Colonel Pavel Karyagin lived in the years 1752-1807. He became a real hero of the Caucasian and Persian wars. The Persian campaign of Colonel Karjagin is called "300 Spartans." As the chief of the 17 Jaeger regiment, he brought out 500 Russians against 40,000 Persians.
Biography
His service began in the Butyrsky regiment in 1773. Participating in the victories of Rumyantsev in the first Turkish war, he was inspired by faith in himself and the strength of the Russian troops. Colonel Karyagin subsequently relied on these supports during the raid. He simply did not count the number of enemies.
By 1783, he had already become a second lieutenant of the Belarusian battalion. He managed to stand out in the storming of Anapa in 1791, commanding a jaeger corps. Got a bullet in his hand, as well as the rank of major. And in 1800, already possessing the title of colonel, he began to command 17 jaeger regiment. And after he became a regimental chief. It was commanding him that Colonel Karjagin made a campaign against the Persians. In 1804 he was awarded the Order of St. George of the 4th degree for the assault on the Ganja fortress. But the most famous feat was performed by Colonel Karjagin in 1805.
500 Russians versus 40,000 Persians
This campaign is similar to the story of 300 Spartans. Gorge, bayonet attacks ... This is the golden page of the military history of Russia, which included the madness of the massacre and unsurpassed skill of tactics, amazing cunning and arrogance.
Circumstances
In 1805, Russia was part of the Third Coalition, and things went wrong. The enemy was France with its Napoleon, and in the allies - Austria, noticeably weakened, as well as Great Britain, which never had a strong ground army. Kutuzov was as sophisticated as he could.
At the same time, the Persian Baba Khan intensified in the southern regions of the Russian Empire. He began a campaign against the empire, hoping to recoup his past. In 1804, he was defeated. And this was the most successful moment: Russia did not have the opportunity to send a large army to the Caucasus: there were only 8,000 - 10,000 soldiers. And then 40,000 Persians came to the city of Shusha under the leadership of Abbas Mirza, the Persian prince. 493 Russians came to the defense of the Russian borders from Prince Tsitsianov. Of these, two officers with 2 guns, Colonel Karyagin and Kotlyarevsky.
The beginning of hostilities
The Russian army did not manage to reach Shushi. The Persian army found them on the road near the river Shah-Bulakh. It happened on June 24th. There were 10,000 Persians - this is the vanguard. In the Caucasus in those days, ten-fold superiority of the enemy was similar to the situation in the exercises.
Speaking against the Persians, Colonel Karjagin built his soldiers in a square. A round-the-clock reflection of the attacks of the enemy cavalry began. And he won. After passing 14 versts, he set up camp with a line of defense from the carts.
On a hill
In the distance, the main forces of the Persians, about 15,000 people, appeared. It has become impossible to move on. Then Colonel Karjagin occupied the mound, in which there was a Tatar cemetery. It was more convenient to hold defense there. Having broken the moat, he blocked the approaches to the hill by wagons. The Persians fiercely continued to attack. Colonel Karjagin held the hill, but at the cost of the life of 97 people.
On that day, he wrote to Tsitsianov, “I would have paved ... the road to Shusha, but the great number of wounded people whom I have no means to raise makes it impossible for any attempt to move from my place.” A huge number of Persians died. And they realized that the next attack would cost them dearly. The soldiers left only the cannonade, believing that the detachment would not survive until the morning.
There are not many examples in military history in which soldiers surrounded by an enemy many times larger in number do not accept surrender. However, Colonel Karjagin did not give up. Initially, he counted on the help of the Karabag cavalry, but she switched to the Persians. Tsitsianov tried to turn them back to the Russian side, but in vain.
Squad position
Karjagin had no hope of any help. By the third day, June 26, the Persians blocked the Russians' access to water, placing falconette batteries nearby. They were engaged in round-the-clock shelling. And then the losses began to grow. Karjagin himself was shell-shocked three times in the chest and head; he had a wound in the side right through.
Most of the officers left. There remained about 150 soldiers capable of fighting. All of them suffered from thirst and heat. The night time was disturbing and sleepless. But the feat of Colonel Karjagin began here. The Russians were especially persistent: they found the strength to make sorties on the Persians.
Once they managed to reach the Persian camp and grab 4 batteries, get water and bring 15 falconets. This was done by a group under the command of Ladinsky. There are records in which he admired the courage of his soldiers. The success of the operation exceeded the most daring expectations of the colonel. He went out to them and kissed the soldier in the face of the whole detachment. Unfortunately, Ladinsky was seriously wounded in the camp the next day.
Spy
After 4 days, the heroes fought with the Persians, but by the fifth they were short of ammunition and food. The last crackers are over. Officers have long eaten grass and roots. And then the colonel sent 40 people to nearby villages for the extraction of bread and meat. The soldiers did not inspire confidence. It turned out that among these fighters was a French spy who called himself Lisenkov. His note was intercepted. In the morning, only six people returned from the detachment, reporting on the flight of the officer and the death of all other soldiers.
Present at the same time Petrov said that Lysenkov ordered the soldiers to lay down their arms. But Petrov reported that in an area where the enemy is nearby, this is not done: at any moment the Persian may attack. Lysenkov convinced that there was nothing to fear. The soldiers realized that something was wrong here. All officers always left soldiers armed, at least most of them. But there is nothing to do, order is order. And soon the Persians appeared in the distance. The Russians barely made their way, hiding in the bushes. Only six people survived: they hid in the bushes and began to fight back from there. Then the Persians retreated.
Hiding in the night
This greatly disappointed the detachment of Karjagin. But the colonel did not lose his spirit. He told everyone to go to bed and get ready for night work. The soldiers realized that at night the Russians would break through the enemy ranks. It was impossible to remain in this place without rusks and cartridges.
The convoy was left to the enemy, but the extracted falconets were hidden in the ground so that the Persians would not get them. After that, the guns were loaded with buckshot, the wounded were put on a stretcher, and then, in complete silence, the Russians left the camp.
Not enough horses. The huntsmen carried the guns on the straps. There were only three wounded officers on horseback: Karjagin, Kotlyarovsky, Ladinsky. The soldiers promised to carry guns when needed. And they fulfilled the promise.
Despite the complete secrecy of the Russians, the Persians discovered that the detachment was gone. So they followed the trail. But the storm began. The darkness of the night was pitch-black. However, the Karjagin squad escaped in the night. He came to Shah-Bulakh, within his walls was a Persian garrison, which slept without expecting Russians. After ten minutes of attack, Karjagin took the garrison. The head of the fortress of Emir Khan, a relative of the Prince of Persia, was killed, the body was left with him.
And after the last shots, the Persians came to the fortress. Interestingly, instead of fighting, negotiations began. The Persians sent parliamentarians. The prince asked for the body of his relative. Karjagin in response announced the desire to return the prisoners in the sally of Lisenkov. But the heir replied that the Russians were all killed. And the officer himself died the next day from a wound. This, of course, turned out to be a lie, since it was known that Lisenkov was in the Persian camp. Nevertheless, the colonel gave the order to return the body of the murdered relative. He said that he believed him, but there is an old proverb: "Whoever lies, let him be ashamed." He added: "The heir to the vast Persian monarchy, of course, will not want to blush before us." So they parted.
Blockade
The blockade of the fortress began. The Persians expected the colonel to surrender because of hunger. For four days, the Russians ate grass and horse meat. But stocks ran out. Yuzbash appeared, providing a service. At night, he got out of the fortress and told Tsitsianov about what was happening in the Russian camp. The alarmed prince, who had no warriors and food for the proceeds, wrote to Karjagin. He wrote that he believed: Colonel Karjagin’s campaign would end well.
Yuzbash returned with some food. There was only enough food for a day. Yuzbash began to conduct a detachment at night past the Persians for food. Once they almost collided with the enemy, but in the darkness of night and fog they ambushed. In a couple of seconds, the soldiers killed all the Persians without firing a shot, only during a bayonet attack.
To hide the traces of this attack, they took horses, sprinkled blood, corpses were hidden in a ravine. And the Persians did not know about the sortie and death of his departure. Such sorties allowed Karjagin to hold on for another seven days. But in the end, the Persian prince lost his patience and offered the colonel a reward for going over to the Persians, surrendering Shah-Bulakh. He promised that no one would be hurt. Karjagin offered 4 days to think, but so that the prince would provide food to the Russians all this time. And he agreed. This was a bright page in the history of the campaign of Colonel Karyagin: the Russians recovered during this time.
And by the end of the fourth day, the prince sent messengers. Karjagin replied that the next day the Persians would occupy Shah-Bulakh. He kept his word. At night, the Russians went to the Mukhrat fortress, which was conveniently protected.
They followed roundabout paths through the mountains, bypassing the Persians in the dark. The enemy discovered the deception of the Russians only in the morning, when Kotlyarevsky with wounded soldiers and officers was already in Mukhrat, and Karjagin with guns crossed the most dangerous sections. And if it were not for the heroic spirit, any obstacle could make this impossible.
Living bridge
On impassable roads they carried guns with them. And having discovered a deep ravine through which it was impossible to transfer them, the soldiers with cheers after Gavrila Sidorov’s offer themselves laid down on her bottom, thus building a living bridge. He went down in history as a heroic episode of the campaign of Colonel Karjagin in 1805.
The first passed along the living bridge, and when the second passed, the two soldiers did not get up. Among them was Gavrila Sidorov.
Despite the haste, the detachment dug a grave in which he left his heroes. The Persians were close and overtook the Russian detachment before he managed to get to the fortress. Then they entered the fray, sending their guns at the camp of the enemy. Several times the guns passed from hand to hand. But Muhrat was close. The colonel went into the fortress at night with a slight loss. At this moment, Karjagin sent the famous message to the Persian prince.
The final
It should be noted that, thanks to the courage of the colonel, the Persians lingered in Karabagh. And did not have time to attack Georgia. So, Prince Tsitsianov recruited soldiers who were scattered on the outskirts, and went on the offensive. Then Karjagin got the opportunity to leave Muhrat and go to the settlement of Mazdygert. There Tsitsianov received him with military honors.
He asked the Russian soldiers about what had happened and made a promise to tell the emperor about the feat. Ladinsky was awarded the Order of St. George 4 degrees, and after he became a colonel. He was a kind and witty man, as everyone who knew him told of him.
The emperor gave Karjagin a golden sword engraved "For Courage". Yuzbash became an ensign, was awarded a gold medal and 200 rubles of a pension for life.
The remains of the heroic detachment went to the battalion of Elizabethpol. Colonel Karjagin was wounded, but only a couple of days later, when the Persians arrived at Shamhor, he even opposed them in this state.
Heroic salvation
And on July 27, a detachment of Pir-Kuli Khan attacked Russian transport bound for Elizavetpol. With him was only a handful of soldiers with Georgian drovers. They lined up in a square and went to the defense, each of them had 100 enemies. The Persians demanded the delivery of transport, threatening complete extermination. The head of the transport was Dontsov. He urged his soldiers to die, but not to give up. The situation was desperate. Dontsov was mortally wounded, and ensign Plotnevsky was captured. The soldiers lost their bosses. And at that moment Karyagin appeared, changing the battle radically. Persian ranks were shot from cannons, they took to flight.
Memory and death
Due to many wounds and campaigns, Karjagin’s health was affected. In 1806, he suffered from a fever, and already in 1807, the colonel died. The famous officer for his courage became a national hero, the legend of the Caucasian epic.