(From Voennaya Entsiklopediya, I. D. Satyn, 1911-1915.)

VEREVKIN, Nikolai Aleksandrovich. Lieutenant general, educated in the 1st Moscow Cadet Corps. 1839 graduated as ensign in the artillery. In 1848 Verevkin, in the rank of lieutenant, was in General Rudiger's 3rd Corps and took part in the battles with the Hungarians at Waitzen [Vac] and Debreczin and was awarded the order of St. Vladimir 4th class and promotion to staff-captain. In the Eastern War of 1853-55, Captain Verevkin commanded an artillery division [divzion, i.e. a sub-division of a battery - M.C.] and took part in the siege of Silistria, and then was assigned to be a staff officer to the chief of artillery of the Southern Army. For the battle of the Chernaya River on 4 August 1855, Verevkin received a gold sword, and for service at Sevastopol - promotion to lieutenant colonel. At the end of the war Verevkin commanded a battery of the 17th Artillery Brigade. Serving in 1861 at the disposal of the commander of the Orenburg Corps, Verevkin took part in the taking of Yany-Kurgan and for distinction in battle was promoted to colonel and assigned command of the Amu-Darya Line. For capturing the town of Turkestan with a small force, Verevkin was awarded the order of St. George 4th class and promoted to major general. In 1865 he was named Government Ataman of the Ural Cossack Host. In 1873 Verevkin was given command of the Orenburg column that was part of General Kaufman's forces for the Khiva campaign. Leaving the Emba Post on 26 February, Verevkin headed across the steppe toward Khiva, hindered by deep snows. The march was extremely difficult. Begun in a severe winter, it ended in scorching heat on the sandy steppe. During the journey there were almost daily skirmishes with the enemy. The towns of Khodzheili, Mangyt, and Kot-Kunyr were taken and razed. On 14 May General Verevkin's vanguard met with the Mangyshlak column, and on 27 May both forces deployed into position 5 miles from Khiva. On the 28th the advance forces approached close to the town and opened fire on the walls. There was answering fire from Khiva, and one of these shots wounded Verevkin in the head. That same evening Verevkin received the information that General Kaufman with the main forces was only 10 miles from Khiva and had entered into negotiations with the khan. At the same time, Verevkin received an order from Kaufman that if the Khivans did not open fire in the morning, he was to move his entire force to the Sarykupryuk Bridge and there join up with the Turkestan column. General Verevkin had difficulty moving his supply train and wounded men, and only sent a small force to the bridge. On the morning of the 29th, he himself deployed a battery opposite the Shakh-Abad gate and demanded that it be opened. The Khivans refused to do this, but opened the Khazarai gate located on the opposite side of the town in order allow entry to General Kaufman's column. Verevkin then broke the gate down with artillery fire and moved part of his force into the town. On that same day General Kaufman occupied Khiva and reported the subjugation of the Khivan Khanate to the sovereign. For this campaign Verevkin was decorated with the orders of St. George 3rd class and St. Vladimir 2nd class. Upon the end of military operations he again took up the duties of government ataman. In 1874, under Verevkin, a new regulation on military obligations and host economic administration was instituted for the Ural Host. In 1876 Major General Verevkin was named a member of the Alexander Committee for Wounded Soldiers. He died on 10 July 1878.

Translated by Mark Conrad, 2000.