Izmail is a fortress where everything that remains of ancient city, the history of which has not yet been fully explored.

The emergence of Ishmael, its early history

The appearance of Ishmael is covered in legends. Historian scientists claim that the first human settlements were here already in the second millennium BC, during the Bronze Age.

There is an assumption that in the sixth millennium BC a settlement of the Gumelnitsa culture was based in the Izmail area. In 1979, during excavations, various artifacts of ancient cultures were discovered. These are amphorae and other ceramic products. The Izmail fortress did not yet exist, but in its area there were Greek, Geto-Thracian and Sarmatian settlements.

In the 11th-12th centuries AD, the Galician-Volyn principality was located here. In the 12th century, Genoese merchants built a fort that allowed them to live and protect themselves from attacks by nomadic tribes. In the 15th century, the Turks captured the fort, began to rebuild it, and thus created a defensive structure that became a checkpoint between Russia and Turkey.

Turkish troops in Izmail

The thirteenth century for the Smil fortress was marked by the fact that it was almost completely destroyed by the troops of the Golden Horde. A hundred years later, the city of Sinil appeared on this site, and in 1538 the troops of the Turkish Sultan rushed here. The Turks plundered the city and devastated it, but did not completely destroy it. The city was named Ishmasl (which translated means “hear, Lord”).

The Ottoman conquerors pursued harsh policies, and therefore the population of Budjak protested. Soon its inhabitants united with the Zaporozhye Cossacks and in 1594 attacked Ishmasl. The Sultan's troops desperately defended themselves, and soon built the Izmail fortress.

The fortress was built with the help of specialists who were invited from Europe. They created massive stone walls, up to ten meters high. Deep ditches were dug around the fortress and water was immediately poured into them. Thirty thousand Janissaries occupied the fortress of Ishmael, and woe to those who tried to take it by storm. 265 guns installed there shot at enemy troops. Fortress for a long time was considered impregnable.

Attempts to storm the fortress

The end of the eighteenth century for the history of Russia is marked by constant conflicts with Turkey. The war of 1768-1774 did not end the dispute between the two states. The Izmail fortress was taken on July 26, 1770 by troops under the leadership of Prince N. Repnin, and in 1771 the Russian Danube flotilla was even formed here, but in 1774 the fortress was returned back to the Turks. These were the terms of the peace treaty concluded at that time.

In 1789, war broke out again between Russia and Turkey. This time Ishmael became a fortified garrison. Many believed that this fortress could not be taken. But the Russian army again tried to take possession of this stronghold.

In 1790, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, General Potemkin, gave the order to take Izmail. The Russians moved forward reluctantly, and there was little success. Then it was decided to use Suvorov’s troops.

Commander Alexander Vasilievich Suvorov

Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov was a weak and sickly child as a child. Everyone told him that due to his health, he was unlikely to become a military man and would not be able to handle heavy weapons. And no one knew then that this boy was the future commander Suvorov, for whom the Izmail fortress would become the most important achievement in his career.

In the winter cold, Suvorov walked down the street in a light jacket. In the spring he swam in the rivers in ice water. He traveled often and rode horses well. He did all this in order to prepare for military service. As a result, he turned out to be a great commander, who gave more than fifty years to the army. At the very beginning of his service he was a soldier, and at the end he became a generalissimo and field marshal. He has more than thirty-five battles to his name.

Preparations for the capture of Izmail under the leadership of Suvorov

Suvorov came to the capture of Izmail as an already experienced commander. He established himself as a good boss who treated his soldiers warmly and caringly, thanks to which he repeatedly won victories. In 1787, Russian soldiers under his leadership completely dispersed and destroyed the six-thousand-strong Turkish army, and then brilliant victories followed in Rymnik and near Focsani. The Izmail fortress, for which 1790 was a turning point, was considered invincible at that time. Besides Turkish Sultan gave the order to execute all his soldiers who surrender to Russian soldiers.

In December 1790, the Supreme Council of the Russian army decided that it was better not to storm the Izmail fortress for now, and proposed moving to winter quarters. Russian troops at this time suffered greatly from hunger, cold, and illness began. The arrival of Suvorov instilled cheerfulness, because everyone in the Russian army knew that this commander did not like to wait long. And so it turned out. It was Suvorov who took the Izmail fortress. He decided to do this in the very near future, but first he should prepare properly.

When Suvorov appeared, the Izmail fortress looked down on the Russian soldiers. For ten days he actively prepared soldiers for the assault. On his orders, a ditch was dug, a rampart was built next to it, and now the troops began to train. Suvorov himself showed the soldiers how to climb the walls and stab the Turks (they were represented by stuffed animals). At sixty years old, he was a very active and youthful-looking man.

The beginning of the assault on Izmail

On December 9, 1790, Russian troops began an assault on the Turkish fortress. Before this, on December 7, Suvorov sent an ultimatum Turkish Pasha, who ruled Ishmael, with a proposal to surrender. Pasha flatly refused and replied that the sky would sooner fall to the ground than Ishmael would succumb to the onslaught of foreign troops.

Then Suvorov decided that Izmail was a Turkish fortress that thought a lot about itself, and began to carefully prepare the offensive. The Russians constantly fired flares and gradually lulled the vigilance of the Turkish rank and file. The assault on the city began early in the morning, at eight o'clock, and by 11 o'clock in the afternoon it was already clear which side would win.

Before the battle, Suvorov divided his army into three parts. The Izmail fortress, the year 1790 being a turning point in its history, was attacked from three sides. The troops of Pavel Potemkin were advancing from the west and north, the army of General Kutuzov was advancing from the east, its commanders were Orlov and Platov. The army of General Deribas took part in the battle; it consisted of 3,000 people and advanced from the Danube.

The culmination of the battle for Ishmael

The Russian army suffered great difficulties during the battle for Izmail. The fourth column, consisting of Cossacks, commanded by the St. George commander Vasily Orlov, broke into the Izmail fortress from the Bendery Gate. The Cossacks were poorly trained in military affairs. While they were storming the fortress, the Bendery Gate opened. The Turks jumped out and began to exterminate the Cossacks with sabers.

Suvorov found out about this and sent the Voronezh hussars and the squadron of Colonel Sychov to help. A battalion of soldiers from Kutuzov also arrived. In this way, they managed to drive away the Turks, and they were partially destroyed.

At this time, the commandant of the fortress, Izmail, decided to blow up the bridge in front of it in order to prevent the Russians from entering there. The hussar commander Volkov nevertheless organized a crossing, three of his squadrons broke into the city and captured eight hundred people. Soon the city fortifications were captured, and fighting began in the city itself. The fight with the Turks lasted until 16 hours, then the Russian army finally took possession of it.

The brother of the Crimean Khan, Kaplan Giray, made an attempt to recapture the city from the Russians. He gathered a detachment of several thousand Tatars who went to attack. They did not succeed, since Suvorov sent a detachment of rangers to meet them, and they led the Tatars into the coastal floodplains. Kaplan Giray and his sons were killed.

The end of the battle for Izmail

The assault on the Izmail fortress led to huge losses among the Turks. They killed about thirty thousand people, the Russians lost four thousand. The Russians captured all the guns, as well as jewelry worth 10 million francs. Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov became the commandant of the captured fortress.

The bodies of the Russian killed were buried in cemeteries, while the Turks were thrown into the Danube, and prisoners did this. A hospital was opened in the city itself.

For the capture of Izmail, Suvorov received the rank of lieutenant colonel of the Preobrazhensky regiment. The soldiers who took part in the assault were awarded silver medals, the officers who led the battles were awarded gold crosses with St. George's ribbon.

Ishmael in the twentieth century

In the twentieth century, Ishmael is experiencing an era of rapid development. This time is marked by the creation of the Russian-Danube Shipping Company. The Izmail port is operational. During the imperialist war, the city experienced famine and lack of basic necessities.

In 1918, Izmail became part of the lands of royal Romania. There he remained until 1940. Old-timers remember Izmail of that time as a well-groomed, patriarchal city. The cultural life there was very developed. Theatrical performances were constantly held. The city had women's and men's gymnasiums, in which various subjects were studied.

In the history of the Great Patriotic War The Danube flotilla showed itself with the best side. Before the start of the war on June 22, 1941 soviet soldiers in Izmail they have already reached combat positions. And one and a half thousand Soviet soldiers successfully defended themselves against twenty thousand Romanians for a long time. Only when the order was given to leave Ishmael and go to defend Odessa, did they leave it. But after three years Soviet troops returned and freed Ishmael.

Diorama of the Izmail fortress

Twentieth century artists decided to immortalize the storming of the Izmail fortress. A diorama “The Assault on the Izmail Fortress” was created, with the help of which it was possible to disassemble it in all details. The diorama was installed in 1973 in the building of a Turkish mosque. It was created by military artists E. Danilevsky and V. Sibirsky. The diorama presents the audience with the turning point of the capture of the fortress. You can see Russian soldiers crossing the moat and climbing the walls. They desperately fight the defenders of the fortress. The flag of the Russian army is already installed on the main tower. In general, the diorama depicts the city of Izmail, the fortress. Many people have taken photos of this diorama more than once.

The main gates of the fortress are already open, and the Russian grenadiers are heading into the city. On the right you can see the Russian flotilla moving along the Danube, and the Black Sea Cossacks approaching the shore. On the bank on the left is the figure of Suvorov, who is leading the battle.

Izmail Fortress in the modern era

Now the Izmail fortress is not located in better condition. Work is underway to create new buildings and an arboretum in its place. At the same time, the fortress that was once taken by the commander Alexander Suvorov is destroyed. In the land dumps created with the help construction equipment, archaeologists penetrate, whose main task is not the study of antiquity, but the search for jewelry.

Back on December 19, 1946, by decree of the Izmail City Executive Committee, the territory of the fortress was declared a protected area. But a lot has changed since then, and now the barbaric destruction of the architectural monument is taking place. Employees of the Department for the Protection of Monuments in the Odessa Region believe that the city authorities should do everything to preserve ancient artifacts that were not destroyed.

Victory of the Russian Empire

Assault on Izmail- siege and assault in 1790 of the Turkish fortress of Izmail by Russian troops under the command of Chief General A.V. Suvorov during the Russian-Turkish War of 1787-1792

Suvorov took measures to ensure order. Kutuzov, appointed commandant of Izmail, placed guards in the most important places. A huge hospital was opened inside the city. The bodies of the killed Russians were taken out of town and buried in church rite. There were so many Turkish corpses that the order was given to throw the bodies into the Danube, and prisoners were assigned to this work, divided into queues. But even with this method, Ishmael was cleared of corpses only after 6 days. The prisoners were sent in batches to Nikolaev under the escort of Cossacks.

Captions: "For excellent courage" on the front side and "Ishmael taken December 11, 1790" on the reverse.

Suvorov expected to receive the rank of field marshal general for the assault on Izmail, but Potemkin, petitioning the empress for his award, proposed awarding him with a medal and the rank of guard lieutenant colonel or adjutant general. The medal was knocked out, and Suvorov was appointed lieutenant colonel of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. There were already ten such lieutenant colonels; Suvorov became eleventh. The commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Prince G. A. Potemkin-Tavrichesky, having arrived in St. Petersburg, received as a reward a field marshal's uniform, embroidered with diamonds, worth 200 thousand rubles, the Tauride Palace; In Tsarskoe Selo, it was planned to build an obelisk for the prince depicting his victories and conquests. Oval silver medals were distributed to the lower ranks; for officers who have not received the Order of St. George or Vladimir, a golden cross is installed on the St. George ribbon; the chiefs received orders or golden swords, some received ranks.

The conquest of Ishmael was of great political significance. It influenced the further course of the war and the conclusion of the Peace of Iasi between Russia and Turkey in 1792, which confirmed the annexation of Crimea to Russia and established the Russian-Turkish border along the Dniester River. Thus, the entire northern Black Sea region from the Dniester to the Kuban was assigned to Russia.

The anthem “The Thunder of Victory, Ring Out!” was dedicated to the victory at Ishmael! ", considered until 1816 the unofficial anthem of the Russian Empire.

Notes

Sources

• A. A. Danilov. History of Russia in the 9th-19th centuries.
• Team of authors.“One Hundred Great Battles”, M. “Veche”, 2002

Links

• The Assault of Ishmael, - from the book. “Kutuzov”, Rakovsky L. I.: Lenizdat, 1971

During the era of the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1791. Izmail was a powerful, modern Turkish fortress. The capture of Izmail by the Russian army took place on December 11 (22), 1790. One of the significant victories of A.V. Suvorov was the capture of what was considered impregnable fortress, in an open attack with forces smaller than those of the enemy. The capture of Izmail finally decided the outcome of the Russian-Turkish war in favor of Russia.

Background

1787, summer - Turkey, supported by France, Great Britain and Prussia, demanded that Russia return Crimea and refuse Georgia its protection. In addition, they wanted to obtain consent to inspect all Russian merchant ships traveling through the Black Sea straits. Without waiting for a response to their claims, the Turks declared war on the Russian Empire.

The victories of 1789 at Focsani and Rymnik, which Suvorov won, were in themselves a serious blow to military power Turkish army. But Russian army won other victories in this war. The Russians were able to capture Bendery, Akkerman and the small fortress of Hadji Bey on the sea coast. Ushakov’s fleet performed excellently on the Black Sea. But these successes were not fully exploited, and the Turks were able to recover from their defeats.

Izmail Fortress. Location. Fortifications

The center of Turkish defense on the Danube was the powerful fortress of Izmail. The Turks called it “Ordukalesi” - an army fortress. 1774 - it was rebuilt according to the design of French and German engineers in accordance with all modern requirements for military construction. The fortress was located on the left bank of the Kiliya branch of the Danube between lakes Yalpukh and Katlabukh, on a gently sloping slope ending at the Danube channel with a low but steep slope.

The fortress was surrounded by a large rampart reaching a height of up to eight meters. The rampart was 6 km long, 7 earthen and stone bastions were built on it, and passage was provided by four gates. The rampart surrounded the city on three sides - north, west and east. From the south, the city was protected by the Danube, which was half a kilometer wide. In front of the rampart there was a ditch 12 meters wide and 6-10 meters deep, filled in some places with water. Stone buildings inside the fortress made it possible to conduct effective fight with the attackers if they are able to enter the city. The garrison was commanded by Aidozli Mehmet Pasha. Part of the garrison was commanded by Kaplan-girey, the brother of the Crimean Khan. The fortress had more than 200 large guns and a garrison of 35 thousand people. Russian troops near Izmail numbered 31 thousand people.

Alexander Vasilievich Suvorov (Artist J. Kreuzinger 1799)

Meaning

The end of the Russian-Turkish war depended on the capture of this fortress. (Austria, Russia’s ally, had already concluded a separate peace with the Porte.) The fortress played an important role: it not only seriously impeded the liberation of Dobruja by the Russian army, but was also a wonderful refuge for the remnants of the Sultan’s army, who fled from the fortresses of Akkerman, Bendery and Khotyn, destroyed by Russian troops. In those days, not only fugitives from these fortresses took refuge behind the ramparts of the fortress, but also the most prosperous Muslim population of the region with their families.

Developments

The Russian army besieged Izmail, but could not take it. Neither Repnin in 1789, nor I.V. Gudovich and P.S. Potemkin in 1790 could solve this problem. Therefore, on November 25, 1790, Commander-in-Chief G. A. Potemkin sent a messenger to Suvorov with an order to leave from Galati and lead the Russian army near Izmail. The next day, a meeting of the military council was held near the city, recognizing the impossibility of active action against the impregnable citadel. Some units began to move away from Izmail, and the commander of the flotilla de Ribas decided to head near Galati to Suvorov.

Arrival of Suvorov

The commander who arrived near Izmail on December 2 had a different opinion than the council regarding the possibility of an assault. He wanted to attack the fortress. Leaving his horse at the foot of the Scythian mound, Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov climbed to its top. From here the bastions and ramparts were clearly visible through the telescope, behind which the spiers of pointed mosques and minarets rose into the sky, and the red roofs of shops and warehouses were visible. “A fortress without weak points,” after inspecting the structure, Suvorov told the commander-in-chief on the second day. “Today we started preparing siege materials, which were not available for batteries, and we will try to carry them out for the next assault in 5 days...”

Fragment of the diorama “Storm of the Izmail fortress by Russian troops in 1790”

Preparing for the assault

The assault was preceded by extensive engineering preparation (70 assault ladders and 1,200 fascines were delivered from Galati), and then training of soldiers in handling ladders and engineering tools. By order of the commander, ramparts and ditches of the same type as those of Izmail were built near the village of Safyany; it was there that the soldiers learned to storm the city.

Ultimatum

To the commander Turkish troops In the city, Suvorov presented an ultimatum: “I arrived here with the troops. 24 hours for reflection - will; my first shot is already captivity; assault - death."

Aydozli Mehmet Pasha refused to accept the ultimatum, saying that the Danube would sooner stop in its flow and the sky would collapse to the ground than Ishmael would surrender. The commander convened a military council and gave the order to storm the fortress.

Assault plan

The assault was scheduled for December 11. Suvorov planned to attack the fortress simultaneously in several places: with six columns (19,500 people) from the land side and three columns under the command of de Ribas from the Danube side (9 thousand people). The main blow was delivered to the riverside part of the city, where two-thirds of the forces were concentrated (parts of de Ribas, columns of Kutuzov, Lvov, Lassi). Three columns were to advance from the east (Kiliya Gate of the new fortress) under the command of A.N. Samoilov, three - from the west (Brosskie Gate) under the command of P.S. Potemkin. Brigadier Westphalen's cavalry reserves (2,500 men) were on the land side.

The front line of the Russian battle formation consisted of riflemen. Following them were sapper teams armed with axes, picks and shovels. Then came infantry columns, behind which a reserve was placed, built in a square, to repel cavalry attacks from the fortress.

The flotilla was built in two lines. 145 light ships and Cossack boats with landing troops were in the first line, and 58 large ships in the second. Large ships were supposed to cover the landing of troops on the shore with heavy artillery fire.

On December 10, artillery preparation began using field and naval artillery (up to 600 guns fired). The shelling of the fortress continued all day. On December 11, at three o'clock, at a signal from rockets, troops began to concentrate in specified points. At 5.30 the assault began. The attacking troops were met by fire from 250 enemy guns.

The battle for the capture of the bastions and the entire rampart continued until 8 o'clock in the morning. The first to approach the fortress was the 2nd column of Major General B.P. Lassi. At 6 o'clock in the morning, Lassi's rangers overcame the rampart, and a fierce battle ensued above.

The most powerful western bastion - Tabia - was attacked by a column of S.M. Lvov. The seriously wounded General Lvov was replaced by Suvorov’s loyal associate, Colonel V.I. Zolotukhin. He brought the grenadiers of the Absheron regiment into battle, captured the enemy’s coastal battery, went around Tabia from the rear and opened the Bros Gate - the key to the entire fortress.

Assault on Izmail (Engraving by S. Shiflyar)

On the other side of the fortress, in the area of ​​the granite Kiliya redoubts, M.I. soldiers attacked twice. Kutuzov and retreated twice under enemy pressure. Taking the Kherson regiment from the reserve, Kutuzov led his grenadiers to storm the third time and was able to capture the bastion.

The northern Bendery bastion, which was stormed by the 3rd column under the command of Meknob, turned out to be difficult. His detachment stormed the bastion adjacent to Bendersky and the gap between them. There, the depth of the ditch and the height of the rampart turned out to be so great that the stairs had to be connected in two. Many soldiers and officers died on the ramparts, wet and slippery with blood. The Turks made forays several times and counterattacked the Russians, but the bastions were taken. The columns of Colonel V.P. were also able to complete their tasks. Orlov and foreman M.I. Platova.

The attack from the Danube was successful, where three columns of Russians were able to overthrow the Turks and gain a foothold in the city. The landing began at about 7 o'clock in the morning. Here the Russian landing force was resisted by more than 10 thousand Turks and Tatars. Zinovy ​​Chepega, the brigadier of the Zaporozhye Cossacks, commanding the 2nd column of river landings, rushed with the Cossacks to the shore and occupied redoubts along the Danube. The success of the landing was facilitated by the Lvov column, which attacked the Danube coastal batteries on the flank, and the actions ground forces on the eastern side of Izmail. Zaporozhye Cossacks led by Ataman A.A. Golovaty dealt a bold and crushing blow from the north into the very middle of the fortress. Meanwhile, other units moved towards the center - Potemkin on the right, Kutuzov on the left.

Fierce street battles continued until 16.00. Part of the Russian field artillery was brought into the city. The Turks stubbornly defended every square and every house. To completely defeat them, Suvorov’s reserve entered Izmail at a critical moment.

In his report, Alexander Vasilyevich wrote: “There has never been a stronger fortress, there has never been a defense more desperate than that of Ishmael, but Ishmael was taken,” “My soldiers showed massive heroism, forgetting the sense of fear and self-preservation.”

Results of the assault

Losses

Thus, the city, considered impregnable by the Turks, was taken during one Suvorov assault. The garrison's losses amounted to 26 thousand killed and about 9 thousand prisoners - evidence of stubborn resistance to the Russians. The Turks lost all artillery, ammunition, and 42 ships. The Russians lost 10 thousand people - 4 thousand killed and 6 thousand wounded. The prisoners were sent under escort to Nikolaev, the corpses were dumped into the Danube for another six days.

Awards

Distinguished by the skillful leadership of his column and showing an example of personal courage, Major General M.I. Kutuzov was appointed the new commandant of the city. Suvorov was not awarded the rank of Field Marshal, which he had hoped for. The Empress, at the insistence of G.A. Potemkin was limited to a medal and the honorary title of lieutenant colonel of the Preobrazhensky regiment; there were already 10 such lieutenant colonels, and Suvorov became the eleventh. Potemkin himself received a field marshal's uniform, embroidered with diamonds, another palace, etc.

The lower ranks received oval silver medals; for officers who have not received the Order of St. George or Vladimir, installed a golden cross on the St. George ribbon; the chiefs received orders or golden swords, some were awarded ranks.

Results

It is believed that, using the example of Izmail, Suvorov was able to prove the fallacy of Western European ideas about the capture of fortresses, based on the need for long and methodical engineering preparation. The great Russian commander launched an open attack, which, moreover, was carried out by smaller forces than the enemy (a unique case, because usually, on the contrary, smaller forces entrenched in a fortified fortress could repel huge armies pressing enemy).

The capture of Izmail and the victories of the Russian fleet at sea decided the outcome of the Russian-Turkish war in favor of Russia. This victory made it possible to open a direct road for the Russian army to Constantinople. This was a direct blow to the sovereignty of Turkey, which for the first time faced the threat of complete loss of statehood. 1791 - the Peace of Yassy was concluded, according to which Turkey recognized the annexation of Crimea, the Black Sea coast from the Southern Bug to the Dniester and lands along the river to Russia. Kuban. The Porte also pledged not to interfere in Georgian affairs.

IZMAIL FORTRESS

Izmail was one of the strongest fortresses in Turkey. Since the war of 1768–1774, the Turks, under the leadership of the French engineer De Lafitte-Clove and the German Richter, turned Ishmael into a formidable stronghold. The fortress was located on a slope of heights sloping towards the Danube. A wide ravine, stretching from north to south, divided Ishmael into two parts, of which the larger, western, was called the old fortress, and the eastern, the new fortress. The fortress fence of the bastion outline reached six miles in length and had the shape right triangle, with a right angle facing north and its base facing the Danube. The main shaft reached 8.5 meters in height and was surrounded by a ditch up to 11 meters deep and 13 meters wide. The ditch was filled with water in places. There were four gates in the fence: on the western side - Tsargradsky (Brossky) and Khotynsky, on the northeast - Bendery, on the eastern side - Kiliyasky. The ramparts were defended by 260 guns, of which 85 cannons and 15 mortars were on the river side. City buildings inside the fence were put into a defensive state. It was prepared a large number of firearms and food supplies. The fortress garrison consisted of 35 thousand people. The garrison was commanded by Aidozli Mahmet Pasha.

Shirokorad A. B. Russian-Turkish wars 1676–1918 M., 2000 http://wars175x.narod.ru/1790_02.html

ACTIONS NEAR IZMAIL BEFORE ARRIVAL

At the head of the defense was the three-bunchu Aidozli Mehmet Pasha, gray in battle. Twice they offered him the title of vizier, and each time he rejected it. Without arrogance and without weakness, he constantly showed firmness and determination to bury himself under the ruins of the fortress rather than surrender it. […] There was plenty of ammunition, food for 1½ months; only there was a shortage of meat, and only the noblest officials received a portion of meat. The Turks considered Ishmael invincible.

Thus, a strong, well-equipped fortress, a courageous commandant, a garrison superior in number, whose courage was aroused by the threat of the death penalty - these were the difficulties that the Russians had to overcome.

It was necessary to capture Ishmael, not only due to the above military considerations, but also political ones.

Since August, State Councilor Loshkarev, on behalf of Potemkin, has been negotiating peace with the Supreme Vizier in Zhurzhev. As always, the Turks dragged out negotiations ad infinitum. […] It would seem that the fall of Kiliya, Tulcha, Isakchi and the defeat of Batal Pasha in the Kuban should have made Sherif Pasha more accommodating; but the intrigues of Prussia, which importunately offered its mediation under extremely unfavorable conditions, led to constant delays. Potemkin had long been driven out of patience (“I’m already bored with Turkish fables,” he writes to Loshkarev on September 7).

The Empress demanded a speedy conclusion of peace. In a rescript to Potemkin dated November 1, 1790, which he received, probably during the mentioned operations of Ribas, Potemkin and Gudovich near Izmail, she orders: “to devote all your strength and attention, and try to achieve peace with the Turks, without which it is impossible venture into no enterprise. But about this peace with the Turks, I will say that if Selim, due to his youth, needs uncles and guardians, and he himself does not know how to finish his affairs, for this he chose the Prussians, the English and the Dutch, so that they would further entangle his affairs with intrigues, then I am not in an equal position with him, and with a gray head I will not give myself into their care.”

Potemkin saw that the campaign of 1790 was coming to an end, ending it by limiting itself to the capture of insignificant fortresses would be an important mistake in political terms, that until Ishmael fell, negotiations for peace would only be a waste of time, and the Empress demands this peace. He understands very well that the grandiose feat of capturing Izmail is beyond the capabilities of any of the generals there; he probably feels that he himself is not capable of this, and therefore decides to entrust the matter to Suvorov. On November 25, Potemkin from Bendery sent Suvorov a secret order in his own hand: “The flotilla near Izmail has already destroyed almost all of their ships and the side of the city to the water is open. All that remains is to undertake, with God’s help, to take possession of the city. For this, Your Excellency, please hurry there to accept all the units into our team... having arrived at the place, inspect the situation and weak points through the engineers. I consider the side of the city towards the Danube to be the weakest…[…].”

Orlov N.A. The assault on Izmail by Suvorov in 1790. St. Petersburg, 1890 http://adjudant.ru/suvorov/orlov1790-03.htm

THE CAPTURE OF ISHMAEL

At the end of October, Potemkin's Southern Army finally opened a campaign, moving into southern Bessarabia. De Ribas took possession of Isaccea, Tulcea and Sulina Girl. Meller-Zakomelsky took Kilia, and Gudovich Jr. and Potemkin’s brother besieged Izmail. They acted, however, so unsuccessfully that at the military council it was decided to lift the siege.

Then Potemkin, who attached special importance to the capture of Izmail in order to persuade the Porte to make peace, instructed Suvorov (who was stationed with his division in Brailov) to take command of Izmail and decide on the spot whether to lift the siege or continue it. Taking with him his Phanagorians and Absheronians, Suvorov hurried to Izmail, met the already retreating troops on December 10, returned them to the trenches and at dawn on December 11 captured the Turkish stronghold in an unprecedented assault. Suvorov had about 30,000, of which a fourth were Cossacks, armed only with pikes. Ishmael was defended by 40,000 men under the command of seraskir Mehmet-Emin. Suvorov immediately sent the commandant an offer to surrender:

“To Seraskir, the elders and the whole society. I arrived here with my troops. 24 hours for reflection - will. My first shot is already captivity, the assault is death, which I leave for you to think about.” To this, the seraskir replied that “the sky would sooner fall to the ground and the Danube would flow upward than he would surrender Ishmael”... Of the 40,000 Turks, none escaped; the seraskir and all the senior commanders were killed. Only 6,000 people were taken prisoner, with 300 banners and badges and 266 guns. Suvorov's damage is 4600 people.

Kersnovsky A.A. History of the Russian Army. In 4 vols. M., 1992–1994. http://militera.lib.ru/h/kersnovsky1/04.html

THUS VICTORY IS ACCOMPLISHED

Such a fierce battle lasted 11 hours; Before noon, Mr. Lieutenant General and Cavalier Potemkin sent one hundred and eighty foot Cossacks to new reinforcements of troops to open the Broskiy Gate and sent three squadrons of the Seversky Carabineer Regiment in the command of Colonel and Cavalier Count Melin. And into the Khotyn gates, which were opened by Colonel Zolotukhin, the remaining one hundred and thirty grenadiers with three field artillery guns were introduced under the leadership of Prime Major Ostrovsky, to whose courage and efficiency I give justice; at the same time, three squadrons of the Voronezh Hussar Regiment and two squadrons of the Seversky Carabineer Regiment were introduced into the Bender Gate. These latter, dismounting and taking away the guns and cartridges from the dead, immediately entered the battle.

The fierce battle, which continued inside the fortress, after six and a half hours, with the help of God, was finally resolved in new Russia glory. The courage of the commanders, the jealousy and efficiency of the headquarters and chief officers and the unparalleled courage of the soldiers won a perfect victory over the numerous enemy, who desperately defended themselves, and at one o’clock in the afternoon the victory adorned our weapons with new laurels. The enemies remained entrenched in three more places; their only salvation was in one mosque, in two stone khans and in a casemate stone battery. All of them sent their officials to Mr. Lieutenant General and Cavalier Potemkin in the presence of our officers to ask for mercy. The first of these were brought by Lieutenant Colonel Tikhon Denisov and the duty major, Prime Major Chekhnenkov, and those who settled in the two khans were taken prisoners of war by Major General and Cavalier De Ribas; their number was more than four thousand. They also took two hundred and fifty people from the casemate battery who were with Muhafiz the three-bunched pasha.

Thus the victory is achieved. The Izmail fortress, so fortified, so vast and which seemed invincible to the enemy, was taken by a weapon that was terrible for him Russian bayonets; the stubbornness of the enemy, who arrogantly placed his hope in the number of troops, was defeated. Although the number of the army receiving the secrets was supposed to be forty-two thousand, according to exact calculation it should be thirty-five thousand. The number of enemy killed was up to twenty-six thousand. Seraskir Aidos Mehmet the three-bunchuzh Pasha, who was in charge of Ishmael, sat down with a crowd of more than a thousand people in a stone building and did not want to surrender, was attacked by Phanagorian grenadiers in the command of Colonel Zolotukhin. And both he and everyone who was with him were beaten and stabbed.

One day in December 1790, Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov appeared to the commandant of the Izmail fortress, Aidozle-Mekhmet Pasha, and amicably offered to surrender. Well, it’s as if an intelligent young man approached a group of big men on the street and offered to give him all the money and valuables - the fortress, which the Russians had already taken in 1770, was rebuilt according to last word equipment, and at that time it was believed that it was impossible to take it by storm. Pasha replied: “Rather, the sky will collapse to Earth, dam the Danube with its fragments and force it to flow backwards, than Ishmael will fall!”, and of course, after that answer, Suvorov could not help but go on the assault.
Everyone knows what happened next. The invincible fortress was taken in one day, and the Turks lost ten times more killed than the Russians. Russia took possession Black Sea coast from the Dniester to the Kuban, which made it possible to found Odessa. Many heroes of the assault became famous for their further victories. The assault on Ishmael shocked contemporaries (for example, Byron) and went down in history forever. And although the fortress itself, by that time hopelessly outdated, was demolished in 1856, I propose to look at the site of those events.

The Izmail fortress was grandiose - the perimeter of its curtains reached six kilometers, it was significantly superior to the district center of present-day Izmail. Here in this diagram you can roughly estimate its territory in comparison with the current stadiums and residential areas:

Actually, Turkish Izmail was not a city - it was just a fortress with infrastructure. It is possible to examine only a small section of it, the so-called Old Fortress - on the diagram between the "Tourist Hotel Danube", "PUVKH" and "Zhilmassiv". To the west is the former New Fortress, to the south is the former Citadel, but their territories are mostly built up. Most of the fortress now looks like this:

From the center to the fortress it is about three kilometers along Kutuzov Street, which departs from Suvorovsky Prospekt at this Romanian-built house and, passing through the old quarters, ends at the gate... not of the fortress itself, but of a former military cemetery:

A little-known fact, but the Russians took Izmail three times. 20 years before Suvorov, Nikolai Repnin took the fortress, but then Izmail was completely different: the Turks learned lessons from that war and actually built the fortress anew. A decade and a half after Suvorov, in 1806-09 they also tried to take Izmail - but they were able to do this only on the third attempt (Richelieu, Michelson, Zass): the thoroughly battered and obsolete fortress was still very formidable, and Suvorov’s genius is very much here not enough. After this, Izmail finally became part of Russia, and the fortress was liquidated in 1856, when the city had to be given to the Turkish protectorate of Moldova following the Crimean War.
This diagram clearly shows the layout of the fortress, but the main thing is to take a closer look at these names:

I don’t think it’s even worth explaining who Kutuzov is. It was here that he became one-eyed. Jose de Ribas, the founder of Odessa, took part in the assault; Zaporozhye atamans Zakhary Chapega - the founder of Krasnodar, and Anton Golovaty - the founder of Taman and the Kuban Cossacks in general; Don Ataman Matvey Platov - founder of Novocherkassk and great reformer of the Cossacks; Catherine's favorites Zubov and Orlov. It is unlikely that in the history of Russia there have been short battles in which so many people took part. outstanding military leaders. And although this assault was successful primarily thanks to the genius and energy of Suvorov, everyone made their contribution - for example, it was the Cossacks of Holovaty who were the first to enter the fortress.

Behind the gate is the Cavalier bastion of the New Fortress, which was considered the most powerful. The assault on Cavalier was the key episode of Ishmael's assault, and the bloodiest - in the battle for "Cavalier" 2/3 of the attackers died... However, the total losses Russian army were relatively small - 2136 people versus 26 thousand for the Turks. Nowadays, the Cavalier site, which was a military cemetery until the mid-twentieth century, is densely studded with monuments, which, moreover, were greatly thinned out during Soviet times:

For example, the mausoleum (1909) was previously crowned with an obelisk with an eagle:

(from here)

And the inside now looks like this:

Next door in 1930, the Romanians staged "Trinity" - after all, for them Russian-Turkish wars were directly related to the acquisition of independence, so the words on the poster - at least from the point of view of Romanians, Bulgarians, and Greeks - are not such hypocrisy:

The cemetery was destroyed in the 1970s, and yet on the banks of the Danube there remains a fragment of its fence, stylized as a battlement:

The Danube bed in “Cavaliera” is visible all the way to Romania - from here you can see how wide this river actually is, only a third smaller than the Volga:

View along the Danube - the seaport and shipping company in the distance:

Going down the slope, you somehow don’t expect that a completely sheer bank drops off towards the Danube:

Although it is only 14 meters high, due to the steepness from above it seems that it is at least fifty:

From here you can see other buildings of the fortress - of the authentic ones, only the Small Mosque of the 16th century above the city beach has been preserved:

And two churches - Assumption (1841, in the foreground) and Nikolskaya (1852), on the basis of which a monastery that operated under the Turks has now been revived:

Judging by its form, the Assumption Church was a garrison church of a Russian fortress, and Nikolskaya was apparently a parish church:

Somewhere here, in the ravines along Matrosskaya Street, the miraculously surviving foundations of authentic fortifications were preserved... but we did not find them. But this small building, a garrison mosque that has lost its minarets, is the last witness of Suvorov’s assault:

You can go into it - under the arcade is now the museum hall:

Even some architectural details have been preserved:

And where there once was a prayer hall, there is now a diorama museum, opened in 1973:

I advise you to take 20 minutes and take a good look at it. More precisely, it is almost like watching a movie - the diorama is accompanied by an audio lecture, and here you can quickly and clearly understand how the fortress was built, who stormed it and how, and in what places to look for traces of certain episodes. And I cannot help but note that the lecture is in Russian and without any attempts to tell visitors the “truth” relevant to the political situation.

And in general, gentlemen, six months ago a Belarusian opposition noble explained to me that Suvorov, mainly in Lithuania and Poland, “cut children with a saber,” and they honor him in this way in Russia only due to a natural aversion to the noble Polish-Lithuanian culture. I answer with full responsibility: not for this, but for the assault on Ishmael and the Alpine campaign. There have not been many commanders in history who were able to defeat enemy forces 2-3 times greater on their territory with minimal losses. Even Napoleon could not do this - in terms of his tactical genius, Suvorov can be put on a par with Alexander the Great.

Around the mosque there are cannons from different eras:

Stones and shards - either fragments of the fortress, or ancient finds:

Bugs crawled out of the sun-warmed stones:

Most of the fortress is now a park and a beach with outdoor cafes, strolling mothers with children and drinking young people. On the beach, although it was +18, some already tried to swim. And this water, before approaching Izmail, managed to wash the foothills of the castles of Germany, the embankments of Bratislava, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, hundreds of kilometers of the coast of Romania and Bulgaria. Officially, this is the most international river in the world, and it is unlikely that the banks of any other river have seen so many historical events.

In the following parts we will examine two more cities of the Ukrainian Danube region - Kiliya and Vilkovo. More precisely, even three, but more on that in the next part.

NOVOROSSIYA-2011
. Introduction.
ROAD TO THE SEA
Across Russia