IN SIBERIA: Impressions of Nikolsk and Harbin

4.06.2009

Impressions of Nikolsk and Harbin

Nikolsk

Pop. about 50,000 63 miles from Vlad.

This town is the junction and end of double track from Vlad. The main line runs to Harbin, the Amur line to Khabarovsk, 1175 miles away. This town has a large railroad yard and also a nice city. This place is where the Zcecks had a hard fight with the Bolsheviks, killing many. The country West of here is good country and is very level for about 60 miles. Toward Khab. it also is in good shape.

Harbin, China

Pop. 2000,000 483 miles to Vlad.

Railway center of Trans-Siberian and Chinese Eastern Railway. This is the finest town in Manchuria. Large big station with a park (unreadable) There are three parts to this town, New, Old Harbin, and China Town. On this section they have American locomotives. The town has thousands of rickshaws run by coolies. The Soogaree (Songhua) river runs through this town, big boats come here. About 20 miles south of town a decisive battle was fought between the Russians and the Japanese. There is a line that runs to Port Arthur on the Chinese Eastern Railway. The town has many fine churches.
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More on Harbin here.

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Notes

February 20th 2013 -

Ahhh wow. It's February 2013. So, it's been 3 years since I've posted anything. It's as good time as any to get started again right?

*On Facebook - In Siberia

*Please see below on the right side for general info about the blog. Posts are to the left.

*This is a blog based on a journal. Posts are in reverse chronological order. Here is a link to the first entry.

*All of George's actual journal entries are in Courier font in order to more easily distinguish between my words and the journal.

About

This blog is based on the words of George C. Voegeli, my great grandfather. I will be posting portions of his journals, including the entirety of a consolidated journal he put together based on his hand written journals and his memory. I will also supplement the journals with historical background and information. Unless otherwise noted the entries come straight from George's consolidated journal. I will incoporate supplemental material from his other, hand written journals. When I do so I will identify the source of the post. Also, any posts that deal specifically with historical events, places or people will be clearly marked and sources cited. There will also be, from time to time, original drawings from Matt Boyle.

Historical Information

George Voegeli was part of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in Siberia from 1918-1920. Approximately 8,000 men were part of this force which inlcuded the Amry's 27th and 31st regiments. The AEF was sent to Siberia and Northern Russia in an attempt to maintain order after the Russian Civil War (Revolution) and to protect key military interests originally sent by the U.S. to support the previous Russian government's efforts in the Eastern front of WWI from the various local competing groups. The groups included the Cossacks, Bolsheviks, and Japanese. The AEF was also sent to rescue the Czech Legions who had been fighting against the Austrio-Hungarian forces. [wikipedia for more info] The political history of this area and time are incredibly complex and I am learning there implications more or less on the fly.

On Historical Accuracy

On Editing

The content of the original consolidated journal is entirely intact. Some spelling errors have been fixed. Also, the occasional run on sentence has been changed to multiple sentences when necessary. Paragraph breaks and George's titles are also intact. The title of certain blog posts will not necessarily be his titles, but some will. While he did utilize titles and headings sometimes the length of certain of his entries will necessitate multiple blog posts here and therefore I will choose titles for these blog posts when needed.

Also, not all of the journal entries or events mentioned are dated. Therefore, many entries will not indicate nor contain a date. Where a date is referenced or can be inferred I will include it.