At one time, Budyonny was one of the most famous and beloved military leaders by the people, which, of course, was facilitated by the charismatic appearance of the commander. This legendary man lived for over ninety years and took part in two world wars and one civil war.
Childhood, youth and service in the troops of pre-revolutionary Russia
The future famous commander and marshal Semyon Budyonny was born in 1883 on the Kozyurin farm in the so-called Don Army Region. His father Mikhail was a landless laborer.
In 1892, in order to feed his family, Mikhail borrowed money from a friend of the merchant Yatskin, but was unable to return it on time. At first, Yatskin wanted to take the horse away from the debtor, but this would doom the whole family to death. As a result, the merchant offered Mikhail to give him a nine-year-old Semyon for work. The father agreed - there was no other way out.
Semyon worked at Yatskin's until the very service - at first he was just an "errand boy", then an assistant to a blacksmith, and then a thresher driver.
At the beginning of 1903, Semyon married a simple girl from the Don Cossack family, Nadezhda. And in the fall he was drafted into the troops, in the Primorsky Dragoon regiment. Here the future marshal realized that cavalry and military affairs were his vocation. And therefore, when his term of service ended, he did not leave the army.
Budyonny took part in the events of the Russo-Japanese War and established himself as a good soldier. In 1907 he was sent to St. Petersburg to take special courses at a cavalry school. After completing these courses, Budyonny returned back to Primorye.
During the First World War, Semyon Mikhailovich was a non-commissioned officer. He had a chance to fight on three fronts, including the German one. Many times Semyon Mikhailovich showed outstanding courage on the battlefield, and ultimately became the owner of four St. George crosses of various degrees.
Participation in the Civil War, career and personal life until 1941
After the October Revolution, Budyonny returned to the Don, to his native land. Here he was elected a member of the executive committee of the Salsk district council.
In February 1918, an experienced cavalryman Budyonny led the cavalry detachment, which later became the cavalry corps. This corps fought quite successfully against the White Guard forces on the Don.
In 1919, after lengthy persuasion, Budyonny finally joined the Bolshevik Party. In November of the same year, he was put in charge of the cavalry army. Soon, for successful actions on the battlefields, the Bolsheviks awarded the army commander with three orders and honorary melee weapons.
Since 1923, Budyonny was an assistant to the commander-in-chief of the Red Army and a permanent member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, and since 1924 he served as an inspector for cavalry of the Red Army.
But success in his career could not save him from tragedies in his personal life. In 1924, Budyonny's wife died. Some historians believe it was an accident (she allegedly shot herself inadvertently), others are sure that it was a matter of suicide.
A few months later, Budyonny married a second time - to Olga Mikhailova, a singer from the Bolshoi Theater. This young and very charming woman led an active social life and cheated on her husband, which is reliably known from the reports of the NKVD.
In 1932, the legendary cavalryman graduated from the Military Academy. And as part of mastering new ways of fighting, he even jumped once with a parachute. In 1935 he was given the rank of marshal
In 1937, Semyon Budyonny was appointed commander of the Moscow Military District and became a member of the Main Military Council of the People's Commissariat of Defense.
In the same 1937, Olga Mikhailova-Budyonnaya, the wife of the Marshal, was arrested and accused of espionage. As a result, she spent about twenty years in camps and exile. And Semyon Mikhailovich was informed immediately after her arrest that she had died. Therefore, he did not take any action to release her from prison.
Soon Budyonny married again - to a girl named Maria, who was thirty-three years younger than the commander. Despite such a significant difference between the spouses, this marriage union turned out to be strong and long. The couple had three children - two daughters and one son.
Budyonny continued to move up the career ladder after 1937. In 1939, he entered the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and became the Deputy People's Commissar of Defense.
Budyonny in the Great Patriotic War and after it
When Hitler's troops attacked the USSR, Semyon Budyonny was included in the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. From July 1941, he served as the commander-in-chief of the troops of the South-Western direction, and in September of the same year he began to command the Reserve Front, which played a significant role in the defense of the capital.
In April 1942, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the troops in the Caucasian direction. A few months later, in January 1943, Semyon Mikhailovich became the commander of the entire army cavalry and, in fact, remained so until the end of this terrible war.
From 1947 to 1953, he was the Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Soviet Union for horse breeding. It was during this period that the breed of horses was bred, called Budennovskaya.
In 1956, the second wife of Marshal Olga was finally released. Upon learning that she was alive, Budyonny helped her move to the capital and subsequently provided financial support. It is known that she came to visit her ex-spouse a couple of times.
In 1958, Budyonny was first awarded the title of Hero of the USSR for the merits of the past years (as a result, he will become a Hero three times). In addition, in 1958, the legendary military leader became the head of the Mongolian-Soviet Friendship Society and published the first volume of his memoirs under the title Path Traveled. Over the next fifteen years, the Marshal wrote and published two more volumes - from them you can learn many amazing facts about this great man.
Semyon Budyonny died on October 26, 1973, he was buried with honors behind the Mausoleum near the Kremlin wall.
