Vladimir Kappel

Vladimir Kappel
Born	1883
Died	1920 (aged 36–37)
Place of birth	Saint Petersburg Governorate, Russian Empire
Place of death	Nizhneozyornaya village
Allegiance	White Army
Years of service	1903–1920
Rank	General
Unit	54th Novomirgorod Dragoon Regiment
Commands held	People Army of Komuch, 1st Volga Corps, 2nd Ufa Corps, 3rd West Army
Battles/wars	World War I, Russian Civil War
Awards	Order of St. George 3rd class, Order of St. George 4th class, Order of St. Vladimir 4th class, Order of St. Anne 2nd class, Order of St. Anne 3rd class, Order of St. Anne 4th class, Order of St. Stanislaus 2nd class, Order of St. Stanislaus 3rd class

Vladimir Oskarovich Kappel (Russian: Влади́мир О́скарович Ка́ппель, April 28 [O.S. April 16] 1883—January 26, 1920) was a White Russian military leader.

During the First World War he was a Chief of the 347th Infantry Regiment's Staff and an officer in the 1st Army's Staff. Following the Bolshevik Revolution, Kappel commanded the Komuch White Army group (People Army of Komuch) (1918, June–September) and from December 1919 the Eastern Front of Aleksandr Kolchak.

Kappel was born into a Swedish-Russian family. He graduated from the Saint Petersburg Page Corps and then from the Nikolayevskoye Cavalry School and Nikolayevskaya Academy of the General Staff. Although he was a self-declared monarchist, Kappel said he would fight under any banner against Bolsheviks. Kappel's adherents and allies were known in Russian as kappelevtsy (каппелевцы). After the execution of Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak in Irkutsk, the kappelevtsy were forced to undertake a winter march toward Chita, known as the "Great Siberian Ice march". General Kappel died of deep frostbite.

Kappel's tomb in Harbin was pulled down after Mao Zedong assumed power in China. On December 19, 2006 the remains of Kappel were transported for reinterment from China to Irkutsk. On January 13, 2007, Vladimir Kappel's remains were interred at Donskoy Monastery in Moscow.

Honours and awards

• Order of Saint Stanislaus, 3rd class (11 April 1910), with swords and bow (10 February 1916), 2nd class with Swords (7 June 1915)
• Order of St. Anna, 3rd class (8 May 1913 - for the successful completion of the Nicholas General Staff Academy), with swords and bow (25 April 1915), 2nd class with Swords (7 June 1915), 4th class with the inscription "For Bravery" (27 January 1916)
• Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class with Swords and Bow (1 March 1915)
• Order of St. George, 4th class (22 June 1919), 3rd class (11 September 1919)
• Gratitude of the Supreme Ruler and Supreme Commander (14 February 1919)

Further reading

• (Russian) Каппель и каппелевцы. Kappel and Kappelevtsy, e-book.