The Battle of Kulikovo (Mamaevo Massacre), a battle between the united Russian army led by the Moscow Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich and the army of the Temnik of the Golden Horde Mamai, which took place on September 8, 1380 [1] on the Kulikovo field (a historical area between the Don, Nepryadva and Krasivaya Mecha rivers in the south-east of the Tula region.
Strengthening of the Moscow principality in the 60s of the XIV century. and the unification of the rest of the lands of North-Eastern Russia around him went on almost simultaneously with the strengthening of the power of the temnik Mamai in the Golden Horde. Married to the daughter of the Golden Horde khan Berdibek, he received the title of emir and became the arbiter of the fate of that part of the Horde, which was located west of the Volga to the Dnieper and in the steppe expanses of the Crimea and Ciscaucasia.
Militia of the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich in 1380 Lubok XVII century.
In 1374, the Moscow prince Dmitry Ivanovich, who also had a label for the Grand Duchy of Vladimir, refused to pay tribute to the Golden Horde. Then the khan in 1375 handed over the label to the great reign of Tver. But against Mikhail Tverskoy virtually all of North-Eastern Russia came out. The Moscow prince organized a military campaign against the Tver principality, which was joined by the Yaroslavl, Rostov, Suzdal and regiments of other principalities. Dmitry was supported by Novgorod the Great. Tver surrendered. Under the agreement concluded, the Vladimir table was recognized as the "fatherland" of the Moscow princes, and Mikhail Tverskoy became a vassal of Dmitry.
However, the ambitious Mamai continued to view the defeat of the Moscow principality that had come out of submission as the main factor in strengthening his own positions in the Horde. In 1376, Arab-shah Muzzaffar (Arapsha of the Russian chronicles), who went to the service of Mamai, khan of the Blue Horde, ravaged the Novosilsky principality, but returned back, avoiding a battle with the Moscow army that had gone beyond the Oka border. In 1377, he was on the river. Pyana did not defeat the Moscow-Suzdal army. The commanders sent against the Horde displayed carelessness, for which they paid: "And their princes, and boyars, and nobles, and governors, consoling and having fun, drinking and fishing, imagining a house of being" [2], and then ravaging the Nizhny Novgorod and Ryazan principalities …
In 1378, Mamai, trying to force him to pay tribute again, sent an army led by Murza Begich to Russia. The Russian regiments that came forward were led by Dmitry Ivanovich himself. The battle took place on August 11, 1378 in Ryazan land, on a tributary of the Oka river. Vozhe. The Horde were utterly defeated and fled. The battle on Vozha showed the increased power of the Russian state, which was developing around Moscow.
To participate in the new campaign, Mamai attracted armed detachments from the conquered peoples of the Volga region and the North Caucasus; in his army there were also heavily armed infantry from the Genoese colonies in the Crimea. The Horde's allies were the great Lithuanian prince Jagailo and the Ryazan prince Oleg Ivanovich. However, these allies were on their own minds: Yagailo did not want to strengthen either the Horde or the Russian side, and as a result, his troops did not appear on the battlefield; Oleg Ryazansky went to an alliance with Mamai, fearing for the fate of his border principality, but he was the first to inform Dmitry about the advance of the Horde troops and did not participate in the battle.
In the summer of 1380, Mamai began a campaign. Not far from the confluence of the Voronezh River with the Don, the Horde defeated their camps and, roaming, awaited news from Yagailo and Oleg.
In the terrible hour of danger hanging over the Russian land, Prince Dmitry showed exceptional energy in organizing a rebuff to the Golden Horde. At his call, military detachments, militias of peasants and townspeople began to gather. All Russia rose to fight the enemy. The gathering of Russian troops was appointed in Kolomna, where the nucleus of the Russian army set out from Moscow. The courtyard of Dmitry himself, the regiments of his cousin Vladimir Andreevich Serpukhovsky and the regiments of the Belozersk, Yaroslavl and Rostov princes walked separately along different roads. The regiments of the Olgerdovich brothers (Andrey Polotsky and Dmitry Bryanskiy, the Yagailo brothers) also moved to join the troops of Dmitry Ivanovich. The brothers' army included Lithuanians, Belarusians and Ukrainians; citizens of Polotsk, Drutsk, Bryansk and Pskov.
After the arrival of the troops in Kolomna, a review was held. The assembled army on the Maiden Field was striking in its numbers. The gathering of troops in Kolomna had not only military, but also political significance. Ryazan Prince Oleg finally got rid of hesitation and gave up the idea of joining the troops of Mamai and Yagailo. A marching battle formation was formed in Kolomna: Prince Dmitry led the Big Regiment; Serpukhov prince Vladimir Andreevich with the Yaroslavl people - the regiment of the Right Hand; Gleb Bryanskiy was appointed commander of the Left Hand regiment; The leading regiment was made up of Koloments.
Saint Sergius of Radonezh blesses Saint Prince Demetrius of the Donskoy.
Artist S. B. Simakov. 1988 year
On August 20, the Russian army set off from Kolomna on a campaign: it was important to block the path of the hordes of Mamai as soon as possible. On the eve of the campaign, Dmitry Ivanovich visited Sergius of Radonezh at the Trinity Monastery. After the conversation, the prince and the abbot went out to the people. Having made the prince the sign of the cross, Sergius exclaimed: "Go, lord, to the filthy Polovtsy, calling on God, and the Lord God will be your helper and intercessor" [3]. Blessing the prince, Sergius predicted victory for him, albeit at a high price, and sent two of his monks, Peresvet and Oslyabya, on a campaign.
The entire campaign of the Russian army to the Oka was carried out in a relatively short time. The distance from Moscow to Kolomna, about 100 km, the troops passed in 4 days. They arrived at the mouth of Lopasnya on 26 August. Ahead was the outpost, which had the task of securing the main forces from a surprise attack by the enemy.
On August 30, Russian troops began crossing the Oka near the village of Priluki. Okolnichy Timofey Velyaminov with a detachment controlled the crossing, waiting for the approach of the foot army. On September 4, 30 km from the Don River in the Berezui tract, the allied regiments of Andrei and Dmitry Olgerdovich joined the Russian army. Once again, the location of the Horde army was clarified, which, in anticipation of the allies' approach, wandered around the Kuzmina gati.
The movement of the Russian army from the mouth of the Lopasnya to the west was intended to prevent the Lithuanian army from Jagiello from connecting with the forces of Mamai. In turn, Yagailo, having learned about the route and the number of Russian troops, was in no hurry to connect with the Mongol-Tatars, he stamped in the Odoev area. The Russian command, having received this information, decisively sent troops to the Don, seeking to forestall the formation of enemy units and strike at the Mongol-Tatar horde. On September 5, the Russian cavalry reached the mouth of the Nepryadva, which Mamai learned only the next day.
To work out a plan for further action on September 6, Prince Dmitry Ivanovich convened a council of war. The voices of the council members were divided. Some suggested going beyond the Don and fighting the enemy on the southern bank of the river. Others advised to stay on the northern bank of the Don and wait for the enemy to attack. The final decision depended on the Grand Duke. Dmitry Ivanovich uttered the following significant words: “Brothers! Better an honest death than an evil life. It was better not to go out against the enemy than, having come and done nothing, return back. Let us pass today everything for the Don and there we lay our heads for the Orthodox faith and for our brothers”[4]. The Grand Duke of Vladimir preferred offensive actions, which made it possible to hold the initiative, which was important not only in strategy (to beat the enemy in parts), but also in tactics (the choice of the place of battle and the surprise of a strike on the enemy's army). After the council in the evening, Prince Dmitry and voivode Dmitry Mikhailovich Bobrok-Volynsky moved beyond the Don and examined the area.
The area chosen by Prince Dmitry for the battle was called the Kulikov Field. On three sides - west, north and east, it was bounded by the Don and Nepryadva rivers, cut by ravines and small rivers. The right wing of the Russian army, which was being built in order of battle, was covered by the rivers flowing into the Nepryadva (Upper, Middle and Lower Dubiki); on the left - a rather shallow rivulet Smolka, which flows into the Don, and dried up stream beds (gullies with gentle slopes). But this lack of terrain was compensated for - behind Smolka there was a forest, in which it was possible to place a general reserve that guarded the fords across the Don and strengthened the battle formation of the wing. Along the front, the Russian position was over eight kilometers long (some authors significantly reduce it and then question the number of troops). However, the terrain, convenient for the action of enemy cavalry, was limited to four kilometers and was located in the center of the position - near the converging upper reaches of the Lower Dubik and Smolka. Mamai's army, having an advantage in deployment along the front over 12 kilometers, could attack Russian battle formations with cavalry only in this limited area, which excluded maneuver with horse masses.
On the night of September 7, 1380, the crossing of the main forces began. Foot troops and carts crossed the Don on the bridges built, the cavalry wade. The crossing was made under the cover of strong guard detachments.
Morning on the Kulikovo field. Artist A. P. Bubnov. 1943-1947.
According to the report of the watchmen Semyon Melik and Pyotr Gorsky, who had a battle with enemy reconnaissance on September 7, it became known that the main forces of Mamai were at a distance of one transition and by the morning of the next day they should be expected at the Don. Therefore, so that Mamai did not forestall the Russian army, already in the morning of September 8, the Russian army, under the cover of the Watchdog Regiment, adopted a battle formation. On the right flank, adjacent to the steep banks of the Lower Dubik, the Right Hand regiment stood up, which included the squad of Andrei Olgerdovich. In the center are the squads of the Big Regiment. It was commanded by the Moscow okolnichy Timofey Velyaminov. On the left flank, covered from the east by the Smolka River, a regiment of the Left Hand of Prince Vasily Yaroslavsky was lined up. In front of the Big Regiment was the Advanced Regiment. A reserve detachment commanded by Dmitry Olgerdovich was secretly located behind the left flank of the Big Regiment. Behind the Left Hand regiment in the Zelenaya Dubrava forest, Dmitry Ivanovich placed a select detachment of cavalry from 10-16 thousand people [5] - the Ambush Regiment, headed by Prince Vladimir Andreevich Serpukhovsky and experienced voivode Dmitry Mikhailovich Bobrok-Volynsky.
Battle of Kulikovo. Artist A. Yvon. 1850 g.
Such a formation was chosen taking into account the terrain and the method of struggle used by the Golden Horde. Their favorite technique was to cover one or both of the enemy's flanks with cavalry detachments, followed by an exit to his rear. The Russian army took up a position reliably covered from the flanks by natural obstacles. Due to the terrain conditions, the enemy could only attack the Russians from the front, which made it impossible for him to use his numerical superiority and use the usual tactics. The number of Russian troops, built in order of battle, reached 50-60 thousand people [6].
The army of Mamai, who arrived on the morning of September 8 and stopped 7-8 kilometers from the Russians, numbered about 90-100 thousand people [7]. It consisted of the vanguard (light cavalry), the main forces (in the center was hired Genoese infantry, and on the flanks - heavy cavalry deployed in two lines) and a reserve. In front of the Horde camp, light reconnaissance and security detachments scattered. The enemy's plan was to cover the Russian. army from both flanks, and then surround and destroy it. The main role in solving this problem was assigned to powerful equestrian groups concentrated on the flanks of the Horde army. However, Mamai was in no hurry to join the battle, still hoping for Jagielo's approach.
But Dmitry Ivanovich decided to drag Mamai's army into battle and ordered his regiments to march. The Grand Duke took off his armor, handed it over to the boyar Mikhail Brenk, and he himself donned a simple armor, but not inferior in its protective properties to the princely one. In the Big Regiment, the Grand Duke's dark red (bird cherry) banner was placed - a symbol of honor and glory of the united Russian army. It was handed to Brenk.
Duel of Peresvet with Chelubey. Painter. V. M. Vasnetsov. 1914 g.
The battle began at about 12 noon. When the main forces of the parties approached, a duel between the Russian warrior monk Alexander Peresvet and the Mongolian hero Chelubey (Temir-Murza) took place. As the legend says, Peresvet left without protective armor, with one spear. Chelubey was fully armed. The warriors dispersed the horses and struck at the spears. Powerful simultaneous blow - Chelubey collapsed with his head dead towards the Horde army, which was a bad omen. The re-light was held in the saddle for a few moments and also fell to the ground, but with its head towards the enemy. This is how the popular legend predetermined the outcome of the battle for a just cause. After the duel, a fierce slaughter broke out. As the chronicle writes: “The power of the Tatar greyhound is great with the Sholomyani coming and that packs, not acting, stasha, for there is no place where they can part; and taco stasha, copy pawns, wall against the wall, each of them on the splashes of their front property, the front stole, and the back must. And the prince are great, too, with their great Russian strength, and another Sholomyani will go against them”[8].
For three hours, Mamai's army unsuccessfully tried to break through the center and the right wing of the Russian army. Here the onslaught of the Horde troops was repulsed. The detachment of Andrei Olgerdovich was active. He repeatedly launched a counterattack, helping the regiments of the center to hold back the onslaught of the enemy.
Then Mamai concentrated his main efforts against the Left Hand regiment. In a fierce battle with a superior enemy, the regiment suffered heavy losses and began to withdraw. The reserve detachment of Dmitry Olgerdovich was introduced into the battle. The warriors took the place of the fallen, trying to hold back the onslaught of the enemy, and only their death allowed the Mongol cavalry to move forward. The soldiers of the Ambush Regiment, seeing the difficult situation of their brothers-in-arms, rushed into battle. Vladimir Andreevich Serpukhovskoy, who commanded the regiment, decided to join the battle, but his adviser, an experienced voivode Bobrok, held the prince. Mamaev's cavalry, pushing the left wing and breaking through the order of battle of the Russian army, began to go to the rear of the Big Regiment. The Horde, reinforced with fresh forces from the reserve of Mamai, bypassing the Green Oak, pounced on the soldiers of the Great Regiment.
The decisive moment of the battle has come. The ambush regiment rushed to the flank and rear of the bursting Golden Horde cavalry, the existence of which Mamai did not know. The blow of the Ambush Regiment came as a complete surprise to the Tatars. “The wickedness fell into great fear and horror … and cried out, verbally:“Alas for us! … the Christians have made a mistake over us, leaving the lucia and daring princes and governors in secret and have prepared for us tirelessly; our hands are weakened, and the splashes are Ustasha, and our knees are numb, and our horses are tired, and our weapons are worn out; and who can against their article? …”[9]. Using the outlined success, other regiments also went on the offensive. The enemy fled. The Russian squads pursued him for 30–40 kilometers - up to the Krasivaya Mecha River, where a baggage train and rich trophies were captured. Mamai's army was completely destroyed. It practically ceased to exist [10].
Returning from the pursuit, Vladimir Andreevich began to gather an army. The Grand Duke himself was wounded and knocked off his horse, but was able to get to the forest, where he was found unconscious after the battle under a felled birch [11]. But the Russian army also suffered heavy losses, which amounted to about 20 thousand.people [12].
For eight days, the Russian army gathered and buried the killed soldiers, and then moved to Kolomna. On September 28, the winners entered Moscow, where the entire population of the city awaited them. The battle on the Kulikovo field was of great importance in the struggle of the Russian people for liberation from the foreign yoke. It seriously undermined the military power of the Golden Horde and hastened its subsequent disintegration. The news that "Great Rus defeated Mamai on the Kulikovo field" quickly spread throughout the country and far beyond its borders. For the outstanding victory the people called the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich "Donskoy", and his cousin, the Serpukhov prince Vladimir Andreevich - the nickname "Brave".
The detachments of Jagailo, not reaching the Kulikovo field 30-40 kilometers and learning about the victory of the Russians, quickly returned to Lithuania. Mamai's ally did not want to risk it, since there were many Slavic detachments in his army. Prominent representatives of Lithuanian soldiers who had supporters in the army of Jagailo, and they could go over to the side of the Russian troops, were present in the army of Dmitry Ivanovich. All this forced Jagiello to be as careful as possible in making decisions.
Mamai, having abandoned his defeated army, fled to Kafa (Theodosia) with a handful of companions, where he was killed. Khan Tokhtamysh seized power in the Horde. He demanded that Russia resume the payment of tribute, arguing that it was not the Golden Horde that was defeated in the Battle of Kulikovo, but the usurper of power, the temnik Mamai. Dmitry refused. Then in 1382 Tokhtamysh undertook a punitive campaign against Russia, seized and burned Moscow by cunning. The largest cities of the Moscow land - Dmitrov, Mozhaisk and Pereyaslavl - were also ruthlessly devastated, and then the Horde marched with fire and sword across the Ryazan lands. As a result of this raid, Horde dominion over Russia was restored.
Dmitry Donskoy at the Kulikovo field. Artist V. K. Sazonov. 1824.
In terms of its scale, the Battle of Kulikovo is unmatched in the Middle Ages and occupies a prominent place in the history of military art. The strategy and tactics used in the Battle of Kulikovo by Dmitry Donskoy exceeded the strategy and tactics of the enemy, were distinguished by their offensive nature, activity and purposefulness of actions. Deep, well-organized reconnaissance made it possible to make the right decisions and make an exemplary march to the Don. Dmitry Donskoy was able to correctly assess and use the terrain conditions. He took into account the tactics of the enemy, revealed his plan.
Burial of the fallen soldiers after the Battle of Kulikovo.
1380 The obverse annalistic collection of the 16th century.
Based on the terrain conditions and tactics used by Mamai, Dmitry Ivanovich rationally placed the forces at his disposal on the Kulikovo field, created a general and private reserve, thought over the issues of interaction between the regiments. The tactics of the Russian army were further developed. The presence in the battle formation of the general reserve (Ambush Regiment) and its skillful use, expressed in the successful choice of the moment of commissioning, predetermined the outcome of the battle in favor of the Russians.
Assessing the results of the Kulikovo battle and the activities of Dmitry Donskoy that preceded it, a number of modern scientists who have studied this issue most fully do not believe that the Moscow prince set himself the goal of leading the anti-Horde struggle in the broad sense of the word, but only opposed Mamai as a usurper of power in the Golden Horde. So, A. A. Gorsky writes: “Open disobedience to the Horde, which grew into an armed struggle with it, occurred at a time when power there fell into the hands of an illegitimate ruler (Mamai). With the restoration of "legitimate" power, an attempt was made to confine itself to a purely nominal, without paying tribute, recognition of the supremacy of the "tsar", but the military defeat in 1382 thwarted it. Nevertheless, the attitude towards foreign power has changed: it became obvious that under certain conditions its non-recognition and a successful military confrontation with the Horde are possible”[13]. Therefore, as other researchers note, despite the fact that the attacks against the Horde are still taking place within the framework of the previous ideas about the relationship between the Russian princes - “ulusniks” and the Horde “tsars”, “The Kulikovo battle undoubtedly became a turning point in the formation of a new self-consciousness of Russians people”[14], and“the victory at the Kulikovo field secured for Moscow the importance of the organizer and ideological center of the reunification of the East Slavic lands, showing that the path to their state and political unity was the only way to their liberation from foreign domination”[15].
Monument-column, made according to the project of A. P. Bryullov at the plant of Ch. Byrd.
Installed on the Kulikovo field in 1852 at the initiative of the first explorer
battles of the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod S. D. Nechaev.
The times of the Horde invasions were a thing of the past. It became clear that in Russia there are forces capable of resisting the Horde. The victory contributed to the further growth and strengthening of the Russian centralized state and enhanced the role of Moscow as the center of unification.
[1] September 21 (September 8 according to the Julian calendar) in accordance with the Federal Law of March 13, 1995 No. 32-FZ "On the days of military glory and memorable dates in Russia" is the Day of Russian military glory - the Day of victory of Russian regiments led by Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy over the Mongol-Tatar troops in the Battle of Kulikovo.
[2] Chronicle collection called the Patriarch or Nikon Chronicle. PSRL. T. XI. SPb., 1897. S. 27.
[3] Quoted. by: Borisov N. S. And the candle would not go out … Historical portrait of Sergius of Radonezh. M., 1990. S. 222.
[4] Nikon Chronicle. PSRL. T. XI. P. 56.
[5] Kirpichnikov A. N. Battle of Kulikovo. L., 1980. S. 105.
[6] This number was calculated by the Soviet military historian E. A. Razin on the basis of the total population of the Russian lands, taking into account the principles of manning troops for all-Russian campaigns. See: E. A. Razin. History of military art. T. 2. SPb., 1994. S. 272. The same number of Russian troops is determined by A. N. Kirpichnikov. See: A. N. Kirpichnikov. Decree. Op. P. 65. In the works of historians of the XIX century. this number varies from 100 thousand to 200 thousand people. See: N. M. Karamzin History of Russian Goverment. T. V. M., 1993. 40; Ilovaiskiy D. I. Collectors of Russia. M., 1996. S. 110; Soloviev S. M. History of Russia since ancient times. Book 2. M., 1993. S. 323. Russian chronicles cite extremely exaggerated data on the size of the Russian army: the Resurrection Chronicle - about 200 thousand. See: Voskresenskaya Chronicle. PSRL. T. VIII. SPb., 1859. S. 35; Nikon Chronicle - 400 thousand See: Nikon Chronicle. PSRL. T. XI. P. 56.
[7] See: R. G. Skrynnikov. The Battle of Kulikovo // The Battle of Kulikovo in the history of the culture of our Motherland. M., 1983. S. 53-54.
[8] Nikon Chronicle. PSRL. T. XI. P. 60.
[9] Ibid. P. 61.
[10] "Zadonshchina" speaks about the flight of Mamai himself-nine to the Crimea, that is, about the death of 8/9 of the entire army in the battle. See: Zadonshchina // Military stories of Ancient Russia. L., 1986. S. 167.
[11] See: The Legend of the Battle of Mamay // War stories of Ancient Rus. L., 1986. S. 232.
[12] Kirpichnikov A. N. Decree. op. P. 67, 106. According to E. A. Razin's Horde lost about 150 thousand, the Russians killed and died from wounds - about 45 thousand people (See: Razin EA Decree. Op. T. 2. S. 287-288). B. Urlanis speaks about 10 thousand killed (See: Urlanis B. TS. History of military losses. St. Petersburg, 1998. S. 39). The Legend of the Mamayev Massacre says that 653 boyars were killed. See: Military stories of Ancient Russia. P. 234. The figure cited in the same place of the total number of dead Russian warriors in 253 thousand is clearly overestimated.
[13] Gorskiy A. A. Moscow and the Horde. M. 2000. S. 188.
[14] Danilevsky I. N. Russian lands through the eyes of contemporaries and descendants (XII-XIV centuries). M. 2000. S. 312.
[15] Shabuldo F. M. The lands of Southwestern Russia as part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Kiev, 1987. S. 131.
