How General Ermolov built fortresses and transformed the Caucasus

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Alexey Petrovich Ermolov was born on May 24 (June 4), 1777 in Moscow in a noble family. His father, a former artilleryman, was brought up in the spirit of respect for the Motherland, Russian traditions and national history. According to the customs of that time, he was assigned to military service in early childhood, at the age of nine he was enlisted as a non-commissioned officer in the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment, at the age of 15 he received the rank of captain, at the age of 17 he was baptized by fire.

Ermolov distinguished himself in the military campaign of 1794 in the fields of Poland under the leadership of Alexander Suvorov. For the courage and courage shown by the young Ermolov, the great Suvorov personally awarded him the Order of St. George the Victorious, IV degree.

After a short disgrace and exile during the reign of Paul I, they started talking about Ermolov again, his name will thunder near Austerlitz and Preussisch-Eylau, near Borodino and near Maloyaroslavets - on the fields of the main battles with the French.

In the Battle of Borodino, Yermolov personally led a counterattack on the key position of Borodino captured by the enemy - the Rayevsky battery.

“By this feat, Ermolov saved the entire army,” Nikolai Muravyov-Karsky, Kutuzov's adjutant, will report. And Mikhail Illarionovich himself once noted: "He was born to command armies."

After the battle of Bautzen, the competent actions of Ermolov, the commander of the rearguard, made it possible to avoid major losses and defeat.

He saved the newly allied Russian-Prussian army in the battle of Kulm - in this famous battle, Yermolov's guards division heroically fought all day against a twice as strong enemy.

According to Denis Davydov, by the way, Alexei Petrovich's cousin, "the famous Battle of Kulm, on the first day of this battle, great in its consequences, belonged mainly to Yermolov, serves as one of the adornments of this general's military career."

The hero's chest was decorated with the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky by Emperor Alexander I. Aleksey Petrovich distinguished himself and during the capture of Paris, at the head of the Guards infantry, he attacked the Belleville Hill - the eastern gate of the city and forced the French to surrender. It was to Ermolov that the sovereign trusted, authorizing him to draw up the text of the Manifesto on the capture of the French capital. The authority of the military general increased so much that he was promised the post of Minister of War.

A. Kivshenko "Military Council in Fili", 1880. Ermolov is depicted on the right side of the picture

But Yermolov did not become minister - a much more important matter awaited him. Upon his return to Russia after an overseas campaign, Emperor Alexander appointed Alexei Ermolov as governor of the Caucasus.

A new page was beginning in the history of the Caucasus. Taking office in 1816, and having familiarized himself with the situation, Aleksey Petrovich once and for all determined for himself a plan of action, which he then adhered to unswervingly. At that time, the Caucasus was seething, the highlanders did not want to serve Russia and in every possible way obstructed the Russian troops. During his short stay in the Caucasus, Ermolov decided the most important thing - the highlanders began to respect the Russians.

In the Caucasus, Ermolov faced the tragic story of Major Pavel Shvetsov - returning from service from Georgia to Russia, he was kidnapped by Chechens and kept in an earthen pit. The robbers demanded 250 thousand rubles. (today - more than $ 10 million), if the mountaineers did not receive a ransom, they sold the captives through established channels to the East. The general summoned the owners of the lands through which the captive major was transported, imprisoned them in the Kizlyar fortress and announced that if in 10 days they did not find the means to free Shvetsov, all 18 people would be hanged on the fortress bastion. Immediately, the ransom amount decreased from 250 thousand to 10 thousand rubles. The money was paid by one of the Dagestani khans, the major was released. Putting order in the region was demanded, as Ermolov wrote, “the tears of our inhabitants on the Line (the Caucasian fortified line: fortresses, Cossack villages.) out of philanthropy I am strict and implacable. One execution will save hundreds of Russians from death and thousands of Muslims from treason. " By order, Ermolov ordered "those caught in the robbery to hang at the scene of the crime," and to the inhabitants of those villages where the robbers used to hide, declare that "the dwellings of accomplices will be destroyed to the ground."

Alexey Petrovich radically changed Russia's policy in the Caucasus, - said Yuri Klychnikov, Doctor of Historical Sciences. - Before him, the governors tried to placate the local princelings, giving them ranks, up to generals, and paying a huge salary. It should be clarified that the North Caucasus region, together with Georgia, was part of the Russian Empire. Since the time of Ivan the Terrible, the highlanders have asked Russia to protect them from the Crimean Khanate. In 1783, under Catherine II, the Crimean Khanate ceased to exist. And the highlanders got the opportunity to live with secure external borders and turned all their warlike spirit into the Russian Empire. They took oaths of allegiance and immediately broke them. It got to the point of absurdity - the detachments of the highlanders could come to the commandant of the Russian fortress and offer him to make a joint raid on the neighboring fortress! Georgia also suffered from the raids, which asked to become part of the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 19th century. and was accepted."

In the Caucasus, the enemy could appear from everywhere, the enemy did not have either a capital or a main fortress, or rather, every mountain village was such an impregnable fortress. “Ermolov divided the theater of military operations into three operational directions: in the center - Kabarda, on the right flank - Zakuban Cherkessia, and on the left - Chechnya and Dagestan. The general consistently not only conquered them with weapons, but also equipped them economically, created a new management system that took into account local laws and traditions, - said Vladimir Kiknadze, candidate of military sciences, captain of the 2nd rank. - Ermolov founded the fortresses of Groznaya, Nalchik, which became cities, and many others. He built hospitals, schools, roads. Thanks to Yermolov's activities, those highlanders who embarked on a peaceful path were given the opportunity to study at the military institutions of the empire. After their graduation, they were ranked among the nobility and set off to the Caucasus to serve the interests of Russia. In private life, the general was ascetic. In his camping tent there was only a bed on which he slept wrapped in his greatcoat. Ermolov knew all the officers of the corps by name, he knew many privates, he could go to the fire at night and sit down with them for a common meal. Ermolov was brilliantly educated, read in several languages, possessed one of the best private libraries in Russia, which after his death he bequeathed to Moscow University.

Ermolov managed to change the practice in which it was customary to send people to the Caucasus who had committed unseemly acts, or politically unreliable. He eradicated drunkenness and gambling among the troops. “Before the battle, everyone - from generals to privates - took off their headdresses, made the sign of the cross and went on the attack, as if on a holiday to church,” contemporaries recalled. This was the "secret" of the Yermolov miracle heroes, believing in the Kingdom of Heaven, they were not afraid to lay down their heads on the battlefield. Ermolov himself quoted the Gospel: "There is no more love than if someone lay down his life for his friends."

At the same time, Ermolov issued an order that under no circumstances should the faith of the mountaineers be denigrated. It was forbidden to deceive local residents "so as not to lose the trust of the entire people." The general also wrote: "Instill in the troops, so as not to be spared by those who defend themselves or, moreover, who drop their weapons."

For almost 11 years of reign, Yermolov's successes in the Caucasus were undeniable even for his enemies, of whom he had enough. The enemies took advantage of the situation when, after the death of Alexander I, Nicholas I ascended the throne, they began to whisper to him about Ermolov's connections with the Decembrists, which was a lie. The general could criticize some decisions of the monarch, but he would never break the oath and oppose the sovereign. This is evidenced by his letters. However, Ermolov was nevertheless removed from his post in the Caucasus.

The point in hostilities in the region was set several decades after Yermolov's departure from there. But the troops did not forget "priest" - an inextinguishable lamp made of a cast-iron grenade with the inscription: "Caucasian soldiers serving on Gunib" was installed on his grave. It was in the surrounded mountain aul that Gunib announced his surrender in 1859 by the Caucasian imam Shamil. And when the imam was brought to Central Russia and asked who he would like to meet, he was the first to name Ermolov. And the meeting took place two years before the death of the general. Paradoxically, the defeated Imam Shamil was given a larger pension than General Yermolov received. However, the earthly injustices of Alexei Petrovich did not deeply affect, because he fought not for money, but "for his friends."