Evacuation of Novorossiysk (1920)

Moreover, military forces flocking to Novorossiysk began to occupy ships on their own, and officials cared more about the evacuation of property that could be sold after the war.

On March 11, General George Milne, Commander-in-Chief of the British troops in the region, and Admiral Seymour, Commander of the Black Sea Fleet, arrived from Constantinople in Novorossiysk.

On March 25, 1920, parts of the Red Army, with the help of partisans, cashed the Volunteers from the Tunnelnaya station and crossed the pass into Gaiduk, a suburb of Novorossiysk.

At dawn on March 26, the last ship, the Italian transport Baron Beck entered the Tsemessky Bay, causing great turmoil as the people didn't know where it would land.

The military and civilian refugees on the transport ships were taken to the Crimea, Constantinople, Lemnos, the Prince Islands, Serbia, Cairo, and Malta.

Many of the officers of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia left in Novorossiysk committed suicide, not wanting to be captured, and many of those who became prisoners were later executed.

About 40,000 soldiers were evacuated by Russian and Allied ships, without horses or any heavy equipment, while about 20,000 men were left behind and either dispersed or were captured by the Red Army.

Following the disastrous Novorossiysk evacuation, Denikin stepped down and the military council elected Pyotr Wrangel as the new Commander-in-Chief of the White Army.