410 years ago, in January 1610, the heroic defense of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery was completed. The siege of the monastery by the Polish-Lithuanian troops and the Tushinians lasted almost sixteen months - from September 1608 to January 1610. The enemy retreated due to the successful offensive of the army of Prince Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky.
Tushino camp
The turmoil in the Russian kingdom was in full swing. In the summer of 1607, a new impostor appeared in Starodub - False Dmitry II. The battles between the tsarist governors and the supporters of the "true tsar" begin. The second impostor was less independent than Grigory Otrepiev. He was completely manipulated by the environment. From the very beginning, real power under the "tsar" belonged to the ataman Ivan Zarutsky and the Pole Mekhovetsky, who was then ousted from the post of hetman by Roman Ruzhinsky. Polish gentry and adventurers continued to make up a significant part of the core of the impostor's army.
In addition, in Rzeczpospolita, another confrontation between the rokoshans (a rebellion against the king, to which the gentry had the right in the name of protecting their rights and freedoms) and the king has just ended. In the decisive battle near Guzovo, the hetmans Zolkiewski and Khodkevich defeated the rebels. Then the Senate forced the king to come to terms with the vanquished. The troops were disbanded and a large number of mercenaries and gentry, both from the king's camp and from the rokoshan, were left idle. They gladly responded to the call of "Tsar Dmitry" and moved to Russia. The impostor's army was replenished with thousands of well-armed, experienced and professional fighters. This allowed the imposter's army to recover from previous defeats from the tsarist governors, and even strengthen. Now the armies of Tsar Vasily Shuisky were opposed not only by rebellious serfs and thieves' Cossacks, but by a full-fledged cavalry corps of the Commonwealth, which in its fighting qualities at that time had no equal in Eastern Europe. Also, the army of the impostor was replenished with thousands of Zaporozhian Cossacks and Don Cossacks of Zarutsky.
April 30 - May 1, 1608, the army of the impostor defeated the army of Prince Dmitry Shuisky on the Volkhov River and opened the way to Moscow. After the Volkhov battle, the army of False Dmitry was divided. Most of the troops passed through Kozelsk and Kaluga, loyal to "Tsar Dmitry", and then through Mozhaisk came to Moscow from the west in order to avoid meeting with another tsarist army under the command of Skopin-Shuisky. The troops of False Dmitry set up camp in the village of Tushino, northwest of the capital. Therefore, they were nicknamed Tushins. The detachment under the command of Lisovsky moved on a long detour through the outskirts of Ryazan towns. Lisovsky's troops occupied Mikhailov and Zaraysk, near Zaraisk, with a sudden blow, they crushed the Ryazan army of Prince Khovansky and Lyapunov. As a result of this victory, Lisovsky, with a quick attack, captured the strong fortress of Kolomna and significantly replenished his forces at the expense of the remnants of the previously defeated detachments of "thieves" (troops of Bolotnikov and "Tsarevich Peter"). In June, in a battle near Medvezhy ford (on the Moscow river between Moscow and Kolomna), Prince Kurakin defeated Lisovsky, captured his "outfit" - artillery and a large baggage train. The Foxes fled to the Tushino camp.
From the summer of 1608 to the spring of 1610, the Tushins besieged Moscow. True, there was no strength for a full-fledged siege. An entire army was stationed in Moscow. Shuisky had every opportunity to replenish the garrison and supply the capital. At the same time, there were two systems of governing the country - in Moscow and Tushino. There were two tsars, two governments with prizes, the impostor had his own patriarch Filaret (Fyodor Romanov), some cities were subordinate to "Dmitry", others to Shuisky. The Tushino "tsarek" generously distributed lands to his supporters (they were taken away from the supporters of Tsar Vasily), appointed a voivode to the cities. Tushintsy and Poles scattered throughout the country, trying to subjugate as many lands and cities as possible, and seize their resources. With the arrival of a large detachment of hetman Jan Sapieha to the impostor, detachments of "thieves" went to all parts of the country, trying to take possession of the rich regions. Some cities themselves "kissed the cross" to False Dmitry, others forced them. The Sapieha Poles captured Pereslavl-Zalessky, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Vologda, Totma, then Kostroma and Galich. The foxes subdued the interfluve of the Klyazma and Volga from Vladimir and Suzdal to Balakhna and Kineshma. From Tsar Shuisky, Pskov, part of the Novgorod land, Uglich and Kashin were deposited. The Volga region was worried.
The beginning of the siege
Everything that happened was like the end of the world. Tushintsy - Poles and Russian "thieves", smashed and crushed any resistance. Robberies, savage atrocities and murders on a huge scale covered almost the entire European part of the state. Moreover, often Russian "thieves" committed atrocities worse than the Polish-Lithuanian discoveries. The civil war took many different forms. "Moscow" robbed monasteries, patriarchs and palace lands in order to supply the capital. In response, the peasants created their own self-defense units, asked for help from the Tushins and intercepted Moscow's supply lines from Kolomna and Vladimir themselves. Other peasants who suffered from the Tushins created partisan detachments and slaughtered individual units of the impostor. The nobles split, some went over to the side of False Dmitry II (the so-called "Tushino flights"), others continued to stand for Tsar Shuisky, although his position among the nobility was greatly shaken. The townspeople rose up against the "strong people", the cities fought for different kings.
At the same time, the Tushins encroached on the spiritual heart of Russia - the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. The monastery, which was founded by Sergius of Radonezh, at the beginning of the 17th century was the largest and richest monastery of the Russian kingdom. The glory of the monastery and especially its miracles, which came from the relics of saints and icons, annually brought here thousands of pilgrims, including merchants, boyars and the royal family. The monastery received rich monetary and land contributions, usually for the "commemoration of the soul." In the middle of the 16th century, the monastery became a strong fortress - it was surrounded by a stone wall with 12 towers, where almost a hundred guns were placed.
With the beginning of the siege of Moscow by the Tushins, the Trinity Monastery became an important strategic point. The monastery provided a connection between the capital and the northeastern regions, the rich Volga and Pomor towns. Therefore, the Shuisky government sent a detachment of archers and Cossacks to the monastery under the command of Grigory Dolgorukov-Roscha and the Moscow nobleman Alexei Golokhvastov. Also, the monastery was defended by the townspeople, peasants and representatives of the clergy. The number of the combat-ready part of the garrison was about 2, 5 - 3 thousand people. Both the "queen-nun" Martha (Princess Staritskaya) and the "princess-nun" Olga (Godunova) were under siege.
The False Dmitry government also appreciated the importance of the Trinity Monastery. Its capture made it possible to strengthen the blockade of Moscow, cut it off from the east of the country. An important consideration was the plundering of the monastery treasury, the rich monastic volosts. For Russian and Polish-Lithuanian "thieves", the robbery of the richest monastic treasury was the main stimulus for the siege, especially after the recognition of "Tsar Dmitry Ivanovich" by Zamoskovye and many northern cities. Also, the transfer of the local brethren under the arm of the "Tushino king" was supposed to strengthen his authority in the country. Therefore, a detachment of Yan Sapieha, reinforced by Tushino "thieves" and Cossacks under the command of Lisovsky, went to the monastery. The number of Tushino rati is estimated at about 12-15 thousand people with 63 guns (according to other sources - 17 guns). In the course of hostilities, the army of Sapieha and Lisovsky could increase with the arrival of new detachments and decrease to several thousand when the troops were leaving to conduct hostilities in other places.
September 23 (October 3) 1608 Tushino troops were stationed on the heights in front of the monastery. The residents of Tushin hoped for an easy victory, that the monastery would quickly pass under the arm of "Tsar Dmitry". However, the garrison “strengthened from treason” by kissing the cross at the relics of Sergius and resolutely rejected the offer of surrender. The residents of Tushin burned the settlements surrounding the monastery and were forced to launch a siege and build their own fortified camp.
The shelling of the walls from rifles and light field guns, like the indiscriminate attack, did not cause any positive effect. In early October, Sapieha had to start siege work. The Poles decided to dig under the Pyatnitskaya tower, located in the central part of the southwestern wall. Then detonate a mine and make a gap. But the garrison learned about this from the defector and the "tongues" captured during the sorties. The counterattacks of the fortress garrison made it possible to find out the location and direction of the enemy mine gallery. Enraged by the activity of the monastery's defenders, the residents of Tushino opened fire on the temples from the heavy cannon "Teschera", which was delivered from near Moscow. The shells damaged the Trinity Cathedral, the icons of the Archangel Michael and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. By return fire, the monastery's artillery suppressed the enemy battery.
November battle
On the night of November 1 (11), 1608, the Tushins made the first big assault, attacking the fortress from three sides. The enemy set fire to the advanced wooden fortifications and thus illuminated themselves. The assault was repelled by heavy artillery fire from numerous artillery. Then the garrison made a sortie and destroyed individual enemy groups that took refuge in the ditch. Tushintsy suffered significant losses. On November 9, the defenders of the monastery split into three detachments and made a general sortie at night: "Narekshe yasak (battle cry - Author.) Sergius's name and, together with attacking the Lithuanian people, brazenly and courageously." The attack was so sudden and decisive that the weaker regiments of the "Grad people" overturned the Tushinites and captured 8 - 11 cannons, prisoners, enemy banners and supplies. They were taken to the fortress, and what they could not, they burned. The Poles noted that monks also took part in the sortie, some of them were real heroes.
On November 10, the Russian garrison repeated the sortie, trying to break through to the underground gallery. This time the Poles were ready and repulsed the attack. The defenders suffered losses and retreated to the fortress. But something had to be done with the digging, he was rapidly approaching the Pyatnitskaya tower. Taking into account the experience of previous battles, the besieged prepared especially well for a new sortie at dawn on November 11. All forces were divided into several detachments, each received its own task. So a detachment of the centenary of the head of Ivan Vnukov-Timofeev covered other units, and a group of demolition men laid the charge in the tunnel. The first blow was successful, a charge was laid in the tunnel. Then the soldiers of Lisovsky counterattacked and almost thwarted the operation. However, the soldiers of the detachment Ivan Vnukov, who died in this battle, managed to detonate the charge and brought down the tunnel. As a result, the fortress was saved.
Continuation of the siege
After this major setback, Sapega changed tactics, abandoned attempts to take the fortress and concentrated his efforts on a close blockade of Trinity. The Tushinsky erected fortifications, blocked roads, set up outposts and ambushes. The garrison command initially adhered to the old tactics of active defense. In December 1608 - January 1609, the besieged made several sorties in order to seize provisions, fodder, destroyed and set fire to several outposts and fortifications. However, at the same time, the garrison suffered serious losses that it could not recover. In addition, during one of the sorties, the Tushinians blocked a detachment of archers, which went beyond the walls, and immediately the Polish cavalry went on the attack and some of the horsemen were able to break into the monastery. The situation was saved by the numerous artillery of the Trinity, which with its fire supported the breakthrough of the archers back into the fortress. But they suffered significant losses. The Polish horsemen, who burst into Trinity, could not turn around in the fenced-off narrow streets, they were killed with cudgels and stones by the peasants.
Thus, the tactics of the Polish command bore fruit. Soon the garrison had to abandon sorties. Cold, hunger, lack of drinking water and scurvy mowed down the defenders. In February, 15 people died every day. Gunpowder supplies were running low. The blockade claimed the lives of most of the defenders and other inhabitants of the Trinity. The mortally wounded and sick were tonsured into monks. Only a few survived the winter: they were buried, according to Avraamy Palitsyn, during the defense there were 2,125 people, "except for the female sex and undergrowth, and the weak and the old." By May 15, only about 200 children of boyars, archers, Cossacks and monks remained in the ranks.
But the remaining defenders were ready to stand up to the end. They refused to accept all the new surrender proposals of the Tushin people. Moreover, people still walked behind the wall for firewood, water, roots, but several people at a time. In turn, the tsarist voivods tried to support such a heroic garrison, whose position fettered the best forces of the enemy and gave hope to all opponents of the "Tushino Tsar" and the Poles. In January, reinforcements could not break through to Trinity, but in February a baggage train with gunpowder from Moscow made its way to the monastery. The wagon train fell into one of the Tushino ambushes, and the Cossacks guarding it entered into an unequal battle, but the voivode Dolgoruky-Roshcha undertook a sortie and cleared the road.
Not everything was going well in the Trinity. Quarrels arose between archers and monks. The main voivode Dolgoruky decided to take possession of the treasury and reserves of the monastery, accusing the treasurer of the monastery, Joseph Detochkin, of treason. But the second voivode Aleksey Golokhvastov, with the support of the "queen-nun" and Archimandrite Joasaph, with the help of the monastic brethren, were able to acquit the treasurer. There were also defectors who could not bear the hardships of the siege and fled to the Tushino camp. They informed the Poles about the extinction of the garrison from hunger and disease.
Sapega began preparations for a new assault. On the night of June 29, the besieged repulsed the enemy attack. Sapega began to prepare a new decisive assault, mobilized the nearby Tushino detachments and brought his army to 12 thousand people. Against about 200 Trinity fighters! The defenders of the monastery were preparing to accept the last battle and death. On the night of July 28, the Tushins went on the attack. But the defenders were saved by a miracle. In the early morning darkness, the Polish and Russian assault columns confused the time of the performance and moved out of step. They clashed among themselves, took in the darkness their comrades-in-arms for enemies and entered the battle. Confusion ensued, many were killed and wounded, and the assault failed. Conflicts broke out between Tushins and Poles, they blamed each other for failures. After that, many Tushino leaders and Cossack chieftains, taking this matter as a bad sign, left the Sapega camp.
End of the siege
After the failures of these assaults, there was no longer a full-fledged siege. Sapega led his detachment against the advancing troops of Skopin-Shuisky, who, with the support of the Swedes, led an offensive from Novgorod to liberate Moscow from the Tushins. Many atamans of the Tushins also took their people away, and desertion intensified in the remaining units.
On October 18 (28), 1609, Skopin-Shuisky defeated Sapieha near the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda (battle on the Karinsky field). Thus, he opened his way to the Trinity. After that, a detachment of the governor Davyd Zherebtsov (several hundred fighters) from the troops of Skopin-Shuisky broke through to the monastery. The garrison, having received reinforcements, resumed active hostilities. The supply of the Trinity was established. In January 1610, another detachment went to Trinity - voivode Grigory Valuev (about 500 people).
When Skopin-Shuisky's troops approached, on January 22, 1610, the Poles lifted the siege and left in the direction of Dmitrov. There, in February, they were again defeated. The remnants of Sapieha's army left Dmitrov, and the Tushino camp disintegrated. Polish-Lithuanian detachments moved to the Smolensk region to join the army of King Sigismund III.
Thus, the enemy could not crush the walls of the monastery and the spirit of its defenders, plunder the treasures of the Trinity. The heroic defense of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery (together with Smolensk) set an example for all Russia and the Russian people, increasing the resistance and organization of the people in overcoming the Time of Troubles.
