Volunteer Army
| Volunteer Army | |
|---|---|
| Active | November 1917 – March 1920 |
| Country | Russia |
| Allegiance |
 GCAFSR
|
| Size | 3,000 (December 1917) 40,000 (June 1919) 5,000 (March 1920) |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Vladimir May-Mayevsky Mikhail Alekseyev Lavr Kornilov Alexander Kutepov |
The Volunteer Army (Добровольческая армия in Russian, or Dobrovolcheskaya armiya) was an anti-Bolshevik army in South Russia during the Russian Civil War of 1918–1920.
The Volunteer Army began forming in November/December 1917 under the leadership of Gen. Mikhail Alekseyev in Novocherkassk and Gen. Lavr Kornilov and his supporters. Initially it included volunteering officers, cadets, students and Cossacks. Of the first 3,000 recruits just 12 were ordinary soldiers; the rest were officers, some of whom resented having to serve as privates. On December 27, 1917 (January 9, 1918), the creation of the Volunteer Army was officially announced. Alekseyev became its overall leader, Kornilov its Commander-in-chief, Gen. Alexander Lukomsky its Chief of Staff, Gen. Anton Denikin commander of the 1st Division and Gen. Sergey Markov commander of 1st Officers regiment. They also created the so-called Special Council at the headquarters, which included prominent civilian politicians such as Peter Struve, Pavel Milyukov, Mikhail Rodzianko, Sergey Sazonov and Boris Savinkov.
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