On June 13, 1723, the Volga Cossack army was formed. It was formed in connection with the creation of the Tsaritsyn fortified border line, with its center in Dubovka, on the right bank of the Volga, north of Tsaritsyn (now Volgograd). It was created mainly from the Don (520 families) and Dnieper Cherkasy (537 families) resettled to the Volga. At that time, the Little Russian Cossacks, who arrived in Russia and lived in the territory of the Don Army and in the Slabozhanshchina, were called Cherkasy.
The army included a small number of city Cossacks who were in the cities of the Tsaritsyn line, and Volga free or "thieves" Cossacks - as they were then called by the tsar's dignitaries. Remaining loyal to the government, these Cossacks were included in the Volga army.
The resettlement of the Don Cossacks was a difficult task for the government. They did not want to move. The Cossack chieftains promised to put up to 2 thousand people on the protection of the Tsaritsyn line, just so that they would not be resettled. The government understood that this could cause a riot, but reasonably decided that it was better to have a permanent army than temporarily arriving troops. Initially, about a dozen applicants were recruited, but at least 1000 were needed. Fearing a Cossack revolt, it was decided to materially interest the resettlement and allocate for this a fairly large amount of money for those times for the initial arrangement. They managed to relocate about 1200 families. The Don sergeant major Makar Persiansky was appointed the army chieftain, who took up the organization of the new Army. For campaigns against nomads and defense, the Volga Army was given 28 guns from the Astrakhan arsenal.
The government assigned the Volga Cossack Host to keep 1,070 Cossacks in permanent service, but usually only 300 mounted Cossacks were kept, who served in different teams along the Volga. In addition, the Volga Cossacks were entrusted with the duty of the post chase along the Volga, which greatly exhausted the horses and people. In 1743, it was ordered to settle in the Volga Cossack towns of the natives and prisoners of the Saltan-ul and Kabardin people, who were baptized. In 1752, separate teams of the Volga Cossacks who lived below Tsaritsyn were united in the Astrakhan Cossack regiment. In addition to the allotment of land, the Volga Cossacks for their service were allowed duty-free trade within the army and the free sale of wine; in addition, they were given gunpowder, a salary, and allowances for the construction of houses. Subsequently, the Volga army was equated to the Don one in terms of its rights.
The army was engaged in guard service on the Tsaritsyn-Kamyshin line, repelling the raids of the Tatars, Kalmyks and Kirghiz. The army was repeatedly involved in service in the Caucasus. With the strengthening of state power in the Orenburg region and the lower reaches of the Volga, as well as in connection with the strengthening of the Orenburg and Astrakhan Cossack troops, the need for the Volga Cossack army disappeared. The government decided to relocate in 1771 517 Volga Cossack families to the North Caucasus. This caused a sharp rejection among the Cossacks. Many of them fled from the Mozdok defensive line back to the Volga. As a result, most of the Volga Cossacks supported the Pugachev revolt of 1773-75. After the suppression of the uprising, it was decided in 1777 to resettle most of the Volga Cossacks to the North Caucasus. Of these, the Mozdok and Volga regiments were organized. Management was carried out by regimental commanders and the army was thus abolished.
In 1832, the Mozdok and Volga regiments became part of the newly formed Caucasian line of the army, in 1860 - Tersky. The Cossacks who remained on the Volga in 1802 formed two villages: Alexandrovskaya (now Suvodskaya Volgograd region) and Krasnolinskaya (now Pichuzhinskaya Volgograd region), became part of the Astrakhan Cossack army. But that is another story.
The army lasted 45 years. For their service to the state, the army was awarded the following insignia:
1732-10-03 - when the Volga army was formed, banners, bunchuk and an incision were awarded;
1738-10-06 - Volga Cossacks were awarded 2 copper 2-pounder cannons with the inscription "Cossacks of the Volga army for their faithful service";
in 1762 - the Volga army was awarded 14 banners with the inscription "I am not afraid of anyone."
This is how the Volga Cossack army ended its small, but very bright history. And the Volga free (or as the tsarist officials called them - "thieves" Cossacks) Cossacks that existed before the creation of the Volga Cossack army, this is a very interesting, bright, but, nevertheless, another story.
