Crimean War: heroes of war (list)

Now, when more than one and a half centuries have passed since the defeat of Russia in the Crimea, no one will say that "nerds with scoundrels" fought there. This has already said the great poet Tyutchev. He is the same age as all the terrible consequences that the Crimean War brought to the country. The heroes of this war are simply incalculable. But the king's ambitions were unaware that it was necessary to fight not by numbers, but by skill.

The Eastern War

Military actions unfolded not only on the peninsula, which gave the name of the three-year campaign, but also in the Caucasus, the White, Black, Barents Seas, Kamchatka and the Danube principalities. However, Crimea underwent most of all, therefore the Crimean War became. The heroes of the war devoted their lives to strengthening control over the Black Sea straits and the Balkan Peninsula. It's unlikely that they all understood how important this is for the country, but for her, Russian people always surrendered everything they had.

We had to fight not only with the Turks, because the Ottoman Empire was greatly weakened, in which case the victory would have been easy and simple. No, the whole European coalition - Britain, France, Sardinia and others like them - stood up against Russia, as always earlier and later. And, as always, they came from all sides on all the borders of a huge Russia - that's what the Crimean War turned out to be. Heroes of war were everywhere - from the White Sea to Petropavlovsk. But they could not win.

Causes

The Turks needed the Balkans, where the national liberation movement was growing stronger, and they also wanted to join the empire of the Crimea and the Caucasus sea coast. Europe wanted to drop Russia's credibility in the world community, weaken it, prevent it from establishing itself in the Middle East, and, if possible, take Poland, the Crimea, Finland and the Caucasus from it. All this for the sake of their own markets. They were very pleased with the Crimean War. The heroes of the war perished for the sake of other people's ambitions and for someone else's enrichment.

Emperor Nicholas the First in the early 50-ies of the nineteenth century pondered the actions for the separation of the Orthodox Balkans from the rule of the Ottoman Empire and did not anticipate that Austria and Britain would go against such a great goal. It was at least short-sighted. Britain dreamed of pushing Russia not only from the shores of the Black Sea, but also from Transcaucasia. Napoleon the Third just as much wanted revenge for the lost war of 1812, all this is obvious. The Russian heroes of the Crimean War did everything they could to win, but the forces were not equal, and other reasons - purely technical properties - were prevented.

First step

In October, Nicholas I started the war with Turkey, signing the corresponding manifesto, and the first half-year was really conducted only with the Turks of the Crimean War of 1853. The heroes of these military actions proved themselves from the very first days. However, the tsar miscalculated, hoping for non-interference and even to help from the powerful English and Austrian armies. The Russian army was much more numerous - more than a million people. But the equipment left much to be desired. Against the rifled weapons of Europeans, our smoothbore obviously lost.

The artillery was utterly obsolete. Our ships plied mostly still under sails, and European steam engines have already been installed. Communication, as, indeed, always was, as, indeed, will continue to happen many times, the fronts received food and ammunition late and lacked, the replenishment did not arrive on time. With the Turks, the Russian army would have coped with this scenario, but against the united forces of Europe, even the numerous heroes of the Crimean War could not influence the result.

Sinope battle

At first, success was variable. The main milestone was the Sinop battle in November 1853, when the Russian admiral, the hero of the Crimean War, PS Nakhimov, completely defeated the Turkish fleet in the Sinop bay for several hours. In addition, all shore batteries were suppressed. The naval Turkish base lost more than one and a half dozen ships and more than three thousand people were killed only, all shore fortifications were destroyed. The commander of the Turkish fleet is taken prisoner. Only one fast ship with an English adviser on board was able to slip out of the bay.

The losses of the Nakhimovites were much smaller: no ships were flooded, several of them were damaged and went into repair. Thirty-seven people were killed. These were the first heroes of the Crimean War (1853-1856). The list is open. However, it is this brilliantly planned and no less brilliantly conducted sea battle in Sinop Bay, literally gold inscribed on the pages of the history of the Russian fleet. And immediately after that France and England stepped up, they could not allow Russia to win. War was declared, and immediately foreign squadrons appeared in the Baltic near Kronstadt and Sveaborg, which were attacked. In the White Sea, English ships bombarded the Solovetsky Monastery. The war also began in Kamchatka.

Second phase

At the second stage of the war - from April 1854 to February 1856 - the intervention of the British and French in the Crimea began and attacks on Russian fortresses in the four seas. Most of all the interventionists sought to capture the peninsula of Crimea, because Sevastopol was already the most serious naval base of Russia. Allies began their expedition in Yevpatoria, where they immediately won the river Alma. Commander AS Menshikov took Russian troops to Bakhchisarai. Protect the coast were the heroes of Sevastopol. The Crimean War did not leave them a chance to win, but they were prepared for the siege in the most serious way. The defense was headed by PS Nakhimov, VI Istomin, and VA Kornilov.

How did the combat admirals find themselves on the shore? More than twenty thousand of his sailors joined the land forces, flooding their ships at the entrance to the Sevastopol Bay, thus strengthening the city-fortress from the sea. At this step the heroes of the Crimean War (1853-1856) went because the weak Russian navy would still not be able to resist the interventionists. But guns from ships - more than two thousand guns - served as an additional strengthening of the bastions of the fortress. There were eight of them, besides other fortifications. The peaceful population actively participated in their construction, when everything was mounted in the walls: boards. Furniture, utensils, stones and a simple earth, something that could at least partially detain bullets. The people came so many that there were not enough picks and shovels at all - all of them, these ordinary people, also heroes of the Crimean War of 1853-1856.

Defense

The fortress held the siege for 349 days. Thirty thousand strong garrisons and naval crews withstood and selflessly repulsed five massive bombings that destroyed the entire ship's side of the city. Fired from the land and from the sea, in total more than one and a half thousand guns fired fifty thousand shells. But the heroes of Sevastopol were not frightened, the Crimean War had not yet been lost, and despite the incomparable number of gun barrels, the Russians fired very accurately. Two hundred and sixty-eight guns supported this dishonest duel from our side. Enemy fleet received great losses - eight ships went to repair - and retreated.

More Sevastopol was not bombed from the sea, Russian troops were skillfully defending themselves, with little blood and quickly the city could not be taken, although it was on this basis that the whole calculation was based. The victory was important, although it turned out to be more moral than military: the coalition troops were not defeated, the occupation continued. There were also irreparable losses. During the siege, many heroes of the Crimean War (1853-1856) were killed. The list of losses was headed by Vice Admiral Kornilov, who died heroically under fire during the first days . And Nakhimov, who now headed the defense of Sevastopol, was promoted to the admirals. It was March 1855. And in July he was mortally wounded - practically at the same place where Kornilov was killed.

Failures

The Russian army under the command of Prince Menshikov himself tried to help Sevastopol by delaying the besiegers, but in vain. Battles near Evpatoria, Inkerman and on the Black River ended unsuccessfully and the defenders of the hero city were helped very little. The ring of the enemy shrank ever tighter. The campaign in the Crimea for the Russians was clearly lost. In the Caucasus, things were a little better, there Turkish troops were beaten repeatedly, even managed to capture the fortress of Kars.

However, the heroes of the Crimean War and their exploits could not compensate by their courage all the shortcomings of the armament and supply of the Russian army. In late August, the French occupied the southern part of Sevastopol and Malakhov Kurgan. The fate of the city with these losses was solved: more than a quarter of the entire garrison, thirteen thousand people were lost in the battles of this one day. The northern part of the city never gave up, capitulations from the defenders did not wait.

End of the war

One hundred and fifteen thousand people of the Russian army in the Crimea were still ready to act, even if the enemy's forces exceeded their number - the occupiers on the peninsula landed one hundred and fifty thousand. Thus, the culmination of the whole war was the defense of Sevastopol. After that, military actions were stopped. The Russians managed to win in the Caucasus, but they lost very much in the Crimea. The armies were almost completely depleted, and, characteristically, everything. Even invasive. Negotiations began.

Paris

The Peace Treaty was signed in Paris in March 1856. Russia has lost not only in the territories, but in moral humiliation. The southern regions of Bessarabia were torn away, the right of protection of Serbia and the Danube Orthodox from the empire was taken away. But the most unpleasant is the neutralization of the Black Sea: our country could no longer have any naval forces, fortresses and arsenals there. The borders of Russia were naked. In the Middle East, too, all the influence was lost: Moldova, Serbia and Wallachia were returned to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

The fallen heroes of the Crimean War, whose list is made after its termination and it is inexpressibly large (and the list of heroes from the name of Emperor Nicholas I, left in disgrace, but alive!) - it turns out, were lost in vain. The defeat of Russia in all rights affected not only its internal position, but also the entire alignment of world forces. Weaknesses in management, equipment of armies were exposed, but also there was a demonstration of the unshakable Russian spirit and inexhaustible heroism of Russian soldiers. The public in the country spoke more and more boldly and truthfully, the Nicholas rule was exposed. The government took up reforms in the state.

Kornilov

Vladimir Alekseevich Kornilov, vice-admiral, was a hereditary naval officer. Participated in the famous Navarino battle (1827) against the Egyptian and Turkish fleet, where the crew of the flagship "Azov" entrusted to him showed exceptional prowess and the first in the history of Russia received the stern St. George flag.

Next to Kornilov, two other heroes of the Crimean War fought: young Lieutenant Nakhimov and midshipman Istomin. At the very beginning of the war, in October 1853, Kornilov, while on reconnaissance, discovered a Turkish ship in the bay, imposed a battle on him, defeated him and led him to Sevastopol in tow. After repair, this steamer - a rarity for Russia of those times - was put into operation and went to the Black Sea Fleet under the name "Kornilov".

The last order

Before the siege of Sevastopol, the Vice Admiral urged the council of flagships and commanders to give the coalition its last naval battle. But most did not support it, the fleet was simply flooded at the entrance to the bay of Sevastopol, so that the enemy could not approach the city from the sea.

Then Vladimir Alekseevich organized the construction of fortifications and prepared bastions for the siege. On the Malakhov Hill was mortally wounded in a massive artillery shelling, circling new fortifications. Kornilov managed to order: "Defend Sevastopol!" And a few minutes later he died. Although, as shown by the Crimean War (1853), the heroes do not die!

Nakhimov

Pavel Stepanovich Nakhimov was the son of a military man whose five sons became outstanding naval sailors: the vice-admiral, the director of the naval cadet corps, where all five studied, was Sergei's younger brother. However, it was Paul who covered this name with glaring fame. As a midshipman, he went on a brig "Phoenix" to Denmark and Sweden, then served in the Baltic. He became captain of the Navarin ship, distinguished himself in the blockade of the Dardanelles (1828) and was among the decorated with orders.

In 1832, he stepped into the role of commander of the famous frigate Pallada, and continued to serve in the Baltic under the leadership of the legendary F. Bellingshausen. Two years later he was transferred to Sevastopol, giving the leadership of the battleship Silistria, where Nakhimov was the next eleven years. Need I say that the ship has become exemplary? The best in the Navy! Nakhimov's name became more and more popular day by day: a demanding, but kind and cheerful person in all around awakens the best feelings.

Hero's feats

The Crimean War showed that the people were not mistaken in assessing the personal qualities of Pavel Stepanovich. At the beginning of the war, in November 1853, Nakhimov calculated the enemy squadron heading for the Caucasus, but hiding from the storm in Sinop Bay. Nakhimov had eight ships, and Osman Pasha had sixteen. Than the attack of the Russian fleet ended - it was said above. For this brilliant victory, Vice Admiral Nakhimov received from the Emperor the Order of St. George, and Kornilov wrote that the battle was unparalleled, even above Chesma, and Nakhimov thus forever entered the history of the Russian fleet.

Then Nakhimov gladly entered into submission to Kornilov at the siege of Sevastopol, and after his death took the place of commander. Several assaults were heroically repulsed, the Tsar granted Nakhimov awards for it, to which Pavel Stepanovich lamented with annoyance: "It would be better to have shells and bombs!". In June, Nakhimov died almost at the same place Malakhov Barrow, where his predecessor. But the country still remembers its hero today!