Khopersky Cossacks - a special type of Cossacks who belonged to Khopersky army. They lived in the Khoper river basin, located on the territory of modern Saratov, Penza, Volgograd and Voronezh regions. It is noteworthy that the presence of Cossacks in this region is continuous from ancient times to the present day. Presumably, the Cossacks in these places settled in ancient times.
Bradas
The history of the hopper Cossacks in these places is reliably unknown, since no documents about those times were preserved. It is known that in the Middle Ages the main population of the Khopersky basin was brodniks. This is an ethnic population located on the coasts of the Dniester, Lower Don and the coast of the Sea of Azov. Brodniks are repeatedly mentioned in Russian chronicles, often taking part in the internecine wars of Russian princes. It is believed that they were the forerunners of the hopper Cossacks.
In a Persian treatise of the 10th century, brodniks are called bradas, noting that from time immemorial the Meshcheryaks (subethnos of the Tatars) and Zikhs (Adyghe-Abkhaz tribes) lived in their neighborhood.
Wormworms
The first written sources about the Khoper Cossacks date back to the time of the Tatar-Mongol invasion of Russia. It was then that in the acts of the Principality of Moscow one could find information about the Podonskaya and Sarsky dioceses, located within the borders of the Red Yar. That was the name of the historical region between the Khopr and Don rivers.
The city of Uryupesk is mentioned in the Novgorod annals of the 14th century as one of the centers of hoper Cossacks, photos of which are in this article. Today it is a modern city of Uryupinsk, located in the Volgograd region. At that time, it was one of the border fortresses of the Ryazan principality. Apparently, the Cossacks, to which this article is devoted, at that time were vassals of the Ryazan princes.
Presumably, in those days Cherlenny Yar was not a sovereign Cossack state, while it contained a system of guards and villages, its own control system, name and military organization.
After the overthrow of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, Moscow significantly strengthened at the expense of Ryazan, and the influence of Moscow princes increased on Khopr.
XVII century events
In the XVII century, Cossacks hopers joined the Don Cossack army, but when this happened is not known exactly. But by that time the famous chieftain Grigory Cherny, who was an ally of Ivan Zarutsky, had come. Presumably, it was Black who founded the hopper village of Big Karay.
In 1650, the heroes of our article made an attempt to separate from the Don Army, having founded their own fortified town. But soon it was destroyed by direct order of the Main Army. By the middle of the century, there were already Pristan, Grigoryevsky and Belyaevsky towns in the history of Khoper Cossacks.
The city of Pristan was distinguished by its own shipyard, and besides, it was an important trading point on the Ordobazar road that connected Astrakhan and Moscow. The city was located on the banks of the Khoper River on the site of the historical center of modern Novokhopersk.
Rise of Stepan Razin
Residents of the city just in Pristan took a direct part in the uprising of Stepan Razin. In 1669, Razin personally came to the Cossacks, considering this area as a likely strategic bridgehead for the liberation of the Volga army yurts captured by the guardsmen of Ivan the Terrible.
In 1670, ataman Nikifor Chertok, who was Razin’s uncle, lodged with his detachment. In the fall, he headed to the city of Kozlov (present-day Michurinsk), where at the expense of local peasants he increased his army to 4,000. This army managed to inflict significant damage on the troops of governor Khrushchev and Buturlin, but after all was defeated.
In 1675, the Old Believer center on Buzuluk gained fame, where they began to conduct worship at the Donikon books and where new martyrs were glorified, exposing the Nikonian heresy.
On the Azov
In 1695, the Cossacks of the Khopersky district took part in the siege of Azov under the command of General Patrick Gordon, who served in the Russian army. By that time, this ancient Cossack stronghold had long been in the hands of the Turks. True, at that time the siege of Azov ended in failure.
The next year, hopers together with the Don, led by the governor Shein, dealt a sudden blow to the fortress. They managed not only to capture two bastions with all the cannons, but also to retain these objects. As a result, by July 1696, Azov was finally taken.
In 1698, the construction of ships by local craftsmen began at the shipyards of Pristan Town. The very next year, three warships were launched — the Good Start, Fearlessness, and Compound.
It is known that hopers in those days, in addition to shipbuilding, developed hunting, fishing, horse breeding, stewardship, had their own arable land, and drove cattle for sale to Moscow.
Kondraty Bulavin Movement
The Old Believers prevailed among the hopper Cossacks, so in 1707 they actively supported the liberation uprising of Kondraty Bulavin, deciding this time to oppose Peter I.
By that time, 27 towns were scattered along Khopr, another 16 - along Buzuluk. Peter I ordered to crush the uprisings severely, and then to burn out all the Cossack towns on Khopr, including the largest and most famous at that time - Pristan. The operation was carried out by punitive detachments of the tsarist army under the command of Prince Dolgoruky.
On Buzuluk governor Apraksin, by order of the sovereign, wiped out many towns from the face of the earth, including Vysotsky, Chernovsky, Kazarin, Darinsky, Osinov.
The foundation of Novokhopersk
After some time, on the same land, on the orders of Peter I, fortified points begin to be equipped. By that time, the lands of Don were finally taken away. In 1709, the city of Borisoglebsk was founded at the confluence of the Velikaya Vorona River with Khoper. The next day, on the site of the Pristan town, the New Khopersky earthen fortress is founded, with it a new shipyard appears, on which ships are built for the first Azov flotilla. The drawing, according to which the fortress was founded, was made by Peter I. It was sent to the Azov governor - Count Apraksin. As a result, 1710 is considered the official founding date of Novohopersk.
Since 1717, the Novokhopersky garrison has been formed here. In 1724, in connection with the active development of the city, Peter I went on the so-called "quiet amnesty" of local Cossacks. A Cossack equestrian team is being formed. From now on, hopers are no longer considered repressed people.
The appearance of the regiment
In 1772, a delegation of hopper Cossacks arrived in St. Petersburg led by Peter Podtsvirov. They submitted a petition to the Military College with a request to enroll them in the service. Complaints were also filed against the commandant of the fortress in Novohopersk Podletsky, who sent them for private and state work for free.
The next year, second-major Golovachev arrived in Novokhopersk to investigate the requests and complaints. He forbade Podletsky from now on to send the Cossacks to free work and on guard, declaring that all of them should be sent to equestrian service. Golovachev also conducted a census of Cossack settlements.
Already in 1774, hopers along with the Don Cossacks took part in the suppression of the Pugachev riot. In July 1774, General-General Chef Grigory Potemkin, who served as president of the Military College, became Astrakhan, Novorossiysk and Azov Governor-General. He studies the report compiled by Golovachev and acknowledges the validity of the creation of the Khopersky Cossack Regiment, numbering 540 people. Everyone is assigned the appropriate salary.
The Khoper Cossacks differed markedly from the rest in their appearance. They had blue caftans, raspberry harem pants, round hats, a black band and boots on the Cossack pattern. Each Cossack was charged with the obligation to carry a horse, a uniform uniform, which was acquired at his own expense. At the same time, the Military Commissariat assumed the responsibility of supplying the regiment with lead, gunpowder, sabers, carbines and lances.
In 1775, 15 acres of land were granted to each Cossack in the regiment. They were also transferred to the possession of the land that they had previously, at the expense of bread and money.
Relocation to the Caucasus
In 1777, the Cossacks of the Khopersky regiment were included in the newly established Astrakhan army. This decision brings the heroes of our article new ordeals. Khopertsev is forcibly relocated to the Caucasus.
In 1786, the regiment was included in the Caucasian line, which takes part in the battles against Kabarda. By that time, four Cossack villages were founded in the Caucasus at once - Stavropol, Northern, Don and Moscow.
In 1792, Catherine II allowed the majority of the Don people to be resettled in the Caucasus, among which were the “lower hopers”.
Initially, the hopers were settled in the county town of Stavropol, as well as in the Don fortress. Their duties included maintaining a cordon guard on the Caucasian line, preventing raids by mountain peoples living in the immediate vicinity of these regions of the Russian Empire.
Esaulov rebellion
Among the Cossacks there is unrest against the forced relocation to the Kuban. All this grows into a major uprising of 1792-1794. It goes down in history under the name "Esaulovskoe", since it was in the village with that name that the first blood was shed.
At the head of the rebels stood Yesaul of their Lower Chirskaya village, Ivan Rubtsov. Only about 50 villages took part in the unrest. The punitive army of General Alexei Shcherbatov was sent to suppress the dissenters, who managed to break the resistance of the Cossacks. Rubtsov was sent to Siberia for hard labor, but he did not reach the place of serving his term - he was beaten to death with whips. 146 of the most active participants in the uprising were sent to the Nerchensky mines.
The fate of the Cossacks in the XIX century
Since 1828, the heroes of our article settled in the upper Kuban. Interestingly, it was hopers who became part of the first Russian expedition, which in 1829 went to Elbrus.
In 1845, the Khopersky regiment of the Kuban Cossack army was divided into the first and second regiments, which began to belong to the Caucasian Cossack army. As a result, it was these regiments that formed the fifth brigade, which almost immediately became known as Khoperskaya.
Surnames
The names of the hoper Cossacks are well known from around the beginning of the 18th century. According to them, one can presumably determine the belonging of their ancestors.
So, according to the census compiled in the Lukovskaya stanitsa in 1764, Cossacks with the names of Surovtsev, Babin, Buleva, Krivushin, Aparyshev, Matavilin, Sukhorukov are distinguished.
Among the names of the Khoper Cossacks of the mid-18th century, Khvastunov, Yezhov, Kudinov, Makhnadelov, Puzrin, Mordvinov, Chemetev, Skredechev, Krastelev should be noted.
In 1745, Sidelnik, Chereptsov, Beryuchek, Kharseev, Polyak, Boldyb met in the village of Alekseevskaya.
The names of Sparrow, Arbik, Beserlinov, Bakachev, Galetinev, Bursov, Shabarshin, Persitskov, Kereptsov, Khlyastov, Gorshalin, Shulpenkov, Sharadov were popular in the village of Uryupinskaya.
Decals
Breastplates and sleeve insignia of the Khoper's Cossack regiments distinguished them from all the others. Moreover, in many respects they adhered to the clothes worn by the Don people in the Kuban.
The appearance of the Cossack officer was noticeably different from the ordinary Cossack. It included a bright red checkman, a caftan with a golden gown, a black silk belt, a Polish saber, several French pistols.
At the same time, they wore spacious outerwear, and under it - shortened half-caftans, called beshmet, which were made according to the Circassian or Don pattern. They did not have sashes that replaced the plisy belts. In summer, hopers wore canvas and krashenin trousers made of linen coarse linen, and in winter they replaced them with cloth harem pants of Circassian or Don cut. From shoes they preferred boots.
The armament of the Cossacks consisted of stucers - the so-called single-caliber guns, which were of two varieties. It was noted that the hopper Cossacks practically do not use peaks, even when they are ordered to have them, since they consider them to be an excessive burden. However, officially the peaks of the linear Cossacks were canceled only in 1828. In military equipment sabers were necessarily present.
There are not many modern hoper Cossacks, but they still exist. For example, at the end of 2017, a monument dedicated to them as the founders of the Stavropol village was unveiled in a solemn ceremony in Stavropol.