artillery of the Moscow Military District.

Younger son, Arkady Chapaev, became a test pilot, worked with himself Valery Chkalov. In 1939, 25-year-old Arkady Chapaev died while testing a new fighter.

Chapaev's daughter Claudia, made a party career and was engaged in historical research dedicated to her father. True story Chapaev's life became known largely thanks to her.

Studying the life of Chapaev, you are surprised to find how closely connected legendary hero with other historical figures.

For example, a fighter of the Chapaev division was writer Yaroslav Gashek- author of "Adventures good soldier Schweik.

The head of the trophy team of the Chapaev division was Sidor Artemievich Kovpak. In the Great Patriotic War, the mere name of this commander of a partisan unit will terrify the Nazis.

Major General Ivan Panfilov, whose division's resilience helped defend Moscow in 1941, began his military career as a platoon commander in an infantry company of the Chapaev division.

And the last. Water is fatally connected not only with the fate of division commander Chapaev, but also with the fate of the division.

The 25th Rifle Division existed in the ranks of the Red Army until the Great Patriotic War, took part in the defense of Sevastopol. It was the fighters of the 25th Chapaev division who fought to the last in the most tragic, last days city ​​defense. The division was completely destroyed, and so that the enemy did not get its banners, the last surviving soldiers drowned them in the Black Sea.