He died at 23, being poisoned by envious people and schemers. If one could characterize his life as briefly as possible, then for this, perhaps, there would be only one word - “service”. Skopin-Shuisky Mikhail Vasilievich (11/08/1586 - 04/23/1610), an outstanding military leader, at the turn of the fate of Russia in the Time of Troubles, turned out to be a man capable of not only bringing her military victories, but also diplomatic victories. His presence inspired the people. People knelt before him and, feeling, kissed the stirrup.
Skopin-Shuisky did not know defeat in the battles, in fact pursuing a foreign policy instead of his ungrateful and ignoble reigning uncle Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky. Maddened by atrocities, fed by fear, the Tsar Boyar took the life of not only his nephew, but also the hope of all of Russia.
The biography of Skopin-Shuisky is the subject of this article.
Prologue. Troubled times
After strangling Ivan the Terrible in 1584 and poisoning his 42-year-old son Fedor in 1598, the royal branch of the Rurikovich was cut short. For the crown - a trump card in the conspiratorial party - the struggle of the boyar clans began: Godunov, Mstislavsky, Romanov, Shuisky. The first royal throne was taken in 1598 by the former oprichnik Boris Godunov.
However, upon reaching adulthood, the tsar was supposed to become the son of the seventh wife of Ivan the Terrible - Dmitry. The unfortunate teenager was threatened with death at the hands of applicants for the throne. So it happened, as subsequently established by Vasily Shuisky, officially conducting the investigation. Dmitry "effortlessly, mortally poked on a knife."
The intrigue of the boyar power struggle continued. The fate of Boris Godunov was also a foregone conclusion. On April 13, 1605, the 53-year-old Tsar Boris, while in good health, having lunch with an appetite, climbed the tower in order to enjoy the view of Moscow. He soon became ill, his nose and throat went bleeding, and he died. This was the handwriting of poisoners from the Shuysky clan. Everything was done so clumsy and obvious that the boyars had to start a rumor, supposedly "the tsar tormented by conscience", he took the poison.
Intrigue King
In the same 1605, the impostor False Dmitry comes to power over Muscovy for six months. The whole story with the liar was originally directed by the Shuiskys and Romanovs. It is no coincidence that Grigory Otrepyev used to be the yard of the Romanovs, and to Lithuania he was accompanied by trusted Shuisky monks. However, in spite of the boyars, False Dmitry ascended by their will to the throne showed himself to be an active monarch who did not want to give up power at all.
The conspirator boyars killed him, and then crowned Vasily Shuisky at his secret council. He vowed to rule nominally, obeying the boyar Duma. At this time, the hero of our article, Prince Skopin-Shuisky, served with his influential cousin Vasily. He guarded him personally and ensures the safety of travel of important people.
The uprising of Bolotnikov
Soon something happened that neither the Shuisky boyars nor the Mstislavsky expected. Cossack Ivan Isaevich Bolotnikov, playing on dissatisfaction with the Cossacks "boyar king", raised an uprising.
Initially, the impostor gathered 12,000 Cossacks, enlisted the support of the governor of Putivl Prince Shakhovsky. The rebels, relying on the masses of the discontented peasantry, set as their goal the capture of Moscow and the overthrow of the boyar Tsar Vasily Shuisky. Smutyanov secretly supported the Commonwealth.
The tsarist army, commanded by the monarch's brother Fedor, was utterly defeated. The Cossack rebel approached Moscow.
The “Polusar”, as Vasily was called by the people, made the only wise decision for his reign: he abruptly changed the court career of his protege, and the nineteen-year-old Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky, like his father and grandfather, became the governor of Moscow.
Moscow defense
Michael was distinguished by his wisdom over the years, he was a tall, strong young man with a direct piercing gaze. From childhood, he trained himself as a warrior, perfectly mastering the archery weapons, combat horse dressage, artillery.
However, he was not deprived of reason. Skopin-Shuisky immediately by appointment showed himself to be a sensitive politician, organizer. It was as if from above it was given to feel the spirit of rati and influence it. By that time, the Moscow army was in a sad state, it did not want to shed blood for the "boyar king". Skopin identified and arrested the main troublemakers: Ivan Troekurov, Yuri Trubetskoy, Ivan Katyrev.
During the siege of the army of Ivan Bolotnikov, which spanned the entire area of ​​the capital, Skopin-Shuisky chose a win-win tactic. The rapid attacks of heavy cavalry created an overwhelming advantage in the attack sectors.
Cossacks and other motley infantry of Ivan Bolotnikov did not have time to prepare their artillery for battle and suffered losses.
Mission in the North
Meanwhile, near Novgorod, there was a real danger of losing territories and the fall of tsarist power. Tsar Vasily sent his nephew Michael there. The voivode, who rode into the northern city, discovered that the situation was extremely ambiguous. Bolotnikov's agents managed to convince some of the local boyars and nobles of the failure of the "czar". The situation was aggravated by the fact that the neighboring cities of Ivangorod and Pskov had already changed Moscow citizenship.
Fortunately, the Novgorod governor Tatishchev remained loyal to the tsar, together with Skopin-Shuisky they developed an action plan. The embassy from Novgorod, led by the Tsar’s missionary, met in talks with the head of the Swedish army Jacob Delagardi, concluding an allied treaty with him against the Commonwealth.
Skopin-Shuisky strengthened the spirit of the Novgorod army, so when the regiments of the Polish gentleman Kozinetsky approached the city walls, hoping for an easy victory, they were met not with open gates, but with cannon volleys from the Novgorod walls. Pan had to return, slanning slightly.
Battle of the Cauldrons
Returning to Moscow, the tsar’s nephew, skillfully maneuvering, forced the army of Ivan Bolotnikov to a decisive battle near the village of Kotly near Moscow on December 2, 1806. In a fierce battle against the Cossack light cavalry, hoping for reserves and expecting from Skopin, as under the walls of Moscow, a counter horse attack, the young commander used tactics unexpected for the rebels.
Instead of saber felling, horse lava was met by volleys of cards. Maneuverable artillery built during the battle in combat order showed its strength (archers called it “walk-field”). Then the system of demoralized swamps was cut along the flank by a directed blow of a heavy cavalry.
The army of the Cossack chieftain who suffered losses, avoiding encirclement, retreated through Serpukhov to Kaluga. However, M.V. Skopin-Shuisky continued to embody his offensive strategy of continuous raids. In June 1607, on the Voronya River, three of his regiments broke through the line of defense of the troublemakers, who retreated to Tula and settled there.
The capture of Tula
The city with good walls, food and weapons depots was a tough nut for the royal rati. And Ivan Bolotnikov, a man of action, did not resemble a whipping boy. Skopin-Shuisky tried to storm it, but received a rebuff.
The king’s nephew understood the advantages of the position of the defenders, their artillery. He imitated a siege, realizing a different, more cunning plan. The commander Skopin Shuisky ordered secretly upstream of the river on which Tula stood to erect a dam. When the water level rose, it was destroyed. The defenders were flooded with artillery depots and accessories. The subsequent assault on Tula was a success. The horde of Bolotnikov was over.
However, an even greater threat loomed over the royal throne in Moscow.
False Dmitry II. War with the Commonwealth
The Polish magnates, seeing the weakness of Muscovy, did not leave any hope of depriving them of their sovereignty. The idea of ​​a new campaign did not have to search long. Thus appeared False Dmitry II, a protege of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a man insignificant and controlled - a cover for a trip to Moscow. The basis of the troops, which performed a fictitious mission, was the regiments of Sapieha and Ruzhinsky, numbering 14,000 soldiers. Cossack detachments of Trubetskoy and Zarutsky (former in the army of the first False Dmitry) joined them. At first this army was advancing towards Tula in order to unite with Bolotnikov, but did not have time.
Tsar Vasily sent Skopin-Shuisky to help the Novgorod and Swedish allies.
In May 1609, the Russian-Swedish army of Skopin and Delagardi, moving towards Moscow, began to push the gentry. He was joined by regiments of the governor of Smolensk Shein.
The interventionists were driven back from Staraya Rusa, Toropets. In the battle of Tver, the tactical talent of the monarch's nephew was fully manifested. Voivode Zborovsky, who believed his deceitful maneuver, lost about 5,000 troops.
However, after such brilliant victories, the union of Jacob Delagardi and Skopin-Shuisky broke up. The Swedes were indifferent to the political goals of Muscovy, they were interested in trophies. Together with the Russian army, the regiment of Christer Somme remained, a fifth of the allied rati. Thus, the Russian army was inferior to the interventionists in numbers, but maintaining a unified strategy for Prince Mikhail was more important.
General
Skopin-Shuisky at that time was very popular among the people, because after he, having stopped at Kalyazin, sent messengers, reinforcements and money began to come to him from everywhere from the communities and monasteries. Meanwhile, the commander successfully trained a motley incoming army to battle according to the Swedish model, achieving discipline and skill. With a lack of cavalry, the emphasis was on bristling guns of the walk-city. The infantry learned to deprive the cavalry of maneuver and suppress by fire.
Under the leadership of Skopin-Shuisky, a battle took place near Kalyazin near the Trinity Monastery (Makaryev) with forces equal to him by the army of the gentry Jan Sapegi and Zborowski. The interventionists attacking the battle order of the Muscovites suffered significant losses during the seven-hour battle and retreated.
The Russians moved forward, having conquered Pereyaslav-Zalessky and Alexander's settlement. They intensified: the Moscow governor spent the money granted by the monasteries on the mercenaries of Delagardi.
Meanwhile, the Poles regrouped. 20 thousand selected Sapegi troops opposed Skopin-Shuisky. However, the battle on the Karin field ended in victory for the Russians and Swedes. They stoically withstood the crazy frontal attack of the Polish hussars, holding them back with wooden and land fortifications, so that they could then overturn them with flank attacks.
The defeat of Sapieha’s troops
The victories of Skopin-Shuisky forced the Polish king Sigismund III to show his true face and declare war on Muscovy, on the throne of which he decided to plant Prince Vladislav. He sent his army to the main bridgehead of Muscovy - Smolensk.
However, the greatest danger was not the royal army, but the army of Sapega, located dangerously close to Moscow, near Tushin (hence the historical nickname of False Dmitry II - “Tushino thief”). However, Prince Michael did not leave the enemy alone. The sorties of the Skopinsky governor even before the arrival of the main army forced the Poles to retreat from Tushin to Dmitrov.
In February 1610, Skopin-Shuisky Mikhail Vasilyevich launched a decisive battle to release Moscow. His swift commander’s actions - to match the later military leader of Russia, Suvorov. In the shortest possible time, he forms a ski regiment of archers, who, thanks to an unexpected high-speed maneuver, destroy the forward outpost of the Poles and deploy guns in the opposite direction. Immediately (this was February 20), the Russian army, which arrived in time without loss, immediately overturns the army of Sapega, destroying most of it. The surviving gentry run under Smolensk in order to unite with the royal army.
Instead of a conclusion
Victoriously ending the winter campaign of 1610, the boyar and governor-prince M.V. Skopin-Shuisky in glory returns to Moscow. He was cheerful and cheerful, foreseeing a decisive campaign on Smolensk.
The boyars are shocked: this young fair-haired and mighty Russian god of war uses such a popular love that he never dreamed of. In it, they see a more obvious competitor to their power than the gentry. The villainy lurked in the plans of the family of Tsar’s brother Dmitry, claiming the throne. He deliberately generates rumors that Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky wants to become a monarch. The “Hemisphere”, being himself a villain by nature, authorizes the murder of his nephew.
Skopin-Shuisky is warned of danger by his friend, the Swede Jacob Delagardi, persuading him to start an anti-Polish company in early spring. However, the young hero is in no hurry.
It was certain that his assassination had been planned in advance. He was appointed during the baptism of the newborn son of Prince Vorotynsky. Skopin-Shuisky was invited to be the godfather, and his poisoner (the wife of Tsarevich Dmitry Ekaterina, the daughter of Malyuta Skuratov) - the godmother. Everything was decided by the glass of wine brought by her. Symptoms of poisoning were similar to those manifested by Boris Godunov. However, the mighty body of Prince Michael for another two weeks tried to resist the deadly poison.
So the Shuysky brothers, distraught from atrocities, destroyed with their own hands a man who could save their dynasty, which was Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky. Brief but vibrant was his life. Upon his death, all of Moscow dressed in mourning, mourning a truly national hero. The Swedish knight Delagardi lamented that nowhere, neither in Russia nor in his homeland would he meet his best friend.
The hero’s uncles, his murderers, who had neither the talent to rule Muscovy nor lead her army, were soon captured by the Poles, and the capital city was shamefully taken without a fight.