226. NOTE ON A LETTER FROM G. K. ORJONIKIDZE[1]
In the opinion both of Unshlikht and of Stalin, Sergo is a most reliable military worker. That he is a most loyal and most practical revolutionary, I know from my own experience of over 10 years.
[1] This was written on a letter from G. K. Orjonikidze (Sergo) of October 15, 1919, reporting disorder and criminal lack of discipline in the armies of the Southern Front.
Orjonikidze had written: “Something unbelievable, something bordering on treachery. A light-minded attitude to the work, an absolute failure to understand the seriousness of the situation. Not a sign of order at any of the headquarters. Front H.Q. is a riot.... Where is this order and discipline, where is Comrade Trotsky’s regular army?! How could he have allowed such a collapse? This is beyond all bounds.”