The original and highly peculiar personality of the Don Ataman Matvey Ivanovich Platov occupies a very special position in Cossack history. He is one of the most beloved folk heroes created by the Patriotic War. The great epoch of 1812, which illuminated the Don with military glory unparalleled in its chronicles, nominated this formidable leader of the "Cossack horde", and his name flew from end to end throughout Europe. Many years have passed since then, the battle legends of the glorious era have gradually faded, but even now, when the echoes of his former glory are barely audible, the name and memory of Platov live on the Don in countless stories, in songs and in folk legends. Platov's main activity proceeded among the bloody wars of the Napoleonic era, but the Caucasus was still the cradle of his fame - a witness of his heroic defense, in the then deserted and deserted steppes of the present Stavropol Territory, during the Russian-Turkish war. If you go from the Don along the Cherkassky tract, then to the right of it, where the Kalalakh river flows into Bolshoi Yegorlyk, on the top of a very gentle and long slope, according to legend, the Cossacks fought, and Platov with a handful of the Donets repelled the attack of an almost thirty thousand Turkish corps. There are events in the life of peoples that do not make any changes in their social system and, nevertheless, live for a long time in the memory of later generations due to the extremely strong impression they made on their contemporaries. The feat of Matvey Ivanovich Platov can be attributed to the number of such events recorded by history.
According to all the legends that have come down to us, no one from the earliest youth was distinguished by such fighting, purely Cossack qualities as Matveyka Platov, a horseman and a grunt, a fighter, a mischievous man and a bully. Everything in him foreshadowed a wonderful person, as if purposely created for wars and battles, for those high-profile feats that subsequently amazed not only all Russian people, but also the whole of Europe. The future ataman of the Don Host was born in 1753 in the village of Cherkasskaya (or Starocherkasskaya) in the family of the military sergeant major Ivan Fedorovich Platov. From early childhood, as was customary in Cossack life, he studied the art of equestrian combat and literacy. At the age of 13, Matvey Platov entered the Don Military Chancellery as a sergeant and in three years proved that a natural mind can replace even the best education. In 1769, the cornet Platov, having distinguished himself in the capture of the Perekop line and Kinburn, received the rank of esaul, and three years later in 1772, he received a Cossack regiment under his command. And this is less than 19 years old. In our mercantile age, no one will believe if all this is explained by merits to the Fatherland or unsurpassed personal merits. And it is true - great services to the Fatherland will come after. Well, the rapid start, perhaps, can be explained by the natural daring and participation of his father, Ivan Fedorovich, in the Peterhof campaign, which elevated Catherine II to the throne. This trip served as a springboard for many famous names. For the Suvorovs, for example … And then? Well, then only myself.
On April 3, 1774, Platov accepted a battle that seemed impossible to win in principle. On the Kalalakh River, a detachment of Cossacks of about 1000 people surrounded almost 30,000 troops of Devlet - Girey. 8 attacks of the Tatar-Turkish army were repulsed by a small garrison of a flimsy Wagenburg before the arrival of reinforcements. The detachment and the wagon train were saved, and the rather large army of the newly-minted Crimean Khan fled in all directions. The entire Russian army learned about this feat and the empress herself awarded the young Cossack hero (Platov was barely 23 years old) with a special gold medal. In order to fully appreciate the significance of the Platovian feat, it is necessary to say first what position our Don outskirts were in at that time.
After the brilliant Russian victories in Tavria and on the Danube, the center of hostilities shifted to the Kuban. In the spring of 1774, two Crimean khans, a protege of the Russians and a protege of the Turks, challenged the authority over the Crimean Khanate. The protege of the Russians Sahib II Girey, reinforced by the troops of Prince Dolgorukov, sat in the Crimea, and the protege of the Turks, Devlet IV Girey, landed in Taman with a ten thousandth army and, referring to the firman of the Turkish Sultan, urged the Kuban and Terek peoples to join him to fight the Russians. Chechnya revolted, the Kalmyk Khan betrayed and went beyond the Volga, opening the road to the Don for the non-peaceful Circassians. And at that very time, Pugachev's indignation was blazing, which reared the entire Volga region and the entire Urals. Samozvaneu, a natural Don Cossack himself, walked from Kazan down the Volga, approaching the Don borders. But a truly tasty morsel for Devlet - Giray was the three hundred thousandth Nogai horde, which made peace with the Russians and moved from Bessarabia to the Kuban. Devlet - Girey from Taman was actively stirring up the water among the reconciled Nogai. It is not known whether the Nogays would have gone, rebelled their Devlet - Girey, to beat back the father's throne for the restless khan. But sixty thousand families (in Nogai kazans), sixty thousand non-peaceful horsemen at the side of the bleeding Don Army, which sent all the combat-ready Cossacks to regiments on the Danube, to the same Crimea and to other cordons - it was dangerous. From the Volga-Don Perevoloka to the Bashkirs who joined Pugachev, Russia had no cover from a possible raid of the Nogai horde. And if they go up the Volga? And if they join Pugachev? At another time, when all the Cossacks were at home, news of the enemies would have produced, perhaps, a completely different impression. Then the military commanders, perhaps, would not have become very worried about them, knowing that it is not the first time for the Don people to fight on the battlefield with various enemies. But now, when most of the Don regiments were on the march, outside the region's border, and only old men and young men remained on the Don, who had never been in battles before, inevitably had to seriously think about the fate of the region.
In mid-March Devlet - Girey with ten thousand of his troops and fifteen thousand of the "Asian predators" who joined him left Taman and moved to the nomad camps of the Nogai horde, on the way accepting a diverse replenishment. He had Turks, Tatars, Circassians, Donets-Nekrasovites, and some "Araps". The Nogai deprived of their leaders hesitated, only a small part joined the rebellious khan. Not completely trusting the Nogai, the experienced Bukhvostov prudently kept the Nogai foreman with his families at his camp. It so happened that Devlet - Girey and the detachment of Lieutenant Colonel Bukhvostov who opposed him, who had come from the 2nd Army to "look after the Nogai interests", fought in Nogai territory for influence on these very Nogai. And the Nogais themselves were like spectators in this bloody drama. Devlet - Girey was pushing, he wanted to grab and cut out the Nogai top, faithful to the alliance with the Russians (or maybe not cut out at all, but in an amicable way). The Nogai retreated, because, although they hated, they were afraid of the Russians, who arranged for them a notable bloodletting several years ago at the Danube Theater. At the same time, they did not believe the Turks and Crimeans at all, but they did not want to raise arms against these co-religionists either. Naturally, messengers and whole detachments traveled from the Crimean camp to the Nogai camp and back, persuaded, doubted, promised, deceived. And Bukhvostov, like a watchdog, drove the Crimean "wolves" away from the Nogai "sheep". On the territory of the Edisan Nogai horde, a 1,500-strong detachment of Bukhvostov defeated the vanguard of the Krymchaks under the command of Khan's brother Shabbas - Girey. After that, the Yedisan Nogais immediately "decided" and, together with the hussars and Cossacks, pursued and hacked the defeated Krymchaks. The night raid of the Crimeans on Larionov's Cossack regiment was also repulsed. But all these skirmishes, in which "a lot of fun, little sense", soon ended. Devlet - Girey with all his army came close, And Bukhvostov insisted, not hoping for Nogai friendship, that the Horde move closer to the Russian border, under the cover of the Russian border troops. And so that the Horde were more compliant, he sent them a large wagon train with provisions for bait. The Horde has filmed. To accompany the convoy and cover the departure of the Nogai, the Cossack regiments of Larionov and Matvey Platov were left on the Kalalakh River. This place is located in the north of the modern Stavropol Territory, near the borders of the Rostov region. Slightly to the west, if you cross the border of the Krasnodar Territory, the rivers Eya, Chelbas, Rassypnaya and Kalalakh itself originate on the hill.
Rice. 1 Platov in the Russian-Turkish wars
Before the dawn of April 3, when these regiments were stationed at the tops of the Kalalakh River, reconnaissance made it known from the forward posts that “the Tatar forces were apparently knocking down.” No sooner had the Cossacks come to their senses and mounted their horses, as the entire horizon was already covered with a black cloud of Tatar cavalry. These were the main forces of Devlet, who then numbered about thirty thousand different Asian horsemen. It seemed that a handful of Cossacks, which did not exceed a thousand horsemen in both regiments, would instantly be crushed by a hurricane that had flown into it. even the more experienced Larionov, who was ten years older than his comrade, was at a loss, but Platov was not at a loss. The happiness of his character lay in the fact that in critical situations Matvey Platov was cold-blooded, active and acted He thought differently, namely that their duty was to protect the transport to the last extreme, that it would be better to beat off to spend two or three days, to sacrifice part of the detachment, which, finally, it is better for the whole detachment to die with honor than to lose the baggage train, the neutrality of the Nogai and by this, perhaps, undermine the success of the entire Kuban campaign. “My friends!” He exclaimed, addressing the regiment. “You can see for yourself what power of the Tatars surrounds us! Donets, if we are afraid of the accursed Tatar! " Smooth, calm and, as it were, not recognizing any danger, his voice sobered the Cossacks, already close to panic. Taking advantage of this moment, Platov ordered them to quickly move the carts so as to block on all sides a small trench erected by the Cossacks during the night. Meanwhile, he summoned from his regiment two quickest men on the best horses and ordered them to notify Bukhvostov about everything as soon as possible, who was nearby with all the Nogai nobility. “Remember,” Platov said to them, “that you may have to break through the enemy. Don will not forget your service, and if you are destined to a glorious death, then know that you will lay your heads in fair battle for the edge of your fathers, for the Orthodox faith, for your brothers, for the mother-queen - for everything that is holy and precious for the Russian feeling on earth! " The enthusiastic speech inspired the Cossacks. The defense was resolved, and two regiments sat down under siege. It is impossible not to notice that Platov at that time was only twenty-three years old. He was younger than Larionov in years and service, but his energy and moral influence on the Cossacks were so great that the actual command of the detachment naturally passed into his hands.”It was about eight in the morning, when a huge force of the Tatars surrounded the Cossack camp from all sides, hiding behind a fragile fence, which no one in our time would dare to call a fortification. The Cossacks saw how the large khan's banner unfurled and how the crowd, which greeted its appearance with a wild roar, moved on to attack. The first attack, however, was repulsed - the Cossacks withstood. But the fleeing Tatars were immediately replaced by other, fresh crowds, and the first attack was followed by the second, the second - the third, fourth, fifth … There were not enough hands to beat off attackers everywhere. Meanwhile, if the Cossacks had not kept their pressure somewhere in one place, the death of all would have been inevitable. Platov himself walked around the ranks and exhorted everyone to stand up to the end for the Quiet Don, for the mother-queen. Seven attacks had already been repulsed, the eighth was beginning, and doubt gradually began to creep into the hearts of even these iron defenders. Then the old fighter, who had recently glorified himself with a valiant battle, Colonel Larionov, pulled Platov aside.
“The Cossacks you sent,” he said to him, “probably perished; we have exhausted all our strength, most of our horses have been killed, and without special help from above we cannot expect salvation …
- What do you mean by this? Platov interrupted him.
“I think,” Larionov continued, “that it would be more prudent for us to formulate some conditions for ourselves than it is useless to continue the defense.
- No! Never! - Platov exclaimed. - We'd rather die than cover honor with shame and shame
our homeland.
- What are you hoping for? - asked Larionov.
- On God, and I believe that He will not leave us with his help.
Larionov silently shook his hand. At this very time Platov, gazing intently into the steppe, suddenly crossed himself joyfully. He saw on the very horizon a large gray cloud, which was growing rapidly, widening and suddenly charged with many points. These points began to appear distinctly and clearly in the transparent blue of the evening air, and the keen eye of the steppe dweller unmistakably guessed in them the galloping horsemen.
- Guys! - Platov exclaimed. - Look, isn't it ours who are jumping to the rescue?..
- Ours! Our! - shouted the Cossacks, and hundreds of hands went up to create the sign of the cross.
Help was really close. One of the Cossacks sent by Platov was killed, but the other galloped to Bukhvostov and conveyed to him the news, which instantly raised the entire detachment to its feet. Hussars, Cossacks, dragoons rushed to saddle their horses. A noisy talk spread throughout the bivouac. Some Tatars, having learned about the proximity of Devlet, fell into despair and did not want to follow our troops for anything. The noble Nogais refused to go with Bukhvostov, and their leader, Jan Mambet, "looked with amazement and pity at the detachment, no more than 500 sabers, galloping, as he believed, to their destruction." There was no time to persuade them. While Bukhvostov with a squadron of Akhtyr hussars and a light dragoon team was leaving the camp, Colonel Uvarov with his Cossack regiment was already far ahead and first came to the rescue. A minute - and three hundred Cossacks with lowered peaks crashed into the rear of the enemy. It was a desperate, insane attack, not justified by anything but blind and daring courage, but it was precisely these properties of it that had a decisive influence on the fate of the Kalalakh battle. Tens of thousands of people, undoubtedly brave, suddenly trembled and, mingling like a timid herd, turned into irrepressible flight. Panic began - that terrible panic that unconsciously engulfs the masses and subordinates them only to the animal instinct of self-salvation. Platov put his Cossacks on the surviving horses and struck from the "trench". The Cossacks, pursuing the fleeing, overtook them directly to Bukhvostov's detachment, which received them with grapeshot from four guns. This was the only victory, hardly ever encountered in our war chronicles. A thousand horsemen were driving an army of twenty-five thousand in front of them, seized by panic! Three times the enemy tried to stop to gather his scattered forces, and three times, shot down by Bukhvostov, again rushed to flight. The Nogais who came to their senses took a lively part in the pursuit of Devlet - Giray and cut down everyone they managed to overtake. The Krymchaks and the Trans-Kuban rabble were pursued to the Kuban. And here Platov distinguished himself.’’ Platov,”Bukhvostov reported later,“being on fire, he turned out to be completely undaunted. He managed to cheer up his subordinates, who were already in despair, and in this way kept them in a weak fortification until my arrival. Then, during the pursuit, with the greatest danger to his life, he rushed to the numerous crowds of the enemy, setting an example for his subordinates, especially in the forest battle near the Kuban, where the dismounted Cossacks, encouraged by him, showed exemplary courage. "This was the finale, after which the entire Tatar crowd fled in different directions, and there was no longer any possibility to collect it. The Cossacks got rich booty. At the place of the battle they collected and buried over five hundred enemy corpses. Platov lost only eighty-two people, but up to six hundred horses, so most of his detachment remained on foot. "If someone has to be in the same position," said our well-known partisan D. V. Davydov - let him remember the feat of young Platov, and success will crown his weapon. Fortune, not always blind, will raise, perhaps, a firm warrior to the same level of glory to which she elevated the venerable hero Don. " The authorities paid special attention to him, and the whole army, also the court and the empress herself recognized his name. But the famous Potemkin loved him most, who until his death remained his true benefactor and patron. one might say, a bright dawn of brilliant glory, which has since become his inseparable companion in the military field. After this battle, the Trans-Kuban predators, desperate to profit on the Don and in the Nogai camps, left the hapless khan. However, Devlet-Girey did not lose heart, the unrest that began in Chechnya and Kabarda drew him to Mozdok, from where, once again defeated, he fled to Chegem. Bukhvostov's detachment on the shoulders of a running enemy reached the Kuban, wade through it and here got involved in battles with the Circassians. In early June Bukhvostov with the hussars and the Cossacks of Uvarov, Platov and Danilov, in a fierce battle, again defeated the "huge swarm of Circassians" near the city of Kopyl (now Slavyansk-on-Kuban). In the midst of the battle, the Bukhvostov and Uvarov broke into the city itself, where they captured thirty-four Turkish guns. For this feat Bukhvostov was awarded the Order of St. George of the third degree. Throughout July and early August, a cononada thundered over the Kuban. Finally it became known that peace had been signed in Kuchuk-Kainardzhi. Turks themselves accused the restless Devlet - Girey of the fact that he always pursued personal goals, wanted to unite all Tatars and become independent from Turkey. Sultan Abdul Hamid ordered to seize the khan and take him to Constantinople. It became quieter in the Kuban and Terek. "Kabarda, Trans-Kuban Tatars and Chechnya, not daring to repeat open attacks on Russians without the support of Turkey, took up their own, from time immemorial insoluble and endless strife …". And the regiment of Matvey Platov from the Kuban was transferred to Russia "to chase the impostor Pugach." And another event happened, important for Don, which also affected our hero. Everyone who commanded the Cossack regiments at that time was equated with Russian military ranks, they were considered lower than the major, but higher than the captain.
Further service of Platov more than once again belonged to the Caucasus. He still returned here as a regimental commander to the Caucasian line, and then as a marching chieftain during the Persian campaign of Count Zubov. But these short trips did not give him the opportunity to do anything worthy of his name. In 1806, being already a military chieftain, he for the first time led his Don regiments to battles with the French and from that time until the capture of Paris, one might say, did not take his legs out of the battle stirrup, having performed a number of high-profile feats. How popular was then the name of Platov in Europe, can be judged by the following facts. In London, in the general meeting of the estates of the city, it was decided, in gratitude to the great deeds of Platov, to present to him on behalf of the English people a precious saber in a golden artistic setting. On its hilt, on one side, along the enamel, there is a combined coat of arms of Ireland and Great Britain, and on the other - a monogram image of Platov's name, the top of the handle is covered with diamonds, on the scabbard medallions of excellent embossing depict the hero's deeds and glory, on the blade - the corresponding inscription. A large portrait of the chieftain is placed in the royal palace next to the portraits of Blucher and Wellington - these were images of the three main scourges of the French emperor, hated by the British. Under this portrait hangs a painting depicting the famous white horse - the chieftain's faithful and inseparable companion in all battles, painted by order of the Prince Regent by one of the most famous London artists at that time. This horse, in full Cossack attire, Platov, touched by the sympathy of the English people for himself, presented, leaving London, to the prince-regent, as a representative of a powerful state. The handsome Don was admitted to the royal stables and ended his life far from his native steppes. Returning to the Don as a general from the cavalry, a count and with diamond insignia of the St. Andrew's Order, Platov thought to devote the rest of his days to the internal improvement of his homeland. But death was already guarding him, and on January 3, 1818, the venerable chieftain died in his small estate near Taganrog, sixty-seven years old. They say that the legendary hero, broken by a serious illness, uttered the following words in the last minutes: '' Glory! Glory! Where are you? And what are you useful to me now? When he died, envious and careerists, who had become skilled in court intrigues and internal Don squabbles, gave an assessment to the military ataman Matvey Platov as tough and impartial. A large part of the Don Army scolded him - a vain thief, a drunkard. he made a career out of broads … The first wife is the daughter of Ataman Efremov, the second is the daughter of Ataman Martynov. But the wind of time and history scattered the rubbish from his name. And we sympathize with Platov. He is ours, the most glorious of the Cossacks.
Rice. 2 Platov in the era of the Napoleonic wars
Just as during his lifetime Platov did not have to stay in one place for a long time, so after his death his ashes were repeatedly disturbed. Initially, he was buried in Novocherkassk in the family crypt near the Ascension Cathedral. The first reburial was caused by the fact that his grave had been located on Cathedral Square for more than half a century, which was a huge construction site. Since 1806, the military cathedral church has been erected here. It had been built for many years with long interruptions, and when it came to completion, the main dome collapsed. It happened in 1846, and in 1863. the same fate befell the second version of the cathedral. After that, it took a long time to decide what to do: whether to complete the damaged structure or start all over again according to a different project and in a different place. It was then that Platov's relatives turned to Alexander II with a request to transfer the ataman's ashes to the family estate (Maly Mishkin farm). The request was granted, and in 1875 the coffin with the remains of Matvey Ivanovich was placed in the family crypt at the Mishkin Church. The tombstone was also transported there. In 1853, in Novocherkassk, a monument to Platov was erected using public money collected by subscription (authors P. K. Klodt, A. Ivanov, N. Tokarev). In the fall of 1911, Platov's remains returned to the Don capital he founded - Novocherkassk. In the tomb of the Ascension Cathedral built on the third attempt, the famous Don generals V. V. Orlov-Denisov, I. E. Efremov, Ya. P. Baklanov and Archbishop John of Don and Novocherkassk. After October 1917, Platov's grave was desecrated. In 1923, the monument was removed and transferred to the Don Museum, in 1925 a monument to Lenin was erected on the same pedestal. Although the monument to Platov was in the museum's collection, in 1933 it was melted down into bronze bearings. In 1993, the monument to Lenin was dismantled. In May of the same year, the reburial of the surviving remains was performed in the restored tomb of the Ascension Cathedral, and the bronze figure of Platov, recreated by the Moscow sculptor A. V. Tarasenko, took its rightful place. As the saying goes: "Everything is back to square one." I would like to believe that now it is forever. The whole figure, cast in bronze, breathes with energy and strength. “You stand in front of this image for a long time and in thought,” says one traveler, “and the events of the glorious year of 1812 flash in your head, and Zhukovsky's stanzas from his“Singer in the Camp of Russian Warriors”involuntarily come to mind:
… Knight of the Don, Russian army defense, To the enemy of the lasso, Where is our vikhor-ataman?
Rice. 3 Monument to Ataman Platov
Rice. 4 Monument to Ataman Platov in Moscow
Rice. 5 Bust of Ataman Platov in Starocherkassk
