Did Leon Trotsky actually lead troops in combat?

It has always been my understanding that, at least during its early years, the Red Army was led by Leon Trotsky. This is confirmed by Wikipedia.

Did this mean that Trotsky was actually in the front lines of combat during the Russian civil war, with his life on the line, leading troops into battle or otherwise having a position of command in the field? Or did he just “lead” the army from the Kremlin?

He oversaw the defense of Petrograd in 1919, but I don’t think he did other than that.

In “A People’s Tragedy:A History of the Russian Revolution”, Orlando Figes states

For almost three years, at the height of the Russian Civil War, Trotsky was to be found on an armored train that made a total of 36 journeys along the front lines. He may not have been at the head of decisive battles (though he did on occasion take part, for instance in a night raid from the river on the city of Kazan while it was being held by the White army) but it cannot be argued that he did nothing besides a few desultory appearances.

In his autobiography My Life, he writes about the experience:

This period of Trotsky’s life is well-documented in the five-volume collection How the Revolution Armed - speeches, articles, orders, and other records relating to his efforts to build the Red Army in the midst of a war.

Thanks for that info. I ask because I recall reading somewhere that Trotsky was very popular among front-line troops - possibly even moreso than Lenin was - because they considered him a soldier and not merely a politician.

I can back that up for you as well - another quote from My Life:

I won’t touch the subject of Trotsky’s popularity in comparison with Lenin but I will say that Trotsky never saw himself as competing against Lenin on those terms; Trotsky was a staunch (but not uncritical) supporter of Lenin and Lenin, in turn, at least once gave Trotsky a blank, signed military order with text to the effect that “Whatever Trotsky writes here has my full support and approval”.

I would say that Trotsky’s military role was similar to Eisenhower’s in World War II - he was directing military operations more than leading troops into battle.