invariably fought well, as also did the Latvians and certain international regiments made up mostly of Magyars...." On August 27, Koehler was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, fourth class, with swords and bow by Kutepov. A telegram from General Vladimir Vitkovsky that was found in Koehler's papers years later reads, "With the feeling of sincere pleasure I learn that you have been awarded, sir, with the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th Class, with swords and bow and congratulate you with this high award, which commemorates the day of your visit to the fighting line of my corps." This, and two other Russian Imperial decorations, were among the last awarded to a foreigner or a Russian for that matter. As Koehler's published historiographer wrote, "The strict neutrality of the American Mission, so scrupulously adhered to by Admiral McCully, was evidently less than a pressing concern for the Commander." Koehler's conversations with peasants and townspeople in the Tauride yielded insight into the comparative failure of both the Reds and the Whites to improve the economic fortunes of the common man. Asking a farmer the price of wheat, as he complimented the man on the quality of his grain, Koehler was told, "Who could tell?" he answered. "He went on to explain that Bolsheviks took it for nothing, Wrangels forces offered sheaves of paper money for it- if that was standard, he added critically, it evidently must be worth something. Yet Bolsheviks came a long way for it, and Whites were extraordinarily anxious to get it, so it must have value for everyone except the man who had grown it." Koehler concluded that the conditions in "Red Russia" had been harder on the townspeople than the peasants. "The more I learned directly of conditions in Red Russia... the more evident it becomes that it is townspeople who suffered most from the Bolsheviks and conditions brought about by the Red regime. They gladly welcomed the Russian troops and quickly aligned themselves with the new Wrangel regime. peasants, although they suffered a certain loss from seizure of grain and horses, and although bitter against mobilization, nevertheless in general never suffered any hunger or the many requisitions of clothing, linen, household effects, and about everything else of value townspeople had to endure; nor have they seen at close hand the conduct and methods of the commissars... In these years the man who produces from the