From ancient times, the term “Cossacks” came into use in Russia, which was used in relation to the independent, but always armed population of various sparsely populated suburbs of the state. As a rule, these were immigrants from peasants who fled from the hardships of serfdom, or schismatics, who were persecuted by the state for their religious beliefs. At the place of their settlement, they received a particular name. A vivid example of this is the Volga Cossacks, who, during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, settled on the banks of the great Russian river. Let us dwell on their history.
The first information about the Volga Cossacks
The middle and second half of the 16th century were marked by a massive influx of runaway peasants into the regions of the Middle and Lower Volga. Once away from government troops, they formed communities in which life was based on the principles of local self-government. The first mention of them as Volga Cossacks is found in historical chronicles relating to the conquest of Astrakhan by Ivan the Terrible in 1554.
However, in these documents they are referred to not as local residents, but as immigrants from the Don who were engaged in robbery and robbery in the Zhiguli region. One way or another, but a significant part of this freemen participated in the conquest of Astrakhan and after its accession to Russia remained to serve in the tsarist troops.
Since this period, the history of the Volga Cossacks has a fairly complete documentary coverage. It is known, in particular, that in 1718-1720. their number increased significantly due to the former Moscow archers. After the suppression of the rebellion of 1698, Peter I sent them to various remote areas of the country, but then decided to collect them on the Volga to create the Tsaritsyno watch line. This military formation, staffed by former rebels and supplemented by descendants of participants in the 16th century Astrakhan campaigns, became the basis of the Volga Cossack army that later became famous.
In the service of the Russian Empire
During the reign of Anna Ioannovna, the number of Volga Cossacks significantly increased due to the fact that, by her decree of January 1734, immigrants from the Don were officially assigned to this category, flattered by high salaries and expressed a desire to relocate to the Tsaritsyn and Kamyshin districts. Since that time, the almost forty-year period of relatively calm life of the Cossacks began, successfully combining the border service with worries about their own economy.
From the history of the Volga Cossack army it is known that, according to the order of the military college, it was organized on the same principles as all other military units similar to them. Each Cossack received material assistance from the state to build a house and create their own economy. In addition, a monetary and bread salary was paid, which provided him and his family a comfortable life.
The participation of the Cossacks in the Pugachev Uprising
However, under Catherine II, the time of prosperity ended, and the reason was the empress’s decree on the mass relocation of Cossacks to the Terek to create defensive outposts there on the site between Mozdok and Azov. In 1770 alone, 518 families were forcibly sent to the North Caucasus. The need to leave their homes, ruining the economy established over many years, caused extreme discontent among the Cossacks and entailed very serious consequences.
In 1773, when the uprising of Emelyan Pugachev broke out, almost all of them joined the rebel army. Of these, a separate Dubovsk regiment was formed in those days. When the "senseless and merciless" rebellion was suppressed, and the bloody feast gave way to a heavy historical hangover, the army of the Volga Cossacks was officially abolished. The most active Pugachevites were executed or sent to prison, and the rest were hastily relocated to the Sulfur Caucasus, from where some of them fled and secretly returned to the abandoned lands.
Creation of the Mozdok Regiment
The main task of the former Volzhians, who turned out to be the will of the Empress Empress on the banks of the Terek, was to protect the region from Kabardians, who regularly carried out robbery raids and thereby created an atmosphere of political instability. To this end, the Mozdok Regiment was formed from among the settlers, at the head of which the authorities chose not to appoint an elected military chieftain, as was the tradition of the Cossacks, but sent from the capital to the regimental commander.
In 1777, an attempt was made to increase its membership by including 250 Kalmyks, who, for the sake of the well-being of their families, agreed to convert from Buddhism to Orthodoxy, which was a prerequisite for their admission. Over time, they again turned to the faith of their fathers, but, as exemplary servants, were left in the army. Somewhat later, already at the end of the 90s, by the decree of the military department, the garrison of the Mozdok fortress was also included in the Cossack regiment, which performed tasks related to the defense of the city from raids by the Kabardins.
Further participation of the Cossacks in hostilities
In the same period, due to the increased role of the Mozdok-Azov defensive line, its further development was carried out, and the Volga Cossacks were assigned a very important role in this. On a site with a length of about 200 versts, five villages were built, in which the families of the military personnel of the Mozdok regiment relocated here were settled, the total number of which at that time was more than 500 people. A characteristic feature of these military settlements was that they did not remain in one place for a long time, but constantly moved forward as the regular units of the Russian army conquered the Caucasus.
Since the war in the North Caucasus was of a protracted nature and an ever greater force contingent was required to complete the tasks, in 1832 the Mozdok Cossack Regiment was significantly increased. It included about a thousand residents of villages located along the banks of the Kuma River.
Despite the fact that in this case they were not required to necessarily convert to Orthodoxy, they all served the Russian Tsar with dignity and honestly worked out their salaries. Subsequently, from the Volga Cossacks and those residents of local auls who fought in the same ranks with them, the Terek line army was formed with a headquarters located at first in Pyatigorsk and later transferred to Stavropol.
The fate of the Cossacks remaining on the banks of the Volga
As for the Cossacks, who managed to escape the forcible resettlement to the Caucasus during the reign of Catherine II, and those who managed to secretly return to their homelands, at the beginning of the reign of Alexander I they received official status. All men were recorded in the Astrakhan Cossack regiment, and at the same time formed two large villages - Krasnolinskaya and Aleksandrovskaya. Both of them have survived to the present day and are known as Pichuzhinskaya and Suvodskaya respectively.
In a new and unusual environment
At the new place of service, the stanitsa who grew up among people with whom they were united not only by faith, but also by a common way of life for everyone, found themselves in a very unusual atmosphere. The fact is that the Astrakhan regiment, although it was called Cossack, was formed from people of various nationalities and religions.
It was based on Kalmyks, of which back in 1750, by order of the Senate, a three-hundred-strong armed formation was created. Subsequently, Tatars and representatives of other peoples joined them. Here, immigrants from archers, raznochintsy and Don Cossacks also served. For a complete staffing, kits were made among the residents of the Red Yar and Astrakhan. Unusual was for the Volga Cossacks and a uniform that was different from the one that their fathers and grandfathers were used to wearing.
Defenders of Russian borders
However, gradually adapting to the new environment, they, together with everyone, performed the tasks for which the regiment was formed. Their duties included the protection of the Moscow tract and several nearby salt mines, protection from nomads of Russian settlements, as well as those settlements in which foreigners who had accepted Russian citizenship lived. But their main task was to protect the state border of the Russian Empire, which was passing through here, and to stop any attempts to penetrate into its territory both foreign military forces and various smugglers.