Malakhov Kurgan is a strategically important height located in Sevastopol on the Ship side. It became famous after the Crimean War, when Russian troops heroically defended it in confrontation with the French and the British. It was in the years 1854-1855. In 1942, fierce battles with the Nazi invaders again unfolded in these places. Now the mound is part of the city, it is one of the most visited places in Sevastopol.
Where did the name come from?
The name Malakhov Kurgan appeared for the first time in 1851. It was documented on the general plan of Sevastopol. Today, in the archive of the Navy you can find documents that confirm the version that the mound is named after Mikhail Mikhailovich Malakhov.
This was the captain of the Russian army, who moved to Sevastopol from Kherson in 1827. He settled on the Ship side, where he commanded a company of the 18th working crew. In a short time, Malakhov became known throughout the district, having gained a reputation as a fair and honest leader who adequately treated the lower ranks. His house was right next to the mound. He was always open to petitioners who came to him with controversial questions and problems. Over time, the name of the captain began to be called the entire mound.
Barrow History
The famous Malakhov mound in Sevastopol became during the Crimean War. Significant events here took place in the summer of 1854, when a defensive bastion was built on the southeast slope. The funds were raised by the residents themselves, the engineer Starchenko supervised the work. The bastion, which later became known as Kornilovsky, still exists today.
In October, the enemy was at the walls of Sevastopol. It was a united army of the British, French and Turks. October 5 bombardment began immediately from the sea and from land. On that day, the British managed to partially destroy the third defense bastion. A huge number of shells were fired, but large-scale destruction on the Malakhov Kurgan did not happen. The fortifications were quickly restored and new ones were built.
Bastion on the Ship side
As part of the military campaign of 1854, it was possible to build the main bastion on the Ship side. He enters the fourth line of defense. Until 1855, he was commanded by Rear Admiral Istomin. That year, nine batteries and 76 guns stood in defense of the bastion. Malakhov Kurgan in Sevastopol was protected by a number of reliable fortifications.
During the Crimean War, it became obvious to everyone that it was here that the main hostilities would unfold. It should be recognized that the loss of part of Sevastopol by Russia did not mean defeat in the Crimean War. After all, most of the Crimea has retained its combat effectiveness, the Russian army entrenched in the north of the city. The military leader Gorchakov, referring to the troops, noted that Sevastopol chained the soldiers and officers to their walls, but they were ready to meet the enemy with their breasts and defend their native land.
The defeat of the Russian army
By 1855, it became apparent that Russian troops were defeated by the Allied army, even despite a significant numerical superiority. One of the decisive battles took place at Inkerman. There is a widespread opinion that one of the key reasons for the defeat was the superiority of the enemy in technical terms. The French and British were much better armed, they had rifled trunks. True, some historians refute this, claiming that Russian soldiers had threaded fittings. At least they were armed with some units.
The fighting for Malakhov Kurgan was fierce. But nevertheless, by the summer of 1855, the whole of Sevastopol was in a tight ring, underwent massive shelling. Eyewitnesses stated that over the course of several August days, fire was continuously fired continuously from eight hundred guns. Every day there were about a thousand dead from the Russian side, by the end of August the intensity of the shelling weakened, but still the garrison daily suffered losses, from five hundred to eight hundred people were killed and wounded.
Siege of the barrow
On August 24, an intensified siege of the Malakhov mound in Sevastopol began, which even silenced Russian artillery on the mound itself and on the second defense bastion of the city. After the completion of the artillery preparation, both Sevastopol and the mound were almost a pile of debris and ruins. It was simply not possible to fix something or restore.
On August 27, the enemy conducted another intensified artillery bombardment, after which the assault on the Malakhov Kurgan began. The Russians showed massive resistance, but still, after half an hour, the French were able to master the defensive redoubts. Malakhov Kurgan, a photo of which is in this article, was taken.
At the same time, it was possible to repel the enemy attack at most other points, but further defense of the city became meaningless from a military point of view after the fall of the mound.
Abandoned city
After this failure, the southern part of Sevastopol was quickly left by Prince Gorchakov, who commanded the troops. He managed to transfer troops to the north side of the city in a matter of hours. Sevastopol itself tried to leave the enemy in the most unsightly form. Powder cellars were blown up, and the city was set on fire.
Even the warships that stood in the Sevastopol Bay, quickly flooded. Now you know what war on the Malakhov Kurgan so glorified this place. On August 30, the army, which was part of the anti-Russian coalition, officially entered the largest city of Crimea.
Revolutionary years
A lot was said about the Malakhov Kurgan in Sevastopol, a photo of which you can see in this article during the Civil War. The memorable event took place in December 1917, at the very beginning of the confrontation between the “white” and “red”.
It was on the Crimean mound that the crews of military destroyers under the names "Hajibey" and "Fidonisi" opposed the officers, raising a riot on the ship. All officers were shot, 32 people were killed. Modern historians argue that this was one of the first acts of red terror, which in the near future became very common on the Crimean peninsula, continuing throughout almost the entire Civil War.
Defenders of the Stone Tower
A lot of famous stories and legends are connected with the defense of the Malakhov Kurgan. For example, at one time the defenders of the Stone Tower were actively discussed. Of the garrison defending this fortification, only seven people survived. The French found them among the corpses of their comrades-in-arms after they captured the peninsula.
It is said that one of the seriously wounded officers was Vasily Ivanovich Kolchak. He managed to survive and become the father of Alexander Vasilyevich. His son became one of the leaders of the "white" movement during the Civil War in Russia, he managed to gather a strong army in Siberia, but he could not have a significant impact on the course of events. At the same time, he had the title of supreme ruler of Russia with headquarters in Omsk.
Toponyms
Among the interesting facts about the war on the Malakhov Kurgan, it is worth noting that in many cities the streets and districts were named after this place. For example, in Paris today there is a district called Malakoff, which is named after the Battle of Malakhov, which ended triumphantly for the French army.
In honor of this battle, army units are even called in Brazil. In the city of Recife, the tower of the naval arsenal was dedicated to the mound, the courage of the defenders of the Crimea and Sevastopol was so highly praised there. Today it houses a modern observatory, as well as a museum.
What is quite surprising, in Austria they are treated to a cake under the name "Malakhov", which received such a name in honor of the Duke of Malakhovsky, Jean-Jacques Pelissier. In fact, this is a cold version of the Austrian Charlotte.
The image of the mound in art
The image of the barrow in Sevastopol was repeatedly used in various fields of art. So, it can be seen in a panorama called "Defense of Sevastopol." It captures the moment on June 6, 1855, when the 75,000th Russian army was able to repel an attack of the allied army in a fierce battle, which significantly exceeded its number. The British and French participated in the battle about 173 thousand people.
An eternal flame was lit on a defensive tower in 1958, and a branch of the Heroic Defense and Liberation of Sevastopol Museum was opened in the tower itself.
The description of the battles around this Crimean city, according to many researchers, served as the basis for the adventure novels of Louis Boussenard about the exploits of the captain Sorvi-head.
The feature film is dedicated to the defense of the mound, which is called "Malakhov Kurgan". Its directors were Joseph Kheifits and Alexander Zarhi. The picture was released on Soviet screens in 1944.
The mound is mentioned in many works of art: in Yuri Antonov’s song “Poppies”, Valentin Gaft’s poem “Hooligan”, song “Sevastopol Waltz” to Rublev’s verses and Listov’s music, in the song “Sevastopol Strada” of the group “Ivan Tsarevich”.
"Sevastopol Stories"
Perhaps the most famous work on the Crimean War, in which this mound is mentioned, is the cycle "Sevastopol Stories" by Leo Tolstoy. The classic of Russian literature himself took part in the battles as an artilleryman, therefore his descriptions are genuine, almost documented.
The stories describe the heroic defense of Sevastopol by parts of the Russian army. Tolstoy describes in detail the heroism of specific defenders of the city, soldiers and officers, devotes much attention to the horrors and inhumanity of the war.
This is one of the few cases when a famous writer was in the ranks of the army, telling others about what was happening on the front lines of the battle. In fact, Lev Nikolaevich served as a war correspondent.
Tolstoy was able to describe with amazing accuracy the life of the besieged city. At the same time, the writer managed to keep watch on the battery of the Fourth Bastion, more than once came under artillery shelling, including under one of the most powerful bombing, which occurred in March 1855. He personally took part in the battles on the Black River during the final assault on the city.
The cycle consists of three short stories called “Sevastopol in the month of December”, “Sevastopol in May” and “Sevastopol in August 1855”. In them, with scrupulous chronological accuracy, all events are described. Often, the author criticizes the meaninglessness, cruelty and empty vanity that can be found in war.
In the final story, he dwells on the fate of the rookie Volodya, portraying him as a young optimist who went to fight in Sevastopol as a volunteer. Almost everyone who surrounds him cannot understand how it was possible to exchange a peaceful life for the filth and horror of this war.
When Volodya is offered to go to the Malakhov Kurgan, he willingly agrees, he dies there during the attack by the French detachment. This death echoes the famous episode from Tolstoy’s epic “War and Peace”, the death of Petya Rostov. Tolstoy thereby seeks to convey how illusory the patriotic ideas that live in the minds of modern youth.