13th Army (Soviet Union)
| 13th Army | |
|---|---|
| Country |
Soviet Union Ukraine |
| Branch |
Soviet Army Ukrainian Army |
| Size | Army |
| Engagements |
Russian Civil War Russo-Finnish War World War II |
The 13th Army (Russian: 13-я армия 13-ya armiya) was a name given to several field armies of the Soviet Union's Red Army, first created during the Russian Civil War. Later armies existed until the 1990s, and the army survived as part of the Ukrainian Ground Forces for some years.
It was first formed from the Kursk direction group of forces which was later assigned the group under leadership of I.S. Kozhevnikov arriving from the frontlines of the First World War. After its assignment to the Southern Front in December 1918 it was renamed as the Donetsk group of forces in February 1919, and in March reformed as the 13th Army. The Army under command of the V.I. Selivachev group until September, together with the 8th Army, while the Southern Front was renamed as the Southwestern in January 1920. In September 1920 it was assigned to the newly created Southern Front at that time fighting against Vrangel.
During the Civil War the Army's force structure was highly dynamic with most subunits operating as part of operational groups. These included Special (reserve) group (two regiments and a battery), Left group (two divisions, cavalry and infantry brigades), Shock group (Latvian division, Cossack cavalry brigade and separate brigade), and Perekopskaya group (Latvian and 3rd divisions, 8th cavalry division, Nesterov group, and later 52nd division and 85th brigade of the 29th division). This group fought on the approaches to Crimea, and experienced many changes, at one time including a group of armoured trains and the 1st Cavalry corps, but was eventually split between the Ekaterinoslav direction group of forces and the 6th Army. The rest of the 13th fought towards the southern coast of the Black sea between Perekop and north-east of Odessa. In October 1920 the army lost many of its units to the 2nd Cavalry Army, and in November of the same year it was merged into the 4th Army. Its last location of headquarters was in the city of Slavyansk.
This first 13th Army participated in operations spanning an area from southern Kursk gubernia to Crimea, fought Denikin, the Don nationalist Cossacks and Vrangel, participated in the offensive into Donbass, and its defence, and in the counter-offensive in Southern Tavria.
The 13th Army was created again at the end of December 1939 as a separate 13th Army in the course of the Soviet advance into the Karelian Isthmus when the 7th Army was split into two, and also renamed separate, after being substantially reinforced. As part of the 1940 February Vyborg offensive they were coordinated by the North Western Front in Leningrad, both armies were able to breach either first or second defensive positions in the Mannerheim Line, but were unable to breach the main position. The separate 13th Army was allocated three of the eight rifle corps assigned to the operation.
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