Upon returning from Poland, on October 18, 1844, Baklanov was awarded the rank of centurion (according to other sources - military foreman); in the spring of 1845, Baklanov was assigned to the No. 20 Don Cossack Regiment, located on the left flank of the Caucasian line in the Kura fortification, which constituted the forward stronghold of the Russian Kumyk possessions. On July 20, 1845 he was awarded the Order of St. Anna 2nd degree for distinction rendered in battle during the defeat of Chechen batteries and fortified rubble in the Shaukhal-Berdy tract.
On July 5, 1846, for distinction, bravery and courage shown in the battle with Shamil’s crowd during the defense of the Vnezapnaya fortress, he was awarded the Order of St. by the Imperial Crown. Anna 2nd degree; in the same year he was appointed commander of the No. 20 Don Cossack Regiment.
On June 14, 1854, for the distinction and courage shown during the defeat of the mountain parties between Urus-Martan and the Grozny fortress, Baklanov was declared the highest favor; On August 22 of the same year he was awarded the insignia of impeccable service for 20 years.
Y. P. Baklanov in 1873
In 1855, by order of the commander-in-chief of the separate Caucasian corps, Count N. N. Muravyov, Baklanov was sent to the active army in the Caucasian theater of the Crimean War, where he was appointed head of the irregular cavalry in the detachment of Lieutenant General Brimmer. On September 17 of the same year, he took part in the column of General Bazin in the assault on Kars and was shell-shocked in the head by a cannonball, but remained in service. For distinction and courage shown during the assault on advanced fortifications, on February 21, 1856, he was awarded the Order of St. Anna 1st degree. At the end of December 1855, Baklanov left the army on leave to the Don and St. Petersburg.
On February 2, 1857, Baklanov was appointed marching ataman of the Don Cossack regiments located in the Caucasus.
From June 7, 1863 to January 7, 1867, Baklanov was on a business trip in Vilna and during the Polish uprising he was the head of the Don regiments in the Vilna district. On February 6, 1864, for his diligent and zealous service and labors, he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir 2nd degree with swords above the order.
In 1867, Yakov Petrovich Baklanov retired and settled in St. Petersburg. After a serious and long illness, he died in poverty on October 18, 1873; the funeral took place in the cemetery of the St. Petersburg Novodevichy Convent at the expense of the Don Cossack Army. Five years later, his grave was decorated with a monument, created with voluntary donations and depicting a rock on which a cloak and a hat were thrown, with a black “Baklanovsky badge” pulled out from under the hat.
In 1911, the ashes of Yakov Petrovich were solemnly reburied in the tomb of the Ascension Cathedral in Novocherkassk, next to the graves of other heroes of the Don - M. Platov, V. Orlov-Denisov, I. Efremov.
Performance evaluation
Baklanov was one of the most popular heroes of the Caucasian War era. Having received command of a regiment that was in desperately poor condition, he quickly brought it into exemplary condition with his energy and, from the timid defense of his predecessors, moved on to the most energetic offensive and soon became a threat to the mountaineers, who considered “Bokla” akin to the devil himself and called him “Dajjal.” ( Satan). Baklanov knew about this and strongly supported the mountaineers in the belief that evil spirits were helping him. When in March 1850 he was wounded and the highlanders, having learned about this, decided to raid in a huge party, Baklanov, overcoming the pain, at night personally led the Cossacks against the highlanders, who fled in panic fear of his invulnerability.
While cutting a clearing across the Kachkalykovsky ridge, Baklanov, who knew that the famous mountain shooter Janem had promised to kill him when he stood in his usual place on the hill, nevertheless climbed the hill at the usual time and, when Janem, who missed twice, looked out from behind the mountain , from a nozzle to the forehead, he killed Janem on the spot.
Cossack songs dedicated to Baklanov mention the “terrible Baklanov blow” - Yakov Petrovich was known for cutting a rider in half with a saber from the shoulder to the pommel of the saddle.
Having made his name formidable in the Caucasus, Baklanov, during his activities in Lithuania, in contrast to the terrible rumors about himself, showed himself to be a stern but fair boss. Contrary to regulations, he did not indiscriminately confiscate the estates of the rebels, but whenever possible he established guardianship over the young children of the exiles and retained their property. Summoned on this occasion to Governor General M. N. Muravyov, Baklanov said: “You can put me on trial or dismiss me without asking, but I will say one thing: I managed the department on your behalf, which I always honored and respected; my goal was to act in such a way that no stain would fall on this name, and my conscience tells me that I have achieved success... I was and will be faithful to my Sovereign, Russia and you, my direct superior, but my thoughts were to weaken the rumors about Russian ferocity." This response aroused Muravyov’s gratitude.
In 1870-1871 Baklanov’s notes on the siege and assault of Kars in 1855 were published in the magazine “Russian Antiquity”.
Memory
Monument to Ya. P. Baklanov. Volgodonsk
- A monument to Baklanov was erected in Volgodonsk.
- A monument to Baklanov was also erected in Novocherkassk, on the southern side of the Ascension Military Cathedral. Baklanovsky Avenue in Novocherkassk is also named after him.
Sources
- Kazin V. Kh. Cossack troops. Directory of the Imperial Headquarters. St. Petersburg, 1911.
- // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional ones). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
- Russian Biographical Dictionary: In 25 volumes / under the supervision of A. A. Polovtsov. 1896-1918.
- Baklanov Ya.P. Blockade and storming of Kars. (Notes of the Don Army of Lieutenant General Ya.P. Baklanov and stories of other participants in the event). 1855 / Communication. V.A. Potto // Russian antiquity, 1870. - T. 2. – Ed. 3rd. – St. Petersburg, 1875 – pp. 251-294.
- Baklanov Ya.P. My fighting life. (Notes of the Don Army by Lieutenant General Yakov Petrovich Baklanov, written by his own hand) // Russian antiquity, 1871. - T. 3. - No. 1. - P. 1-15; T. 4. - No. 7. – P. 154-161.
- Venkov, Andrey V. Thunderstorm of the Caucasus. The life and exploits of General Baklanov. M., Veche, 2008.
Notes
Categories:
- Personalities in alphabetical order
- Born on March 15
- Born in 1809
- Died on October 18
- Died in 1873
- Military leaders of the Russian Empire
- Generals of the Russian Empire
- Participants of the Caucasian Wars
- Participants in the Russian-Turkish War 1828-1829
- Participants in the Crimean War
- Knights of the Order of St. George, IV class
- Awarded the Golden Weapon "For Bravery"
- Buried at Novodevichy Cemetery (St. Petersburg)
- Participants in the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1830-1831
- Participants in the war against the Polish insurgents of 1863
- Don noble families
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See what “Baklanov, Yakov Petrovich” is in other dictionaries:
- (March 15 (28), 1809, Gugninskaya village, near Tsimlyansk October 18 (31), 1873, St. Petersburg), Russian military leader, lieutenant general (1860), hero of the Caucasian War (see CAUCASIAN WAR). A hereditary Don Cossack, Yakov Baklanov was born into a family... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
- (born in 1809, died in 1873) the son of a poor Don Cossack; He received a very meager education, but the free steppe life developed from him a brave hero, who was also distinguished by his natural intelligence and military acumen. To the service... Biographical Dictionary
In the history of Russia, the participants in the Crimean War, like this campaign itself, occupy a special place. This page was written in the blood of tens of thousands of soldiers and is very important for all Russians. One of the heroes of the war with the Turks for Crimea was General Baklanov. A hereditary Cossack, a fearless warrior, a threat to enemies and at the same time a wise diplomat, he left an important mark in the history of his native country, all his life defending its interests not only in Crimea, but also in other regions. Baklanov’s biography must be carefully studied. Especially those who consider themselves patriots of Russia.
Furious Boklyu, Donskoy Suvorov, Thunderstorm of Chechnya - these nicknames were earned by the hero of the Caucasian War Baklanov. “If you feared Allah Almighty as much as Baklanov, you would have long ago become holy people,” the commander-in-chief of the mountain army, Imam Shamil, told his people.
The hero's childhood and youth
Kuban gave the world many heroes. On its fertile lands, in the village of Gugninskaya, Baklanov Yakov Petrovich was born on March fifteenth, 1809. His father Pyotr Dmitrievich was a cornet of the Don Army, and his mother Ustinya (nee Malakhova) was a classic Cossack woman. Baklanov Sr. was distinguished by his powerful physique and fearless disposition. During his service in the army, he gained a reputation as a formidable warrior, respected by his comrades and feared by his enemies.
In between military campaigns, Pyotr Dmitrievich was raising his son, trying to raise him to be a real Cossack. Already at the age of three the boy rode a horse in his yard, and at five he pranced down the street. When Yakov turned eight, his father took the heir with him to Bessarabia, where his regiment was heading. Thus began the marching life of the future hero of the Russian Empire.
And although the boy managed to learn to read and write only partially, the Cossack army turned out to be not the worst teacher. Baklanov Jr. matured before our eyes, quickly mastered martial arts, and soon in his native village there was no better warrior than him.
At the age of fifteen he began serving as a police officer, and at seventeen he married (the daughter of a priest from his native village). At the age of nineteen he received the rank of cornet and, as part of the regiment commanded by his father, went to his first war.
Yakov Baklanov took part in the crossing of the Balkans and the crossing of the Kamchik River, together with his comrades he took Burgas and other strategically important objects of the Russian-Turkish campaign. From the very beginning he proved himself to be a brave and courageous warrior. His recklessness shocked even his father, who more than once bludgeoned the overzealous heir on the back with a whip and insisted that his son behave more prudently while in battle.
But the military authorities appreciated the heroism of the young officer, and at the end of the war he was awarded the Order of St. Anne of the third and fourth degree.
Beginning of service in the Caucasus
Having taken a short break from the battles, young Baklanov returned to service, filled with the desire to continue glorifying the Don Cossacks with heroism. For some time, Yakov Petrovich guarded the Russian border along the Prut, and in 1834 he was returned to the Kuban to Zhirov’s regiment, in which he carried out his first campaigns against the highlanders.
The brave Cossacks stormed the Trans-Kuban villages located on the banks of the Psefir, Belaya, Laba and Chamlyk rivers. During one of these expeditions, Baklanov was seriously wounded in the head, and during another he brilliantly emerged from a seemingly hopeless situation, destroying the enemy with virtually his bare hands. And this despite the fact that the highlanders outnumbered the Cossack detachment by four times.
Very quickly, from a young and hot warrior, Yakov Petrovich Baklanov turned into an experienced, cunning and skillful military officer. His fame grew, and for his exploits by this time he received the Order of St. Vladimir of the fourth degree.
Polish retreat
In 1837, Baklanov was promoted to esaul, and four years later, Don Cossack Regiment No. 36, which included Yakov Petrovich at that time, was sent to Poland to guard the borders with Prussia.
The years spent in the West were not distinguished by major military achievements, but they played a very important role in Baklanov’s life. While in Poland, the future general took up his education, for which he previously had neither the time nor the energy. He read classical literature, became acquainted with monuments of European culture, studied the history of wars, etc.
The Polish period can be called a kind of cultural retreat, a small respite before major battles.
Thunderstorm of the Highlanders
Returning from a western business trip, Baklanov Yakov Petrovich was promoted to sergeant major and was given the Don Cossack Regiment number twenty, which controlled the Kura fortification.
From that moment on, the brightest period in the life of the hereditary Cossack began. His career quickly took off, and his name thundered throughout the Caucasus and far beyond its borders.
In the regiment entrusted to Baklanov, confusion and vacillation initially reigned. There was no discipline, the Cossacks wore torn clothes, indulged in drunkenness, played cards and were not distinguished by their zeal for service.
Very quickly the new foreman changed the situation radically. He banned alcohol and became closely involved in the education of soldiers, organizing special lessons in military strategy and tactics.
The Cossack chieftain proved himself to be a wise leader, and under his command, regiment No. 20 made many heroic campaigns. Baklanov spent almost all of his salary on bribing spies in the enemy’s camp, who promptly informed him about the enemy’s plans, and as a result, the Cossacks always found themselves “on horseback.”
In those days, the Don Army was engaged in a confrontation with the highlanders, who carried out regular raids on Russian villages. With the arrival of Yakov Petrovich, the enemy went from a position of attack to defense, for now the Cossacks were burning the villages of the Chechens, stealing people and livestock, and taking away valuable property and food.
The mountaineers pronounced Baklanov's name in a whisper, calling him the Russian devil. They really believed that this man was supported by an evil spirit, and they were terribly afraid of him. And a two-meter, broad-shouldered Cossack with a face pitted with smallpox, a lush mustache and thick eyebrows happily supported the established image. One day, taken by surprise, he rushed onto the battlefield wearing a burka over his naked body with a saber over his shoulder. And another time he unexpectedly appeared before the enemy when he thought that Baklanov was dying after being seriously wounded.
These and similar cases only strengthened the reputation of an invincible warrior. And even the main highlander - the formidable Shamil - treated the Cossack ataman with respect. True, he scolded his subordinates for being too afraid of him.
During his service in the Caucasus from 1846 to 1863, Baklanov Yakov Petrovich rose to the rank of lieutenant general and received many awards, including the Order of George of the fourth degree, third degree and others.
When the 20th regiment was disbanded, Prince Vorontsov ensured that Yakov Petrovich remained in the ranks and was given another regiment, No. 17, at his disposal. Many then considered Baklanov an indispensable officer. After all, he managed to radically change the balance of power between the Russians and the highlanders in favor of his compatriots.
Twenty years of impeccable service
On April 10, 1853, Baklanov was awarded 1st degree for valor shown during an attack on enemy positions near the village of Gurdali. On March 11 of the same year, he was appointed to the headquarters of the Caucasian Corps as commander of the left flank cavalry. The headquarters was located in the Grozny fortress (the current city of Grozny).
On June 14, 1854, for the courage, bravery and distinction shown during the defeat of the mountain forces between the fortress of Grozny and Urus-Martan, Baklanov was declared imperial gratitude. On August 22 of the same year, he was awarded the honorary badge of impeccable service for twenty years.
Fateful talisman, or Baklanovsky badge
The fame of the legendary commander’s heroism spread far beyond the Caucasus. Baklanov was loved and respected throughout the Russian Empire. Many associated the Don Cossacks of those times with his name.
And then one day a parcel was delivered to the ataman from an unknown admirer. Having opened it, Yakov Petrovich found inside a black silk badge with embroidery in the form of a white Adam’s head (skull and bones) and the inscription “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the next century. Amen".
Baklanov simply fell in love with this gift and did not part with it until the end of his life. The creepy badge became his talisman. He caused horror even among the Cossacks, and the highlanders simply fell into panic at the sight of the waving black banner over the giant figure of the horseman. They were sure that it was death itself that was rushing towards them, so they ran away in all directions. And then they told their children about the terrible giant sent to earth by Shaitan.
The image of the Russian commander is still preserved in the legends and fairy tales of the Chechens. He also entered the songs of the Don Cossacks.
Duel with Janem
Among the enemies from time to time there were people who declared that they would destroy the Russian devil. They boasted that the hero leading the Cossack army would fall from their mighty hand. One of these daredevils was a mountain shooter named Janem. He threatened to kill Baklanov when he was in charge of clearing the clearing.
The scouts informed Yakov Petrovich of this intention, and he made an unexpected decision - to appear where the enemy would be waiting for him to try his luck.
Janem's first shot missed. The second bullet pierced the edge of the Cossack's sheepskin coat. And then the shooter’s nerves could not stand it, and he leaned out of his cover. Baklanov reacted instantly and killed the enemy outright with a shot from a rifle. The bullet hit him right in the forehead. After this incident, even the biggest skeptics believed in the general’s magical abilities. The mountaineers were convinced that the shaitan was protecting this Russian demon in the flesh.
Crimean War
As you know, in 1853 the Russian-Turkish conflict flared up with renewed vigor. And since 1855, participants could see next to them on the battlefield the legendary General Baklanov, who was temporarily transferred to the hottest spot of the Russian Empire. There he was appointed commander of the regular cavalry, which guarded fortresses already recaptured from the Turks and helped take new ones.
The Crimean Cossack regiment of Ataman Baklanov was famous for its successes on the battlefield, and he himself was well known to the enemy, who was afraid of him and called him “Bataman-Klych” (a hero with a half-pound sword).
During the Russian-Turkish War, Yakov Petrovich was seriously wounded in the head, but remained in service. For military services he was awarded the Order of St. Anne, first degree.
At the end of 1855, Baklanov left Crimea and plunged into peaceful life, settling in Novocherkassk. But the rest did not last long. Already in 1857 he was again sent to the Caucasus.
Service in Vilna
Another important period in the life of Yakov Petrovich Baklanov was his service in Vilna, where he headed the Don Cossack regiments from 1863 to 1867.
The brave southern warriors were transferred here to suppress the uprising that took place in Poland, and the leadership believed that an experienced general could bring considerable benefit in this situation. True, Baklanov did not take part in power operations, but helped Count Muravyov in suppressing the rebellion in other ways.
The latter had a very bad reputation among the local population, and when a two-meter-tall Cossack appeared as his assistant, people were seized with real fear. Baklanov was credited with bestial cruelty and a tough temper. But soon the opinion about him changed dramatically.
Muravyov entrusted his assistant with managing the Augustov province, which was infested with forest gangs of rebels. Two weeks after Baklanov's arrival, the province turned into a model of calm and obedience. Yakov Petrovich managed to achieve this result by successfully combining military persecution with administrative measures. Local residents began to treat him with deep respect.
General Baklanov personally toured the territory entrusted to him and held several hundred conversations with the local population, trying to find out the mood of the people. He tried to meet everyone halfway who wanted a peaceful and calm life. Often he even allowed himself to disobey Muravyov and did not take away property from the rebels, although the “chief” insisted on mandatory confiscation. Baklanov believed that in this way he would only turn the locals against himself, and the conflict would flare up even more. He wanted to dispel rumors of Russian ferocity, and he succeeded.
Having learned that Yakov Petrovich was helping young heirs retain the farms of their parents exiled to Siberia, Muravyov was furious, but ultimately accepted Baklanov’s position.
last years of life
Even during his Lithuanian business trip, Yakov Petrovich Baklanov became seriously ill - his liver failed. In 1864 he went home to improve his health and then returned to Vilna. In the summer of the same year, all the ataman’s property and money burned in Novocherkassk, which, naturally, did not have the best effect on the well-being of the elderly Cossack.
In 1867, the hero of the Caucasian War and other high-profile campaigns returned to the Don, and then moved to St. Petersburg, where he spent his last years.
Baklanov led a quiet, inconspicuous life, after the loss of his savings he barely thought about battles anymore, he only remembered the past while working on his memoirs “My Combat Life.”
The disease did not recede, and on October 18, 1873, Yakov Petrovich passed away. He was buried in the cemetery of the Novodevichy Convent. The ceremony was financed by the Don Army.
Memory of a hero
Five years after the death of the hero, a monument was erected over his grave using voluntary donations, representing a rock with a cloak and a hat thrown on it. And from under the hat you can see the legendary Baklanovsky badge.
In 1911, the general “returned home.” His ashes were transported to his homeland and reburied in Novocherkassk. Next to Baklanov, in the tomb of the Ascension Cathedral, rest other heroes of Russia - Platov, Orlov-Denisov, Efremov...
The memory of a fearless warrior, a wise general, a great patriot of his country and simply a kind-hearted man with a stern appearance is still alive today. They are passed down from generation to generation in which the image of the brave chieftain and his legendary “Cormorant blow” are present, in which a saber cut the rider and horse in half. The name of the Russian general is mentioned in the legends of the peoples of the Caucasus.
In honor of Baklanov, the 17th Don Cossack Regiment was named in 1909. Also, the village where Yakov Petrovich was born now bears his name. And in memory of the hero they received Baklanovsky Avenue (formerly it was called Trinity) and several monuments. Also, a monument to the ataman stands today in Volgodonsk.
Immortalized in stone, Yakov Baklanov looks the same as he did in life - stern, menacing, harsh. The mere sight of the general at one time caused panic among his enemies. But friends and relatives knew that hidden under a powerful, unapproachable shell was a sensitive heart and a vulnerable soul.
The hero of Don Baklanov is an example of a real warrior who takes to the battlefield not because he thirsts for blood or adrenaline, but because he loves his homeland and is ready to fight for it until his last breath. The personality of the brave Cossack should not be forgotten by descendants and deserves to become an example for the young.
Baklanov Ya.P. (1809 - 1873)
Baklanov Yakov Petrovich was born on March 15, 1809 in the village of Gugninskaya (Baklanovskaya) of the Don Army in the family of a cornet - lieutenant general. His father, a participant in the Patriotic War of 1812, as well as other wars of that time, earned the rank of officer, which gave the right to hereditary nobility. Due to the specifics of his profession, the father had few opportunities to raise his son, so Yakov Petrovich grew up and was brought up on the streets of his native village with the children of ordinary Cossacks, which for the children of Cossack noble officers was the rule rather than the exception. Teaching literacy and science was limited to the study of the psalter and book of hours. Soon the father took his son with him to the regiment, reasoning that his son would be under his supervision, and Yakov would learn to read and write from the regimental clerks, and it was never too early for a Cossack to start learning military skills, in general, all advantages. By the age of sixteen, Yakov Petrovich learned to read, write and count, but best of all he learned to wield a pike and saber, shoot, and became a dashing rider.
In 1825, his military service began, he was enlisted as a constable in Popov’s Cossack regiment. By 1928, Yakov Petrovich received the shoulder straps of a cornet. Participated in the wars against Turkey. He distinguished himself in action near Burgas. In battles, Baklanov was brave, daring, and for excessive ardor his father more than once personally “whacked him on the back with a whip,” as Yakov Petrovich later admitted. These qualities of his were noticed not only by his father, but also by his superiors - he was awarded orders.
In 1834 he was transferred to the Caucasus with Zhirov’s Cossack regiment. Under the command of G.H. Zassa took part in many expeditions and battles. Represented for daring and fearlessness to the Order of St. Vladimir 4th degree. It was the Caucasian period of service that brought Yakov Petrovich the greatest fame, and helped the daring Cossack become a brilliant military officer.
In 1837, Baklanov's regiment was sent to the Don. He served in Novocherkassk in a training regiment. In 1845, military foreman Baklanov was assigned to the 20th Don Regiment in the Kurinsky fortification on the left flank of the Caucasian line. Since 1846 he has been the head of this regiment. It should be noted that by this time the regiment was distinguished by extremely low combat effectiveness: the Don Cossacks, unaccustomed to the conditions of mountain warfare, were inferior to the linear Cossacks, some of the Cossacks were doing auxiliary work... The lack of training in the use of weapons also had a negative effect (the Don Cossacks of this regiment were especially poor at using small arms) , but it is impossible to defeat the highlanders with courage alone, and it is difficult for her to surprise them.
Of course, Baklanov could not put up with such a situation. First of all, he returned all the Cossacks of his regiment to duty. He established strict control over the maintenance of horses (he could get screwed for drinking oats) and weapons. Also, he introduced training for Cossacks in sapper and artillery work, and intelligence service; the seventh hundred was organized in the regiment, where, under the supervision of Baklanov, junior commanders and the Plastun team were trained to carry out especially dangerous cases.
And in many other respects, Yakov Petrovich was not distinguished by excessive pedantry in observing the regulations. So he ordered the statutory uniform to be hidden until better times, and the regiment was transferred to uniforms and weapons exclusively with captured property. Thus, after some time, the 20th regiment was dressed in Circassian coats, and the Cossacks showed off expensive daggers, excellent Circassian sabers and rifled guns to each other.
The Baklanovsky regiment did not miss the slightest opportunity to fight the highlanders, as well as inflict any damage on them. Punitive expeditions, ambushes, burned villages, trampled crops, stolen herds... In general, he repaid the highlanders with their own coin... And having an extensive network of agents among the highlanders, on whom he spent almost all of his salary, Baklanov could stay ahead of the predatory raids of the highlanders...
In this situation, the highlanders were forced to think not about attacking Cossack villages and Russian settlements, but about how to avoid becoming victims of the Baklan raid themselves. The authorities were delighted with the results achieved and did not pay attention to his partisanship. For his services, Yakov Petrovich was awarded the Order of St. Anna 2nd degree and golden weapons.
And at the end of the service of the 20th regiment in the Caucasus, at the personal request of the Commander-in-Chief of the troops in the Caucasus, M.S. Vorontsov sent to the emperor (Vorontsov to the Minister of War: “Tell the sovereign, dear prince, that I beg him to leave Baklanov to us”), Baklanov was retained for a second term and he was entrusted with the management of the 17th Don Regiment. The Cossacks' love for their leader was so deep that many commanders and ordinary Cossacks of the 20th regiment remained with him. Soon the 17th regiment became exemplary. And again battles, reconnaissance, ambushes... The mountaineers of Baklanov’s victory often explained him with a devilish essence and called him “Shaitan Boklyu,” which Yakov Petrovich did not try to dissuade them of, to put it mildly, and often sought to strengthen them in this delusion. Although, let's face it, it was not difficult - two meters tall, a heroic build, a face pitted with smallpox, a huge nose, a thick mustache turning into sideburns, bushy eyebrows. In summer he wears a red shirt, in winter he wears a sheepskin coat and a high hat. Cormorant’s saber strike, which disintegrated the enemy from shoulder to waist, and his accuracy in shooting were also notable. In 1851, Baklanov received a parcel from the Don in which he was sent a badge - on a black cloth, a skull with crossbones and the inscription "I hope for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the next century. Amen." This gloomy symbol, called the “Baklanovsky badge,” terrified the highlanders, and Yakov Petrovich did not part with it until the end of his life.
In the early 50s, Baklanov, under the command of Baryatynsky, took part in expeditions deep into Chechnya. He was awarded orders, and in 1852 he was elevated to the rank of general. In 1854, in response to the raids of Shamil's murids, Baklanov's troops destroyed 20 Chechen settlements.
In 1855 he was transferred with his Cossacks to Kars and took part in its assault. Baklanov’s relationship with Commander-in-Chief N.S. Things didn’t work out with Muravyov, and soon Yakov Petrovich asked to go on vacation to the Don. In 1857 he returned to the Caucasus, where Baryatinsky became commander-in-chief. This time Baklanov was entrusted with the position of marching chieftain. He was mainly involved in administrative affairs, without participating in hostilities. In 1859, Yakov Petrovich received the Order of St. Anne, 1st degree, becoming a full holder of this order, and the following year he was promoted to lieutenant general.
In 1861, Baklanov was appointed district general of the 2nd district of the Don Cossack Army, and in 1863 he was sent to Vilna, where infantry general M.S. Muravyov (brother of N. Muravyov) was gathering troops for a campaign in rebellious Poland. At first, Yakov Petrovich headed the Cossack regiments of Muravyov’s army, then served as head of the administration of the Suwalski-Augustovsky district. Contrary to the terrible rumor that accompanied his name in Poland, Baklanov acted, although harshly, without cruelty and even came into conflict with Muravyov, the “hangman,” showing mercy. “Your Excellency,” he justified himself to the commander, “I was sent here not to take revenge, but to pacify.” In his report addressed to Muravyov, Baklanov wrote: “My thoughts were to weaken the rumors about Russian ferocity in the area of my department.” For the Polish campaign, Yakov Petrovich received his last award - the Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd degree.
By that time, Yakov Petrvich’s health had deteriorated, he had been ill for a long time, lived in St. Petersburg, wrote his memoirs “My Military Life”... January 18, 1873 Ya.P. Baklanov died, he died in poverty, the funeral took place in the cemetery of the St. Petersburg Novodevichy Convent at the expense of the Don Army. Five years later, a monument was erected at his grave, created with voluntary donations and depicting a rock on which a cloak and a hat were thrown, with a black “Cormorant badge” pulled out from under the hat.
On October 3, 1911, the ashes of Yakov Petrovich were solemnly reburied in the tomb of the Ascension Cathedral in Novocherkassk, next to the graves of other heroes of the Don - M. Platov, V. Orlov-Denisov, I. Efremov. The obelisk from the St. Petersburg grave of General Baklanov was delivered to Novocherkassk and installed near the cathedral.
With the Bolsheviks coming to power in the Don, the tomb was looted twice. On May 15, 1993, the reburial of the atamans took place.
Cossack general Yakov Petrovich Baklanov, one of the most colorful heroes of the endless Caucasian war of the century before last, fits perfectly into the image of Russia familiar to the West. A gloomy two-meter hero, a tireless persecutor of highlanders and Poles, an enemy of political correctness and democracy in all its manifestations. But it was precisely these people who achieved the most difficult victory for the empire in the long-term confrontation with the inhabitants of the North Caucasus and the unkind local nature.
Baklanov was born on March 15, 1809 in the village of Gugninskaya near Tsimlyansk (on the occasion of the general’s centenary, it was renamed Baklanovskaya) into a glorious Cossack family. His grandfather terrified the Trans-Kuban Circassians, his father bravely fought against Napoleon and the Turks and earned the rank of cornet, while being illiterate. The first officer rank granted Baklanov Sr. the rights of hereditary nobility, and formally Yakov Petrovich already belonged to the noble class at birth.
The future persecutor of the mountaineers was brought up in ancient traditions: at the age of three he rode a horse around the yard, at five he pranced around the village, and at eight he went with his father to serve in Bessarabia. The impressionable boy listened with interest to the stories of experienced Don residents about the recent war with Bonaparte and dreamed of growing up as quickly as possible, entering the service and distinguishing himself in the battle with the enemy. The noble scion learned to read and write somehow - from the village sexton and regimental clerks, but already in his early youth he knew how to shoot perfectly, chop with a saber and stab with a pike, mastered the science of fist fighting and masterfully mastered horse riding.
In the sixteenth year of his life, Baklanov entered the Cossack regiment of Popov, in which his father commanded a hundred. The first war was not long in coming - with the Turks. The parent constantly had to rein in the ardent young man, who strove to show desperate courage at all costs. The tool of education was usually his father’s whip, but Yakov did not let up and in battle invariably found himself in the most dangerous areas. Near Burgas, a Turkish bullet killed a horse under him, but the young Cossack returned from the war safe and sound.
Don't hang yourself, black raven
In 1834, Yakov Baklanov first came to the Caucasus with Zhirov’s Cossack regiment. Service beyond the Kuban was considered troublesome and dangerous for the Donets: accustomed to fighting the enemy in the free steppe, the Cossacks in the mountains felt extremely uncomfortable, suffering heavy losses not from the warlike mountaineers, but from epidemics and an unusual climate. It was during the Caucasian War that the sad Don song about the black raven was composed. About 100 thousand Donets fought with the highlanders in the 19th century, of which 1,763 people were killed in battle, and more than 16 thousand died from disease. Until the mid-1840s, it was believed that people from the Don were almost useless in the Caucasian War - they tried to employ the Cossacks as orderlies, messengers, and orderlies, that is, to hide them away from military clashes.
The desperate Yakov Baklanov managed to dispel the myth that the villagers were unsuitable for serious business in the Caucasus. Luckily for him, in the early 1830s a fundamentally new tactic of fighting the enemy entrenched in the mountains appeared. Baron Grigory Zass of Courland, commander of the Kuban Line, was an ardent supporter of active offensive actions. Without waiting for the attack of the highlanders, the daring German attacked first, brilliantly organizing reconnaissance behind enemy lines. Zass was a stranger to sentimentality and with equal zeal exterminated the Chechens, their villages, livestock and crops. In his reports, he listed in detail the mountain leaders he sent to the next world (unlike today’s reports, this information was the pure truth), and phrases like “those who resist along with the village are betrayed to fire and sword” were found there almost every month.
Baklanov served under such a humane military leader for about three years and for the rest of his life he called Zass his teacher. He took the baron’s guerrilla tactics as a model and constantly improved it. True, already in the first serious skirmishes, Yakov Petrovich could easily lay down his violent head. In July 1836, he became interested in pursuing the enemy and found himself with a small detachment against heavily armed mountaineers who outnumbered the Cossacks three times over. In an hour, Baklanov managed to repel more than a dozen attacks, after which he decided to go on the offensive, encouraging his Donets with the news that reinforcements were coming to them. In fact, a thunderstorm was approaching, and the shrewd commander passed off the peals of thunder as shots from Russian artillery. The daring action was a success - the Circassians fled in disarray. Since then, incredible rumors began to spread in the mountains about a giant Cossack who cannot be killed by a bullet because he is on short terms with evil spirits.
Indeed, some stories about Baklanov could become the plot for a Hollywood western. Some things, of course, were embellished over time: for example, the legend of the so-called Cormorant strike. Yakov Petrovich was credited with the ability to cut a highlander in half with one blow of a saber. With all the power of a two-meter hero, such a situation is hardly possible - a saber is still not a two-handed sword. But Baklanov somehow managed to cope with the four Circassians who sat in ambush. The mountaineers managed to put their horse under him, but the dismounted Cossack knocked down two enemies with a double-barreled shotgun and dodged the shots of their comrades. Having escaped certain death, Baklanov immediately returned to command and managed to reliably cover the crossing of the Zass detachment across the Laba River.
The partisans went on a campaign...
In 1837, the regiment in which Baklanov served was recalled to the Don. I had to wait eight years for my next business trip to the Caucasus. In 1845, the peaceful service in Novocherkassk and Poland ended, and Yakov Petrovich, who by that time had become a military sergeant major, received the coveted opportunity to prove himself in battles with the unyielding followers of Shamil. He was sent to the 20th Cossack Regiment, stationed on the border with Chechnya in the Kurinsky fortification. The governor in the Caucasus, Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov, immediately noticed a capable officer - Baklanov brilliantly conducted a raid to meet his troops returning from a difficult campaign to the village of Dargo. In 1846, Vorontsov gave the 20th regiment to Baklanov’s command, which very soon became an exemplary partisan unit.
First of all, Yakov Petrovich brought perfect order to the regiment. He immediately returned all the Cossacks who served as orderlies and messengers at the headquarters. He voluntarily supplemented the staffing table - the seventh training unit appeared in his regiment, in which the Donets, newly arrived in the Caucasus, were trained in specific techniques of combat operations in the mountains. Tactical training was introduced that no one had ever heard of before. One platoon in every hundred was equipped with entrenching tools and was thoroughly trained in sapper work. At Baklanov’s regiment, a special Plastun team of the best shooters and horsemen was created to go on particularly dangerous reconnaissance missions. Baklanov's missile team also became famous throughout the Caucasus Line - the missiles of that time, filled with gunpowder and bullets, did a good job of pacifying the highlanders.
The discipline was strict - having been repeatedly flogged in his youth, Baklanov did not hesitate to burn his subordinates with a whip for the slightest offense. He was firmly convinced that the Don Cossack was capable of fighting in the Caucasus not only bravely, but also intelligently. It started small - the Cossack horses were kept in perfect order and were always fed, and therefore the well-known advantage of the aborigines - better adaptation to the familiar terrain - soon came to naught.
The government-issued ammunition in Baklanov's regiment was taken out of the chests only when high-ranking officials appeared. The rest of the time, his Cossacks sported Circassian boots captured from the enemy, and captured weapons were often found - Chechen rifled guns, Circassian sabers and daggers. Yakov Petrovich achieved success primarily through the thorough collection of information about the enemy. For many Russian military leaders, even at the beginning of the twentieth century, the numerous peoples of the North Caucasus remained a solid mass of “Tatars and Circassians.” Baklanov relied on well-established intelligence. He habitually spent his salary almost without a trace on material incentives for Chechen informants. The greedy scouts reported many valuable facts from the life of their warlike fellow tribesmen, to whom Baklanov and his Don people sooner or later came. Villages burned down no less often than under Zass, crops were regularly trampled, and livestock was stolen on an astonishing scale. In his declining years, the conqueror of the Caucasus calculated that under his leadership the Cossacks requisitioned 12 thousand heads of cattle and 40 thousand sheep from the Chechens.
Under Baklanov, people and horses did not experience a shortage of provisions, and the commander himself, a staunch supporter of the idea of self-sufficiency for the army, could easily outwit the unfortunate mountaineers who unsuccessfully tried to hide their flocks from the voracious army of the 20th regiment. On the eve of Easter 1849, Yakov Petrovich presented his Cossacks with a big gift. There seemed to be nothing to break the fast with - the old stocks of lamb were eaten, and the Chechens hid their herds from prying eyes. During Lent, the efficient Baklanov personally explored all the secret paths and, on the eve of the bright holiday, made a successful foray for cattle.
The confused natives had no choice but to suspect the Cossack commander of friendship with the devil. The highlanders nicknamed their enemy - Dajjal, that is, the devil. One sight of the colonizer inspired mystical and mortal horror. The well-known enemy of the Soviet government, Ataman Pyotr Nikolaevich Krasnov, who was also a writer, described the appearance of his revered Baklanov: “He was menacing in both his face and build. His face was pitted with smallpox, a huge nose, thick eyebrows hanging over his eyes, eyes darting lightning. , thick lips and sideburns curling in the wind." And censor Alexander Vasilyevich Nikitenko, the author of famous memoirs, put it even more clearly: “... it’s as if such a program was printed on Baklanov’s face that if he performed even a quarter of it, then he should have been hanged ten times.”
The cunning Yakov Petrovich supported his demonic reputation in every possible way. One day, Chechen elders came to look at the Cossack commander - they were eager to make sure that the true accomplice of the devil was fighting with them. One cormorant image was enough for the desired impression, and when our hero met the guests in an inside-out sheepskin coat, with his face smeared with soot, no additional evidence was required. The Chechens' attempt to surpass Baklanov in shooting accuracy also failed. The well-known shooter Janem among the highlanders vowed to kill the hated Russian with the first shot and boasted that he could break a chicken egg from fifty steps, to which the highlanders, who had heard about the two-meter-tall Cossack, calmly replied that Baklanov could hit a fly from one hundred and fifty steps. Yakov Petrovich appeared before Dzhanem on a horse. At the decisive moment, the Chechen sniper got nervous and fired two inaccurate shots. Baklanov, without dismounting, calmly took aim and fired a bullet between the opponent’s eyes. Spectators from among the fellow tribesmen of the killed man loudly expressed their admiration for the Cossack's shot. Since then, a mocking saying has been circulating around Chechnya: “Do you want to kill Baklanov?”
In 1851, by mail from an unknown person, Baklanov received a gift he really liked - a black silk cloth with Adam’s dead head (skull) embroidered on it and two bones crossed under it. This artistic composition, equipped with a meaningful inscription from the “Creed” - “I welcome the resurrection of the dead and the life of the next century. Amen” - was henceforth called the Cormorant badge and became the calling card of the desperate warrior.
In 1850, the 20th Cossack Regiment left for the Don, but Governor Vorontsov begged Minister of War A.I. Chernyshev cannot be removed from the Caucasus by Baklanov. The 17th Cossack regiment that arrived at the Kurinskoe fortification was entrusted to him. Baklanov's name continued to thunder like the thunderstorm of Greater and Lesser Chechnya, and in 1853 he received the rank of major general. Yakov Petrovich preferred to get involved in even the most modest military clashes with the highlanders, trying not to shake the fear in them caused by his sudden forays. With the beginning of the Crimean War, the highlanders could breathe easier - the terrible Dajjal left Kurinskoye.
Troubled old age
The subsequent acts of the persecutor of the mountaineers are no longer so impressive. Baklanov turned from an active character into a distinguished veteran. During the Crimean War, he besieged Kars, and at the final stage of the conquest of the highlanders under Prince Baryatinsky, he held the honorary position of marching ataman. With the outbreak of another Polish revolt in the 1860s, the fierce Cossack was sent to help Count Mikhail Nikolaevich Muravyov.
In Poland, which he knew, Baklanov acted using completely different methods than in Chechnya. In contrast to the terrible rumors about himself, Baklanov showed himself to be a stern, but extremely fair boss. Contrary to the regulations, he did not indiscriminately confiscate the estates of the rebels, but, if possible, established guardianship over the young children of the exiles and retained their property. Summoned on this occasion to Governor-General Muravyov, Baklanov fearlessly said: “You can put me on trial or dismiss me without asking, but I will say one thing: I managed the department on your behalf, which I always honored and respected; my goal was to act in such a way that no stain would fall on this name, and my conscience tells me that I have achieved success... I was and will be faithful to my Sovereign, Russia and you, my direct superior, but my thoughts were to weaken the rumors about Russian ferocity." This response aroused Muravyov’s gratitude.
But the prowess was no longer the same - the old warrior was increasingly bothered by a diseased liver, and in 1864 a big fire in Novocherkassk deprived him of most of his property. Since 1867, Yakov Petrovich lived out his life in gloomy St. Petersburg, wrote small memoirs, and until the end of his life he never received an idea of the luxury and prosperity that should accompany the existence of a retired general - he distributed his entire general’s pension to crippled soldiers and beggars. He died on February 18, 1873 in poverty and obscurity.
The hero was buried at the expense of the “grateful Donskoy army” in the cemetery of the Resurrection Nunnery in St. Petersburg. At the grave, according to the design of the sculptor Nabokov, a monument was erected that amazed the imagination of eyewitnesses: a cloak, a hat, a saber and a cormorant badge made of dark bronze were thrown on a piece of granite rock. On October 4, 1911, Baklanov’s ashes, along with the monument, were transferred to the capital of the Don Cossacks, Novocherkassk. On the eve of the First World War, Yakov Petrovich was no less a revered figure among the Donets than the hero of 1812, Ataman Matvey Ivanovich Platov.
Under the Bolsheviks, who were frantically eager to “tell the story” of the Don, they tried to erase the memory of the hero of the Caucasian War - Baklanov with his methods of conquering the Chechens did not fit into the scheme of friendship of peoples. Some clever Komsomol members tore off a cloak, a hat, a saber and a bronze skull with crossbones from his monument. Only in 1995 the monument was restored to its original form.
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Yakov Petrovich Baklanov(March 15, 1809; Gugninskaya village, Don Army Region, Russian Empire - October 18, 1873; St. Petersburg) - Russian general, hero of the Caucasian War.
Biography
Family
Descended from the nobles of the Don Army. Born on March 15, 1809 in the village of Gugninskaya of the Don Army. His father Baklanov, Pyotr Dmitrievich, was one of the Cossack children who rose to the rank of colonel. Mother - Cossack Ustinya Malakhova.
In 1826, Yakov Petrovich married the daughter of a Gugninsky priest, Serafima Ivanovna Anisimova.
Service
He entered service on May 20, 1824 as a sergeant in the 1st Don Cossack Regiment (Popov), in which his father commanded a hundred.
He took part in the Russian-Turkish war of 1828-1829, at the beginning of 1829 he was promoted to cornet, and on May 20 of the same year he was awarded the Order of St. Anne 4th for distinguished service with the army of the Grand Vizier at Kyulevchi near the city of Shumen degrees with the inscription “For bravery”; On July 11, 1829, he was awarded the Order of St. Anne, 3rd degree, with a bow, for distinction in deeds during the conquest of the Turkish cities of Mesemvria and Anhialo (now Nessebar and Pomorie in Bulgaria). At the end of the war, until August 1831, he stood with the regiment on the border guard line along the river. Rod. On September 21, 1831 he was promoted to centurion.
Active participant in the Caucasian campaigns. The first serious expedition that marked the beginning of Baklanov’s Caucasian fame was the expedition of 1836, undertaken to exterminate the Trans-Kuban villages between the rivers Psefir, Laba and Belaya. Here he was wounded in the head. On July 4, 1836, pursuing for 10 versts a detachment four times superior to the mountaineers (between the Chamlyk and Laba rivers), withstood many enemy counterattacks and used up all the cartridges, in conclusion, choosing an opportune moment, near the Voznesensky fortification, struck with pikes, overthrew the enemy and pursued more than 15 versts, destroying it almost completely. For this deed, on July 4, 1837, he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th degree with a bow.
On October 22, 1837, he was promoted to esaul and transferred to the 41st Don Cossack Regiment. In the spring of 1839, he was assigned to serve in the Don Training Regiment, and in 1841 he was transferred to the 36th Don Cossack Regiment (Rodionov), with which he maintained cordons in Poland on the border with Prussia.
Upon returning from Poland, on October 18, 1844, Baklanov was awarded the rank of centurion (according to other sources - military foreman); in the spring of 1845, Baklanov was assigned to the 20th Don Cossack Regiment, located on the left flank of the Caucasian line in the Kura fortification, which constituted the forward stronghold of the Russian Kumyk possessions. On July 20, 1845, he was awarded the Order of St. Anne, 2nd degree, for distinction rendered in battle during the breaking of fortified rubble in the Shaukhal-Berdy tract.
On July 5, 1846, for distinction, bravery and courage shown in the battle with Shamil’s crowd during the defense of the Vnezapnaya fortress, he was awarded the Order of St. Anna, 2nd degree, by the Imperial Crown; in the same year he was appointed commander of the 20th Don Cossack Regiment.
On February 19, 1849, he was awarded a golden saber with the inscription “For bravery” for the distinction he showed in deeds during the extermination of the villages of Mahmud-Yurt, Perhikan-Tala and Benk-Kotoro; for the same distinction on September 9 and 10 of the same year in a battle with the highlanders during forest cutting, Baklanov was declared the highest favor.
On February 10, 1850, he was promoted to colonel for distinguished service during the raid on the Gaitemir Gate. In the summer of 1850 he was appointed commander of the 17th Don Cossack Regiment. One day a parcel arrived in the regiment addressed to Baklanov. It contained a large piece of black fabric, on which was depicted a skull with crossbones and a circular inscription from the “Creed”: “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the next century. Amen". Yakov Petrovich secured the fabric to the pole, turning it into a personal banner.
Even among experienced Cossacks, this badge evoked a painful feeling, while the highlanders experienced superstitious horror from the Cormorant symbol. One of the eyewitnesses wrote: “Wherever the enemy saw this terrible banner, fluttering high in the hands of the giant Don, like the shadow of one following his commander, the monstrous image of Baklanov also appeared there, and inseparably with it was the inevitable defeat and death of anyone who fell upon paths."
