The sleeve patch of the officer of the 3rd Cossack Don ataman Kaledin regiment

The first regiment, named after the Military Order of St. Peter the Great. The Great Martyr and St. George, appeared in the Russian army in 1774, when the 3rd Cuirassier Regiment was named the Cuirassier Military Order for military merit. The officers of the regiment were most highly ordered to be recruited only from St. George's Cavaliers. The Dragoon regiment existed until 1917. During the First World War, the tradition was continued: in the summer of 1916. The separate security battalion of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Headquarters was renamed the St. George Battalion, staffed exclusively by St. George Cavaliers. It was assumed that the recipient of such an honorable award would be a good example for other soldiers. However, in practice, this principle was realized only during the Civil War, when the St. George Cossack regiments appeared in the Don Army. They were also equipped with St. George cavaliers. In 1918 and 1919 . The St. George units played an important role in the fight against the Red Army. Of the St. George units of the Don Cossacks, the most famous is the Gundorovsky regiment, which was formed from the Cossacks of the village of Gundorovskaya. Much less information has been preserved on the 3rd Don St. George Cossack Regiment, which was under the patronage of the Don Chieftain A.M. Kaledin. It was founded, apparently, in 1919. It is known that after the evacuation from Kuban, the regiment was reorganized and became part of the Russian Army of General P.N. Wrangel, while retaining the same number. After being evacuated from Crimea, it was recreated in Chataldzha in 1921 as part of the Don Corps. After his departure in 1922 from fr. Lemnos numbered 515 people. As a cadre unit, it existed as part of the Russian General Military Union until the 1930s. The regiment's strength in 1925 was 377 people, of which 81 officers, commander — Major General Lobov. 

According to eyewitnesses, the Cossacks who served in the Gundorovsky regiment wore shoulder straps with the numbers of those regiments in which they served during the First World War. Apparently, the situation was similar in other St. George units of the Don Army. In such circumstances, a specific distinguishing sign was needed, common to all ranks of this particular unit. In the Gundorovsky regiment, this function was performed by a breastplate in the form of a cross with the image of Adam's head (a symbol of immortality), and in the 3rd Don regiment - an armband, the composition of which combined the St. George ribbon, the cipher of the abbreviated name of the regiment, the date of foundation (1919), images of the badge of the Order of St. George and Adam's head. Images of crossed Cossack checkers are typical of the Don awards of the Civil War. Judging by the design (the patch is embroidered with gold and silver embroidery on a cloth field), the badge belonged to an officer or a cornet. The size is 110*158 mm. From the legacy of one of the RIA officers who lived in Paris.