COSSACK CAMPAIGNS ON THE BLACK AND AZOV SEA IN THE 17TH CENTURY TROUBLES IN RUSSIA AND THE COSSACKS The beginning of the Time of Troubles could not but affect the position of the Cossacks. If Ivan the Terrible was perceived by the Cossacks as the personification of great-power power, capable of punishing and pardoning, then

COSSACK CAMPAIGNS IN THE BLACK AND AZOV SEA IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 17TH CENTURY In April 1644, the Cossacks again set up a town on Cherkasy Island on the Don to guard the passages to the upper reaches of the river. By that time, the tsarist government had two big problems: raids

THE YAITSK COSSACKS TRAVELING TO THE VOLGA AND THE CASPIAN IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 17TH CENTURY

PILOT CAMPAIGNING OF THE COSSACKS AFTER THE RAZIN Uprising The defeat of the uprising of Stepan Razin and the public executions of his supporters did not cool the aspirations of the Cossacks for robbery campaigns on the Volga and the Caspian Sea. A few years after the tsarist troops left the Volga region and the situation

Appendix 4. SEA CAMPAIGNS OF THE DON AND ZAPORIZHIA COSSACKS ON THE BLACK AND AZOV SEA Year Object of attack Participants Additional information

To American shores Davydov describes in detail his trip through Siberia in his diary. One of his biographers writes about this: “The inquisitive look of the author picks out a dozen interesting details: and when describing the Baraba steppe, replete with lakes and swamps;

THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE DON COSSACKS TO THE SUCCESS OF THE RUSSIAN TROOPS ON THE SOUTHWESTERN FRONT At the time when the events described above were taking place in East Prussia, Russia received sufficient moral compensation (for the fiasco of Samsonov's army. - Note ed.) from the defeat of four

INTELLIGENCE OF THE DON COSSACKS October 17 is the day of the miraculous rescue of Their Imperial Majesties from the danger that threatened them during the train crash and the day of the military holiday of the Don army. On this day in Novocherkassk a circle ceremony is performed, old banners are taken out,

In the XVI - XVII centuries. the free Cossacks were a veil between the Ottoman Empire and the possessions of Russia and Poland. This restless people arranged not only border raids, but also sea ...

In the XVI - XVII centuries. the free Cossacks were a veil between the Ottoman Empire and the possessions of Russia and Poland. This restless people arranged not only border raids, but also sea trips to the Turkish shores. Several times the Cossacks even reached the outskirts of Constantinople. The appearance of their ships on the horizon caused panic in the Ottoman settlements.

Fleet and tradition

Cossacks could usually equip up to 100 ships for a sea voyage (up to 70 people were placed on each plow). The armament consisted of rifles and sabers. The ships were also equipped with several light guns. The fleet was the exceptional force of the Cossacks, since with its help it was possible to deliver an unexpected blow to the very heart of the Sultan's possessions.

The boats (or plows) of the Cossacks reached a length of 18 meters. They were distinguished by their low weight and narrow hull, which made it easy to overtake Turkish galleys. More often, the Cossacks used oars, although in good weather they could also rely on a sail. To prevent ships from sinking, bundles of reeds were attached to their sides. The Don Cossacks preferred to build ships in the vicinity of Voronezh, the Cossacks - on the Dnieper Islands.

Before the sea campaign, a military circle was going. Candidates were put forward for military leaders capable of leading a detachment to the Turkish shores. If the candidate refused, he was killed for cowardice. They did the same with those atamans who were cowardly on the battlefield. At the same time, the leader who justified the hopes of the Cossacks during the campaign had unlimited power. He could single-handedly judge and punish traitors (a common type of execution was impalement).

Cossack attack on Kafu in 1616

Registered Cossacks of the Dnieper region, accepted into the Polish military service, received permission from the official representative of the king - the hetman. Sometimes the hetmans themselves led the flotilla to the south. So did Peter Sahaidachny (1616 - 1622).

The Cossacks had to overcome the Dnieper rapids. Once upon a time, it was here that the Kiev prince Svyatoslav Igorevich died in a battle with the Pechenegs. The success of the campaign largely depended on whether the Cossacks could keep secret the news of the approach of their fleet to the enemy shores. If the conspiracy was observed, with the appearance of the enemy on the horizon, panic began in the Ottoman settlements. When the Turks managed to find out in advance about the plans of restless neighbors, their fleet blocked the mouth of the Dnieper. The Cossacks, as a rule, did not enter into battle with him, but bypassed the barrier, dragging ships through shallow water.

Hiking history

The first sea campaigns of the Cossacks to the shores of the Ottoman Empire date back to the middle of the 16th century. In 1538 and 1545 they appeared at Ochakov, destroyed its walls and took many captives. Addicted to booty, the Zaporozhye Cossacks began to expand the limits of their expeditions. In 1575, under the command of Hetman Bohdan Ruzhinsky, they devastated the Tatar Crimea, then crossed the Black Sea and plundered Trebizond and Sinop. These cities were already in Asia Minor - in the original Turkish territories. Since then, the Cossack threat has acquired the most serious scale for the Brilliant Porte.

The Cossacks never captured settlements, establishing their power there, but only burned, robbed and plunged back onto the plows with booty. For this reason, they tried not to stray far from the sea. The entire expedition participated in the battles. After landing on the shore, a minimum number of people left to guard the ships. The Don Cossacks acted in a similar way.

The beginning of the 17th century can be called the golden age of Cossack sea voyages. During this period, raiders appeared even in the vicinity of Constantinople. Settlements near the Turkish capital were ruined, after which unexpected guests immediately left the coast. When Turkish ships tried to intercept the Cossacks in 1615, they won a naval battle and captured Kapudan Pasha, the commander of the fleet. In another battle, co-religionists helped the Cossacks, whom the Ottomans used as galley slaves. In the midst of the battle, the slaves refused to row. The grateful Cossacks freed all the slaves. And the letter from the famous painting by Repin was a response to the ultimatum of the Sultan, who demanded to stop sea voyages.

"The Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish Sultan", Ilya Repin. 1891

Willful raids put the Russian and Polish authorities in an ambiguous position, often leading to diplomatic conflicts. So after another robbery in the vicinity of Constantinople in 1623, Mikhail Fedorovich, by his decree, forbade the Don Cossacks from attacking Turkish cities without his royal permission. These attempts for a long time did not lead to anything.

Everything changed in the 18th century, which became the era of the Russian-Turkish wars. With the establishment of the power of the tsarist administration in the areas of residence of the Cossacks, they had to abandon their former traditions of robberies and raids. Having played their historical role, daring sea sorties are a thing of the past. It was the pressure of the Cossacks that stopped the Turkish expansion in the Black Sea region.

Zaporozhye Cossacks during sea ​​voyages delivered preventive strikes against the enemy, which greatly weakened the aggressive actions of the Ottoman Empire against European countries. The consequence of the sea campaigns of the Cossacks was the release of a large number of slaves from the Turkish - Tatar captivity. Today it is not possible to provide accurate information about the Cossack campaigns due to the lack of systematic data. But in some cases we find such data in historical sources.

The Cossacks prepared very carefully for sea voyages. In addition to weapons and military supplies, the Cossacks stocked up on clothing and food, breadcrumbs, smoked meat, and cereals. It was strictly forbidden to take alcoholic beverages, and for violating this law, the perpetrator was punished with death - the drunkard was thrown overboard.

Reasons for hiking

At the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century, Ukrainian lands were constantly subjected to predatory raids from the south. The Commonwealth could not protect its southern borders, as it waged continuous wars with Wallachia, Russia, and Sweden. Therefore, the Ukrainian people and, in particular, the Cossacks were forced to defend themselves. During the first two decades of the 17th century, the Cossacks won brilliant victories in the struggle against the Crimean Khanate and Sultan's Turkey.

Hetman Petro Sahaydachny

Hetman Petro Sahaydachny

Almost all major campaigns by sea and land were led by the legendary Pyotr Sahaidachny and his associates. He received special fame by sea campaigns, in particular to Kafu in 1616. For military talent and courage, the Cossacks elected Sagaidachny hetman several times. Leading the Cossacks to an active offensive struggle against the Turkish Empire, in which the Black Sea Cossack campaigns played a priority role, Peter Sahaydachny achieved an increase in the Zaporozhye flotilla. The number of gulls in it reached several hundred. The purpose of the strategy of sea campaigns, developed by Peter Sahaydachny, was to conduct battles behind enemy lines. The main direction of the Cossack offensive was the shores of Asia Minor. They were designed to weaken the economic and military power of Turkey. The Cossacks freed captives from the Turkish-Tatar captivity. They attacked several fortresses at the same time, but the main blow was inflicted on the largest center. They tried to destroy the Turkish fleet in ports and at sea.

victories

1616 Cossacks on "seagulls" under the leadership of Hetman Petro Sahaydachny destroy the Turkish fleet and capture Kafa

The beginning of these victories was the successful sea campaign of the Cossacks in the spring of 1602. On thirty gulls and several captured galleys, they came near Kiliya and defeated the Turkish fleet.

In 1606, the Cossacks stormed the fortresses of Kiliya and Belgorod, capturing 10 Turkish galleys at sea. They showed special ingenuity and ingenuity in the capture of Varna, an impregnable fortress from the sea. The Cossacks, having studied the area, went up the river upstream, bypassed the fortress city from the flank and opened fire from cannons and muskets. The assault on Varna ended with the destruction of coastal fortifications and the destruction of all Turkish ships stationed in the roadstead.

The following year, the Cossacks, led by Peter Sahaidachny, defeated the Turkish flotilla near Ochakovo. In the autumn of 1608, the Cossacks took Perekop, and in 1609, on sixteen gulls, they passed at the mouth of the Danube and stormed Kiliya, Izmail, and Belgorod. In 1613, the Cossacks made two trips to the Turkish coast, and at the mouth of the Dnieper they defeated the Turkish flotilla and captured six Turkish galleys.

The actions of the Cossacks in August 1614 were very bold. On forty gulls they went to the shores of Turkey. The Cossacks captured Trebizond, besieged Sinop, captured the castle, knocked out the garrison and destroyed the entire fleet of galleys and galleons that were in the roadstead. In 1615, the Cossacks on eighty gulls approached Istanbul. They went ashore between the two capital ports, burned and devastated everything around. By order of the Sultan, a Turkish squadron set off in pursuit of the Cossacks. A battle took place at the mouth of the Danube, in which the Cossacks won. The wounded Turkish admiral was captured by the Cossacks.

In the spring of 1616, the Cossacks, led by Peter Sahaydachny, again went on a campaign against the Turks. At the mouth of the Dnieper, they were attacked by the Turkish fleet. But he could not withstand the attack of the Cossacks and was utterly defeated. The Cossacks captured a dozen and a half galleys and about a hundred boats. The Turkish commander Ali Pasha barely managed to escape by sea. Having cleared the Dnieper estuary from enemies, the Cossacks got the Crimean coast and the city of Kafa. There was then the largest market of slave slaves, who were brought to Kafu from all over for sale. The Cossacks, led by Sahaidachny, burned Turkish ships in the harbor, destroyed 14 thousand Turkish soldiers and freed several thousand slaves. Kafu, the slave market - "a ghoul who drinks Russian blood" - was destroyed.

Therefore, the Cossacks stormed Sinop and Trebizond, where they burned 25 Turkish ships. In a naval battle, the squadron of Admiral of the Fleet Tsikoli Pasha was defeated, three galleys were sunk.

The news of the destruction of the Turkish fortresses of Kafa, Sinop and Trapezmund spread far beyond the borders of the Ottoman Empire. This also became known to the Italian Otavio Sapienzio, a writer of the first half of the 17th century. According to him, at that time there were 30-40 thousand Cossacks in Zaporizhzhya, they had 200-300 gulls, walked along the Black Sea and successfully attacked Kafa, Sinop and Trebizond during 1616-1617.

In 1617, the Cossacks again reached Istanbul and "flashed their derivative lights at the window of the Seraglio itself", defeated the Turkish squadron on the outskirts of the harbor, and killed the Turkish admiral in battle.

Topkapi Palace. Bab-us-selam (Gate of greeting, or Middle gate). XV-XVI centuries

The pressure of the Commonwealth

This terribly angered the Turkish Sultan and he demanded from Poland - to influence the Cossacks and stop their sea campaigns. To force the Poles to accept his terms, the Sultan sent a large army to Ukraine.

Crown hetman Stanislav Zolkiewski, confident in the victory of the Polish troops, decided to make peace with the Turks. This happened on September 17, 1617 in the town of Bush. The Poles pledged to tame the Cossacks and forbid them to go to the Black Sea, and if they violate the terms of the peace treaty, declare war on the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks.

Further actions of the Zaporizhian Army

However, the threats did not intimidate the Cossacks. Throughout the summer period of 1619, they successfully operated on the Black Sea. Almost 1,500 gulls took part in the sea campaigns of 1620, and clashes with the Turks took place from early spring to late autumn.

The spring sea campaign of 1621 was unsuccessful for the Cossacks, but already in the summer the newly formed Cossack flotilla defeated the Turkish squadron, sinking 20 galleys, and forced the rest to flee. The Cossacks attacked Istanbul and Galati. At that time, a 10,000-strong Cossack flotilla was operating at sea.

Notes

Literature

• Strukevich O. K., Romanyuk I. M., Pirus T. P. History of Ukraine: A handyman for the 8th class of the primordial lighting mortgage - Kiev: Diploma, 2008.

The earliest date of the sea campaign of the Cossacks is dated in the annals of 1492. It was a raid on Tyagin. By the way, in the same year Columbus first reached the islands of Central America, so this date is symbolic, despite the fact that it accidentally reached historians who assumed that the Cossacks had been undertaking such voyages at least since the middle of the 15th century.

According to a French engineer at the Polish court Guillaume Levasseur de Beauplan(possibly a relative of the governor of Tortuga Francois Le Wasser) the Cossacks made ships, which they called "seagulls", 60 feet long and 12 feet wide, and 12 feet high. These ships did not have a keel, and their sides were boards knocked down with overlapping nails. Along the sides were fastened stacks of dry reeds as thick as a barrel, tied with linden bast. The reeds also ensured unsinkability, since there was no deck, and in a storm the waves splashed over the side. And thanks to the reeds, the ship kept afloat like a cork. These ships had bulkheads and benches for rowers, two rudders, one at the stern, the other at the bow. There were 10-15 pairs of oars on each side. A mast with one straight sail, which was raised only with a fair wind. From the point of view of European shipbuilders, the ships of the Cossacks were primitive, but they fully met the goals and objectives of the Cossacks. They needed a light, mobile, unsinkable fleet for every campaign. And the "seagulls" perfectly met all these requirements, so they did not need any Western European ships. “And why do we stink? Hiba, and so the Turk is not beaten? But it is also known that by the end of the 17th century, the Cossacks began to build completely different ships, whose sailing equipment was similar to a schooner. They called such ships "oak". "Oak" had a length of up to 20 meters, a deck and two masts. However, it is precisely the "gulls" that the Cossacks owe their fame as sea robbers and the fact that they felt like the masters of the Black Sea.

The campaigns of the Cossacks to Tavan in 1502 and 1504, and then to Belgorod-Dnestrovsky in 1516 and in 1574 remained in history. On Ochakov in 1523, 1527, 1528, 1538, 1541, 1545, 1547, 1548, 1551, 1556. In 1560, the Cossacks burned Kafa, and in 1575 they managed to plunder the three largest Turkish ports: the vicinity of Istanbul, Sinop and Trabzon. The following year, Kiliya, Varna and Silistra were ravaged. With fire and saber, the Cossacks marched along the entire Black Sea coast in 1586, 1590, 1593, 1595 and 1599. It turns out that according to historical documents, the Cossacks made at least 25 major sea raids, each of which involved an average of about a thousand Cossacks. Now they were no longer afraid to take battle with the Turkish fleet. In May 1602, at the mouth of the Dnieper, they captured several galleys from the Turks, on which they went to sea with an escort of 30 "gulls". Near Kiliya, they captured another battle galley and several transport ships, in the Dnieper estuary they attacked the squadron of Admiral Gasan-aga, captured his galley and another ship sailing from Kafa. And then they returned home with glory and booty.

In 1606, the Cossacks attacked Kiliya and Belgorod, simultaneously defeating the Turkish squadron at sea, and boarding 10 galleys. In the same year, the Cossacks took the fortress of Varna, which in the 17th century was considered as impregnable as Ishmael in the next century.

In the same year, a remarkable Cossack naval commander and hetman of the Zaporizhzhya army appeared on the stage. Petro Sahaydachny who personally led the campaign against Kafu. The following year, he won a brilliant victory over the Turkish fleet at Ochakov, and in 1609, 16 Cossack gulls terrified Ishmael, Kiliya, Akkerman, and another detachment attacked Kafa. By 1613, the Cossacks had ravaged almost the entire southern coast of Crimea, so their activities spread to Asia Minor. If earlier they made only short-term raids on Turkish territory, then 1614 can be considered the beginning of a widespread invasion of Turkey from the sea. That year, 40 gulls ravaged Sinop, bursting into the city, destroying even the garrison of the old castle, and leaving set fire to the city, shipyards and blew up the arsenal. The following year, the Cossack fleet appeared on the horizon of Istanbul itself. Not afraid of the 240,000th garrison of the Turkish capital, and the 6,000th elite guard of the Sultan himself, a detachment of Cossacks ravaged the ports of Mizevna and Archioka. The Sultan was hunting on the outskirts of Istanbul that day, and he was very interested in the columns of smoke rising over the city. Arriving at the palace, he was surprised to learn that they were Cossacks. Then, in a rage, the sultan ordered his admiral Kapudan Pasha catch up and take revenge on the raiders, which he did to his misfortune: at the mouth of the Danube, the Cossacks defeated the entire Turkish squadron and captured the admiral himself.

In 1616, Hetman Sahaydachny, with two thousand Cossacks, won a brilliant naval victory in the Dnieper estuary, defeating the 14,000-strong Turkish army on 116 ships, which was part of the squadron. Ali Pasha. The Cossacks sank, burned and captured 15 galleys and more than 100 auxiliary vessels.

In the autumn of the same year, Hetman Sahaidachny approached Sinop with his flotilla. Then he unexpectedly attacked the port of Miner, where he destroyed 26 Turkish ships. Admiral Tsikoli Pasha with six galleys he rushed in pursuit, but, having caught up, was utterly defeated and lost half of his ships. And when the admiral Ibrahim Pasha approached Ochakov with his squadron to watch for the Cossacks returning to the Sich, they, having learned about this, turned around and attacked Sinop, which was left unprotected, and then Sagaydochny's squadron invaded the Bosphorus. For this disgrace, the Sultan hanged his Grand Vizier Nasir Pasha.

In 1617 the Hetman's Cossacks Dmytro Barabasha approached Istanbul, and their sails were visible from the windows of the palace of the Turkish Sultan. They again defeated the Turkish squadron, sinking it together with the commander in chief. After that, the sultan, in complete desperation, asked for help from the king of the Commonwealth. Sigismund III complaining about the wrongdoings of his subjects. But the king had more important things to do, so he only threatened the Cossacks that he would leave them without monetary allowance, and sent an embassy to the Sich to reason with the violent heads not to offend the Turk.

However, already in 1620, more than 300 gulls with a crew of 15 thousand people went on a sea voyage. This huge floating army almost took the capital of the Ottoman Empire the following summer, since only three galleys guarded the approaches to the Bosphorus. Nobody wanted to fight the Cossacks, who had already begun to plunder the outskirts of Istanbul. Upon learning of this, the brave admiral Halil Pasha, whose squadron was based in Chilia, rushed to the defense of the capital. However, his galleys were lured into shallow water and 20 of them were burned. The remnants of the Turkish fleet took refuge in the harbor of Istanbul in fear.

The brilliant Cossack victories at sea do not mean at all that the Turks were cowardly and inept seafarers. It happened that their squadrons also beat the Cossacks, and those captured were betrayed by a cruel public execution, trampled on by elephants, torn to pieces, buried and burned alive.

In the winter of 1623-24, the Sich was again preparing for a campaign. And in the spring, when leaving the Dnieper estuary, the Cossacks met with a squadron of Turks from 25 galleys and 300 small ships, equal in size to the Cossacks. The naval battle went on for several hours, but the Cossacks nevertheless broke into the sea. In the same year, a flotilla of 150 gulls set out on a campaign. In June 1624, a flotilla of 102 seagulls appeared again under the walls of Istanbul.

In the summer of 1625, the Cossack flotilla reached a colossal size - 350 gulls. If we consider that each of them had 50 Cossacks, then we get more than 17 thousand sabers. By modern standards, this is almost two divisions, staffed according to wartime states! Countless fleet for that time. However, managing such a huge fleet was not easy. The Turks directed against him all their Black Sea forces (43 galleys) under the command of Admiral Rejeb Pasha. A huge battle took place at the mouth of the Danube and ended with the victory of the Turkish squadron. According to the Turks, 786 prisoners were captured and 172 seagulls were sunk. French ambassador de Cesi described the success of the Turkish fleet: "If not for the north wind that rose and helped the pasha, the Cossacks would have defeated his fleet."

So, for 10 years (from 1614 to 1624), a squadron of Zaporizhzhya Cossacks smashed the Turkish fleet in naval battles at least 5 times, killing Turkish admirals twice, attacking the capital of Turkey three times. Here it should be noted that the "regular fleet" of the king Peter the Great did not achieve any results at all in the Black Sea. And the victories of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks there were so loud that the French king gave an order to his ambassador in Warsaw de Bregy to hire their fleet for the war with Spain. And you can imagine, the Zaporozhye squadron on seagulls with 2400 Cossacks, left the Dnieper to the Black Sea, passed the Bosphorus and the Sea of ​​Marmara, through the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas, through the Strait of Gibraltar, rounded the Iberian Peninsula and reached Dunkirk to participate in its siege, fighting with the Spanish fleet and the famous Dunkirks. This information was discovered by the Russian historian A. V. Polovtsev in 1899 in the correspondence of the prince Condé icardinal Mazarin (1646).

Three years later, the Sultan of Turkey, unable to resist the raids of the Dnieper Cossacks, decided to conclude a peace treaty with Zaporozhye. In 1649, the treaty was signed and the Cossacks were given access to all the ports of the Black Sea for trade, and at the same time they were made responsible for calm on the trade routes. The Sultan preferred to have the Dnieper Cossacks as friends rather than as enemies. And, as the chronicle testifies, after 1650 the activity of the Cossacks at sea began to decline sharply, since it was less troublesome to trade with them than to fight. In addition, at that time the liberation war against the Poles (1648-1654) began under the leadership of the hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, whose ally was the vassal of the Turkish Sultan, the Crimean Khan. The Cossacks were completely occupied with the robbery of the gentry's estates and did not think about large sea campaigns. Only in 1660 the hetman Ivan Sirko attacked Ochakov, in 1663 the Cossacks gave battle to the Turkish fleet, and in 1667, breaking through the Sivash to the Crimea, they burned the capital of the Crimean Khanate, forcing the Khan himself to flee by ship to Turkey.

In 1680, the Turkish sultan decided to reason with the Cossacks by sending them a letter demanding an end to the disgrace at sea. The Cossacks pretty much laughed at this message, and wrote an answer, the process of composing which is captured on the famous canvas Ilya Repin. In the 90s of the XVII century, the campaigns of the Cossacks almost stopped. True, in 1690 the Cossacks managed to seize the treasury of the Crimean Khan and sink two Turkish ships, but none of them even thought of going to Istanbul.

Despite the new century and the new millennium, the image of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks continues to be presented in the old fashioned way, as nomadic pastoralists, as a bunch of some fugitive serfs from Rus', which is completely wrong. Most modern historians agree that the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks were a special people, formed from the descendants of professional warriors. Yes, their environment was constantly replenished with newcomers, but they adopted the ancient laws and customs of the ancient Cossacks. This makes them related to the filibusters, who obeyed the laws of the Coastal Brotherhood. All Zaporizhzhya Sich were not field, but coastal fortresses, and the main force was the fleet and marines. In 1940 and 1951, archaeologists found in these places the remains of forges and smelters, where equipment for ships was made: anchors, staples, fastenings for ships, but no horseshoes, stirrups, or harness ornaments were found. The Cossacks were primarily sailors who developed a special type of shipbuilding suitable for both coastal navigation and the high seas. They came up with a special tactic of conducting a sea battle - a "hornet swarm" - when small ships surround and attack large ones, suppressing the resistance of their crew with continuous rifle fire from close range, followed by capture in a boarding battle. The filibusters operating at the same time in the West Indies adhered to the same tactics. So we can safely say that the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks were no less skillful and courageous naval commanders and sailors, and also won no less high-profile victories than their counterparts in sea robbery, the French, British and Dutch in the Spanish seas.

Literature:

Grushevsky V. "History of Ukraine", St. Petersburg, 1860.

Smirnov A. "Marine history of the Cossacks", Moscow, 2006.

Subtelny O. "History of Ukraine", Kyiv 1994.

Chernikov I. I. "History of river fleets."

Shumov S., Andreev A. "History of the Zaporozhian Sich". Kyiv-Moscow, 1910.

Evarnitsky D. I. "Zaporozhye in the remains of antiquity." SPb., 1888.

Evarnitsky D. I. "History of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks." Vol. 1-3, Kyiv, 1990. Evarnitsky D. I. "How the Cossacks of Muslims won." SPb., 1902.

Over three seas for zipuns. Naval campaigns of the Cossacks on the Black, Azov and Caspian Seas Ragunstein Arseny Grigorievich

MARINE TRIPS OF ZAPORIZHIA COSSACKS

The first raids of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks on the Crimea were made much earlier than the campaigns of Rzhevsky and Adashev. Back in the spring of 1538, they attacked the Turkish fortress of Ochakov, causing significant damage to the fortress. In 1541 the Cossacks repeated their campaign. They captured and killed the head of the Ochakovskaya fortress, two of his assistants, many guards, and destroyed part of the castle. On September 19, 1545, they again appeared at Ochakov in 32 boats, capturing many Turks. The first successes were very impressive, although the Cossacks failed to capture Ochakov. This powerful fortress until the end of the XVIII century will be the main obstacle in the way of the Cossack detachments heading down the Dnieper. Nevertheless, the Cossacks realized very quickly that it was much more profitable to bypass Ochakov.

In 1568, the chronicles for the first time recorded the appearance of the Cossacks in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, who founded the Zaporozhian Sich. In 1575, the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks under the command of Hetman Bogdanko (Bogdan Rozhinsky) made a trip to the Crimea through Perekop. Having devastated the Tatar lands, Bogdanko gathered his forces and made a long sea passage through the Black Sea, capturing and plundering Trebizond, Sinop and the environs of Constantinople. Returning from the campaign, the hetman organized the siege and capture of the Turkish fortress Aslam-Kermen, which was erected at the mouth of the Dnieper to control this waterway. Since this fortress prevented the Cossacks from going to sea, its fortifications were completely destroyed, although later the Turks and Tatars rebuilt them again.

However, this did not stop the Cossacks. In 1583, the Polish nobleman Samuil Zborowski, wishing to get closer to the king's court, organized a campaign against the Turks. In Kanev, he put his squad on boats and moved down the Dnieper. At the mouth of the Samara River, he was joined by about 200 Cossacks. Having overcome the rapids, Zborowski moved on. Grassroots Cossacks proclaimed him their "hetman". Zborovsky set out to go on a campaign to Moldavia, then began negotiations with the Crimean Khan on a joint campaign to Persia. However, they failed. Then, under the influence of the Cossacks, Zborovsky decided to make a trip to the Crimea

Having reached the Aslam-Kermen fortress, the Cossacks safely passed the Tatar fortifications and entered the Dnieper Estuary. However, here they were blocked by the Turkish fleet of 9 galleys and many small ships. The Cossacks hurried to land on the shore, taking advantage of the fact that the Turks did not dare to approach them because of the shallows. One of the galleys nevertheless ventured to approach the shore, but ran aground. Seeing this, the Cossacks wanted to attack her and board her, but the rest of the ships came to her aid, and this plan had to be abandoned. Since the path was blocked, the Cossacks split up. Some decided to return back through the steppes, others - to go along the coast to the Bug estuary. If the first part of the detachment managed to evade persecution, then the second part paid with their freedom. The Turks intercepted them from the sea, and Tatar detachments appeared on the shore. Zborowski had only 8 boats left and a small amount of supplies. As a result, he was forced to return back to the Sich. His further fate was sad. By decision of the royal court, he was executed in Krakow on May 26, 1584 for robberies and murders committed.

After the execution of Zborovsky, the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, with particular perseverance, set about plundering the Tatar possessions. So, in 1584 they ruined Tyagin. In retaliation, the Tatars robbed the royal master of the horse, and the khan demanded that Stefan Batory stop the raids on the Crimea. In 1585, the king sent his envoy, the nobleman Glubotsky, to the Sich, but the Cossacks did not heed his exhortations and simply drowned him in the Dnieper. Despite royal prohibitions, in 1585 the Cossacks, led by Ataman Yan Oryshovsky, went on a campaign against the Crimean uluses twice, capturing 40,000 horses as booty. Then they made a trip to Ochakov.

In 1587, the Cossacks again raided the Turkish fortress of Ochakov, capturing it. In 1588, one and a half thousand Cossacks came out of the mouth of the Dnieper into the Black Sea and ravaged 17 Tatar villages on the coast between Perekop and Evpatoria. In 1589, the Cossacks again went to sea and captured a Turkish ship near Evpatoria, and then a detachment of 800 Cossacks, led by ataman Kulagoi, captured the city itself, plundering it and killing the inhabitants.

Unfortunately, the Tatars quickly pulled up their detachments to the city and attacked the Cossacks. In the battle, 30 Cossacks died along with the ataman Kulagoi, after which the Cossacks were forced to leave Evpatoria. However, they again went to sea only in order to raid Akkerman and Azov, where they burned the settlements and robbed several Bukhara merchants who arrived here on trade business.

The news of the Cossack attack on the Crimea soon reached Constantinople, and the Sultan gave the order to send three galleys with a crew of 50 Janissaries each to the mouth of the Dnieper, supplying them with artillery, and then promised to send five more, so strong was the fear of a repetition of this pogrom. In 1590, the Cossacks again went to sea, capturing several merchant ships, sacking Trebizond and Sinop.

The successes of the Zaporizhian Cossacks especially pleased the tsar, since this, at least for a time, ensured the inviolability of Russian borders from Tatar raids. However, in Poland, these actions were by no means considered successful, since they contributed to the reorientation of the Crimean raids on Polish cities. In addition, the sultan sent his messengers to the king, threatening war if he did not curb his subjects. In confirmation of their threats, the Turks advanced a huge army to the Polish borders. This so frightened the Polish gentry that at the Warsaw Sejm in 1590, King Sigismund III carried out a new reform of the Zaporozhian army. Having allocated 6,000 Cossacks, the king created a registered army from them, which received a salary. It was subordinate to the hetman appointed by the king. The rest of the Cossacks, who were not included in the register, were deprived of the right to speak on behalf of the Polish state. In Ukraine, strict control was introduced on the sale of weapons, lead and gunpowder to the common people. And in order to control the actions of the Cossacks and forbid them to go to sea, the positions of officers, voits and atamans were introduced, who were supposed to monitor the movements of the Cossacks in the lower reaches of the Dnieper.

In order to completely stop unauthorized movements, in July 1590 the Polish government organized a fortress in the Kremenchug tract with a garrison of 1000 soldiers. Nikolai Yazlovetsky became the commander of the garrison. Only after that, in 1591, the Polish government concluded "perpetual peace" in Constantinople. However, this did not stop the Cossacks, and they still tried to go to sea.

The German diplomat E. Lassota, who visited Zaporozhye in 1594, left a description of the campaign of the Cossacks in the lower reaches of the Dnieper. On May 30, the hetman, at the head of a detachment of 1300 people on 50 ships, headed for the lower reaches of the Dnieper. But already on June 18, the Cossacks returned from the campaign, saying that they had found a strong Tatar detachment near Ochakov. The Cossacks tried to break through to the sea and twice entered into battle with the Tatars. However, a Turkish fleet of 8 galleys, 15 caravels and 150 sandals approached, too large to resist, and this forced the Cossacks to turn back and return to the Sich.

The first military campaigns of the Cossacks demonstrated that they were quite capable of overcoming the obstacles set up by the Crimean Tatars and Turks on their way to the Black Sea, although in some cases they turned out to be insurmountable. Despite the fact that the first successes were not too impressive, this was only the beginning of a long series of long-distance sea voyages in the following decades.