The heroic first defense of Sevastopol from the coalition troops of the Ottoman Empire, England, France and the Kingdom of Sardinia lasted 349 days and became the key event of the Crimean War of 1853-1856 (he tells about the history of the war).
The course of the first defense of Sevastopol
Russia advocated the liberation of the Balkan Peninsula and its Orthodox population from the Turkish yoke and, given the weakened position of the Turks, had a great chance of success. However, the European powers, frightened by the possible strengthening of Russia, took the side of the Ottomans.
The main fighting took place in the Caucasus, in the Danube principalities, in the Baltic, Black, Azov, White and Barents Seas, as well as in Kamchatka.
In the first days of September 1854, England, France and Turkey landed a military landing in the Evpatoria region and moved towards the Allied army, twice the number of Russian troops on the peninsula and was much better armed.
Vice-Admiral Vladimir Kornilov commanded the defense of the harbor. The commander-in-chief of the Russian army and navy in the Crimea, Prince A. S. Menshikov, ordered seven sailing ships to be sunk at the entrance to the bay in order to prevent the path of the enemy squadron (now there is a monument to the sunken ships in Sevastopol Bay). The sailors replenished the garrison, and with cannons taken from the sailboats, they strengthened the standing fortifications.
Sevastopol was not ready for defense from the land side - all structures were designed for a threat from the sea. In record time, the military and sailors, under the leadership of military engineer Eduard Totleben, erected bastions around the city and dug trenches.
The siege began on September 13 and lasted 349 days. During the heroic defense, the city suffered six general artillery bombardments. On the hottest days, up to 60 thousand shells fell on the city.
After each of the bombings, the enemy was preparing to launch an assault, but the miracles of stamina and courage of the Russian soldiers thwarted the plans of the invaders over and over again. There was not enough food, ammunition and medicines, but the morale of the Sevastopol residents could not be broken.
In August, the allies, realizing that they risked spending a second winter in the Crimea, increased their attacks. During the fifth and sixth bombardments, up to 150,000 shells were fired at the city. The fortifications of Malakhov Kurgan, a key point of defense, were seriously damaged.
On the assault on August 27, the allies threw more than 57 thousand people. In hand-to-hand combat for Malakhov Kurgan, all the senior officers of the Russian units defending the position were killed, two generals were wounded, one was killed. Under the onslaught of the French, the height fell, and it was no longer possible to hold the city, but on this day the enemy could not advance further.
In the evening the signal to retreat was given. Under the cover of the remaining batteries, the Russian army left the city and crossed over to the North side along a pontoon bridge, reaching a length of 900 m. Leaving, the defenders undermined all the remaining fortifications and flooded the remnants of the fleet in the bay.
The enemy occupied the South side, but by this time it was no longer of any interest, the destruction was so strong. Soon, the parties began peace talks in Paris, with this the hostilities were completed.
Under the terms of the signing of the Peace Treaty, the southern part of Sevastopol was returned to the Russian Empire, the allies left the Crimea.
The first defense of Sevastopol 1855-1854 - memorable dates
October 4, 1853
Turkey declares war on Russia
March 27-28, 1854
England and France enter the war on the side of the Ottomans
September 2-6, 1854
- Landing of the coalition troops in Evpatoria
September 8, 1854
- Battle of the Alma River, defeat of the Russians
September 11, 1854
– The first seven Russian ships were sunk at the entrance to the bay
October 5 (17), 1854
- The Allies laid siege to Sevastopol and began the first of six massive bombardments. The assault was repulsed. Mortally wounded V. A. Kornilov
March 28 (April 9), 1855
– The second bombardment of the city, the assault is postponed.
May 27 (June 3), 1855
- The third bombardment, the enemy approached Malakhov Kurgan.
June 6, 1855- The fourth bombardment, the assault was repulsed with heavy losses among the Russians.
August 5 (17), 1855
- Fifth bombardment.
August 24 (September 4), 1855
- The sixth bombardment, the fortifications of the Malakhov Kurgan suffered.
August 27, 1855
- The enemy captured Malakhov Kurgan. At night, the signal to retreat was given.
March 18, 1856- A peace treaty is signed in Paris.
Heroes of the first defense of Sevastopol
Vladimir Kornilov (1806-1854), vice-admiral, participant in the Navarino battle of 1827 and the Russian-Turkish war of 1828-1829.
Since 1849 - Chief of Staff of the Black Sea Fleet. He advocated the rearmament of ships and the replacement of the sailing fleet with steam ones. During the Crimean War - one of the leaders of the Sevastopol defense. Mortally wounded on
He was buried in the admiral's tomb of the Naval Cathedral of St. Vladimir in Sevastopol.
Eduard Totleben (1818-1884), military engineer. In 1854, he led the construction of field fortifications on the southern face of the defense of Sevastopol.
Successfully using the features of the terrain, he supervised the creation of eight bastions, a number of cut-off and flanking positions, including the strengthening of Malakhov Kurgan, completing the fortification work in the shortest possible time.
After the completion of the construction of the fortifications, he headed the mine defense work. He was wounded in the leg and was forced to return to St. Petersburg.
L.N. fought on the 4th bastion, one of the most dangerous sectors. Tolstoy, who volunteered for the front.
For participation in hostilities, he was awarded the Order of St. Anna of the 4th degree and later received the silver medal "For the Defense of Sevastopol".
In between shelling, Tolstoy took notes, on the basis of which the Sevastopol Tales were written. A memorial sign was erected in honor of the writer on the site of the 4th bastion.
Innovations of the Eastern War
During the Crimean War, in which the leading powers of the world participated, many new technologies were applied.
The French, for example, being unable to occupy the 4th bastion, attempted to undermine it using underground galleries.
The idea of the enemy was guessed by the chief military engineer of Sevastopol, Eduard Totleben. To thwart the plans of the enemy, a system of counter mines was created in front of the bastion. During the "mine war" about 7 km of underground galleries were laid and 120 explosions were carried out. In a new art for themselves, the Russians unconditionally defeated the French.
The British, in order to simplify the delivery of ammunition to the front line from their base in Balaklava, built a special railway line, by the way, the first on the peninsula. Wounded soldiers were sent in the opposite direction.
The Eastern War was very widely covered in the world and domestic press. Correspondents and photographers from all over the world came to the front, who for the first time transferred the war to the information field. In order to turn the public against Russia, journalists often reported incorrect information using propaganda methods.
british empire
french empire
Sardinia
Defense of Sevastopol 1854-1855- protection of the Sevastopol fortress by Russian troops during the Crimean War. This defense is also called the "First Defense of Sevastopol", in contrast to the defense of the city in 1941-1942.
The Crimean War ended with the siege of Sevastopol, which Menshikov tried unsuccessfully to break through. The allied forces planned to complete the assault on the city within a week, but the defense capability of the Russian troops was underestimated. Many of the city's defenders were sailors, and the "genius" of the defense was General Totleben, a military engineer. After surviving a winter for which they were ill-prepared, the Allies launched a naval attack and entered the Sea of Azov, east of the Crimea. In June, the French unsuccessfully attacked the redoubts, but the assault on the Great Redan by British forces (under the command of General Simpson) turned out to be a defeat. After a last and futile Russian attempt to liberate Sevastopol, followed by a second British assault on Redan, Marshal Pelissier's French captured Malakhov Kurgan. The defeat of the Russians was now inevitable.
Campaign of 1854
In June - July 1854, the superior forces of the Allied fleet (England, Turkey and Sardinia) - 34 battleships and 55 frigates (including most of the steam ones) blocked the Russian fleet (14 sailing ships of the line, 6 frigates and 6 steam-frigates) in the bay Sevastopol.
On September 14 (26), command of the French troops passed to General Canrobert, since Saint Arno, already half-dead, went back to Constantinople and died on the way there. Meanwhile, Admiral Nakhimov, who commanded on the south side of Sevastopol, upon news of the appearance of the enemy on the Fedyukhin Heights, expected an immediate assault; but the allies, fearing heavy losses, did not dare to storm, but began siege work. This gave the Russians time to transfer most of their troops from the north side to the south and actively engage in strengthening their defensive line.
All fortification work was carried out under the guidance of Lieutenant Colonel E.I. Totleben. , which has since become the soul of defense. On September 18 (30) Prince Menshikov approached Sevastopol with his troops, and the next day he sent reinforcements to the emboldened garrison. However, after the dispatch of these reinforcements, the prince's own forces were so weakened that he could no longer operate in the open field and had to wait for the arrival of fresh troops sent to him by Prince Gorchakov, who generally provided the most active assistance to the Crimean army during this period of time.
Meanwhile, on the night of September 28 (October 10), the French, located under the command of General Foret west of the Sarandinakinskaya beam, laid the 1st parallel 400 fathoms from the 5th bastion; the British, who stood to the east of the named beam, to the cliffs of Sapun Mountain, the next night dug trenches 700 fathoms from the 3rd bastion; to provide for the siege army, the Bosquet observation corps (two French divisions) stood on Sapun Gora, having 8 Turkish battalions to their right.
At this time, the material situation of the allies was very bad: cholera produced severe devastation in their ranks; food was in short supply. To supply themselves with food and fodder, they sent several steamships to Yalta, robbed the city and its environs, but relatively few profited. During the siege work, the allies suffered many losses from the fire of the garrison and from frequent sorties, carried out with remarkable courage.
October 5 (17) followed first bombardment of Sevastopol, both from the dry route and from the sea. During this bombardment, only the English batteries managed to score partial success against the 3rd bastion; in general, the fire of the allies was not crowned with success, despite the enormous number of shells fired. An irreplaceable loss for the Russians was the death of the brave Kornilov, who was mortally wounded on Malakhov Hill. The total loss of Russian troops amounted to 1250 people; the allies were out of action 900-1000 people.
The bombardment did not bring any benefit to the Allies; on the contrary, their situation became more difficult than before, and they had to give up the hope of an easy triumph. On the contrary, the confidence of the Russians in the possibility of a successful struggle against a strong enemy increased. In the days that followed, fire continued on both sides with varying degrees of success; however, the French managed to significantly move forward their siege work. The forces of Prince Menshikov, meanwhile, gradually increased, and he was granted the rights of commander in chief.
Fearing for the lack of gunpowder, which was spent in huge quantities, and seeing the rapid approach of the French work to the 4th bastion (suggesting an imminent assault), he decided to divert the attention of the enemy by sabotage against his left wing. For this purpose, General Liprandi, with a detachment of 16 thousand people, was allowed to attack the allied troops stationed at Balaklava. The ensuing battle did not bring the desired results. Although the siege work slowed down somewhat, the bombardment continued with the same force; the main disadvantage was that the battle of Balaklava drew the attention of the allies to their weak side and opened up to them the views of Prince Menshikov.
Already on October 14 (26), they began to strengthen the fortification of Balaklava and Sapun Mountain, and one French division was kept there in constant combat readiness. The siege work had advanced so much at that time that the allied generals were already planning to storm the 4th bastion. Prince Menshikov, to whom these plans were partly known through deserters, warned the authorities of the Sevastopol garrison about this, ordering them to take measures in case of an assault. At the same time, since his forces at that time had already reached 100 thousand people, he decided to take advantage of such an advantage in order to go on the offensive. This was prompted by the extremely difficult situation of the defenders of Sevastopol, who were exhausted in the continuous struggle, as well as the news of the imminent arrival of new reinforcements to the Allies.
Battle on the Malakhov Kurgan in Sevastopol in 1855.
Meanwhile, the allies received new reinforcements, as a result of which their forces near Sevastopol increased to 120 thousand; at the same time, a skilled French engineer, General Niel, arrived to them, giving a new direction to siege work, which now directed mainly against the key of the Sevastopol defensive line - Malakhov Kurgan. To counteract these works, the Russians moved forward with their left flank and, after a stubborn struggle, erected very important counterclaims: the Selenginsky and Volynsky redoubts and the Kamchatsky lunette. During the production of these works, the troops learned about the death of Emperor Nicholas.
The Allies understood the importance of the aforementioned counterclaims, but their initial attempts against the Kamchatka lunet (built in front of the Malakhov Kurgan) were unsuccessful. Irritated by these slowdowns, prompted by the demands of Napoleon III and the voice of public opinion in Western Europe, the Allied commanders decided to act with increased energy. March 28 (April 9) has been undertaken second heavy bombardment, behind which it was supposed to storm. Hellfire, which lasted for ten days, did not, however, bring the expected effect; the destroyed fortifications were repaired during the night by their defenders, who were ready to meet the enemy with their chest every minute. The assault was postponed; but the Russians, forced to keep their reserves under fire in anticipation of him, suffered more than 6,000 casualties during those days.
The siege war then continued with the same persistence; however, the preponderance began to lean towards the Anglo-French troops. Soon, new reinforcements began to arrive to them (including 15,000 Sardinians, who entered the war on January 14 (26), 1855 on the side of the coalition), and their forces in the Crimea increased to 170,000. In view of their superiority, Napoleon III demanded decisive action and sent him a plan. Canrobert, however, did not find an opportunity to fulfill it, and therefore the main command of the troops was transferred to General Pelissier. His actions began by sending an expedition to the eastern part of the Crimea, with the aim of depriving the Russians of food from the shores of the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov and cutting off Sevastopol's communications through the Chongar crossing and Perekop.
On the night of May 11 (23), 16 thousand people were sent on ships from Kamysheva Bay and Balaklava, and the next day these troops landed near Kerch. Baron Wrangel, who commanded the Russian troops in the eastern part of the Crimea (the winner at Chingil Heights), having only 9 thousand, had to retreat along the Feodosia road, after which the enemy occupied Kerch, entered the Sea of Azov and all summer attacked coastal settlements, destroying stocks and indulging in robberies; however, having failed at Arabat and Genichesk, he could not penetrate the Sivash, to the Chongar crossing.
In the last days of July, new reinforcements arrived in the Crimea (3 infantry divisions), and on July 27 (August 8), the order was received from Emperor Alexander II to the commander-in-chief to convene a military council to resolve the issue of “the need to do something decisive in order to put an end to this terrible massacre” . The majority of council members spoke in favor of an offensive from the side of the Chernaya River. Prince Gorchakov, although he did not believe in the success of the attack on the heavily fortified positions of the enemy, however, succumbed to the insistence of some generals. On August 4 (16), a battle took place on the Chernaya River, where the Russian attack was repulsed and they were forced to retreat, having suffered huge losses. This unnecessary battle did not change the mutual position of the opponents; the defenders of Sevastopol remained with the same determination to defend themselves to the last extreme; the attackers, despite the destruction of the Sevastopol fortifications and the proximity of their approaches to them, did not dare to storm, but decided to shake Sevastopol new (5th) intensified bombardment.
From August 5 to August 8 (August 17-20), the fire of 800 guns showered the defenders with a continuous hail of lead; the Russians were losing 900-1000 men daily; from August 9 to 24 (August 21 - September 5) the fire was somewhat weaker, but nevertheless, 500-700 people were out of action at the garrison every day.
Hand-to-hand combat between French Zouaves and Russian soldiers on Malakhov Kurgan
On August 15 (27) in Sevastopol, a raft bridge (450 sazhens) was consecrated across a large bay, designed and built by Lieutenant General A. E. Buchmeyer. The besiegers, meanwhile, had already moved their works to the nearest distance to the Russian verki, almost already destroyed by the preceding infernal cannonade.
On August 24 (September 4), the 6th reinforced bombardment began, which silenced the artillery of the Malakhov Kurgan and the 2nd bastion. Sevastopol was a heap of ruins; repair of the fortifications became impossible.
Monument to the Russian and French soldiers who fell in the last assault on the Malakhov Kurgan
On August 27 (September 8), after a fierce fire, the allies moved to storm at noon. After ½ an hour, the French captured the Malakhov Kurgan; at all other points, the defenders, having performed miracles of courage, repelled the attack, but the further defense of Sevastopol no longer represented any benefit; in recent days, the bombardment had pulled out 2½-3 thousand people from the Russian ranks, and it became obvious that it was impossible to hold out under such circumstances. Therefore, Prince Gorchakov decided to leave Sevastopol, and during the night he transferred his troops to the north side. The city was set on fire, the powder magazines were blown up, the warships that were in the bay were flooded. The allies did not dare to pursue the Russians, considering the city to be mined, and only on August 30 (September 11) did they enter the smoking ruins of Sevastopol.
During the 11 months of the siege, the allies lost at least 70 thousand people, not counting those who died from diseases; Russians - about 83.5 thousand
The occupation of Sevastopol did not change the determination of the Russians to continue the unequal struggle. Their army (115 thousand) is located along the northern shore of a large bay; the allied troops (more than 150 thousand of one infantry) took up positions from the Baidar Valley to Chorgun, along the Chernaya River and along the southern shore of the large bay. There was a lull in hostilities, interrupted by enemy sabotage to various coastal points.
Heroes of the defense of Sevastopol
- Sailor Shevchenko
Rewarding participants in the defense of Sevastopol
Especially for the participants in the defense of Sevastopol, the medal "For the Defense of Sevastopol" was established, which was the first medal in the history of Russia that was issued not for capture or victory, but for defense. Also, all participants in the events were awarded the medal "In memory of the war of 1853-1856." , which was awarded to all participants in the Crimean War. Subsequently, the medal "In memory of the 50th anniversary of the defense of Sevastopol" was established, which was awarded to all surviving participants in the events, as well as members of the committee for the restoration of monuments of the Sevastopol defense, historians, and writers.
Historical curiosities
The soft spherical lead bullets brought for the siege of Sevastopol, stored in oak barrels, turned out to be so damaged that the French arrows were actually left without ammunition. The cause of the damage was that the caterpillars of the willow horntail gnawed the bullets, which settled in the walls of the barrels and “did not notice” the transition from oak to soft metal.
The first defense of Sevastopol in art
Literature
- Journal of military operations in the Crimea, September-December 1854 / comp. A.V. Efimov. - Simferopol: Antikva, 2010. - 192 p.: silt, maps, portrait. - (Archive of the Crimean War 1853-1856). 500 copies
- Grebenshchikov G. A. No details were given... // Gangut. - 2000. - V. 24. - S. 90–107. -
The Heroic Defense of Sevastopol (1854-1855): Essay
Colonel A.N. LAGOVSKY
In the Crimean War of 1853-1856. a prominent place is occupied by the heroic defense of Sevastopol. For more than 11 months, Russian soldiers and sailors defended Sevastopol in the fight against the numerically superior enemy forces, showing amazing heroism, courage and courage.
On November 18, the Russian squadron under the command of Admiral Nakhimov defeated the Turkish fleet in its own bay - Sinop. In April 1854 England and France declared war on Russia. The English fleet bombarded Odessa and made several raids in different places - on the White Sea, in the Gulf of Finland and even in the Far East, attacking Kamchatka. In September 1854, Anglo-French-Turkish troops landed in the Crimea. The immediate goal of the enemy was the capture of Sevastopol. However, fearing strong opposition from the Russians, the enemy high command decided to land in a more convenient place, away from the Russian troops, which were located mainly in the Sevastopol region.
The combined fleet of England and France, consisting of 89 warships and 300 transports, approached Evpatoria on September 1.
For six days, the landing of troops continued uninterruptedly. 62,000 men were landed and 134 field guns unloaded.
At that time, there were barely 33,000 Russian troops in the entire Crimea. The enemy army moved along the coast to Sevastopol. The fleet ensured the advance of the army from the sea.
The commander-in-chief of the Russian troops in the Crimea, Prince Menshikov, decided to give battle to the enemy army at a position he had previously chosen on the Alma River - on the way from Evpatoria to Sevastopol along the seashore. Up to 30 thousand Russian troops were concentrated near the Alma River.
On September 7, Anglo-French troops approached the Russian position and settled to the north, 6 km from it. The Russians had half as many soldiers, almost three times as many artillery and a very small number of rifled guns. The Russian infantry was armed with flintlock shotguns with a range of 300 paces. The British and French had rifled guns of the Union with a range of 1,200 paces. The battle began on the morning of 8 September. To facilitate the advance of the troops, the enemy sought to suppress the opposition of the Russian artillery by concentrating intense fire on it. There were many killed and wounded among the artillerymen. The infantry also suffered heavy losses from the enemy's long-range guns. The Russians strove for bayonet attacks. But the French and British evaded hand-to-hand combat and from a distance inaccessible to obsolete Russian guns, fired heavily.
Under cover of the strongest artillery and rifle fire, the British crossed the Alma. Then one of the Russian regiments - Vladimirsky was sent to repel the enemy troops, but this regiment alone, despite all the heroism of the soldiers, could no longer do anything. The commander-in-chief gave the order to withdraw. The losses of the Anglo-French were so significant that they did not dare to pursue Menshikov's army, which retreated to Sevastopol.
But on September 12, Menshikov, fearing that the enemy could cut him off from the central regions of Russia, ordered the Russian army to be moved along the road to Bakhchisaray and stationed on the Mekenziev heights east of Sevastopol.
By the beginning of the war, there were up to 42,000 inhabitants in Sevastopol, of which about 30,000 were military men. The approaches from the sea to the city were protected by coastal defense batteries. In total there were 14 batteries with 610 guns of various calibers.
From the land Sevastopol was almost not fortified. Throughout the entire seven-kilometer space of the defensive line, there were 134 small-caliber guns installed in earthen fortifications that were not yet completed.
On the northern side, Sevastopol was protected by one fortification, built back in 1818 and remained unchanged until the start of the war. This fortification was an octagonal fort surrounded by a moat. The fort had only 50 guns that could operate in different directions; 3-4 guns could operate in one sector.
The defense of the city was headed by the chief of staff of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Vladimir Alekseevich Kornilov. The closest associate and student of the outstanding naval commander and builder of the Black Sea Fleet M.P. Lazarev Kornilov devoted all his knowledge, strength and great organizational skills to the strengthening of Sevastopol. He took charge of the entire defense of the city and acted with the greatest energy.
Kornilov's closest assistant was Vice Admiral Pavel Stepanovich Nakhimov, who was the head of defense of the southern side of Sevastopol. Under the leadership of Kornilov and Nakhimov, the heroic defenders of the city, in the course of the fight against the enemy, turned Sevastopol into a powerful fortress, which successfully repelled the onslaught of the enemy for 349 days.
Defensive work in Sevastopol was carried out day and night simultaneously along the entire defensive line. Not only soldiers and sailors worked, but the entire civilian population. Women worked equally with men. One battery was entirely built by female hands, which is why it retained the name “maiden's”. At night they worked by the light of torches and lanterns.
Admiral V.A. Kornilov, in one of his orders, assessed the heroic efforts of the Sevastopol residents who selflessly defended their hometown as follows:
“From the first day of the imposition of Sevastopol by an enemy superior in strength, the troops intended to defend it showed a resolute readiness to die, but not to give up the city ...
In the course of a short time, by the tireless activity of all officers and lower ranks, strong fortifications grew out of the earth, and the cannons of old ships are placed on these formidable strongholds ... ".
In these days of the beginning of the heroic defense of the city, in order to block the entrance of enemy ships to the Sevastopol raid, it was decided to flood some of the old ships at the entrance to the Sevastopol Bay. The decision to sink part of the ships was correct, because the enemy fleet consisted of 34 battleships, 55 frigates, including 50 wheeled and screw steamers. The Black Sea Fleet had only 50 ships, of which 14 battleships and 7 frigates, 11 paddle steamers (and not a single propeller). In conditions of such an inequality in forces, military operations at sea would entail the inevitable death of the Black Sea Fleet.
In the order of V.A. Kornilov about the need to sink ships said:
“Comrades! Our troops, after a bloody battle with an excellent enemy, withdrew to Sevastopol in order to defend it with their breasts.
You have tasted the enemy's steamers and seen his ships needing no sails. He brought a double number of such to attack us from the sea; we need to abandon our favorite thought - to smash the enemy on the water. In addition, we are needed to protect the city, where our homes and many families are.”
On September 11, at the entrance to the Sevastopol Bay, five old battleships and two frigates were sunk. The ship's guns were used to reinforce the coastal defense, sailors and officers were sent to defend the city.
On September 14, the allied armies approached the northern side of Sevastopol. Having exaggerated information about its fortifications, the enemy changed direction and decided to attack the city from the south side.
This was the grossest mistake of the Anglo-French, because on the northern side the fortifications of Sevastopol were completely insignificant and, moreover, outdated. In addition, by moving to the South Side, they gave the defenders of Sevastopol additional time to build fortifications.
On the entire seven-kilometer line of fortifications of the South Side, the Russians managed to concentrate about 16 thousand people, of which 10 thousand sailors. There were 3,500 soldiers on the North Side. There were 3 thousand sailors left on the ships of the fleet that were in the bay.
On September 14, the enemy occupied the town of Balaklava, located 14 km from Sevastopol, which had a small but deep harbor capable of receiving ships with a large draft. Reinforcements for the Anglo-French armies were brought here on ships.
By the end of September, the enemy had an army of 67,000 near Sevastopol, including 41,000 French, 20,000 British and 6,000 Turks.
The garrison of Sevastopol by this time consisted of 30 thousand soldiers, sailors and officers.
The Anglo-French command decided to build a line of batteries around the southern side of the city, and then bring down the fire of the batteries and artillery of their fleet on the city and its fortifications, suppress the defenses and storm Sevastopol.
At about 7 am on October 5, enemy batteries opened heavy fire on the city. Somewhat later, the enemy fleet approached the entrance to the Sevastopol Bay and began bombarding the city, hoping to suppress the batteries and break into the bay.
The ships of the French squadron had 794 guns on one side; 84 Russian guns mounted on two batteries in the southern part of the Sevastopol Bay acted against them. The English squadron fired 546 guns against only 31 guns. Thus, the combined fleet operated with 1,340 guns on one side, which were opposed by only 115 Russian guns.
The remaining Russian batteries, located along the shores of the bay, could not take part in an artillery duel, since the fire of their guns was designed to destroy ships that had already broken into the bay.
During the 8-hour shelling from the sea, the Allied ships fired 50 thousand shells. Although the Sevastopol garrison had losses, not a single battery was completely suppressed. The Allied ships were significantly damaged by the return fire of the Russian batteries. So, for example, the English ship "Albion" had 93 holes and lost all three masts. The French ship "Paris" received 50 holes, etc. Many enemy ships were out of action; others lost control and ran aground. As a result of the battle, the allies were forced to send several ships for repairs to Constantinople,
The enemy's plan was thwarted. Despite a tenfold superiority in artillery, the enemy fleet was unable to destroy the Russian batteries. The Allied command, given the significant damage to their ships, refused to bombard Sevastopol from the sea. The bombardment from the land was equally ineffectual. Russian gunners tried to fire faster in order to make up for the lack of guns. As a result of this, the guns became so hot that there was a danger of their explosions. The order was given to fire less frequently.
During the artillery competition, a shortage of ammunition began to be felt. To bring them from the pier, volunteers went to the bay. This was very dangerous, since the enemy's cannonballs and bombs covered the entire area not only of the fortifications, but also of the approaches to them. Most of the shell carriers were out of order by the end of the day.
At about 10 o'clock on October 5, the gunners of the 5th bastion blew up the powder magazine of the French battery No. 4. Guns were knocked out on many French batteries. The French fire gradually subsided and stopped by 11 o'clock.
On the left flank of the defensive line, the fight against the British continued. The 3rd bastion was badly damaged - the fire of most of the English guns was concentrated on it. By 3 p.m., the artillery crew of many guns had already changed twice. Despite the destructive fire of the enemy, the gunners continued to fire without interruption. The steam-frigates “Vladimir” (captain 2nd rank G.I. Butakov) and “Khersonesus” (captain-lieutenant I. Rudnev) took part in firing at the English batteries, the fire of which caused significant damage to the British.
As a result of the heroic actions of Sevastopol, the enemy did not reach the goal. In vain did the enemy armies, standing under arms all day, wait for an opportunity to rush to the assault. The assault did not take place.
The losses of the garrison of Sevastopol amounted to 1,250 people. killed and wounded. The talented organizer and head of the defense of Sevastopol, Vice Admiral V.A., died. Kornilov.
During a strong cannonade, he went around the batteries, gave instructions to the commanders, encouraged the sailors and soldiers. At 11 o'clock. 30 min. on Malakhov Kurgan he was mortally wounded by a cannonball and died in the evening of the same day. “Defend Sevastopol,” was Kornilov's death warrant. After the death of Kornilov, Nakhimov became the sole actual leader of the defense of Sevastopol. The Anglo-French, convinced of the impossibility of quickly taking Sevastopol, began to lay siege to the city.
In the second half of October, the number of the Russian army in the Crimea reached 65 thousand. In addition, the arrival of two more infantry divisions was expected. The enemy, having begun the siege of Sevastopol, was forced to stretch his troops over a considerable area to cover from the Russian army. The conditions of the terrain allowed the Russians to operate conveniently in the direction of Balaklava, the base of the British. An attack on the rear of the British would disrupt the material support of the British troops and would make their operations more difficult.
The idea of the initial plan of the Russian command was to cut off Balaklava's communication with the area where siege work was carried out with a powerful blow of three divisions, capture the Balaklava fortifications and then hit the rear of the main enemy grouping that had engulfed Sevastopol.
But Menshikov refused to carry out this plan and, without waiting for the arrival of reinforcements, he ordered one infantry division with cavalry to attack the British, limiting the task to occupying the first line of fortifications, which consisted of several separate redoubts.
At dawn on October 13, a detachment of infantry and cavalry launched an offensive. A battle ensued near the village of Kadykioy (Battle of Balaklava). Within a few hours, the detachment captured four redoubts. The British sent selected cavalry units to counterattack, which were almost completely destroyed by the Russians. However, due to the small size of the detachment (only about 16 thousand people), it was not possible to develop success. Guilty of this was Menshikov, who did not believe in the ability of the troops subordinate to him and took action with insignificant forces.
Meanwhile, the British and French daily renewed shelling of the city and fortifications; On October 20, at the military council of the allied armies, it was decided on November 6 to storm Sevastopol.
However, the enemy's plan was again violated. Reinforcements approached the Russians - the long-awaited corps consisting of two divisions. The total number of Russian troops in the Sevastopol region reached 85,000. Of these, about 35,000 were directly in the city, and the 50,000-strong army was located outside the city, hanging over the enemy’s right flank. Constant communication was maintained between this army and the garrison of Sevastopol - the road from the city to Simferopol remained in the hands of the Russians.
With the approach of new reinforcements, the balance of power changed in favor of the Russians. Given this, Menshikov decided to attack the right flank of the enemy - the British - from Inkerman.
The preparations for the offensive were completely unsatisfactory. Even the chiefs of the detachments did not have maps of the area. The leadership of the troops by Commander-in-Chief Menshikov and Corps Commander Dannenberg was poor. As a result, on October 24, after a seven-hour battle with a better armed enemy, the Russian troops, having inflicted heavy losses on the enemy, especially the British, retreated to their original positions.
The successful withdrawal of the Russian troops was largely helped by the steam-frigates "Vladimir" and "Khersones", which advanced into the Inkerman Bay and accurately fired at the enemy, who was trying to pursue the retreating Russian regiments. The Inkerman battle showed how great the stamina, courage and endurance of the Russian soldier are.
The result of the Inkerman battle is a rare case in military history: the advancing Russian army, which did not reach its goal, at the same time inflicted such losses and such a moral defeat on the enemy that it forced him to change the nature of the planned actions - instead of an offensive, go on the defensive.
The plan to storm Sevastopol before the onset of winter was thwarted. The enemy had to hastily prepare for the winter campaign, which he had not even thought about before, hoping for the imminent fall of Sevastopol.
In November, rainy, cold weather set in, heavy rains began to fall. An epidemic broke out and the death rate increased. The difficult situation of the enemy armies led to the appearance of deserters and defectors - on cold winter days, up to thirty people a day ran across to the Russians.
In November-December 1854 the English army was demoralized. However, the Russian commander-in-chief Menshikov failed to take advantage of this and did not take any serious action until February of the following year. The enemy was waiting for spring and reinforcements.
Russian troops, it would seem, should have been in a better position. But it wasn't quite like that. Menshikov's lack of sufficient care for the soldier and the poor supply of troops, disorganized by bureaucracy, embezzlement of public funds and bribery of tsarist officials, led to the fact that the soldiers and sailors were not provided with the most necessary things. An epidemic of stomach and cold diseases also broke out in the Russian army. The delivery of ammunition and food to Sevastopol was also hampered by the extremely poor condition of the roads.
At the end of February 1855, Menshikov was replaced by Prince Gorchakov, commander-in-chief of the Danube army. During the winter, Sevastopol lived an active, ebullient life. Work was carried out to restore the destroyed fortifications, trenches were moved forward for artillery shelling of the enemy, night sorties were often carried out to destroy the fortifications and batteries erected by the enemy and capture prisoners.
The sorties involved from 50-60 to 200-300 people. Sometimes several sorties were carried out in one night in different areas. Volunteers were called in for sorties, each time there were more than required. Subsequently, separate units began to be appointed, to which volunteers adjoined. There were specialists in night sorties among sailors and soldiers, as well as among officers.
Lieutenant Biryulez, Lieutenant Colonel Golovinsky, Lieutenant Zavalishin, sailors Pyotr Koshka, Fyodor Zaika, Akseny Rybakov, Ivan Dimchenko, Ignatiy Shevchenko and soldier Afanasy Eliseev became famous among the numerous heroes of Sevastopol. All of Russia knew their names. Of course, the press of that time noted significantly fewer names of "lower ranks" than officers.
Forays were also carried out at sea. For example, on November 24, on the orders of Admiral Nakhimov, two steam-frigates "Vladimir" and "Khersones" under the command of the commander of "Vladimir" Captain 2nd Rank G.I. Butakov. “Vladimir” was supposed to attack the enemy screw steamer “Megera”, which was watching from the sea the actions of Russian ships in the bay. "Chersonesus" was to start a battle with two enemy steamers, which were not far away, so as not to give them the opportunity to help the "Megera". Having gone out to sea at full speed, "Vladimir" rushed to the "Megera", making several well-aimed shots along the way at the enemy camp located on the shore. "Megera", having given a signal of an unexpected attack, hastened to leave under the protection of the fire of the ships of her fleet, located in Kamysheva and Cossack bays. “Vladimir”, after seeing off the enemy steamer with shots, joined the “Khersonesos” and fired along with it at two steamers and the enemy camp.
Meanwhile, several ships from the enemy fleet weighed anchor and headed for the battlefield. In order not to be cut off from the entrance to the bay, Butakov stopped the fight and returned without loss.
As a result of sorties, the enemy not only suffered material damage, but also experienced difficulties in conducting siege work. In addition, attacks undermined the morale of the enemy.
Significant scope in the siege of Sevastopol received an underground mine fight. The French, not being able to advance to the 4th bastion, decided to go forward by underground mine galleries to undermine the bastion.
The chief military engineer of Sevastopol, Totleben, guessed the intentions of the enemy. He set about building an extensive system of counter mines ahead of the bastion.
The idea of the Russian counter-mine system was expressed in stepping on the besieger underground, undermining his galleries and throwing the enemy back.
During the underground mine war during the defense of Sevastopol, the Russians laid up to 7000 meters of galleries and sleeves and made 120 explosions.
The heroic 4th bastion repelled all attempts by the French to approach it by land and underground.
Thanks to such an energetic rebuff, the enemy did not dare to storm the 4th bastion during the spring and summer of 1855, and this was one of the reasons that the enemy shifted the main efforts from the spring of 1855 to the other flank of the Russian defensive line, where the main fortifications were Malakhov Kurgan and the 2nd bastion.
In February, the enemy installed several batteries, the location of which showed that they were intended for shelling the height in front of Malakhov Kurgan and the area between this height and Malakhov Kurgan. In order to improve the position of the Malakhov Kurgan, the Russian command decided to get ahead of the enemy in occupying this height.
But for this, it was first necessary to establish itself on the heights behind the Kilen-beam. Otherwise, the enemy could act from here on the flank and rear of the height located in front of the Malakhov Kurgan.
A detachment under the command of General Khrushchev was entrusted with strengthening on the heights behind Kilen-balka. The detachment consisted of the Volyn and Selenginsky regiments. On the night of February 10, both regiments approached the designated place in complete silence. The Volynsky regiment moved forward, covering the Selenginsky regiment, which began work on the construction of a fortification. Only at dawn did the enemy discover the Russians and opened artillery fire. But the work continued. The new fortification was called the Selenginsky redoubt. The enemy decided at all costs to capture the still unfinished redoubt.
On the night of February 12, 1855, the enemy made an attempt to capture the Selenginsky redoubt, but the Russians forced him to retreat in disorder.
The steam-frigates “Vladimir”, “Khersones”, “Thunder-bearer” and the battleship “Chesma”, which were on the raid, took part in repelling the attack of the enemy, which hit the advancing enemy and his reserves with their fire.
On the night of February 17, the Russians advanced even further here and, 500 meters from the enemy's trenches, laid another redoubt - Volynsky. By February 27, both redoubts were completed.
Since it was impossible to deliver heavy artillery to the heights where both redoubts were located, the Russians limited themselves to installing twenty-two light guns there.
The unexpected advance of the Russians again forced the enemy to change the plan of advance to the defensive line of the city. It was no longer possible to act directly on Malakhov Kurgan and the 2nd bastion. It was necessary to get rid of a new obstacle in the form of two redoubts. It took the Anglo-French months to overcome this obstacle. Meanwhile, the Russians captured the height in front of the Malakhov Kurgan, on which they built a fortification, called the Kamchatka Lunette (the Kamchatka Regiment built the fortification). 10 light cannons were installed on the Kamchatka lunette.
Nakhimov entrusted the command of the most important sector of defense, which included Malakhov Kurgan, the 2nd bastion, the Selenginsky and Volynsky redoubts and the Kamchatka lunette, to Rear Admiral Vladimir Ivanovich Istomin.
Rear Admiral Istomin, still in the rank of midshipman, took part in the famous battle of Navarino. For this fight, he received the George Cross. He was awarded the second Order of George in Sevastopol. In the Battle of Sinop, Istomin, with the rank of captain of the 1st rank, commanded the 120-gun ship Paris. According to Nakhimov, it was impossible to act better than Istomin acted in this battle. This assessment of Nakhimov was in itself a high reward.
Istomin was an example of fearlessness and amazing calmness even during the hottest battle; at the most critical moments, he did not lose his presence of mind and clarity of thought, always finding a way out of a difficult situation. He did not flaunt danger, but he was not afraid of death and always found himself in battle in the most dangerous places. During the six months of his permanent stay on the Malakhov Kurgan, Istomin was wounded once and shell-shocked once, but did not leave the fortifications.
Its headquarters was located in the surviving lower floor of a stone tower on the Malakhov Kurgan. Here he lived. With the beginning of the creation of the Kamchatka lunet, he came there once or twice a day and personally supervised the installation of guns and battery equipment.
March 7, 1855 Istomin, walking around the lunette, was killed by a cannonball that hit him in the head. Having lost a faithful assistant and friend in the person of Istomin, Nakhimov took on part of his work. March 27, 1855 Vice Admiral Nakhimov was awarded the rank of admiral.
During February - March, the defensive line of Sevastopol was strengthened, removed from the ships and put new guns on the fortifications. The total number of guns reached 900, but only 460 guns could fire on enemy trenches and artillery. The rest, for the most part of small calibers and insufficient range, were placed for firing at the nearest approaches, for shelling individual areas of the terrain and for the internal defense of fortifications.
The enemy had 482 guns on their batteries. In terms of the number of guns, the superiority of the enemy was small, but in terms of the power of fire it was much more significant. The volley of British and French guns was 12000 kg of metal, Russian - 9000 kg, i.e. 25% less. In addition, the Russians had only 57 mortars, of which half could not operate due to lack of shells. The enemy, on the other hand, had 130 large-caliber mortars, from which he could shell the fortifications and the entire territory of the city with mounted fire.
The enemy’s stock of shells was 600 for a cannon, 350 for a mortar, while the Russians had a stock of 150 shells for a gun, and 25-100 shells for a mortar, depending on the caliber.
The garrison of Sevastopol was in great need of shells and especially of gunpowder. On March 28, the second major bombardment of Sevastopol began and continued without interruption day and night until April 6.
For the first day, the enemy did not succeed. The Anglo-French command decided to continue intensive shelling day and night for another three days and at the same time build approaches to the 4th bastion and the Kamchatka lunette. But on April 2, it turned out that Russian artillery continued to fire the same way as at the beginning of the bombardment. It was decided to continue the bombardment for another three days, and then storm: the French - the 4th bastion and the Kamchatka lunette, the British - the 3rd bastion. However, on April 5, the assault did not take place. On April 6, at a council, the Allied commanders postponed the assault until April 16, in order to strengthen their artillery during this time.
During the second bombardment, the enemy used up 168,700 shells, the Russians 88,700. The defenders of Sevastopol almost completely used up their supply of shells, with the exception of an emergency reserve in case of an assault.
On April 16, the assault also did not take place. The prolonged but unsuccessful siege of Sevastopol led to the fact that on May 3, the commander-in-chief of the enemy forces, Canrobert, was removed from command and replaced by General Pelissier.
To calm public opinion in England and France, the new commander-in-chief decided to strike at the ports of the Sea of Azov, where large food supplies were concentrated. By this he hoped to complicate the supply of Russian troops. However, this enterprise did not have a noticeable impact on the course of events, although significant stocks of grain were exterminated. The supply of food for Sevastopol was carried out from the warehouses of the Crimean peninsula and from the nearest regions of Ukraine. The supply of the Russian army was hampered not so much by the actions of the enemy, but by the poor condition of dirt roads and transport, bureaucracy and theft of tsarist officials.
In April - May, reinforcements continued to arrive to the enemy near Sevastopol. At the end of May, the number of enemy troops increased to 200,000.
There were about 70 thousand Russian troops in Sevastopol and its environs. of these, only 40 thousand directly defended Sevastopol.
The enemy, given their vast superiority in numbers, better weapons and large stocks of ammunition, began to prepare for a decisive assault. First of all, he decided to capture three Russian fortifications, which advanced far ahead of the defensive line and greatly interfered with the enemy troops. These were the Selenginsky and Volynsky redoubts and the Kamchatka lunette.
On May 25, at 15:00, the third bombardment of Sevastopol began, which continued until May 30. Enemy batteries were ordered to fire at least 150 shots with each gun until 06:00 on May 26. 500-600 charges were prepared for the gun. The Russians, on the other hand, did not have more than 60-90 charges per gun.
Until 6 p.m., Russian artillery did not lag behind enemy artillery, then, due to a lack of ammunition, the fire of the defenders of Sevastopol began to weaken.
On May 27, 35,000 French attacked the Volyn and Selenginsky redoubts and the Kamchatka lunette. Knocked out several times by Russian counterattacks, the French, supported by the British, finally pushed the defenders back to Malakhov Kurgan. Nakhimov, who was on the lunette, was surrounded, but, together with sailors and soldiers, escaped from the enemy ring.
During the assault on the Kamchatka lunet, significant losses were inflicted on the allies by the steamship-frigates "Vladimir", "Krym" and "Khersonee", which fired at the enemy from Kilen Bay.
On June 5, 1855, the fourth bombardment of Sevastopol began, after which on June 6 the enemy stormed the fortifications of the city. About 30,000 French were concentrated against the Malakhov Kurgan, on which the main blow was being dealt, on the 1st and 2nd bastions.
At the same time, the British decided to storm the 3rd bastion. 14 thousand British troops were allocated. In total, thus, 44 thousand people were intended for the assault, which was more than twice the number of defenders of Sevastopol in this sector.
Up to 70,000 people were allocated to provide an attack from possible opposition from the 30,000-strong Russian army, which was outside the city on the Mekenziev Heights (on the road from Sevastopol to Simferopol), up to 70 thousand people were allocated.
All day on June 5, enemy batteries fired with unrelenting force. By evening, the effects of the bombardment were very noticeable. Malakhov Kurgan, the 2nd and 3rd bastions suffered the most.
With the onset of darkness, vigorous work began to restore the destroyed sections of the defensive line. The main damage was repaired by dawn, the damaged guns were replaced.
By 3 o'clock the enemy's artillery fire suddenly stopped, and the French began to assault the 1st and 2nd bastions. The defenders of the 1st and 2nd bastions met the French columns with grapeshot and cannon fire. The steam-frigates "Vladimir", "Gromonosets", "Khersones", "Crimea", "Bessarabia" and "Odessa", which took up positions in front of the entrance to Kilen Bay, also opened fire on the French reserves in Kilen Balka and on the advancing units .
The enemy attack bogged down 30-40 paces from the Russian fortifications. Suffering huge losses, the French began to retreat. After 15 minutes, the attack was repeated, but to no avail. At the same time, French attacks began on Malakhov Kurgan and the British attacked the 3rd bastion, which were also repulsed.
The assault was reflected in all areas. During the bombardment and assault, the enemy used up 72,000 shells, the Russians - 19,000. The total losses of the Russians reached 4,800 people. The enemy lost over 7 thousand soldiers killed and 18 officers and 270 soldiers captured.
After repelling the assault, the defenders of Sevastopol got a little respite. This gave the Russians the opportunity to rebuild the fortifications. In general, however, engineering work did not get the scale as required by the situation. The reason for this was all the same lack of management.
The enemy was forced to temporarily abandon a new assault, but intensified artillery fire in order to inflict as many losses as possible on the Russian troops. On June 28, the defenders of Sevastopol suffered an irreparable loss: Admiral Pavel Stepanovich Nakhimov was mortally wounded on Malakhov Hill. The bullet hit him in the temple at the moment when he was examining the enemy's trenches, leaning out of cover. On June 30, without regaining consciousness, Nakhimov died.
The order for the garrison on the death of the admiral said:
“... We will not be the only ones to mourn the loss of a valiant colleague, a worthy boss, a knight without fear and reproach - all of Russia, together with us, will shed tears of sincere regret over the death of the Sinop hero.
Sailors of the Black Sea Fleet! He was a witness to all your virtues, he knew how to appreciate your incomparable selflessness, he shared dangers with you, led you on the path of glory and victory ... ".
With the death of Nakhimov, Sevastopol lost its "soul of defense", the Russian fleet lost a talented naval commander, the Russian people lost one of their glorious sons. After the death of Nakhimov, especially difficult days came for Sevastopol. By the beginning of August, there were no more than 110 meters from the French forward trenches to the Malakhov Kurgan, and 120 meters to the 2nd bastion. The number of enemy guns reached 640, not counting the reserve of 250 guns.
The entire personnel of the Russian army was eager for action. After long deliberations and deliberations, Commander-in-Chief Gorchakov finally made a decision - to strike the enemy with the forces of the army stationed outside Sevastopol. On August 4, a battle broke out, which received the name “battle on the Chernaya River” in military history. This battle was not successful. The forces were scattered, the reserves were not used, the actions of the units were not coordinated with each other.
After the battle on the Chernaya River, Commander-in-Chief Gorchakov, with his usual indecisiveness, changed his plan of action several times. In the end, he decided to continue the defense of Sevastopol and at the same time secretly prepare the evacuation of the city.
On August 5, an intensified bombardment of Sevastopol began, which did not stop for twenty days. Twice - from 5 to 8 August and from 24 to 26 August - especially heavy artillery fire hit the city. These two periods are called the fifth and sixth bombardments.
At 4 o'clock on August 5, shortly before dawn, eight hundred enemy artillery pieces began shelling. Malakhov Kurgan, the 2nd and 3rd bastions were shelled especially intensively.
During calm hours, Commander-in-Chief Gorchakov visited the 2nd bastion. He turned to the sailors and soldiers with the question: “Are there many of you on the bastion?” One of the soldiers replied: “Three days is enough, Your Excellency.” The content of the answer and its calm tone showed the spiritual strength of the Sevastopol people, who decided to die in an unequal battle, but not to surrender to the enemy.
From 5 to 8 August, the enemy fired 56,500 artillery shells, from 9 to 24 August - 132,500 shells, i.e. on average, about 9 thousand per day. The Russians responded with 51,300 shots, or 3,400 shots per day, that is, almost three times less. The defenders of Sevastopol had run out of shells, and there were few guns left.
Gorchakov decided to withdraw troops to the North side. By August 15, a 900-meter floating bridge across the Sevastopol Bay was ready. On August 15, Gorchakov ordered the transfer of all headquarters and departments to the North Side.
On August 22, at the Allied military council, the chief engineer of the French troops pointed out the extreme danger of the Russian work on the construction of a second defensive line; if the Russians managed to finish these works, then the allies would have to spend a second winter near Sevastopol, for which they would not have had the strength. It was necessary at all costs to prevent the completion of these works, and the only means for this was an assault. Pelissier decided to storm Sevastopol, having made a pre-intensified bombardment.
On August 24, the sixth bombardment of Sevastopol began. 807 guns (including 300 mortars) of the allies opened fire. The Russians fired from 540 guns.
The Anglo-French artillery density per 1 km of the front reached 150 guns. Military history has never known fire of such density. On the morning of August 24, the fortifications and the city were covered in a thick cloud of smoke, which, blocking the sun, hung over the heroic city for three days.
One bomb hit the Berezan military transport stationed in the roadstead, pierced the deck and exploded in the hold. There was a fire. The flames burst out and engulfed the entire ship. The enemy, attracted by a bright glow, concentrated fire on the burning transport. The anchors failed; the wave and current carried the transport across the bay to the bridge, which could be badly damaged. The bridge had to be saved. The sailors showed exceptional dexterity and heroism. Under strong enemy artillery fire, they managed to tow the burning transport to the middle of the bay and sank it with several shots into the underwater part.
On the first day of the sixth bombardment, the Anglo-French fired over 60 thousand shells, the Russians - 20 thousand. The next two days, on August 25 and 26, the fierce fire did not stop. The losses of the Russians from the bombings were increasing, reaching 2.5 and 3 thousand people per day.
The enemy launched incendiary rockets that caused fires, the Sevastopol residents had to fight fire near the fortifications. Fighting fires in the city ceased due to lack of forces.
For three days without a break the cannonade thundered. Despite the heavy fire and the difficult state of the defensive line, each of the defenders was in his place. The 348th day of the defense of Sevastopol was coming to an end.
Considering the overwhelming superiority in forces, the dilapidated state of the Russian fortifications and the enormous losses that the Russian troops had suffered over the past month, Pelissier, after some hesitation, gave the order to storm the city on August 27.
This time, they prepared more carefully for the assault. The enemy even managed to ensure its surprise, although the Russians were constantly waiting for the assault. Several times the Russians brought up reserves, and each time in vain: the assault did not begin, but only the losses increased. Usually they waited for the assault at dawn or after dark. The enemy took all this into account and scheduled the start of the assault at 12 noon. This was also prompted by his fear that the Russian troops stationed outside the city would not descend from the Mekenzian heights and strike at the flank of the assault columns. The beginning of the assault at 12 o'clock made it possible not to be afraid of a blow from this army, since before dark it would not have had time to descend from the heights and attack the enemy troops.
At dawn on August 27, the enemy fired from all guns, concentrating it mainly on Malakhov Kurgan and the 2nd bastion. An intensified cannonade continued for several hours. The Russian troops, concentrated on the fortifications, suffered heavy losses. In view of this, the reserves were withdrawn.
At noon, the assault on the entire defensive line of Sevastopol began simultaneously. The main blow was inflicted by the French troops on the 2nd bastion and the curtain between the 2nd bastion and Malakhov Kurgan. The French attacked the 2nd bastion three times, bringing large fresh forces into battle, but to no avail.
In repulsing the attacks on the 2nd bastion and the curtain wall, the steam-frigates Vladimir, Khersones and Odessa played a significant role, which, with the beginning of the assault, took up a position in Kilen Bay and fired on the French. The sailors of the “Vladimir” were especially good at maneuvering and using fire. Approaching Kilen-balka, "Vladimir" opened fire from the starboard side with bombs and buckshot at the storming French columns, inflicting heavy losses on them. As a result of skillful actions of the commander of "Vladimir" G.I. Butakov’s steamer-frigate stood at such a place in the raid where it was covered by the coast from the fire of the French battery, which was at the height of the keel, and the other French battery could not establish such an aiming angle due to the steep coast that would allow shelling the raid. However, the influence of waves and wind, as well as the need to maneuver for better firing at certain moments, brought him to the line of fire of enemy batteries, which the French used every time. During the three-hour battle "Vladimir" lost 15 people killed and wounded and received 21 holes. Nevertheless, until the very night, "Vladimir", skillfully maneuvering, fired at the enemy's trenches and at his keel-beam battery.
At about 12 o'clock the French began the assault on the Malakhov Kurgan. Despite the significant numerical superiority of the enemy, Russian sailors and soldiers defended Malakhov Kurgan with the greatest tenacity. Reserves began to arrive to help the defenders. They were led by General Khrulev. The French met the columns with deadly concentrated fire. The wounded Khrulev was carried to the rear. General Lysenko took command. He again led the sailors and soldiers to attack, but the overwhelming numerical superiority of the French stopped the attackers. Lysenko was killed. Command passed to General Yuferev. He gathered the remnants of all the regiments and led them on the attack for the third time.
Brutal hand-to-hand combat began to boil, Yuferev with a group of soldiers was surrounded. The Russians fought back desperately from the onslaught of the French.
The Sevastopolites, who had already gone on the attack several times, still did not leave the mound. They retreated to the rear slope of the mound and here, separated from the enemy by the width of the traverse, they fired back for an hour, not allowing the French to come out from behind the traverse.
It was impossible to launch a new major counterattack. A large number of officers were out of action; all regimental and battalion commanders were killed or wounded. Malakhov Kurgan remained in the hands of the French, but they could not advance further.
The 3rd bastion was stormed by the British. Two of their attacks were repulsed.
Two major attacks on the 5th bastion were also repulsed. The 4th bastion was not attacked. The enemy, not without reason, considered it the most powerful fortification of the Russian defensive line.
At 15 o'clock, given the unsuccessful outcome of the attacks and heavy losses, General Pelissier ordered the assault to be stopped and limited to the shelling of Russian fortifications.
So, all the attacks of the enemy, repeatedly repeated, were repulsed along the entire defensive line with heavy losses for him. Only on the Malakhov Kurgan did the French manage to gain a foothold.
Of course, the allies did not dare to think that their occupation of the Malakhov Kurgan could entail a general withdrawal of the Russians. However, the commander-in-chief Gorchakov, having familiarized himself with the state of affairs on the spot, ordered the counterattacks on Malakhov Kurgan to be stopped. He decided to leave the southern side of Sevastopol.
The situation, which was exceptionally unfavorable for the Russian troops, forced the command to withdraw troops to the northern side of Sevastopol, despite their determination to defend their native city.
The transfer of troops to the northern side of the Big Bay created a water barrier up to 900 meters wide between the Russians and the enemy and deprived the enemy of the opportunity to inflict heavy losses on the Russians every day. The southern side, given to the enemy, was all in the artillery fire zone from the northern side. At dusk on August 27, 1855, a rocket went up - a signal to withdraw.
The troops located in the area of the bridge were the first to withdraw, followed by those that were closer to the fortifications and, finally, the garrisons of the bastions with their closest reserves. On the bastions, 100 people were left to conduct rifle fire and artillerymen at the rate that a quarter of the guns continued to fire (to mask the withdrawal of troops). Special teams of sailors and sappers were preparing to blow up guns and powder magazines. The same teams were assigned the task of burning all the buildings in the city that could be of any value to the enemy.
Heavy naval artillery, which could not be taken out, was rendered unusable by the defenders. Artillerymen on their own (there were no horses) dragged light guns from the bastions and took them to the bay, but here they had to be thrown into the water, since it was impossible to drag them across the bridge.
The order to withdraw to the North side of the defenders of Sevastopol met with incredulity and even hostility. There was talk of change. Yes, and how could one not be indignant at such a decision: the enemy was repulsed, everyone was in a cheerful mood, stamina in the struggle did not weaken at all, and here it was necessary to leave their positions.
Sailors and soldiers almost by force had to be sent to the bridge. They were still waiting for the order to leave the city to be cancelled.
The enemy noticed that a large movement was taking place in the city, and decided that this was a change of troops. He guessed about the withdrawal of the Russians only when the explosions of the fortifications began.
The crossing went on all night. A strong north-east wind was blowing, which raised a great excitement in the bay. The floating bridge under the weight of people, field guns, wagons shook violently; at times here and there it was flooded with water. Thanks to the hard, selfless work of sailors and sappers, who quickly brought tar barrels under the bridge wherever the need arose, no accidents occurred.
Simultaneously with the crossing of the troops, the remnants of the Black Sea Fleet were flooded in the bay.
Around midnight, several rockets went up. At this signal, the teams left on the bastions and batteries of the defensive line began to retreat to the bridge. Leaving the fortifications, the teams left lit fuses of various lengths on each powder magazine so that the explosions would follow each other at long intervals.
One after another, bastions and batteries with the remaining stocks of gunpowder and shells flew into the air. The entire South Side was a continuous mass of flame and smoke, inside which the roar of explosions was heard from time to time. The enemy got only a pile of stones and ashes.
The abandonment of the southern side of Sevastopol in no way shook the determination of the defenders of Sevastopol to continue the fight against the enemy and expel him from the borders of his homeland.
The hopes of the enemy that with the departure of the Russian troops he would receive a large port city as a base for further actions did not come true. Even in terms of quartering troops for the coming winter, the city did not offer any tolerable opportunities.
As a result of the retreat to the North Side, the operational situation in the Crimea did not worsen for the Russian armies. The Russians got rid of daily significant losses.
Despite the capture of the southern side of Sevastopol, the British and French did not dare to take active steps. The war in the Crimea has entered a phase of calm.
At the beginning of 1856, peace negotiations began, and on March 30 peace terms were signed in Paris.
The garrison of Sevastopol, led by such outstanding military figures as Kornilov and Nakhimov, introduced a lot of new things into the tactical forms of warfare.
Near Sevastopol, close cooperation between the fleet and the army was organized. The fire of ships was also included in the defense fire system. The warships of the Black Sea Fleet, maneuvering in the bay, fired accurately at the enemy and inflicted serious losses on him.
The high state of military engineering in the Russian army, compared with the countries of Western Europe, also contributed to the success of the active defense of Russian soldiers and sailors.
During the defense of Sevastopol, skillfully combining terrain conditions and engineering structures, the Russians built a system of fire that allowed (with a significant superiority of the enemy in artillery and ammunition) to inflict heavy losses on him and greatly hindered his aspirations to approach the defensive line.
In the creation of a system of field fortifications, in the organization of a fire system, in the tactical use of troops in defense (sorties, advancement of fortification lines, and much more) was something new that brave officers, soldiers and sailors introduced into Russian military art during the period of the heroic defense of Sevastopol. The tsarist government was defeated.
In that era, Russian sailors and soldiers were not able to comprehend the essence of this war, in whose interests it was waged and what its political goal was. But they saw that the enemies had invaded Russia and felt the most pressing need to drive the invaders out of their country. In the defense of Sevastopol, the Russian people once again showed the whole world their high fighting qualities.
Traditions of the defenders of Sevastopol 1854-1855 for many decades inspired the Russian people to fight against foreign invaders who encroached on the national independence of our Motherland.
The first defense of Sevastopol in 1854-1855.
On October 4, 1853, Turkey declared war on Russia. In turn, on November 1, 1853, Russia declared war on Turkey,
At the beginning of hostilities, Russian troops repulsed the offensive of the Turkish army on the Danube theater, crossed the Danube and laid siege to the fortress of Silistria. At the same time they defeated the Turkish army in Transcaucasia. An outstanding victory of the Black Sea Fleet in the first period of the war was the defeat of the Turkish squadron on November 18, 1853 in the Battle of Sinop.
England and France, closely following the military events and not wanting to allow the strengthening and domination of Russia in the Black Sea, February 28, 1854 concluded a military alliance with Turkey against Russia. On March 1, an ultimatum was presented to Russia on the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Danubian principalities. Having received a negative answer, England and France on March 15 declared war on Russia.
Military operations in 1854 began with sabotage of the English fleet in the Baltic, the White Sea, the Pacific Ocean and the preparation of a landing force in the Crimea.
On September 12, 1854, an Anglo-French army of 62 thousand people with 134 guns landed in the Crimea, near Yevpatoriya - Sak, and took the direction to Sevastopol.
The first clash occurred on the outskirts of the city on September 8 on the Alma River. The Russian army of 30 thousand people with 96 guns courageously repulsed the enemy's offensive, but was defeated and retreated. The enemy moved to Sevastopol, went around it from the east and occupied convenient bays (the British - Balaklava, the French - Kamyshovaya). The 60,000-strong Allied army began the siege of the city, which lasted 349 days - from September 13, 1854 to August 27, 1855.
Sevastopol, as the main base of the Black Sea Fleet, was well fortified from the sea, and had almost no fortifications from land. Their construction began only in September 1854. Admirals V.A. Kornilov, P.S. Nakhimov, V.I. Istomin became the organizers of the defense of Sevastopol.
From the sea, the city was blocked by Anglo-French steam ships. To block their entrance to the bay, on September 11, 1854, the military council of the Black Sea Fleet decided to sink 7 large old sailing ships between the Konstantinovskaya and Aleksandrovskaya batteries, and on February 13, 1855, another 5 ships between the Mikhailovskaya and Nikolaevskaya batteries. In the first days of defense, the garrison of the city barely numbered 17 thousand people. In early October, part of the troops under the command of Prince A.S. Menshikov entered the city, the number of defenders of the city amounted to 35 thousand people. In a short time, an echeloned system of fortifications 8 km long was created, covering the southern part of Sevastopol, on which 8 bastions, redoubts, lunettes, lodgements were placed. They were built by thousands of sailors, soldiers and residents of the city, incl. women and children. Often, the population gave their property to fortify the city: horses, oxen, wagons, building materials. Work was carried out day and night. By October 16, 20 batteries were built, the artillery armament of the land defense was doubled and brought to 341 guns. The engineering defense was led by Colonel E.I. Totleben. At the land borders, mainly naval artillery was installed, it was served by artillery sailors. For the entire time of the siege of Sevastopol, up to two thousand naval guns with ammunition and personnel of up to 10 thousand people were transferred from the ships of the Black Sea Fleet to strengthen the defense of the city
The enemy did not dare to immediately storm the city and proceeded to siege it, during which he subjected the city to multi-day bombardments six times. On June 6, 1855, the enemy made an attempt to storm the fortifications of the Ship side, including. Malakhov barrow. The assault was repulsed. The events of that day are depicted on the picturesque canvas of the panorama "Defense of Sevastopol 1854-1855".
In an effort to destroy the fortifications of Sevastopol, the enemy used underground mine warfare. They dug 1280 m of galleries underground and made 120 explosions. But the defenders of Sevastopol launched counter-mine warfare in a timely manner and in 7 months of underground-mine warfare laid 6889 m of galleries and sleeves (5 times more than the enemy) and produced 94 large explosions. The mine war was led by engineer officer A.V. Melnikov.
The defenders of the city were especially famous for their night sorties. The sailor of the 30th naval crew P. Koshka, private A. Prokhorov, boatswain Budenko and many others distinguished themselves in them. At night, the defenders of the city also restored the destroyed fortifications, built new ones, often near enemy positions.
An outstanding doctor, scientist, founder of military field surgery N.I. Pirogov was a participant in the Sevastopol defense. He arrived in the besieged city with a detachment of sisters of mercy, here for the first time in world practice he began to widely use a plaster cast for wounding limbs and anesthesia with ether vapor during operations. The talent of N.I. Pirogov, the conscientious work of doctors ensured the return to service of many soldiers. In the first six months of defense alone, out of 15,123 wounded, 10,561 soldiers returned to the bastions.
The names of young heroes entered the history of defense. On the 5th bastion, artillery sailor T. Pishchenko was helped by his 10-year-old son Nikolai for several months. He remained on the bastion after the death of his father, shooting at the enemy from a small mortar, the 12-year-old son of the sailor M. Rybalchenko distinguished himself in the battles for the Kamchatka lunette, the 14-year-old K. Gorbanev - on the 4th bastion.
The great Russian writer L.N. Tolstoy, who participated in the defense of Sevastopol in the rank of second lieutenant of artillery, captured the remarkable feats of its heroes in the famous "Sevastopol Tales". In the midst of the fighting, he wrote: "This epic of Sevastopol, in which the Russian people were the hero, will leave great traces in Russia for a long time."
Throughout the 349-day siege, a particularly intense struggle went on for the key position of the city's defense - Malakhov Kurgan. The capture of it on August 27 by the French army predetermined the abandonment of the southern side of Sevastopol by Russian troops on August 28, 1855. Having blown up all the fortifications, batteries and powder magazines, they organizedly crossed the Sevastopol Bay to the North side along the pontoon bridge. Then the bridge was pulled up to the North side, and the opponents, exhausted by a long siege and bloody battles, were separated by the Sevastopol Bay. Hostilities have virtually ceased.
On March 18, 1856, the Peace Treaty was signed in Paris, according to which Russia was forbidden to have a navy on the Black Sea, build fortresses and naval bases. A 20-year period of Sevastopol's decline followed. The Russian playwright A. N. Ostrovsky, who visited this place in June 1860, wrote: "You cannot see this city without tears, there is positively no stone left unturned in it."
According to the calculations of the head of the engineering defense of the city, E.I. Totleben, during the period of the siege, the enemy brought down 1,356,000 artillery shells on Sevastopol. Cleaning the bays from sunken ships took more than 10 years.
Great battles. 100 battles that changed the course of history Domanin Alexander Anatolyevich
Sevastopol defense 1854–1855
Sevastopol defense
1854–1855
The Crimean War, in which Russia had to face the two most powerful powers in Europe at that time, was notable for its particular bitterness. Both Russia and her opponents suffered huge losses; the fighting in this war unfolded in the Caucasus, in the Danube principalities, in the Baltic, Black, White and Barents Seas, and even in Kamchatka. But, of course, the main event of this war was the heroic defense of Sevastopol by the Russians - the main naval base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
Having been defeated on the Alma River on September 8, 1854, Russian troops under the command of Admiral A.S. Menshikov began to withdraw first to Sevastopol, and then to Bakhchisarai. The garrison of Sevastopol, numbering about seven thousand people, declared on September 13 in a state of siege, was under attack by a strong grouping of Anglo-French troops numbering sixty-seven thousand people, under the command of the English General Raglan and the French General Canrobert. The Allies quickly occupied Balaklava and Kamysheva Bay, turning them into the main base of the English and French fleets and a supply point for troops.
The difficult situation of Sevastopol was aggravated by the lack of a prepared defense of the city from land, since there were only old and newly built fortifications on the South side with one hundred and forty-five guns. From the sea it was covered by thirteen strong coastal batteries with six hundred and eleven guns. On the Sevastopol roadstead were the main forces of the Black Sea Fleet - sixteen sailing battleships, six steam and four sailing frigates and other ships. The crews of the ships were twenty-four and a half thousand people.
The enemy outnumbered the Russian fleet in warships by more than three times, and in steam ships by nine times. There were thirty-four ships of the line and fifty-five frigates in all, including four steam-powered ships-of-the-line and fifty steam frigates. Taking advantage of the fact that the Anglo-French command did not dare to attack Sevastopol on the move, the chief of staff of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral V.A. Kornilov and squadron commander Admiral F.S. Nakhimov, who led the defense of the city, took urgent measures to strengthen it. On September 11, five old battleships and two frigates were sunk at the entrance to the Northern Bay, part of the guns were removed from the Black Sea warships, and twenty-two battalions of marines were formed from their crews.
During the first three weeks of the Sevastopol defense under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel E.I. Totleben, twenty large fortifications were built, and the number of artillery on the southern side of Sevastopol alone was brought to three hundred and forty-one guns against one hundred and forty-four of the enemy. As a result, a defense in depth was created in a short time, which made it possible to effectively use forces and means, including naval and coastal artillery.
The basis of the defense was powerful bastions. Near Sevastopol, three lanes (lines) of defense and a forward position were also created, trenches and trenches were dug, fortified dugouts were used for the first time in Russia. The combination of fire with a trench system marked the beginning of positional methods of warfare.
With access to the southern side of Sevastopol, the Anglo-French command expected to take it by storm after a powerful bombardment from land and sea. By this time, the enemy had sixty-seven thousand people near Sevastopol, while the garrison of Sevastopol numbered thirty-six thousand six hundred soldiers and sailors. However, the Sevastopolians got ahead of the enemy, opening on the morning of October 5, just on the appointed day of the first Allied bombardment, powerful artillery fire on his batteries. At the same time, close fire interaction between naval and fortress artillery was achieved.
Russian sailors in this artillery duel for the first time in history used an artificial roll on steam frigates, which made it possible to increase the elevation angle of the guns, which is why the firing distance increased from eighteen to twenty-five cables. New in the use of naval artillery was also shooting at invisible coastal targets, when the fire was adjusted by ship posts located on the heights. As a result of the decisive and skillful actions of the defenders, almost all enemy batteries were suppressed.
But on the same day, the defense commander Kornilov was mortally wounded, and Admiral Nakhimov took over the leadership of the Sevastopol defense. In the afternoon of that day, fifty enemy ships began bombarding Sevastopol, which for five hours fired at the city from one thousand three hundred and forty guns. However, after a number of Anglo-French ships were seriously damaged by Russian artillery fire, the enemy fleet withdrew from Sevastopol and no longer participated in the bombardment of the city.
On October 24, Russian troops attacked the positions of the British troops from Inkerman. The battle for Sevastopol took on a protracted character. Subsequently, the Allies carried out five more bombardments of Sevastopol, and in them the enemy used heavy field artillery, the number of which was constantly increasing. Repelling the attacks of the enemy, the Sevastopol residents successfully conducted counter-battery and mine underground fighting, undertook night sorties in small detachments. However, the balance of power gradually changed in favor of the allied forces.
By May 1855, the enemy numbered one hundred and seventy-five thousand soldiers in the Crimea against eighty-five thousand Russians defending the Crimea, of which only forty-three thousand were the garrison of Sevastopol. This advantage allowed the Anglo-French troops to move on to more active operations. At the end of May, they managed to capture advanced redoubts on the outskirts of the key position of Sevastopol - Malakhov Kurgan, the defense of which was led by Rear Admiral V.I. Istomin. The losses of the Sevastopol garrison increased (in March - about nine thousand, in April - over ten thousand, in May - about seventeen thousand people). It was simply impossible to make up for such huge losses, although Sevastopol was not completely cut off from supplies. On some days, the enemy fired up to fifty thousand shells at Sevastopol, while the defenders, on the contrary, experienced a shortage of shells.
On June 28, 1855, Admiral Nakhimov, the soul of the Sevastopol defense, was mortally wounded. On August 24, the sixth, most powerful bombardment of Sevastopol began with three hundred and seven heavy guns, during which the enemy fired one hundred and fifty thousand shells. As a result, its main defensive fortifications in Sevastopol were destroyed, the daily (!) Losses of Russian troops amounted to two to three thousand people.
On August 27, thirteen divisions and one brigade of the allies - about sixty thousand people in total - began the assault on Sevastopol. After the most stubborn battles, the Anglo-French troops managed to capture the Malakhov Kurgan, the height that dominates Sevastopol. By the end of this day, the Russian troops were forced to leave the South side, and crossed on the night of August 28 along the constructed floating bridge and on various watercraft to the North side. Later they joined up with Menshikov's army. The planned withdrawal of the entire Russian army with artillery and rear during one night was undoubtedly the most important tactical achievement and was an almost unparalleled case in the history of wars. However, this militarily outstanding operation did not cancel the main thing - Sevastopol fell.
During the defense of Sevastopol, the enemy's losses amounted to about seventy-three thousand people killed and wounded, not counting the sick and those who died of disease, the Russian troops lost about one hundred and two thousand people. Since the great Napoleonic Wars, European countries have not suffered such huge losses.
The three hundred and forty-nine-day defense of Sevastopol is at the same time an example of the skillful organization of active defense, based on the joint actions of the ground forces and the navy in protecting the seaside fortress. The Sevastopol defense is characterized by continuous attacks by the defenders, constant night searches, and intensive mine warfare. Despite the superiority of the enemy in the number of troops, artillery and in the quality of weapons, the defense in depth and the adopted system of artillery and rifle fire allowed the defenders to successfully repel all attacks for quite a long time. Russian soldiers demonstrated high moral and combat qualities in the defense of Sevastopol, which glorified the Russian people throughout the world, wrote a glorious page in the military chronicle of the Russian army and navy. However, this defense showed both the economic and technological backwardness of Russia in comparison with the advanced European countries. It forced the tsarist government to start carrying out grandiose reforms, the most important of which was the abolition of the shameful serfdom.
From the book Forgotten Battles of the Empire author Muzafarov Alexander AzizovichBOMARSUND. 1854 ONE AGAINST TEN September 4 and 13 in the American newspaper New-York Daily Tribune appeared for an article devoted to an episode of the Eastern War, namely the capture of the Russian fortress of Bomarzund by the French army and the English fleet. A lively journalist described the course of the battle,
From the book The Last Heroes of the Empire author Shigin Vladimir VilenovichSEVASTOPOL WAKE UP And in August 1914, the First World War broke out. If in the Baltic our fleet immediately began hostilities against the Germans, then in the Black Sea we have not yet had an enemy. However, everyone understood that this circumstance was only temporary, to fight
From the book German trace in the history of domestic aviation author Khazanov Dmitry BorisovichThe study of captured Luftwaffe aircraft during the Great Patriotic War and in the first post-war years
From the book General Brusilov [The best commander of the First World War] author Runov Valentin AlexandrovichOrlov Nikolai Alexandrovich (1855 -?) graduated from the Mikhailovsky Artillery School. Participated in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, on December 26, 1877, he was promoted to staff captain for distinction and in 1878 was awarded the Order of St. Stanislav, 3rd degree. In 1881 he graduated
From the book 100 great heroes of 1812 [with illustrations] author Shishov Alexey VasilievichGeneral of Infantry Prince Gorchakov 2nd Andrey Ivanovich (1779–1855) Nephew (on the maternal side) of Generalissimo A.V. Suvorov-Rymniksky entered the annals of the Patriotic War of 1812 as a hero of the day on August 24, that is, the day of the Shevardinsky battle, which became the forerunner of the battle
From the book Tragedy of the Sevastopol Fortress author Shirokorad Alexander BorisovichChapter 4. SEVASTOPOL FORTRESS IN THE WAR 1877-1878 Contrary to the lamentations of our historians, the revival of the Sevastopol fortress, as well as the fleet, did not interfere with the articles of the Paris Peace. There was also money in the treasury. Only the stupidity of ministers and generals interfered, and not least -
From the book Stalin and the Bomb: The Soviet Union and Atomic Energy. 1939-1956 author Holloway DavidChapter 6. SEVASTOPOL FORTRESS IN WAR AND REVOLUTION June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo, a high school student Gavrila Princip fired seven bullets from a revolver at the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. At first, this attack did not arouse much interest in the world,
