4th class St.George order and other awards of Infantry General Konstantin Mikhailovich Alekseev

Classical "late Keibel" cross.
Awarded during Russo-Japanese War in 1904.

Medal bar.

 

Alekseev Konstantin Mikhailovich (1851 - 1917) was educated at the Oryol-Bakhtin Military Gymnasium (1870) and the 2nd Konstantinovsky Military School (1872).​

In 1872 he was promoted to second lieutenant of the army infantry with secondment to the Life Guards of the Izmailovsky Regiment. He commanded successively: the 12th Turkestan linear (25.02.1886-7.07.1892) and the 1st Finnish rifle battalions (09.15.1892-16.09.1896) and the 136th Taganrog infantry regiment (09.16.1896-07.03.1899), 1st East Siberian Linear Brigade (3.07.1899-19.06.1900), 2nd East Siberian Rifle Brigade (19.06.-17.07.1900) and 5th East Siberian Rifle Brigade (17.07.1900-22.02.1904) , 5th (22.02.1904-21.06.1905) and 4th East Siberian Rifle (19.08.1906-?) and 13th Infantry Divisions (5.05.1907-5.12.1909) and 6th Army(12/05/1909 - 06/03/1910) and the 3rd Caucasian Army Corps (06/05/1910-after 06/01/1911).

Entered service (08/05/1870), second lieutenant (07/17/1872), ensign of the guard (08/11/1873), second lieutenant of the guard (04/13/1875), lieutenant of the guard (08/30/1877), captain of the guard for military distinctions with seniority from 01/03/1878 (1879), captain of the guard (08/30/1880), renamed army lieutenant colonel (02/25/1886), colonel ( 04/30/1888), major general (07/03/1899), lieutenant general for combat distinctions (07/18/1904), general from infantry (12/6/1910).

For the Russian-Turkish war (1877-78) he was awarded the rank of staff captain and the orders of St. Stanislav, 3rd class and St. Anna, 4th class; for a China campaign (1900) - the orders of St. Stanislaus, 1st class and St. Anne, 1st class.

Russo-Japanese War

With the 5th East Siberian Rifle Division, Alekseev took a prominent part in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. In June 1904, this division, being part of the 2nd Siberian Corps, concentrated at Simuchen, occupied the Kangualin position, on the left bank of the river. Haichenhe, front to the southeast. Significantly strengthened by sapper work, the position crossed the paths leading from the Dalinsky and Pkhanlinsky passes to Khaicheng and represented a very serious obstacle, provided it was stubbornly defended. But the battle on July 18 at Simuchen between the 2nd Siberian Corps and the 4th Japanese Army took place west of the position occupied by the Alekseev detachment, and the 5th East Siberian Rifle Division remained a silent spectator of the fierce battle of the brigade of the 31st Infantry Division with the entire army of Nozu. Alekseev limited himself to sending only 2 companies to support the Kozlovsky regiment. On August 14, the withdrawal of our troops to Lyaoliang began; The 19th and 20th East Siberian Rifle Regiments were detached from the 5th East Siberian Rifle Division to form a rearguard and side detachment. On August 15, the 17th and 18th East Siberian Infantry Regiments took up a position at Intayuan, and the 19th and 20th East Siberian Infantry Regiments were located on the heights to the southeast, with the front to Liuhei and Changyapuzi. The enemy opened fire on this position in the morning, but did not go on the offensive. Nevertheless, the position of the 2nd Siberian Corps was recognized as dangerous, and at about 10 a.m. its main forces began to retreat to the advanced Lyaoliang positions, and the 17th and 18th East Siberian Rifle Regiments remained until dawn: the first - on pass, on the road to Dawa, and the second, on the heights to the southeast. From 7 o'clock. On the morning of August 16, an enemy offensive was discovered, and both rearguards began to retreat to Xinlinshun, where the entire division was concentrated. Here the 5th East Siberian Rifle Division was relieved by the 9th East Siberian Rifle Division and headed to its Dongbanzhuang-Silizhuang concentration area, where it became part of the army's general reserve. During the day of August 17, the division was snapped up in parts to support1st and 3rd Siberian Corps. Only the 17th East Siberian Rifle Regiment remained in the reserve at Sibalichzhuang, but on the night of August 18, it was already introduced into the combat sector of the 1st Siberian Corps, and only the 18th East Siberian Rifle Regiment remained in the general reserve of the army . On August 18, Alekseev remained at Sibalichzhuang as the commander of the 2nd Corps, having only 1 battalion in cash, made up of companies from different regiments, which he detained here from among those sent to the rear on various occasions. On August 19, at the fortified Lyaoliang position, the 5th East Siberian Rifle Division under the command of General Alekseev formed the right combat sector of the 2nd Siberian Corps: from the railway to the V. redoubt inclusive, and took an active part in its defense, as in this one, and in the following days - August 20 and 21 losing 18 officers killed and wounded and 739 lower ranks.

During the September offensive, the 2nd Siberian Corps formed the general reserve of the Eastern Detachment and was not brought into action even on September 28, when the 1st Siberian Corps was fighting in the passes. Only on September 30, 1904, the head of the Eastern Detachment ordered Alekseev to go on the offensive on the village of Khamytan to support the detachment of Major General Mishchenko. The detachment entrusted to General Alekseev included 6 battalions, 24 guns, 1 squadron, 1 com. The detachment acted very successfully, and its success could lead to a private defeat of the Japanese, who threatened the left flank of the 4th Siberian Corps. But quite unexpectedly for the attackers, an order was received from the head of the Eastern Detachment to retreat, covering the retreat of the 1st Siberian Corps. Having completed this task, the detachment of General Alekseev crossed the river. Shah. The massifs taken the day before in a glorious battle were occupied by the Japanese advanced units. But on the same day, the 5th East Siberian Rifle Division was again ordered to take up yesterday's positions, which was done with battle by the 17th and 18th East Siberian Rifle Regiments, which, having forced out the Japanese, occupied the hills with Kumirnya and Dvugorbuya . At 6 pm, this order was canceled, and the detachment of General Alekseev returned to its position near the village of Khudyagou. The 19th and 20th East Siberian Rifle Regiments were then sent to the reserve of the army commander and on October 3 took part in the attack on Putilovskaya Sopka,

The beginning of February 1905 found General Alekseev the head of the Tsinkhechen detachment (18 battalions, 16 cells, 8 speeds, 16 mountaineers and 8 equestrian hornmen), which provided the left flank of the 1st Army. The Japanese offensive was discovered on the night of February 5-6. On February 7, our advanced units were pushed back, but the Japanese did not go further, and therefore Alekseev decided on February 9 to go on the offensive himself. The forces assigned to the offensive (5 battalions) turned out to be insufficient; the Japanese, in turn, went on the offensive with superior forces, and the whole enterprise took on the character of enhanced reconnaissance. By February 10, our vanguards gradually retreated to the Tsinghechen position. On February 10, under the cover of a snowstorm, the Japanese launched an offensive against the Beresnevskaya Sopka and the Yanzelinsky Pass. The attack on the latter was repulsed. But in view of the apparent superiority of the enemy forces and fearing for his retreat route, Alekseev ordered to clear the Tsinkhechenskaya and Yanzelinskaya positions at night. Departing, the detachment discovered the left flank of the 3rd Siberian Corps on the Gautulinsky Pass, which the Japanese began to bypass. On February 13, the Japanese continued to press Alekseev's detachment. The last was replaced by a generalRennenkampf , who decided on February 22 to withdraw the detachment to the village of Majiadzyan. During the withdrawal of the 2nd Siberian Corps to the Honghe River (February 22) and further to Telin, Alekseev commanded the rearguard as part of the 1st brigade of the 5th East Siberian Rifle Division. This ended Alekseev's participation in the hostilities of this campaign, for which he was awarded the Order of St. George 4th class and the rank of lieutenant general.

On June 21, 1905, Alekseev was appointed head of the medical unit of the 1st Manchurian Army , whose duties he performed until August 10, 1906. At the same time, he was also the temporary Governor-General of Irkutsk (from November 17, 1905 to July 1, 1906).

After the war

Head of the 4th East Siberian Rifle Division (08/19/1906-?), seconded to the General Staff (04/12/05/05/1907), head of the 13th Infantry Division (05/05/1907-12/05/1909), commander of the 6th 1st Army Corps (12/5/1909 - 06/3/1910 ), commander of the 3rd Caucasian Army Corps (06/3/1910 - after 06/01/1911).

He died suddenly in Moscow on May 8, 1917 . He was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery .​

 

Medal bar on display in the State Historical Museum in Moscow.

 

Order of St. Vladimir 2nd class breast star (awarded on December 6, 1908).

Silver, gilt, enamel.
Size 86 х 86 mm.
Marked "Eduard" + Russian silver assay hallmarks (re-marked with Soviet hallmarks from 1927+ time period).

 

Breast star of the Order of St.Anna 1st class with swords (awarded in 1901).

Silver, gilt, enamel.
Size 88 х 88 mm.
Marked "Keibel" + Russian silver assay hallmarks.