"Bulgakov and his brother Nikolai fought as part of the Russian volunteer forces, attempting to protect their beloved city from Petlyura's advancing troops. During one particularly fierce battle for the village of Shali, Bulgakov attempted to save a colonel who was mortally wounded in the abdomen. Both the First World War and the Civil War were heavy burdens for him. During the disastrous evacuation of Novorossiysk to Crimea, Bulgakov and Tatyana were still in Vladikavkaz, preparing to evacuate alongside the army hospital.However, fate intervened cruelly. Bulgakov contracted typhus, a deadly disease rampant during the Civil War.