Campaigns of Rumyantsev, Potemkin and Suvorov in Turkey. The biggest mistakes in history

Austria-Hungary 1618-1913

Part XII

War of Joseph II against Turkey 1788-90

For this war, also undertaken in conjunction with Russia, the most impressive armies were mobilized by the Austrian side that the Habsburg Monarchy had ever fielded. At the outbreak of hostilities, 264,000 men were in line near the border. The results did not match this huge force, especially since Turkey divided its forces and sent more than half of its forces against the Russians. The Austrians captured Belgrade and the Austrians and Russians fought and won battles together at Focsani and Martinesti on August 1 and September 22, 1789. These cases cost the victors comparatively little losses. In addition, due to the separation of forces, the war consisted mainly of minor skirmishes and sieges, the results of which were not always favorable for Austrian weapons, and often caused relatively high losses. However, the total losses of the Austrian armies barely reached 10,000, in contrast to the number of deaths from disease, which, as in the previous war, should have been high.

Adapted from Bodart Gaston Losses of life in modern wars - Oxford: at the claredon press, London, 1916

Website site comment:

The Austro-Turkish war of 1788-1790 was the last in a series of Austro-Turkish wars of the 16th-18th centuries. Austria intervened in the ongoing Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1791, as it had obligations to Russia under the union treaty of 1781. In January 1788, Austria entered the war. Huge Austrian forces were supposed to cover the Austro-Turkish border, only the army of the Prince of Saxe-Coburg was to operate in the Principality of Moldova, along the Prut River, and take the fortress of Khotyn. July 2, 1788 Khotyn was besieged by the Austrian army (15,000 people). The Turks tried to unblock Khotyn from the outside, but the Russian Ukrainian army prevented the Turkish breakthrough. On September 19, 1788, the 7,000-strong Turkish garrison surrendered Khotyn. In 1789, the Austrians were to operate with the main forces in Serbia, while a separate army remained in Wallachia to communicate with the Russians. On August 1, 1789, the Austro-Russian army (17,000 Austrians and 6,000 Russians) under the command of Suvorov attacked and defeated the Turkish army (30,000 people) at Focsani, 45 kilometers northwest of Galati, Romania. The Allies lost 300 people killed and wounded (of which 200 were Austrians), the Turks - 1,100 people, 10 guns. The Turks decided to strike at a small Austro-Russian army, but on September 22, 1789, near Martinesti, 54 kilometers northwest of Brailov, 17,000 Austrians and 10,000 Russians attacked 100,000 Turks dispersed over several camps. The Allies lost 600 men, the Turks 5,000 men. This victory thwarted all offensive plans of the Turks. Meanwhile, the Austrians occupied Bucharest, 13 thousand Austrians on September 12, 1789 besieged Belgrade, which fell on October 8 of the same year. The siege cost the Austrians 900 men. In November 1789, the Austrians occupied Craiova. In the campaign of 1790, the Austrian troops acted against the Turkish fortresses on the Danube. In the spring of 1790, the Austrians captured Orsovo, laid siege to Zhurzha (Zhurzhovo), but the sortie of the Turks on June 18, 1790 forced the Austrians to lift the siege. June 27, 1790 at Calefat, 7 thousand Austrians defeated equal forces Turks, losing 100 people. The Turks lost 2,000 people. By the middle of 1790, the war was going well for Austria, but at that moment Austria entered into separate negotiations with Turkey under the influence of Great Britain and Prussia, who were interested in Austria as an anti-French force. Russian troops left Wallachia (Romania) and retreated across the Seret River. On August 4, 1791, a peace treaty was signed between Austria and Turkey in Sistovo (Bulgaria). Austria returned to the Turks all the gains of this war, except for Khotyn, which was returned to the Turks after the end of the Russian-Turkish war.

Sources:

Soviet Historical Encyclopedia. In 16 volumes. - Soviet Encyclopedia, Moscow 1961-1974

Shirokorad A.B. Russian-Turkish wars 1676-1918. - Harvest, Minsk, 2000

Militar-historisches Kriegslexikon (1618-1905), Herausgegeben von G. Bodart, Wien und Leipzig, 1908

They say that history repeats itself, and all the feats and achievements constantly serve as an example to us. This is why it is important to teach history, which helps to guide civilization and our lives. But in history there were also major mistakes, which sometimes led to catastrophic consequences. Here are the wrong decisions, stupid mistakes and unwise actions that should not be repeated.

1. NASA accidentally deleted the moon landing record. In fact, there are no original records of this event.


2. It took 177 years to build the Leaning Tower of Pisa and only 10 years for it to lean.

3. The lack of a sufficient number of lifeboats on board the Titanic, since it was considered unsinkable.

4. The refusal of the record company Decca Records to the group "The Beatles", as they considered that it was not sold.

5. Loss of NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter, due to the fact that part of the team used the metric system of measurement, and the other - the British.

6. Napoleon, who thought he could capture Russia in the winter.

7. Hitler, who thought he could do it better than Napoleon.

8. The Persians who sent the beheaded ambassadors of Genghis Khan back to the Khan, incurring the wrath of Mongolia.

Source 9The Dutch who discovered Australia 100 years before the British did, but ignored the discovery because they thought it was a useless wasteland.

10. Russian sale of Alaska for 2 cents per acre.

11. The Inca ruler Atahualpa, who agreed to meet with the conquistador Francisco Pissaro when 200 Spanish horsemen ambushed and defeated 80,000 Inca warriors.

12. Those who fell for the "Trojan horse", if it actually existed.

13. Filling the world's largest airship "Hindenburg" with flammable hydrogen, which then caught fire and crashed.

14. Someone who opened the gates of the city and allowed the Turks to capture Constantinople in 1453.

15. China in the 14th century, which abandoned the navy and began to pursue a policy of isolation. Perhaps he would become more influential than any European power.

16. The driver of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who made a wrong turn, which led him to the feet of the murderer Gavrilo Princip. This murder was the reason for the outbreak of the First World War.

17. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor when there was not a single American aircraft carrier in the port, which accelerated America's entry into the Second world war.

18. The faulty design of the Chernobyl reactor, the consequences of the accident of which are still being felt.

19. 12 publishing houses that refused to publish "Harry Potter".

20. Alexander the Great, who did not name the heir to the throne, which led to the death of his empire.

21. Although no one knows the culprit, the burning of the Library of Alexandria was the biggest loss of knowledge in history.

22. Killing Caesar to save the Republic and not realizing that this will only lead to its end.

23. In 1788, the Austrian army accidentally attacked their own and lost 10,000 people.

Under the cut, a small but instructive story about how a gypsy camp, which accidentally had a barrel of alcohol, determined the fate of mankind.

In 1788, the Austrian emperor Joseph II decided for no reason at all to liberate the Balkans from the Turkish yoke - an intention worthy of a Christian, but based, of course, not on pious intentions, but on the desire to extend the influence of Austria to the so-called "underbelly of Europe". Having gathered a huge army, the Austrians crossed the border.

After marches, transitions, large and small skirmishes with varying success, both sides prepared for the decisive battle.

On a moonless night on September 19, 100,000 Austrians were moving closer to the 70,000th Turkish army in order to fight, which was to determine the fate of the war.

A company of hussars, marching at the forefront of the Austrians, crossed the small river Temesh, near the town of Karansebes, but there were no Turkish troops on the shore - they had not yet approached. However, the hussars saw a gypsy camp. Pleased with the opportunity to earn extra money, the gypsies offered the hussars to refresh themselves after the crossing - for money, of course. For a few coins, the cavalry bought a barrel of alcohol from the gypsies and began to quench their thirst.

In the meantime, several infantry companies crossed in the same place, which didn’t get alcohol, but they wanted to drink ... A squabble began between the hussars and infantrymen, during which one cavalryman either accidentally or out of anger shot a soldier. He collapsed, after which a general dump began. All the hussars and all the foot soldiers who were nearby intervened in the fight.

And the drunken hussars, and the infantry languishing with thirst, heated up by the massacre, did not want to yield. Finally, one of the sides took over - the defeated shamefully fled to their shore, pursued by a jubilant enemy. Who was broken? - history is silent, more precisely, the information is contradictory. It is quite possible that in some places the hussars won, and in others the foot soldiers. Be that as it may, the troops approaching the crossing suddenly saw frightened fleeing soldiers and hussars, crumpled, bruised, covered in blood ... The victorious cries of the pursuers were heard behind.

Meanwhile, the hussar colonel, trying to stop his fighters, yelled in German: “Halt! Halt!” Since there were many Hungarians, Slovaks, Lombards and others who did not understand German well in the ranks of the Austrian army, some soldiers heard - “Allah! Allah!", after which the panic became general. During the general bustle and noise, several hundred cavalry horses that were in the corral broke out from behind the fence. So it happened late at night, everyone decided that the Turkish cavalry had broken into the army. The commander of one corps, having heard the formidable noise of the "advancing cavalry", gave the order to the artillerymen to open fire. Shells exploded in the crowd of distraught soldiers. The officers who tried to organize resistance built their regiments and threw them into an attack on artillery, in full confidence that they were fighting the Turks. In the end, everyone fled.

The emperor, who did not understand anything, was also convinced that the Turkish army had attacked the camp, tried to take control of the situation, but the fleeing crowd threw him off his horse. The emperor's adjutant was trampled on. Joseph himself escaped by jumping into the river.

By morning everything was quiet. The whole space was littered with guns, dead horses, saddles, provisions, broken ammunition boxes and overturned cannons - in a word, everything that a utterly defeated army throws. On the field of the strangest battle in the history of mankind, 10 thousand dead soldiers remained lying - that is, in terms of the number of dead, the battle is among the largest battles of mankind (in the famous battles of Hastings, Agincourt, Valmy, in the Valley of Abraham and many others, the death toll is much less). The Austrian army ceased to exist, as the survivors fled in horror.

Two days later, the Turkish army approached. The Turks looked with surprise at the piles of corpses, wandered among the wounded, groaning in delirium soldiers, puzzling over the question - which unknown enemy utterly defeated one of the most strong armies peace and saved Turkey from defeat. The Christian world failed to acquire the Balkans. Austria did not become the strongest state in Europe, could not stop the French Revolution, the world followed the path of France ...

A small gypsy camp, which accidentally turned out to have a barrel of alcohol, determined the fate of mankind.

The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -

3270 years ago, in 1260 BC. e., according to Herodotus, the most famous war of antiquity began - the Trojan War. According to Homer, this conflict began with the ridiculous kidnapping of Helen the Beautiful and ended with an even more ridiculous operation with a Trojan horse. It is not known whether this war actually took place, but since then there have been many armed conflicts that seem to be the epitome of stupidity and absurdity. However, behind each of them there were always quite meaningful economic interests.

KIRILL NOVIKOV

Favorites and alcohol

Wars often receive unflattering epithets from the townsfolk and historians. They are often called dirty, unfair, meaningless, and for the most part they deserve all these names.

Examples of wars that, it would seem, promised considerable benefits, but in fact were not worth the effort expended, have been known since ancient times. So, in 356 BC. e. The Phocis Union, which was located in the central part of Greece, coveted the treasures of the Delphic oracle and captured the city of Delphi, sacred to all Hellenes, without a fight. At first, the Phocians believed that they had pulled off a brilliant raider operation, because they had in their hands more than 10 thousand talents of gold, that is, about 1.7 thousand tons of metal accumulated by the Delphic temple over several centuries. However, a powerful coalition soon rallied against the Phocians, outraged by such sacrilege, and a war broke out that lasted ten years. During this time, all the captured treasures had to be used to pay for mercenary armies, and after the defeat, the Phocis Union was forced to pay reparations to the winners - 60 talents of gold per year.

In the Middle Ages, people, as before, fought, hoping to get countless treasures and new lands. However, in that era, interest in enrichment was closely intertwined with religion, and therefore people went to another holy war in the hope of plundering well and at the same time getting a pass to paradise. Some of these military campaigns were planned in such a way that the role of the main striking force was assigned to God's providence, which usually ended in disaster.

It would seem that in the era of reason, everything should have become reasonable, including war. But modern times turned out to be just as rich in military frenzy as previous centuries.

At the dawn of the New Age, world politics, as in the Middle Ages, was determined primarily by dynastic interests, state affairs were often run by incompetent favorites, and the troops had little idea of ​​discipline. All this sometimes led to ridiculous military adventures with disastrous consequences. One such war took place in 1625 between England and Spain. It all started with the same thing that most wars start with - with money. King James I of England really wanted to rule the country without the intervention of Parliament. But parliament collected taxes, and the king could not do without his support. Help came from an unexpected quarter: the Spanish ambassador offered to arrange a dynastic marriage between the son of the English king, Prince Charles, and the daughter of Philip III of Spain, Maria Anna. The Spanish princess was promised a dowry of £600,000, which was comparable to the budget of a large kingdom. In return, the Spaniards asked to rein in the unbridled pirates caribbean, many of which enjoyed the patronage of the English crown.

Karl was in dire need of funds and hastened to accept the offer. The favorite and lover of the king, the Duke of Buckingham, also seized on this idea, and Prince Charles was not averse to marrying a Spanish infanta. But Parliament was categorically against it, since the English Protestants did not want to have anything to do with the Spanish Catholics. As a result, the marriage agreement reached was annulled. And then Buckingham got down to business, and if this man undertook something, then failure was almost guaranteed. Buckingham and Prince Carl arrived incognito in Madrid, hoping to pull off a profitable marriage away from the English Parliament. Since England and Spain were worst enemies, the secret trip of the heir to the throne and the leading statesman of England to the Spanish court was pure gamble. As expected, the Spaniards did not give the Infanta to the prince, who had sneaked into Madrid like a spy, and, apparently, they laughed cruelly at Buckingham. One way or another, the prince and royal lover returned to England as implacable enemies of the Spanish crown.

The Austrians - the great masters of being beaten - in 1788 did the impossible, but proved that they can be defeated even by themselves

In the spring of 1625, King James died, and the sickly short man Charles I ascended the throne. The new king wanted to get even with Spain, and Parliament willingly supported him. Buckingham, who held the post of Lord Admiral, undertook to plan operations, but, since he knew little about military affairs, the matter ended very badly. It was decided to send a major military expedition to capture Cadiz. Buckingham hoped to capture the Spanish fleet loaded with gold from America, but due to storms, the English squadron missed the galleons. The misfortunes of the British did not end there. The English commander, Sir Edward Cecil, had no intelligence and was therefore quite surprised to find that Cadiz was perfectly fortified, and it was unlikely that it would be possible to take it by storm. The supply, for which Buckingham was responsible, was organized very badly, and it soon became clear that the English army, in which there were about 10 thousand people, had neither food nor drink. And then Cecile allowed the soldiers to drink the trophy wine found in the houses abandoned by the Spaniards. Even the Spaniards could not hurt the British more than this order. In a few hours, the entire English army was lying around drunk, and those soldiers who could still stand on their feet were fighting and firing at each other with muskets. To save the army, Cecil ordered a retreat, after which the besiegers boarded ships and departed for England. In the morning, the Spaniards entered the deserted camp of the British and found there more than a thousand deadly drunk soldiers. Angry Spaniards slaughtered them all to the last. This is where the war ended. The financial losses of England from the failed expedition amounted to about £ 250 thousand, and the blow to its prestige was simply colossal. Three years later, Buckingham was killed by a religious fanatic, and King Charles I ended up losing the war against his own parliament and was executed in 1649.

Poor management, low morale of the troops and alcohol abuse more than once led to sad consequences. Perhaps the most grandiose military disaster generated by these causes was the Battle of Caransebes, in which the Austrian army managed to defeat itself.

For the right to start a war for the free sale of slaves to the Spanish colonies, Captain Robert Jenkins gave his right ear

War for the severed ear

With the development of navigation, Europeans increasingly fought each other for trade advantages on distant shores. Powers actively waged so-called trade wars, during which they sought to oust competitors from overseas markets, seize foreign colonies, or simply reduce the tonnage of foreign merchant fleets. In the era of mercantilism, when the idea that the main source of wealth for any country was international trade, wars were fought with the prudence of the merchants. From time to time, conflicts broke out in Europe, the pretexts for which were literally sucked out of the finger. But behind even the most ridiculous conflicts in those days there was an obvious commercial interest. So, for example, Oliver Cromwell imposed a war on Holland, which was a commercial rival of England, but politically its traditional ally. To do this, the Lord Protector passed a law through Parliament that obliged all foreign ships passing through the English Channel to lower the flag at the sight of English warships. The lowering of the flag was already in those days considered a symbol of shame and surrender, so a conflict with the Dutch, who were proud of their naval power, became inevitable. And so it happened: in 1652, the Dutch squadron refused to lower the flag in front of the English, after which the guns started talking.

The British were generally masters of inventing ridiculous pretexts for unleashing wars. In the 18th century, the slave trade was in the order of things, but it was still considered indecent to fight for the right to import black slaves. From the beginning of the century, there was an "asiento" agreement between England and Spain: the Spaniards granted English merchants the right to import an unlimited number of slaves into their American colonies. The British, of course, did not limit themselves to the export of forced Africans and, in addition to slaves, imported all kinds of contraband into the Spanish colonies. In response, the Spaniards began to inspect English ships and punish violators. By the end of the 1730s, it came to the point that Spain decided to take away the "asiento" from the British. The question of war with Spain was raised in the English Parliament, but the head of the British cabinet, Robert Walpole, was not at all eager to plunge the country into war for the sake of the interests of the slave traders. And then the pro-war lobby found a worthy pretext for war. A certain Robert Jenkins was brought to Parliament and told the parliamentarians the story of how he had lost his ear.

Robert Jenkins was the captain of the brig Rebecca. In 1731, his ship was detained by a Spanish warship on suspicion of piracy and smuggling. The captain of the Spanish ship Julio Leon Fandinho ordered Jenkins to be tied to the mast and cut off his ear with his own hand. At the same time, according to Jenkins, he said: "Go and tell your king that if he does the same as you, then I will do to him what I did to you." In fact, Jenkins should have been glad he got off so lightly, because pirates used to be hung from a yardarm. But upon returning to England, the smuggler began to beat up the thresholds of various institutions and complain about Spanish arbitrariness. In 1731, when the Asiento was safe, the captain's severed ear did not bother anyone. But in 1739, Great Britain felt insulted by the act of Captain Fandinho and declared war on Spain, which became known as the "War for Jenkins' Ear". The war lasted a year, after which it imperceptibly grew into the War of the Austrian Succession. England and Spain, already at war, simply joined different warring coalitions and continued to fight, forgetting about Captain Jenkins and his severed ear. After the war, England agreed to abandon the Asiento, receiving £100,000 as compensation and a lucrative trade agreement with Spain. The War for the Ear left a noticeable mark on British culture, since it was then that the famous patriotic song "Rule Britannia" appeared. Slaves were also mentioned in this song: "Rule, Britannia! Rule the waves; the Britons will never be slaves."

Almost all the rebels who escaped from the English gallows from the famous frigate "Bounty" died at the hands of the Tahitians, from whom they took away their wives

Women, chair and flagpole

Perhaps the most absurd conflict of the early colonial era was Civil War on the island of Pitcairn, and it was conducted not at all for gold and not for land. The background of that war is well known from the movie "Mutiny on the Bounty" with Marlon Brando as the main rebel Fletcher Christian. In 1778, the British government sent the ship of His Majesty's fleet, the Bounty, under the command of Captain William Bligh, to the Pacific Ocean. The expedition was supposed to collect breadfruit sprouts in the Pacific Islands, which was supposed to be bred in the Caribbean colonies of Great Britain. After a long and difficult voyage, the sailors ended up in Tahiti, where they tasted all the delights of resort life in the arms of liberated Tahitian women. On the way back, discipline began to fall rapidly, and in April 1779 a mutiny broke out on the ship, led by First Officer Fletcher Christian. Captain Bly and his loyal people were put on a boat and sent to the ocean, and the Bounty returned to Tahiti. There was a split among the rebels. Most were going to stay on the island and enjoy life, and a minority listened to the words of Christian, who predicted that one day the British fleet would come to the island and the rebels would fall to the gallows. Christian gathered a team of eight like-minded people, lured six Tahitians and eleven Tahitians to the Bounty and sailed away to look for a new home. Later, the rebels who remained in Tahiti were indeed arrested by the British military, but the people who left with Christian sailed to the uninhabited island of Pitcairn, where they founded their colony. The film is silent on further events. Meanwhile, the colonists for some time were quite satisfied with life, since the gifts of nature on the island were enough for everyone. However, there was one "resource" that was very limited on Pitcairn - women. Because of them, the war started.

When in 1793 the Tahitian wife died of one of the rebels, the white settlers did not think of anything better than to take the wife from one of the Tahitians. He was offended and killed the new husband of his girlfriend. The rebels killed the avenger, and the remaining Tahitians rebelled against the rebels themselves. Christian and four of his men were killed by the Tahitians, but the war did not end there. The Tahitian wives of the sailors went to avenge their murdered husbands and killed the rebellious Tahitians. As a result of the war, the male population of the island was reduced to four people, and even then they constantly fought and quarreled until one of them was killed and the other died from drunkenness. But the remaining two divided the women among themselves and enjoyed eternal peace until one of them died natural causes. When an American ship landed on the island in 1808, the only man living on Pitcairn was John Adams, who had nine wives and about forty children.

In the heat of the fight against British colonialism, Maori chief Hone Heke dug up his war ax and cut down the flagpole with the British flag

Photo: Mary Evans Picture Library/PHOTAS

The further history of colonialism knows many wars with ridiculous names, although the essence of these conflicts was not so ridiculous. The fact is that over time, the natives got tired of the oppression of the colonialists, and the bowl of their patience at some point turned out to be overflowing. As a result, a war could break out due to an insignificant reason, or resistance could result in forms unusual for Europeans. Thus, in 1846, the “axe war” broke out in South Africa, and the “flagpole war” began a year earlier in New Zealand. In South Africa, the indigenous people attacked the native soldiers of the British army, who were escorting their fellow tribesman who stole an ax, after which a war broke out between the colonialists and local tribes. In New Zealand, Maori chief Hone Heke learned from French traders that the British flag flying over a hill near an English settlement was a symbol of his submission to the British crown. The chief went up the hill and cut down the flagpole. The British put up a new flagpole, and Hone Heke cut it down again. Then the British set up a mast, bound with iron, and put a guard on it. The Maori killed the sentries and again cut down the pole with the Union Jack, after which a full-scale war began. It ended, by the way, just as ridiculously as it began. The Maori were excellent at building fortresses, and even English artillery was of little help against strong palisades and high earthen ramparts. But one Sunday, when the British army was besieging the fortress of Hone Heke himself, the English soldiers noticed that the fortress was suspiciously quiet. The British broke into the walls, which almost no one guarded, and easily occupied the fortress. It turned out that most of the Maori at that time were praying in the church. The brave and skillful Maori warriors were converted to Christianity long ago, and they believed so devoutly that it never occurred to them to fight on Sundays.

The colonialists themselves often incurred the wrath of the natives by their contempt for local customs and beliefs, which caused even more ridiculous wars. So, in 1900, the British governor of the Gold Coast (modern Ghana), Lord Hodgson, tried to annex the warlike African kingdom of Ashanti. In the past, the Ashanti people fought back the British more than once and had every reason to be proud of their military traditions. The symbol of the independence of the kingdom was the Golden Chair, on which the king of Ashanti sat. Hodgson captured the king and sent him into exile, and demanded from the Ashanti to issue the Golden Chair, declaring that now he himself would sit on it as the full ruler of the conquered country. The Ashanti hid the chair and soon revolted, killing many of the English in the process. England with considerable difficulty won the "war for the Golden Chair", but the colonialists did not find the relic itself.

El Salvador--Honduras 3:0

At the end of the 19th century, the great powers argued over the division of the world and increasingly resorted to "gunboat diplomacy", that is, they got their way using the threat of military force. This style of conducting international politics was fraught with constant border conflicts, each of which could develop into a full-scale war. Suffice it to recall the Fashoda incident of 1898, when England and France almost went to war because a small French detachment occupied the city of Fashoda in southern Sudan, where the climate was so bad that the Egyptian authorities once exiled criminals there. At that time, the great powers sought to conquer any territory, even deserted, swampy or covered with impenetrable jungle, without any guarantee that at least some valuable resources would be found in these places, which in itself was quite absurd. But sometimes people who were directly involved in territorial conflicts acted so recklessly that contemporaries did not know what to say. Thus, the incident that occurred in 1899 off the coast of Samoa was called a mental error that will forever remain a paradox of human psychology.

At the end of the 19th century, Germany and the United States claimed control over the islands of the Pacific Ocean, with the Samoa archipelago arousing particular interest in both powers. True to the principles of "gunboat diplomacy", Berlin and Washington sent their squadrons to the islands, which met in the harbor of the capital of Samoa - Apia. Both squadrons had three warships and several supply ships each, so the bay was quite crowded. On March 15, 1889, both squadrons noticed the approach of a terrible tropical cyclone. Any ship left in the harbor would inevitably be wrecked on the rocks. The only salvation was immediate access to the open sea. But neither the German nor the American admirals could decide to be the first to move away from the coast. Leaving the harbor first meant admitting defeat in a mini-confrontation for the possession of Samoa, and therefore both squadrons stood in port until the typhoon hit. The results were more than disastrous. Of the ships that were in the bay, only one American and one German ship survived, and they had to be removed from the reefs and repaired. The number of victims was in the hundreds. However, if the squadrons still opened fire, there would have been much more victims of a possible German-American war. And so the confrontation between the United States and Germany ended with the fact that the islands were simply divided.

Years of litigation over illegal labor migration and clashing football ambitions lead Honduras and El Salvador into a brief but bloody war

In general, the most ridiculous thing about most of the wars of the twentieth century was not the way they were fought, and not the pretexts by which they were justified. What was rather ridiculous was the discrepancy between the funds spent on the war itself and the economic benefits that were supposed to be received in the event of victory. So, Germany started the First World War, although it had every chance to bypass its British and French competitors by peaceful means, and for the weakened Austria-Hungary, which was the first to open fighting, a major conflict did mean inevitable collapse.

The era of world wars was followed by the collapse of the colonial system, and the Europeans, having stopped dividing the world, stopped fighting each other. But the young states that arose on the ruins of colonial empires were ready to fight for a place under the tropical sun. Some of the conflicts in the emerging Third World were the product of the diseased imaginations of new dictators. So, the famous ruler of Uganda, Idi Amin, once declared war on the United States, and since Washington did not react to this in any way, the next day he proclaimed himself the winner. In 1978, "the master of all earthly creatures and sea fishes" had the idea to start a real war with neighboring Tanzania, which was hopelessly lost, after which the cannibalistic dictator went into exile.

However, most of the wars of the second half of the twentieth century still had an economic basis. This applies even to the most ridiculous conflict of the past century, known as the "football war". By the end of the 1960s, relations between El Salvador and Honduras deteriorated sharply. Both countries were members of the Central American Common Market organization. According to the rules of this organization, the more economically developed El Salvador had some trading privileges, which Honduras really did not like. Meanwhile, Salvadoran peasants suffered from lack of land and moved in thousands to Honduras, where they illegally seized vacant land. By 1967, about 300 thousand Salvadoran migrants lived in Honudras, many of them were engaged in trade and actively forced the Hondurans out of business. In the end, the authorities of Honduras could not stand it and began to actively evict Salvadorans to their historical homeland, which was accompanied by massive oppression of labor migrants. In response, a wave of anti-Honduran sentiment rose in El Salvador. The military regimes of both countries were eager to strengthen their position, so the patriotic frenzy was very useful for the authorities on both sides of the border.

"Lord of all creatures of the earth" President of Uganda Idi Amin declared war on the United States, and due to the lack of reaction from across the ocean, he declared himself the winner in it

Photo: REUTERS/Uganda National Archive

In 1969, the play-offs for tickets to the 1970 FIFA World Cup began, and the teams of El Salvador and Honduras had to measure their strength. The first match was won by the Hondurans with a score of 1:0, after which one Salvadoran fan and patriot shot herself, unable to bear the national shame. The second match was won by the Salvadorans with a score of 3:0, after which the Salvadorans rushed to beat the enemy fans and burn the Honduran flags. The third match ended with a score of 3:2 in favor of El Salvador, after which the Hondurans beat two Salvadoran vice-consuls and went to smash illegal immigrants that had not yet been expelled, and the Honduran government broke off relations with a potential enemy. On July 14, El Salvador moved troops to Honduras. The war lasted six days and ended with the victory of El Salvador. Honduras was forced to pay compensation to robbed immigrants, but El Salvador lost its trade advantages and, in general, all its trade with Honduras. After this war, both countries faced a long streak of economic and political turmoil. On the other hand, both military juntas, on the wave of patriotic sentiments, noticeably strengthened their power.

It was far from the last ridiculous war. Suffice it to recall the futile search for weapons of mass destruction in occupied Iraq and the US economic hardship that followed. However, when states start another stupid war, someone always wins.

Participation taken in the war by Emperor Joseph II. - Cooking both sides. - The forces of the Russian armies and the purpose of each. - Forces and purpose of the Austrian army. - Distribution of Turkish troops. - Gassan Pasha. - Potemkin. - Lassi and the cordon system. - The composition of the Russian armies. — The initial actions of the Prince of Coburg. - Crossing of the Ukrainian army to right side Dniester and the movement of the main forces of the Yekaterinoslav army down the Bug. - Arrival to Ochakov Gassan Pasha. - Naval forces of both sides in Liman. - Prince of Nassau-Siegen. - Death of Saken. - Actions in Liman. - Destruction of the Turkish fleet. - Arrival of Potemkin to Ochakov. - The actions of the Austrians in Bessarabia and Moldova. - Surrender of Khotin. - Failures of the Austrian troops. - Siege of Ochakov. - Suvorov is wounded. - The exploits of Lambro-Cachoni in the Archipelago. - Slow successes of the Ochakov siege. - The assault and capture of Ochakov. - Winter apartments.

In this year, the war was to take on a more decisive character, both in the considerable preparations made during the winter by the belligerent powers, and in the participation taken in the war by Austria.
Emperor Joseph II used every possible effort to divert the Turks from declaring war, which, at that time, was very painful for him; on the one hand, there was turmoil in the Netherlands that belonged to him; on the other hand, a strong alliance was formed against Russian Empire and Austria. The new king of Prussia, the heir of the great Frederick, united with England and Holland to counteract the views of Austria and Russia.
In such circumstances, it was unprofitable for Emperor Joseph to fight for someone else's benefit, in the devastated border regions of Turkey. Nevertheless, however, he, wishing to express his readiness to assist the Empress Catherine, and hoping to compensate for his losses at the expense of the Turks, decided to declare war on the Ottoman Porte on January 29, 1788. Prince Potemkin, during the previous winter, paid special attention to the staffing, supply and organization of the army. The troops were replenished with recruits and supplied in abundance with all the means necessary for the conduct of war. The superiority of the Turks in cavalry forced Potemkin to reinforce our light cavalry with the formation of new cavalry jaeger and hussar (light horse) regiments. In order to encourage soldiers to serve in these troops, its term was reduced, in comparison with the infantry, by ten years. But later, military circumstances forced to extend the 15-year service life of these soldiers, and those who served extra time were given silver medals for three years, and gold medals for five years. Prince Potemkin also, with particular care, was engaged in the formation and improvement of the Cossack troops, which, on the one hand, helped to cover our borders without weakening the army, and on the other hand, cleared Poland and the Turkish border from restless people, and deprived the Turks of the means to recruit the Arnaut and Zaporizhzhya hordes .
On the part of the Porte, preparations for war were facilitated by European powers hostile to Russia and Austria. France and England, hostile to each other, zealously supported the Turks and helped them with all means. - Lafitte built new fortresses and strengthened the old ones; French gunners trained Turkish gunners. The British delivered light copper cannons and a significant number of ships to Constantinople.
Russian troops were divided into two armies, Yekaterinoslav and Ukrainian, and the Caucasian Corps.
The Yekaterinoslav army, under the command of Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky, among 80 thousand, not counting the Cossacks, was appointed to capture Ochakovo and to guard the Crimea. The Ukrainian army, under the leadership of Count Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky, including 37 thousand regular troops, should was but to operate in the space between the Bug and the Dniester, cover the siege of Ochakov and maintain communication with the Austrian troops. The Caucasian Corps of General Tekeli, including 18 thousand people, secured the southern border of Russia, in the space between the Black and Caspian Seas.
The Black Sea Fleet was supposed to guard the southern coast of Taurida and attack enemy coastal points. The Baltic Fleet, with landing troops, was assigned to depart for the island of Negroponto and to incite an uprising of the Greeks and other Christians subject to the Porte. The formation of Greek corsairs (of which Major Lambro-Cachoni later became the most famous) contributed to harming enemy ships. At the same time, Potemkin's agents stirred up a general uprising in Montenegro and opened relations with the Scutari Pasha, who had rebelled against the Porte.
On the Austrian side, great preparations for war were also made. The Austrian army, among 125 thousand people, based on the cordon system (The name of the cordon system is understood as a fragmented disposition of troops occupying many points that are advantageous, in a defensive sense, for directly covering the country) General Lassi, was located and was supposed to operate on the entire space of the borders of Austria with Turkey. The main forces, under the personal command of Emperor Joseph, were appointed to capture Shabache and Belgrade and to occupy Serbia; the corps of the Prince of Liechtenstein, stationed at Croatia, threatened to invade Bosnia; the corps of Wartensleben and Fabry were assigned to invade Wallachia; and the corps of the Prince of Saxe-Coburg, numbering from 15 to 18 thousand people, to invade Moldavia and to maintain communication between the Austrian and Ukrainian armies.
The Turks, for their part, managed to strengthen their hordes to 300 thousand people by the spring, including the fortress garrisons. In Ochakovo, Bendery and Khotyn there were more than 40 thousand; the same forces occupied the defensive line along the Dniester: consequently, at least 200 thousand remained for operations in the field. The Turks decided to turn their main efforts against the Austrians, limiting themselves on the other hand to holding the Russian troops. To this end, up to 150 thousand people, under the command of the supreme vizier, were assigned to actions in the direction of Sofia to Belgrade; The Ochakov garrison was reinforced to 20 thousand, and the new Crimean Khan, Shah-Bas-Girey, elected by the Tatar foremen in Constantinople, gathered up to 50 thousand Turks from Ishmael. Kapudan Pasha Hassan sailed, in the first half of May, with a significant fleet from Constantinople to Ochakov, to maintain the garrison of this fortress, destroy the Russian fleet and conquer the Crimea. The old, but peppy and resolute Gassap, hoping for the huge superiority of the Turkish naval forces, assured that "he will return to Constantinople as the conqueror of the Crimea, or lay down his head."
Gassan possessed great practical knowledge of the command of the fleet, and was unusually active. He saw with regret the disorder of the administration of the Ottoman Porte, and spared nothing to slow down the fall of his fatherland, of which, for many years, he was the most reliable support. Nothing could shake his determination; nothing was impossible for him; no failures bothered him. After the defeat at Chesme, he alone did not lose his presence of mind, and saved the capital of the sultans, forcing the Russians to move away from Lemnos. In continuation of the peace, he also restored the naval forces of the Turks, and, commanding them, was preparing to try his luck in a new desperate struggle with the Russian fleet.
It seemed that Porta had never been in such danger as it was at the opening of this campaign. Numerous well-organized armies, supported by the funds of two paramount states, encouraged by the memories of the constant successes of the Russian army, were preparing to invade Turkey from several sides, which could only oppose them with disorganized militias, deprived of all the material means necessary for waging war. The success of the Allies seemed beyond doubt; but fate decided otherwise, and the reason for this must be sought in the character and qualities of the main leaders of the allied armies, Potemkin and Lassi.
Potemkin, who commanded the main Russian army on this campaign, and subsequently all the Russian troops, did not possess the decisiveness and constant activity, qualities so necessary for the successful conduct of the war. He was brave in person in battle and bold in drawing up plans; but when it came to fulfilling them, difficulties and worries agitated him to such an extent that he could not decide on anything. In continuation of the peace, he drew up many plans for the conquest of Constantinople; but when the war began, for a long time he could not decide on the siege of Ochakov: at first he was stopped by his worries at the expense of providing food for the troops; then - misplaced caution. “Now the Turks are not what they used to be,” he said; they can beat us." Time passed; meanwhile, both the commander and the army entrusted to him remained inactive.
The commander-in-chief of the Austrian army was appointed Lassi, the son of a Russian field marshal, who had transferred to the Austrian service at a young age. The Seven Years' War, in which he corrected the post of chief of staff of the Down army, paved the way for him to distinction and glory: he was credited with the attack at Gochkirch and those skillful marches with which Down amazed his contemporaries; “Lassi, with an Austrian detachment, also participated in the attack of Totleben on Berlin. This war had a great influence on Lassi's military education. The example of Daun, splitting up his forces to simultaneously occupy many strong local points, and the fear inspired by Frederick's former exploits, forced the Austrians, in the war of the Bavarian Succession, to avoid battle and deploy troops in a stretched line: such was the beginning of the cordon system. Despite the disadvantages and dangers of this system, it achieved the goal envisioned by its founder, Lassie. Frederick, already in his advanced years, and waging war not for his own benefit to Prussia, but in defense of the inviolability of the possessions of the German Union, limited himself to observing the enemy army; for a whole summer, the Austrians, acting against Frederick, were not defeated. Emperor Joseph II and Lassi, considering such a result of actions to be very beneficial, concluded that, in order to gain an advantage over the enemy, it is enough to deploy troops, stretching them in the form of a cordon. But bitter experience soon showed in practice that not only a system based on such shaky principles, but no system of action in general, should serve as a constant guide for a military leader.
In the middle of May, the main forces of the Yekaterinoslav army, assigned to the siege of Ochakov, gathered at Olviopol, including 40 thousand regular troops and 6 thousand Cossacks. (The composition of the main forces of the Yekaterinoslav army. Livonian and Bug jaeger corps; grenadier regiments (consisting of 4 battalion composition): Yekaterinoslav, Astrakhan and Tauride; musketeer regiments: Tambov, Kherson, Aleksopol and Polotsk; grenadier battalions: Fischer and Sakov; Yekaterinoslav cuirassier; light-horse (hussar) regiments: Kherson, Ukrainian, Kharkov, Elisavetgrad, Izyum, Poltava, Akhtyrsky, Alexandria, Sumy, Olviopol and Voronezh; 13 Cossack regiments. (Extracted from the Atlas of the last Turkish war, compiled by Colonel Baron Tizenhausen, in 1793)) . At the same time, three divisions of the Ukrainian army, including 27 thousand, gathered in the area from Vinnitsa to Obodovka, and the division (2nd) General-in-Chief Count Saltykov, among 10 thousand, was located near Novo- Konstantinov, with the aim of helping the Austrians (Composition of the Ukrainian Army: grenadier regiments: Siberian, Little Russian, St. Petersburg and Moscow; musketeer regiments: Ingermanland, Novgorod, Chernigov, Arkhangelsk, Uglitsky, Smolensk, Apsheron, Rostov, Tula and Vitebsk; six grenadier battalions; four chasseur battalions: total 46 battalions Order cuirassier regiment Carabinieri regiments: Kiev, Chernigov, Glukhovsky, Nezhinsky, Starodubovsky, Ryazansky, Tverskoy, Seversky, Pereyaslavsky, Sofia and Lubensky: 52 squadrons in total; six Don Cossack regiments; nine artillery companies. (Extracted from the schedules of the Ukrainian army)) .
Meanwhile, the Prince of Coburg, hoping to capture Khotyn without great difficulty, and not wanting to share the glory of this success with the Russians, approached this fortress back in February; but was forced to abandon his attempt. Then, having concentrated up to 15 thousand people in Bukovina, he decided to besiege Khotyn; the conquest of this fortress was necessary, both to provide the Austrian army from the left flank, and to open reliable communications with the Ukrainian army to the prince. But in order to proceed with the execution of this enterprise, with the sure hope of success, the Prince of Coburg wanted first to push back the Turkish detachment, then located between Iasi and Khotyn, beyond the Largo River, which flows into the Prut at Lipkan (This river should not be mistaken for the one on which the battle took place on July 7, 1770) . Colonel Fabri, sent with 5 thousand troops to Larga, defeated, on April 7, 6 thousand Turks, captured, after that, the Moldavian ruler Alexander Ypsilanti and occupied Iasi (Description of the campaigns of the Russians against the Turks (manuscript)) .
In the meantime, according to mutual intercourse between our two commanders-in-chief, Rumyantsev and Potemkin, it was decided that the Ukrainian army should cross the Dniester and station itself between this river and the Prut, in order to most reliably distract the Turks from Ochakov; The 2nd division of this army, which was under the command of Count Saltykov, at the request of the Prince of Coburg, was supposed to assist him in the siege of Khotyn. On the basis of the above considerations, the 1st division, among 13 thousand, having crossed the Dniester on June 20, near Mogilev, settled down, on July 1, at Plopi; The 3rd and 4th divisions, numbering 14 thousand, under the command of general-general Elmpt, crossed a little below Soroka and were advanced to Otta Alba; finally, the 2nd division, Count Saltykov, among 10 thousand, crossed, on June 15, at Malinitsa, 15 miles below Khotyn, and, together with the corps of Prince Coburg, surrounded this fortress, on the 21st (The composition of the division of Count Saltykov: St. Petersburg Grenadier, Chernigov and Arkhangelsk Musketeer Regiments; 4th and 5th Grenadier Battalions; one Jaeger Battalion: 11 battalions in total. Glukhovsky, Nezhinsky and Sofia Carabinier Regiments; 12 squadrons in total; one Don Cossack regiment, and 2 artillery companies (schedule of the Ukrainian army)) . Siege work began on June 2 .
Meanwhile, the troops of the Yekaterinoslav army, assigned to the siege of Ochakov, crossed, on May 25, to the right side of the Bug, near Olviopol, and moved down the river, with extreme slowness. Suvorov, who was then in Kinburp, volunteered to storm Ochakov; but Potemkin, leaving the conquest of this fortress to himself, rejected this offer (Smidt, Suworow's Leben) .
At the end of May, Kapudan Pasha appeared in Liman with the Turkish fleet, which consisted of 13 battleships, 15 frigates and 32 small ships (gunboats, shebek, karlangichs, etc.). The purpose of Gassan's actions was to strengthen the garrison of the Ochakovo fortress, destroy the Russian fleet and then proceed to the conquest of the Crimea. At this very time, our naval forces, consisting of a sailing squadron and a rowing flotilla, were stationed in Deep Pristan, about 50 miles from Ochakov: the first, among 5 battleships and 8 frigates, was under the command of counter- Admiral Paul-Jones, who rose to prominence in the North American War; and the rowing flotilla, consisting of 60 small vessels (galleys, floating batteries, boats, etc.) and 80 Zaporozhye boats, was under the command of Prince Nassau-Siegen. This glorious warrior, like a knight of old times, sought adventures and dangers all over the world, hunted lions and tigers in Africa, made a round-the-world trip with Bougainville, and commanded, during the siege of Gibraltar, one of the floating batteries. At the opening of operations near Ochakovo, the prince volunteered to command our rowing flotilla, and showed himself to be a worthy leader of the brave Russian sailors.
Gassan's appearance near Ochakovo was marked by the heroic self-sacrifice of Captain 2nd Rank Saken.
This officer, sent by the Prince of Nassau, on a large boat, from Glubokaya, with a report to Suvorov, to Kinburn, was supposed to go back to the flotilla from there, at the very time when the advanced Turkish ships were already entering the estuary. Anticipating the danger that threatened him, Saken said goodbye to the commander of the Kozlovsky regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Markov: “My position is dangerous, but I can still save my honor. When the Turks attack me with two ships, I will take them; with three I will fight; I won't run from four; but if they attack more, then forgive me, Fyodor Ivanovich! We won't see each other again." As soon as Saken managed to sail half the distance from Kinburn to Deep Pristan, thirty Turkish ships chasing him began to overtake him. Wanting to save his subordinates, Saken sent nine sailors, in the boat that was with him, to Glubokaya, and ordered them to notify the flotilla of his dangerous situation, and to announce that neither he nor the vessel entrusted to him would be in the hands of the Turks. Enemy ships surrounded him on all sides; two of them grappled with the Russian boat; the Turks were already preparing to rush to board ... At that very moment, Saken threw a burning wick into an open powder keg and flew into the air; the sailors he saved assured him that he had not succeeded in destroying the Turkish ships that surrounded him; but be that as it may, the heroic death of Saken showed the Turks what enemies they were dealing with. Empress Catherine honored the memory of the brave with her regret, and granted a pension to the widow of Saken (Report to Empress Catherine II of Prince Potemkin. - Description of the campaigns of the Russians against the Turks (manuscript)) .
On June 7, a rather stubborn affair took place between the rowing fleets of the opposite sides, in the Dnieper Liman. Despite the courage of Hassan, who encouraged personal example their sailors, the Turks were forced to leave for Ochakov, with the loss of three ships, blown up by the successful action of our naval artillery.
Suvorov, who never lost sight of the means to harm the enemy, ordered a battery of 24 guns of a larger caliber (24 lb. and 18 lb.) to be built at the tip of the Kinburn Spit, with the aim of dominating the entrance to the Dnieper Liman. This battery was provided with a special cover, consisting of 2 battalions (Anthing. Smidt.) .
Meanwhile, Hassan, excited by the desire to avenge the failure he had suffered, decided on a desperate enterprise. Despite the many shoals that made navigation in the Liman dangerous even for small ships, on the evening of June 16, he sailed, with all his fleet and rowing flotilla, from Ochakov, and, with the help of skilled pilots, having passed the Fairway between the shoals, approached the Russian fleet for a cannon shot; his ships were at anchor in two lines: the first consisted of ships and frigates, and the second of Kirlangichs, boats, and so on. On our side, in front was the rowing fleet, and behind it the sailing fleet. The Turks looked with disdain at our small ships and were absolutely sure of victory.
As soon as it began to dawn, the Turkish fleet weighed anchor; our rowing flotilla, not waiting for the attack, moved to meet the enemy, and the battle flared up along the entire line. The Prince of Nassau commanded the left wing against which the largest ships operated, and Brigadier Alexiano the right. About an hour after the opening of the cannonade, the 64-gun Turkish ship ran aground; in the wake of this, the admiral's ship of Kapudan Pasha suffered the same fate. The Prince of Nassau, wishing to take possession of these ships, sent part of his galleys against them. The Turks defended desperately and inflicted significant damage on the Black Sea Cossacks, who stormed the enemy's three-deck ships, with grapeshot and rifle fire; finally, after many futile attempts, the Black Sea men boarded; but they could no longer save their prey. Turkish ships, ignited by our brandskugels and red-hot cannonballs, were engulfed in flames; the Cossacks managed to save many enemies who were captured or rushed into the water; the rest, all the Turks who were on the ships that were stranded, flew up with them. Several smaller Turkish ships were sunk; others are captured; finally, after a desperate struggle lasting four hours, the Russians won a complete victory. During all this time, Hassan was constantly exposed to the greatest dangers. The hero, riding around on his kirlangich, under the fiercest fire of Russian ships, appeared everywhere - everywhere he gave orders. No less courage was shown, on our part, by Brigadier Alexiano, Lieutenant Colonel Ribas 2nd, De Winter, Colonel Roger Damas of the French Service, and especially the Prince of Nassau himself.
Gassan Pasha, deceived in his hopes to destroy the Russian squadron, was forced to retreat; but he retreated like a lion, covered the return voyage of his light ships with ships and frigates, and withdrew to Ochakov. Our rowing flotilla pursued the enemy, and anchored, within cannon-shot from the Turkish fleet, waiting for the time to attack him again. Meanwhile, Hassan decided to leave Ochakov and join with part of his fleet, which was on the high seas. Having in mind to leave secretly from the Liman, he weighed anchor in the night from June 17th to 18th. But as soon as the Turkish fleet caught up with the battery set up by Suvorov at the tip of the Kinburn Spit, the strongest cannonade was opened by enemy ships. The Turks, who did not know at all about the construction of this battery, believed that they had fallen under the guns of the Kinburn fort and tried to go out to sea as soon as possible. Gassan managed to save the leading ships from the death that threatened them; but other ships ran aground, partly stopped, having suffered severe damage from the action of our artillery. Meanwhile, in the first hour, the moon rose; almost none of our shots were lost; the enemy fleet, hit by red-hot cannonballs and other incendiary projectiles, was in extreme confusion; the ships were ablaze and one after another took off into the air; around them, the whole space was littered with the wreckage of ships and people who met death in all possible forms.
Meanwhile, on the Russian flotilla, the firing of the Kinburn battery was heard; the prince of Nassau and his undaunted companions eagerly desired to take part in the battle; but as it was very dangerous to make a move at night, through a space strewn with shoals, it was decided to wait until dawn. Even in the night, a note was received from Suvorov: "Invincible Doria," he wrote to the prince, it's time to capture Barbarossa's successor." At this time, Hassan had already managed to go to sea; it remained to destroy the Turkish ships that were under the guns of Ochakov. On the 18th, at dawn, the Prince of Nassau, ignoring the fire of the fortress of Hassan Pasha Castle and the Turkish ships anchored there, sent his rowing flotilla in two columns, circled the enemy fleet on both sides with his ships, in the form of a crescent, and attacked huge ships with galleys and boats. Paul-Jones, who could not follow him with the fleet, along the shallow water of the estuary, accompanied the prince, trying to moderate his ardor. “We are going to certain death,” he told him; Is it ever heard of attacking 74-gun "ships" with boats? We will be smashed to pieces." - “Not at all! answered the prince; these bulks lack a soul, and Turkish guns lack accuracy. They shoot into the air. Let's go to the Turks, under the fiery vault of their shots, and destroy them. The prince kept his word. Russian boats and galleys, despite the brutal cannonade of enemy ships and frigates, sailed up to their sides; our brave sailors, grappling with the enemy bulks, climbed on them, captured prisoners, took booty and retired before the flaming Turkish ships took off into the air. Little by little the fire fell silent; Finally, around noon, dead silence settled on the site of the massacre.
The Turks lost, on both these days, and on the disastrous night for them from June 17 to 18, up to three thousand people were killed and drowned; captured 1763; 7 enemy ships and 8 other ships were burned; a 60-gun ship was taken and 2 frigates and several small ships were captured. The same Turkish ships that managed to get away were in a pitiful state; of them, two ships sank on the high seas. The rest of the ships escaped under the guns of Ochakov, but not for long: the Prince of Nassau completely destroyed them on July 1st. On our side, the damage, on both days, June 17 and 18, did not exceed 18 people killed and 68 wounded: among the latter was the chief quartermaster, Lieutenant Colonel Ribas 2nd, who lost his arm. The loss of our troops, on July 1, was more significant and extended to 100 people; among those killed was an old Zaporozhye ataman, Sidor Bely (Description of the Turkish War of 1787 - 1791, compiled by engineer-general-lieutenant Tuchkov - Description of the campaigns of the Russians against the Turks (manuscript)) .
During the time of the actions we have described, Prince Potemkin led his troops along both banks of the Bug, moving slowly and stopping wherever he found the comforts of life. Receiving news of the successes of the fleet he created, Potemkin rejoiced at them, attributed them to the patronage of his intercessor St. George, but was in no hurry to take part in the actions, and arrived at Ochakov no earlier than June 28th. Thus, for the march, for about 200 miles, five weeks were used.

Let us turn to the actions of our allies.
The crossing of the Ukrainian army to the right side of the Dniester and the occupation of Iasi by the Fabry detachment (produced, as a reward for that, to major general) promised significant benefits to the Allied weapons; but things soon took a less favorable turn. As soon as the chiefs of the Austrian detachments advanced to Moldavia (These detachments were located near Fokshan, Okna, Bakeu and Yass) , learned about the accumulation of the Turkish-Tatar hordes of Khan Shah-Bas-Giray in the vicinity of Ryaba-Mohyla and about the appearance of the Turks near Bucharest, how, having indulged panic fear, retreated to the borders of Transylvania; Fabri, having cleared Iasi, went to the Botushans, which made it possible for the khan to occupy the capital of Moldavia on June 22. Rumyantsev, having learned that the enemy's forces stretched up to 60 thousand people, and fearing that he would not rush to Khotyn, at that time besieged by the allies, decided to cover the siege of this fortress by Russian troops. Lack of food somewhat slowed down the execution of this intention; finally, in the middle of July, Elmpt's division set out from the camp at Otta Alba, and arrived, on the 22nd, at the Boserkan mound, 3½ versts from the Prut, and Lieutenant General Spleny, who replaced General Fabry, went over to Stroesti. Communication between these detachments was carried out through a pontoon bridge built on the Prut near the villages. Tabory.
Unfortunately, there was no agreement in the actions of the allies. Rumyantsev wanted Elmpt's division to cross over to the right side of the Prut and join up with the Austrian detachment in order to provide the most reliable cover for the siege of Khotyn from the Khan's army; but Spleny, proud of the unimportant success won by his troops in one of the skirmishes with the Turks, refused to connect with Elmpt; but then, suddenly changing his mind, he asked the Russian division to cross to the right side of the Prut and join the Austrians. Meanwhile, in the khan's army, bored with inaction, shoots began, weakening it daily. Rumyantsev, entering into relations with the Prince of Coburg, decided to take advantage of this circumstance, to push the khan to the Danube, and thereby ensure the siege of Khotyn. To achieve this goal, General Elmpt crossed the Prut on August 17, and, joining with the Spleny detachment, occupied Yassy, ​​from where the khan, without waiting for the Allied advance, retreated to the Ryabay-Mogila. But soon after that, General Spleny received an order from Emperor Joseph to go to the borders of Transylvania, threatened by the invasion of the Turks, who managed to win a decisive advantage over the Austrian troops. Rumyantsev, seeing the need to support Elmpt, moved with the 1st division, on August 31, from Plopi to the Prut, arrived, through Zagarancha, to Tsetsora, and joined, near this point, with the 4th division of Kamensky, who arrived from the Otta-Alba river , September 17th (Description of the campaigns of the Russians against the Turks (manuscript). - Buturlin. - A map of part of Moldova and Bessarabia, showing the marches and camps of the Ukrainian Army, in 1788) .
Meanwhile, the siege of Khotyn had already lasted more than two months. But the slow actions of the Prince of Coburg and Count Saltykov did not give any hope of an early conquest of the fortress. Despite the fact that it was lined up on June 21st, the trenches were not opened until July 2nd. Three days later, five batteries were built on the left side of the Dniester, near the village of Bragi, in order to prevent the besieged from reaching the water. From the action of the artillery of the allies, the city caught fire several times daily; the Janissaries, disheartened in spite of the convictions of the commandant of the fortress, Osman Pasha, spoke of surrender. The Prince of Coburg, having learned about this from the captured Turks, offered, with the consent of Count Saltykov, Osman Pasha to surrender the fortress. The Turks were ready to agree to the terms they proposed, on July 21st; but, having received news from two disguised spags who had penetrated the city about the movement of a strong corps to help Khotin, which, according to the spags, was supposed to arrive in 11 days, they asked to postpone the surrender of the fortress until August 1st. The allied commanders refused, and operations resumed on the 25th of July. The besieged made several sorties against the Russian troops, who occupied the right wing of the general location of the allies; but were repelled with damage, and in particular distinguished themselves, on June 31, the Belarusian Jaeger Corps and the St. Petersburg Grenadier Regiment. Finally, the Turks, tormented by hunger, surrendered the city, on September 18, and set off, under an Austrian escort, to Ryaba-Mogila. War booty consisted of 167 guns and many shells. The fortress was occupied by two Austrian battalions.
Saltykov's division, assigned to cover the supply of the main forces of the Ukrainian Army stationed at Tsetsora, moved through Balti to Orgei, where it arrived at the end of October. The troops of the Prince of Coburg went, through Batushany, to Roman, to support the Transylvanian corps (Description of the Turkish War of 1787 - 1791, compiled by engineer-lieutenant general Tuchkov, - Description of the campaigns of the Russians against the Turks) .
We have already had occasion to mention that Empress Catherine planned to send a Baltic fleet to the Archipelago; but the sudden arming of Gustav III against Russia did not allow this intention to be carried out. The pretext for breaking with our government was the note of the Russian envoy, Count Razumovsky, in which, among other things, it was said: “The Empress wants to convince the king, the ministry and the Swedish people of the sincerity of her friendly views.” Gustav found it insulting that the people were mentioned separately from their person, and, under this insignificant pretext, ordered the Swedish resident in St. Petersburg, Schlaf, to submit a note in which he demanded: 1) a penalty from Count Razumovsky for an (imaginary) insult; 2) the cession of Finland and Karelia up to Sisterbek; 3) the return of the Crimea to the Ottoman Porte and the acceptance of the mediation of the king, in the negotiations between Russia and this power. However, Gustav demanded a decisive answer, Yes or pet, declaring war, in case of disagreement on the conditions proposed by him. The answer to this impudent note was the command to Schlaf to immediately leave the capital. When Count Segur, in the presence of the Empress, noticed that Gustav wrote as if he had already won three battles, Catherine objected: “if he“ won them, and even took possession of St. humiliating conditions, and would show what can be done by leading the Russians.
The consequences did not justify the hopes of the arrogant King of Sweden; but the Empress was forced to turn the Baltic fleet to the defense of her capital. The Turks, provided from the side by the sea, were able to strengthen the militias operating against the Austrian troops, and move from defense to offensive. While the Austrians were losing time in inaction, which had the consequences of general illness and a breakdown in the troops, the supreme vizier Yusuf, a man of limited abilities, but a decisive character (which is most important in military affairs), managed to gather up to 70 thousand people from Nissa, and in August he moved with them, through Orsova, to Bannat, while the Turkish detachment, under the command of the ruler Mavrogen, headed for Transylvania. General Wartensleben, who commanded the troops in Bannat, unable to hold a large enemy army, began to retreat, was defeated at Megadia, on August 17, and retreated beyond the river. Temes. The Turkish hordes devastated the country completely occupied by them, and meanwhile the emperor Joseph, with 40 thousand people, set out from Zemlin to Karan Shebesh, connected there with Wartensleben and moved towards the vizier. On September 3rd, the battle of Slatina took place, in which the Austrian army was defeated and forced to retreat. The vizier, not limited to his successes, pursued the Austrians, unexpectedly attacked them, on the night of September 10-11, at Lugosh, and inflicted a complete defeat on them. Artillery, carts, and even the emperor's own carriages fell into the hands of the Turks; Emperor Joseph and Archduke Franz almost died. The disorder and confusion of the Austrian troops extended to the point that some parts of them, in the dark, fired at others. This terrible night long remained in the memory of the Austrians. The Turks could have won even greater successes, but suddenly returned back and, with the onset of winter, dispersed to their homes.
In the invasion of Bannat, the Turks, considered incapable of correct military considerations, acted with skill and activity. They made bypass movements, attacked from the flanks, won at every step, and showed themselves to be practically versed in tactics, while the Austrian military leaders, having split their forces, were forced to confine themselves to their own defense, exhausted their army and did not know how to protect themselves from detours, not from unintentional attacks.
Emperor dissatisfied with Lassi's actions , entrusted the leadership of the troops in Croatia to the famous Laudon, who, by his activity, gave a completely different turn to actions, moved from defense to offensive and captured the fortresses on Untsa, Dubice and Novi (Smidt. Suworow's Leben.) .
Meanwhile, the siege of Ochakov continued.
Upon arrival in the vicinity of the city, at the end of June, the Yekaterinoslav army remained inactive for three whole weeks, until July 20th. The siege work undertaken at that time, to force the enemy out of the gardens in which he took refuge, was begun at a distance of 3½ versts from the fortress. In one of the first skirmishes, the governor of Yekaterinoslav, Major General Sinelnikov, was killed. The Russian troops were deployed in a semicircle, 3½ versts from Ochakov, with their flanks resting on the Black Sea and Liman. The right wing and center were commanded by general-in-chief Prince Repnin, and the left wing was commanded by general-in-chief Meller; at the tip of this wing, stood Suvorov (arrived with the Phanagorian Grenadier Regiment from Kinburn).
At this time, Ochakov was in a completely different form than in the days of Munnich. The French engineers used every means of their art to bring this fortress to the best possible condition. But it was not so much important itself, but its external fortifications, which could serve as a fortified camp for an entire army. The fortress had the shape of an oblong irregular quadrangle, adjoining one of the sides to the Liman. This side was covered with a simple stone wall, and the other three were surrounded by a rampart with a dry moat and glacis; in addition, a line of redants was built in front, and in the corner formed by the sea and the Liman, a pentagonal castle with very thick walls - Gassan Pasha. The garrison consisted of 20 thousand people. Siege work was hampered by the properties of the surrounding area, sandy and rocky. The Turkish troops defending Ochakov were ready to stay in the fortress to the last extreme. Their courageous spirit was even more elevated by the return of Kapudan Pasha, who, after an indecisive battle at Fidonisi (Fidonisi (snake island) lies on the Black Sea, 43 versts east of the Sulina mouth of the Danube) On July 31, against the Sevastopol squadron of Rear Admiral Count Voinovich, he headed first to the shores of Rumelia, and then to Ochakov. Upon the arrival of the Turkish fleet, including 15 ships of the line, 10 frigates and 44 smaller ships to the island of Berezan (lying in the Black Sea, about 10 miles west of Ochakov), Hassan Pasha settled down near the island, at the end of July, and incessantly disturbed the troops of the siege army for three months, until finally the onset of a stormy time forced him to move away from Ochakov (Description of the Turkish War of 1787 - 1791 compiled by Lieutenant-General Tuchkov. - Description of the campaigns of the Russians against the Turks (manuscript)) .
Despite all these difficulties, however, it was possible, acting persistently, to subdue Ochakov in a short time; but the main obstacle to this was the indecisiveness of our commander in chief.
On the one hand, he was embarrassed by the exaggerated information about the mines laid by French engineers, and therefore he fussed about obtaining from Paris the correct plan of the fortress, with all its mine galleries, and did not spare any costs for this; on the other hand, he was firmly convinced that the Ochakovo commandant, convinced of the impossibility of the presence of auxiliary troops, would offer to surrender the city for surrender. “Why waste people for nothing? I don’t want to take Ochakov by storm: let him voluntarily submit to me, ”he said with self-confidence, and, remaining in the hope of an imminent surrender of the fortress, did not allow anyone to act decisively. Such self-confidence was very unfounded. The Turks endure with extreme patience all sorts of hardships and hardships before they decide to surrender the fortress entrusted to them. The Pasha of Ochakovo was ready to defend himself to the last extremity, and all attempts by Potemkin to shake his resolve had not the slightest success.
All Europe paid intense attention to the siege of Ochakov; many young people rushed there from all parts of Europe, desiring to take part in a great enterprise that promised distinction and glory; but the indecision of the leader struck the army subordinate to him with inaction. The camp was filled with many visitors and visitors; various amusements served as entertainment and recreation for the soldiers; meanwhile, the siege work moved very slowly.
This way of warfare was disliked by many; in particular, Suvorov was bored with inaction. Several times he attempted to induce the field marshal to take drastic measures; Potemkin remained inactive. Finally, Suvorov, driven out of patience, decided, by a bold attack on the Turks, to drag along with him both the main forces of the army and the commander in chief himself. To this end, on July 27, having beaten off a small sortie of the Turks, Suvorov, with two battalions of the Phanagori Grenadier Regiment, built in squares, attacked the enemy trenches, hoping for assistance near the standing troops. But Potemkin ordered them to stay where they were and sent a stern order to Suvorov to retreat. Our hero, trying, under a hail of enemy bullets, to withdraw his grenadiers in order, was wounded in the neck and forced to leave the battlefield. The loss of the Phanagorians in this case stretched up to 140 killed and up to 200 wounded. (Description of the Turkish War of 1787 - 1791 compiled by engineer-general-lieutenant Tuchkov (manuscript)) . Potemkin was extremely dissatisfied with Suvorov. “Soldiers are not so cheap as to be wasted,” an angry Field Marshal wrote to him.
Meanwhile, the cruisers sent from Sevastopol destroyed many Turkish merchant ships. The search for our sailors extended to the city of Sinop, in view of which, captain Kunduri, having cut off two enemy ships from the shore, took possession of one of them and sank the other (Description of the campaigns of the Russians against the Turks (manuscript)) . The Greek armorers also acted very successfully in the Archipelago. Major Lambro-Caccioni, known for his enterprise, armed several boats, formed a small squadron of them and took possession, on July 24, of Fort Castel Orzo, where he captured up to 500 Turks of both sexes and 27 guns. In a report to Potemkin, Lambro-Cachoni, among other things, wrote: “There were two hundred and thirty Turks in all, and with surnames there were up to five hundred souls. My intention was to put some to death, in revenge for the perfidy of their kind, and to take others prisoner, but the Greek metropolitan and primates, who were in Castel Orzo, convinced me with the most sensitive requests to leave these Turks alive, declaring that if I betrayed after their death, then after the other Turks, coming from Anatolia, of course, they would have ruined and killed all the Christians, of whom there are up to 400 houses in Castel Orzo; why, and at the same time arguing that although they began and continued hostilities for several hours, they finally submitted, and most of all, imagining the boundless Mother of the All-August and Most Merciful Monarchy for all mercy, I gave the aforementioned Turks and their families life and let them go with everything estate in Anatolia. However, on vacation, so that they would never forget our victorious weapons, I made sure that all the Turks, bending down, passed under our sword; on my courts, at that very time, it was said: vivat “Catherine!”
Days, weeks passed, and the siege of Ochakov made almost no progress; meanwhile, the army daily lost people from disease and enemy attacks. In mid-August, as soon as the first parallel was laid, at a distance of about a verst from the fortress. The Turks, wishing to destroy the siege work, made, on August 18, a strong sortie against the right wing of our army, adjacent to the sea, commanded by Lieutenant General Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg, a relative of the Empress. The fire of the gunboats sent to help our troops by the Prince of Nassau, and the arrival of Major General Golenishchev-Kutuzov (Mikhail Larionovich), with the Livonian Jaeger Corps, forced the Turks to flee, with the loss of 500 people. On our side, two officers and 113 privates were killed. General Kutuzov was seriously wounded by a bullet in the head, through both temples. But Providence kept his life for the high purpose of avenging the offended fatherland.
Prince Nassau, whose ingenuity owed the salvation of the troops of the right wing of the Russian army, did not long enjoy the favor of the field marshal. Trying to induce Potemkin to storm, the prince had the imprudence to say: “if I were entrusted with the command of the army, then I would soon make such a gap that a whole regiment could through it to enter the city. Potemkin, dissatisfied with the prince's arrogance, asked him: "What breach did you make near Gibraltar?" This causticity did not please the ardent prince, who, complaining about the field marshal to the empress, asked her permission to leave the army.
The failure of the sortie on the 18th August forced the Turks to remain calm until the 6th September; on this day, the cruel action of the Russian batteries, built at a distance of 180 to 300 sazhens from the enemy retransmission, prompted the Turks to launch a sortie, in the hope of destroying our batteries; but our troops repulsed the enemy. The guns that were in retransmission were at that time shot down by the action of Russian artillery, and therefore the Turks acted on siege work only from the fortress (Description of the war of 1787 - 1791 compiled by Lieutenant-General Tuchkov) .
Despite the slowness of siege work, the Russian batteries, in mid-October, operated from a distance of no more than 150 sazhens from the retransmission; a significant part of the city and the shops located in it was turned into ashes. Potemkin, wanting to get rid of Hassan Pasha's fleet, which slowed down the fall of the fortress with his presence near Berezan, ordered the Sevastopol squadron to go to Ochakov; but, even before her arrival, the Turkish fleet went to sea on the 4th of November. Gassan, sending ships and frigates to Constantinople, reached out with small ships to the Dniester Liman: thus the onset of late autumn, always accompanied by storms in the Black Sea, deprived the fortress of its most active defender.
The removal of Kapudan Pasha from Ochakov provided an opportunity to seize Berezan. This island, almost impregnable, due to the steepness of its shores, did not block the entrance to the Dnieper Liman and did not represent a single pier for ships: therefore, mastering it could not bring the slightest benefit to the Russian troops; but Potemkin decided on this enterprise, hoping to shake the spirit of the defenders of Ochakov by taking possession of Berezan. Hassan, during his stay under this fortress, strengthened the Berezansky fort, made it difficult to land on the island with an elevated battery, built at the most convenient landing point, and left a garrison in the Fort, numbering several hundred people.
The Faithful (former Zaporozhye) army was appointed to take possession of Berezan, under the command of the military judge Golovaty. On November 7, the Cossacks set off on their oaks (boats) and captured the battery. Prince Potemkin supported them with several frigates and gunboats, under the command of Brigadier Ribas; the arrival of this flotilla to the island frightened the Turks and forced them to surrender, including 320 people. During the occupation of Berezan, 23 guns, 150 barrels of gunpowder, more than 1000 cores and 2300 quarters of bread were captured (Description of the Turkish War, compiled by engineer-general-lieutenant Tuchkov. - Description of the campaigns of the Russians against the Turks (manuscript)) .
On November 11, breach batteries were laid on the left wing of the army besieging Ochakov. Major-General Maksimovich, who was constantly with cover on forward batteries, during the entire duration of the siege, did not set up pickets on the night of November 11-12. This oversight cost us dearly. The Turks made a sortie and attacked by surprise a battery built near Liman (190 sazhens from the fortress); General Maksimovich, hit by a bullet, was cut down with part of the gun cover that was under his command.
The departure of Kapudan Pasha made the further stay of our Black Sea Fleet near Ochakov useless, and therefore the squadron that arrived from Sevastopol was sent back there; others sailing ships diverted to Glubokaya, and the rowing flotilla to Kherson.
The siege work had been going on for four months, and the besiegers still had not managed to reach the counter-scarp of the outer rampart. The frequent sorties of the Turks and the influence of the country's climate on unaccustomed soldiers weakened the Russian army. After a rainy autumn, an unusually severe winter came (which remained for a long time in the memory of the Little Russians, under the name of Ochakovskaya). The soldiers, bogged down in the mud, covered with snow, took refuge in stuffy, damp dugouts, shivered from the cold, endured the need for provisions, but bravely endured all the hardships and hardships. Sometimes they only expressed a desire to end the disasters that depressed them, warm frozen blood storming Ochakov. Potemkin himself clearly saw the need for this decisive action, and even appointed the day for the assault, November 24, wishing to bring the keys of Ochakov to the Empress on her namesake day; but, not having had time to make preparations for the attack, he postponed it until December 6th. Of all the assumptions drawn up for the assault, the field marshal preferred the plan of action submitted to the artillery by general-in-chief Meller. Despite the severe cold, which reached 23 degrees, it was decided not to postpone the attack any longer. The troops learned about it with joy; the soldiers, meeting among themselves, congratulated each other; There were more hunters than needed.
The troops, numbering 14,000, were divided into six columns, supported by two reserves. Four columns, under the general command of General-in-Chief Prince Repnin, entrusted to Lieutenant General Prince of Anhalt and Prince Vasily Dolgorukov, (The composition of the columns of the right wing: I, Major General Baron Palen, from the Tambov Regiment, a battalion of dismounted horse rangers, 1000 dismounted and 200 horse Cossacks of Colonel Platov, a detachment of Armenian volunteers, Major Avramov, and a team of Faithful Cossacks, assigned to capture Gassan -pashinsky castle and to assist other troops in attacking the mountain trench.II is divided into two parts, for the most convenient embrace of the mountain trench: the 1st part, brigadier Lvov, from the Yekaterinoslav grenadier regiment and one battalion of the Tauride , Colonel Baikov, from two battalions of the Yekaterinoslav rangers and 50 hunters of the Elisavetgrad Light Horse Regiment: both of them were supposed to follow the first column, and upon its entry into the Gassan-Pashinsky castle, climb into the mountain retranchment and hit the enemy in the rear, to assist troops advancing from the front.III, Major General Prince Volkonsky, from the Livonian Jaeger Corps, one battalion of the Kherson regiment and 300 slaves of the same regiment, and the IVth, Brigadier Meindorf, from the Bug Chasseur Corps, the battalion of the Astrakhan Grenadier Regiment and 300 workers of the same regiment, were assigned to attack the highland retransmission from the front. (Order of the attack on Ochakov and the location of the general attack of Ochakov)) were assigned to storm from the western side of the upland trench and Gassan-Pashinsky castle. The other two columns, under the command of the artillery of General Meller, entrusted to Lieutenant General Samoilov (The composition of the columns of the left wing: V-I, Brigadier Khrushchev, from one battalion of the Fanagorisky Grenadier Regiment, Aleksopolsky Regiment and the grenadier battalions of Fischer and Sakov, was assigned to preoccupy the enemy from the eastern side of the trench, while VI-I, Brigadier Gorich 1- th, from the Polotsk regiment, two battalions of the Phanagoria Grenadier Regiment, 300 artillery volunteers, 220 volunteers of Colonel Selunsky, 140 other hunters and 180 Bug Cossacks, Colonel Skarzhinsky, was supposed to break into the fortress itself, through a breach near Liman. Ochakov attacks)) , were supposed to storm the outer trench and fortress from the east. The rest of the troops formed two reserves, of which Lieutenant General Geiking commanded the right wing reserve, and Lieutenant General Prince Golitsyn commanded the left wing. At first, it was ordered to open a cannonade before the start of the assault, but then this order was canceled; the troops were ordered to go on the attack as quickly as possible, without a shot, trying to decide the fate of the battle with a swift blow to the bayonets. When occupying the city, it is ordered to spare children and women (Potyomkin's report to Empress Catherine II. Location of Ochakov's general attack) .

On December 6, at 7 o'clock in the morning, an attack began from all sides, while the enemy opened heavy fire on the advancing columns.
Major General Palen, having entered the Gassan-Pashinsky retransaction with the 1st column, divided his troops into three parts: Lieutenant Colonel Palmenbach, with 500 people, was sent to the fortress gates; Colonel Meknob to Gassan-Pashinsky castle, and Colonel Platov along the retransmission, which was located at the castle. Our troops, hitting with bayonets and spears, occupied the retreat and the castle, in which up to 300 prisoners were captured; General Palen, leaving Colonel Platov with the Cossacks in the castle, turned to the fortress; at that very moment, a significant crowd of Turks rushed from the mountain retransmission to Palen’s column, but when a squadron of Ekaterinoslav cuirassiers from the reserve and 400 rangers, detached by Colonel Baykov, arrived there, the Turks, met by Palen, laid down their weapons, including 1500 people.
As soon as the 2nd column approached Novaya Sloboda, Colonel Baikov, having exterminated the Turks who had settled there, detached Lieutenant Colonel Hagenmeister with 400 rangers to help General Palen, and he himself attacked the retransmission and occupied it to the road leading from the city to Gassan-Pashinsky Castle . At the same time, Brigadier Lvov, with one of the Yekaterinoslav battalions, under the fierce fire of Turkish riflemen, broke into the gates of the retransmission; Prince of Anhalt and Colonel Lvov climbed the retranche a little to the left, and Count Damas, also one of the first to climb the rampart, helped the Yekaterinoslav grenadiers following him to climb there. After that, the Prince of Anhalt, with the battalions of Sumarokov and Count Damas, pursuing the enemy, who had fled from the retransmission, approached the fortress gates; but the Turks continued to defend themselves desperately, until the bombardiers, under the command of the artillery of Major Karl Meller (On the assault on Ochakov, there were three sons of General Meller: one of them, Peter, artillery lieutenant colonel (later artillery general); the other, Yegor, army lieutenant colonel (later lieutenant general) and the third, Karl, artillery major: the latter was mortally wounded When they told their father about that, he answered: "So what! I have two more sons left for the assault.") who broke into the city, opened the gates from the inside; then the Yekaterinoslavs, having decisively struck with bayonets, laid down a multitude of Turks on the spot, and over the piles of their bodies entered the city.
The 3rd column, rushing to the redant indicated to it, was met with strong fire; but this did not deter the brave rangers; they went down into the ditch; Lieutenant Colonel Morkov, placing a ladder against the rampart, was the first to ascend the retranchment; the enemy stubbornly defended himself with shooting and edged weapons, but General Prince Volkonsky rushed to help the rangers, took possession of the redant and was killed. Then Colonel Yurgens, having taken command of the column, deployed the battalion of the Kherson regiment against the retransmission, opened fire and forced the enemy to retreat. Lieutenant Colonel Sipyagin, taking advantage of this, cut down the palisade and paved the way for the column to retransmit.
Meanwhile, the 4th column, with which Prince Dolgoruky was, carried away by the example of Brigadier Meyendorff, took possession of another redant. Then, to clear the retransmission, colonels Kiselev and von Stahl were sent to the right and left, each with two battalions of chasseurs. The enemy, put to flight, lost many people and was forced to take refuge in the fortress.
The 5th column rushed to the retreat, and, not paying attention to either the depth of the ditch, or the height of the palisade, or the stubborn defense of the enemy, climbed the rampart at two points: one of the parts of this column was commanded by Brigadier Khrushchev and Colonel Rzhevsky, and the other Colonel Glazov. The enemy blew up two land mines and, by their action, harmed our troops; but they, in spite of this, continued to move forward, descended, following the Turks, into the front ditch, 10 feet deep, took possession of the covered path, planted with palisades, descended into the ditch 25 feet deep, climbed the ladders to the rampart, about 40 feet high , seated with palisades, and, having mastered the bastion, connected with the 6th column.
Lieutenant-General Samoilov and Brigadier Gorich, with the 6th column, approached a breach made in the bastion. Ladders were immediately put up; Brigadier Gorich was one of the first to climb the rampart and was killed. Colonel Sytin, having taken command of the column, rushed to the gap; the Meller brothers (Karl and Egor), with an artillery team, went up to the bastion, and, having passed through the entire fortress, they let in our 2nd column; one of them, artillery major Karl Meller, was mortally wounded; Lieutenant Colonels Fisher and Sakov and Major Yermolin also brought their battalions into the city. Part of the troops of the 6th column rushed across the ice that covered the Liman, to the fortress stone wall, 26 feet high, and climbing up the stairs, went down to the city. After taking the riverside bastion, Lieutenant-General Samoilov sent troops in both directions to occupy the fortress. The arrival of Lieutenant General Prince Golitsyn, with the Tauride Grenadier Regiment, gave a decisive advantage to our troops, and gave them the opportunity to hold out in the city.
The enemies, ousted from the city ramparts, settled in the houses and continued their desperate defense. Their stubbornness had disastrous consequences: Russian soldiers, excited by a thirst for revenge, broke into houses and exterminated the Turks everywhere. Inexorable death appeared in all forms; the swearing cries of the combatants were silenced; the skirmish had almost completely ceased; only the sound of bladed weapons was heard, occasionally interrupted by the groans and cries of mothers protecting their children ... Finally, everything calmed down. The attack lasted only an hour and a quarter. Potemkin, all this time, was sitting on the ground, near one of his batteries, propping his head on his hands, getting up incessantly and repeating: "Lord have mercy!" The city was given over to the soldiers for three days. Among the most notable prisoners, the Ochakov commandant, seraskir Hussein Pasha, was brought to the field marshal. Potemkin angrily told him: "We owe this bloodshed to your stubbornness." - “Leave vain reproaches, answered Hussein, I fulfilled my duty, as you did yours; fate decided the matter.

The city filled with corpses presented a terrible sight. There was no way to bury them in the frozen ground, and therefore several thousand bodies taken out onto the ice that covered the Liman remained there until spring. (In a letter to Count Bezborodko, Potemkin wrote: “Now I’m in a hurry to report on the capture of Ochakov. I’ll receive detailed information, I’ll send a full report. I don’t know what to do with prisoners, and even more so with women. No one has seen such rubber; it’s terrible that they were killed. The first day there was no passage in the fortress; in places they were piled up in eight and ten rows.") .
The trophies of the winners consisted of 310 cannons and mortars and 180 banners. The soldiers acquired huge booty. The number of prisoners extended to 283 different officials and up to 4 thousand lower ranks. The number of killed Turks was at least 10 thousand. On our side, in addition to Major General Prince Sergius Volkonsky and Brigadier Gorich 1st, the following were killed and wounded: headquarters and chief officers 147; lower ranks 2723 (Potyomkin's report to Empress Catherine. - Description of the campaigns of the Russians against the Turks (manuscript)) .
The awards granted by Empress Catherine to Prince Potemkin for the capture of Ochakov were: the Order of St. George of the 1st class, long desired by him, 100 thousand rubles and a sword strewn with diamonds. Meller received, almost at the same time, the orders of St. Andrew and St. George 2nd class and the baronial dignity, with the title Zakomelsky; Samoilov and Prince of Anhalt order signs of St. George 2nd class; all the officers who participated in the assault, and who did not receive the orders of St. George or St. Vladimir of the 4th degree, were granted gold crosses on the St. George ribbon, with the inscription on one side: “for service and courage”, and on the other “Ochakov taken December 6, 1788"; and the lower ranks received silver medals.
Upon the capture of Ochakov, the Yekaterinoslav Army settled down in winter quarters between the Bug and the Dnieper; part of the left side Dnieper.
Meanwhile, the onset of late autumn forced the Tatar hordes gathered at the Pockmarked Grave to disperse. Rumyantsev looked forward to the end of the siege of Ochakov in order to place the army entrusted to him in winter quarters; but as winter was already setting in, and the besieged fortress continued to resist the efforts of our troops, the Ukrainian army, in mid-November, was located in the cantonier's quarters: the field marshal himself, with the main army quarters, in Iasi; 1st division between Iasi, Tirgo-Formoz and Botushans; 4th, under the command of Lieutenant General Derfelden, in Vaslui and Gusha; 3rd, general-in-chief Kamensky, in Lopushn and Kishinev; 2nd, general-in-chief of Count Saltykov, in Orgei.
After the scattering of the Tatar hordes, located at the Ryaba-Mogila, its remnants, under the command of the Khan, settled down near Gangura, on the river Botna. Rumyantsev, having in mind to move the Tatars away from the cantonier apartments occupied by his troops, entrusted this enterprise to General Kamensky, who, despite deep snows and fierce blizzards, defeated the enemies on December 19, at Gangur, and the next day, at Salkuts, and placed his division again in the cantonier's apartments (Orders of Count Rumyantsev. - Buturlin) .

Thus ended the campaign of 1788, not justifying the hopes given to the allies by the hugeness of the forces they put up. Their successes were limited to the occupation of Khotin and Ochakov, the conquest of which cost Austria and Russia countless donations. The reasons for such unsatisfactory consequences were: firstly, the fragmentation of the Austrian troops in the vast space between the Adriatic Sea and the Dniester; secondly, the indecision of Potemkin, who, avoiding the damage associated with the assault on Ochakov, lost incomparably more people during the five-month siege, and yet was forced to storm the fortress. The siege was carried on extremely slowly; in general, all work was carried out at too great a distance from the fortress; batteries opened fire at a considerable distance from the attacked Werks, which required the use of much more shots to achieve the goal, than it should be according to the rules of art, and entailed the loss of time and a completely unnecessary loss in people. Finally, in the 3rd, one of the main reasons for the unsatisfactory result of this campaign was the disagreement of the allies. All these reasons not only did not allow the numerous Allied armies, supplied in abundance with all means, to achieve decisive successes, but also subjected the Austrians to a complete defeat. Meanwhile, the conqueror of the Ottomans, with a small force, lacking both food and military supplies, was forced to limit himself to secondary actions. The Turks very well defined his disadvantageous position, saying that "in the previous war he was a vizier, and in the present seraskir."