The ancient Russian city of Smolensk, which is located on both banks of the Dnieper, is known from chronicles from 862-863 as the city of the union of the Slavic tribes of the Krivichi (archaeological data speak of its more ancient history). Since 882, the Smolensk land was annexed by Prophetic Oleg to the Russian state. This city and land has written many heroic pages in defense of our Fatherland. It became the main fortress on our western borders, right up to the Great Patriotic War. One of the most famous exploits of Smolensk is the defense of Smolensk in 1609-1611.
It should be noted that after the collapse of the Old Russian state, Smolensk was returned to Russia in 1514 by Grand Duke Vasily III. In 1595-1602, during the reign of Tsars Fyodor Ioannovich and Boris Godunov, under the leadership of the architect Fyodor Kon, the Smolensk fortress wall was built, with a wall length of 6.5 kilometers and 38 towers up to 21 meters high. The height of the strongest of them - Frolovskaya, which was closer to the Dnieper, reached 33 meters. Nine towers of the fortress had gates. The thickness of the walls reached 5-6.5 m, the height was 13-19 m, the depth of the foundation was more than 4 m. These fortifications played a huge role in the defense of the city. The architect introduced several novelties to the already traditional scheme for him: the walls became higher - in three tiers, and not two, as before, the towers are also taller and more powerful. All three tiers of walls were adapted for combat: the first tier, for plantar combat, was equipped with rectangular chambers in which squeaks and guns were installed. The second tier was for medium combat - they built trench-like vaulted chambers in the center of the wall, in which guns were placed. The gunners climbed up to them along the attached wooden ladders. Upper battle - was located on the upper battle area, which was fenced off by battlements. Deaf and fighting teeth alternated. Between the battlements there were low brick floors, because of which the archers could beat from the knee. Above the platform, on which the guns were also installed, was covered by a gable roof.
The turmoil in the Russian state was caused by a complex of reasons, internal and external, one of its reasons was the intervention of the Western powers - Sweden, Poland. Poland initially acted through impostors, detachments of the Polish gentry, who acted at their own peril and risk. But then the Poles decided on direct aggression, taking advantage of the fact that Moscow had concluded an agreement with Sweden (the Vyborg Treaty). The government of Vasily Shuisky promised for help in the fight against the "Tushino thief", give Korelsky district and pay for the services of mercenaries, which consisted of most of the Swedish army. And Poland was at war with Sweden, which became Moscow's ally.
Model of the Smolensk fortress wall.
Forces of the parties, preparation of Smolensk for defense
In the summer of 1609, the Poles began military action against Russia. Polish troops entered Russian territory, and Smolensk was the first city on their way. On September 19, 1609, the advance detachments of the Commonwealth, led by the chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Lev Sapega, approached the city and began a siege. Three days later, the main forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, led by Sigismund III, approached (12, 5 thousand people with 30 guns, the Polish army included not only Poles, but also Lithuanian Tatars, Hungarian and German mercenary infantry). In addition, over 10 thousand came up. Cossacks, led by hetman Olevchenko. The weakness of the Polish army was the small number of infantry, which was necessary for the assault on the fortress - about 5 thousand people.
The garrison of Smolensk in 5, 4 thousand people (9 hundred nobles and children of boyars, 5 hundred archers and gunners, 4 thousand warriors from the townspeople and peasants), led by the voivode Mikhail Borisovich Shein. He distinguished himself in the battle of 1605, near Dobrynichy, when the Russian army inflicted a crushing defeat on the detachments of False Dmitry I. - became the chief governor in Smolensk. The voivode possessed rich combat experience, was distinguished by personal courage, firmness of character, perseverance and perseverance, and had broad knowledge in the military field.
The fortress was armed with 170-200 cannons. Then the inhabitants of the city joined the garrison, the population of Smolensk was 40-45 thousand people before the siege (together with the posad). The ultimatum of the Polish ruler on the surrender of Smolensk was left unanswered, and the Polish messenger who delivered it to the Polish messenger M. B. Shein said that if he still came with such proposals, he would be "given the water of the Dnieper" (that is, drowned).
The cannons of the fortress ensured the defeat of the enemy up to 800 meters. The garrison possessed large stocks of hand-held firearms, ammunition and foodstuffs. In the summer, the voivode began to prepare for the siege when he received information from the agents that the Polish army would be at Smolensk by August 9th. Before the siege, Shein managed to recruit "tributary people" (peasants) and developed a defense plan. According to it, the garrison of Smolensk was divided into two groupings of forces: the siege (2 thousand people) and the outcry (about 3, 5 thousand people). The siege grouping consisted of 38 detachments (according to the number of fortress towers), 50-60 warriors and gunners in each. She was supposed to defend the fortress wall. The vylaznaya (reserve) grouping constituted the general reserve of the garrison, its tasks were sorties, counterattacks of the enemy, strengthening the most threatened defense sectors while repelling the attacks of the enemy troops.
When the enemy approached Smolensk, the posad surrounding the city (up to 6 thousand wooden houses) was burnt out on the orders of the governor. This created more favorable conditions for defensive actions (improved visibility and shelling for artillery, the enemy was deprived of shelters for preparing a surprise attack, dwellings on the eve of winter).
Defense of the fortress
Hetman Stanislav Zolkiewski, who directly led the Polish army, was a man of a very sane mind, therefore he opposed the war, with the Russian state. The Hetman believed that it did not correspond to the interests of the Commonwealth. But his peace-loving reports did not achieve their goal.
After reconnaissance of the fortifications of Smolensk and discussion at the military council of ways to seize the fortress, the hetman was forced to report to King Sigismund III that the Polish army did not have the forces and means necessary for the assault (numerous infantry, siege artillery, etc.). He suggested that the king limit the blockade of the fortress. and the main forces go to the capital of Russia.
But Sigismund made a decision, by all means, to seize Smolensk, and rejected this offer. Fulfilling the royal will, Hetman Zolkiewski ordered to begin the assault on the fortress on the night of September 25. It was planned to destroy the Kopytitsky (western) and Avraamievsky (eastern) gates with explosive shells and break into the Smolensk fortress through them. For the assault, infantry companies of German and Hungarian mercenaries were allocated, for breaking through the gates the best horse hundreds. The garrison was supposed to be distracted by rifle and artillery fire around the entire perimeter of the fortress. She was supposed to create the appearance of a general assault.
But Shein foresaw such a scenario, and all the gates of the fortress were covered in advance by log cabins filled with earth and stones. This protected them from siege artillery fire and possible detonation. Polish miners were able to destroy only the Abraham Gate, but the troops did not receive a conditional signal until they were discovered. The defenders of the eastern wall lit torches when they saw the enemy, they covered the orders that were prepared for the attack with artillery fire. The Polish forces suffered heavy losses and withdrew. The night assault was thwarted.
On September 25-27, the Polish army tried to take the city, the fiercest battles were fought in the north - at the Dnieper and Pyatnitsky gates and in the west - at the Kopytitsky gates. The attacks of the Poles were repelled everywhere, with significant losses for them. An important role in the success of the defense was played by the reserve, which was quickly transferred to the threatened areas.
The defenders of the fortress, simultaneously with the defense, improved the fortification system. The gaps were immediately repaired, the gates, which could be dispensed with, were covered with earth and stones, the log cabins in front of the gates were covered with a guard fence.
After that, the Polish command decided to weaken the defenses of the fortress with the help of engineering work and artillery fire, and then begin a second assault. But the effectiveness of the fire turned out to be low, the Poles had little artillery, moreover, they were low-power cannons, not capable of causing serious damage to the walls of the fortress. The fortress artillery of the Russian garrison inflicted great damage on the Poles and disrupted engineering training. In this situation, the Polish king was forced to abandon the re-assault on the fortress, and from October 5 the Polish army went over to the siege.
Siege. The engineering work of the Poles also did not achieve success, although they were supervised by foreign specialists. Under the foundations of the walls of the fortress there were "rumors" (galleries intended for forays outside the fortress and mine warfare). Voivode Shein ordered to build additional "rumors", to strengthen reconnaissance on the approaches to the fortress and to deploy countermine work.
On January 16, 1610, Russian miners got to the bottom of the Polish tunnel and destroyed the enemy who was there, and then blew up the gallery. Some military historians, for example E. A. Razin, believe that this was the first underground battle in military history. On January 27, the Smolensk miners won another victory over the enemy, the enemy's tunnel was blown up. Soon the Smolensk people were able to blow up another Polish tunnel, proving the futility of waging a mine war against them. Russian soldiers won the underground war of the winter of 1609-1610.
It should be noted that the Russian garrison not only successfully repelled the enemy's attacks and won the mine war, but also made sorties, in which hundreds of soldiers participated, not giving the enemy a quiet life. In addition, sorties were made in order to obtain water in the Dnieper (there was not enough water in the fortress, or the water quality was low), in winter for firewood. During one of the sorties, 6 Smolyans got across the Dnieper by boat, quietly made their way to the Polish camp, captured the royal banner and returned safely to the fortress.
In the Smolensk region, a partisan struggle unfolded, which is not surprising, given the customs of the European armies of that time - supply at the expense of the local population, looting, violence against people. The partisans greatly interfered with the enemy, attacking his foragers, small units. Some groups were very numerous, so in the Treska detachment there were up to 3 thousand people. The outstanding Russian commander of the Time of Troubles, M. V. Skopin-Shuisky, helped in organizing the partisan movement. He sent three dozen military specialists to the Smolensk region in order to form partisan detachments and disorganize the rear of the Poles.
The Klushino disaster and its impact on the defense of Smolensk
The siege of Smolensk pinned down most of the Polish army, this allowed M. V. Skopin-Shuisky to make a number of victories, vast areas in the north-west of the Russian state were cleared of the enemy, the Tushino camp of False Dmitry II was liquidated. And in March 1610, the capital was liberated from the siege. But a little over a month after the triumphant entry into Moscow, the young talented commander, whom many predicted to be the tsars of Russia, died unexpectedly. He died at a time when he was vigorously preparing a campaign to liberate Smolensk. The young commander was only 23 years old.
The command of the army was transferred to the brother of Tsar Vasily Shuisky - Dmitry. In May 1610, the Russian-Swedish army (about 30 thousand people, including 5-8 thousand Swedish mercenaries) led by D. I. Shuisky and Jacob Delagardie set out on a campaign to liberate Smolensk. The Polish king did not lift the siege and sent 7 thousand corps under the command of hetman Zolkiewski to meet the Russian army.
On June 24, in the battle near the village of Klushino (north of Gzhatsk), the Russian-Swedish army was defeated. The reasons for the defeat were the mistakes of senior officers, the complete mediocrity of D. Shuisky personally, the betrayal at the decisive moment of the battle of foreign mercenaries. As a result, Zholkevsky captured the baggage train, treasury, artillery, the Russian army almost completely fled and ceased to exist, the Polish army was strengthened by 3 thousand mercenaries and 8 thousand by the Russian detachment of the governor G. Valuev, who swore allegiance to the king's son Vladislav.
The regime of Vasily Shuisky received a terrible blow and the tsar was overthrown. Boyar government - "Seven Boyars", recognized the power of the Polish prince. The position of Smolensk became hopeless, the hope for outside help collapsed.
Stanislav Zholkevsky.
Continuation of the siege
The situation in Smolensk continued to deteriorate, but the siege, hunger and disease did not break the courage of the townspeople and the garrison. While the forces of the defenders were running out, and there was no help, more and more reinforcements came to the Polish army. In the spring of 1610, Polish troops arrived at the fortress, which had previously served the second impostor. Significant forces from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth also approached. In total, the army received 30 thousand reinforcements and siege artillery. But the garrison was not going to surrender, all attempts of the Poles to persuade the Smolensk citizens to surrender were unsuccessful (they were offered to surrender in September 1610 and in March 1611).
In July 1610, the Polish army resumed active engineering work, at the same time they began to use the received siege artillery and battering mechanisms. Polish engineers laid trenches and began to move towards the tower at the Kopytitsky Gate. The garrison led trenches to counteract the advance of the enemy and were able to destroy part of the enemy's moves. Although the Poles nevertheless reached the tower, all attempts to breach its powerful foundation were unsuccessful.
By 18 July, having concentrated almost all of their siege artillery here, the Poles were able to breach. On the morning of July 19, the Polish army launched an assault on the fortress, which lasted two days. Demonstrative actions were carried out along the entire front of the fortifications, and the main blow, by the forces of German mercenaries, was inflicted in the area of the Kopytitsky Gate (from the west). But the defenders, despite his adversary's desperate efforts, repulsed the attack. The decisive role was played by the reserve units, which were brought into the battle in time.
A fierce battle went on on August 11, the defenders repulsed the third big assault. The Polish army lost up to 1 thousand people only killed. On November 21, the garrison repelled the fourth assault. The main role in repelling the enemy was again played by the reserve. The Polish army suffered significant losses and again went over to the siege, without taking any active action.
Fall of the fortress
The winter of 1610-1611 was very difficult. Cold joined the famine and epidemics that weakened people; there were no longer enough people to go out for firewood. The lack of ammunition began to be felt. As a result, by the beginning of June 1611, only two hundred people survived in the garrison of the fortress, who were able to hold weapons in their hands. This number was barely enough for observing the perimeter. Of the inhabitants of the city, no more than 8 thousand people survived.
Apparently, the Poles did not know about this, otherwise the assault would have begun earlier. The decision on the fifth assault was made by the Polish command only after one defector from the fortress, a certain A. Dedeshin, told about the plight of Smolensk. He also pointed out the weakest point of the defense of the fortress in the western part of the Smolensk wall. In the last days, before the decisive assault, the Polish army subjected the fortifications to powerful shelling. But its effectiveness was low, it was possible to make a small gap only in one place.
On the evening of June 2, the Polish army prepared for an assault. She had complete superiority in strength. At midnight, the troops launched an assault. In the area of the Avraamievsky gate, the Poles were able to imperceptibly climb the walls by assault stairs and break into the fortress. In the place where a breach was made in the wall, hundreds of German mercenaries were met by a small detachment (several dozen soldiers) led by the voivode Shein. In a fierce battle, almost all of them laid down their heads, but did not give up. Shein himself was wounded and captured (he was tortured in captivity, then sent to Poland, where he spent 9 years in prison).
The Poles broke into the city and in the west, blowing up part of the wall. Despite the desperate situation, the Smolensk did not surrender, they continued to fight in the city, a fierce battle in the streets went on all night. By morning, the Polish army captured the fortress. The last defenders retreated to Cathedral Hill, where the Assumption Cathedral towered, where up to 3 thousand townspeople took refuge (mainly old people, women and children, since men fought the enemy). In the basements of the cathedral, the garrison's gunpowder reserves were kept. When the last heroes who defended the Cathedral Hill fell in an unequal battle and the mercenaries, brutalized from the battle, burst into the Cathedral, a terrible explosion thundered, which buried the townspeople and enemies.
Unknown Russian patriots preferred death to captivity … 20-month unparalleled defense ended on a high note. The Russian garrison fought to the end, having exhausted all defensive capabilities. What the enemy could not do was done by hunger, cold and disease. The garrison fell in the battle entirely, from the inhabitants of the city, several thousand people survived.
The value and results of the defense of Smolensk
- The Russian people received another example of how to live and fight, to the end, regardless of sacrifices and losses. Their unshakable fortitude and courage inspired all the peoples of the Russian state to fight the aggressors.
- The Polish army was drained of blood (total losses amounted to 30 thousand people), demoralized, was not capable of throwing itself on Moscow and Sigismund III did not dare to go to the Russian capital, took him to Poland.
- The defense of Smolensk played a huge military-political role in the battle of the Russian state for its existence. The Smolensk garrison, the inhabitants of the city for almost two years fettered the main forces of the enemy, thwarted his plans to occupy the vital centers of Russia. And this created the conditions for a successful national liberation struggle of the Russian people against the interventionists. They did not fight in vain.
- From the point of view of military art, the defense of the Smolensk fortress is a classic example of the defense of a fortified position. It should be noted that the good preparation of Smolensk for defense helped its relatively small garrison, without any outside help, relying only on its own forces and resources, to successfully withstand 4 assaults, a significant number of small attacks, a siege by a numerically superior enemy army. The garrison not only repulsed the assaults, but was able to exhaust the forces of the Polish army so much that even after the capture of Smolensk, the Poles lost their offensive power.
The heroic defense of Smolensk testifies to the high level of Russian military art of that time. This was manifested in the high activity of the garrison, the stability of the defense, the skillful use of artillery, the victory in the underground war against Western military specialists. The command of the fortress skillfully used the reserve maneuver, continuously improving the defense of Smolensk during the conduct of hostilities. The garrison showed a high fighting spirit, courage, sharp mind until the very last moments of defense.
- The fall of the fortress was caused not by the mistakes of the garrison, but by the weakness of the government of Vasily Shuisky, direct betrayal of the national interests of the Russian state by individual elite groups, the mediocrity of a number of tsarist military leaders.
