Battle of Sozopol
The Battle of Sozopol was a battle during the Russo-Turkish War of 1828/29, which ended after a brief siege with the storming and occupation of Sozopol . Russian troops, under the command of Rear Admiral Mikhail Kumani, held the city for five months.
history
During the Russo-Turkish War of 1828/29, the Ottoman fortress of Sozopol was captured by Russian troops on February 16, 1829 after a battle in order to be able to better supply and secure the advancing Russian troops. The Russian troops came from the Russian sailing ships Imperatriza Marija (84-er, Arsenal Nikolajew , 1828), Panteleimon (74-er, Arsenal Nikolajew, 1824) and Pimen (74-er, Asenal Cherson , 1823) as well as from the frigates Rafail ( 36-er, Asenal Sevastopol , 1828) and Evstarij (44-er, Asenal Cherson, 1817) and of three gunboats. A total of 1162 men were dropped under the command of Rear Admiral Mikhail Nikolajewitsch Kumani (1770-1865; Russian: Михаил Николаевич Кумани ).
Sozopol had defended itself against the Russians from the sea with three coastal batteries . The city was protected against attacks from the land side by a redoubt and a stone wall.
In preparation for the conquest of Sosopol, Tsar Nicholas I had agreed to the plan to conquer the city, on the condition that Rear Admiral Miachail Kumani should not get any further troops to reinforce the city. Because the main troops were in Varna and could not be dispensed with for the defense of Sozopol.
The immediately convened military council of the Russian Empire decided that Sozopol had to be captured, since the garrison there with 1000 Russian troops and with the support of the Russian squadron could long be defended against new attacks by the Ottomans. However, it was decided to postpone the capture of the two nearby islands to a more convenient time.
According to this decision, the squadron of Rear Admiral Kumani drove with its three battleships , two frigates , three gunboats and two transport ships (with 335 guns) with 1162 men landing troops to Sozopol. In the early morning of February 15, 1829, the squadron approached the Sozopol roadstead and was taken under fire by the coastal battery. Despite the bombardment, all Russian ships were in their intended positions by 9 a.m. A group of parliamentarians was put on the bank to demand the surrender of the city.
Hamil- Pascha replied that the garrison would fight to the last man. Therefore, the Russian ships opened fire at 3 p.m. and destroyed all coastal batteries. After that, Russian parliamentarians were sent again with the proposal to hold talks about the surrender of Sozopol. Rear Admiral Kumani demanded unconditional surrender and that Hamil-Pasha appear in person on the Russian flagship to sign the surrender.
Since the Russian demand was not met by the next morning, a 500-man Russian command landed . Then another parliamentarian was sent to Hamil-Pasha to tell him about the landing and that the city would be assaulted if he did not surrender it voluntarily.
The returning parliamentarian reported on his return that the approximately 1,600 strong Ottoman troops had left the city at the sight of the Russians and had withdrawn towards Constantinople. Together with 14 sailors, the parliamentarian took the main battery and hoisted the Russian flag there. The landing forces then took the redoubt and then the entire city of Sozopol. Hamil-Pasha and his entourage of 50 men were captured. Two flags, nine fortress guns and two field guns, as well as a large amount of ammunition and supplies were taken as war trophies.
The Russian troops immediately set about repairing the damaged coastal batteries and fortifications. The guns for the defense of the city came from the Russian ships.
At the end of the month a 1,500-strong Russian reinforcement arrived in Sozopol. The brig Ganymede dropped anchor at the island of Sweta Anastasia (12 km west of Sozopol, in the Bay of Burgas) to prevent the Ottomans from taking the island. Afterwards, another 1,000 Russian reinforcements arrived and were immediately involved in the construction work on the fortress. The Russian leadership correctly foresaw that the Ottomans would not come to terms with the loss of Sozopol. On May 28, 1829, about 4,000 Ottoman infantry and almost 1,800 cavalry attacked the city, which was now defended by the Russians. During the heavy fighting, however, the Ottoman troops were repeatedly repulsed by Russian infantry, fortress artillery and ship guns. The soldiers who fell in the battle of Sozopol were buried on the island of Sveti Ivan in a specially established Russian military cemetery.
After this battle the situation on this section of the front stabilized. On April 19, 1829, a squadron of the Russian Black Sea Fleet entered the roadstead of Sozopol, under the command of Vice Admiral Aleksej Grejg (1775-1845; Russian: Алексей Самуилович Грейг ). The capture of Sozopol secured a very advantageous outpost for the Russian Black Sea Fleet in relative proximity to Constantinople. This allowed constant surveillance of the Ottoman fleet and the safe guarding of the western Black Sea coast. After Burgas was conquered on July 12, 1829, the fleet was moved to the port there.
Rear Admiral Kumani was awarded the Russian Order of Saint Anne 1st Class and 10,000 rubles for the capture of Sozopol and his decisive fighting . All officers of the squadron were honored. Two of the cannons captured in Sozopol were given to the cities of Sevastopol and Nikolayev (now Mykolaiv ) - as a symbol of this heroic deed by the Black Sea Fleet.
In honor of the capture of the town Sozopol which asked in March 1841 service and stocked with 60 guns frigate of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the name of "Sozopol" was (Russian: Сизополь / Sizopol) baptized . She took part in the Crimean War (1853-1856) and was sunk on September 11, 1854 in the roadstead of Sevastopol.
Today there is a plaque at the harbor master's office in Sozopol to commemorate the Russian officers and sailors who took part in the capture of the fortress in 1829.
literature
- Джеймс Алекзандър: Пътешествие до мястото на военните събития в Ориента през Русия и Крим в 1829 г. , In В. Тодорова: Английски пътеписи за Балканите , Sofia, 1987, pp. 687-720
- Ivan Karajotow , Stojan Rajtschewski, Mitko Ivanov: История на Бургас. От древността до средата на ХХ век. (on German, for example, history of the city of Burgas. From antiquity to the middle of the 20th century. ) Verlag Tafprint OOD, Plovdiv, 2011, ISBN 978-954-92689-1-1 , pp. 92–99
Individual evidence
- ↑ Кранознаменный Черноморский флот , Chapter 3
- ↑ The information on the sailing ships from Bernhard Gomm: The Russian Warships 1856-1917. Volume 1. Screw ships, armored ships, ships of the line, battleships, battle cruisers, aircraft carriers. Appendix: Sailing ships 1696–1856 . B. Gomm, Wiesbaden 1992, p. 112, on the frigates ders .: The Russian warships 1856–1917. Volume 2: Frigates, armored cruisers, corvettes, protected cruisers. Appendix: Sailing frigates 1994–1856 . B. Gomm 1991, Wiesbaden 1991, p. 108
- ^ The Encyclopaedia of Islam . New Edition. Brill. Leiden Vol. 1, p. 1325 f. (Article: Burgas)
- ↑ Karajotow, Rajtschewski, Iwanow, pp. 95-98