We recently wrote about the Kharkiv uniform, Model 1794.

In a hall at the National Military History Museum of Ukraine in Kyiv, dedicated to the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the events of the 1917-1921 Ukrainian War of Independence, we discovered images of another Sloboda Ukraine uniform.

It is interesting to note that the coat of arms depicted in the illustrations is the one from 1878–1887 (featuring a horse’s head), rather than the traditional one—with the cornucopia and caduceus—which existed both before and after that period.

This is the uniform of the Haidamak Kosh of Sloboda Ukraine, which was formed in Kyiv in December 1917 and existed until March 1918. It was then reorganized into the 3rd Haidamak Infantry Regiment, which became part of the Zaporizhzhia Corps, which soon entered Kharkiv. The illustrations of the uniform were created in the 1930s by Mykola Bitynsky, a heraldist and researcher of uniformology.

Although Nikolai Bitinsky served in the army of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, his drawings cannot be considered 100% proof that the uniform looked exactly like that. On military history forums online, the prevailing opinion is that they are reconstructions. Nevertheless, a photograph of A. Savelyev, a senior officer of the Black Haidamaks’ kuren in the Slobodsky Kosh, dated March 18, 1918, has survived. The photo shows slightly different insignia and details, but overall, Bitinsky’s drawings closely resemble it.

Sources:

• National Military History Museum of Ukraine
• http://forum.milua.org/