regiment expressed itself for us and did not even give the ex-ministers
a chance to finish their speeches. The groups which still opposed the
Soviet watch-words were made up mainly of officers, volunteers and
generally of bourgeois intellectuals and semi-intellectuals. The masses
of peasants and workmen were with us one and all. The demarcation ran as
a distinct social line.

The Fortress of Peter and Paul is the central military base of
Petrograd. As commandant thereof we appointed a young ensign. He proved
the best man for the post and within a few hours he became master of the
situation. The lawful authorities withdrew, biding their time. The
element regarded as unreliable for us were the cyclists, who in July had
smashed our party's military organization in the Kshessinsky mansion and
taken possession of the mansion itself. On the 23rd, I went to the
Fortress about 2 P. M. Within the courtyard a meeting was being held.
The speakers of the right wing were cautious and evasive in the extreme,
painstakingly avoiding the question of Kerensky, whose name inevitably
aroused shouts of protest and indignation even among the soldiers. We
were listened to, and our advice vas followed. About four o'clock, the
cyclists assembled nearby, in the "Modern" Circus, for a battalion
meeting. Among the speakers appearing there was Quartermaster-General
Paradyelof. He spoke with extreme caution. The days had been left far
behind, when official and semi-official speakers referred to the party
of the workers merely as to a gang of traitors and hired agents of the
German Kaiser.

The Lieutenant-Commander of the Staff accosted me with: "We really ought
to be able to come to some agreement." But it was already too late. The
whole battalion, with only thirty dissenting votes, had voted for
handing over all power to the Soviets.