THE SIEGE OF THE WINTER PALACE

The new government was not to gain control without some fighting, however. When the forces of the Soviet attempted to take possession of the Winter Palace, the headquarters of the Kerensky Government, they found the building in possession of a military force determined to give some resistance. Among the troops stationed here was the Women's Regiment, the Death Battalion, whose fame had been spread all over the world. The women immediately surrendered without firing a shot. It seems highly probable that this body was never intended for fighting, and that its surrender was with the full consent of the defenders within the building. The women were marched off and later disarmed; then the fighting began.

Within the square before the palace were stacked great quantities of firewood. Behind these woodpiles the Bolshevist forces immediately took shelter and opened up a steady fire at the windows of the palace.

Eventually, later in the night, the defenders of the Winter Palace surrendered.

Next day the bullet-spattered palace, the only visible sign of the revolution, drew vast throngs of the populace to the vicinity of the structure. On the Nevsky Prospect, where machine guns and armored cars and infantry had been massed were to be seen only the usual moving throng of pedestrians, among whom might be seen an occasional bandaged soldier or sailor, who had been wounded during the fight. Of the defenders of the Winter Palace about thirty had been killed or wounded, while the forces of the Soviet had lost only one sailor killed and several were wounded.

In spite of the fact that dispatches were announcing that the Bolsheviki were in a majority only in Petrograd, similar uprisings were taking place all over Russia, notably in Moscow. There the fighting seems to have been of a more determined nature, however, the casualties amounting to seven hundred on both sides. Eventually the Bolsheviki were triumphant.

After Kerensky left Petrograd, he managed, a few days later, to obtain the support of a small force of Cossacks, numbering three or four thousand, under General Krasnov, and with these he began an advance on Petrograd, reaching Gatchina, a few miles distant. Here he was joined by an additional force of military cadets, some light and heavy artillery, and an armored train.

Here he was attacked on Saturday, the 10th, and the fighting which then began lasted until Monday night. The Bolshevist forces included four of the famous Petrograd guard regiments, several battalions of sailors from the fleet, and a large number of armed workmen, known as the Red Guard.

"Our forces," reported a Bolshevist colonel, "were under a continuous shell fire, and many of our men were wounded, though few were killed. At one time a squadron of Kerensky's Cossacks attempted a charge near Tsarskoe Selo. They evidently were not familiar with the fact that officers of veteran regiments were with the Bolshevist forces, and, to their surprise, they were met by organized resistance. A heavy volley, which toppled over many of their horses, caused them severe losses. This was the last active attempt of the Kerensky forces to attack, and afterward they retreated."

Later reports seemed to indicate that the fighting had not been very severe and that the commander of the Kerensky forces, General Krasnov, was only half-hearted in his support of the former Premier. Or it may have been the attitude of his own soldiers which compelled him to begin parleying with the Bolshevist commander, the result of which was that the Cossacks joined the forces of the latter. General Krasnov joined them and made the following report regarding Kerensky:

"At 3 o'clock in the afternoon of November 1 (November 14, new style) I called at Kerensky's headquarters. He appeared nervous and excited.

"'General,' he said to me, 'you have betrayed me. Your Cossacks say they will arrest me and hand me over to the sailors.'

"'Yes,' I answered, 'such a discussion is now going on.'

"'Do the officers feel the same way?' he asked.

"'Yes.'

"'What shall I do? Will I have to commit suicide?'

"'If you are an honest man you will go to Petrograd under a white flag and appear before the Revolutionary Committee, where you will negotiate as head of the Government.'

"Kerensky agreed to this and he was promised a guard. He objected to a guard of sailors on the ground that he had enemies among them. He wanted to wait until night, but finally agreed to go in daytime. I ordered Colonel Kishkov, of the Tenth Don Cossacks, to appoint a guard of eight men. A half hour later the Cossacks told me that Kerensky could not be found. I raised the alarm, thinking he could not have left Gatchina."

It is evident that Kerensky could not trust himself to the Bolshevist leaders. There were rumors, but no authentic news came as to his whereabouts. Some reports placed him in Siberia; others with the Cossacks in southern Russia.