Plan
Introduction
1 Background
2 Campaign of 1769
3 Campaign of 1770
4 Campaign of 1771
5 Campaign of 1773
6 Campaign of 1774
7 Results of the war
8 Naval Campaigns
Bibliography
Russian-Turkish War (1768-1774)

Introduction

The Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774 is one of the key wars between the Russian and Ottoman empires, as a result of which Novorossia (now southern Ukraine), the northern Caucasus and the Crimean Khanate, which formally gained independence, but de facto became dependent on Russia.

The war was preceded by an internal crisis in Poland, where discord reigned between the gentry and King Stanislaw August Poniatowski, former lover Russian Empress Catherine II, dependent on Russian support.

A detachment of Cossacks who were in the Russian service, pursuing the Polish insurgent forces, entered the city of Balta, thus invading the territory Ottoman Empire... She, in turn, was not slow to accuse them of the massacre of the inhabitants of the city, which was rejected by the Russian side. Using the incident, Sultan Mustafa III declared war on Russia on September 25, 1768. The Turks formed an alliance with the Polish rebels, while Britain supported Russia by sending military advisers to the Russian fleet.

The Polish rebels were utterly defeated by Alexander Suvorov, after which he moved to the theater of operations against Turkey. In 1773 and 1774, Suvorov won several important battles, building on the previous success of Peter Rumyantsev at Larga and Cahul.

The naval operations of the Russian Baltic Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea under the command of Count Alexei Orlov brought even more spectacular victories. In 1771, Egypt and Syria mutinied against the Ottoman Empire, while its fleet was completely destroyed by Russian ships.

On July 21, 1774, the Ottoman Empire signed the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi treaty with Russia, as a result of which the Crimean Khanate formally gained independence, but de facto became dependent on Russia. Turkey paid Russia military indemnities in the order of 4.5 million rubles, and also ceded the northern coast of the Black Sea along with two important ports.

Russian-Turkish war 1768-1774 was a link in a series of mainly victorious wars for Russia in the southwestern direction (Russian-Turkish wars).

1. Background

After the conclusion of the Belgrade Peace, the Ottoman Empire, exhausted by the war with Persia, was in a very difficult situation, and the Russian resident Veshnyakov urged his government to take advantage of the circumstances and start a war with Turkey. The Russian government ignored his advice, moreover, behaved very cautiously and restrained. A similar policy towards Turkey continued throughout the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna. This policy had the hardest impact on the position of the Balkan Christians, who looked at Russia as a deliverer from the Ottoman yoke, since they expected their deliverance only from her. After the Belgrade Peace, Turkey, as if in revenge for the war of the 1730s, began to persecute Christians especially strongly. The latter abandoned their homes and property and fled to Russia.

In view of the fact that the resettlement of Christians from Turkey to Russia could lead to political complications, the Russian government issued a decree prohibiting the passage of passportless people across the Russian border. This decree made it difficult for the resettlement of the Slavs. Veshnyakov very strongly asked for the cancellation or mitigation of this decree, especially since the enemy of Russia, France, tried to act on the Slavs in a kind, ingratiating manner. Veshnyakov recommended that his government withdraw special lands for the settlement of the Slavs, showing how the Slavs settled in Russia can be useful in further wars with Turkey. As if in response to this, the military collegium in 1743 once again confirmed the decree of the Senate on the non-entry of passportless Slavs across the border.

In 1745 Veshnyakov died in Constantinople, and Adrian Neplyuev was appointed in his place, who immediately began to treat Porte with pride and determination. This gave its results. The Turkish government fulfilled all the requirements of Neplyuev and for a long time did not violate peaceful relations with Russia.

Neplyuev was replaced by Obrezkov. Under him, the question of the resettlement of Balkan Christians to Russia was again raised. The impetus for raising this issue was the resettlement of the Austrian Serbs to Russia.

At the end of the 17th century, up to 60 thousand Serbs, led by Patriarch Arseny III Charnoevich, left Turkey and, with the permission of Emperor Leopold, settled within Austria. The Austrian Serbs rendered great assistance to the new homeland in the struggle against the Turks and Hungarians. But in the middle of the 18th century, the Hungarians, having entered the trust of the Austrian government, began to solicit the transfer of the Serbs to their jurisdiction and began to crowd out the latter. Seeing the impossibility of defending his former independent position in Austria, Colonel Horvath in May 1751, through the Russian ambassador in Vienna Bestuzhev, asked to allocate land for the Serbs to settle somewhere in Little Russia, and Horvath promised to bring with him a hussar regiment of 1000 people. The Croat's proposal was accepted, and the Serbs were allocated land for settlement from the Arkhangelsk town along the Southern Bug River, as well as along the Sinyukha and Visa rivers, and were allowed to build the fortress of St. Elizabeth.

In October 1751 Horvat, taking the Serbs with their wives and children (only 300 people), arrived in Kiev. The news of the resettlement of the Austrian Serbs alarmed the rest of the Slavic world: Montenegrins, Bulgarians, Vlachs, Serbs also decided to move to Russia, and deputy Zamfiranovich arrived from Moldova to petition about this. The St. Petersburg government, not daring to give an answer to this petition, instructed its resident in Constantinople Obrezkov to ask the consent of the Port for resettlement. Obrezkov replied that the Port, of course, would not officially give such permission, but individual resettlements would probably be ignored.

The construction of the fortress of St. Elizabeth gave the opportunity French ambassador to draw Turkey's attention to the alleged intrigues against it by Russia. There were explanations, the matter reached the arbitration court of the English and Austrian envoys, who decided the case first in favor of Russia, and then, at the insistence of Porte, asked the opinions of their cabinets whether the construction of the fortress of St. Elizabeth is made by Russia not in violation of the agreements concluded with Turkey.

This case dragged on until 1754, when Sultan Mahmud ordered an end to all bickering. On December 2 of the same year, the Sultan died. His successor, Osman, resumed negotiations, and the Russian government, which in general was very careful in relations with Turkey, decided to suspend work on the construction of the fortress. The same caution was also the reason that when in 1755 the Montenegrin metropolitan turned to Russia for help against the Turks, Russia responded very evasively and promised through Obrezkov to make an appropriate presentation to Porte at an opportunity. For a long time, Obrezkov did not find such a case. Russia at the time was involved in the Seven Years' War, and more than ever it needed caution in dealing with the Ottoman Empire.

More than ten years passed in this way. At the end of the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, during a short reign Peter III and at the beginning of the reign of Catherine II, peace was maintained in relations with Turkey. The aggravation of relations was caused by the events in Poland. On the basis of treaties with Turkey, Russia pledged not to interfere in Polish affairs and not to send its troops into the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

At the end of September 1763, King August III died in Poland and the usual disagreements between parties began. Among other powers, Russia also intervened in the election of the king, and in 1764 its candidate, Stanislav Ponyatovsky, was elected. The struggle of the parties continued after the election of the king, the question of dissidents was again raised, Russian troops were brought into Poland, and the Russian envoy in Warsaw, Prince Repnin, defended the interests of his government so vigorously that at every step he allowed illegal actions, which eventually reached the arrest of more prominent and influential members of the Diet.

To counteract Russian influence, a confederation was formed in 1768, which entered into a struggle with the Russian troops. In a difficult situation, the Confederates turned to the Porte for help. Large treasures were collected to bribe influential persons in Constantinople. The French government actively supported the Poles' petition and used all possible measures to embroil Turkey with Russia.

For a long time, this policy did not produce results. The French government was dissatisfied with the activities of its ambassador Vergene and sent Saint-Prix to help him, and then a special agent Tolay. The latter persuaded the Confederates to cede Volhynia and Podolia to Turkey if she would help Poland. This proposal broke Turkey's toughness.

At the same time, the Haidamaks attacked the Turkish border town of Balta and burned it down. The Ottoman government demanded satisfaction. The Gaidamaks were caught and severely punished. Porta only looked for a pretext to break with Russia and was not satisfied with this. On October 6, 1768, the Ottoman Grand Vizier invited Obrezkov to his place, treated him abusively and rudely and ordered him to be imprisoned in the Seven-Tower Castle. Porta blamed Russia for the rupture. Russia, according to her, repeatedly violated the concluded treatises, built fortresses near the borders of Turkey, intervened in the affairs of Poland, seeking to limit the liberties of the Poles and promoting the election to the throne of “a man from among officers unworthy to be a king, and from whose family name and ancestors no one was king "; finally, the Russian troops ravaged the Balta. Catherine, for her part, addressed a circular note to the European courts, in which she tried to explain and prove the fairness and directness of Russian policy and point out the injustice of the Porte, incited by the opponents of Russia.

He moved with the Russian army to the Crimea. With a frontal attack, he captured the fortifications of Perekop, went deep into the peninsula, took Khazleiv (Evpatoria), destroyed the khan's capital Bakhchisarai and Akmechet (Simferopol). However, the Crimean Khan, constantly evading decisive battles with the Russians, managed to save his army from extermination. At the end of the summer, Minich returned from Crimea to Ukraine. In the same year, General Leontyev, acting against the Turks from the other side, took Kinburn (a fortress near the mouth of the Dnieper), and Lassi took Azov.

Russian-Turkish War 1735-1739. Map

In the spring of 1737, Minikh moved to Ochakov, a fortress that covered the exits to the Black Sea from Southern Bug and the Dnieper. Due to his inept actions, the capture of Ochakov cost the Russian troops quite large losses (although they were still many times less than the Turkish ones). Even more soldiers and Cossacks (up to 16 thousand) died due to unsanitary conditions: the German Minich cared little about the health and nutrition of the Russian soldiers. Due to the huge loss of soldiers, Minich stopped the campaign of 1737 immediately after the capture of Ochakov. General Lassi, operating in 1737 east of Minich, broke through to the Crimea and dispersed detachments across the peninsula that ruined up to 1000 Tatar villages.

Through the fault of Minich, the military campaign of 1738 ended in vain: the Russian army, aiming at Moldavia, did not dare to cross the Dniester, since a large Turkish army stood on the other side of the river.

In March 1739, Minich crossed the Dniester at the head of the Russian army. Due to his mediocrity, he immediately fell into an almost hopeless encirclement near the village of Stavuchany. But thanks to the heroism of the soldiers who unexpectedly attacked the enemy in a half-passable place, Stavuchansk battle(the first clash of the Russians with the Turks in the open field) ended in a brilliant victory. Huge troops of the Sultan and the Crimean Khan fled in panic, and Minikh, taking advantage of this, took the nearby strong fortress Khotin.

In September 1739 the Russian army entered the Moldavian principality. Minikh forced his boyars to sign an agreement on the transfer of Moldova to Russian citizenship. But on the very crest of the successes, the news came that the Russian allies, the Austrians, were ending the war against the Turks. Upon learning of this, Empress Anna Ioannovna also decided to graduate. The Russo-Turkish War of 1735-1739 ended with the Peace of Belgrade (1739).

Russian-Turkish war 1768-1774 - briefly

This Russo-Turkish war began in the winter of 1768-69. Golitsyn's Russian army crossed the Dniester, took the Khotin fortress and entered Yassy. Almost all of Moldova swore allegiance to Catherine II.

The young empress and her favorites, the Orlov brothers, made bold plans, intending already during this Russian-Turkish war to expel Muslims from the Balkan Peninsula. The Orlovs suggested sending out agents to rouse the Balkan Christians to a general uprising against the Turks and to move Russian squadrons into the Aegean Sea to support it.

In the summer of 1769, the fleets of Spiridov and Elfinston sailed from Kronstadt to the Mediterranean. Arriving on the shores of Greece, they instigated a revolt against the Turks in Morey (Peloponnese), but it did not reach the force that Catherine II had counted on, and was soon suppressed. However, the Russian admirals soon won a dizzying naval victory. Attacking the Turkish fleet, they drove it into the Chesme Bay (Asia Minor) and completely destroyed it, sending incendiary fire ships to the crowded enemy ships (Chesme battle, June 1770). By the end of 1770, the Russian squadron captured up to 20 islands of the Aegean archipelago.

Russian-Turkish war 1768-1774. Map

In the land theater of war, the Russian army of Rumyantsev, operating in Moldova, in the summer of 1770 utterly defeated the forces of the Turks in the battles of Larga and Cahul. These victories handed over to the Russians all of Wallachia with powerful Ottoman strongholds along the left bank of the Danube (Izmail, Kiliya, Akkerman, Brailov, Bucharest). There were no Turkish troops north of the Danube.

In 1771, the army of V. Dolgoruky, defeating the horde of Khan Selim-Girey at Perekop, occupied the entire Crimea, placed garrisons in its main fortresses and placed Sahib-Girey on the khan's throne, who had sworn allegiance to the Russian empress. Orlov and Spiridov's squadron in 1771 made distant raids from the Aegean Sea to the shores of Syria, Palestine and Egypt, then under the control of the Turks. The successes of the Russian armies were so brilliant that Catherine II hoped, as a result of this war, to finally annex Crimea and ensure independence from the Turks of Moldavia and Wallachia, which were to come under the influence of Russia.

But this was opposed by the Western European Franco-Austrian bloc hostile to the Russians, and the formal ally of Russia, the Prussian king Frederick II the Great, behaved treacherously. Taking advantage of the brilliant victories in the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774, Catherine II was prevented by the simultaneous involvement of Russia in the Polish unrest. Frightening Austria with Russia, and Russia with Austria, Frederick II put forward a project according to which Catherine II was offered to abandon extensive seizures in the south in exchange for compensation from Polish lands. In the face of the strongest Western pressure, the Russian empress had to accept this plan. It was realized in the form of the First Partition of Poland (1772).

Pyotr Alexandrovich Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky

The Ottoman sultan, however, wanted to get out of the Russian-Turkish war of 1768 without any losses at all and did not agree to recognize not only the annexation of Crimea to Russia, but even its independence. Peace negotiations between Turkey and Russia in Focsani (July-August 1772) and Bucharest (late 1772 - early 1773) ended in vain, and Catherine II ordered Rumyantsev to invade with an army across the Danube. In 1773 Rumyantsev made two trips across this river, and in the spring of 1774 - the third. Due to the small number of his army (part of the Russian forces had to be withdrawn from the Turkish front to fight against Pugachev at that time), Rumyantsev did not achieve anything outstanding in 1773. But in 1774 AV Suvorov with an 8-thousandth corps utterly defeated 40 thousand Turks at Kozludzha. With this, he brought such horror to the enemy that when the Russians headed for the strong fortress of Shumle, the Turks in panic rushed to flee from there.

The Sultan then hastened to resume peace negotiations and signed the Kuchuk-Kaynardzhi peace, which ended the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774.

Russian-Turkish war 1787-1791 - briefly

Russian-Turkish war 1806-1812 - briefly

For details about it, see the article.

The brutal suppression of the Greek uprising of the 1820s by the Turks provoked a response from a number of European powers. Russia, one of the same faith with the Orthodox Greeks, acted most energetically; England and France joined it not without hesitation. In October 1827, the combined Anglo-Russian-French fleet utterly defeated the Egyptian squadron of Ibrahim, which helped the Turkish sultan suppress the rebellious Greece, in the battle of Navarino (near the southwestern coast of the Peloponnese).

The beginning of the war. Battle of Chesme (1770)

By the second half of the 18th century, the days when Europeans associated the name of the Turks with the end of the world were long gone. However, the power of Turkey, or the Ottoman Port, did not yet seem illusory to Europe. Having conceded the sea to the Europeans, the Turks continued to remain formidable opponents on land. This was all the more strange because the European military art has stepped far forward, and the mode of operations of the Turkish army has hardly changed over the past three centuries. The Turks immediately brought a huge mass of troops into battle. Their first blow was terrible, but if the enemy managed to withstand it, the battle was usually lost by the Turks. The Turkish troops easily succumbed to panic, and their numerical superiority turned against themselves, preventing them from rebuilding the battle formations and repelling the enemy counterattack. The Turks preferred to attack in large concentrations of cavalry. The most efficient part of the infantry consisted of regular units of janissaries, formed by the forcible recruitment of boys and youths in the Christian parts of the Ottoman Empire. Turkish artillery was not inferior in quality to European, but the Turks lagged behind in organizing artillery work.

He was the first to discover successful tactics of a field battle against the Turks in early XVIII century Evgeny Savoysky. The Austrian generalissimo tried at first to withstand the first onslaught of the Turks, building his troops in huge squares and protecting them with slingshots. In case of success on the battlefield, he moved on to the siege of Turkish fortresses.

For a long time, the Russian army could not successfully resist the Turks: the Turkish campaigns ended ingloriously during the time of Sophia, Peter I suffered a catastrophe on the banks of the Prut. Only Field Marshal Munnich, a student of the Prince of Savoy, managed to find a real way of dealing with them. The Stavuchansk victory, the capture of Khotin, the occupation of Moldavia were original feats and brilliant for those times. However, Minich also adhered to a purely defensive tactics. Slow movements of troops, built in clumsy divisional squares, long sieges of fortresses, as well as the name of a foreigner and intolerable pride prevented Munnich from winning decisive victories.

The war declared to Russia by Turkey in 1768 entailed fundamental changes in the actions of the Russian army. The Russians, under the command of Golitsyn and Rumyantsev, spent the first year of the war still timidly, trying mainly to prevent a Turkish invasion. But the year 1770 deafened both the Turks and the Russians with the thunder of unheard-of victories. Rumyantsev's military talent was suddenly revealed in full splendor. He decided to destroy the slingshots, which instilled shyness in the soldiers, and to attack the horse masses of the Turks with small, mobile squares. The success of this tactic was overwhelming. The 38,000-strong Russian army defeated 80,000 Turks at Larga, and then crushed the 150,000-strong army of the Grand Vizier on the Cahul River. The battle of Cahul was the largest victory of the European army over the Turks in the entire history of their military conflicts.

Rumyantsev reported this victory to Catherine: “May it be allowed to me, most merciful sovereign, to simulate the deeds of the ancient Romans, which Your Imperial Majesty told me to imitate: is not the army of Your Imperial Majesty now acting when it does not ask how great the enemy is, but only looking for where he is. "

Unfortunately, such glorious victories did not end the war. The military merits of Rumyantsev, undoubted in the field of tactics, somehow strangely disappeared when it came to strategy. Here he was still held captive by outdated views. Instead of pursuing the Turks and building on his success, Rumyantsev engaged in the "correct" siege of the Turkish fortresses, dissipated his forces and lost time, allowing the Turks to recover from their defeats. His caution extended to the point that he often did not give precise instructions to subordinates in order to have an excuse in case of failure. Seeking fame, Rumyantsev was afraid of dishonor, and in 1771 he spent in indecisive, sluggish actions.

The empress herself showed much more decisiveness. She developed an amazing energy, worked like a real chief of the general staff, entered the details of military preparations, made plans and instructions, with all her might hastened to build an Azov flotilla and frigates for the Black Sea, sent her agents to all corners and nooks of the Turkish Empire in search of , where to arrange a turmoil, conspiracy or uprising, raised the kings of Imereti and Georgia against the Turks and at every step ran into her unpreparedness for war: deciding to send a sea expedition to the shores of the Morea, she asked her ambassador in London to send her a map of the Mediterranean Sea and the Archipelago; bothering to raise the Transcaucasus, she wondered where Tiflis was - on the Caspian, Black Sea coast, or inside the country. Her thoughts were dispersed by the Orlov brothers, who could only make up their minds, not think. At one of the first meetings of the council, which was convening for war affairs under the chairmanship of the empress, Grigory Orlov proposed sending an expedition to the Mediterranean. A little later, his brother Alexei, who underwent medical treatment in Italy, also indicated the direct goal of the expedition: if you go, then go to Constantinople and free all the Orthodox from the heavy yoke, and the unfaithful Mohammedans, according to Peter the Great, drive empty and sandy into the fields and steppes. , to their former dwellings. He himself asked to be the leader of the uprising of Turkish Christians.

It was necessary to have a lot of faith in providence, writes V.O. Klyuchevsky to send a fleet for such a task, bypassing almost all of Europe, which Catherine herself four years ago recognized as worthless. And he was in a hurry to justify the review. As soon as the squadron that sailed from Kronstadt (July 1769) under the command of Spiridov entered the open sea, one ship of the newest construction turned out to be unfit for further navigation. The Russian ambassadors in Denmark and England, examining the passing squadron, were struck by the ignorance of the officers, the lack of good sailors, the many sick people and the despondency of the entire crew.

The squadron moved slowly. Catherine lost her temper with impatience and asked Spiridov for God's sake not to hesitate, to gather spiritual strength and not to shame her in front of the whole world. Of the 15 large and small ships of the squadron, only 8 reached the Mediterranean Sea. When A. Orlov examined them in Livorno, his hair stood on end, and his heart was poured with blood: no provisions, no money, no doctors, no knowledgeable officers. With a small detachment, he quickly raised Morea against the Turks, but failed at the arrival of the Turkish army and left the Greeks to fend for themselves, irritated that he did not find Themistocles in them. Joining up with another Russian squadron that had approached in the meantime, Orlov chased the Turkish fleet and in the Chios Strait near the Chesma fortress overtook an armada that was twice as large as the Russians. The daredevil was frightened when he saw "this structure", and in desperation attacked him.

After a four-hour battle, when the Turkish flagship, which had been set on fire by it, took off after the Russian "Eustathius", the Turks took refuge in the Chesme Bay. A day later (June 26, 1770), on a moonlit night, the Russians launched fire ships and by morning the Turkish fleet crowded in the bay was burned. Not long before that, Catherine wrote to one of her ambassadors: "If God pleases, you will see miracles." And, Klyuchevsky notes, a miracle happened: there was a fleet in the Archipelago, worse than the Russian one. “If we had not dealt with the Turks, all [us] would have been easily passed over,” A. Orlov wrote.

The successes of Russian weapons turned France, Austria and Sweden against Russia. Catherine II entered into negotiations with the Sultan, but Turkey, having fully recovered from the shock, showed intransigence. “If, under the peace treaty, the independence of the Tatars [Crimea], nor the sailing on the Black Sea, is retained, then it can be said for true that with all the victories, we did not win a penny over the Turks,” Catherine expressed her opinion to the Russian envoy in Constantinople, - I will be the first to say that such a world will be as shameful as Prutsky and Belgradsky in reasoning of circumstances.

The year 1772 passed in fruitless negotiations, and in March 1773 hostilities resumed.

Arrival in the army of Suvorov

In the winter of 1772, Suvorov was ordered to inspect the Russian-Swedish border "with a note of political circumstances." As he expected, there was no serious military threat from Sweden. Upon his return to St. Petersburg, he managed to procure from Catherine II an appointment to the Moldovan army. On April 4, the Military Collegium decided: to send Major General Suvorov to the 1st Army, giving him 2 thousand rubles granted to him for the road. Four days later, having received a travel passport, Suvorov left for the Rumyantsev army.

In early May, he was already in Iasi. Rumyantsev received him rather coldly, without showing any differences (envy and arrogance were among the bad qualities of Rumyantsev) and appointed Suvorov to the corps of Lieutenant-General Count Saltykov, located near the Negoesht Monastery.

Suvorov's arrival in Moldova coincided with the beginning of active operations against the Turks. Back in February, Rumyantsev received an order from the empress to go beyond the Danube, defeat the vizier and occupy the edge to the Balkans. Rumyantsev did not fulfill this order - he had only about 50 thousand people with whom he had to guard the cordon line 750 miles long, as well as the Valakh and Moldavian principalities. Meanwhile, the forces of the Turks in the Shumla region were growing and had already begun to harass the Russian outposts on the Danube.

Battle of Turtukai

Rumyantsev developed a plan for conducting small searches on the right bank of the Danube. The main one - the raid on Turtukai - was entrusted to Suvorov.

The Turtukay fortress covered the crossing of the Danube at the mouth of the Ardzhesh River. The Danube is not wide here, and Turkish patrols often crossed themselves to the Russian coast.

Suvorov immediately found himself in his native, offensive element. He prepared 17 boats for his 600 men. Since the mouth of the Arjesh was shot through by Turkish artillery, he gave the order to secretly deliver ships on carts. At the same time, he asked Saltykov for the infantry for reinforcements.

On the evening of May 7, Suvorov once again examined the crossing and went to bed at the outposts not far from the coast. Before dawn, he was awakened by shots and loud shouts of "Alla, Alla!" - this Turkish detachment attacked the Cossacks. Jumping to his feet, Alexander Vasilyevich saw the Turks galloping not far from him. He barely had time to gallop away after the Cossacks.

With the help of the infantry, the Turks were driven away. One of the prisoners showed that the Turtukay garrison reaches 4 thousand people.

On the morning of May 8, carts with boats and reinforcements arrived. Saltykov sent cavalry. Suvorov wonders: why does he need her? Nevertheless, he appoints the crossing on the night of May 9 and sits down to write the disposition: the infantry is ferried by boats, the cavalry is by swimming; the attack is carried out in two squares, the arrows disturb the enemy, the reserve does not unnecessarily reinforce; to repulse Turkish raids offensively; details depend on the circumstances and skill of the commanders; Turtukai burn and destroy; to allocate four people from each corporality to take the booty, the rest should not be distracted by the robbery; to spare wives, children and the townsfolk very much, not to touch mosques and clergy, so that the enemy spares Christian churches; God help!

Suvorov is worried about the lack of infantry in his detachment. He writes several notes to Saltykov one after another, where he persistently repeats: “Alas, there is not enough infantry; the carabinieri is extraordinary, but what should they do on the other side? ”; "Everything seems to me a little infantry, and hardly over 500." In the last note, he assures Saltykov that "everything will be fine, as [if] God is pleased" and adds: "But the infantry, it seems, is not enough." Suvorov needs resounding success, so he doesn't want to rely on surprise alone. The notes reflect not hesitations of will, but the mature deliberation of his actions.

In the evening, Alexander Vasilyevich once again drove around the coast and placed the battery himself.

At nightfall, the Russians began their crossing. The Turks opened fire, but in the dark they could not do much harm. The Russians lined up in squares and struck with bayonets. The attack was fierce, the officers were the first to mount the enemy batteries. The excitement was so great that no prisoners were taken. Suvorov was in one of the squares. An exploding Turkish cannon wounded him in the right leg and side, and he, bleeding, had to fight off the onslaught of the Janissary. The help arrived in time and beat him off. Three Turkish camps near the city and Turtukay himself were quickly taken, at four o'clock in the morning it was all over. The city was mined and blown up, 700 local Christians were transported to the Russian coast. The losses of the Turks reached 1,500; among the Russians, about 200 were wounded, there were few killed, mostly those who drowned while crossing.

Even before dawn, while his leg and side were being bandaged, Suvorov sent Saltykov and Rumyantsev short notes announcing the success. "Your Excellency, we have won," he wrote to Saltykov, "thank God, thank you." The second part of the phrase, apparently, pleased him with its rhythm, and in a note to Rumyantsev, he pranced:

Thank God, thank you
Turtukay is taken, and I am there.

Returning to his bank, Suvorov built a square and served a prayer service. The soldiers generously endowed the priests with plundered gold and silver.

On the same day, having rested, Alexander Vasilyevich starts a detailed report to Saltykov. In it, he firmly defines the price of victory: “Everything here was great rejoicing ... Indeed, we were yesterday veni, vade, vince (distorted“ veni, vidi, vici: “came, saw, conquered” - S.Ts.), and me so first teaching. Your Excellency will continue to serve, I am an ingenuous man. Only, father, let's get the second class as soon as possible (that is, the Order of St. George II degree. - Author). " Two days later, he repeats in the same naive tone: “Do not leave, your Excellency, my dear comrades, and for God's sake do not forget me. It seems that I really deserve the second class of St. George; no matter how cold I am to myself, and even it seems to me. My chest and broken side hurt me very much, my head seemed to be swollen; forgive me for going to Bucharest for a day or two to take a steam bath ... "

The Suvorov victory looked even more impressive against the background of the failure of the remaining searches, in one of which the Turks killed 200 Russian soldiers and officers and captured Prince Repnin. Alexander Vasilievich received the award he asked for.

A period of inactivity began, and the Turks restored the fortifications of Turtukai. Suvorov was powerless to do anything against this and dispelled his melancholy with the zealous preparation of the troops. Unfortunately, not having time to recover from his injury, he fell ill with a local fever. Severe paroxysms were repeated every other day, and on June 4, Suvorov requested treatment in Bucharest. But the next day he received an order from Rumyantsev about a new search for Turtukai. Alexander Vasilyevich immediately felt better, which he immediately reported to Saltykov, hoping to lead the case. However, on June 7, a sharp exacerbation of the disease began, and Suvorov was forced to delegate the command of the operation to Prince Meshchersky. All the same, Alexander Vasilyevich personally drew up a "good disposition" and appointed a search on the night of June 8, relying on his replacement officers to repeat his dashing raid a month ago. What was his indignation when he found out that the search had failed: the Russians caught the Turks on their guard and returned. Enraged, Suvorov left for Bucharest without speaking to anyone. On the same day he wrote to Saltykov a letter of acquittal: everything was ready - both the flotilla and the disposition, “it's disgusting to talk about the rest; Your Excellency you will guess, but let it be between us; I am a stranger, I do not want to make myself enemies here. " The nebulousness of expressions in the official report is caused by the fact that one of the main culprits of the failure - Colonel Baturin - was friends with Suvorov, which forced Alexander Vasilyevich to restrain himself in expressions. But in a private letter the next day, Suvorov gives vent to his feelings: “G.B. [Baturin] the reason for everything; all were in awe. Could there be such a colonel in the Russian army? Isn't it better to be a voivode, even a senator? What a shame it is! All were intimidated, the faces were not the same. For God's sake, Your Excellency, burn the letter. Again, I remind you that I do not want an enemy here and I would rather give up everything than I would like to have it ... My God, when I think what a meanness this is, my veins are torn! "

Suvorov suffers from a fever, from shame for his subordinates and from fears that the need for search may be avoided. On June 14, half ill, he returns to Negoesti and orders a new attack on the night of the 17th. The disposition is the same, but taking into account the previous failure, Suvorov orders "the backs to be crammed into the front ones."

This time about 2,500 people crossed over to the Turkish coast. The fight was stubborn and lasted four hours. Almost all of the Russian officers were wounded. Baturin's two columns again almost ruined the whole business, not supporting the attack in time. However, the rest of the troops acted perfectly, even the recruits. Suvorov himself, due to another attack of fever, walked, leaning on two Cossacks, and spoke so quietly that he kept an officer next to him, repeating orders after him. The victory gave him strength, and at the end of the battle, Alexander Vasilyevich mounted a horse.

Turtukay was destroyed again. This time, the crossing of the Danube by other Russian troops also ended in luck. Rumyantsev laid siege to Silistria. Suvorov did not send his detachment with a flotilla to reinforce Saltykov, but asked back to Negoesti: “Order, your Excellency, that I turn to Negoeshty with all my heap; it is not great ... Believe me, your Excellency is not of great use in us, and even more so in me, I need to recover; consumption will come - I will not be good. " Apparently, he was on the verge of exhaustion. Saltykov allowed not to take part in the offensive, especially since soon the Russian troops, which crossed to the Turkish coast, again began to pull together to the crossings. For a wide offensive, Rumyantsev did not have enough strength. General Weismann was assigned to cover the retreat. On June 22, at Kuchuk-Kainardzhi, the 5-thousandth detachment of Weisman inflicted a complete defeat on the 20-thousandth Turkish army. Weisman himself, standing in the front rank of the square, received a fatal wound in the chest. Falling, he only managed to say: "Don't tell people." Weisman was one of the most capable generals in the Russian army and a favorite of the soldiers. Their rage at the loss of their beloved commander surpassed any measure: the Russians not only did not take prisoners in this battle, but also punctured those who had already surrendered before the death of Weismann. Weisman's military talent was of the same kind as Suvorov's, and Alexander Vasilyevich, not being personally acquainted with Weisman, felt it perfectly. His grief was sincere. “So I was left alone,” he wrote, having received confirmation of the death of the young general.

By early August, balance at the front was restored.

The death of Weisman forced Rumyantsev to take a closer look at Suvorov. The commander-in-chief decided to withdraw Alexander Vasilyevich from direct subordination to Saltykov and give him the opportunity to act independently. This marked the beginning of a long-term friendship between the two commanders, which continued until the death of Rumyantsev. Both of them, by the way, very hostile to possible rivals in military glory, did not tarnish their relations with either intrigues or envious squabbles.

The release of Suvorov from the leadership of Saltykov had another reason. Their relationship seemed good only in appearance, but in reality it was very strained. The inactive nature of the chief aroused open ridicule by Suvorov, who, with the air of a simpleton, compared three generals - Kamensky, Saltykov and himself: “Kamensky knows military affairs, but it does not know him; Suvorov does not know military affairs, but he knows him, and Saltykov is neither familiar with military affairs, nor is he himself unknown. " Saltykov himself was glad to get rid of the subordinate with whom his eyes were pricked. So, Kamensky shrugged his shoulders with an innocent look: "I don't know which of the two is the boss in Negoesti."

Suvorov could not leave immediately at the call of Rumyantsev - he slipped on the wet stairs of the Negoesht monastery and, falling on his back, was badly broken. He could hardly breathe and was taken to Bucharest, where he spent two weeks.

Battle of Girsovo

Upon the recovery of Suvorov, Rumyantsev entrusted him with a very important task: the search in the Girsovo region - the only point on the other bank of the Danube, which was held by the Russians and which had already been attacked twice by the Turks. Rumyantsev did not constrain Suvorov with detailed instructions, but reported to Catherine II: "The important Girsov post entrusted Suvorov, who confirms his readiness and ability to do any business." Generals Ungarn and Miloradovich were ordered to support Suvorov.

Suvorov did not have to look for the Turks. On the night of September 3, he was informed that Turkish cavalry appeared 20 versts from Girsov. The Cossacks were ordered to lure her closer under the fire of Russian redoubts. Suvorov from the forward trench (auxiliary field fortification, 4-cornered trench with bastions at the corners) watched the actions of the Turks. At first, the Turkish cavalry really chased the Cossacks randomly, but when the latter cleared the field, the janissaries, who were sitting behind the horsemen, dismounted, unexpectedly lined up in three rows in a European manner and moved forward. Suvorov realized that the Turks were demonstrating lessons learned from French officers; he pointed out their maneuvers to his subordinates and laughed heartily.

The Russian cannons were camouflaged in the bastions, so Suvorov did not tell the artillerymen to reveal themselves until the last minute. The Turks had already approached the advanced redoubt, but still no one answered their firing. They calmly surrounded the trench from all sides and suddenly attacked it so swiftly that Suvorov barely managed to get inside the fortification. The volleys of cards cut their first ranks and left them in disarray. The grenadiers struck with bayonets from the trench, on the other hand Miloradovich's brigade was pressing on the Turks.

For some time the Turks held on very stubbornly, but then turned into a disorderly flight. Hussars and Cossacks pursued them 30 miles, until the horses were exhausted.

The Girsov case cost the 10,000-strong Turkish detachment 1,500 killed; Russian losses amounted to 200 soldiers and officers. The battle ended the 1773 campaign.

Start of the 1774 campaign

In February 1774, Suvorov received a rescript from Catherine II about the production of a lieutenant general. The limits of his independence expanded even wider, and Rumyantsev entrusted him with joint actions with Lieutenant-General Kamensky on the other bank of the Danube. Repnin's division had to go to his aid at the first demand of Alexander Vasilyevich. Rumyantsev left Suvorov and Kamensky to act at their discretion, not directly subordinating one to the other.

The Turks were also preparing for action. Sultan Abdul-Hamid, who ascended the throne instead of his recently deceased brother, although he preferred to spend time in harem pleasures, urged the faithful to crush the giaurs and ordered the grand vizier to go on the offensive.

The 1774 campaign began in May. On the 28th, Kamensky moved to Bazardzhik. Suvorov was supposed to cover his movement, but due to the delay in replenishment, he was able to speak only on May 30. To make up for the time, he moved not along the agreed road, but along the shortest, which turned out to be extremely bad. At the same time, hoping to quickly reach the designated point, Suvorov did not warn Kamensky about changing his route. Kamensky was amazed, having lost sight of Suvorov's troops, and immediately reported to Rumyantsev, but he answered evasively that Kamensky himself had the ability to force Suvorov to obey. Rumyantsev was cunning: Kamensky did not have such an opportunity precisely because of the strange gentleness of the commander-in-chief, who allowed a double command in this operation; Suvorov, condemning the double command as a generally pernicious thing, in this case willingly took advantage of this circumstance.

On June 2, Kamensky, after a successful business, occupied Bazardzhik and stopped there, waiting for Suvorov's approach. Without waiting, on May 9 he moved to the village of Yushenli to attack Shumla. It was only here that Kamensky received news of Suvorov's approach, thus staying in obscurity for 10 days.

During these movements, the vizier, not yet knowing about the Russian offensive, ordered the effendi Abdul-Razak and the janissary age with 40 thousand people to go to Girsa. The Turks set out from Shumla to Kozludzhi on the day when Kamensky left Bazardzhik.

Battle of Kozludzhi

June 9 Turks and Russians with different sides entered the forest in the Kozludzha region and began rapprochement, unaware of each other. Suvorov, connecting with Kamensky, postponed explanations until another time and immediately left for reconnaissance. On the way, he learned about the attack of the Cossacks on the Turkish outposts. The Cossacks were driven away, but took several prisoners. Suvorov reinforced the Cossacks with cavalry, and he himself followed them with the infantry. They had to go along narrow paths, in complete obscurity about the location of the enemy. Suddenly, from behind the trees and bushes, the cavalry, which had gone ahead, appeared, driven by the Albanians. The horsemen crashed into the Russian infantry and mixed their orders; panic began, which turned into flight. The Albanians, in order to increase the terror among the Russians, cut off the heads of the prisoners before their eyes. Suvorov could not do anything, and he himself barely escaped from the spag who attacked him (horse detachments recruited by the Turks from the inhabitants North Africa). “In this battle,” he said, “I was captured and pursued by the Turks for a very long time. Knowing the Turkish language, I myself heard their agreement among themselves not to shoot at me and not chop me down, but to try to take a living one: they found out that it was me. With this intention, they several times overtook me so close that they almost grabbed my jacket with their hands; but at each of their swoops, my horse rushed forward like an arrow, and the Turks who were chasing me suddenly lagged behind by several fathoms. So I was saved! "

The brigade of Prince Mochebelov arrived in time and drove away the Albanians. Suvorov again led the troops forward. There was a terrible stuffiness in the forest. Suvorov's troops arrived at Kozludzha after an exhausting night march, the horses were not watered, many soldiers fell dead from heatstroke and exhaustion.

Thus, Suvorov walked 9 versts, from time to time fighting off the Turks, and finally came out of the forest. At this moment, as if taking pity on the Russians, a downpour gushed forth, refreshing the exhausted people and horses. The downpour severely damaged the Turks, wetting their long clothes and, most importantly, the cartridges and gunpowder that the Turks kept in their pockets.

From the forest to the clearing came 8 thousand Russians, without artillery.

The Turkish army, built on the heights in front of the camp, opened fire. Suvorov quickly lined up troops in squares in two lines and sent the rangers ahead. The Turks repulsed them and attacked the square several times, upsetting some of them, but the Russians, reinforced by the second line, continued to move forward.

The Turks gradually pulled together to the camp, the approach to which was covered by a hollow. Suvorov placed 10 guns that arrived in time in front of the camp and, after a short bombardment, attacked with the cavalry in front. Russian fire and the sight of Cossack lava with peaks at the ready instilled terror in the Turks. Complete chaos ensued in the camp, the janissaries chopped off the lines of the artillery horses and fired at their riders in order to get a horse for themselves. Several shots were fired even at Abdul-Razak, who was trying to stop the fugitives.

Battle of Kozludja on June 9, 1774. Engraving of Buddhaeus from a drawing by Schubert. 1795

By sunset, the camp with the trophies was in the hands of Suvorov. The persecution of the Turks continued until nightfall. Thus, the Suvorov soldiers spent the whole day on the march, under fire and in hand-to-hand combat; Suvorov himself did not dismount his horse all this time.

Official documents about the battle at Kozludzhi are inconsistent and contradictory, including those coming from Suvorov himself. In his autobiography, he gives a somewhat comical explanation for this: "I am for the report, below [and] for my report, I am not responsible for the weakness of my health." But the state of health, as we have seen, allowed Suvorov to endure a terrible strain of strength; the paper confusion was caused by the fact that the battle was a complete improvisation on both sides, was entirely determined by the "tactics of circumstances", was accompanied by incredible turmoil, and was completely not coordinated with Kamensky. In addition, Suvorov did not want to admit that several times he was on the verge of defeat, and only his usual decisiveness helped to correct the situation. Fortunately, this time nothing suffered from the clash between Suvorov and Kamensky, except for the service-hierarchical principle. Kamensky managed to swallow the insult in silence and in his report to Rumyantsev praised the actions of everyone, and Suvorov in particular. But from now on they began to treat each other with hostility that grew over the years. The strength of this enmity can be judged by the fact that in 1799 the son of Kamensky, having fallen under the rule of Suvorov in Italy, doubted a good reception, however, in vain.

Kuchuk-Kainardzhiyskiy world

This stupid victory also had stupid consequences. At the council of war, it was decided to wait for the delivery of food and until then did not go to Shumla. This was all the more surprising since the vizier in Shumla after the battle at Kozludzha had only about a thousand people. Suvorov and Kamensky spent six days inactive. Rumyantsev was unhappy: "Not days and hours, but moments in such a state of the road." In 1792, Alexander Vasilyevich, recalling this episode, made excuses: "Kamensky prevented me from moving the theater of war across Shumla beyond the Balkans." Suvorov himself had few troops, and they were exhausted. Obviously, Kamensky not only did not want to follow him, but also demanded obedience, and Suvorov, apparently feeling guilty for the past "initiative", did not insist. They could not stay together further. Rumyantsev again subordinated Suvorov to Saltykov, and he left for Bucharest.

The Battle of Kozludzhi was the last in this war. Turkey entered into negotiations with Russia, which Rumyantsev conducted fairly tolerably. On July 10, the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi peace treaty was signed. Russia received Kinburn, Azov, Kerch, free navigation in the Black Sea and 4.5 million rubles in indemnity. The independence of the Crimean Khanate from the Ottoman Empire was proclaimed, which significantly weakened Turkey's position in the Northern Black Sea region.


Map of the Russian Empire showing territorial acquisitions under the Kuchuk-Kainardzhiyskiy treaty (highlighted in red).

240 years ago, on July 21, 1774, at the village of Kuchuk-Kainardzhi, a peace treaty was concluded between the Russian and Ottoman empires, which ended the first Turkish war of Empress Catherine II. The treaty of 1774 decided the fate of the Crimean Khanate (this state entity gained independence from the Port and soon became part of Russia) and began the process of annexing the territory of the Northern Black Sea Region (Novorossia) to Russia, which was completed in 1812 with the annexation of Bessarabia. At the same time, the decline of the Ottoman Empire began and the gradually strengthening of Russia's positions on the Balkan Peninsula.

Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774

The Kucuk-Kainardzhi peace treaty was the result of the war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. This war was a consequence of the European big game - the confrontation of the alliance of the northern states (Russia, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden and Poland) with the support of England with France and Austria. One of the fronts of this war was in Poland. After the death of the Polish king August III in 1763, with the support of Russia, Stanislav Ponyatovsky was elevated to the throne. However, the Bar Confederation, which was oriented towards Austria and France, entered against him and the Russian troops.

The Confederates, with the support of France, turned to the Ottoman Empire for help. The bribes of the Poles to the Ottoman dignitaries, the concession of Volhynia and Podolia in case Turkey sided with the Bar Confederation and pressure from France, led to the fact that Istanbul agreed to join against Russia. Porta considered that the right moment had come to restore a number of lost positions in the Northern Black Sea region.

The reason for the war was a border incident in the village of Balta (modern Odessa region). During the hostilities against the Barskaya confederation, a detachment of koliev (Orthodox rebels in Western Russian lands who fought against the Polish yoke), pursuing the Confederates, entered Balta, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire. At the local level, the conflict was quickly resolved; there were many similar border incidents at that time. However, it was this incident in Istanbul that they decided to use as a pretext for war. Russian ambassador Alexei Obreskov was thrown into the Seven-Tower Castle.

Porta accused Russia of violating previous agreements. So, earlier Russia promised not to interfere in the affairs of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and not to send its troops into Polish lands. Russia was also accused of building border fortresses against Turkey, devastating the Balta and elevating an "unworthy" person to the Polish throne. On September 25, 1768, Sultan Mustafa III announced To the Russian state war. Autumn and winter were spent preparing for the war.

The Ottoman command planned to put up 600 thousand. army for the war with Russia. The main forces of the army were to pass from the Danube to Poland and unite with the Polish confederates. Then the Polish-Turkish troops were to move to Kiev and Smolensk. The enemies of Russia hoped to restore the Rzeczpospolita within the borders of the 17th century, creating a powerful buffer state between Europe and Russia. The second Turkish army aimed at Azov and Taganrog, here it was supposed to be supported by the Crimean Tatars, and from the sea by the Ottoman fleet. In addition, part of the forces were allocated to suppress the uprising of Christians in Montenegro and Herzegovina. Thus, the plans of the enemies of Russia were very grandiose. With the hands of Turkey, the West hoped to squeeze the Russians out of Poland and the Azov-Black Sea region and even capture Kiev and Smolensk.

The Russian Empire fielded three armies. The 1st Army under the command of Golitsyn (80 thousand soldiers) was to concentrate in the Kiev area and conduct offensive operations against the main forces of the enemy. The 2nd Army under the command of the Governor-General of Little Russia Rumyantsev (40 thousand bayonets and sabers) gathered at Bakhmut and received the task of defending the southern borders of Russia. The 3rd Army under the command of Olitsa (15 thousand men) gathered at Brod and played an auxiliary role.

1769 year. Actually fighting were discovered at the beginning of 1769. 10-thous. The Turkish-Tatar corps invaded Little Russia from the Crimea. However, Rumyantsev repulsed this blow and himself sent a punitive detachment to the Crimea, and also strengthened the garrisons of Azov and Taganrog. By the summer, Rumyantsev had transferred his main forces to Elizavetgrad, but he could not advance further, since the troops were gathering slowly, and he had only 30 thousand people (including 10 thousand poorly armed Cossacks). While on the Dniester there was a Crimean Khan with 100 thousand people. the Turkish-Tatar army and 30 thousand Crimean Tatars threatened with a new blow from Perekop. But, Rumyantsev spreading rumors about the movement of a strong Russian army to Podolia, changed the situation in his favor. Rumors about the offensive of Rumyantsev's army confused the calculations of the Ottoman command, which abandoned the original idea of ​​the offensive. The center of hostilities shifted to the Dniester.

Initially, the fighting in the Danube was carried on sluggishly. Moldavia rebelled against Porte, its ruler fled. Archbishop Yassk asked to accept Moldavia into Russian citizenship. But, 45 thousand. Golitsyn's army (it was not possible to bring the army to the planned size), instead of immediately occupying Yassy, ​​moved to Khotin. He could not take a strong fortress, having lost time and feeling a lack of provisions, the prince withdrew his troops across the Dniester. As a result, the strategic initiative was lost, and the Ottomans were allowed to suppress the uprising in Bessarabia.

The Turks also did not show the initiative. Grand Vizier with 200-thous. army crossed the Danube and moved to Bessarabia. The Turkish-Tatar troops stood aimlessly on the Prut for a whole month until the middle of June. The Ottoman command invited the Poles to start an offensive in Poland together. But, the Poles, not wanting to see hordes of Ottomans and Tatars in their lands, offered the Turkish army to oppose Rumyantsev in Novorossiya. By sending a screen against Golitsyn.

The vizier accepted this plan. 60 thousand soldiers were sent under Khotin. auxiliary army, and the main forces were going to strike at Elizavetgrad. But, this trip was not successful. Rumors about a strong army of Rumyantsev embarrassed the Ottomans, and the vizier did not dare to cross the Dniester, returning back to the Prut in the Ryaba Mogila tract. To strengthen Khotin, the vizier sent seraskir Moldavanchi Pasha.

Golitsyn again decided to move towards Khotin. It was a dangerous maneuver. Golitsyn moved away from Rumyantsev's army and could not help her. If there was a more decisive and proactive commander in the place of the vizier, then the huge Turkish amia could strike at Kiev and try to defeat Rumyantsev's army. On June 24, Golitsyn crossed the Dniester, overturned the Turkish-Tatar army near the village of Pashkivtsi and blockaded Khotin. But the arrival of the army of Seraskir Moldavanchi and the Crimean Khan Devlet-Giray forced Golitsyn to lift the siege and retreat beyond the Dniester. I must say that Golitsyn was a fan of the school of mobile warfare, which believed that the main maneuver in a war, and not a decisive battle. Therefore, Golitsyn believed that his task was completed - he distracted the enemy from Novorossiya.

The lack of initiative of the vizier and his theft (he stole 25 million piastres allocated to supply the army) forced the sultan to change him to Moldavanchi Pasha. The new commander-in-chief received an order to cross the Dniester and occupy Podolia. However, the Turkish offensive ended in failure. At the end of August 80 thous. The Turkish-Tatar army crossed the river, but was thrown by Golitsyn's troops into the Dniester. And 12 thousand. the Turkish detachment, which on September 5 was sent across the Dniester for foraging, was completely destroyed by the Russian troops.

Defeats, lack of food and fodder, theft of the command completely demoralized the Turkish army. Almost the entire army fled to their homes. The Moldavian Pasha in Yassy were almost killed by their own people, he barely escaped. There were only about 5 thousand soldiers left at Ryaba Tomb, the rest deserted. Only a strong garrison remained in Bendery, small detachments in the Danube fortresses and the Crimean Tatar horde in Causeni. Devlet Giray soon also disbanded his troops.

But, the Russian command did not take advantage of the complete collapse of the Ottoman army. Golitsyn occupied Khotin only without a fight - 163 guns became Russian trophies. However, soon again (for the third time) retreated beyond the Dniester. Catherine II, dissatisfied with such passivity, replaced Golitsyn with Rumyantsev. The 2nd Russian army was led by Pyotr Panin.

Rumyantsev, taking into account the fact that the main forces of the Ottomans went beyond the Danube, the Confederate detachments did not pose a threat, and by the approach of winter, postponed the resumption of hostilities until spring next year... The main Russian forces were located between the Dniester, Bug and Zbruch. 17 thous. the vanguard (Moldavian corps) under the command of General Shtofeln was promoted beyond the Dniester and Prut - to Moldavia. Shtofelnu was entrusted with the administration of Moldova. Rumyantsev put the troops in order. The regiments were combined into brigades, and the brigades into divisions. Artillery control was decentralized - artillery companies were transferred to divisions. In winter, exercises were held, with special attention paid to horse attacks and speed of movement.

Shtofeln's vanguard in November took possession of all Moldavia up to Galati and most of Wallachia, and captured two rulers. The fighting continued throughout the winter. Turkish-Tatar troops. Taking advantage of the small size of the Moldavian corps and the scattering of its forces, they tried to defeat the Russian forward forces. However, there were bits everywhere. The enemy was defeated at Focsani, at Zhurzhi and at Bucharest. Russian troops took Brailov.

The 2nd Russian army tried unsuccessfully to attack the Crimea, but the campaign failed (due to drought). The siege of Bender also failed. And due to the lack of siege artillery, the idea of ​​a fortress siege had to be abandoned. Russian troops in the Caucasian direction operated successfully. The detachments of General Medem and Totleben forced the Kabardians and residents of the upper reaches of the Kuban to recognize the Russian power.

D. Chodovetsky. "Battle of Cahul"

1770 year. The collapse of the army and the successes of the Russian troops had a demoralizing effect on the Ottomans and especially their allies - the Crimean Tatars. However, the Ottoman sultan was not going to retreat. Costs aside, he formed a new army. The Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey, who did not show zeal in this war, was replaced by Kaplan-Girey. The Tatars had to prepare for a campaign from Kaushany to Yassy in order to defeat the Moldavian corps before the main Russian forces approached and capture Moldavia and Wallachia.

The Russian war plan was drawn up by Rumyantsev, who made the empress not interfere with Petersburg at his disposal. He considered his main task to be the destruction of the main forces of the enemy. The 1st Army was supposed to attack the enemy and prevent the Ottomans from crossing the Danube. The 2nd Army received the task of defending Little Russia and taking Bender. The 3rd Army was disbanded, it became part of the 1st Army. In addition, the Russian squadron under the command of Orlov was supposed to support the Greek uprising in Morea and the Archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea and threaten Constantinople by tying up the forces of the Turkish fleet. Shtofelnu was ordered to clear Wallachia and concentrate forces for the defense of Eastern Moldavia, before the main forces arrived.

Rumyantsev, having received news of the impending enemy offensive and the critical situation of the Moldavian Corps, spoke before the completion of the manning of the army. The Russian commander had 32 thousand people - 10 infantry and 4 cavalry brigades. The brigades were divided into three divisions under the command of Olitsa, Plemyannikov and Bruce. The plague raging in Moldova forced Rumyantsev to stay in Northern Moldova.

But, the deterioration of the situation - a significant part of the Moldavian corps and Shtofeln himself died from the plague, forced Rumyantsev to continue the offensive. Prince Repnin led the remnants of the Russian avant-garde on the Prut near Ryaba Mogila and from May 20 beat off attacks by 70 thousand. hordes of Kaplan-Girey. On the night of June 17, Rumyantsev, with a roundabout maneuver, forced the superior forces of the Turkish-Tatar army to retreat. On June 24-26, a Russian squadron under the command of Orlov and Spiridov destroyed the Ottoman fleet in the Battle of Chesme.

Rumyantsev did not wait for the army of the Crimean Khan to join the army of the vizier. On July 7 (18), 1770, Rumyantsev's army defeated 80-thous. the Turkish-Tatar army under the command of Kaplan-Girey at the Battle of Larga. Smaller in number, but superior to the enemy in morale, organization and skill, the Russian army utterly defeated the enemy. The enemy fled in panic. 33 guns became Russian trophies.

On July 21 (August 1), 1770, Rumyantsev defeated the vizier on the Cahul River. Vizier Moldavanchi had 150 thousand people under his command. army, including 50 thousand. selected infantry, with 350 guns, and planned to crush the Russian troops. Rumyantsev had 17 thousand people under arms. The Russian commander got ahead of the enemy and himself hit the Turkish-Tatar horde. The Russian army overturned the entire enemy horde in three divisional squares. The Vizier and the Crimean Khan fled, 200 guns were captured. Only the janissaries valiantly counterattacked the division of General Plemyannikov, and almost turned the tide of the battle. But Rumyantsev personally rushed into battle and shouted "stop, guys!" saved the day. This decisive battle ended with the defeat of the brave Janissaries. After the victory, the Russian troops pursued the enemy and finished off the frustrated enemy army on the crossing of the Danube and near Kartal. The remaining Turkish artillery park was captured - 150 guns, Izmail was taken. Moldavanchi, after crossing the Danube, was able to collect only 10 thousand soldiers. The rest fled.

The campaign of 1770 ended with the complete victory of the Russian armed forces. If Rumyantsev had reserves, it would be possible to force the Danube and put a victory point in the war, forcing the Sultan to capitulate. However, Rumyantsev had only one wartime division, and the plague was raging across the Danube. Therefore, the commander limited himself to strengthening the position in the Danube principalities and capturing enemy fortresses. In August, they took Kiliya, in early November - Brailov. This ended the campaign.

The 2nd Russian army also fought successfully. On September 16, after a brutal assault, Russian troops took Bender. Out of 18 thousand Turkish garrison killed 5 thousand people, another 11 thousand were taken prisoner, the rest fled. Russian troops lost 2.5 thousand people killed and wounded. 348 guns were captured in the fortress. Soon Ackerman was also captured.

I. Aivazovsky. "Chesme battle"

The year is 1771. The strategic initiative passed completely to the Russian army. In the campaign of 1771, the main role was assigned to the 2nd army, whose number was brought to 70 thousand people. She was supposed to capture the Crimea. This was facilitated by the fact that the replacement of the Crimean Khan by Porta prepared a discord between the Turks and the Crimean Tatars. Moreover, major defeats demoralized the Crimeans. Their allies - the Budzhak and Edisan hordes, roaming between the lower reaches of the Dniester and the Bug, fell away from Turkey.

1st Army went over to strategic defense. 35 thous. Rumyantsev's army had to defend a huge front along the Danube (500 miles). In February, the Olytsa division took the Zhurzhu fortress. The Turkish garrison was exterminated - out of 10 thousand people, 8 thousand soldiers were killed or drowned. 82 guns were captured in the fortress. Russian troops lost about 1,000 people.

Meanwhile, the Ottoman sultan, not wanting to surrender and not losing hope for a turning point in the war (in this he was supported by the Western powers), formed a new army. The new vizier Musin-Oglu reorganized the army with the help of French military specialists. Only regular forces were left in the army and their number was increased to 160 thousand people. The Turkish army was concentrated in the Danube fortresses, and from May 1771, began to make raids into Wallachia, trying to push back the Russian troops. These attempts continued until late autumn, but were unsuccessful. The Turkish army was unable to realize its numerical advantage.

In addition, in October the Ottomans were demoralized by the Weismann raid. Having crossed the Lower Danube, the Weisman detachment marched along Dobrudja in a brilliant raid, capturing all the Turkish fortresses: Tulcha, Isakchu, Babadag and Machin. He instilled such fear on the Ottomans that the vizier (who had 25 thousand troops against 4 thousand Weisman's soldiers) fled to Bazardzhik and expressed his readiness to start peace negotiations.

The campaign of the 2nd Army under the command of Prince Dolgorukov was crowned with complete success. In June, Perekop was taken, after which Russian troops occupied Kafa and Gozlev. The Azov flotilla played an important role in this campaign. The Crimean Khanate declared its independence from Turkey and came under the protectorate of Russia. Leaving a few garrisons, the Russian army left the Crimean peninsula.

1772-1773 The success of the Russian began to greatly disturb the Western powers, they began to exert political and diplomatic pressure on Russia. The first partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772 allowed Russia to settle its differences with Austria and Prussia.

There was a lull on the fronts. Almost all of 1772 and the beginning of 1773 in Focsani and Bucharest there were peace negotiations with the Ottomans. However, Porta did not want to give up Crimea. Turkey was backed by France, which incited the Ottomans not to yield to the Russians, so the war continued.

Empress Catherine demanded decisive action, but Rumyantsev, bound by a lack of forces, limited himself to a number of raids. Weisman made a raid on Karasu and Suvorov made two searches on Turtukai. In June, Rumyantsev tried to attack Silistria (it was defended by a 30-thousand garrison), but having received news of the movement of the Turkish army to his rear, he withdrew across the Danube. Weisman defeated the Turks at Kainardzhi, but he himself fell in this battle (5 thousand Russians against 20 thousand Ottomans, five thousand Turks were exterminated). The death of the "Russian Achilles" saddened the entire army. Alexander Suvorov, who was friends with him, wrote: "Weisman was gone, I was left alone ...".

1774 year. Rumyantsev, despite the shortage of troops and other problems, decided to inflict a decisive blow on the enemy and reach the Balkans. Its 50 thousand. he divided the army into 4 corps (detachments). The main role was to be played by the corps of Kamensky and Suvorov, 10 thousand bayonets and sabers each. They received the task of attacking Shumla and crushing the vizier's army. Repnin's corps was their reserve. Saltykov's corps operated in the Silistrian direction. Rumyantsev's corps made up the general reserve.

At the end of April, the detachments of Suvorov and Kamensky crossed the Danube and cleared Dobrudja of the Turks. On June 9 (20), the united Russian corps defeated 40 thousand. the army of Haji-Abdur-Rezak. Then Russian troops blocked Shumla. Rumyantsev crossed the Danube, and sent Saltykov to Ruschuk. The Russian cavalry moved beyond the Balkans, spreading terror and panic everywhere. The Turkish front collapsed again.

The vizier, seeing the impossibility of further struggle and foreseeing a catastrophe, asked for an armistice. But Rumyantsev refused him, saying that he was ready to talk only about peace. The vizier submitted to the will of the great Russian commander.

Pyotr Alexandrovich Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky (1725 -1796)

On July 10 (21 July), the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi peace treaty was signed. On the part of Russia, the treaty was signed by Lieutenant General Prince Nikolai Repnin, on the part of the Ottoman Empire - by the guardian of the Sultan's monogram Nitaji-Rasmi-Ahmed and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ibrahim Munib. The Crimean Khanate gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. The annexation of Crimea to Russia was now a matter of time. Big and Small Kabarda retreated to the Russian Empire. Russia held on to Azov, Kerch, Yenikale and Kinburn, with the adjacent steppe between the Dnieper and the Bug.

Russian ships were free to navigate Turkish waters and enjoy the same benefits as French and English ships. Russia gets the right to have its own navy in the Black Sea and the right of passage through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles.

Turkey gave amnesty and freedom of religion to Balkan Christians. Per The Russian Empire the right of protection and patronage of Christians in the Danube principalities was recognized. The amnesty also extended to Georgia and Mingrelia. The port also pledged not to take tribute from the Georgian lands by people (boys and girls). Russian citizens received the right to visit Jerusalem and other holy places without any payment. Turkey paid a military contribution of 4.5 million rubles.

The treaty became preliminary, as it could not satisfy Turkey, which was thirsting for revenge, and its Western allies, urging the Ottomans to resume hostilities in order to oust the Russians from the Northern Black Sea region. Almost immediately, the Ottomans began to violate the terms of the peace agreement. The port did not allow Russian ships from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, carried out subversive work in the Crimea and did not pay indemnity.

And for Russia, the agreement was only the first step in securing the Northern Black Sea region for it. It was necessary to continue the offensive in order to regain control of the Black (Russian) Sea.

Ratification of the Kyuchuk-Kaynardzhi Peace Treaty with the personal signature of Catherine II

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Against Turkey's attempts to expand its possessions in the Black Sea region and in the Caucasus, to seize Astrakhan. Turkey opposed the strengthening of Russian influence in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, where in 1764 a Russian protege Stanislav August Poniatovsky was elevated to the royal throne. The reason for the war was Russia's rejection of the Turkish ultimatum on the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Rzeczpospolita, where they had been conducting military operations against the Bar confederation since 1768.

Supported by France and Austria, on September 25 (October 6), 1768, Ottoman Turkey declared war on Russia. The Turks hoped that the Russian army, whose significant forces were occupied in Poland, would not be able to withstand the large Ottoman army. However, the government of Catherine II the Great vigorously made preparations for military action, anti-Turkish propaganda was launched in the Balkans, and a hasty construction of the navy began. The unconditional superiority of the Russian army over the Ottomans was immediately revealed. In the spring of 1769, Russian troops occupied Azov and Taganrog. Strategic plan in 1769, it was envisaged that the Russian main forces (the First Army of General A.M. Golitsyn; 80-90 thousand people) would attack Khotin. The second army of General P.A. Rumyantseva (35 thousand people) supported the actions of the main forces, covering the southern borders from the Dnieper to the Don from the Crimean Tatars. The ships of the Baltic Fleet were sent to the Mediterranean Sea to blockade the Dardanelles and support the national liberation movement in Greece (Archipelago expeditions of the Russian fleet). At the beginning of 1769, the Second Army repelled the invasion of the Crimean Tatars and reached the coast of the Azov Sea. Although two assaults on Khotin, undertaken by the First Army in April and June, were unsuccessful, in September the Turkish garrison left Khotin due to lack of food. In September, the First Army, of which Rumyantsev was appointed commander, occupied Yassy.

According to the plan of action for 1770 the main task- to seize the fortress of Bender - was entrusted to the Second Army of General P.I. Panin, and the First Army was supposed to cover it from the south from the main forces of the Turkish-Tatar army. But the commander of the First Army, General Rumyantsev, decided to fulfill his task by active actions - his troops (15-25 thousand people) successively defeated the Turkish-Tatar detachment of the Crimean Khan Kaplan-Girey near Ryaba Mogila on June 17 (28) and on the Larga River on July 7 (18) , and then defeated the main forces of the Turks (150 thousand people) under the command of the great vizier Halil Pasha on the Cahul River on July 21 (August 1). In September, the Second Army stormed the Bendery fortress, after which the Turkish fortresses of Izmail, Kiliya, Akkerman, Brailov surrendered. In November, Russian troops captured Bucharest and reached the left bank of the Danube. The Russian squadron under the command of A.G. Orlova and G.A. Spiridova, who came to the Aegean Sea, defeated twice the Turkish fleet in the Battle of Chesme on June 26 (July 7) 1770 and blocked the Dardanelles. The Russian corps sent to Georgia also acted successfully.

According to the plan of military operations for 1771, the First Army was supposed to hold the line of the Danube River, and the main task - the capture of the Crimea - was entrusted to the Second Army of General V.M. Dolgorukov with the support of the Azov flotilla of Vice Admiral A.N. Senyavin. In June, the Second Army captured Perekop and then quickly occupied Crimea. The first army, acting on a wide front, despite the lack of forces (45 thousand people), successfully repelled enemy attempts to break through to the left bank of the Danube in June and October. Despite the successful development of hostilities for Russia, the war was a heavy burden for the country, since 1770 Catherine II made attempts to reach a peace agreement. For this it was necessary to neutralize Austria, which actively supported the Turks. This was achieved by involving Vienna in the first partition of Poland. The victories of the Russian troops forced Turkey to begin peace negotiations, which ended with the signing of an armistice in Zhurzhe (May 1772), but negotiations on the conclusion of a peace treaty, which took place from July in Focsani, and then in Bucharest, ended in vain. On November 1 (12), 1772, Russia entered into an agreement with the Crimean Khan Sahib-Girey, according to which the Crimea was declared independent from Turkey and under the auspices of Russia.

In June 1773, Russian troops crossed the Danube and laid siege to the fortress of Silistria (Silistra), but the lack of forces forced Rumyantsev to withdraw his troops back across the Danube. The attempts of active actions of the Russian troops in September-October 1773 against Varna and Shumla (Shumen) also ended in vain. By this time, the forces of both sides were exhausted. Nevertheless, Rumyantsev was tasked with accelerating the end of the war by decisive actions, despite the limited forces (52 thousand people). In June 1774, the main forces of the Russian army crossed the Danube. On June 9 (20), the 18-thousandth corps of General A.V. Suvorov was defeated near Kozludzh by a 40,000th Turkish corps, on the same day a 15,000th Turkish detachment was defeated near Turtukai by General I.P. Saltykov. Russian troops blocked the fortresses of Shumlu, Ruschuk (Ruse) and Silistria, and the advance detachment of A.I. Zaborovsky crossed the Balkans. The Turkish government agreed to peace negotiations, which ended on July 10 (21), 1774 with the signing of the Kuchuk-Kaynardzhi peace treaty, according to which Russia received the territory of the Northern Black Sea region to the Southern Bug, free access to the Black Sea, the fortresses of Kinburn, Kerch, Yenikale. Turkey pledged to restore the autonomy of Moldova and Wallachia, not to oppress Georgia, to pay an indemnity to St. Petersburg, recognized the independence of the Crimea. Russia received the right to free passage of ships through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, which was important for the development of trade. The terms of the treaty could have been even more favorable for Russia, if not for the outbreak of the Pugachevshchina, which forced the empress to give instructions to P.A. Rumyantsev to sign the peace as soon as possible.