The history of Russian artillery goes back more than six centuries. According to the chronicle, during the reign of Dmitry Donskoy, Muscovites in 1382 used "cannons" and "mattresses" when repelling the next raid of the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh. If the "guns" of that period, the famous artillery historian N. Ye. Brandenburg was inclined to consider throwing weapons, then "mattresses" were already, no doubt, firearms [1]. They were firearms for firing stone or metal "shot" at close range at enemy manpower.
Late 15th - early 16th centuries marked a new period in the development of Russian artillery. During these years, on the basis of deep political and socio-economic shifts, characterized by the elimination of feudal fragmentation and the formation of the Russian centralized state, the rapid growth of crafts, trade and culture, a single Russian army was formed as a military and social support of the rising central power. The artillery of the specific feudal principalities became an integral part of the unified Russian army, into the property of the state, underwent rapid quantitative growth and major qualitative changes in all areas of its structure - in weapons, organization and methods of combat use.
During the reign of Ivan III, the development of the production of firearms became an important part of his reforms. By supporting the mining and foundry industries, the resettlement of craftsmen, he strove to organize the manufacture of weapons in all significant cities. Considering that not all artisans are independently capable of raising their business in a new place, special huts, courtyards, and cellars were “arranged” at the expense of state orders.
The production of artillery weapons, which previously relied exclusively on handicrafts and trades and was limited mainly to the centers of individual principalities, has significantly expanded territorially, acquired an all-Russian significance and, most importantly, received a qualitatively new base in the form of large state workshops based on the division of labor and the use of mechanical force, water or horse traction. Taking over the best world experience, Ivan III invited arms and cannon masters from abroad.
In 1475 (1476), the first Cannon hut was laid in Moscow, and then the Cannon yard (1520 - 1530s), on which the guns were cast [2]. The beginning of cannon foundry in Russia is associated with the name of Alberti (Aristotle) Fioravanti (between 1415 and 1420 - c. 1486), an outstanding Italian architect and engineer. He was known for his daring engineering work to strengthen and move large structures in Italy. Since the 1470s. the Moscow government began to systematically invite foreign specialists to carry out large-scale work to strengthen and decorate the Kremlin and train Moscow craftsmen. The chronicles have preserved news about foreign masters who were engaged in cannon business, mainly Italians, who were ordered by the Moscow government in the period 1475–1505.
In 1475, two years after Ivan III's marriage with Sophia (Zoya) Palaeologus, who introduced modern Western European culture to Muscovy, “the ambassador of the Grand Duke Semyon Tolbuzin came from Rome, and he brought with him the master Murol, who erected churches and chambers, Aristotle's name; so the cannon man of that will deliberately cast them and beat them; and bells and other things are all tricky velmi”[3]. A. Fioravanti came to Moscow not alone, but with his son Andrei and "parobok Petrusha" [4]. In Moscow, he laid a solid foundation for the cannon-casting business in all the requirements of modern European technology. In 1477 - 1478 A. Fioravanti took part in Ivan III's campaign against Novgorod, and in 1485 - against Tver as chief of artillery and military engineer [5].
At the end of the 15th century. several more Italian masters were invited to work in the Cannon izba. In 1488, "Peacock Fryazin Debosis [Pavel Debosis] merged a great cannon" [6], which later bore the name of the master "Peacock", someone also called it "Tsar Cannon".
We have very little information about the structure of the first cannon-foundry. There is evidence of the existence of a "cannon hut" in 1488 [7] Unfortunately, the archive of the Cannon Prikaz, which was in charge of the Cannon Yard, has been lost, so no satisfactory description of the equipment of the first Russian manufactory has survived. She herself, located at the "three bridges from the Frolovskie gate to Kitay-gorod" [8] burned down in 1498. Later it was built on the banks of the Neglinnaya River. Nearby, a settlement of manufactory blacksmiths settled down, from where the name Kuznetsky most came from. Smelting furnaces were located in the center of the Cannon yard, from which metal was supplied through special channels to the casting molds. By the organization of production, Cannon Yard was a manufactory. Cannon masters, litters and blacksmiths worked here. All the masters and their assistants were service people, that is, they were in the sovereign's service, received a monetary and bread salary, land for a building.
Almost all artisans lived in Pushkarskaya Sloboda. It was located in the Zemlyanoy city behind the Sretensky gate and occupied a vast area bounded by the Neglinnaya River, White City, Bolshaya Street along which the road to Vladimir went, and Streletsky Sloboda. In Pushkarskaya Sloboda there were two streets - Bolshaya (aka Sretenskaya, and now Sretenka St.) and Sergievskaya (from the Church of St. Sergius in Pushkary) and seven lanes, of which only one was called Sergievskiy (now these are approximately the following lanes: to the left of the center - Pechatnikov, Kolokolnikov, Bolshoi and Maly Sergievsky, Pushkarev, Bolshoi Golovin; on the right - Rybnikov, Ashcheulov, Lukov, Prosvirin, Maly Golovin, Seliverstov, Daev and Pankratovsky), and the remaining six were numbered from "first" to "sixth" and by they got their names.
Cannon foundry in Russia has been widely developed since 1491, when copper ore was found on the Pechora River and the development of the deposit began there. The tools were cast from an alloy of copper, tin and zinc (bronze) with a finished channel using an iron core. Copper cannons were cast without seams with a bell in the muzzle, which made it possible to increase the charge of gunpowder and was the last word in artillery technology of that time. There were no established rules for determining the caliber.
The guns made at the Cannon yard were distinguished by the accuracy of calculation, the beauty of the finish, and the perfection of the casting technique. Each of them was cast according to a special wax model. On the plate or muzzle, various symbolic images, sometimes extremely intricate, were minted or cast, according to which the tools were named: bear, wolf, asp, nightingale, inrog, hasty (lizard), king Achilles, fox, snake, etc.
In the cannon-foundry for aimed shooting, squeaks were cast, divided into battering (siege), large caliber and up to 2 fathoms long; zatina or snakes, medium caliber for the defense of fortresses; regimental or falcons, wolfs - short, weighing 6 - 10 pounds. Cannons for mounted firing were also produced in significant quantities, gafunits - more elongated howitzers and shotguns or mattresses - large-caliber howitzers for firing stone or iron buckshot. In the Cannon Yard, the casting of organs and batteries began - prototypes of rapid-fire guns intended for increased firing. So, in the composition of the artillery detachment, which was led by A. Fioravanti, during the campaign to Tver, included gafunits for aimed shooting with stone buckshot, small iron squeaks and even organs (multi-barreled cannons) capable of giving increased fire, close to a salvo. At the end of the XVI century. breech-loading guns with wedge-shaped gates were manufactured. At the beginning of the 17th century. the first rifled pishchal was made. It should be emphasized that the priority in the field of invention of rifled guns and a wedge gate belongs to Moscow. In the XVI - XVII centuries. bells and chandeliers were also cast at Cannon Yard.
A certain organization was required to direct the artillery of the Moscow state. We have traces of such an organization of the "Cannon Prikaz" since the 1570s. In the list of "boyars, okolnichy and noblemen who serve from the choice of 85" (7085, ie in 1577), two names of senior officials of the order are named: "In the Cannon Order, Prince Semyon Korkodinov, Fyodor Puchko Molvyaninov", - both are marked: “with the sovereign” (on the march) 7-barrel rapid-fire battery “Soroka” of the second half of the 16th century. The Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation dates back to this time [10]. At the beginning of the 17th century. The cannon order was renamed Pushkarsky and became the main artillery and military engineering department, the activities of which we know from the remains of documents from its burnt archive, from the archives of other orders, as well as from the news of contemporaries.
The order recruited people for the service, appointed salaries, raised or lowered in ranks, sent on campaigns, tried, dismissed from service, was in charge of the construction of cities (fortresses), defensive lines, casting bells, cannons, the production of hand firearms and edged weapons and armor (the latter, apparently, for some time was under the jurisdiction of separate Armory and Bronny orders). In peacetime, the chiefs of the Pushkar order were also in charge of the notches and the notch heads assigned to them, clerks and watchmen.
The order tested gunpowder (cannon, musket and manual) and explosives based on saltpeter (yamchuzhnoe business). Back in the 17th century. in the Pushkar order, special boxes were kept with green or saltpeter experiments of past years (that is, with samples of gunpowder tested earlier). In the middle of the 17th century. in 100 cities and 4 monasteries, which were under the jurisdiction of the Pushkar order, there were 2637 guns [11].
In the XVII century. The cannon yard was significantly reconstructed. The surviving plan of the Cannon Yard from the end of the century gives a fairly accurate outline of the boundaries and surrounding buildings. He already occupied a significant territory, located between Teatralny Proezd and Pushechnaya Street, Neglinnaya and Rozhdestvenka. Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich "created a great deal of great weapons, where there is a great weapon for business, there are cannons, and on it put your tsar's majesty a banner - the eagle is gilded" [12].
Technical innovations also appeared: the power of water was used to drive the forging hammers (the first known case of the use of water energy in metallurgy in Moscow). In the center of the courtyard there were stone foundries, along the edges - blacksmiths. There were large scales at the gate, and a well not far from the barns. The composition of the service people has expanded significantly. Bell and chandelier masters, sawers, carpenters, plumbers and others began to work at the manufactory. The staff of the Cannon Yard numbered more than 130 people.
The volume of production at Cannon Yard, as far as can be judged from the surviving information, was never strictly limited, since no production plan existed and work orders were transferred as needed. This system of work is typical for the activities of the Cannon Yard in the future. Since 1670, the Pushkarsky Prikaz (later Artillery Prikaz) began to be located on the territory of the courtyard.
In the next Moscow fire in 1699, the Cannon Yard burned down with most of its buildings. There was a forced break in the activities of the cannon-foundry until January 1701, when, by order of Peter, it was ordered to build wooden buildings on the New Cannon Yard. At the beginning of the 18th century.the significance of the Cannon Yard diminished due to the development of cast iron cannons and the installation of military factories in the Petersburg province, in the Urals and in Karelia. At the Cannon Yard there were 51 production workers, of whom: cannon masters, apprentices and apprentices - 36, bell masters - 2, smelters and apprentices - 8, chandeliers, apprentices and apprentices 5 people [13]. When asked in 1718 about the capacity of the cannon-foundry, the Artillery Order replied: “There was no definition of the casting of guns and mortars, but they always poured what was needed, according to written and verbal c. v. decrees”[14].
As you can see, the activities of the Cannon Yard gradually died out, and the casting of copper cannons was transferred to the Bryansk arsenal of the artillery department. The cannon yard became a repository of weapons, ammunition and banners. In 1802, at the suggestion of Count I. P. Saltykov, Alexander I ordered the weapons and ammunition stored at the Cannon Yard to be transferred to the Kremlin arsenal, and the production of gunpowder to the Field Artillery Yard. In 1802 - 1803 the buildings of the Cannon yard were demolished, and the building material was used to build a bridge across the Yauza at the crossing from Solyanka to Taganka.
The successful production of guns, shells and gunpowder in the Russian state was achieved thanks to the active creative activity of ordinary Russian people - cannonmen, foundry workers and blacksmiths. The most deserved honor in the Cannon Yard was used by the "cunning fire fighting", or cannon masters. The oldest Russian cannon master, whose name has been preserved for us by history, is the master Yakov, who worked in a cannon foundry in Moscow at the end of the 15th century. [15] For example, in 1483 in the Cannon izba he cast the first copper cannon 2.5 arshins long (1 arshin - 71.12 cm) and weighing 16 poods (1 pood - 16 kg). In 1667, it was used in the defense of the most important Russian fortress on the western border, Smolensk, and was lost. The pishchal is described in detail in documents from 1667-1671. and 1681: “Copper arm for a lathe on wheels, Russian casting, length two arshins, half a third vershok. It is signed with a Russian letter: “at the behest of the noble and Christ-loving Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich, the ruler of all Russia, this cannon was made in the summer of six thousand, nine hundred and ninety-one, in the tenth year of his sovereignty; but Jacob did it. " Weighs 16 pounds”[16]. In 1485, master Yakov cast a second sample of a cannon with such dimensions, which is now kept in the Military-Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering Corps and Signal Corps in St. Petersburg.
Some names of cannon foundry have survived to this day, the most prominent of which were Ignatius (1543), Stepan Petrov (1553), Bogdan (1554-1563), Pervaya Kuzmin, Semenka Dubinin, Nikita Tupitsyn, Pronya Fedorov and others. The surviving samples of tools testify to the state of the foundry art: copper gafunitsa of 1542, caliber 5, 1 dm (master Ignatius); copper pishchal, 1563, caliber 3, 6 dm (master Bogdan); pishchal "Inrog" 1577, caliber 8, 5 dm (craftsman A. Chokhov); pishchal "Onagr" 1581, caliber 7 dm (master P. Kuzmin); pishchal "Scroll" 1591, caliber 7, 1 dm (craftsman S. Dubinin).
Andrey Chokhov (1568-1632) was an outstanding representative of the Moscow school of cannon masters. Among the many samples of guns he created, the Tsar Cannon, cast in 1568, is especially famous. It was the largest and most technically advanced weapon of that time (caliber 890 mm, weight 40 tons). The creation of a talented master was called “Russian shotgun”, because it was intended for shooting with stone “shot”. And although the cannon did not fire a single shot, one can imagine what devastation this weapon could produce in the ranks of the enemies.
Replenishment of personnel went initially through apprenticeship. Disciples were attached to the master, who were recruited, first of all, from the relatives of the servicemen, and then from free people who were not assigned to the tax. Later, at the Pushechny yard, special schools were set up to train new personnel. So, in 1701“It was ordered to build wooden schools in the New Cannon Yard, and in those schools to teach verbal and written science to Pushkar and other outside ranks of children … and to feed and water them in the schools described above, half of that money buying bread and grub: fish on fast days, and meat on fast days, and cook porridge or cabbage soup, and for other money - for shoes and caftanisks, and shirts …”[17]. In 1701, 180 students studied at these schools, and later the number of students increased to 250-300 people.
The Cannon Yard, being the main arsenal of the Moscow state and at the same time a school that trained cadres of foundry workers, has always enjoyed special attention of foreign travelers who wrote about Muscovy. This attention was quite natural, because all foreign reports about the Russian state served, first of all, for the purposes of espionage and, first of all, paid attention to military targets. Foreigners who visited "Muscovy" spoke with great praise of the Russian artillery, pointing out its significance [18], and of the Muscovites' mastery of the technique of making guns according to Western models [19].
[1] Brandenburg N. E. Historical catalog of the St. Petersburg Artillery Museum. Part 1. (XV - XVII centuries). SPb., 1877. S. 45.
[2] Ibid. P. 52.
[3] Nikon Chronicle. PSRL. T. XII. SPb., 1901, p. 157.
[4] Lviv Chronicle. PSRL. T. XX. SPb., 1910. S. 302.
[5] See: S. M. Soloviev. Russian history. M., 1988. Book. 3. Vol. 5.
[6] Nikon Chronicle. P. 219.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Quoted. Quoted from: N. N. Rubtsov Foundry history in the USSR. Part 1. M.-L., 1947. S. 35.
[9] Acts of the Moscow State. SPb., 1890. T. 1. No. 26. P. 39.
[10] The annual GRAU holiday was established by order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation dated June 3, 2002 No. 215.
[11] See: V. A. Shagaev. The order system of the Military Command // Humanitarian Bulletin of the Military Academy of Strategic Missile Forces. 2017. No. 1. S. 46-56.
[12] Zabelin I. E. History of the city of Moscow. Part 1. M., 1905. P. 165.
[13] Kirillov I. The flourishing state of the all-Russian state, which began, led and left untold works of Peter the Great. M., 1831. S. 23.
[14] Rubtsov N. N. Foundry history in the USSR. Part 1. P. 247.
[15] See A. P. Lebedyanskaya. Essays on the history of cannon production in Moscow Russia. Ornamented and signed guns of the late 15th - first half of the 16th centuries // Collection of research and materials of the Artillery Historical Museum of the Red Army. T. 1. M-L., 1940. S. 62.
[16] Khmyrov M. D. Artillery and gunners in pre-Petrine Russia. Historical and characteristic sketch // Artillery Zhurn. 1865. No. 9. P. 487.
[17] Archive of the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops and Signal Corps. F. 2. Op. 1. D. 4. L. 894.
[18] See: I. Kobenzel, Letters about Russia in the 16th century. // Journal of the Ministry of Public Education. 1842. P. 35. P. 150.
[19] See: R. Barberini, Journey to Muscovy in 1565, St. Petersburg, 1843, p. 34.
