For some reason, it is generally accepted that relations between the rulers of Russia were distinguished by mutual respect and warmth. But this assertion is refuted by cruel historical realities: internecine wars were completely common, and the desire of some princes for independence only contributed to this. An excellent confirmation is the battle on the Sheloni River.
Quick reference
The battle took place in 1471, on July 14. As the name implies, the battle took place on the banks of the Shelon River (about 30 km west of
Lake Ilmen). The warring parties were the army of the Moscow Principality and the
Novgorod Republic.The event in question dates back to the campaigns of Ivan III, who decided once and for all to end the independence of Novgorod. However, the main reason was not even that. The fact is that the Novgorodians at that time recognized vassal dependence on the Principality of Lithuania, pursued a constant hostile policy towards other Russian principalities. But the history of the Principality of Moscow is such that this version is doubtful. Most likely, Ivan III still wanted to get rid of an overly independent unit.
Basic information
In the summer of 1471, an army of about 10 thousand warriors set out on a campaign. Prince D.D. commanded them. Kholmsky, whom Ivan blessed to "pacify" Novgorod. The policy of the latter did not even appeal to the independent Pskovites, who also sent the army to the aid of the Moscow warriors. However, their ardent desire to help Ivan could well have been influenced by the recent Moscow embassy, which requested the army "for the great offense of the prince." If Pskov refused, he would immediately be among the worst enemies personally of the Moscow sovereign with all the ensuing consequences ...
According to chroniclers, the army of Novgorod was four times the regular Moscow army, but most of it consisted of untrained Posad militia. It was headed by D. Boretsky. The Novgorodians were forced to rush into the recruitment of troops, as they had to quickly come to intercept the Pskovites in the hope of defeating the enemy and protecting their rear.
First clash
And so, on the morning of July 14, this team “hodgepodge” of Novgorodians unexpectedly met with a small (no more than five thousand) Pskov detachment, marching to join the main part of the army. Despite the eightfold (!) Superiority of the enemy, Kholmsky boldly attacked him. However, he was not a madman: a selected princely army of well-trained and armed combatants literally swept the militia of the Novgorodians, most of whom did not know how to fight. So (in short) the battle took place on the Shelon River.
It is assumed that the casualties were at least 12 thousand people, another two thousand surrendered. Others in a terrible panic fled into the woods. This defeat predetermined the end of the independence of Novgorod and its flirting with the Lithuanians.
The political situation of that time
However, Novgorod itself in the 15th century was going through far from the best of times. The lower and even middle strata of the population oppressed knowing, which is why internal riots became commonplace. The tops could not cope with them on their own, and therefore concluded a treacherous agreement with the Polish-Lithuanian king, who sent troops and his governor to Novgorod. They became Prince Mikhail Olelkovich appointed by Casimir IV. The Principality of Moscow in the 15th century could not forgive this.
The last straw was that even the appointment of the Metropolitan of Novgorod did not demand in Kiev. At the same time, they began to openly negotiate with the Lithuanians and Poles, seeking allied commitments in the event of a war with Ivan III. Even among the Novgorodians themselves, such an open betrayal caused a storm of indignation. Unfortunately, there was no unity among the opponents of the “central line”. The city was mired in internal strife, the Novgorod militia was very weak and heterogeneous.
Ivan the Third as a peacemaker
Ivan should not be considered a bloodthirsty tyrant. He repeatedly tried to reason with Novgorod, using the influence of the church for this. The metropolitan tried his best to warn the rebellious city against doing business with the "Latins," but his words were not successful. It is not surprising that other principalities evaluated the actions of Novgorod as a betrayal of the country and faith.
In March 1471, Mikhail Olelkovich left Novgorod and went to Kiev for negotiations. But Ivan III was tired of the treachery of the Novgorodians, and therefore he decides to convene a crusade against the traitors. In principle, everyone perfectly understood the political background of the coming war, but it was the religious color that was to become the core, holding together the determination of all the princes.
Since spring, preparations began for the campaign. It was planned to attract Vyatkans, Ustyuzhans, Pskovites, as well as the population of Novgorod pyatins and suburbs remaining loyal to Moscow. At first they decided to surround the city, cut it off from all the trade routes connecting the traitors with Lithuania. In principle, the Moscow-Novgorod wars were not news (we talked about constant civil strife), but this time the prince was serious.
Camping plan
Two strong detachments were to come from the west and east, and already from the south it was planned to deliver a strong blow by the army, headed by Ivan III himself. An embassy was sent to Ustyug (May 1471), the main purpose of which was to attract Ustyuzhans and Vyatchans to their side. Ivan expected to use their combined army for distracting attacks that would weaken the main forces of Novgorod. The plan was brilliant. The battle on the Sheloni River was won.
Main events
The campaign itself was far from accidentally planned for the summer time: in the spring and autumn, the swamps around Novgorod became impassable for a large army, and fighting in winter was too expensive. The weather was fully favorable: there was a terrible heat, most of the swamps dried up, and the Shelon River itself became very shallow.
The detachments were commanded by the princes Kholmskaya and Fedor Davydovich Pestry-Starodubsky. Troops came out at the very beginning of June. Brothers Ivan III, princes Yuri and Boris, joined rati a little later. Kholmsky's detachment quickly recaptured and completely burned Old Russ. Then he went to the river Shelon, and on its banks began to wait for the approaching main units of the army. According to the chroniclers of that time, soldiers without mercy killed and robbed the inhabitants of the rebel side that had betrayed Moscow.
The approaches to Novgorod
In mid-June, Prince Obolensky-Striga and Danyar, the Tatar prince, left Moscow and moved to Vyshny Volochyok, heading downstream of the Meta River, trying to reach Novgorod from the east. The main forces advanced from Moscow only at the end of June, walking on foot through Tver and Torzhok, where they were joined by rati of local princes.
Novgorod at that time was also actively preparing for battle. The local nobility forcibly sent all combat-ready citizens to the militia. Despite the large number of troops recruited, its members did not break with Moscow and other Russian cities. The combat efficiency and general mood were very low, since the Grand Duchy of Moscow was known to be very strong, and no one was sure of allied help from the Poles and Lithuanians.
Novgorod plans
The only chance for the Novgorodians would be a constant attack on the army of Ivan in order to gradually cope with the main forces in parts. Novgorod sent his cavalry to the Pskov direction. As mentioned above, this army was supposed to prevent the connection of the Pskov with the main forces. The infantry was sent along the Sheloni River in order to detect and sweep the detachment of Prince Kholmsky.
Vasily Shuisky commanded the third detachment, which, acting regardless of the main forces, was to "repair all sorts of intrigues." However, the whole plan failed from the very beginning, as the Novgorodians acted extremely inconsistently. Muscovites were a little better - they delayed and attacked too fragmented. Because of all this, the only reliable detachment in those parts was the army of Prince Kholmsky. The outcome of this strange war was decided where the river Shelon flowed.
The beginning of hostilities
Near the village of Korostyn, the Novgorodians decided to use the isolated position of Kholmsky and break it. The army was divided into two detachments: the cavalry was supposed to strike from the right flank, and the infantry was tasked with attacking the rear of Muscovites. They were again let down by a general disorganization. The militia acted sluggishly, indecisively, so the battle on the Sheloni River was lost by them long before its actual start.
While the Novgorodians were figuring out what and how to do, Kholmogorsky suddenly appeared near the village, attacking the enemy infantry. The forces of Novgorod were defeated completely. Then the prince went to Staraya Russa, where he again began to expect the approach of the main forces. And again he met with the Novgorodians, whose next army was rising up the river Poly. The active prince again attacked and won again. Surprisingly, the selective cavalry of the Novgorodians was completely inactive during both battles.
So it was predetermined the accession of Novgorod to the Moscow principality.
Behavior of Ivan III
Kholmogorsky understood that such an initiative, even if successful, might not be to the taste of an autocratic autocrat. Chroniclers report that he sent messengers to the king with reports of victories, and sought advice on further actions. Ivan did not become angry (not surprising), but ordered the prince to nevertheless join his army with Pskov.
However, the prince himself understood that further independent actions could even cost them too much: the Novgorodians, for all their dubious political preferences, fought quite bravely. The Kholmsky detachment had already lost more than four thousand warriors by that time.
The main battle, description
After the infantry was defeated, the cavalry of the Republic deigned to appear on the banks of the river. The same Kholmsky went to meet them, moving up the Sheloni. And the opponents are separated only by the course of the river. The Novgorodians, among whom was the color of their boyars, began to sleep. The battle of Shelons began the next day.
From early morning, both troops began to throw arrows and bullets across the river. And again Kholmsky decided on a sudden maneuver. Having quickly crossed the river, his small, but very angry and friendly detachment attacked the Novgorodians, who quickly lost all their ardor from this pressure. At this time, the rest of the army slowly and without loss crossed the river and entered the battle.
Despite the initial shock, the Novgorodians fought desperately, as they had nothing to lose. A detachment of Tatar horsemen attacked their flank, after which many soldiers fled. Here's what is surprising: despite the battle, Novgorodians, according to the memoirs of contemporaries, "seemed to have broken the chain." They began to intensively settle scores with each other, as a result of which almost half of the boyars were killed by stabs in the back.
results
The victory was brought not only military valor, but also surprise. Nevertheless, there were much more Novgorodians, even despite their disunity. The victory was of strategic importance: the Novgorod veche suddenly showed awareness and decided to ask for mercy from Ivan III, to which the Grand Duchy of Moscow agreed.
Muscovite forces went further along Sheloni, where on June 27 they were supposed to meet with the embassy, headed by Metropolitan Theophanes. Oddly enough, but the conditions of the ceasefire were quite mild: firstly, Novgorod swore allegiance to the king. Secondly, he paid a contribution in the amount of 16 thousand Novgorod rubles. We can say that what happened was only an indicative flogging, showing the arrogant boyars the power of all of Russia.
And at that time ...
The third detachment of Novgorod, led by Shuisky, went to Ustyug. They did not know anything about the outcome of the main battle. The boyars from Moscow, having gathered in a fist the army from Ustyug and Vyatichi, came forward to meet. Troops met on the Dvina River. The combined detachment of Muscovites led by Vasily Obraztsa tightly defeated Shuisky’s army. And again, their triple numerical superiority did nothing to help the Novgorodians, since the overall combat efficiency was extremely low.
Of course, the accession of Novgorod to the Moscow principality did not happen instantly. This happened only seven years later, but that victory fundamentally shook the power of that part of the Novgorod nobility, which did not regret to obey Ivan III. Kholmogorsky, who organized a demonstration flogging, clearly showed that quarreling with the state is extremely dangerous. Thus, the battle on the Sheloni river of 1471 put a bullet in the history of independent Novgorod.