The Battle of the Bulgarian city of Plevna (Pleven) is the main episode of the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878. The fortress was located at the intersection of roads necessary for the transfer of troops to the Constantinople area.

On the eve of the war

The Russian Empire was forced to go to war with Turkey after the failure of negotiations for a peaceful settlement of issues related to the protection of the Christian population on the Balkan Peninsula. Porta (Ottoman government) ) led fighting against Serbia and actually ignored the ultimatum of Alexander II to conclude a truce.

The Russian generals decided to launch an offensive along the western coast of the Black Sea in the direction of the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Thus, it was planned to force Porto to the negotiating table, achieve guarantees of the rights of the Slavic peoples of the peninsula and strengthen its position in the region.

Another Russian- Turkish war could finally resolve the Eastern Question for St. Petersburg, which arose in the second half of the 18th century with the creation of the Montenegrin Fleet.

Russia sought to gain control of the strategically important Bosporus and Dardanelles straits and gain the status of a Mediterranean power.

This would give it significant military and economic advantages.

In the middle of the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire lost its former power and could no longer resist its northern neighbor on equal terms. The Western powers understood that the Porte was doomed to defeat without their help. Moreover, in the 1870s, Russia practically recovered from the consequences of the Crimean War of 1853-1856, in which it lost to the coalition of Turkey, Great Britain and France.

To prevent the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and contain the ambitions of St. Petersburg, the British and French trained and rearmed Turkish troops. At the same time, London and Paris did not support the Porte's overly harsh position towards the Christian population in the Balkans.

In 1877, against the backdrop of Ottoman repression against Christians, Russia managed to achieve the neutrality of the West, which made it possible to declare war on Turkey. However, Great Britain and France closely monitored the progress of the fighting, fearing a hasty surrender of Turkey and the capture of the straits by Russian troops.

On the approaches to Plevna

Alexander II delayed the moment of entering the war with Turkey, although the plan for this war was prepared in 1876. The Emperor rightly believed that the Russian army was not yet ready to fight large-scale battles, at least for a long time.

The armed forces of the empire were in the stage of modernization. The troops did not have time to receive modern weapons and master advanced combat tactics. The unfinished military reform was one of the reasons for the first failures in the battles for Plevna.

On the eve of the war, the size of the Russian army was estimated at about half a million people against the two hundred thousand Turkish army. In the fall of 1876, Russia concentrated an army of over 180 thousand people on its southwestern borders. On the side Russian Empire Romanian and Serbian troops, as well as Bulgarian, Armenian and Georgian militias, were ready to act.

Alexander II declared war on Turkey in April 1877. At the beginning of July, part of the Russian troops crossed the Danube, which separates Romania and Bulgaria, and gained a foothold on the approaches to Plevna. On July 16, the 9th Corps of Lieutenant General Nikolai Kridener captured the Nikopol fortress, 40 km from Plevna.

At that time, the city's garrison consisted of only three Turkish infantry battalions, armed with four guns. On July 19, 17 thousand Turkish soldiers under the command of Marshal Osman Pasha made a forced march of 200 km and took up defenses around the city.

• Artillery battle near Plevna. A battery of siege weapons on the Grand Duke's Mountain. Artist Nikolay Dmitriev-Orenburgsky
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The battles for Plevna began on July 18, but the first attacks of Russian troops failed. By August 1877, the Russian army had lost almost 10 thousand soldiers. Taking advantage of the pause, the Turks increased the size of the garrison to 32 thousand people with 70 guns and erected new engineering structures.

The Turkish group created a threat to crossing the Danube, and the Russian command stopped the offensive in the Constantinople direction. It was decided to take the city by storm. 84 thousand soldiers with 424 guns were concentrated near Plevna. The Russians were supported by Romanian troops (32 thousand people with 108 guns) and detachments of Bulgarian militias.

From assault to siege

In August-September, Russian-Romanian units made several unsuccessful attempts to capture Turkish fortifications. Historians of the Military Academy of the General Staff Armed Forces Russian Federation explain the failures of the attacking forces by disorganization in the control system.

“With the detachment were Emperor Alexander II, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich and Minister of War Dmitry Milyutin, which made unified command and control of the troops difficult. The planning and preparation of the allied forces for the offensive were carried out in a formulaic manner, the strikes were planned to be carried out in the previous directions, the interaction between the troops attacking in each of them was not organized,” experts note.

The Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces believes that the Russians and Romanians underestimated the enemy and neglected intelligence that would have helped identify gaps in the defense of Plevna. In particular, on the western outskirts of the city the Turks had almost no fortifications, but this direction never became promising.

According to historians, the reason for three unsuccessful assaults on Plevna and dozens of battles for redoubts lay in the high density of fire created by the Turkish infantrymen. At long range the Ottomans used American Peabody-Martini rifles, and in close combat they used Winchester carbines.

• Capture of the Grivitsky redoubt near Plevna. Artist Nikolay Dmitriev-Orenburgsky
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On September 13, Alexander II decided to begin a systematic siege of Plevna. The construction of the fortifications was led by General Eduard Totleben, at that time a leading specialist in the field of engineering. He came to the conclusion that the city's garrison would not be able to hold out for more than two months if all supply lines were cut off.

On November 1, Russian troops completely surrounded Plevna, knocking out the Turks from the villages of Gorny, Dolny Dubnyaki, Telish and Gorny Metropol. On November 12, Osman Pasha was asked to surrender, but he refused. The fortress was held by 44 thousand people, the number of Russian troops was 130 thousand bayonets. The situation of the garrison worsened every day due to shortages of food and water.

Final fight

The goal of the Russian-Romanian units was to prevent the enemy from breaking through the defensive lines erected by the besieging troops. The only chance of salvation for the Ottomans was to cross the Vid River, then launch a surprise attack and retreat to Vidin or Sofia, where the Turkish army was stationed.

On December 1, Osman Pasha decided to withdraw the garrison from Plevna. The operation to break the siege began on the night of December 10. Under cover of darkness, the Ottomans crossed to the left bank of the Vid and early morning attacked the 9th Siberian Grenadier Regiment.

By 9:00 the Turks were able to break through two lines of fortifications, but at 11:00 the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Grenadier Division went on the offensive. In one hour Turkish troops were pushed back to the first line of defense. After this, the 1st Brigade of the 2nd Grenadier Division struck the enemy from the left flank, forcing him to retreat to the river.

Turkish troops came across convoys left after the crossing. Panic began in their ranks, and the retreat became chaotic. The grenadiers literally shot the enemy at a distance of 800 steps. Seeing that his troops were doomed to destruction, Osman Pasha decided to surrender.

On December 10, Russian-Romanian units occupied Plevna without hindrance. Ten Turkish generals, 2,128 officers, 41,200 soldiers were captured; in addition, the winners became the owners of 77 guns. The fall of the fortress made it possible to free more than 100 thousand people and continue the offensive against Constantinople.

• The captured Osman Pasha is presented to Alexander II on the day of the capture of Plevna. Artist Nikolay Dmitriev-Orenburgsky
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“This army, with its worthy commander at its head (Osman Pasha), numbering 40 thousand, surrendered to us unconditionally.<…>I am proud to command such troops and must tell you that I cannot find words to adequately express my respect and amazement at your military prowess.<…>Remember that I am not alone, but all of Russia, all its sons are rejoicing and rejoicing in your glorious victory over Osman Pasha,” said Lieutenant General Ivan Ganetsky, commander of the grenadier corps, after the end of the battle.

Historians of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces note that, despite the mistakes made, imperial army achieved success in the use of new infantry techniques, “whose rifle chains combined fire and movement, and used self-entrenchment when approaching the enemy.” The importance of field fortifications and the high effectiveness of heavy artillery were also realized.

The siege of Plevna taught the command Russian army use more advanced methods of cargo delivery, movement and deployment of troops. For example, two “civilian transport” were engaged in transporting food and weapons. Also, analogues of modern field kitchens appeared for the first time in the world near Plevna.

Holy memory

The victory at Plevna and successful actions in Transcaucasia, where the army of Marshal Mukhtar Pasha was defeated, created the conditions for the military surrender of the Porte. On January 19, 1878, the Truce of Adrianople was signed, and on March 3, the Treaty of San Stefano was signed.

As a result of negotiations with the Porte, Serbia, Montenegro and Romania gained independence. Bulgaria became an autonomous principality, although during the Berlin Congress, which was convened at the initiative of the Western powers, Sofia's powers in the sphere of self-government were significantly curtailed.

March 3 is a national holiday for Bulgarians. War with Ottoman Empire in 1877-1878 in the historiography of Bulgaria is called the Liberation War. Monuments to Russian and Romanian soldiers were erected throughout the country.

“In memory of the battles near Plevna, a mausoleum of fallen Russian and Romanian soldiers, the Skobelevsky Park Museum, historical Museum“The liberation of Plevna in 1877,” near Grivitsa there is a mausoleum of Romanian soldiers and about 100 monuments in the vicinity of the fortress,” note historians of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.

In 1887, a monument-chapel to Russian grenadiers who died in the battles for Plevna was erected in Kitay-Gorod in Moscow. The memorial was built on the initiative of the Russian Archaeological Society and officers of the Grenadier Corps stationed in Moscow.

• Monument-chapel in memory of the Heroes of Plevna in Ilyinsky Park in Moscow
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• Konstantin Kokoshkin

Scientific director of the Russian Military Historical Society, Mikhail Myagkov, in a conversation with RT, noted that, despite the difficult political relations between Moscow and Sofia, the battle for Plevna and the Shipka Pass remains a symbol of the military brotherhood of Russians, Romanians and Bulgarians.

“Repeatedly, Russia and Bulgaria found themselves on opposite sides of the barricades, but political disputes did not concern the sacred memory of the Russian contribution to the country’s independence. We are seeing the same thing now. Unfortunately, there are forces in Bulgaria that demand that the monuments be dismantled Soviet soldiers. However, the attitude towards the memorials of the Russian-Turkish War is extremely positive,” the historian said.

The beginning of the siege. After the successful crossing of the Danube by Russian troops at Sistovo, the Turkish command on July 2 (14) began the transfer of Osman Pasha’s corps to Plevna from Vidin (northwest Bulgaria), which was tasked with striking the right flank of the Russian troops. On July 4, 1877, the 9th Army Corps of Lieutenant General N.P. Kridener captured the Nikopol fortress on the banks of the Danube north of Plevna.

The Russian command allocated a nine-thousand-strong detachment of Lieutenant General Schilder-Schuldner to occupy Plevna, which on the evening of July 7 reached the outskirts of the city and the next morning attacked Turkish positions. The 15,000-strong garrison of Plevna repelled scattered attacks by Russian regiments, inflicting serious losses on them (2.5 thousand people).

After the concentration of Kridener's entire corps (26 thousand soldiers, 140 guns) near the city, a second assault on Plevna was launched on July 18. By this time, Osman Pasha concentrated about 23 thousand people and 58 guns in the city. Kridener had no information about the Turkish forces, exaggerated their numbers and acted indecisively. The attacks were carried out from the east and southeast head-on against the most fortified areas, troops were brought into battle in parts. The assault ended in failure. Russian losses amounted to 7 thousand people, Turks - about 4 thousand people.

Plevna was of great strategic importance; its strong garrison threatened the crossings of the Danube and could attack the advancing Russian army in the flank and rear. Therefore, the Russian command postponed the transfer of the main forces through the Balkan Mountains (the Shipka Pass was captured on July 8) and during July-August concentrated an 83,000-strong army with 424 guns near Plevna, of which 32,000 people and 108 guns were from the allied Romanian army.

Third assault on Plevna. The Allies besieged Plevna from the south and east. On the right flank, opposite the Grivitsky redoubts, the Romanians settled down. From the east the city was besieged by Kridener's corps, from the southeast by General Krylov's 8th corps. In the southern direction there was a left-flank detachment of General M.D. Skobelev. From the north, the Turkish garrison was reliably covered by the heights of Yanyk-Bair, and from the west it was supplied along the Sofia-Plevna road. By the end of summer, the Turks increased the size of the Plevna garrison to 34 thousand people with 72 guns. Nominal commander allied army near Plevna was the Romanian King Carol I, in fact, his chief of staff, Lieutenant General P. D. Zotov, was in charge. But near Plevna there was also the headquarters of the Russian Emperor Alexander II and the commander-in-chief of the entire Danube Army, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Sr.

The third assault on Plevna took place on August 26-31. The Turks predicted the directions of attack of the Russian and Romanian troops and managed to hold their line of defense, inflicting heavy losses on the attackers. The decisive day was August 30, when the Romanians, with the support of the Russian 18th Infantry Regiment, managed to capture one of the two Grivitsky redoubts. On the same day, Skobelev’s detachment, delivering an auxiliary attack, found a weak point in the Turkish positions, broke through their defenses in the Green Mountains area, captured the Issa and Kavanlyk redoubts and reached the southern outskirts of the city. The Turks hastily transferred reserves from the north and east against Skobelev.

On August 31, the Russian command did not take offensive actions and did not support Skobelev with reserves. As a result, under the pressure of superior forces, Skobelev’s detachment was forced to return to its original positions. In the third assault on Plevna, Russian and Romanian troops lost 16 thousand people, the Turks - about three thousand.

Siege and capture of Plevna. On September 1, it was decided to proceed to a thorough siege of Plevna, for the leadership of which the best specialist in siege work in Russia, engineer-general E. I. Totleben, was called in. To successfully conduct a siege, the Russians needed to cut the Sofia-Plevna road, along which the Turks received reinforcements. To solve this problem, a strike detachment of General I.V. Gurko was created from the guards units. He managed to capture Gorny Dubnyak on October 12, Telish on October 16, Dolny Dubnyak on October 20 - strongholds on the Sofia road, thereby completely closing the blockade ring of the Pleven garrison, whose number by that time amounted to 50 thousand people.

The lack of food forced the Turkish commander Osman Pasha to attempt an independent liberation of Plevna. On November 28, having withdrawn troops from defensive positions, he attacked Russian troops northwest of Plevna. Units of the 2nd and 3rd Grenadier Divisions and the 5th Infantry Division of the Russian Army repelled the Turkish attack. Having lost 6 thousand soldiers and unable to escape from encirclement, Osman Pasha surrendered with 43 thousand soldiers. The fall of Plevna freed up a hundred thousand Russian-Romanian army for a subsequent offensive across the Balkans.

In the fighting near Plevna they received further development forms and methods of besieging fortresses. The Russian army developed new methods of infantry combat tactics, a combination of movement and fire from rifle chains, and the use of infantry self-entrenchment in the offensive began. At Plevna, the importance of field fortifications, the interaction of infantry with artillery, the role of heavy artillery in preparing an attack on fortified positions was revealed, and the possibility of controlling artillery fire when firing from closed positions was determined. In memory of the battles for Plevna, a mausoleum was built in the city in memory of fallen Russian and Romanian soldiers (1905), a park-museum of M. D. Skobelev (1907), and an artistic panorama complex “Liberation of Plevna in 1877.” In Moscow, at the Ilyinsky Gate, there is a monument to the grenadiers who fell near Plevna.

Based on materials from Internet resources

Siege of Plevna

The Russian-Turkish War of 1877–1878 was, to a certain extent, revenge on Russia for the heavy defeats of the Crimean War. In this war, the Russians were not opposed by the great powers of Europe, and, of course, it was fought out by the country with much less effort. But one should not think that the Russian-Turkish war was an easy walk - the Turks, well trained by French and English instructors, fought very, very well in this war. An obvious example of the difficulties of war is the siege of Plevna, which became its key episode.

The war began with a general offensive by Russian troops. After crossing the Danube at Zimnitsa, the Russian Danube Army launched a successful offensive towards Tarnovo. On July 2, the Turkish command sent Osman Pasha's corps of about sixteen thousand people, as well as fifty-eight guns, from Vidin to Plevna. Having made a forced march, on the morning of July 7, the Turkish corps entered Plevna.

After the capture of Nikopol, the Russian command sent on July 4 to Plevna a detachment of Lieutenant General Schilder-Schuldner numbering up to nine thousand people, with forty-six guns. This detachment, without conducting preliminary reconnaissance, approached the city on the evening of July 7, but came under enemy artillery fire and was forced to retreat. His new attempt at dawn on July 8 to take Plevna ended in failure.

On July 18, the Russian command launched a second attack on Plevna. The corps of Lieutenant General N.P. was deployed against the Turks - the replenished Turkish garrison numbered twenty-two to twenty-four thousand people and fifty-eight guns. Kridener - over twenty-six thousand people, one hundred and forty guns. But the second attack was repulsed. The Danube Army went on the defensive along the entire front.

By the third attack on Plevna, the Russians had concentrated eighty-four thousand people, four hundred and twenty-four guns, including thirty-two thousand people and one hundred and eight guns of the Romanian troops. Osman Pasha also strengthened the garrison of Plevna to thirty-two thousand people with seventy-two guns. However, the third attack of Plevna also ended in heavy failure. Miscalculations were made during its preparation and implementation. The fortress was not blocked from the west, which allowed the enemy to reinforce the garrison with reinforcements. The directions of the main attacks were chosen in the same areas as in the second attack. Artillery bombardment was carried out from long distances and only in the daytime. The garrison of Plevna managed to restore the destroyed fortifications overnight and knew where the attack would follow. As a result, surprise was lost, and although the detachment of General M.D. Skobeleva managed to capture the Issa and Kuvanlyk redoubts and come close to Plevna, but, having repelled four enemy counterattacks, he was forced to retreat to his original position.

On September 1, the Russian command decided to blockade Plevna. The siege work was led by General E.I. Totleben. On October 20, the Plevna garrison was completely surrounded. Then, in October, in order to disrupt the connection between Plevna and Sofia, the Russian detachment of Lieutenant General Gurko captured Gorny Dubnyak, Telishche and Dolny Dubnyak. On the night of November 28, the garrison of Plevna, finding itself under complete blockade and continuous artillery bombardment, attempted a breakthrough in the direction of Sofia, but, having lost six thousand killed and wounded, surrendered.

Forty-three thousand Turkish soldiers and officers were captured. However, the capture of Plevna also cost the Russian-Romanian troops very heavy casualties (the Russians lost thirty-one thousand, the Romanians - seven and a half thousand people). Nevertheless, it was a turning point in the war. The threat of a flank attack was finally removed, which allowed the Russian command to free up over one hundred thousand people to launch a winter offensive across the Balkans.

The fighting at Plevna revealed major shortcomings and miscalculations of the Russian high command in command and control. At the same time, the art of war, especially the forms and methods of blockade and encirclement, received significant development. The infantry, cavalry and artillery of the Russian army developed new tactics. A step forward was made in the transition from the tactics of columns and scattered formations to the tactics of rifle chains. The increased importance of field fortifications in the offensive and defense and the interaction of infantry with cavalry and artillery, the important role of heavy (howitzer) artillery in preparing an attack on fortified positions and centralizing its fire, and the ability to control artillery fire when firing from indirect positions were revealed. The surrounding Bulgarian population provided great assistance to the Russian-Romanian troops. Plevna became a symbol of the brotherhood of the Russian, Bulgarian and Romanian peoples. The heroes of Plevna did everything they could for victory and brought freedom from five hundred years of Turkish rule to the fraternal Bulgarian people and other peoples of the Balkans.