The first relations of the Russians with the Trans-Kuban tribes were hostile

The first relations of the Russians with the Trans-Kuban tribes were hostile. The Grand Duke Svyatoslav in 964 sent his militia to the Kuban, to the yas, who lived beyond this river. At the beginning of the XI century, Mstislav Udaloy came with Russian squads to the Kuban, defeated the Khazars and founded the Tmutarakan principality.

The Turks used all their influence through mullahs and agents to turn the Circassian tribes against us; and stubborn resistance was the main spring of the success with which a hostile spirit against Russia spread in a short time through the gorges of the Caucasus. In our last war with the Turks, the capture of Anapa, the only point that supported their constant relations with the mountaineers, completely destroyed their influence on the tribes that lived along the Black Sea coast. The failure of the Ottoman Port to fight us dropped it in the minds of warlike savages. Quite a significant exchange trade between them with the Anatolian Turks in Anapa ceased. Our firm position in this fortress and a strong garrison made it a formidable point for the northern tribes who lived along the seashore and in the foothills of the Caucasian ridge.

Merchants who settled in Anapa with special

advantages and privileges, they started an exchange trade with the mountaineers, but as they could not supply them with lead, gunpowder, sabers and muzzles for firearms, the Circassians resumed smuggling relations with the inhabitants of Anatolia and Rumelia; they decided to send their ships across the whole sea to Constantinople with slaves. In addition, they attacked merchant ships with armed chikcherma that were stagnant off the Caucasian coast or were thrown aground; plundered goods, burned ships and took people prisoner. 

All these reasons prompted our government to pay strict attention to the North-Eastern coast of the Black Sea, and in 1830, due to the imperially approved design of Count Paskevich of Erivansky, we began occupation of the most important points along the entire space of this coast from Anapa to Gagra.

In front of the camp in the roadstead there were part of the ships of the cruising squadron, along with chartered and other merchant ships (eyewitness account I.I.Zelyoniy).

On May 30 th 13 ships were anchored peacefully. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon on May 30, a swell from the south-west appeared and SW blew out after it. Knowing the danger of anchorage at Tuabse in this wind, some ships began to prepare to go out to sea, others were preparing to hold it at anchor, but at the very beginning of taking precautions, one might say, they already became useless, for the wind was fresh with such rapidity, that at 4 o'clock in the afternoon a storm was already roaring, and the merchant ships began to drift one after another. Seeing the dangerous situation of our ships, Mr. Raevsky stretched an ambulance chain along the bank in case of an accident and was especially worried about not throwing any ship onto the Circassian bank on the other side of the Tuabse River. Why did he order two battalions to cross to the other side of the river and occupy the mountain commander of the mouth?

The "Luch" tender and the "Themistocles" brig had the misfortune to get into the mouth of the Tuabse River, where they were thrown to the Circassian bank. It was then that the crews of these ships, subject to all the ferocity of the elements, had to endure more and

the ferocity of the savages. The Circassians made an ambush for the launch thrown towards them and under its protection inflicted severe harm on the sailors. Several people from the brig and the tender were killed by Circassian bullets and sabers. 

On the opposite bank of the river, a battery was set up, which protected several needy sailors, but even here the Circassians desperately rushed at our sailor and, carried away by predation, even rushed to the brig for prey. About half a day on May 31st, after many unsuccessful attempts, our troops succeeded in crossing to the opposite bank of the river. Then the Circassians were driven away, the mountain commanding the mouth of the river was occupied, and the crews of the "Luch" tender and the "Themistocles" brig were given immediate assistance.

Until now, I have not said a word about the steamer Jason. He also died, but not in the same way as other ships.

Besides G. Dankov, Lieutenant Befani, Warrant Officer Gorbanenko and 43 sailors drowned from the ship. And so in one night more than 50 people, five military and eight merchant ships were killed at Tuabse.

Some of them were ready to sail to Sevastopol in a day, others were already filming at sea.

Major General Raevsky concludes his report on this misfortune to the Minister of War: “I am not a sailor, but the following reasoning belongs to everyone: if at least one of the 13 ships standing here were saved, then one would think that others would not took proper measures for salvation, - but they all died ... and so on..."

That is why the raid of the Velyaminovsky fortification makes an unpleasant impression on the sailors caught by the sea wind off this coast.

In the spring of 1840, the garrison of the Velyaminovsky fortification suffered

perfect defeat by the mountaineers.

The Circassians, inspired by the first successful capture of Fort Lazarev at the end of February, attacked the Velyaminovsky garrison at night by surprise; without resistance they burst into the officers' wings and barracks of the 1st company, took away their guns and pistols, and bandaged the half-asleep garrison under drafts. Meanwhile, the second company managed to line up and stood for a long time under the gun, waiting for the company commander and not knowing what to decide on; finally seeing that more and more enemies are arriving, but there are no officers, the soldiers rushed after the sergeant major into the blockhouse and locked themselves. The Circassians, having plundered everything in the fortification, surrounded them and demanded surrender.

The second company only responded with shots. Then the highlanders surrounded the blockhouse with brushwood and called the garrison to freedom. But he didn't move. The flames engulfed the building. For a long time, the soldiers maintained a heroic silence. Several voices shouted: “Let us die, brothers, but not surrender. But not everyone was available this feeling. Those standing in front of the doors of the blockhouse, seeing it engulfed in flames, opened them and surrendered first, and the wild revenge of the predators fell over them. The rest were bandaged and taken to the mountains. Such was the unfortunate lot of the Velyaminovsky garrison.

In the month of May of the same year, this point was again occupied by General Raevsky. The Circassians watched from the heights for all the formidable movements of the landing, but did not attempt to interfere with the occupation of Tuabse. 

A beautiful fortification was erected at the same place. Towers and blockhouses fire at him and are separated from the shaft by a rifle shot.

18 guns protect the fortification itself; in addition, there are two guns in each tower and one gun in the blockhouse. The garrison consists of 800 line battalions, 90 artillerymen and 18 Cossacks. Here artillery reserves are preserved for all fortifications of the 2nd branch lying below Tuabse.

A strong and good fortification device, and its strong garrison are inaccessible to the highlanders. Several times recently, exhausted by hunger or incited by those sent from Shamil, the Circassians gathered

in large crowds on the heights surrounding Tuabse, but they never approached the line of a cannon shot, because Major Krylov, the commandant of the fortification, does not regret canshot and cannonballs and keeps a line of predatory neighbors.

- Fort Lazarev.

Two remarkable mountains - Noisy and Gotay, towering above the coast, recognize the vast plain of Psizuape, irrigated by the river of the same name and surrounded by groves of a timber forest.

The Psizuape Valley was occupied in 1839 by General Raevsky as a place especially capable of preventing and repelling the warlike Circassian tribe that lived here, and which still nourishes irreconcilable enmity towards the Russians for the capture of their beautiful valley.

The breed of these Circassians, I think, is the best in the world, and there is no people who could compare with them in bodily beauty, courage, temperance, patience, dexterity, daring courage. Of the civic virtues, they observe only hospitality against strangers, that is, security in the auls - one cannot rely on their other qualities.

Maybe they have them and observe their own rules in relations with others, with fellow believers - but against us, the blackest treachery is considered by them not only permissible, but commendable and glorious. They are remarkably brave, with a passion for the war they produce raids; and most of all they love wild will.

They are all well armed; the poorest, covered in rags, has a rifle and a dagger in good order. They shoot with amazing accuracy; daggers are thrown in extreme cases, and never surrender.

One science, one art, which they indulge in from an early age, is swordsmanship, and it does not consist in their skill in repelling drafts, but in the skill of inflicting deadly ones, which they achieve to the highest degree.

Such neighbors surround the Psizuape valley and they set the first example in 1840 for the destruction of four fortifications along the coastline. Here are the words of one of the garrison officers about the unfortunate

extermination of Fort Lazarev: its commandant was in short relations with one of the closest Circassian princes, and often took him to himself.

In early February, the commandant invited him to a garrison holiday. During the feast, he walked with him along the fortification. The prince took this opportunity to count the number of bayonets in the barracks, and as there were many sick people and their guns were removed, no more than 200 bayonets appeared on his face.

On the next day of the holiday, the Circassians drove away all the garrison cattle.

Upon learning of this, the commandant became perturbed, under the guise of friendship, invited the prince and demanded that he immediately return the cattle with the release of the main predators; otherwise, he threatened to burn out all his auls and detain him himself. The Circassian prince responded so boldly and proudly to his threats that the commandant, driven out of patience by the insolence of his friend, ordered the Cossacks immediately unfasten him with whips and so escort him by the shaft.

This violation of the hospitality rules was the spark for the destruction of the four garrisons on the line.

The offended prince vowed with the sword of his great-grandfather to adequately avenge the dishonor inflicted on him; immediately gathered up to 3000 highlanders and three days later made a nightly, desperate attack on Fort Lazarev.

Most of the artillerymen lay in the infirmary and the artillery acted so badly that it allowed more than 1000 people to break into the fortification from two faces at once. The garrison took up a gun, but the highlanders did not let him line up and, with geeks and swords, rushed to the bayonets. The soldiers mingled, and the Circassians arrived every minute.

In the hand-to-hand dump, the number took up, and the entire insignificant garrison lay in place, mercilessly hacked by the highlanders. Some of the patients were taken to the mountains. The commandant, after a long resistance, was dragged onto the rampart and, cut with sabers, was buried in the ground.

With such fierce and savage ferocity, the capture of the first fort on the line on February 9, 1840 is captured.

A terrible picture was presented to us by the interior of the fortification, when it was reoccupied in May of the same year. The buildings were burned out, torn down and some of the mutilated and decapitated corpses of the fallen garrison were left on the terrible ruins. Immediately they collected these corpses and their parts, all up to

united, and at the church parade of the active detachment, the burial and a warm, unanimous prayer "for the brothers who were killed in the battle" were performed.

Its location on the plain presents him with sufficient benefits for successfully repelling the mountaineers, and with the strict vigilance of the garrison and the serviceability of the artillery, it is resolutely inaccessible to them.

During the second occupation of the fort, all the prisoners taken on the line were bought from the highlanders. There were up to 25 of them, and five poods of salt were paid for each. So little the Circassians value a person. They do not understand the use of someone who cannot draw a sword or dagger for them, and, despite this, they constantly fought among themselves for prisoners, and took them away from one another.

However, the prisoners did not complain about their cruelty in their treatment. On the contrary, they said that on the second day of their arrival in the auls, the foreman appeared with an interpreter, who made the Circassians swear that they will not beat and harm the prisoners. They made a vow in this, prostrating themselves to the ground. Then they demanded the same oath from the prisoners that they would not secretly act against the mountaineers and would not look for opportunities to escape.

Under strict supervision, they served in their saklyas as workers and complain of one grief - the deadly hunger, from which they were all emaciated.

Among these redeemed ones, there was one particularly remarkable person. 37 years old, with a big beard, with a timid look and strange grips, he did not look like a Russian, but was truly Russian. His father, a Zakuban Cossack, together with his mother were taken to the mountains more than 40 years ago. He was born already in captivity, and since he became

to understand himself, he was looking for an opportunity to run for the Kuban with his father or to be ransomed, but always unsuccessfully.

He was a shepherd, a worker, and a craftsman among the mountaineers: he corrected the sakli, helped them in all household chores, but he could never learn to shoot well, or to wield a saber. From a young age, his father did not give him a weapon, and then he himself did not want to take on him, despite the fact that the Circassians often laughed at him, and the Circassians scolded him. Fear of being forced to act against the Russians, was the first thought of his father, and he often told him about it. A year before his ransom, he lost his father and mother in one spring, and then it became hard for him among the highlanders. He fell ill and stopped working, and this was the reason for his release from captivity.

His garrison under the command of Major Vittort consists of two companies of a line battalion, 50 artillerymen with 12 guns and 18 Cossacks. Recently, all the troops on the coastline that make up the garrisons are constantly trained in the action of artillery, so that any officer can command the battery, and each soldier act at the gun.

The present position of the fort is secured against the Circassian raids, because, no matter how brave they are, they mean nothing against our infantry, backed by artillery, because their attacks are usually made without unity, luckily, and without general consideration.

- Fort Golovinsky.

Fort Golovinsky is located in the Subashi hollow and opens from a distance with an elevation at the very coast, which appears in the form of a trapezoid and is covered with dense forest.

Subashi was occupied by General Raevsky in 1839, and the garrison of the Golovinsky fortification is remarkable mainly for its work in July 1844. At the end of this month, the Circassians, incited by those sent from Shamil, vowed to destroy the Golovin garrison, and with a young moon, as with new happiness, up to 7,000 people gathered and surrounded the fort.

The commandant Yanchin had been notified by the spy about the impending attack a week earlier, and with his usual composure said that he was always ready to beat the mountaineers. And exactly, that night, as before, the artillerymen stood on the rampart and the reserve under the gun. But both those and others, as if infected with the indifference of their chief, doubted the determination of the mountaineers to attack and, as the consequences showed, they did not guard them quite vigilantly.

The night of the attack was dark, with the wind, very conducive to the enterprise of the Circassians, and they performed it boldly, and with an unprecedented tactics. Hunters, including 500 people, in dead silence crawled under the very rampart. At dawn several rifle bullets whistled and the same number of sentries lay on the shaft. Then a sure volley from one side put in place up to half of the gunners. Following that, well-aimed quick fire from the other face drove the others off the rampart and shot the reserve. 

At that moment, the entrenched Circassians screeching ran onto the rampart, took an insignificant reserve into the checkers, soon they scattered it, and satisfied with their success, rushed to rob the tseikhhaus, shops and a church. And other crowds climbed the shaft. It seemed that the fortification had been taken. But Major Yanchin was of the wrong opinion. 

The Circassians burst in so quickly and unexpectedly that the grenadier company

lodged at the bottom of the fort, barely had time to get ready for the gun, as already predatory guests fled through the yards for prey. But as soon as the grenadiers lined up, the officers stopped the fleeing reserve, and the commandant appeared in front of the formation. When the major himself, in front with a bayonet, led the grenadier with bayonets, and this living wall moved after the commandant - then everything took a different turn. 

The Circassians, busy with robbery and already caught in quarrels among themselves for booty, fell under the sabers of the Cossacks. Other grenadiers on bayonets threw crowds behind the fortress on

approaching the shaft and pursued with rapid fire. They immediately took possession of the guns, which the enemy not only did not use, but also forgot about them. Confusion among the highlanders became common. 

Chased behind the shaft, they went on the attack again, but this time buckshot threw them back with even greater damage. Leaving about a hundred bodies in the fortification, and moreover around the rampart, they did not abandon their intention; all day and all night they surrounded the fort and prepared for a desperate attack, according to the denunciations of the scouts. 

But the garrison

I was awake under arms and was never stronger, I never felt so much my strength and superiority over the highlanders, as after this bold, dashing deed. (Phillipson's story two days after the case).

The next morning a ship of the line appeared at sea. He was rushing under full sail straight to Subashi.

Just below the breaker near the shore, he dropped anchor and spring; sent a strong landing to the fortification, opened his batteries and put forward 42 vents. It was the ship Silistria. On the same day, the mountaineers dispersed along the gorges and did not show up again.

The garrison, consisting of 600 people, protects the Golovinsky fort and is called invincible here. The new commandant, his lieutenant colonel Bankovsky, has already marked his appointment with similar courageous reflection of 8 thousand highlanders in November 1846.

- Navaginskoe fortification.

In a vast valley on the western side of the Socha-Psta River lies the Navaginsky fortification.

The occupation of this place was necessary, because the Turks carried out the most active smuggling with the mountaineers near the Sochi River and were engaged in sea robberies.

The capture of Sochi in 1838 was one of the most difficult and serious

lines. 

Many Russians lay down during the landing, and between them our brave Zmiev, naval artillery officer, with heroic dedication defended his weapon. When all the servants fell around him, he did not stopped loading the gun itself and reflected the enemy successfully, while the blood from the wounds did not exhaust him, but even then the invincible moral strength did not leave him.

He grabbed the gun with one hand and, with a saber in the other, prepared to defend, waiting for reinforcements. The mountaineers who had flown in shredded it with bayonets on the gun itself, but after them the Cossacks arrived, took the gun away from them, and this was the last earthly reward for the brave Zmiev. Death is enviable for an artilleryman.

In 1838, during the construction of the Navaginsky fortification in the last days of May, on that disastrous night in which 13 ships were wrecked at the Tuabsa River, the misfortune in Sochi was even worse.

Major General Simborsky was here with his camp. In the roadstead there was a 60-gun frigate "Varna", a 24-gun corvette "Mesemvria" and seven merchant ships.

An hour later, they learned from a sailor who sailed that two versts from the frigate beyond Cape Socha-Bytkh the corvette "Mesemvriya" would be thrown ashore (information from the lieutenant Skorobogatov, who was under General Simborsk).

Details of this crash have not survived. Only the consequences are known. Highlanders like Caucasian eagles flocked from all sides over

perishing, and attacked the corvette, the frigate and the camp at the same time.

The orders of General Simborsky and the actions of his detachment were unsuccessful.

He lost more than 200 people in the camp in one hour, and at the same time provided very little help to the distressed teams.

The crew of the Mesemvriya corvette escaped with weapons in hand and, under the command of the commander, successfully retreated to the camp and made it without significant loss.

Such a noble concept of your duty in a moment of imminent danger, between breakers and bloodthirsty predators,

worthy of a brave sailor. But he paid dearly for his generosity.

He was taken prisoner with everyone who remained on the corvette and taken to the mountains for a long time. The frigate's crew also escaped, but not all. 

More than 30 people died under sabers and in the surf, and the frigate "Varna", beaten in breakers and robbed by the highlanders, burned the same night in view of our entire camp!

The detachment near Sochi only managed to save a chartered ship with bulls assigned to the camp of the head of the coastline, gene. Raevsky, and thrown out to General Simborsky, who took the bulls and Raevsky notified about this with his attitude.

"It is a pity," Nikolai Nikolayevich answered him, "that you got my bulls, and not the mountaineers, because then I would have taken them away, and now I remain only with the attitude of Your Excellency and without bulls."

A remarkable wreck happened on the same night with the merchant ship "Nikolay". He was thrown ashore 15 versts above the camp. The ship's crew escaped. 

The skipper, a Slav by birth, took with him only a saber and an image

Nicholas the sea, patron of his ship, and with faith in the sword and the miracle worker led his brethren to the camp; at 14 o'clock, he made a difficult transition 15 versts along a dug and steep bank, hiding during the day from Circassians in impassable gorges.

He was considered dead, when suddenly on the third day he crawls to the camp and so skillfully that the sentry noticed him already at

the chain itself and did not hesitate to put a bullet at him. The bullet hit in the right leg, despite the fact that the old soldier jumped briskly to his feet and shouted: "Shoot, I'm Russian, and I've already sniffed."

- Strengthening the Holy Spirit.

At a distance of 13 miles from Sochi, the Mzyumta River flows into the sea in two branches, and on its northern side, on the low-lying sandy shore, the fortification of the Holy Spirit is visible.

The mountains recede far inward from this coast, and the remarkable jagged mountain Nugayguse rises above them in the direction of the fortification.

This point is occupied in 1838 by Gen. Raevsky (an obvious mistake, because Adler was occupied in 1837 by Baron Rosen and General Simborsky), after the fierce resistance of the Abdzakhs, who bravely defended every hill, every bush of their dwelling. Here was a glorious den of coastal predators and the residence of the strong and hereditary princes of Ared, above the Abdzakh or Abaza tribes that inhabited both banks of the Mezyumta River.

But as soon as the chikcherma approached with a strong swell under the schooner's cheekbone, and her nose rose, the Khersonian blinked at the guys to give the anchor. He flew over the heads of the main heap and broke through the front part of the chikcherma, plunged into the water with it. 

A huge stone, successfully launched on a grand scale after supplemented the sudden defeat of the predators, and the hoarse guys with raised axes and clubs, led to such confusion the rest, that everyone who had the strength and presence of mind rushed to the shore by swimming.

Such failures and gross ignorance in maritime affairs, little by little cooled the spirit of piracy in the Abdzakhs, and now, with the institution

serviceable cruising, and after occupying the mouths of the Mezyumta, he completely froze, so to speak.

The seaside life and frequent intercourse with foreigners somewhat lessened the savagery of the Abdzakhs, but the daring and greed for prey was still fully preserved.

All prisoners from the mountains were brought mostly to strengthen the Holy Spirit and taken from the corvette "Mesembria" were also redeemed here.

Lieutenant Zorin, who spent a long time in captivity with the Abdzakhs, talked a lot about this tribe. At first they treated him cruelly, considered him an important person and demanded a ransom for him for the weight of silver.

At feasts they made him drink in honor of their princelings, and when he refused, they put a chain around his neck and chained him to a post so that he had to stand on tiptoe so as not to be strangled.

The boys at the same time teased him, mocked him and pulled the chain, which greatly tormented him.

It was finally bought out for 1000 rubles. silver.

The Abdzak tribe is wealthier and more numerous than its neighbors. Ruins of ancient buildings, inscriptions on stones, coins and old books, which they respect as shrines, are found in their glades and in the gullies. 

No violence, no fight is produced at these remnants of antiquity, and a criminal who has taken refuge in such a temple avoids persecution while he is in it. Princes have a strong influence over the Abdzakhs, only those who are rich and keep many bridles and vassals with them. Elders here are respected by all without exception. 

They refer to mullahs only in empty cases, but all important grave cases and crimes are decided by foremen in auls.

Blacksmiths are also in high esteem, and forges sometimes replace the place of the court. Respect for blacksmiths has been based among the highlanders for a long time ... (unfortunately, a page of the manuscript is missing).....

Highlanders are rarely at home. With the first rays of the sun, the abzekh rises and as soon as he opens his eyes, grabs the saber: uncovers it, examines it, wipes it, tastes the blade with his tongue, looks into it and, finally, calmly puts it in the sheath. This is his first morning duty, his prayer.

Later the inspection and cleaning of the rifle and the horse follows, after which he immediately leaves the house, a friend himself, or a third himself, taking on the road only a bag of millet.

Where is he going? He rarely knows it himself. Not to hunt, because the mountaineers do not do it. They eat birds reluctantly. They don't like to waste lead and gunpowder on wild animals. Only old people and cripples fish in rivers.

Abdzakh sets out to hunt: drive away a few heads of cattle from our fortification or from a neighboring tribe, throw a lasso on a horse that he has long in mind, and if he is lucky, then tear off his caftan or a weapon from a person, and from a Russian to tear off his head. Sometimes he gallops to a place designated for a raid, for a general attack; but the mountaineers do not like such gatherings, for success is followed by inevitable skirmishes over the division of the booty, and after failure, again quarrels over unnecessary losses. 

And therefore the Abdzakhs reluctantly, they fight in large masses for plunder, and in small groups, three or five people each, scour the Caucasian forests and gorges.

The strengthening of the Holy Spirit is remarkable on the line by the first passage of ground forces across the mountains and gorges, which was made in 1841 by Mr. Anrep with the participation of a squadron of K. Stanikovich from this point to the fortification

Navaginsky.

"On the fortifications located along the coast from Anapa to Gagra,

and about the mountain tribes adjacent to them.

Notes of the lieutenant of the battleship "Silistria" I.N. Sushcheva (Sushcheva)".