One of the more bizarre episodes in Miltiary history was the U.S. Expedition to Siberia in 1918.  Intended as part of a plan to renew an “Eastern Front” against Germany, it became a nightmare.  At the center was Major General William S Graves.   A solid, no-nonsense commander, he arrived in Asia with the 27^st and 31^st infantry regiments, 4^th Field Hospital, 4th Ambulance Corps and 17^th Evacuation Hospital and support units.   Graves was given the task of maintaining order and remaining neutral, allowing the Russians to establish their own government.  Neutrality was not easy.  The Japanese, British, French and others were all playing their own power games.  The overall Allied commander it the area was Japanese General Otani.  His government was supplying several Russian power players with money and arms, hoping to de-stabilize them so as to allow a Japanese take-over of the province.  The key Russian player was Admiral Kolchak, the leading figure in the White Russian army. 

The Whites were a counter-revolutionary movement opposed to the Bolshevik Reds.  It has been said that the White Army attracted all that was bad from the old Imperial regime. In Siberia, they were a loose confederation of warlords claiming some allegiance to Kolchak.  In fact, most of the groups were murderous bandits guilty of thousands of murders.  Kolchak’s Far Eastern commander, Rozanaov, was a plunderer and butcher. Two of the more insidious of the murderers, Semenov and Kalmykov, two Cossack officers.  These acted as their own private armies.  Both were supported by armored trains.  Worse, both were also supported by Japanese arms and money.  Adding fuel to the fire, the American State Department wanted Graves to add his support to the White Russians.

Graves took his orders from the War Department.  They were specific.  A firm officer, he would not allow himself to be pushed around by the State Department, his so-called allies nor his enemies.

            American troops were ordered to guard the railway lines, a coal mine and certain facilities.  On one occasion, they accompanied Japanese troops into action.  (Graves saw that it did not happen again.)  Most of the action was against partisans or rogue White Russian units.  There had even been stand-offs against allied troops, especially the Japanese.

            The largest problem for Americans in the beginning of the Expedition was partisans.  These were peasant who had been brutalized by rogue White Russian units. They responded in a sort of peasant’s revolt, and operated as guerrillas in the countryside.  On several occasions ,the partisans attacked the railroad.  American troops drove them off. 

            The larger problems, militarily, were the rogue White Russian warlords.  They rode roughshod over the local populace, raiding and plundering villages on the slightest pretext. Worse, they had the authority of the White Russian government, such as it was.  The Japanese backed them to the point of intervening on their behalf.

            Things came to a head when the White Russian regime collapsed.  Semenov’s armored train attacked the Americans, who were ready for such a trick.  The Americans had a plan for instances where Semenov’s trains were on the rail line. The train’s attack hit empty targets.  Meanwhile ,the Americans hit the train with everything they had.  The entire Russian rail unit was either killed or captured.

            Imagine the surprise when the troops found the carriage of an American officer attached to the train,  The officer, working for another department, had attached himself to Semonov.  He was promptly arrested and shuffled off to the States.

 

The whole sordid mess ended when the White Russian government collapsed.  Graves packed up his units and returned home.  He left with the last of his units to depart, on April 1, 1920.  The Japanese, who conspired long and hard to gain a foothold in Siberia, were forced to evacuate in 1922.  Bolsheviks had thwarted Tokyo’s plans.

The European and Japanese efforts in the Siberian Expedition came to naught.  They did not stop the Red tide.  Japan’s efforts to destabilize the region were an expensive mistake, in money, equipment and prestige.  The one thing that stood out was General Graves and his American forces.  They did the job assigned to them.  Graves fought every attempt to compromise their neutrality and their mission.  He and his men performed their duties honorably, a sharp contrast to the slimy duplicity of their allies and enemies.