The 5th Army was a field army of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War. The 5th Army was formed four times. The first formation was between the beginning of March 1918 and April as a reaction to the Austro-German occupation of Ukraine. The second formation was created between April 1918 and 23 June 1918 to defend Tsaritsyn, the third formation between August 16, 1918, and September 6, 1922, as a part of the Eastern Front and the fourth formation between November 16, 1922, and June 1924 in the Far East.
History
First formation
On March 17, 1918, the Second All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets decided to create armed forces to counter foreign and contra-revolutionary forces. Five armies of some 3,000 -3,500 men were created. In fact, these armies were only brigades with limited combat capabilities. Rudolf Sivers became the commander of the 5th Army, which counted some 3,000 men. In March 1918, it defended the area of Kursk, Novhorod-Siverskyi, Bakhmach, Konotop and Vorozhba. It withdrew from Kharkov on April 8 and fought in skirmishes in the area near Kupyansk. On April 10 was renamed to the 2nd Special Army, by the beginning of May it was added to the Voronezh group.
Second formation
In the middle of April 1918, the 5th Army was created a second time from the detachments of the group of Kliment Voroshilov, who was appointed commander of the Army. The 5th Army then consisted of around 2,000 men and acted together with the 2nd Special Army around Kupyansk and Chertkovo. By April 20, together with the Donetsk Army (which was merged with the 5th Army at the end of April) and part of the 3rd Army, it concentrated in the region of Lugansk-Rodakovo. Here it was decided to defend Lugansk under General Command of Kliment Voroshilov. On April 25 – 26, the 5th Army defeated two German infantry divisions, capturing 2 batteries, 20 machine guns and two aircraft. However, under the onslaught of the superior forces of the enemy, Lugansk was abandoned on April 28, and the 5th Army withdrew to Millerovo and Tsaritsyn, taking with them families of workers, valuable industrial equipment, military property, 100 locomotives and more than 3,000 wagons. All along the way, they were harassed by German troops and White Cossacks. Having withstood persistent attacks by White Cossacks from June 16 to July 2, the Soviet troops crossed to the left bank of the Don and met on July 2 with troops of the Tsaritsyn front. By order of the North Caucasian Military District of June 23, 1918, the 5th and 3rd armies and the Tsaritsyn Front, as well as detachments formed by the population of Donetsk and Morozovsky district, were united in the Voroshilov Group, which from mid-July 1918 was the main force in the defense of Tsaritsyn.
Third formation
The 5th Army was created a third time on August 16, 1918, from the troops in the Kazan area. It was part of the Eastern Front. On January 15, 1920, it became directly subordinate to the Revolutionary Military Council, and from 20 April 1920 to the Siberian Military District.
It fought in the district of Kazan against White Guards and the Czechoslovak Legion and took Kazan on September 10, 1918. In the autumn–winter of 1918 the enemy's troops were pursued in the direction of Chistopol, Bugulma and Menzelinsk, and Ufa was taken on December 31, 1918. In March–May 1919, during the Spring Offensive of the White Russian Army, it retreated from the Ufa area. It participated in the Counteroffensive of the Eastern front, in which it took Zlatoust (July 13) and Chelyabinsk (July 24). Forcing its way over the Tobol River, it conducted the Petropavlovsk Operation and occupied Petropavlovsk (October 31) and Omsk (November 14, 1919). It pursued the enemy along the Siberian railway line, took Tomsk (December 20, 1919), Krasnoyarsk (January 7, 1920) and waged battles in the Irkutsk region.
In May 1920, the army was transferred to the Assistant commander in chief of the armed Forces of the Republic of Siberia, and later became part of the East Siberian Military District. On October 1, 1920, the chief of staff of the operational department, Semyon Mikhailovich Sharangovich, was sent from Irkutsk to Kharkiv with half of the army headquarters to replenish the headquarters of the Southern Front.
The 5th Army participated in the Invasion of Mongolia (May–August 1921), with the aim of defeating the Army of Roman von Ungern-Sternberg. The 5th Army was disbanded on September 6, 1922, and the troops transferred to the East Siberian Military District.