Suchan Valley Campaign

The Suchan Valley Campaign was the clearing and occupation of the mining region around the Russian town of Suchan (currently Partizansk, Russia) in a climatically-unforgiving region of Russia's Siberia during the Russian Civil War. A relatively clean sweep, the operation inflicted heavy casualties on the Bolsheviks.

Suchan Valley Campaign
Part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War
Sergey Lazo, commander of the Red Partisan squads defending the region during the American offensive.
Date July – August 1919 Location Suchan, Primorye, Russia Result American victory
Belligerents
United States	Russia (Bolshevik)
Commanders and leaders
Robert L. Eichelberger William S. Graves	Sergey Lazo[1]
Strength
3,520 USS Albany USS New Orleans	4,000–6,000
Casualties and losses
22 killed 33 wounded	500 killed[2]

Battle

With the failed Russian surprise assault against a numerically-inferior American force during the Battle of Romanovka in June, the Suchan Mines were entirely cut off from Vladivostok. Soviet control of these mines prevented the Americans from fulfilling specified duties in the region, so a three-pronged offensive was launched to clear the valley of armed opposition.

Five companies of the 31st Infantry, U.S. Army, took on the responsibility of clearing the Suchan, while every stretch of captured territory within the valley was handed over to garrison guard forces manned by the U.S. Marines and Navy.^[3][4]

References

1. История гражданской войны в СССР. Рипол Классик. 2013. p. 147. ISBN 9785458399241.
2. Birtle, Andrew. "U.S. Army Counterinsurgency and Contingency Operations Doctrine, 1860-1941." Center of Military History of the United States Army. Washington D.C., 1998.
3. "History, lineage, honors, decorations and seventy-third anniversary yearbook" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-09-30. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
4. "World War I - Commemorative Issue" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-11-19.