April 25, 1883
В Rostov region, was born into a poor peasant family Semyon Budyonny. One of the first marshals of the Soviet Union. The founder of Soviet horse breeding.
The horse will still show itself
He grew up in Cossack culture and customs: from childhood, he was skilled in the saddle and wielded weapons. After serving in the army, he fought in the Russo-Japanese War. He remained in Primorye, was in charge of the stables.
Took part in the battles in China, Poland и Persia. He received his first St. George's Cross during World War I for capturing a German convoy and 200 prisoners. He received four St. George's Crosses in total, and, according to legend, was stripped of his fifth for fighting back against a commander who had attacked him.
In 1918 he created a revolutionary cavalry detachment Don. A year later, he was entrusted with command of the entire "Red" cavalry. One of the breakthroughs of Budyonny's legendary "cavalry army" returned Kyiv and most of Ukraine to Moscow. It also helped the Bolsheviks establish Soviet power in the North Caucasus and the Don region, defeating the troops. Wrangel и Denikin.
In 1920, when the Budyonnyites occupied Rostov, A telegram arrived in the capital.
Budyonny's army is disintegrating with each passing day. Budyonny is losing all respect for anyone. Robberies, drunkenness, suspicious women at headquarters. Rumors abound of murders of his most conscientious comrades.
Following this complaint, the city commandant was arrested, but the army commander was spared—he was incredibly popular. Even then, the headdress worn by Red Army soldiers during the Civil War was nicknamed the "Budenovka."
In total, Budyonny captured 164 thousand "white" soldiers and officers in the south, and seized dozens of armored trains, tanks, and airplanes.
For his exceptional cruelty in dealing with the enemy, he earned the nickname "The Swordsman." According to one legend, it was for his utterance of the phrase, "No matter what the front, my job is to slash!"
Even Stalin himself was horrified by the scale of bloodshed in his battles (which did not stop him from awarding Budyonny the rank of marshal).
The life and customs of the cavalry soldiers are described expressively Isaac Babel In the famous "Red Cavalry" cycle. Budyonny was outraged by these stories and repeatedly accused the writer of "counterrevolution" throughout the 1920s. However, this conflict with Budyonny ended relatively well for Babel—Babel was executed in 1940.
In the 1930s, Budyonny took part in the repressions. According to Alexander Solzhenitsyn, suppressed anti-Soviet uprisings of the Kazakhs.
He turned out to be one of the few military leaders who escaped the Gulag or execution. Rumors circulated that the "Black Raven" had visited him as well: the marshal greeted the guests with his saber drawn and the cry, "Who's first?!" When Beria allegedly reported the incident to Stalin, he chuckled and praised Budyonny.
According to another legend, Budyonny fired a burst of machine gun fire at the Chekists and rushed to call the leader: "Joseph, it's counterrevolution! I won't surrender alive!" Allegedly, after this, Stalin gave the order to leave the marshal alone and said that "the old fool is harmless."
While studying at the Frunze Military Academy, he was one of the first in the USSR to jump with a parachute.
With his assistance, stud farms and the Moscow Zootechnical Institute of Horse Breeding and Horse Breeding (now the State Agrarian University under the Ministry of Agriculture) were established.
In all cases when the war acquired a maneuverable character, the role of cavalry immediately increased and its attacks completed certain operations
During the Great Patriotic War, he served as Deputy People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR. His cavalry successfully participated in offensive operations: up until 1945, millions of horses were used at the front on both sides.
He fought his last battle in 1943, at the age of 60. After that, he worked at Headquarters.
After the war, he served as Deputy Minister of Agriculture for Horse Breeding and Stud Farming. He authored over 70 works and a five-volume "History of the Horse." Under his leadership, new horse breeds were developed—the Budyonny and Terek.
There is no more noble creature in the world than a horse. There is no trick a smart horse cannot master.
He died in 1973 in Moscow, at the age of 90, from a cerebral hemorrhage.
