File No. 861.00/2375
The Consul General at Irkutsk (Harris) to the Secretary of State
[Received July 30.]
Sir: Concerning the movement of the Czecho-Slovaks through Siberia to Vladivostok I have the honor to state: On May 28 I telegraphed in cipher to the American Consul in Vladivostok a report concerning the Czecho-Slovaks in Irkutsk.2 This was done because this Consulate has not yet been furnished with a cipher code which will enable me to communicate direct with the Department. At present it is also impossible to communicate with the Ambassador at Vologda for the reason that the line is interrupted.
On the afternoon of May 26 a train arrived in Irkutsk carrying Czecho-Slovaks to Vladivostok. I may add here that according to a statement of the Central Siberian government here in Irkutsk [Page 185] instructions have been received from the Bolshevik government in Moscow to disarm all the Czecho-Slovak trains.
An attempt was made to carry out this program and it resulted in a clash in which according to the official Czech report 8 were killed, 7 died of wounds, 36 wounded, and 5 wounded who were subjected afterwards to surgical amputations. There were about 600 Czechs engaged. The official report of the Red Guard losses has not been made public but I am certain that they were even heavier than those of the Czechs. However, it would appear that the Czechs finally gave up their arms voluntarily and further bloodshed was avoided, and this particular train shortly proceeded on its way.
About 10 o’clock that night two further Czech trains arrived at a station called Innokentevskaya seven versts west of Irkutsk and directly opposite an Austro-German prison camp which is located about one and one-half miles across an open field. From the best information obtainable and supported by the personal investigations of the French Consul General and myself on the spot it would appear that these two trains were attacked about midnight by armed Austrian and German prisoners. There were about 1,000 Czechs engaged and they evidently made short work of the Austrians and Germans who made the attack. While the conflict was on, the Soviet sent two Commissars of Foreign Affairs to me urging my intervention in order to stop further bloodshed. I immediately called upon the French Consul General and we proceeded at daybreak under a flag of truce to the scene of action. The Czechs had captured 22 Austrians, 4 Germans, and 9 Russians who were members of the Red Guard. There were also a large number of Austrian and German wounded who had been removed to the camp. I at once called upon the Russian commandant of the prison camp in order to get all the facts from both sides. An Austrian officer was permitted to accompany me back to the Czech trains in order to establish the nationality of the prisoners. In addition to the prisoners above mentioned 5 had been killed and already buried before my arrival. These I had disinterred in order to establish their nationality. The Austrian officer identified these as being 4 Austrians and 1 German. I desire to state in this connection that the dead and all the prisoners, with the exception of two or three, were all in the uniforms of their respective nationalities. This seems to establish beyond doubt the question that a large number of the prisoners in Irkutsk are armed. From the best authority obtainable I have it that there are now 600 prisoners armed in this city and they compose a large part of the Red Guard. I have seen a few Austrian prisoners on the streets in Austrian uniforms bearing arms.
Under the good offices of the French Consul General and myself we succeeded in disarming these two trains of Czechs, also a third [Page 186] train which had arrived in the meantime at another station a few versts farther west. The compact of disarmament agreed upon by the Czech commanders, the two Soviet Commissars, the French Consul General, and myself was as enclosed herewith. That was signed by the Czech commanders, the two Commissars for Foreign Affairs, the French Consul General, and myself.
The disarmament of these three trains was carried out without a hitch in spite of the fact that the feeling was running high. A Commissar of the Soviet was placed in each train, and I instructed Consul Macgowan to accompany the whole lot to Vladivostok. I have just received a telegram at a station beyond Chita from Consul Jenkins who joined Consul Macgowan that these trains had already passed this station. It would appear therefore that the action taken by the French Consul General and myself here in Irkutsk is being justified, inasmuch as no further trouble has been reported to me concerning the Czech trains which are now proceeding eastward.
I shall keep the Department promptly informed by cable of all new developments in this matter.
I have [etc.]
- Telegrams narrating the events described below were received, with numerous omissions, via Vladivostok and Yokohama, June 5 (File No. 861.00/1960). One of them was also received, via Peking, July 4 (File No. 763.72/10601).↩